Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1954: Distressed Merchant Ship

High above the battling ships, Quinlan was still studying his water lens when Aurora gave his arm a pinch.

"Quin, please stop joking. You can’t be thinking of becoming a pirate."

"They must have maps."

"And people hunting them. We don’t even know which country we’re near. Would you like our first introduction to be someone trying to arrest us?"

Ayame leaned against his other shoulder, smiling far too sweetly.

"Perhaps an imperial fleet. We could ask them for directions while they kill us."

"Baby..." Lucille shook her head, smiling slyly. "You won’t have your way this time, I’m afraid."

"You wanted to keep a low profile," Seraphiel reminded him. "You know I’m always down to have a fun adventure, but this... I struggle to see the appeal."

"..." Quinlan remained silent, listening to all the opinions of his women.

He wanted to visit unfamiliar cities with his family, find worthwhile fights, and learn how people lived beyond Iskaris.

Beginning that journey on a wanted ship would make everything considerably more annoying.

Through the lens, a Fomorian spat into his lower palm and used it to smooth the greasy hair above his tusks. He then wiped the hand down a crewmate’s back.

Vex stared.

"Hubby, fair warning. No sex while we’re near such filthy pigs."

"Blossom can smell them from here."

His dogkin sounded personally wronged.

Quinlan chuckled and curved the breeze away from her face.

"Alright. It was just an idea."

"A sensible choice," Serika approved. "And we can still take the pirates’ things."

Kaelira glanced at the mounted bow again.

"If it survives..."

Below them, the gargoyle launched itself at the red-coated captain. Their collision buckled the pirate vessel’s foredeck.

"[Crushing Depths]!" the Fomorian roared, curling his lower fingers inward as seawater closed around the winged fighter.

Lilith leaned forward, her smile widening at the violence beneath them.

Quinlan kept the family above the clouds while he watched the other pirates. Several had stopped firing to support their captain. Others were slipping over the rail, their blue-gray bodies disappearing beneath the surface.

They were still very close to their own ship.

"Vex, could you conceal us?"

"Of course~"

His Hexwitch cast [Hex of Null Presence] over their group. Beside him, Black Fang was following the swimmers with her eyes.

"Once they can see us, let’s use the spell names and gestures," Quinlan said. "I’d rather hear about their magic before they start asking questions."

Kitsara grinned. "Time to put on a performance!"

Quinlan drew his companions closer with his wind. The water below was full of people who could fight while swimming and cast while using their weapons.

He watched the swimmers as he lowered his companions, keeping the merchant ship between them and the mounted bow.

...

Captain Narethi felt the wheel lurch against her coils as another enchanted bolt struck her ship’s barrier.

*BOOM!*

Light burst over the port rail. Her human first mate threw himself against a wounded sailor, taking them both beneath the splinters flying off the mast.

Narethi pressed harder against the crystal beside the helm. Mana burned through her palm as she fed the barrier, trying to keep the suspended seawater from collapsing onto her people.

"[Water Shield]!"

She traced a circle over the crystal with her free hand. Light spread from its inscriptions into the barrier, thickening the section beneath the hanging sea.

"Can we reach anyone?" she called toward the companionway.

The gnome crouched there had the distress artifact open across her knees. Its copper rings spun around a cloudy crystal, emitting a harsh whine.

"I’m trying!"

The gnome twisted one ring. A voice crackled inside the crystal, and Narethi’s heart leaped.

Then a shriek of interference drowned it out.

Across the water, violet light pulsed from a forked metal rod fixed beneath the pirates’ flag. The artifact on the gnome’s knees answered with another screech.

"They’re blocking us! Captain, they’ve got a jammer!"

Narethi stared at the rod.

Of course they did. They had caught her far from the shipping lanes, damaged her sails, and forced her to spend her magic defending the vessel. Now they could take their time killing everyone aboard.

"Keep trying. Please. Even a location would be enough."

The gnome bent over her instrument again.

Narethi looked toward the pirate deck, where Garron was wrenching his wings free of the water surrounding him. Her gargoyle drove his forehead into the captain’s face, breaking the Fomorian’s concentration with a spray of blood.

"Yes!" her first mate shouted, hauling the wounded sailor toward the hatch. "Garron! Get the bastard!"

The captain staggered. His shield caught the gargoyle’s next punch, bending inward, while his sword opened a dark wound across Garron’s abdomen.

Before her defender could strike again, the pirates beside the mounted bow thrust their lower palms toward him.

"[Tidal Hammer]!"

Their spells hammered Garron from both sides, crushing him between converging masses of water.

His roar reached Narethi through the crash. She saw a wing fold at an awful angle as the spells hurled him back toward her ship.

"[Rising Tide]!" Narethi lifted her free hand while keeping the other against the crystal. Her wave caught Garron and guided his fall onto the deck. Even slowed, his impact broke the planks beneath him.

"Garron!"

The gargoyle pushed himself up on one elbow. Dark blood poured between his fingers where he clutched his stomach.

"Still... here."

Narethi wanted to get to him. He was trying to stand, and she could see the crack widening across his middle every time he moved.

But the barrier was dimming beneath her hand.

The pirate captain tore the crushed shield off his arm and reached for another. His men were laughing as they passed it to him.

The bounty notices put him and his spear-carrier close to their hundredth levels. Garron could fight either of them, but the rest of the raiders kept joining in, and her own crew could barely keep them off the ship.

A deep crack sounded beneath Narethi’s coils.

The deck dropped.

"They’re in the water!" someone screamed from below. "The hull!"

Narethi unwound herself from the stern helm and drove her tail against the boards, racing toward the open cargo hatch in the middle of the main deck.

She remained above it, leaning over the frame to see into the hold. Below her, seawater burst through the shattered side of the hull.

Their kobold carpenter was pinned beneath a sliding crate.

"[Water Wall]!"

She spread her fingers toward the breach below, catching the incoming water with her spell. The flow slowed, trembling against her resistance, and the carpenter dragged his trapped leg clear.

"Can you brace it?" she asked him. "I’ll hold the water."

He looked at the gap where the sea should have been outside his workplace.

"I’ll need timber!"

Her first mate was already shouting for it. A lynxkin sailor shoved a length down through the hatch, then dropped after it with a hammer between her teeth.

Narethi poured more mana into the breach. Her chest hurt with every breath, and the pressure against her spell kept growing.

Through the suspended water, she saw the spear-carrier watching her.

He grinned, gills spreading along his sides, and drew his lower palms together before thrusting them toward the opening.

"[Crushing Current]!"

The sea surged inward under his spell, forcing Narethi’s water wall back toward the carpenter.

"Ngh!"

Narethi slid backward across the deck. She wrapped her tail around the hatch frame and strained against his magic, feeling the wood splinter beneath her coils.

Above her, the barrier failed.

"Oh no..."

Hooks bit into the rail. The remaining arch of seawater collapsed over the deck, knocking sailors from their feet as the pirates began hauling their ship closer.

Garron got in front of the first boarder. His fist shattered the Fomorian’s shield, but another pirate landed behind him and buried an axe between his wing and shoulder.

"Garron, behind you!"

He turned, dragging the axe-wielder with him, and struck the man against the mast.

The spear-carrier forced another surge through the hole below.

Narethi’s spell gave a little farther. Water slammed into the carpenter’s knees, knocking him down before the lynxkin grabbed his collar.

They were going to die down there because she couldn’t hold it.

Her first mate was calling her name. He had blood all over his face, and he was pointing toward the stern, toward the boat they could still lower.

She looked at the sea full of Fomorians.

There was nowhere she could send her people. Even if she abandoned the cargo and somehow got them over the side, the pirates would catch them in the water.

Fear made her breath catch painfully. She had brought them out here. They were still answering her, still trying to save her ship, and she couldn’t even give them a direction to run.

"Captain!"

"I know!" she cried. "I know, just..."

The pressure suddenly vanished.

"What happened?!"