97 Vol 2. pt. 34 Patch 6.0: The Second Round (2/2)
”Jin! You're up!” Jax shouts.
Jin, with net in hand, dives into the water off the stern of The Weeping Tit!
He swims to the underside of The Steel Tiger's stern and wraps its rudder up in the netting, placing the net in a way that jams it from properly steering, and then he takes what length of it is left to tie it around The Weeping Tit's rudder.
Jin surfaces to try and climb back aboard The Weeping Tit, but it's already on fire. Its crew is jumping overboard to try and escape into the water, but the free-of-netting crew of The Steel Tiger either blast the overboard escapees with magic or arrows.
When he looks back at The Steel Tiger, he sees a man with a crossbow aimed directly at his head.
The wielder of the crossbow gets distracted when he sees a large, shirtless, burly man with what little clothes that he is wearing caught on fire as he shouts and tosses a flaming barrel toward The Steel Tiger!
…
The Shoebill is too far to see what exactly happens, but they see a sizeable explosion erupt in the air between The Weeping Tit and The Steel Tiger.
It clearly did more damage to The Weeping Tit as the blast completely destroyed their mast and the side of their ship, but Fenrir sees that The Steel Tiger is on fire in several spots, their sails have been ruined and lit aflame, and there is a sizeable chunk of hull missing on the side of the ship closest to the explosion.
”What – what happened?” Cassiel asks.
”Gunpowder explosion, I'm guessing. They look flashier than they are, but they can still do some damage from the blast and fire if there's a large enough amount of it,” Fenrir looks back to their own cannons. There is a barrel of gunpowder next to each row of cannons, but they're low because of how much the cannons have been shot. They haven't resupplied their cannonballs nor gunpowder once; they are technically still using Coastedge's supplies.
”Not enough,” Serra says as the smoke clears.
The Steel Tiger is still floating and most of its damage can be easily repaired – no fatal damage.
However, as The Weeping Tit sinks below the waves, it pulls The Steel Tiger with it.
Fenrir desperately wants to turn around to finish the ship off, but the longship has placed itself between The Shoebill and The Steel Tiger.
Rather than recklessly throw himself into danger and make Jax's sacrifice be in vain, Fenrir stands tall and salutes the sinking vessel.
”Thanks, Jax. We'll repay you once this is over,” Fenrir says.
…
”How defiant. At least they did something before dying. I still think it would have been more entertaining to not interrupt the plan before it even started. My champions could use a fun fight,” Ull says, watching the aftermath of the explosion on the screen hanging from the tower.
”The Weeping Tit – good crew, good men. Not surprised they were defiant until tha end. Did ya know they were traitors?” Blackstache asks.
”Not good enough, and of course not. I'm simply assuming that they were part of the plan in the first place as they were clearly sailing together in some sort of formation and following my champions.”
”'at so?”
”It is. Now then, it is clear that the final round will be between those traitors and my champions, so let us get on to discussing an alliance. You wish for my help against Indra and Livia, don't you?”
Blackstache swallows his frustration and nods. If letting this foreign bastard of a king treat this all like a game means securing a powerful alliance that will keep his people and his city safe and free, it is worth it ”First, what makes ya think only those two are goin' ta tha final round?” he asks.
”Well, look. Those at the fishing spot are already fighting amongst one another, and once my champions arrive, I doubt that any of them will survive. The wolf's ship will be sunk as well. I know that three crews may proceed to the final round, but I doubt three of them will even be left.”
”Why not take out tha traitors too then?”
”Well, there must still be some fun and excitement for the final round. It would be boring if there was only one crew participating in it, no?”