Most of the Deep Ones killed by the Ghost Cannonballs exploded into dark-green paste. The few that survived wounded were torn apart by their companions and became food on the spot.
Others fell into the sharp-toothed mouths inside the tentacle suckers and became nourishment for Calypso.
Bella stopped concealing her strength. She landed on the deck and took out a waist drum made of bone.
Boom, boom, boom. She lightly struck the drum, raised her right arm, lowered her left, and tilted her body to imitate an eagle in flight. Following a special rhythm, she began performing a shamanic spirit dance across the deck.
Shamanism had spread widely, with traces of shamanic healers found throughout northern Asia and northern Europe, from Finland to Korea. Its beliefs and traditions, however, varied greatly. Bella was now using a spirit-medium dance from the Volga River region.
She struck the waist drum from time to time while O'Rin of the Water accompanied her with music. The aura of the undead realm began eroding the Material Plane.
The many fallen Deep Ones were corrupted by necromantic energy. They staggered upright in a daze and tore the remaining flesh from their bodies as though ripping away clothing, completing the final step of their transformation into undead. Then they turned and lunged at their former companions.
Some undead Deep Ones glowed with ghostly blue light from within. They charged into the Deep One horde and detonated the necromantic power inside their bodies.
Bella danced the complete ritual twice from beginning to end, yet the number of undead remained a drop in the ocean compared with the Deep Ones.
"Hard to port! We're not engaging head-on!" Bella stopped her subordinates from charging in for a direct fight. It was not time yet. When foes meet head-on, the braver one wins, but who commits their entire army during the probing stage?
She still wanted to see Calypso's true abilities. Judging from the Sea Goddess's current state, this was no longer simply a matter of fusing with a sea monster. Her divine power was severely depleted. She might have held the dominant position when the fusion first occurred, but now the sea monster had clearly gained the upper hand. The Sea Goddess was on the verge of becoming demonic.
Just before the Flying Dutchman entered combat, it abruptly turned left and traced an arc toward Calypso's right side.
The goddess, already close to becoming a monster, brought her palm down on it. The Flying Dutchman accelerated and shot past before her palm landed.
That brief delay allowed countless Deep Ones connected to strands of hair to catch up from behind.
There were simply too many enemies. Each Ghost Cannonball could kill more than ten or even dozens of Deep Ones, and Bella never stopped dancing, so undead Deep Ones constantly awakened and joined their side. Yet against an endless enemy horde, the bombardment was still insufficient. Trying to kite the enemy and eliminate every lesser monster was unrealistic. Calypso would probably have welcomed Bella doing exactly that.
Jason raised his large blade and conveyed his request to join the battle.
"Don't rush. Time is on our side. That thing is consuming far more energy than we are!"
Bella remained completely calm. She ordered O'Rin of the Water to continue playing while she kept dancing. One moment, the ghost ship seemed about to cut inside the enemy's formation; the next, it had circled behind them again.
She also ordered the Snake Eyes Clan to reduce the frequency of their cannon fire.
Although neither side could see the other, she had already relieved a great deal of pressure from Nick Fury and Namor. It was time to see what those two could do.
The ghost ship veered left and right, constantly roaming within the Sea Goddess's attack range.
Pyramid Head, empowered by Vajra strength, stood alone at the bow like an untiring machine. Taking advantage of his weapon's greater reach, he rapidly cleared the enemies before him.
Jason was even more ferocious on the other side. His blade swung again and again, chopping apart every Deep One that boarded the deck after the cannon fire was reduced.
The killing machine loved this kind of work. Give him ordinary enemies to butcher, and he became enthusiastic enough to keep going all day without tiring.
The Nun was at the helm. She still carried herself with considerable reserve, and such small fry were beneath the notice of one of Hell's former pillar demons.
Nick Fury continuously attacked Calypso's main body, while Namor and the Atlantean soldiers cleared away the Deep Ones that reached him. His absurdly designed technological weapon was undeniably devastating. Seeing that his attacks dealt greater damage, Bella ordered the ship's cannons to change targets and focus on clearing the Deep Ones, opening Nick Fury's line of sight to the Sea Goddess herself.
Shot after shot. Nick Fury was drenched in sweat. Remaining in a sniping position for so long was taxing even for him. He kicked away a Deep One, then raised his hand and fired a red flare. According to their earlier agreement, Bella knew he was almost out of ammunition.
Namor was exceptionally fierce. He swung the trident and attacked relentlessly. Exploiting the wounds Nick Fury had opened, the King of Atlantis forcibly hacked through one of Calypso's left arms.
A divine body possessed extraordinary defenses and was extremely difficult to break through by physical means. Correspondingly, once damaged, it took an almost endless time to recover. Thor's eye and the arm he lost later were both examples.
Calypso's left arm was severed just above the elbow, with Namor chopping through it little by little like a saw.
The Sea Goddess flew into a rage and sent Namor flying with a backhand. Several Atlantean warriors grabbed their king and fled at full speed.
Bella teleported to Nick Fury's side and gestured repeatedly, telling him to leave while she held off the enemy.
Nick Fury truly was exhausted. Thick clots of blood floated inside the helmet of his diving suit. In a rare display, he nodded to Bella, acknowledging the favor.
At her command, the Flying Dutchman circled Calypso more than ten times, clockwise and counterclockwise.
Once it had drawn enough attention, the ghost ship raced in the direction opposite Kepler Station.
After seeing Nick Fury off, Bella teleported back aboard. The number of Deep Ones had not visibly decreased at all, while her side had suffered severe losses.
The battle had lasted less than fifteen minutes, yet all three ghost sharks pulling the ship had been killed. More than half the ghosts and vengeful spirits aboard were dead. Large numbers of undead Frost Giants and gigantic undead orcs had fallen, and even seven or eight gunners from the Snake Eyes Clan had been killed.
The ghost ship had no spare life force to resurrect them. Every second, vast numbers of Deep Ones leaped onto the deck and slaughtered everything in sight.
Comrade Jason, specialist in mowing down lesser enemies, was still fighting. His entire body was covered in dark-green blood, making his original appearance impossible to discern.
"Good work. I'll take the helm. The warm-up is over—prepare for the decisive battle!" Bella took the wheel from the Nun.
The Nun had also been injured during the earlier fighting, but she could heal herself, so the wounds caused no real problem.
Bella steered the ghost ship around Calypso twice more. The numerous Deep Ones were in utter chaos. Their bodies remained connected to the Sea Goddess's hair, and all the random clockwise and counterclockwise circling had tangled many strands together. There was no chance they would coexist peacefully. When two Deep Ones collided, each only assumed the other was obstructing it and immediately raised its claws against its neighbor.