Chapter 3: Anne Bonny
The entire bar erupted into chaos, transforming into a full-on battlefield between the rebels of Freshstar Island and the pirate crew of Booze Beard Jack. Gunfire echoed through the air, with pistol shots flying in every direction. The clash of swords and the raw sounds of fistfights filled the room. It was utter madness, and Hyoudou Satō found himself right in the thick of it.
In his hands was a cutlass—a short, broad saber popular during the early age of sail, including the infamous Golden Age of Piracy. Satō, a man from the 21st century, was now gripping a weapon from centuries before his grandparents were even born. He cursed his rotten luck, his every movement clumsy and inexperienced as he desperately tried to stay alive.
As he stumbled over the lifeless body of a fallen pirate, one of the crew members who had tried to shoot him earlier loomed above him. The pirate raised his sword high, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he sneered:
"This time, it's the end for you, Specter!"
Satō looked up, panicked, his mind racing.
Why did I have to take over this body at the worst possible moment? I've already failed this quest, and I've barely been here an hour!
Before he could react, he felt someone forcefully push his head down. A moment later, Anne Bonny leaped over him, her voice dripping with bloodlust as she snarled,
"The only thing ending here is your pathetic lives!"
Her cutlass swung in a deadly arc, slicing cleanly through the pirate's throat. Blood sprayed, and the man's head dangled precariously before Anne delivered a powerful kick to his head. The sheer force sent his severed head flying across the room, smashing through a window with a sickening crash.
Satō could only gape at the scene, his mind struggling to process what he had just witnessed. Anne stood tall, her blade dripping with crimson, a wild, unrelenting fury in her eyes.
"Stay alive, Specter," she barked without looking back, already turning her attention to the next opponent.
Satō groaned, gripping his cutlass tighter as the chaos around him intensified.
I've really gotten myself into a nightmare this time.
Satō rushed to follow Anne, his grip tightening on the cutlass in his hand as he stumbled through the chaos. His eyes stayed fixed on her as she cut down pirates with terrifying ease.
Stay alive? he thought, watching her with a mixture of awe and dread. Then I just need to stick close to her. With a monster like that next to me, I might actually survive until this entire pirate crew is dead.
Anne moved like a force of nature, her blade slicing through enemies as if they were made of air. Her movements were fluid, brutal, and unrelenting. In the middle of her rampage, she glanced back at Satō, who was trailing nervously behind her. She let out a sharp laugh and shouted,
"What's wrong, Specter? You don't look too well!"
As a pirate lunged at her, she ducked effortlessly, dodging the strike by dropping low. With a swift kick to the pirate's leg, she sent him sprawling, his balance lost. Her cutlass flashed in an arc, slicing cleanly across his throat. Blood splattered onto her face, the crimson drops accentuating the menacing glow of her crimson eyes.
Satō, keeping close but making sure not to get too close, flinched at the grisly sight.
"Well, excuse me if I'm not a big fan of being in the middle of a pirate war!" he said nervously, gripping his cutlass like it might somehow protect him. "Bullets are flying every second, and there's a good chance I'll get skewered by a sword!"
He hesitated, glancing at her again. "And for the record, my name isn't Specter. It's Hyoudou Satō."
Anne grinned wickedly, her eyes gleaming with excitement as her blade glinted in the dim, chaotic light of the tavern. "Hyoudou Satō, huh?" she said, her voice dripping with mockery as she licked a smear of blood off her lips. "What a strange name. Did you come from some sort of tribe?"
Before Satō could respond, she turned back to the fray, cutting down another pirate with a precise slash. Glancing at him over her shoulder, she added with a laugh, "But listen, Satō—if you want to live, stop whining and keep up. Or you really will end up as a ghost!"
A sudden, bloodcurdling scream of rage cut through the chaos, silencing the clashing of swords and the crack of gunfire. Everyone turned toward the sound, their attention drawn to the source.
Satō glanced back, his heart sinking as he thought, Man, man, man... it never ends. What now?
Standing in the wide-open doorway of the bar was a pirate from Booze Beard Jack's crew—a towering man with a single, menacing eye. His other eye was an empty, scarred socket, a testament to past violence. The man's face twisted with fury as he bellowed,
"This time, this is the end for you, Anne Bonny! You'll pay for taking my left eye!"
Satō's eyes flicked down to the large object the pirate held, covered by a heavy curtain. The weight of dread settled in his stomach.
Anne, standing over the fresh corpse of her latest victim, pressed her boot into the lifeless chest and sneered. Her lips curled into a sick, mocking smile as she retorted,
"Heh. And what's a pathetic pirate like you—whose captain couldn't even make it past the first Great Sea—gonna do to the goddess of pirates?"
The one-eyed pirate's lips curled into a smirk. "You fool," he spat. "You've never left that island of yours, and yet you dare judge my captain? You're going to regret those words... with your life!"
With that, he reached for the curtain and yanked it away, revealing what lay beneath.
It was a culverin—a massive, cast-iron cannon from centuries past, capable of obliterating everything in its path.
The room erupted in panic. Shouts of fear and disbelief filled the air as both factions momentarily stopped their fighting.
"He has a culverin!"
"Stop, you idiot! We're in here too!"
"Take cover! He's going to blow us all to hell!"
Satō's eyes widened as the situation spiraled further into madness.
Of course. A giant freaking cannon. Why wouldn't there be a cannon in the middle of a pirate brawl?
Satō turned back to Anne, his frustration boiling over. "OY! Is this supposed to be a brawl between pirates in a bar, or a fucking full-on war? Because that thing is going to blow everyone in this building to hell!"
He stopped mid-sentence, catching a glimpse of Anne's eyes. They were pure, glowing red, filled with an intensity that sent a chill down his spine.
Anne let out a sick, cold smile. "Go on... fire that thing, if it helps you. Pathetic fool with no balls to fight for his dream. Happy now?"
The room erupted in disbelief, voices raised in outrage from both factions.
"Man, I knew you were crazy, but not this crazy!"
"Anne, it's a culverin, we're talking about!"
Fear rippled through the room as more voices joined in, some shouting warnings, others in shock at Anne's recklessness.
Anne, undeterred, screamed over the noise, her voice cutting through the panic. "Shut the hell up! Do you think I'm like any of you?! You go around killing people, claiming to be pirates, but can't even get past the first Great Sea! When I say something, I do it! That's my pirate code! I will travel all ten Great Seas, find the world's edge, and become the Pirate Goddess! My name will be remembered for centuries to come after I'm dead! So fire it... fire it... it will prove my strength and resolve!"
The one-eyed pirate seethed in rage, his hand trembling as he loaded the culverin. He roared,
"Very well... tell me how it feels to burn in hell!"
He fired the cannon. The sound was deafening, like the earth itself had cracked open. The iron ball shot forward, speeding toward them with a destructive force Satō could barely comprehend.
For a brief moment, Satō thought to himself, Is this trial supposed to be fair? Because from what I've seen so far, it's not!
But before he could react, Anne dashed forward with blinding speed, turning into a blur. Her eyes burned with murderous intent. No one in the bar could track her movements as she closed the distance between herself and the incoming ball.
She drew her cutlass close to her waist, her expression one of cold determination. With a fierce yell, she shouted,
"Mythikos Attribute: Jörmungandr, the World-Ender!"
The blade of her cutlass shimmered, transforming into a mighty serpent. The serpent's massive maw opened wide as it coiled around the iron ball, catching it with a thunderous crack. The impact reverberated through the room like a deafening roar.
Steam began to pour from the serpent's mouth, its body pure white with glowing red eyes. The serpent hissed, holding the ball in its jaw as if it were a mere morsel to be crushed. The sound was unbearable, like the roar of a hundred storms combined.
Anne stood tall, her eyes filled with the same relentless resolve. The serpent—Jörmungandr—glared back at the room, a creature of pure power.
The serpent crushed the iron ball in its maw with terrifying ease, its teeth unaffected by the immense strength of the culverin. Anne lifted her sword into the air, her voice cold and commanding as she addressed the stunned pirates.
"Tell Booze Beard Jack that from now on, it's a full-on war. You get it?"
The serpent hissed menacingly as it circled the pirate, who was still reeling in disbelief. He could hardly comprehend that she had blocked such a powerful weapon with nothing but her will. Everyone—friend and foe alike—was frozen in shock.
Satō's mind raced. A Mythikos attribute? It sounds like my fictional attribute... Did she come from another world? And what's wrong with that girl? She's crazy strong...
Anne took a few deliberate steps forward, lowering herself to one knee in front of the pirate with the remaining eye. Her voice was icy, cutting through the silence of the bar.
"The only reason I allowed you pathetic excuse of a pirate to live this long is because I needed someone to send a message. Now tell me—do you think I'm some village girl with no resolve?"
The man's lips trembled as fear consumed him. Anne's sword returned to its normal form as she stood, her presence towering over him. She began walking through the bar, her eyes flicking from one stunned pirate to the next.
She spoke with venom in her voice, her words dripping with malice. "Now... that idiot who fired the iron ball is the only one leaving here alive. As you idiots can see, I'm far stronger than any of you. So die by a single pistol bullet... or die by my blade."
Satō stood frozen, his thoughts tumbling over each other as he watched her. Scary... she's scary. That's the only way I could describe a maniac like that. Even that word doesn't do her justice. Will there be more people like her as I continue the trial?