The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 423 "Give Me Face"

"call."

After the attack, Martha breathed a sigh of relief, but her expression was not too relaxed. The warship she was on had been seized from Bartholomew, and she only had about a dozen cannonballs left. The enemy had hundreds of ships and would not be willing to be targets for her to shoot. Therefore, the tactic of attacking the enemy by long-range throwing was clearly limited.

We must launch a more aggressive and proactive offensive, relying on close-quarters combat to overwhelm the enemy.

Boom boom——!
Martha swung her arm again, throwing several dark grape-shaped bullets in the blink of an eye. With a short whooshing sound, each one caused the ships to explode in different directions the instant it hit the ground, and the sound was no different from the roar of a giant cannon!

Unfortunately, this attack did not achieve the desired results of the initial strike; it only managed to blast open a few ships and create a large area of ​​splashing water.

Clearly, Bartholomew had already figured out Martha's throwing strategy and skillfully commanded the fleet that had been surrounding him to disperse, thus avoiding being concentrated and destroyed.

Of course, this would also cause the encirclement to fail, and the enemy could easily escape. However, firstly, it was Martha who was actively entangled, rather than them needing to kill Martha. Secondly, this was at sea, far from the island, not on land, so even if Martha wanted to leave, she couldn't just leave whenever she wanted.

Whoosh!
The moment Martha stirred up a huge wave, she immediately began her next move—she stomped her feet on the deck and leaped with all her might, transforming herself into a cannonball as she flew toward Bartholomew's fleet!

Boom! An even more deafening explosion reverberated in all directions. As Martha approached the first ship, she raised her steel-like fist, punched through its ammunition magazine, and detonated it. Then, she tumbled onto the second ship.

But that wasn't the end of it. The moment she landed, Martha steadied herself with lightning speed and unleashed a barrage of punches. The pirates on the deck were as if they were being bombarded by a storm of punches, and they were all knocked into the sea with a series of thuds!

This is the ancient fighting technique that Martha is skilled in. It is said to be a fighting technique passed down from Jacob and Moses to Martha in Hebrew mythology. When mastered to a high level, it can even allow one to fight angels. For example, Jacob once fought and defeated God's messenger (possibly Raphael or Carmel).

"What a terrifying iron fist."

Bartholomew exclaimed in surprise. His flagship was only three ships away from the ship where Martha had landed, but he still showed no sign of panic.

"Oh, saint with the beautiful bangs, I may not be a master of martial arts, but I can still sense your iron will—but this unprovoked hostility can escalate into a fight to the death, can it?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, you pretentious, arrogant pirate!"

Martha smashed the mast in half with her fist. "Where do your men get all the food and treasures they can enjoy at their banquets? Where do you get all the supplies to support your fleet of hundreds of ships? It's nothing more than plundering the Western Islands and squandering the people's wealth!"

After saying that, she felt she had been too verbose. "Tch, it feels like all that I said was for nothing. In short, in this endless sea, your fleet is the most wicked and unforgivable!"

"Is that so... But that's the code of pirates: plunder everything, take what you want, and stick to that principle to the end."

Bartholomew feigned helplessness, "San Martha, do you know that I plundered a massive amount of supplies, enough to supply more than four hundred ships, in less than three days?"

"...What?" Martha was a little confused. Why did the other person suddenly bring this up? And what did this mean?
"This shows that you, Christian saint, underestimated the mere pirate villains in your eyes."

Bartholomew snapped his fingers from Martha, a thousand meters away, the sound barely perceptible.

"!" Oh no! Martha, who witnessed this scene, had a very bad feeling for some reason.

She had just decided to switch to another ship by jumping, just like before, when suddenly everything went blurry.

Bartholomew has disappeared!
The great pirate, along with several ships directly in front of her, disappeared!
Is this an extremely fast transportation capability? Or a spatial or temporal ability? Or is it simply invisibility?

Martha carefully sensed the flow of air in the air, but couldn't detect anything amiss; the enemy seemed to be merging into the atmosphere itself at an extremely fast speed...

call!
Martha swung her fist with all her might, stirring up a raging storm powerful enough to blow away giant waves, but there was nothing unusual in front of her except for the surging water.

Oh no, it's very likely not invisible, but has moved and is no longer in the same place.

So that's it! Bartholomew was able to quickly plunder the entire Western Sea Islands and supply his massive fleet because of this high-speed transfer capability!

She turned her head to look again, and the other fleets were also disappearing into thin air.

In just a few swift movements, the massive fleet vanished into thin air. No one knows where it disappeared to.

All that remained was the empty ship she occupied, its deck tattered and a mast broken.

"..."

Damn it, did I get tricked by those damned pirates and end up stuck at sea like this?

slam-la-

Martha looked out into the distance in despair. The water rippled and the waves surged. After some time, she rubbed her eyes and seemed to see a dirty man with a black beard using a plank as an oar and a long, cylindrical log as a makeshift raft, struggling to row in the endless sea.

Blackbeard's hands and feet were sore and numb from slashing, and when he occasionally looked up, his eyes met Martha's for a moment.

"..."

Oops, it feels like a myocardial infarction!
This woman, who exudes an aura of holiness... must be born with values ​​that are at odds with those of a pirate like him!

Blackbeard looked closer and, sure enough, saw Martha flex her gauntlets, a sinister smile spreading across her face. It was as if a ray of pure justice shone down on her, illuminating Blackbeard's own dark and evil nature, leaving her nowhere to hide.

"Hey, you're one of that guy's pirates (Bartholomew's), right?"

Martha demanded.

Blackbeard had no idea that a seemingly random battle had just ended here, and that the Christian saint opposite him, having been tricked, was furious and mistook him for a pirate subordinate who hadn't been moved by Bartholomew and had been left behind but survived the sea.

Blackbeard, thinking his past had been exposed, suppressed his fear and mustered his courage to intimidate others, shouting, "What subordinate? I am Blackbeard, the great pirate who can fight Shanks, the Emperor of the Sea! One of the future Emperors of the Sea, remember this!"

"Oh, you've got quite the ambition, so you're saying you still dare to do evil?"

Martha clasped her hands together in front of her chest and cracked her knuckles.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Do you still dare to do evil?"

Emiya asked, and as he spoke, he drew his sword and slashed, cleaving a section of the island's coastline in two with a single stroke. Thousands of meters of bay rocks crumbled into dust like foam.

The pirates and sailors tied to the pillar witnessed this scene and broke out in a cold sweat. They trembled like leaves and shook their heads like rattles, loudly promising, "We dare not! We surrender! We are willing to follow the Emperor of the Sea, Shanks, from now on!"

"Follow me? Dream on! You can use this ship to find your own way out at sea, and don't let me see you again." Emiya decisively refused. Chaldea wouldn't accept just anyone, especially not those outstanding individuals whose achievements rivaled those of Heroic Spirits and were destined for historical fame. So, these small fry were stunned by Emiya's Conqueror's Haki... a mental shock, and then piled on top of each other on a small boat before being sent into the vast ocean.

"That's strange. I remember they attended Nero and Elizabeth's concert before, how did they survive? They're really tough."

As Emiya was wondering, Amor slowly walked over and explained, "They weren't particularly tough, these were the ones who luckily survived... By the way, are we about to set sail?"

"Yes, the investigation and removal of the ruins and the 'key' in the stone chamber are complete. It's time to set off to find the next key. According to the sea area division of this singularity, there should only be one in the entire East China Sea. We'll have to search for the others in other locations in the four seas."

"Not necessarily! Maybe other pirates in this singularity will take it first... By the way, what did you translate from the dragon script on the stone wall?"

"Are you interested in some records of the 'Great War' from back then, which contain long descriptions of scenes like fire rain sweeping the ground, seas rising, and the sky and earth collapsing?"

Amor shook his head. "Never mind then. I'll give you a heads-up... that sealed 'key' is the dragon claw. Be careful, it might have unknown effects on the human body or even the Servant."

Emiya frowned. He had a lot of faith in the perception abilities of Chaldea's only current divine servant, especially since Amor, the goddess of love, was particularly skilled in the spiritual realm and might have discovered something.

"Do you think that thing could be a trap set by 'Yabikuni'?"

"Ha... I'm pretty sure they've made some kind of arrangement on it, but this singularity is too chaotic. There are scattered mental fields everywhere, interfering with magnetic fields, celestial phenomena, and ocean currents. Even I can't perceive them accurately."

Amor looked somewhat unhappy at the surging waves and the suddenly darkening sky, "But what is certain is that the 'key' will not necessarily bring bad effects; it should have both good and bad effects."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, if Yaobikuni wants the fish to bite, she can't just remove the tempting bait, can she? Now that she might possess the Holy Grail, she can surely package a giant dragon claw that is already full of threat into a sugar-coated bullet, right?"

"...For example, as long as you obtain this key, you can get the corresponding elemental power or something? I guess the pirates will make good use of it without any precautions, right?"

"It actually sounds more dangerous."

Emiya turned around and saw the sails of the Red Furs billowing on the other side of the island before setting off.

"It's time to go."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Inside the cabin, the so-called key—a giant claw covered in black dragon scales—was guarded by a tight barrier. Da Vinci and Plerati also set up multiple anti-theft and anti-illusion mechanisms in this specially created dangerous item containment room.

This is a necessary measure taken after assessment, considering that this substance may cause pollution to the human body and even the spiritual foundation.

After all, there are still some unclear situations, so it's best to proceed with caution.

“...But I don’t feel worried at all.” Regina Leif murmured to herself as she observed the misnomer key through the transparent barrier. “I even feel a sense of warmth, as if eating it is like going home and having a delicious meal.”

Even she herself was somewhat surprised by the wonderful metaphor she uttered.

"Don't let your guard down; there's no such thing as a free lunch."

Regina let out a soft "ah" as she felt Emiya take her hand.

"You almost crossed the second warning line just now."

The silver-haired girl lowered her head and realized that she had unknowingly left the transparent partition and stepped into the containment chamber without her noticing!

She turned her head and saw the little Leonardo da Vinci standing next to Emiya with a solemn expression. She was said to be the system embodiment of the entire submarine, and the surveillance system was under her jurisdiction. Moreover, her creator was the chief engineer of Chaldea.

Little Leonardo da Vinci's face was serious. "Miss Regina, did you just feel a summoning or seduction from the 'key'?"

Regina shook her head in distress. "I...I'm not sure. I just started thinking about something naturally...and ended up letting my guard down without realizing it."

Thinking about Amor's warning, Emiya looked at Leonardo da Vinci and asked, "Have there been any unusual occurrences in the recent singularity's magnetic field or celestial phenomena?"

"Wait a moment!" Little Da Vinci waved his small, exquisite wand, checked the recent test data, and a look of confusion immediately appeared on his face:
"Since early yesterday morning, the magnetic field disorder at the sea surface has increased by 18%. As for the weather... a large-scale rain cloud has gathered in the East China Sea. In addition, according to the underwater multi-functional detector, those large sea monsters are frequently moving around!"

"I understand." Emiya knew in his heart that the early hours of yesterday morning were the time to deal with the 'key' in the deepest part of the stone chamber.

"Little Leonardo da Vinci, speed up the journey."

He pulled Regina away from the eerie 'key'.

Soon, this high-tech vessel, disguised as a sailboat, sailed away from the East China Sea, heading north through the doldrums and arriving at the 'reef area' of the North China Sea. Some ship silhouettes could be vaguely seen.

Reggie, whose hand had been held tightly by Emiya, was already feeling a little hot. She couldn't ignore the many eyes on the ship staring at her, but thinking that she might accidentally touch the dangerous key, she still suppressed her shyness and held onto the man's hand tightly.

Emiya squinted and peered into the distance. "Those are pirate ships I've never seen before... Are the two sides at war?"

One of the ships had no masts or sails; instead, it was propelled by a giant sea serpent.

Upon hearing this, Regina blushed and looked up. She looked carefully in the direction he was looking and suddenly sensed a familiar feeling, “…there’s a feeling of a ‘key’ on it!”

"..."

Emiya, who had initially planned to observe for a while, paused, "Can you determine which side it is on?"

"This... is too far, I don't know."

"Little Leonardo da Vinci, bring the boat closer!"

A small face popped out from the deck, "Hey! Emiya, are you sure? Our ship might be attacked by both sides!"

While imaginary submarines are not afraid of outdated weapons, the situation is different if the opponent's ship has a Heroic Spirit Noble Phantasm. Moreover, the Shadow Border's outer shell armor also requires maintenance costs.

“It’s alright, we’ll announce our intentions later, saying we’re here to mediate and get both sides to stop,” Emiya’s eyes flashed, his powerful spirit and the divine might of a god-slayer emanating from him. “Just consider it giving me face.”

The dark sky seemed to crack open, revealing dense, flashing lightning.

(End of this chapter)