A plume of smoke and debris rose from the air. The massive plateau that had once been home to the survivors lay in ruins. Far away, the remaining sailors crouched in fear atop a plateau. None of them knew if they would live to see the day.
Everyone had heard the tense exchange out on the beach that ended in an explosion that rocked the island. The entire cave system and plateau had collapsed inwards in rubble.
A hand tore free from the shattered stones and pulled upwards. Stone crunched and flew as a tall man with wavy black hair pulled himself free. He stood hunched slightly, his breathing slightly ragged. His clothes were in tatters, and a stream of blood dripped from his mouth. His body ached and groaned from the explosion that had nearly killed him.
Forcing himself to stand up straight, the Pirate King surveyed the ruins for a moment.
"Did they really think tricks would be enough to take me down? And they had the gall to talk about cowardice," He chuckled to himself. "Look at them now, they're all dead while I yet stand!"
That was completely accurate. Sure, Silas and the rest of his soldiers had been finished off, but there were still the other stragglers. The boy and the Montrelan, as well as the other sailors, still lived. However, all of that could be handled in time.
He attempted to wipe some of the dirt and grime off his face, but it didn't end up successful.
With an irritated sigh, he turned towards the jungle and began striding away. It was unfortunate that he had been forced to use so much mist during the fight. Now he would be forced to mundanely walk back to his camp.
It would take him some time to recover from the damage dealt by the final explosion. He had been expecting Silas to run for it when hope was lost. Instead, an explosion had nearly killed all of them. Well, all of them except for him.
The Pirate King ran into a few scouting parties, and they all froze at his approach. Normally, he would have cared about his image to his men. They needed to view him as impossibly strong and unbeatable. However, when they learned he'd survived a bomb, their fear would only grow more.
Striding through the camp, he made his way to the center where his lieutenants were. Their eyes widened at his battered appearance, and he had to snarl at them to keep them moving.
"We need the location of the missing survivors. They must be dealt with at once," He commanded with as much force as his bruised body could muster.
"We have heard noises that are clearly originating from deep in the tunnels."
The Pirate King's gaze tightened. "For the time being, you are not to investigate. I will head down there myself when I am shaking off the effects of that explosion."
The others flinched slightly. Good. The seeds had been set; now all he had to do was water them. Given time, all the failures of this island would be forgotten. He just needed to work slowly and be patient.
The tent flap suddenly kicked open and a pirate rushed inside, "Sir! We've found some of our men dead near the cave entrance."
He was on his feet before he knew what he was doing. Why near the tunnel entrance? He had been expecting this report for a while. The two survivors were clearly up to something, but the tunnel mouth.
What could they possibly be doing down there?
His eyes widened in realization. Those bastards had gone to make a deal with the gearborn. It was the only logical conclusion, and yet after weeks of them bad-mouthing him, they'd gone and done the same. In the end, it only took them needing to survive. Then their morals went out the window.
He turned his gaze on all the men around him. "Begin moving on the catacombs. Kill anything and everything that moves… including the robots. I will go personally to ensure that our alliance is still intact."
The Pirate King turned his back on his rushing men. They would be eager to please him when he was in a bad mood. They needed to be fast if they were to catch them in the act. However, he also couldn't afford to throw caution to the wind. That was the only way he had survived this long.
He checked his mist reservoirs. A large portion had been regenerated already. However, it wasn't nearly enough to win a proper fight. That didn't matter, though. He didn't need his mist to win any big fights.
He needed his mist to get to and from the caverns. He had left a marked man specifically so that he could arrive instantly and leave instantly. If it came to it, he'd still have enough to summon his blade.
Pacing slightly, the Pirate King began to concentrate on his mark in the tunnels.
If the worst came to worst, he could always flee again. He had the mist for that at least. It would likely doom his men, but that didn't matter if he was still alive. He could always rebuild his army.
Then there was always the Sovereign.
He would rather be flayed alive than bend his knee at the man's court. That's assuming he wasn't flayed while bending his knee. But if it was necessary, it would be necessary.
None of that mattered. There was potentially a battle about to happen, and he needed to focus every ounce of his power into destroying those who thought they could betray him.
Closing his eyes, the Pirate King sucked in a deep breath. His vision hovered inside him, waiting for him to pick a mark. There were countless stars. Hundreds of them. Any of them he could pick. All of them calling for him. He ignored all of them and picked one.
Pulling on it, the Pirate King vanished. His body faded away instantly as another figure took his place. He traveled the massive distance through mountains of rock and dirt in an instant.
In an instant, he arrived in the cavern.