The Villain Is Destined to Die: But as the Creator, I know All Endings-Chapter 236: Day - 2: The Case of East Sea Incident [3]

The captain’s cabin was silent except for the shallow breathing of two men.

"I–Is this really necessary...?" one of the two captains whimpered, his voice shaking as the cold metal of a revolver pressed harder against the back of his skull.

The revolver dug in deeper.

"I will fucking pull the trigger if you yap one more time," the man holding the gun snapped. From his voice alone, he sounded irritated.

As he spoke, the air around him reeked with the smell of rotten bugs.

His partner, seated lazily on the armrest of the captain’s chair, immediately pinched his nose.

"Ugh— Zade, you old freak. When was the last time you brushed your teeth? Just one breath from you and all my hair stands up."

Zade shot him a murderous glare.

"What I do with my teeth is none of your concern, Bronze!" he barked. "And you yap too damn much for a newbie. If it weren’t for Captain Blackscar recommending you, you’d be the first one I’d feed to a sea dragon."

He spat to the side in annoyance.

Bronze only chuckled, leaning back with his hands behind his head. "Jeeez~ so rowdy. You know, taking down all those guards was already tiring for me." His lips curved upward. "But hehehe... chopping them up was fun."

Zade caught the smile on Bronze’s face.

It wasn’t normal.

"Tch. Freak," Zade muttered.

They weren’t ordinary pirates, though. They worked under one of the Seven Sea Constellations. Captain Blackscar himself had ordered this operation for them. They were tasked with stealing an item from this ship, heading from Karnak City to the Liora Kingdom.

Zade didn’t know what the item was. Captain Blackscar never told him.

But Bronze did. The kid had been treated like royalty by the Captain. He was always favored.

Zade’s eyes narrowed slightly at the boy.

’Don’t tell me they’re father and son—’ He shook his head immediately.

’No. No way. The Captain would rather fight a sea dragon than have a child.’

Then what was Bronze to him?

Zade still remembered how easily he butchered those highly trained guards right at the shore.

’Maybe I should retire...’

"Bronze," Zade said suddenly, lowering the revolver slightly. "How many guards are left?"

"Hm?" Bronze blinked. He stared at the ceiling, counting in his head. "...Dunno. Didn’t count."

"..."

Zade’s red eyes twitched.

Is this idiot serious?

"Then go and kill the rest of them, dammit! I want them replaced by my men!"

"Ohhooiii—" Bronze sighed and started to rise from the captain’s chair—

But then his entire body froze.

"...!!"

A crushing pressure slammed down on him out of nowhere.

The entire room trembled, and Bronze’s manic smile vanished.

He felt an absurd presence of an unknown entity from below the captain’s cabin. Fear, worry, trauma— he experienced all kinds of emotions in that moment.

His knees nearly gave out as he fell back into his seat. Looking around, he noticed that even Zade and the two captains were in the same condition as him.

What even is this pressure?! They were in the middle of the ocean! Did they really piss off a sea dragon?

With the crushing pressure bearing down on him, Bronze considered the possibility for a moment. But one thing was clear.

Whoever this was... must be someone with a rationally higher-ranked mana core than them, on par with the Seven Constellations.

"Keeekhh–!!!"

Bronze forced strength into his bones, trying to resist it, to stand up straight... but no matter how much he tried, his body sent him a warning.

If he dared to face it, not only would he die—he would suffer a fate worse than death.

* * *

Long white hair like a fading ghost, an intense red gaze like lava, and facial features so beautiful that they would put even the finest princess to shame. A long flowing white dress that slightly exposed her thighs, and those slender fingers, firmly clenched near one side of her hips.

With every tap of her sandal, the whole ship shook under a tremendous, invisible force.

All the guards, sailors, and even the captain felt it instantly.

A presence so mighty that one would mistake this white-haired maiden for an actual Calamity.

~

[Title — Heir of the Crimson Moon (active)]

[A title bestowed by Silvermoon, the one known also as the Blood Calamity. Becoming one of few who can withstand both her grace and wrath.]

[Under moonlight, their presence grows stronger. Ordinary people feel a sense of unease, while higher beings recognize the mark of the Blood Calamity upon you.]

~

Leon had used this title many times before. But this was the first time he had allowed its presence to fully manifest in front of so many ordinary humans at once.

All across the ship, whether standing directly before him or scattered across the decks below, every single person was forced down.

Knees slammed against wood, and hands pressed flat to the floor. Not one of them could lift their head. Not one of them could meet Leon’s eyes.

The effect of the title had been amplified. Rumi’s influence flowed through it, subtly reinforcing its authority, layering itself over the title’s effect. Leon’s presence became twenty percent stronger than before.

And due to the title’s condition, his mana will continue to replenish as long as he met the condition.

[When kill under moonlight, the mana temporarily amplifies]

There would no shortage of it. For him, or for Rumi. It would be a perfect cycle.

"...Damn," Leon muttered under his breath as this thought arose in his mind.

Even he hadn’t expected it to be this effective.

Just imagine using top tire spells with full mana capacity without restrain, again and again, and replenish it completely after every kill he made.

The title truly was terrifying.

For a fleeting moment, a thought crossed his mind.

What would happen if he invoked his ice affinity... his strongest element to its full calibre... while this title was active?

Leon’s crimson eyes swept across the ship.

The guards, sailors, and the laborers. All of them were trembling.

He began counting.

Each of his steps were measured. He deliberately avoided stepping on anyone as he made his way toward the edge of the ship.

Swwwwpp—!!

A gust of wind caught his long white hair. Leon lifted one hand, gathering the strands and tucking them neatly behind his ear.

"Haaah..." he exhaled.

A thin mist escaped his glossy lips.

With [Mana Sense] active, the ship’s interior unfolded inside his mind.

Several Mana signatures flared into existence. With numerous patterns and colors he could distinguish the mana affinity clearly. And with Rumi’s assistance, the projection refined itself further, and filters the actual guards among the pirates mixed among them.

"Oh..." Leon murmured. "Eighty-six out of one hundred and twenty."

His gaze sharpened. "They’ve already killed more than expected."

Then, something else caught his attention.

"...Hm? What’s that?"

Leon focused on a presence within the captain’s deck. One mana core stood out specifically. It was not weak, but somehow the mana core looked greyish-dull.

"A core corruption?" Leon narrowed his eyes.

That was unexpected.

Core corruption only occurred when a mana core was exposed to dark mana for prolonged periods. Either prolonged contact with demons... or possession of a related artifact.

’Interesting.’

Leon relaxed slightly and spoke inward.

’Rumi. Place a spell formula on all targets. Everyone except that one.’

Rumi’s voice echoed in his mind, calm but firm.

’Understood. But Haru, be warned. Speed casting at this scale will be rough on your mind and body. even with your S rank Intelligence, It won’t fully synchronize with your mana recovery rate. You will experience brief dizziness and weakness.’

Leon already knew. He glanced up at the moon, which was glowing silently above the Sea of Mist.

’It’s fine,’ he replied. ’Do it.’

Leon wanted to test.

’Alright.’

The moment Rumi agreed, an overwhelming surge of mana erupted from within Leon, it was so violent that even his own body reacted to it.

Ice mana poured out in massive quantities. The drain was immediate and brutal, so fast that even the moonlight’s continuously healing his minor wound seemed difficult to match up.

Icy frost crawled along his veins, biting into his nerves, numbing all his sensation and sending a sharp sting through his chest.

"Ugh...!" he quietly groaned.

Leon bit down on his lower lip. He exhaled slowly, forcing his breathing to remain steady.

At his current level, a [voiceless incantation] was limited to two lines. Anything beyond that would overload his mana circuits and tear his mana flow apart.

Normally, this would have been impossible. But Leon was not alone.

Rumi’s presence wrapped around his consciousness instantly, her white mana core resonating in perfect synchronization with his own. The instability in Leon’s mana core smoothed out, and the pressure redistributed, and the threshold expanded just enough to allow everything to happen.

Leon spoke in Lumina’s voice.

"O frost beneath the watching moon, Hear my will and take your shape—"

Rumi repeated the line within his mind at the exact same tempo.

Leon continued.

"—From silent cold, grow sharp and strong Answer me, O dear fate—"

The temperature across the ship plummeted instantly. Breath turned into white vapor, frost spread along railings and masts, and the wooden deck groaned under the sudden thermal strain as ice patterns bloomed outward like veins on the water surrounding the ship.

Leon finished the incantation.

"—Rise where marked with my touch lace, And end all lives that dare escape."

"Winter’s Sentence!"

White magic circles flared into existence across the ship, forming beneath specific coordinates. Each and every array was perfectly aligned, placed exactly where Leon intended.

No one was moving right now.

SLICEEEEEEE—!! SPRUTTTT—!!

From the glowing circles, ice spears erupted upward , piercing through necks, jaws, and skulls from below. Several heads snapped back, shattered, or vanished entirely as frozen blood scattered across the deck, crystallizing before it could even fall.

Shatter–!!Bodies collapsed where they stood, lifeless before their minds could even register what had happened.

The entire sequence ended in less than a breath.

Silence followed.

Leon stood at the center of the frozen carnage, as the mist rolled steadily from his lips, his crimson eyes glowed faintly beneath the moonlight.

Leon glanced around and saw nothing but chopped off headless bodies among few others who were still alive.

Leon still with his [Mana Sence] scanned the whole ship one last time.

"..."

The result made him smile like an idiot.

If anyone could see how he looked right now, then they would name him a maniac.

Leon glanced up at the direction of the captain’s cabin.

He still had his skill activated, turned around.

"Ugh–" He nearly threw up by the sheer dizziness and with his head constantly hammering.

Leon adjusted his stance, and let the moonlight gets absorbed his body for a few minutes, which made his dizziness and fatigue fadeaway.

’Ah, shit...’ Leon clicked his tongue. ’I think I will collapse if I use it the second time.’

’Haru, that person. He started channeling mana.’ Rumi warned him urgently.

Leon clicked his tongue and used short teleportation to enter the Captain’s cabin.

Zoooooppp–!!