The Dreaded Blade.

A name that struck fear into the hearts of anyone who heard it. This name was one which was know all through the kingdom of Hopsina. The Dreaded Blade was the name given to the most notorious pirate lord that was known to the expansive kingdom of Hopsina; going around raiding, looting and pillaging, while taking on the Military of the kingdom.

The real name of the Dreaded Blade was Keegan Croode, a well known hoodlum before he became a pirate lord. Keegan was an unruly drunkard, by all means, not caring one bit about who he offended when he went about his daily activities. It was because of this attitude that he had gotten many enemies through the land, but even then, no one dared touch him.

Why?

It was all because of his remarkable affinity with the laws of the universe, and his exceptional ability in Spellcraft. Keegan once burned a man alive from the inside out because he double-crossed him. Ever since then, anyone doing business with his has taken extra care to avoid pushing his buttons.

***

The Midnight's Tragedy rocked and swayed, moving in tune with the movement of the blue sea. The chilled sea breeze blew over her deck, covering the men and women there in goosebumps.

Some men were mopping the deck while some others cleaned up the cannons. One of the orders that the Captain of the ship always insisted on was to make sure the Midnight's Tragedy was always in pristine condition. He rarely ever tried to enforce other rules on his crew; only that they should be a cohesive group, and that the ship should always be taken care of.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A series of firm and steady footsteps sounded against the deck. Some crew members turned to acknowledge the person before turning back and facing the nearest person to them so they could gossip.

"Lookin' good there, Amamiya!" An unruly pirate with a missing tooth and shaggy brown hair quipped as the female officer walked past them.

Bang!

With a swift kick, she slammed open the door to the Captain's room.

"Wha-What's going on?!" A tall, dark skinned man jumped up from the only bed in the room. His shirt hung loosely on his shoulder's revealing numerous vague tattoos that were running over his chest. All the tattoos were pale in color, making them stand out against his midnight-black skin. His inky black hair stood out in all directions, a dead giveaway of his sleep being interrupted midway.

Keegan rubbed his eyes as his mind struggled to catch up to the present.

"Shut up. We have a meeting in five. It's important." Amamiya glared fiercely at him before turning on her heels and strutting off.

Keegan yawned loudly and stretched his back.

"Hmm, five minutes. Should be enough time for a bath..." He murmured as he picked around for some decent looking clothes... As decent as his clothes could get anyway.

A few minutes later, the door to the Captain's quarters swung open and Keegan stepped out. He held his dark cloak close to his body to keep the bite of the cold wind at bay as he walked across the deck. The meeting room was just below deck.

"Mornin' Cap'n!" A few crew members called out to him as he walked by. Keegan waved in their direction before descending below the deck. It was considerably warmer below the deck when compared to above for obvious reasons.

Creak~

The door to the meeting room creaked slightly as Keegan pushed it open. Inside the room, three other people were settled, each of them were captains of the ships that accompanied the Midnight's Tragedy. Amamiya glared at him while the other captains merely nodded their heads at him when he stepped in.

Unlike usual, the atmosphere in the room was tense and stifling. Keegan frowned before deciding to speak up.

"What's with the mood? I'm here now, cheer up!" He grinned widely before his smile abruptly crashed. The ship swayed beneath his feet and his face lost its color.

The two other men in the room cracked small smiles while Amamiya spoke up, "I was wondering how long it'll take to kick in." She smirked.

"How-how could you?! You poisoned me!" Keegan gasped as he raised his head up to glare at the three.

Amamiya just rolled her eyes in response, "Enough with the drama, Keegan. There's a bucket in the corner if you need it." She turned back to the strategic map that was placed on the large table that occupied the center of the room.

Keegan, meanwhile, rushed to the bucket before promptly emptying the contents of his stomach into it. What happened here was very simple. Keegan had motion sickness!

After wiping his mouth and directing a glare at each of his captains, Keegan took his place at the head of the table.

"So what's wrong?" He folded his arms before him.

Amamiya was holding a cane in her hand. She used it to point at their main base of operations. She then used it to push some small wooden figurines that were shaped like boats to the spot where their base was. These boats were painted in the colors of the Hopsinian flag.

"The Hopsinian Military have found our base of operations and launched a siege against it." Amamiya stated flatly.

A deep frown instantly grew on Keegan's face. "How fierce is their offensive?"

"They mobilized a third of the entire Hopsinian Army."

"Damn it!" Keegan slammed his fist on the table. "We might still be able to make it before the fort falls. We're only a day away and since we're on the defending side, the fort should be able to last a couple of days."

"Cap'n. You don't understand." One of the men spoke up. His muscly arms were lined with tattoos, much more than those that Keegan bore. His stature was massive, standing at an astounding 6'7. His golden tan and dirty blond hair made him stand out among pirates. He looked like too much of a snob to be a pirate. No one knew his story, except for Keegan and Amamiya. He went by Dreyfus.

"They're obviously trying to lure us in. Heck, they're most likely after you!" Dreyfus continued.

"I know what they're playing at. We have enough ships. Even if we can stall them for a day, then that'll buy enough time for the reinforcements from our other forts to get there and pound them to dust!"

Although pirates made sure to keep their hidden forts far enough from each other to make sure they weren't discovered on a large scale at once, they were still placed close enough to ensure they could provide support to each other in times of need.

Of course, pirates were by no means a cohesive group, but under the lead of the Dreaded Blade, and their need to show the law enforcers that a cornered beast will always lash out, they would gladly deal a mighty blow to the military to ensure their freedom.

"You're underestimating the military, Captain." The last man in the room spoke up. He was a skinny person in every sense of the word. He wore a hooded cloak that obscured his features from view. No one except Keegan knew his name, so everyone just referred to him as Amasu. He was known for his skills at assassination. If you were marked by him, there was every chance you would die a miserable death, even if you were surrounded by bodyguards. Tattoos of slithering snakes ran along what little exposed skin that was on his arm.

"I am not underestimating them, rather, they are underestimating us." Keegan growled. From a carefree attitude, his mood had rapidly soured, causing him to throw his carefree attitude to the wind. "Order the crew to set sail for Willow's Creek. Full speed. There's no time to waste." Keegan turned and walked out of the room, not intending to listen to the complaints of his subordinates. Amasu could only just shake his head in silence. Dreyfus sighed and Amamiya rolled her eyes at Keegan's headstrong attitude.

The three stepped out of the room, only to see Keegan slumped against the wall outside. The floor beneath them rocked and Keegan's shoulders quivered. All three cracked small smiles before promptly ignoring him and leaving to their various ships to inform their crew of the orders.

***

The fleet of ships sailed through the sea at a fast pace. The area around the ships seamed to be slightly distorted. It was an effect of advanced Spellcraft which allowed them to move at speeds that were faster than they could usually move at. This effect came at the expense of the durability of the ships, but it was a worthy tradeoff, as the durability of the ships would mostly drop by 3-5 percent at most.

This application of Spellcraft was a combined spell that was put into action by Dreyfus and Keegan. Keegan's mastery of the laws of the universe allowed him to manipulated the water around the ships to make way for their fleet, while Dreyfus' application of Spellcraft centered around making things lighter and faster. The combination of these two gave the ships of their fleet an edge in speed, boosting their speed about 30 percent higher than normal.

It took roughly a day for the fleet of ships to arrive on the outskirts of Fort Indigo, the base of operations of the Dreaded Blade's pirate group, The Nether Ghosts. Over the course of the journey, the weather had turned increasingly more terrible, drenching not just the pirates, but also their moods. Every pirate was in a horrible mood and was therefore ready to take out their angers and frustrations of the military troops of Hopsina.

In the distance, flashed of light and dull sounds of explosions could be spotted from afar. The battle was still ongoing.

Keegan endured his stirring stomach that was caused by the rocking of the ship as he took firm and strong steps across the deck. He had just finished a last moment meeting with the three captains that served beneath him. Although they no longer complained about the possibility of them being ambushed, they still expressed their dissatisfaction.

Pirates were running across the deck, making last minute preparations before they came in range of the military fleet. The fleet adopted a loose formation that gave them enough leeway for maneuvering while still covering each other's backs. Over thirty well armored ships cruised over the unsteady sea as one veritable army as they approached Fort Indigo.

The fog overhead cleared up gradually the closer they got to the Fort. An army of military warships was currently in a deadlock with the few remaining ships of the pirate fort. The defenses of the Fort constantly shot out cannonballs and explosives with the installed mortars that were lining the walls. Ships sunk every minute and the guttural screams of desperate men and women echoed through the thick, hot air.

Keegan wiped the rain that was pouring down his face, pushing aside his locks of dark hair along with it. He frowned as he studied the scene before him. Something didn't feel right. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

Before he could ponder upon the issue, a series of footsteps sounded behind him. Amamiya came to a stop behind him, this time, without a glare on her face.

"It's bad, Keegan. The Fort is almost overwhelmed and something else is wrong. A quarter of the enemy fleet is missing." A frown grew on her face as she explained the situation. Before she could continue, both of them paused, a haunting feeling creeping on them. The air around them grew volatile and full of energy with each passing moment. Even with the harsh downpour of rain, it made Keegan's droopy hair stand on end as though it was influenced by static electricity.

Before any of them could react to the sudden changes, a loud boom resounded across the deck and the ship was tossed and rocked by something substantially weighty. Keegan's eyes grew wide like saucers as he noticed what was wrong. The missing quarter of the enemy's fleet had appeared right in the middle of their ranks!

Screams tore through the throats of the pirates as they regained their composure and fired the cannons that were mounted all around the ship.

BOOM!

Wood splintered and broke apart under the assault of dozens of cannonballs. The enemy fleet didn't sit idle and watch as their ships were ripped apart either. They retaliated with their own cannons while their men attempted to board the pirate ships. The pirates retaliated in kind, also boarding their ships and so, a mass slaughter commenced!

Blood, decapitated limbs, headless bodies, innards, and all sorts of gore decorated the decks of ships and the surrounding waters. Even as the rain pounded upon the ships, the blood was just too much to wash away!

"Dreaded Blade!" A deep voice boomed across the deck of the Midnight's Tragedy. A large burly man with a large sword strapped to his back and a smaller one strapped to his waist stood on the deck below the area where Amamiya and Keegan stood. A long scar ran down the man's face to his neck, giving him a ghastly look.

"Hahaha!" Keegan burst into laughter as he saw the man. It was one of his old enemies. His name was Cinnan, and he had been on of the people who had hindered Keegan when he first became a pirate lord. Keegan exchanged a look with Amamiya, signaling for her to go and assist the other pirates in repelling the attackers that were boarding the ship. Her domain of Spellcraft was more suited towards such a role.

Keegan leaped down from his higher vantage point, landing lightly on the deck of the ship. Without wasting any time, he dashed towards Cinnan, eager to get the fight over. Normally, he would taunt Cinnan, but this wasn't the time. His men needed him.

The drops of rain seemed to part before him, carving out a path for him to move along, as though making way for the king. In one fluid motion, he pulled out his sword from the scabbard that was strapped to his waist, twisting and thrusting it at Cinnan.

Cinnan responded in kind, swinging his already exposed sword to redirect Keegan's thrust. Gold clashed against purple in a dazzling display of might. Keegan's deep purple sword seemed to swallow all the light around it while Cinnan's sword shone with a golden luster.

The pair clashed multiple times in the span of a few seconds, always repositioning themselves for an optimal strike or block. When they both noticed they were in a stalemate, the both halted in their movements, locking their eyes for a brief moment.

"You've gotten better." Keegan's eyes flashed.

"And you've stagnated." Cinnan bit back.

"Oh have I?" Keegan smirked before his form abruptly blurred. Cinnan's eyes widened slightly and he took a quick step back just as the purple blade of Keegan's sword swung down before him.

"Phantom Step?!" Cinnan was horrified. Phantom Step was a forbidden technique that was as harmful to the body as it provided inhumane speed and reflex. For Keegan to be able to use it without much preparation meant that he had completely grasped the essence of this art.

"Damn your Spellcraft! I'm taking you down today!" Cinnan rushed at Keegan, only for Keegan to blur multiple times, easily evading the hulking brute.

In just a few moments, several bloody gashes were already covering Cinnan's body. Keegan blurred back into reality as Cinnan fell to his knees. The hulking brute coughed up blood as he pressed his hand to his side to stem the bleeding there. His shaky eyes were staring warily at Keegan as the pirate lord took a few steps forward.

"Time to die, Cinnan. Don't worry, I'll see you in the afterlife." Keegan smiled coyly as he swung his sword down.

Just as he did, he caught a faint twitch of Cinnan's lip. He instantly aborted his strike and leaped backwards. Sadly, it was all for naught.

"I'll take you down with me!" Cinnan yelled at the top of his lungs as his body swelled. His tan skin darkened to a purple shade before he instantly blew! The explosion expanded until it overtook all the ships that were entangled in battle there.

With a dazzling bright light, every ship, man, and cargo was consumed by the explosion. The pirates who were expecting their savior in the form of the Dreaded Blade could only watch on with smothered hopes as not even a stray cloth was left in the water from the explosion.

That rainy night, Fort Indigo fell, and the pirate lord, Dreaded Blade, was put down. For good.