Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Three great serpents, their bodies glittering with a luminous shine that emanated from their wet scales had emerged. They had peculiar sets of webbed wings around their necks which quivered violently to conjure gusts and beat away the waters around them.

Each of them was large enough to wrap around the great ship and drag it into – if it were a normal cruising vessel – and they seemed eager to do it. At least one of them was.

 When the ship was two hundred meters closer, all three serpents moved.

One dove into the sea, likely to attack from below, the other leapt up and opened its mouth wide, revealing a set of long, fleshy fangs as it beat its wings madly for temporary flight. The last hissed with glee and swam towards the ship at great speed.

“Looks like we can’t go around, huh?” Grim said as he smirked.

“There’s a simple solution,” Allora said excitedly while propping up her hand and extending two fingers forward.

“No. We need to conserve as much Null Life Essence as possible. We could be cut off from the Honing Fortress’ reserve at any time,” Replicus said.

Allora’s zeal dwindled and she nodded sadly.

“Pherdanta.”

Replicus called someone best suited to ending the nuisances faster than anyone else aboard, save for himself.

The great vessel was sturdy and probably wouldn’t be grazed by creatures like this. However, since there were inherent attack functions to this marvel of the sea…

Without a word, Pherdanta left the designated control section for the ship and walked over to the front of the deck.

She could see the waters splashing madly as the enemies approached from different directions and with different strategies of attack.

The quickest one out of the three was the attack from below. Pherdanta sensed its approach. It was roughly twenty meters.

The next was the one swimming directly towards them, and last, was the one soaring through the air, its body encased with what seemed all its mana at once!

None of this matter to Pherdanta.

The fearsome woman had two swords on her, all above the battle skirt connected to the rest of her armor.

One was a sheathed katana on her side, and the other was a thick, red-bladed odachi, its steel bare behind her back.

A split moment later, Pherdanta had both swords held in each of her hands – the katana still sheathed.

As though it was the simplest, and most unsophisticated thing she could ever do, the Unlimited brought the swords together… and merged them.

The result, which came with no special effect at all to compliment the strange feat, was a killing tool with the girth of a gauntlet sword, and the curve of a saber, the details of its blade hidden behind a fitting sheath.

It was only then that Pherdanta’s mana blasted from her body, surging up in a graceful tower of white so controlled and yet so…

“…Barbaric,” Baddan said with fascination.

All the other Unlimited paid close attention.

If there was anyone among them who rarely showed her abilities, it would be Pherdanta, and given the opportunity to see her work…

Pherdanta held the sheathed sword with its tip facing down. With her free hand, she then held the hilt.

The enemies finally arrived at the same moment.

The luster of the new blade… was never seen.

Its owner never drew it from its narrow home.

However, that didn’t stop it from expressing its furious intent.

The ship was the first to feel the might of the female Unlimited. For a moment, it forced to lean to the right, as if pulled on desperate suction.

Next, was the sea.

A cruel whipping of the wind sent a tide of ocean waters gushing to the right, towering for dozens of kilometers.

A spray of blood simultaneously hit the golden barrier that covered the deck, along with finely chopped triangular fragments of all three of the winged serpents!

Unfortunately, this wasn’t all.

The crack in space a few meters away now, partly obscured by raging wind and waters, was shattered into fragments as well, its dissipating pieces carried rightward until they vanished.

The great vessel rocked for a bit because of the waters which dipped and rose.

It then finally settled.

Kenno sighed.

“Why do I get the feeling she’s more fit for this than me?” he said with a smile.

“She probably is,” Grim laughed.

Allora gave a steady stream of applause as Pherdanta walked back to the middle of the deck. Her hybrid sword slipped seamlessly back into two different swords that she placed in their original positions.

“Good job,” Replicus said.

Pherdanta reminded him of Alaris quite a bit. He didn’t think she was on his level yet, but he did think she was likely someone the Bloodless Steel Phantom would call a swordmaster.

Because the Penetrator series had the parent flaw of being unable to perform attacks that didn’t have penetrative power, Replicus had never indulged in grooming swordsmanship. That task was left for Skullius.

He did wonder who was currently better at the sword though.

Baddan seemed enthralled by the ‘performance’. His gaze didn’t leave Pherdanta for a while. Fortunately for him, after the woman did something to grab attention, her presence wouldn’t be as fleeting until the people around her turned from her.

Replicus noticed this and got a chuckle from it. It was interesting to see a Cluster beast gawking at a human like this. Perhaps it was because Baddan had the fascination hammered into him since his experience with Rias.

In any case…

“Right. Kenno. I’ve tasked you with keeping the Honing Fortress safe. You should leave before it’s too late,” Replicus said promptly.

He was pretty much alright with the idea of defending Deign.

He then stood up and craned his neck.

“I hope you don’t come back carrying defeat on your backs. I might as well take back control if that should happen,” he scoffed humorously.

“I don’t think there’s much room for coming back if we are defeated out there,” Replicus said.

Kenno laughed.

He then gave a few goodbyes to his peers and disappeared into thin air moments later.

Following Kenno’s departure, Replicus retreated to the cabin, leaving his four subordinates on deck.

He quickly reached his room, which was needlessly luxurious, with a bed he would probably never use and various trinkets and tools, most of which he didn’t need.

Replicus sat on a chair modeled after his Kindling Heath, and held the chest plate of his starry armor.

Something was stirring within him since a few minutes ago, and it had only grown more insistent as time passed.

“What’s got you riled up, hmm? Was it Pherdanta?” Replicus spoke to this ‘nag’.