POV: Wynter Ash
Time: Day 9 Post-Fall (Night before arrival at Sector 9).
Location: Map Room & Upper Deck – The Gilded Wreck.
Captain Sable was a proud man. And pride, in my logistical calculations, was invisible rust. It ate away at iron structures from the inside, silently and lethally, until it was too late to repair.
Two days had passed since Vargo seized the ship. Sable still held the title "Captain" on paper, still wore his shabby hat, but in the eyes of the crew, he had already become a walking ghost. His authority had evaporated faster than water in the desert. He was forced to watch me stand beside Vargo's icy throne, whispering coordinates and navigation orders, while he—the ship's owner—was only told to peel potatoes or clean moss from the deck.
It was a systematic humiliation. Vargo didn't kill him; he stripped him away inch by inch. I knew Sable would break. The question wasn't if, but when.
That night, Vargo's artificial storm roared softly outside. I was alone in the Map Room, studying the inbound currents to Sector 9 to avoid other Iron Hounds patrols.
CLICK.
The sound of a lock turning cut sharply through the rain's roar.
I didn't need to turn to know who it was. The pungent smell of cheap alcohol and engine oil was enough.
Sable stood there, leaning against the locked door. His breath was heavy. His mechanical eye spun with an unstable red focus, its zoom lens whirring in and out erratically—a sign of peaking madness.
In his right hand, he clutched a serrated dagger wet with a thick green fluid. Neuro-Viper. Nerve poison. The liquid hissed softly as it dripped onto the wooden floor, the only sound in the room besides our breaths.
"You..." Sable hissed, his voice trembling with the hatred he had nursed for the last 48 hours. "You bootlicking dog. I saved your life from the sea... and you sold my ship to that monster."
I remained calm, slowly closing the chart book. "I saved your ship from total destruction, Sable. Vargo would have killed us all if I hadn't given him some entertainment. It was a logical exchange of value."
"Logical?" Sable spat, his saliva flecked with angry froth. He stepped forward, brandishing the dagger. "You talk about numbers while I talk about honor! You want to take my position permanently. But you forgot one thing, Auditor. You forgot who truly holds your leash."
Sable raised his left hand—his flesh hand. He roughly tore off the dirty bandage wrapped around his palm.
There, carved into his flesh, was a blackened, pulsating scar. A Blood Contract Seal. An ancient magical bond that tied Solstice's life to his.
"Solstice," he called. His voice wasn't a shout, but an absolute command embedded in that magic.
In a dark corner of the room, the shadows moved. Solstice stepped out.
Her face was deathly pale, cold sweat beading on her forehead. Her body trembled violently, her muscles twitching as if electrocuted by high voltage. She tried to resist, but her body betrayed her.
"Sorry, Ice Block..." Solstice groaned, her teeth gritting against the pain until her gums bled. Her eyes widened in panic, staring at her own hand which began to rise without her consent. "He... he's pulling the leash... it feels like boiling..."
"Kill him, Furnace," Sable ordered coldly, a cruel sneer appearing on his face. "Burn this traitor to ash. The Contract forces you to obey my direct orders. If you refuse, your heart will explode first."
Solstice let out a strangled scream—a heart-wrenching sound. Blue fire began to spark wildly from her hands, aimed at me. She was crying, not from sadness, but from the magical agony forcing her muscles and bones to move to kill her only ally.
I looked at Solstice, then at Sable.
I wasn't afraid. On the contrary, I felt relieved.
My calculations were correct. Sable had just transformed himself from a 'tolerable asset' to an 'active threat that must be eliminated.'
"You're using your strongest asset to kill the only person who can save you," I said flatly. "Poor strategy, Sable. Highly inefficient."
"Shut up and die!" Sable shrieked hysterically.
I didn't move to dodge. I simply raised my right hand, gesturing towards the leaky ceiling.
"Now, Sir."
CRASH!
The wooden roof of the Map Room exploded inward.
Not from a bomb. But from a solid ton of rainwater, compacted into a ball and dropped from the sky with deadly gravitational precision.
Wood splinters and nails flew everywhere. The shockwave threw Sable against the wall, his dagger knocked loose and embedding itself in the floor. Solstice collapsed, the fire in her hands snuffing out instantly as her concentration shattered.
Amidst the wreckage of the room, under the gaping hole that revealed the night sky, Vargo landed.
He rose slowly. Rainwater swirled around him like a living liquid cloak, separating him from the room's grimy dust.
"I'm disappointed," Vargo's voice echoed heavily. He wasn't looking at Sable. He was looking at me with his bored black eyes. "I thought you'd handle this yourself, Wynter. Why did you call me for such a trivial matter?"
"Efficiency," I answered calmly, stepping away from Solstice who was now kneeling, gasping for breath. "The former Captain intended to poison you, Lord Vargo. And he tried to use your property—Solstice—as an execution weapon. I assessed... this to be an insult to your authority."
I was lying a little. But Vargo didn't care about details. He only cared about the fact that a rat had tried to bite him.
Vargo turned his gaze to Sable. His expression sharpened.
"Poison me?" Vargo chuckled. He moved a finger, and Sable's poisoned dagger lifted from the floor, floating in the air wrapped in a bubble of water. "Neuro-Viper. Cheap stuff. You want to poison the Ocean with a drop of ink?"
"N-No! He's lying! The Auditor is the one who—"
Vargo flicked his wrist, cutting off the excuse.
"You tried to break my toy. And you tried to use my Furnace without permission."
Vargo clenched his fist slowly.
The water inside Sable's body—blood, stomach fluids, saliva—suddenly stopped flowing.
Sable froze. His eyes bulged. He tried to scream, but no air came out. He was locked inside his own body. Blood Stasis.
"Boring," Vargo murmured. "You're all so boring."
Vargo looked at me again. "He's yours now, Wynter. What's your verdict?"
I stared at Sable, choking on his own blood. I felt no sympathy. I only saw the legal shackle binding Solstice's neck.
"The law of the jungle sea, Sir," I said coldly. "An incompetent captain must be replaced."
Vargo gave a short nod. "Agreed."
Vargo jerked his hand.
The water in Sable's lungs suddenly solidified. Froze into Heavy Water.
Sable didn't drown in the sea. He drowned from within. His lungs filled themselves with liquid.
He convulsed for three seconds, his body arching backward, then fell flat with a wet thud. Pink, foamy fluid trickled from his mouth and nose.
Dead.
The moment Sable's heart stopped, the effect was instant.
"ARGH!"
Solstice jerked in shock, clutching her right hand.
On her palm, the blackened scar of the contract seal blazed with a blinding red light, then slowly dimmed and vanished. No magical explosion, no dramatic effects. Just the natural law of magic at work: Host dies, parasite dies.
Contract nullified.
Solstice stared at her now-clean hand, then touched her neck. She took a deep breath—her first truly free breath in a week. She stared at Sable's corpse with a blank look, then turned to me. Her eyes were misty, a mix of shock and relief.
"He... is dead," Solstice whispered, her voice almost inaudible.
"It's over," I replied shortly.
Vargo wasted no time on victory speeches. He walked over to Sable's corpse, glanced at it with utter indifference, then kicked it aside so it wouldn't block the path.
"Clever," Vargo said, glancing at me as he brushed dust off his armor. His tone was flat, like praising a subordinate who just completed a report correctly. "You baited him into attacking you, so I would deal with him. You used my hand to sever your friend's contract."
My heart beat fast, but I remained silent.
Vargo snorted softly, half-amused. "I don't mind being used, Wynter, as long as the result is efficient. And you just got rid of a useless captain for me."
He walked towards the hole in the roof, water lifting him back up to the upper deck. Before leaving, he glanced back slightly.
"From now on, Solstice is under your direct command. No more magical contracts, no more blood drama. Just ordinary hierarchy. I'm the boss, you're the captain, she's the crew. Do your jobs right, and you stay alive."
Vargo paused, his eyes piercing me.
"Sector 9 tomorrow morning. Make sure this ship is ready. And throw that trash into the sea."
He pointed at Sable's corpse, then vanished onto the upper deck.
Silence.
Only the sound of rain and waves remained.
I let out a long sigh, leaning against the ruined map table. My legs felt weak now that the adrenaline was gone.
Mission accomplished. Solstice was free. No speeches, no strange oaths of loyalty. Just a brutal and simple exchange of power.
Solstice crawled closer to me. She wasn't crying. She just looked very, very tired.
She touched my arm softly.
"You killed him," she said quietly.
"Vargo killed him," I corrected, then met Solstice's eyes. "But I made sure it happened."
Solstice nodded slowly. She understood. No words of thanks needed to be spoken. In this world, debts of life are paid with life.
"Come on," I said, offering a hand to help her up. "We have to dispose of your former boss's corpse before he starts to smell. Tomorrow we have new work."