"Well, so this is the one who impersonated Night Raid? Truly weak." A faint mockery.
Suddenly, from high above, two figures leaped fiercely towards Takeru, intending to ambush him.
"Hmph, don't ignore us!" Seeing the ambushing Nyau and Liver, Mine directly raised her Pumpkin and aimed at Liver, firing a blast. Liver noticed the danger, forcefully twisting his body mid-air to dodge Mine's attack.
As for Nyau, he was kicked flying by Bulat, who had suddenly rushed over...
Takeru had long since noticed their movements and stood calmly in place.
"As expected of you, Bulat. Even your comrades are extraordinary." Liver, who had dodged Mine's attack, quickly said.
Hearing Liver's familiar voice and seeing his face, Bulat's mind was shaken.
"You are... General Liver!" Seeing Liver, memories of him flooded Bulat's mind like a tide.
"I am no longer a general. Ever since Esdeath-sama saved me, I have merely been her servant." Hearing Bulat's words, Liver lightly touched the necklace on his neck and said calmly.
"If you were still our comrade, I would surely raise a glass to celebrate our reunion. But since you appear as an enemy, I can only cut you down and complete the mission." Seeing the look in Liver's eyes, Bulat had to admit one thing: the Liver now was not the general he once respected.
"Those are my words. I will definitely complete the mission." Hearing Bulat's words, Liver said calmly.
"With this equipment my master gave me! Water Dragon Possession: Black Marlin!" As Liver spoke, he removed his glove, revealing an item shaped like a ring. Simultaneously, with his words, several streams of water surged into the sky from around them.
A ring-type Teigu, made from the organs of aquatic Danger Beast that manipulate water flow. The wearer can freely manipulate liquids...
"How fortunate to fight you here!" According to Liver, for the Black Marlin, the sea is the best place to display its abilities.
Hearing this, Takeru shook his head. Although it looked impressive, there were too many restrictions. It couldn't create liquids itself, only manipulate existing ones… this limitation was too great.
"Being able to manipulate water flow... truly a Teigu suited for use by the subordinate of someone who controls ice. Takeru, Mine, leave him to me. Don't intervene. Incursio!" After lightly praising, Bulat quickly activated his own Teigu.
"Esdeath-sama can create ice from nothing. Don't lump us together, I dare not presume! Water Bullet!" Hearing Bulat's words, Liver felt Bulat was somewhat insulting Esdeath. He then said no more and directly unleashed his ability.
As his words fell, the surging water streams instantly changed direction, fiercely charging towards Bulat.
Facing the rapidly approaching water, Bulat showed no fear. He directly used the weapon in his hand to block in front of him, quickly stopping the water's impact.
As for Nyau, who was kicked away by Bulat earlier, he now crawled out from a broken wooden crate. "That hurts. That guy's strength is second only to Esdeath-sama. But since we're on the river, Liver can defeat him. I'll go provide support too."
"Hmph, your opponent is me!" Seeing Nyau trying to interfere with Bulat, Mine directly used Pumpkin to quickly fire at him.
Seeing Mine's action, Nyau swiftly used his agile movements to dodge.
After dodging five consecutive shots, Nyau found an opening. With a leap, he quickly charged towards Mine, using the Teigu flute in his hand as a weapon, intending to pierce through Mine.
However, seeing Nyau's rapid approach, Mine was not alarmed but pleased, revealing a cold smile. She took a deep breath, her expression becoming more focused.
By the time Nyau realized something was wrong, Mine's Pumpkin had already begun gathering energy. What made Nyau even more terrified was that this time, the power seemed not at all like before, but several times stronger, and the attack range had also increased.
Unfortunately, he realized it too late. The moment Mine fired her attack, even though he dodged in advance, he was still caught in the blast. Soon, half his body disappeared in the powerful bombardment, and he fell to the ground, not moving again.
The flute in his hand also slowly slipped down.
Mine casually picked up the flute and returned to Takeru's side.
"Should we intervene?" Mine looked at the scene of Liver and Bulat's battle and asked curiously.
"No, this is their personal grudge. Let them settle it themselves." Hearing Mine's words, Takeru shook his head, respecting Bulat's choice.
At this moment, Liver used a massive water flow to form a dragon, lifting himself high into the air, looking down on Bulat. Takeru watched this scene calmly.
"Be crushed to pieces under the water pressure, Bulat! Abyssal Serpent!" Looking at Bulat clad in hard armor, Liver launched another attack.
A water stream quickly formed into a serpent-like head, charging at Bulat.
Facing the aggressive water, Bulat wasted no words. He simply crouched, then leaped, holding his lance-type weapon and charging forward, directly tearing the serpentine water flow in half with his formidable strength...
"I knew you wouldn't dodge but would come forward to shatter the serpent. After all, if the ship is damaged, there will be many casualties. But leaving the ship aside, in the immobile air, you definitely can't dodge this move!"
Seeing Bulat shatter the serpentine water flow, Liver wasn't surprised… instead, he looked as if this was expected. His goal wasn't to attack Bulat with the serpentine water flow but purely to lure him into the air.
"[Muddy Stream Spear]!" Seeing Bulat, as he predicted, in the inconvenient-to-move air, Liver quickly unleashed the attack he had prepared earlier.
As Liver's voice fell, eight thick streams of water surged from the sea at incredible speed, aiming for Bulat, finally merging into one enormous water flow.
Boom!
"Ah!" As the water flow collided with Bulat's body, he let out a painful cry. The powerful impact even cracked the mask on his armor.
Noticing this, Mine couldn't help but clench her fist, somewhat unable to suppress the urge to help Bulat.
However, she was stopped by Takeru. After all, Bulat hadn't asked for their help. Most importantly, through his perception, Takeru knew that the tempered Bulat hadn't suffered significant damage...
"It's just being splashed with water. My passion will not be extinguished!" After the water flow passed, Bulat said fiercely.
"I see. Attacks of this level can't defeat you. I know that perfectly well. I've fought alongside you countless times. I understand your strength and bravery better than anyone. Precisely because of that, I saved my strongest ultimate move for you! Water Dragon Heavenly Conquest!"
As Liver spoke, he launched another attack at Bulat, who hadn't yet landed on the ship.
With his action, the ring on his hand glowed brightly again. In the sea, numerous dragon-head water flows appeared, continuously engulfing and charging at him.
"Argh!" Under the continuous assaults, Bulat let out extremely painful shouts. Takeru on the deck still watched calmly. He was very clear about Bulat's injury status.
Moreover, Takeru could clearly sense that Bulat had also begun his counterattack. Thus, Takeru had no more reason to intervene in his battle.
"Did I get him?" After the water flow completely dissipated, Bulat's figure also disappeared from the high air. Liver said lightly.
"Usually, when someone says that line, they haven't gotten them!" Bulat, who had used the water flow to jump even higher into the air, now descended.
Taking advantage of Liver's slight moment of carelessness, he directly used the lance in his hand to slash down fiercely at him.
"He actually endured it?!" The shocked Liver reacted too late, then could only watch as Bulat came closer and closer.
Squelch~!
The sound of flesh tearing rang out.
Under everyone's gaze, Liver was directly cleaved apart by the lance, then fell into a pool of blood...
"Huff, huff..." After dealing with Liver, Bulat knelt on one knee, panting heavily before Liver's body. His armor quickly disappeared.
Looking at Liver's death, tears glistened in his eyes. Liver was once the brother he respected and was closest to. But now, the paths they chose were different. He could only bear the grief and cut him down.