I CHOSE to be a VILLAIN, not a THIRD-RATE EXTRA!!-Chapter 55: The Hunt: End of an Ascended

Once the accessories adorning the Duke’s body began to gleam with an intense, almost unnatural shine, the ball of fire at the center of the scene began to shrink, its once immense, blinding glow slowly contracting until it was no larger than a pinball.

A steady red beam shot out from the center of the orb, cutting through the void of space like a searing, focused ray of destruction.

The beam was aimed directly at the five ships ahead, but it veered slightly to the left, missing its target by a mere fraction.

The madman had his hands clasped in a mocking gesture, eyes gleaming with superiority as he prepared to ridicule the duke’s aim.

"HAH! It seems you missed—"

But his words were cut off abruptly. The ball, now nearly the size of a marble, spun the red beam, which had seemed to veer off course, the beam suddenly shifted to the right direction with terrifying speed and went through the middle of the five ships, it disappeared right after.

The upper part of the ship began to shift sideways, its massive structure slowly sliding out of alignment with the rest of the vessel. The lower half remained stationary, to the sea beneath, while the upper portion kept sliding dangerously.

As it slipped further, flames erupted along the jagged edges, consuming the wood with a fierce hunger.

The pirate’s desperate shouts, filled with agony as the flames licked at his skin, were quickly drowned out by the deafening roar of the crashing waves.

"…"

"…"

A heavy silence blanketed the scene, the devastation wrought by the Duke’s effortless display of power hanging in the air. The Power of Money.

CRACK!

CRACK!

Suddenly, the stillness was shattered by a series of sharp, ominous cracks.

Every eye turned in unison toward the cube as they saw large visible cracks on it, which had remained remarkable up until this point.

SHATTER!

The cube shattered with a deafening crack, its fractured pieces disintegrating into the air, vanishing as if they had never existed. In the blink of an eye, the results of the battle between the Pirate King and the Mercenary Queen were laid bare for all to see.

The Mercenary Queen stood tall and resolute, her stance unwavering. Her axes, bloodied but still gleaming, leaned casually against her shoulder, the weight of her victory written in her calm, confident posture.

In stark contrast, the Pirate King was a broken figure. His once formidable presence is now reduced to something barely recognizable. Both of his arms were gone, severed with ruthless precision. One of his legs had been lost as well, leaving him struggling to maintain his balance.

His trident, once a symbol of his power and dominance on the sea, was shattered, its lower half missing entirely. The remaining upper part was clutched tightly in his mouth, a final, futile defiance in the face of certain defeat.

As the cube dissolved into the air, the Pirate King’s eyes, once filled with the fire of battle and defiance, scanned the surroundings—slowly, with dread. His gaze swept over what was left of his crew. And then, for the first time in his life, the Pirate King felt something foreign, something deeper than defeat—he felt despair.

The trident slipped from his mouth and fell into the sea.

"How? How? How? HOW? HOW?" His voice trembled, the once-mighty Pirate King unable to grasp the enormity of his loss.

The Pirate King had more than a hundred ships that once made up his vast fleet and over fifteen hundred pirates who were like brothers to him. They had been his strength, his family, and the foundation of his ruthless reign. But now, nothing was left.

Half of his crew had been wiped out even before the battle with the Mercenary Queen during the merfolk’s surprise assault, a swift and brutal attack that had shattered his defenses and caught him off guard. Many had been killed in the carnage; others had surrendered or been captured, their fates uncertain.

Of the remaining ships, only fifteen were left intact. Their decks, however, were drenched in the blood of his brothers, their severed heads left rotting. Amidst the wreckage of the fleet, only the Pirate King’s ship remained untouched.

Without warning, the Mercenary Queen appeared behind the Pirate King, her movements lightning-quick. Her hand shot out and grasped his neck, lifting him effortlessly off the ground.

"HAHA! Now the rat is howling like a dog," she taunted, her voice dripping with cruel delight.

With a fierce surge, she soared into the air, the Pirate King dangling helplessly in her grasp. In a stunning descent, she dropped like a falcon, diving with terrifying speed toward the Duke’s ship.

SLAAMM!

The Pirate King was slammed into the middle of the deck, his body hitting the wooden planks with a sickening thud.

The Mercenary Queen stood tall beside him, a shadow of deadly calm. Without a word, she raised her leg high, her aura shimmering around her.

In a fluid, precise motion, she brought her leg down with crushing force, aiming directly at the Pirate King’s spine.

CRACK!

The sound of his spine breaking echoed across the deck, followed by the agonizing scream of the Pirate King.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

His pained shout tore through the air, raw and desperate, as the deck beneath him groaned from the impact. The Mercenary Queen stood over him, her stance unshaken, while everyone on the ship gathered around him.

They all stood silent, their gaze fixed on the broken figure of the Pirate King. Aside from the missing limbs, his spine had been twisted into an unnatural, grotesque curve. His body, once towering and imposing, now lay crumpled and helpless on the deck, unable to move.

He could no longer feel anything below his chest, the sharpest of his agony now replaced with the horrifying realization that he was completely paralyzed, unable to move or fight.

The Mercenary Queen, her grip unyielding, cupped the Pirate King’s face with both hands. She lifted him off the deck, bringing his broken form up to meet the eyes of the Duke.

The Duke stood tall, his expression cold and unreadable as he looked down at the Pirate King.

"Hah! You must be that bitch’s husband. Hehe! The Southern Duke isn’t it." The Pirate King’s voice was weak but taunting.

The Duke simply raised his feet and kicked him in the face.

COUGH

The Pirate King’s words were choked and strained, blood dripping from his mouth as he struggled to speak through the haze of pain.

"To think I would be in this state just because of one single woman... I, the great pirate who once united—"

SLAM

The Mercenary Queen drove the Pirate King’s head into the floor with a vicious, bone-jarring force. The impact sent a violent tremor through the ship, and the sharp sound of his skull meeting the deck rang out across the quiet. Blood leaked from his mouth, pooling beneath him as he gritted his teeth against the excruciating pain. She lifted his head once more, holding him up like a ragdoll.

"Who cares about the past of a rat? The only thing you’ll be remembered for in the future - is being the first ascended to be destroyed by my hands. Doesn’t that sound better than your meaningless past?"

"It does! It does!" The madman, grinning like a wild animal, suddenly chimed in, siding with his leader. "Queen, how about calling yourself Ascended Slayer from now on? Doesn’t it sound cooler than the Mercenary Queen?"

"Crazy Bastards… COUGH"

"Even though I died easily, do you think you got what you wanted?" he spat through clenched teeth, his eyes glinting with a hint of malice. "If I didn’t get hands-on with my slave, you would never get your wife…" A low whistle escaped from his lips.

SLAM!

The force of the blow silenced the Pirate King once again, his head crashing against the deck with a brutal impact. "What did you signal this time?" she asked, her voice as sharp as a blade.

"Do yo… think I wo… ever tell you? he rasped, his words slow and strained.

"Okay then! I am also not much of a fan of interrogation," the Mercenary Queen said, her voice cold and final. With those words, she tightened her grip on the Pirate King’s face, her fingers digging into his skin with an unrelenting force.

"Idiot," the madman muttered under his breath, his eyes gleaming with a twisted satisfaction as he watched the scene that was about to unfold before him.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

The Mercenary Queen placed her boot on the broken spine of the Pirate King, a cruel and deliberate movement. The pressure of her foot on his shattered form sent tremors through his already broken body. His breathing became ragged, and desperate, as the reality of his situation fully sank in.

She then began to pull his head upward, her grip on his face tightening with an almost surgical precision. The Pirate King’s body jerked, unable to resist the force, his spine bending at an unnatural angle under the weight of her strength.

...

A/N: Ashok is about to return soon.