Chapter 854

As the fairies’ and beastfolk’s eyes widened, Diana immediately said, "That’s an excellent plan!"

While her expression remained hidden behind her mask, her tone made it clear she was just as delighted as the other fairies.

Meanwhile, Palmer narrowed his lone eye and asked, "Are you saying you intend to stay behind and defend the ship until the very end, Priest?"

"Well, it’s better than getting attacked again. Besides, from the looks of it—" Shrugging casually, Miguel turned toward the starboard railing.

The Crimson Coral Reef was slowly moving forward under oar power now. They were obviously trying to position themselves between the approaching smuggling ships.

Watching the distant vessels drawing closer while battling the pirates, Miguel continued, "The process of transferring everyone over doesn’t look simple either. Those ships might slow down a little for us, but there’s no way they’ll stop completely and wait."

Fortunately, neither ship had activated its magical devices yet. It was unclear if this was because they had noticed something wrong with the ship or if they were worried about the devices being targeted.

"The fairies won’t have any trouble. Once those ships get close enough, we can transfer ourselves easily."

After glancing toward the fairies, Diana suddenly let out a low snort.

"Though I can’t say the same for the beastfolk."

Several beastfolk frowned at her while Nehat said, "Anything you pointy-ears can do, we can do too. And far more easily at that."

The beastfolk nodded pointedly while the fairies either scoffed or slowly shook their heads.

That was when Yalo’s hoarse shout rang out from behind them. "Stop! We halt here! Drop every anchor!"

Miguel turned toward Nehat and Palmer. "Then I guess the only thing left is getting the sailors transferred too. We can’t exactly abandon them here. Pretty sure the Demigod would chew us out for that."

Palmer and Nehat flicked their tongues and exchanged glances. Their reaction alone made Miguel suppress a dry laugh.

It was obvious neither of them had considered the sailors at all. Judging by their reactions, the fairies likely hadn’t either. Of course, unlike the beastfolk, perhaps they had fully intended to abandon them knowingly.

Pretending not to notice, Miguel looked back toward the beastfolk lieutenants and added, "The ones using ropes are going to have to work harder. Think you can manage?"

Licking his lips, Palmer continued, "There are around thirty people, so moving everyone won’t be easy. We’ll hook ropes onto this ship and carry them over one at a time. If the ships get close enough, we might even manage two at once."

"So you’re saying you’re not sure everyone can make it," muttering, Miguel glanced toward the central mast before freezing.

His eyes had met Yalo’s. The captain had clearly been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Time really is the problem," Nehat said quietly.

As Miguel deliberately looked away, she added, "If the ships over there can reduce their speed just a little more, it should be possible."

"Ugh..." Letting out a groan, Miguel looked back beyond the starboard railing.

However, no matter how he looked at it, those smuggling ships didn’t seem capable of slowing down much.

Pirates riding sea creatures still circled them relentlessly, while swarms of sea creatures crowded behind them.

Bwooooo—

Thanks to Lily’s spell, the distance had widened again, but the monsters were still pursuing them while unleashing those bizarre shrieks. And behind them, the fleet fused with mutated sea creatures continued spreading wider as it advanced.

"Terua! Bring the men to the mast! You know what needs to be done, right? Hurry! Before those bastards activate the magical devices again!"

"Understood, Captain!"

Yalo’s and Terua’s voices brushed past Miguel’s ears as he clicked his tongue.

Yalo almost sounded like he was intentionally making sure Miguel heard him.

"Well, I think there might be a way to buy us a little time," Diana said in a somewhat reluctant tone. Her eyes narrowed behind the mask as she looked down at Lily, whom she held under one arm.

The girl kept tapping Diana’s forearm insistently while staring up at her.

As Miguel turned back toward her, Nehat asked with gleaming eyes, "You’re planning to use your relic’s power to send the mage over there first, right?"

Diana let out a sigh before nodding reluctantly. "Yeah."

Glancing at Lily as she stopped her hand, Miguel asked, "Uh, can you really do it? If Lily’s supposed to buy time with her spells, you’ll need to get her over there quickly."

He couldn’t help feeling uneasy. The sea beneath the thick fog looked so ominous that anyone who fell into it might never surface again.

Looking out past the starboard railing, Diana answered, her voice subdued, "I can’t say for certain. As you know, it hasn’t been that long since I started using this relic."

Just as Miguel let out another groan, Lily deliberately waved the magic staff she held in one hand.

With her usual blank expression, she alternated her gaze between Miguel and Diana.

"You’ll help if things go wrong?"

At Miguel’s question, Lily nodded.

Smacking his lips uneasily, Miguel added, "Are you sure you’ll be alright? You’ve already pushed yourself hard enough."

Lily had already cast several large-scale spells. From Miguel’s perspective, she looked like she could collapse from magical exhaustion at any moment.

However, Lily simply nodded again as though it were nothing.

Looking toward Diana as though resigned, Miguel asked, "In that case, could you head to the Black Wave? Since Brother is gone, I’m thinking I should head there too."

Diana let out another sigh before nodding. "I’ll try."

"Good. Drop the mage off at the Black Wave first, then return to the Great Chieftain," Nehat immediately cut in.

Diana frowned visibly through the gaps in her mask and turned toward her, but Nehat continued calmly, "If you relay our situation, she’ll come up with an appropriate response."

"You think it’s really that easy? And stop ordering me around, you beast!" Diana spat bitterly under her breath before suddenly faltering. She had met Miguel’s eyes.

Awkwardly wetting his lips, Miguel carefully said, "It sounds like a good idea though.... Would it be too difficult?"

"Sigh... fuck. Fine," Diana squeezed her eyes shut as she muttered the reply, then nodded.

Immediately afterward, Nehat bared her fangs and added, "If you die, it’ll inconvenience us too. So make sure you succeed, Pointy-Ear."

Diana opened her eyes again but didn’t bother responding. She merely stared beyond the railing as though measuring the distance while slowly backing away. At the same time, she adjusted Lily higher in her arms.

Miguel nodded after meeting Lily’s gaze, then stepped slightly aside.

"The ones with the ropes stay here... the rest of you, handle things however you see fit," he added while looking toward Palmer and Nehat, pulling a pouch filled with ash from his robes.

As he opened the pouch wide and poured some onto his prosthetic arm, Palmer turned toward the gathered fairies and beastfolk. "Split yourselves between the bow and stern. This isn’t a competition, so don’t get reckless trying to jump farther."

The beastfolk nodded while the fairies exchanged glances and moved first, splitting left and right. The beastfolk naturally divided into two groups and followed after them.

Fwoosh...

Meanwhile, Miguel drew a hand ax and carefully sprinkled the ash across the blade.

Sparks began spreading through the ash as it landed on the blade, followed by the faint bloom of the Sacred Flame of Passion.

The sight alone made the beastfolk gripping ropes and hooks widen their eyes.

Meeting Palmer’s gaze, Miguel lightly swung the flame-covered ax and said, "I’ve gotta keep pretending to be a purifier, don’t I? If you’re gonna fool someone, might as well do it properly."

"I see." Palmer nodded.

"Now I finally understand why the Demigod entrusted you with command," Nehat added with admiration in her voice.

"I’m just copying him." Letting out an awkward laugh, Miguel tucked the pouch away again.

At the same time, he glanced toward the rear of the ship.

"Stop pulling! Just hold it there!"

By now, only one side of the central mast’s sail had been raised diagonally. Several sailors, including the first mate Terua, were securing the sails with ropes.

"That’s a signal that the ship’s damaged." A raspy voice rang out just then.

Startled, Miguel lowered his gaze.

The gaunt Kurdian captain, Yalo, was approaching. "Just anchoring ourselves like this will already tip them off, of course... but it’s better to make it obvious. They’ll probably come closer to us."

Miguel snorted. "That’s assuming they haven’t forgotten we were the ones who broke formation and rushed ahead first."

After all, the reason they’d pushed ahead by activating the magic device again had been because of Yalo.

"But thanks to that, the mage was able to cast her spells freely, wasn’t she? They should know that," Yalo replied shamelessly.

He stopped in front of Miguel and lightly bowed his head, both hands clasped before his chest. "I happened to overhear your conversation. But you have my sincere gratitude for deciding to save even us, Priest."

"Well, I only did what anyone should’ve done."

Just as Miguel shrugged, Palmer raised an arm to block him.

"They’re coming."

That must’ve been why Diana, who had retreated all the way to the port-side railing, suddenly sprinted across the deck. As she rushed past while holding Lily in her arms, a fierce gust swept across Miguel.

The sacred flame flickering around the ax blazed violently.

Swoosh, thud!

Diana kicked off the starboard railing and literally launched herself into the air.

Tilting his head upward, Miguel unconsciously held his breath as he tracked her retreating figure.

Diana, already distant, suddenly kicked off the empty air again. Miguel’s eyes widened when she soared even higher, seeming to accelerate further.

Then, after flipping through the air to regain her balance, she glided like a bird with Lily in her arms, heading straight for the Black Wave, where the battle against the demonic pirates still raged.

Bwooooooo—

Even while gliding, she twisted repeatedly to avoid the blue streaks carving through the sky.

Miguel’s eyes twitched because it looked as though she might overshoot the ship entirely. She had already passed over the deck and still hadn’t stopped gliding.

"To think she actually pulled that off.... Not bad," Nehat muttered, a hint of laughter in her voice, as Diana secured her landing on the Black Wave.

Palmer glanced at her, likely noticing the strange tone.

"Phew..." Only after Diana dropped safely onto the deck of the Black Wave did Miguel finally let out a sigh of relief. He’d been so tense that sweat dampened his grip on the ax handle.

"Congratulations, Priest...." That was when Yalo’s amused voice drifted in from beside him.

Only then did Miguel realize that the man still hadn’t left.

Slightly narrowing his brow, he turned toward him. "Do you still need something?"

"Yes. I do have one very small favor left to ask," Yalo answered without losing the smile on his lips.

Miguel jerked his chin slightly, signaling him to continue.

Slowly stroking his beard, Yalo asked, "Would it be possible to send my first mate and me to the ships first? It would make it much easier to manage the sailors if they ended up split apart."

Miguel narrowed his eyes, then slowly curled one corner of his mouth upward. He had figured out the man’s true intention.

"Fine. But in return, make sure the sailors here transfer out smoothly without causing trouble."

"Underst— Excuse me?" Yalo nodded automatically before belatedly frowning in confusion. Even the hand stroking his beard came to a halt.

Pretending not to notice, Miguel smiled and continued, "The crew might start fighting over who gets off first, right? That’s something the captain ought to manage. In a situation this busy, we can’t be worrying about that too."

Yalo nodded. Unlike before, however, his smile had turned noticeably strained. "Well, yes. I suppose that’s true...."

Naturally so—he had clearly wanted to transfer ships first.

Miguel jerked his head toward the rear. "Go bring all the crew up here. If we prepare beforehand, we can move immediately."

"Yes. Understood." Yalo bowed his head, let out a quiet cough, and turned away.

Watching the staggering captain retreat, Miguel snorted coldly.

You should fool the people worth fooling.

It was then that Palmer’s low gasp rang out. "D-Demigod?"

Startled, Miguel turned toward him. "What did you just say?"

Still staring into the distance, Palmer blinked blankly and continued, "It looks like the Demigod is destroying the fleet alone...."