Chapter 128-Beyond his reach

Chapter 128: 128-Beyond his reach

Sarah’s expression twisted with fury. "That selfish woman! She has weapons powerful enough to protect herself, and she couldn’t even help us!"

Dylan clenched his fists. He couldn’t understand it at all. Aymara had once cared about him more than anyone else. She had given him money, comfort, and everything he needed to live without worry. He had always believed that, no matter how badly he treated her, some part of her would remain attached to him.

But she had rejected him without hesitation and now, when he needed her most, she was nowhere to be found.

"Aymara!" he shouted, rushing toward the doorway.

Sarah grabbed the back of his shirt. "Are you insane? Get back here!"

He shook her off and stumbled into the corridor. "Aymara! Can you hear me?" His voice echoed through the damaged vessel. "Please! If you’re listening, you have to help us!"

A metallic shriek answered him and Dylan froze. A bird had landed on the upper railing just beyond the doorway. Its red eyes fixed on him, and its head tilted slightly as though studying an unfamiliar creature and then its beak opened.

Dylan threw himself backward. A stream of acid struck the doorway, splashing across the metal frame. The surface immediately began to bubble and dissolve.

He scrambled away, tripping over his own feet before Sarah dragged him behind the cabinet again.

"Have you lost your mind?" she hissed. "You nearly got us killed!"

Dylan’s face had gone white and for several seconds, he couldn’t speak. Out of nowhere, he began laughing bitterly.

He had called out to Aymara, begging for help from a woman he had betrayed as even now, he had expected her to save him but the only response had been a creature trying to melt his face off.

Sarah stared at him with undisguised disgust. "You really think she owes you something, don’t you?"

Dylan turned toward her, his face twisting with irritation. "Not now, Sarah."

"No, I want you to answer me!" Her voice rose above the chaos around them, sharp with anger and disbelief. "You betrayed her, stole from her, and brought all these people to her ship, expecting her to welcome you with open arms. You even helped turn her life into a living nightmare, yet you still have the audacity to expect her to save you? What makes you think she’d risk her life for someone like you?"

Dylan opened his mouth, but no words came out. For once, he couldn’t find an excuse to defend himself, nor could he twist Sarah’s accusations into something that made him the victim.

The truth was becoming impossible to ignore. Aymara owed him nothing. Not her ship, not her resources, and certainly not her life. He had betrayed her trust, taken advantage of her affection, and repaid everything she had done for him with cruelty.

He had convinced himself that no matter what happened, Aymara would eventually forgive him because she had always loved him. But perhaps that was the very reason he had never appreciated her.

Now, with the birds tearing through their defenses and their chances of survival dwindling by the second, he was finally beginning to understand that she had every reason to abandon him. And if Aymara had truly disappeared beyond his reach, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

---

Captain Rourke received the report from his remaining ships while another explosion shook his vessel.

"Captain! The eastern vessel has lost its engine! The crew is abandoning ship!"

"Captain, the Black Fang is taking on water!"

"Captain, we can’t repel them! Our ammunition isn’t working!"

Rourke gripped the edge of the command table so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

His fleet had been powerful enough to intimidate ordinary survivors. It had forced smaller vessels to surrender their supplies and had destroyed ships that dared to resist.

But against these creatures, his fleet was little more than a collection of floating targets. He looked at the tactical display.

Several vessels had already disappeared from the formation. Others were drifting without power, their decks burning beneath the relentless assault and the ships that remained functional were struggling to escape the flock.

Rourke’s jaw tightened. He had come here to seize a magnificent cruise ship, believing that its advanced defenses would eventually fall beneath the pressure of his fleet, instead, he was about to lose everything.

"Captain?" his first mate asked anxiously. "What are your orders?"

Rourke stared at the screen for another moment. He released a deep breath and made his decision. "All ships still capable of movement, abort the mission!"

The first mate blinked. "Captain?"

"You heard me!" Rourke roared. "Forget the cruise ship! Forget the supplies! Get us out of here before those things tear the entire fleet apart!"

The order was transmitted across the remaining vessels. ALL FUNCTIONING SHIPS: ABORT MISSION. RETREAT IMMEDIATELY.

The pirates who could still move their ships turned away from the battle. Engines roared as captains ordered maximum speed, abandoning damaged vessels and wounded men to the chaos behind them.

Some tried to fire at the birds to clear a path, others threw debris overboard in a desperate attempt to distract the creatures but nothing worked reliably.

The birds pursued them for several minutes, striking at the ships that lagged behind. Acid burned through exposed metal, and several more pirates fell screaming as their defenses failed but eventually, the flock began to scatter.

Some circled above the wreckage, drawn toward the blood and noise. Others returned to the open sky, searching for new targets.

Rourke’s surviving ships escaped beyond their immediate reach, leaving smoke, debris, and ruined vessels scattered across the ocean.

The mission was over. The pirates had come hunting for prey but instead, they had barely escaped becoming it.

---

Farther away, hidden beneath full-spectrum camouflage, Aymara watched the fleet retreat through her surveillance system.

"Well," she murmured, "that went better than expected."

One enemy scared her other enemy to flee from that spot and thus giving her room to breath. And the birds retreating to the skies was just perfect for her.

The system displayed the remaining vessels as they fled.

[Hostile fleet withdrawing. Immediate threat level reduced.]

Aymara folded her arms. "Good. Keep monitoring them until they’re well outside our operational range. I don’t want them circling back when the birds move on."

[Command acknowledged, host.]

She glanced at the ship’s repair report. The hull was stable, the propulsion system was functioning again, and the defensive barrier had recovered enough energy to handle another emergency.

Her fortress was safe for a moment. On the surveillance screen, she spotted a familiar figure on one of the retreating vessels, Dylan.

Even through the distant camera feed, she could see him standing near the deck, shouting toward the empty ocean.

"Aymara!" His voice couldn’t reach her through the concealment system, but the camera captured the desperation on his face. "Aymara! Help me!"

He continued calling her name as the vessel pulled away, his words swallowed by the roaring engines and the cries of the remaining birds.

Aymara watched without expression. Once, hearing Dylan call for her would have made her rush to his side. She would have worried about his safety, searched for ways to comfort him, and offered whatever she could to ease his suffering.

Now, she simply turned away from the screen. "System, end external tracking once the fleet leaves our range."

[Command acknowledged.]

Aymara walked toward the exit, already thinking about the remaining repairs and Nathaniel’s next meal.

Behind her, the surveillance display showed Dylan still looking back at the empty ocean, calling for a woman who had once loved him enough to sacrifice everything.

This time, she wasn’t coming and for the first time, Dylan was beginning to understand what it meant to be abandoned by someone who had finally stopped caring about him.

"Did I really lose her?"