My Villainess Ex Won't Leave Me Alone

Chapter 230 230: 6.40 - The Cost Of High Ambitions

First come, first served was one of the Pirate's codes. Only the fastest would get to claim their prey.

The biggest pirate faction was led by Kingpin D'Angelo, with two thousand men at his command. He was a former naval admiral, and his fleet was composed of thirty warships, making him the richest pirate on the sea.

The second biggest was Kingpin Roderick, with one thousand and eight hundred men. He was a former silver knight, who made it all the way up to ruby rank after becoming a pirate.

These two kingpins' astral projections could scout a large area. No one could escape their clutches, not even the wind.

The rest of factions were much smaller, and focused on territories outside of the two kingpin's reach.

Some crazy traders were always willing to risk their lives for big money, using more dangerous routes to avoid pirates, and Penny assumed the Glory's fleet was among those risk-takers.

Woodhearts pirates had the advantage of the early birds, but if they didn't hurry, the other pirates would get to the ships first. And Penny did hurry.

She dived deep enough not to be spotted from the surface, and began to swim toward the trade ships.

Her father's fleet of two ships was behind her. A galleon and a schooner, one slow but big, the other fast and small, a dangerous duo.

The Glory's ships, on the other hand, were smaller than a galleon, a type called a brigantine. They were faster and more agile, but not as heavily armed.

'Father didn't even wait for my report,' she complained in her mind, 'Always Ash, Ash, and more Ash. I swear I'm going to drown that fish-eyed bastard one day.'

She was bitter about always being ignored when it came to the important missions. Her father would rather spoil her like a princess and keep her away from danger, rather than believe in her skills.

Penny's eyes were closed, sensing the movement of the water through the sensors in her hair.

The sea creatures' heartbeats were familiar to her, but the vibrations that came from the trade ships were not. They were erratic, weak, like they were trying to hide.

'This is strange.'

She swam closer to the trade ships despite her father already arriving on the scene, not bothered by the lack of oxygen in her lungs.

She could feel the vibrations of the men on board. It was unlike anything she had ever encountered before. They were all in sync, hundreds of them, moving with the same rhythm. Like a beast with many limbs.

'I have to warn father,' Penny turned back to swim to her ship, having a bad feeling about this. Though she was the best scout, her swimming speed was still much to be desired.

'It's fine, we have around three hundred men, more than enough to deal with merchant ships. How many out of the two hundred can even fight? A hundred at most?'

Her father must have thought the same, since he gave the order to fire the cannons, signaling their demand for the merchants to surrender. But what they got was a complete opposite.

She surfaced, only to see hooks and ropes flying from the merchant ships, attaching themselves to her father's vessels.

"Arches!" her father's voice boomed, "Shoot them down! Cut the ropes!"

Her father's archers were quick to react and aimed.

Arrows flew through the air, but were blocked by shields, held by the men who climbed the ropes like monkeys. Worse, they moved in sync, covering each other and advancing with each shot.

"Fire!" Her father didn't even finish his sentence before his ship was boarded.

"What are those?!" Ash shouted, his spear at the ready.

"Southern hunters!" her father yelled.

The bloodlust coming from the invaders was so strong that it could be tasted in the air. It was like a pack of hungry beasts were let loose, and they had no intention of sparing anyone. They moved like a wave, crushing everything in their path.

"Roaaaaaaar!" The crazed roar that came from the attackers made the blood freeze in their veins.

Penny climbed up the ship and watched in horror as one of the masked hunters snapped one of the pirate's necks like a twig, his hands crushing the man's throat.

'Father!' She called out to him in her mind.

Her father activated his emerald rank skills, which he almost never did and swung his cutlass with the grace of a knight.

He was pushing back the tide of monsters, when the same masked hunter used their bodies as a ladder to jump from their shoulders and attack her father from above.

The hunter's arm pulled back, aiming a throwing spear with a narrow iron neck, adorned with three wickedly barbed heads, at her father.

Her father tried to dodge, but six more enemies swarmed him from the side, giving the spear thrower a clear shot.

The speed and the strength behind the throw was enough to pierce through her father's reinforced breastplate, going deep into his chest. But stopped short of impaling his heart. His skin held its own, but not without a price.

"Arggh!" The pain made him roar as he pulled the spear out, just for another to take its place. He caught the second spear in time, and used his leg to kick the swarm of attackers away, creating some space for himself, "Find their leader and kill him!" he ordered as he threw the spear back at his attacker.

Penny didn't know what to do. Her father was the toughest man she knew, and the strongest fighter. But even he couldn't hold them down with his emerald stage.

The thought of her having to fight such monsters made her limbs shake in fear. Her hand clenched around the hilt of her cutlass, 'Ashtor must still be back at his ship. I will turn him into a hostage and make them retreat.'

She jumped back into water and quickly swam toward the heartbeat that came from Ashtor's ship, not caring about anything else.

The sound of splashing alerted her of the men jumping into the water, and her first reaction was to dive deeper.

She turned around to see a dead body sinking next to her, his blood mixing with the seawater.

The bodies continued to drop like flies, but she swam past them, heading to her target.

Ashtor was laughing as he watched the fight from his ship, his feet up on the railing, a drink in his hand. He had a smug look on his face, as if he was enjoying the show.

Infuriating was an understatement for what she felt toward this man. He acted like the ruler of the sea, while his men were doing all the dirty work.

It was affecting everyone's morale to see the one who started this fight not even getting his hands dirty.

Penny climbed the back of Glory's ship, believing her father would be able to hold on for a bit longer. She barely made it to the deck when the familiar heartbeat was gone. She looked back to her father's ship, her eyes widening.

Her father was kneeling on his knees, his body swaying to the side before his head was cut off.

The masked hunter picked up the head by the hair, showing it to the others like a trophy.

'No, no, no, NO!' She choked on a sob, covering her mouth to muffle her cry.

She fell back into the water, the image of her father's severed head, the blood dripping down from the stump, continued to flash in her eyes.

She choked, the sea water entering her mouth, tasting metallic on her tongue. Her stomach churned, and she puked in the water, her tears mixing with the salt.

She then realized that it was not just the sea water that tasted like blood.

It was the blood of their crew, her family, that was flowing into the sea, and she was drinking it all in through her choked sobs.

The monsters were cheering and beating their chests, celebrating the death of her beloved father.

Just like that. The man who raised her, protected her, and loved her was dead, and the murderer was standing on his ship, mocking her with his head.

'I'm going to kill them all.... Every last one of them...I will make them pay...'

She swore.

Her mind was hazy with rage, and her body was weak from the grief. She didn't even notice that she was swimming back to her father's ship, to get his head back.

She couldn't leave him with those monsters. He didn't deserve to be paraded around like a hunting trophy.

The great Captain Penn Woodheart, who saved so many knights from their doom, didn't deserve this.

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╔═══ Author's note ════╗

A new potential Vice?👀

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