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Aero pressed his right hand to the deck of the Dove, and in an instant, all remaining Marines still fighting on board were blasted into the sky by a surge of wind.
Up above, Grice finally noticed that Aero had returned to the Dove. He hadn't yet had the chance to destroy the ship.
But Aero only smiled.
Then, Grice felt it was an overwhelming pressure overhead.
Looking up, his pupils shrank.
Hovering above him was a dark gray cyclone, condensed into a ball and spinning with terrifying force. Grice could smell the scent of death rolling off it.
He tried to flee.
But Aero wasn't about to let him go.
The wind orb above Grice began to descend rapidly, and the Marine officer could only watch in horror as it closed in. At the last second, he raised both hands in desperation.
It was pointless.
The orb crushed him and hurled him downward toward the sea.
---
Aero acted quickly to protect his ship and crew from the incoming blast. He leapt from the deck into the ocean. But he didn't sink he had formed a vacuum shield of wind around his body, keeping the seawater at bay.
From beneath the Dove, he braced himself and pushed upward with everything he had.
With a great force surge, the entire ship lifted into the air.
"Hold on tight!" Aero had shouted before jumping.
The crew clung to railings and dropped to the deck, bracing themselves.
Just as Marines flailing in the water looked up in confusion, the dark wind orb crashed into the sea, unleashing a swirling maelstrom that sucked them in.
Their cries were drowned by the storm.
---
Aero soared back to the airborne Dove. Dylan and Gin held fast to the railing, gazing down at the massive whirlpool with heavy breaths.
No one could survive that.
Aero collapsed to the deck, exhausted.
Dylan and Eddie rushed to support him.
"I saw two Navy ships nearby," Aero muttered. "That's why… I used it."
Then he warned, "The ship's coming down. Hold on tight. I can't… hold it much longer."
"Eh?!"
A crewman peeked over the railing and instantly turned pale.
They were still so high up that any fall would be fatal.
But Aero suddenly laughed. "Kidding! I'm not letting any of you die while I'm still breathing!"
"Hold tight! Don't let go!" he shouted.
He could no longer use [Domain], and he couldn't support the full weight of the ship like before. But he didn't need to he just had to slow the descent.
He summoned all the control he had over the wind.
---
As they began to fall, Aero swung himself over the edge, clutching the railing.
Behind him, two massive wind wings burst forth, flapping heavily to stabilize the descent.
He didn't have much strength left.
But it was enough.
Boom! Splash!
The Dove crashed into the sea not lightly, but intact.
Standing on the deck, soaked and gripping the rail, Aero exhaled.
He turned around.
His crew was safe, albeit battered and bruised.
Not one was left behind.
It wasn't a grand victory, but it wasn't a defeat either.
It was a draw.
---
Eddie, normally the jokester, sat silently in a corner. Dylan and Gin collapsed to the deck, catching their breath.
Everyone was exhausted.
The ship had taken massive damage not just from the fall, but from the earlier battle with Grice. The mast had been severed, and the deck was bloodied and scarred.
Aero approached the broken mast and touched the splintered edge. Fortunately, it had been caught by rigging and hadn't fallen overboard.
Just then, a few crew members climbed up below deck, carrying wooden planks and nails.
"The lower hull is intact," one reported.
Aero nodded, took a hammer, and called out to Eddie. The two of them, one above, one below, lifted the mast into position.
It was clear: planks alone wouldn't hold.
Gin tossed up a steel plate. Aero caught it midair and began hammering it in.
---
As dusk settled, the crew managed to make temporary repairs. They weren't shipwrights, but it would hold.
Later, they'd need to dock for full repairs.
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