Plunge—
The boy heard the distinct sound of a knife sinking deep into flesh.
Jis, expecting a surge of hot pain in his eye, had his eyes tightly shut.
"Longlong?"
At that moment, Jis heard Longlong's voice close to his ear. Suddenly, he felt his body being thrust backwards.
"Ugh!!"
Propelled backwards as if driven by the force of the wind cloak, Jis opened his eyes. In front of him, he saw a walrus-like sailor, groaning as a knife had pierced his foot.
"Thank you, Longlong!"
Longlong, who Jis had expected to abandon him and run, instead had stealthily come to his rescue.
Flash—
Rumble!
Lightning struck again near the pirate ship, followed by a resounding clap of thunder.
As if the thunder was a signal, the pirates resumed their attack and chase.
Jis and Longlong, as if following a prearranged plan, split up and ran in different directions.
Chichi was nowhere to be seen, likely observing from a safe location.
The storm intensified, igniting fiery waves that thrashed wildly around the pirate ship.
"Chichi~! What should I do?"
Jis, half-flying, half-running across the deck, was eagerly awaiting instructions from Chichi.
At that moment, a towering wave, large enough to engulf the ship, approached like a slowly descending screen.
Soon after, the wave hit the ship, tilting it sideways as it was simultaneously pushed by a strong gust of wind. The ship tilted so much it was almost parallel with the water's surface.
"Woo hoo?"
Caught off balance, two or three walrus-like sailors tumbled into the swirling sea.
Splash, Splash—
Watching his men fall into the sea, the captain clung to the mast and urgently shouted,
"Cut the top mast!"
At his command, two pirates rushed forward with axes to sever the topmast.
This allowed the ship, previously teetering on its side, to right itself once more.
The square sails were already torn to shreds, and the four masts were so badly damaged that not one was left in a usable state.
"Woo hoo— Woo hoo—"
The walrus-like sailors, seemingly unbothered by their fall into the sea, swam with animalistic ease, even appearing to enjoy themselves. They even managed to leap back onto the pirate ship as the waves surged beneath them.
However, with the sail strings loosened and entangled, dragging the pirates into the sea, escape seemed impossible for the walrus-like sailors.
"Reduce the sail's resistance to the wind! Tie down the sails!"
Captain Ozma desperately issued orders to prevent the ship from capsizing.
In the midst of all this, another wave — massive enough to once again engulf the ship — crashed into the front of the vessel!
Splash—
Crack—
The foremast, already fractured in half, snapped as if a furious wave had snatched a twig.
As the broken mast smashed into the side of the ship, several pirates who had fallen from the rigging were caught between the mast and the ship's hull, crushed instantly.
"Oh, my God... Do I get crushed like that if I do something wrong?"
Jis was staring blankly at the grisly scene when Chichi's voice cut through his shock.
"Wake up, idiot! Are you just going to stand there, dazed?"
Without knowing when she had appeared, Chichi grabbed Jis' hair, buffeted by the wind and rain, and yelled, soaring above him.
"We must get to the lifeboat tied at the back of the ship!"
Only then did Jis understand what he needed to do. He urgently called out to Longlong.
"Hey, Longlong! Let's head to the back of the ship!"
The pirates, despite the chaos, were steadily following the captain's instructions, waddling in an almost routine manner through the emergency.
The problem was they were also attempting to cut loose the lifeboat that Jis and his group planned to use!
"No way!"
In alarm, Jis took the knife from Longlong's hand and sprinted forward.
He charged towards the walrus-like sailor who was poised to sever the rope with his hand axe, plunging his knife into the sailor's side!
"Woo hoo?"
Thud—
The walrus-like sailor glanced down at the boy as though he'd been tickled in the side. With a swift motion, he swung his hand axe and severed the rope.
"Why is your skin so thick...…"
One of the pirates, annoyed at Jis's failed attempt to penetrate the tough skin of the walrus-like sailor, swung his own hand axe.
Thud—
Struck by the flat side of the axe, Jis tumbled sideways, rolling across the deck under the force of the waves.
"Coughing— Coughing— Ah… I can't believe my ankle is tangled in a sail line... This is a miracle!"
The real issue, though, was that the sail line refused to come undone.
The line, soaked in sea water and tangled around his ankle, was growing increasingly tight.
"Hey, Longlong! Come over here with that knife!"
Longlong, busy dodging a pirate's hand axe attack, spun around and raced towards Jis in response to his urgent cry.
"Ugh! Cut it! Cut it! Please cut it!"
The thick sail rope was slowly being cut through with the knife that Longlong had brought.
However, the robust rope was wound around his ankles in multiple layers, making the cutting process painfully slow.
With a sense of urgency growing, Jis noticed a pirate waddling over to him.
Before long, the pirate was standing right in front of him, brandishing a hand axe towards the boy's head.
Crack— Crack—
Frightened, Jis rolled his body, using the sail rope that was still coiled around his ankle, to evade the axe.
The hand axe struck down a second time, and by the time it came down for the third time, the sail rope finally snapped!
It was then that Jis heard Chichi's voice once again, which had faded from his ears.
"Climb the mast!"
As the pirate's attack persisted, the boy rolled across the deck to dodge the blows and began climbing a nearby mast.
When Jis tried to call Longlong, he saw that Longlong had retreated into the ship's cabin to avoid the pirates' assault.
"Longlong, it's dangerous in there!"
"Hey! You're in more danger right now? Get up there, dummy!"
Upon Chichi's advice, Jis looked down and saw walrus-like sailors slowly, but steadily, climbing up the mast after him.
He noticed that the pirate, hand axe in one hand, wore a smile on his face, as though he was finding the situation amusing.
"Hey! You want to die, kid?"
From within the ship's cabin, the shrill voice of the witch, who was awakened by Longlong, echoed sharply.
Regardless, Jis continued to frantically climb the mast.
"We're in trouble, Chichi! The lifeboat has been swept away...."
From his perch atop the mast, Jis could see the lifeboat being tossed about by the furious waves.
Around the pirate ship, the severed masts were being carried away by the waves, only to return and hit the ship's sides.
"If I were to jump into the sea now...."
At that moment, a chilling thought made the boy shudder. He had wound an anchor rope around his body and could almost feel the imagined impact of crashing into the mast.
Looking down from his perch on the mast, Jis could see the bow of the ship almost completely submerged.
With each wave that struck, he could see the masts, tethered by anchor ropes, slamming into the ship's bow.
Meanwhile, the sailors, resembling sea elephants, were slowly ascending the mast, blinking their wide and innocent eyes.
"What should we do? They're right in front of us now, Chichi!"
But just at that moment, the bad weather seemed to be on Jis's side.
A powerful wave rocked the pirate ship, spewing froth and bubbles. Each massive wave that hit caused the pirates climbing the mast to lose their grip and fall.
Despite the battering wind, rain, and waves, some pirates managed to climb all the way to the top. Pirates were flooding up from below like a torrent, making the idea of jumping into the sea seem like certain death.
"Hey! Don't bring that out!"
Suddenly, Longlong emerged from the shipper's cabin, clutching a fist-sized bead in his hand. It appeared like a blue pearl with a smooth, glossy surface.
The witch, hot on Longlong's heels, burst out of the cabin, whistling and screaming.
"Whoosh! Lupus Nĭger, come forth!"
Crack—
A dark red light spilled from beneath the deck, and something began to rise through the wooden planks.
The color darkened, and a wolf-shaped creature emerged.
"Wow! It's truly remarkable every time I see it," said Captain Ozma in admiration.
Contrarily, the sailors, who resembled sea elephants, seemed panicked and disoriented by the appearance of the Arctic wolf, as large as a bull.
Some fell twisting their ankles, others screamed and jumped into the sea.
The fur, once as white as Arctic snowflakes, now took on a dark red hue, standing out even more.
The witch, coming up to the side of the black wolf, caressed its stained rough coat and pointed towards Longlong.
"Doesn't he look tasty? Now's the time. Go, attack!"
At the witch's command, the black wolf, seemingly disoriented for a moment, shook its head then launched forward like an arrow.
Growl—
In contrast to its massive size, the black wolf exhibited remarkable agility.
Its movements reminiscent of a nimble cat navigating a thin, rugged branch.
The wolf appeared accustomed to the chase of small prey.
Relentlessly, the black wolf pursued Longlong, who was dodging like a squirrel, pushing the small boy to a corner where evasion was no longer possible.
The little one tried persistently to find an escape, shifting his body, but the black wolf was gradually gaining the upper hand in speed.
"Longlong, get up the mast!"
"Ah? The mast is a dead end, why are you asking him to climb up there, Chichi…?"
"Huh! I've got a plan!"
Chichi's voice echoed, and Longlong, looking up, smiled. Then he started to climb the mast on the opposite side.
Like a predator unwilling to lose its prey, the black wolf quickly pursued Longlong up the mast.
It was reminiscent of a Maine Coon cat climbing a tree.
Once he reached a certain height, Longlong scampered to the mast just like a flying squirrel, with Jis in tow.
To my astonishment, the massive black wolf also made a light jump, akin to a cat, and navigated its way to the mast where the boy was perched.
Longlong, who emerged just below Jis, hanging from the mast, rapidly climbed onto the boy's back.
Gazing into the distant sea, Longlong moved restlessly, seemingly free of fear now.
The wolf had now reached close to the boy's feet. The pale eyes of the black wolf gleamed ominously with a bloody hue.
"Chichi!"
"Jump off, Jis!"
Upon hearing Chichi's cry, the boy leapt from the mast without a second thought.
"What? No, Chichi! If we plunge into the sea like this, we're all doomed—!"
The boy's desperate screams echoed amidst the tempestuous sea.
Flap— Flap—
Contrary to Jis's fears, his body was soaring through the sky!
The torrential downpour and ferocious winds made balancing a challenge, but fortunately, it didn't pose any major issue.
ROAR—
The wolf made a leaping attack, mirroring Jis's movements. However, with a twist of his body, the boy was swept away by the powerful winds and rain.
Splash—
Conversely, the wingless black wolf plunged into the sea, instantly engulfed by the raging waves.
"We're alive, Chichi! You're amazing, as always!"
"Ha! I told you I had a plan. See? hee-hee~"
All that remained was to navigate to the lifeboat drifting far off in the distance.
However, just then, an abnormal current of air pushed down on the boy from above.
"Argh!"
Three voices screamed out in unison as they crashed into the sea, only to rise again, tracing a parabolic path.
"Tsk-tsk, I must have applied too little power."
It was the voice of the witch. Glancing back at the pirate ship, they saw the western sea witch, one hand raised towards Jis, stirring the air.
"Aaaaaah! Not this way, that way!"
The boy's airborne body fluttered like a kite, jerked this way and that by the irregular currents of air.
Longlong too let out an odd scream, seemingly in sync with the erratic motion.
"Eeeeek!"
The boy joined in, shouting in sync.
"Aargh—!"