In stories the Stormpiercer could conquer any storm, but a real sailing record of the ship passing through the skystorm was never found.

Freya could overcome a mental shaking with willpower. Physical shaking however brought a randomness that she couldn’t quite predict in battle. As the boat was headed toward the skystorm, the hull could get hit by waves from the side and created a rocking motion that ruined her steps to close in on an opponent.

Faced against the spear-wielder on the moving Stormpiercer, Freya couldn’t find a good option to defeat this opponent. While it was true that her opponent suffered from the same foothold as hers, his spear had more distance and was more forgiving when mistakes happened. If he missed a thrust, he could step back and keep the distance. If she missed a slash however, the spear might be too close to dodge. With randomness presenting itself in the form of waves, Freya couldn’t just close the gap.

Time has never been my ally, she thought. The longer she stalled this battle, the more disadvantageous it would get for her. The immortal’s wound would heal, and the ship would head to the skystorm without a proper crew.

Freya took a distance from the spear-wielder, then closed her eyes momentarily to regain herself. Don’t think. When she opened her eyes, there was clarity in it. Just do.

She glanced at the immortal, who was still leaning on the railing. When she dashed at her, the spear-wielder noticed her intention of dropping her off the ship; and chased her. The ship where Freya was fighting on wasn’t strictly reserved to one-on-one battles. There were objectives that could be claimed, and removing the immortal was one of it.

That was how her action seemed to the spear-wielder.

As their line of sight were broken by a mast, Freya took advantage of the blind spot, changed her direction, and headed toward the stair that led to the helm. She had passed a spear-wielder without having to beat him; and could climb the stairs because the other spear-wielders were still trying to push Vod and the other Zenists away.

The ship shook, causing Freya to stagger, but she balanced herself and continued toward the stair. She couldn’t predict the motion of the ship, but she could react to it. She ascended the stair and arrived at the helm. There, a man had both his hands on the steer, eyes fixated on the skystorm.

Freya was about to go toward him but stopped. In the corner of her eye, she had seen the color of death. A surge of darkness went past in front of her; swallowing the area near the steer, and when it had past, what remained of the man who held the wheel was only his lower body.

The immortal had just thrown a kunai from below but missed. Freya could see that her wound had yet to heal completely, but she was able to move. In fact, the immortal was about to throw another kunai enveloped with darkness Elemental Magic at her.

Freya thought of retreating, but that option had been blocked by a spear-wielder whom she had slipped past before. He stood in front of the stairs with his spear pointed at Freya.

This is bad. Even if Freya were to remain close to the spear-wielder, she knew that the immortal would still throw the kunai—killing her own ally in the process.

‘Hold steady!’ Freya warned the other Zenists. She didn’t have much choice. She wasn’t dying here on this ship.

She went toward the steering wheel and spun it clockwise as hard as she could. The ship swayed, ruining everyone’s stability; Kokuri’s kunai throwing included, and the darkness had missed and hit no one. Whether that maneuver had an impact for better or worse on the course of the ship toward the skystorm, Freya couldn’t tell. But she lived, for now; and she intended to continue living.

Freya’s presence on the helm gained the spear-wielders’ caution and they decided to send some of them to regain control of the ship. Which allowed Vod and the other Zenists to finally hold their ground and fight.

While this was an accomplishment, someone still had to control the ship, and Freya had one person in mind. ‘Get Drizzle up here!’ she shouted with immediacy.

She doubted that the Stormpiercer could steer away if it got too close to the skystorm.

***

Feeling the presence of an enemy, Dunnford turned his head toward a direction. There, he spotted a hand grabbing the edge of a rooftop, and a figure began climbing up. This man wore a black coat and carried a spear, a monster worshipper, but his spear was different; there was a tube in the shaft.

He did not know how that addition would take part in a battle, but the spear was able to claim blood; as shown by the crimson on the blade.

Dunnford thought of dealing with the enemy by delivering a slash from afar using wind Elemental Magic. However, suppose that he were to do that, he would not achieve much save for possibly killing the enemy. There was a more important matter at hand: gaining intel on the Extinct Formulae Magic. Elaine couldn’t figure it out from reading the inscription, hence Dunnford had to extract information from his enemy.

The man looked at Dunnford with half his eyelids closed and scratched his hair. ‘The name is Haze!’ he shouted through the sound of rain. ‘When you reach the afterlife, tell my name to your God and say that I’m coming for Him!’ He held his spear with both hands, one at the tube and one at the shaft, and pointed the weapon at Dunnford.

He talks, Dunnford observed. Enemies like him could spill their plans. I might get my answer from him. His confidence in leading a talk toward a direction he wanted was rather poor, but Dunnford would be a fool not to take the opportunity when his enemy had given him a chance to converse.

‘The name is Dunnford!’ he shouted back. ‘Tell Him yourself because I will send you to the afterlife!’ Cheap provocations. His experience in battles had proven that provocations did work to gain advantages in battles. It also gave him a buildup which he might use later.

Haze creased his eyebrows and his stare had anger in them. He then jumped the rooftops to rush toward Dunnford.

His provocation had worked.

***

Reacting to the swaying motion of the ship faster than her opponent, Freya took advantage of the instability and closed the distance toward the spear-wielder she was facing by rushing forward. He had lost his balance and couldn’t deliver a thrust and Freya took that opportunity.

The spear-wielder motioned backward to dodge the slash, but nonetheless he was already defeated. He was near the railing; and from his side, a Zenist gave him a front kick that threw him off the ship and into the raging wave that was shaken by the skystorm. The Zenist was none other than the guide who had explained to her about the Stormpiercer.

Finally! She thought as she observed Drizzle beside the guide.

‘Drizzle! Steer the ship away!’ Freya had to shout to get her voice through in this rain and surging sea. Drizzle was not at all troubled by the ship’s motion; if anything, the fluency of his gait toward the steer showed that he belonged here.

Below, Vod was keeping the wounded immortal occupied with a broken sword. Meanwhile, the other Zenists were holding the spear-wielders back. One of them however, managed to slip past and was heading toward Freya.

Whilst he climbed the stairs, Freya jumped at the spear-wielder, taking him by surprise. He wasn’t ready to receive her, and in the air there was no shaking that could ruin her aim. Her slash connected to the spear-wielder’s body, bringing him down.

Freya then landed roughly with her feet and knees to the deck. Thankfully, there was no one that could take advantage of her vulnerability. As she rose, she could see that the ship was close to the skystorm. The waves hitting the ship from the side had managed to go through the deck, and it wouldn’t be long before one of those waves could swallow the ship whole.

‘It’s too late!’ Drizzle shouted. ‘The ship’s headin’ toward the skystorm!’

The skystorm was a swirl of violent winds, a large force of nature that made the ship look like a tiny ant. They were all simply people on a ship who could hardly do anything about the storm.

Earlier than expected, Freya thought.

‘We’ll have to pass through the skystorm!’