Sho Kai knew of the risk, he knew countless bullets would rain upon him the moment he fires his first cannon, but he still took the risk.
The pirates readied their weapons and fired countless bullets all at once. But at the same time another explosion occurred at the pitch black ship.
The bullets all reached where the pirates had intended, they aimed exactly where the ship was at. They should've drilled holes through the passengers on the little ship, but instead all they did was make numerous splashes in the ocean. Not a single bullet hit. Instead, a few of their own pirate companions were dead as a cannon ball passed through their bodies.
It was because of the second explosion, the second cannon that was fired. It made the little ship sail back in reverse even faster with another burst of speed.
This was beyond the expectations of Pirates. Some of them had tried to predict how the ship would move after they first saw it sail in reverse. But the almost immediate follow up of the 2nd cannon's explosion had left them dumbfounded.
'How could the enemy reload and fire their cannon so fast?' some of them thought.
…
Sho Kai had planned for this exact scenario when he chose two smaller cannons instead of a single big one.
His thought process was simple, 'Switching to your secondary is faster than reloading. If I take one big cannon with more explosive fire power, I might get the same amount of knock back as two fires from smaller cannons. But that ignores a critical advantage, if I were to use two cannons to fire alternatively, I could easily load one up while the other is erupting. This way I could continue moving endlessly until I'm out of gunpowder. Whereas after firing a single cannon, I would be static for longer due to the single reload time.'
So without wasting a moment after the first blast, he had immediately aimed the other cannon to adjust for his new position after getting knocked back. The heavy cannons needed quite a bit of strength to move but not unreasonably as Sho Kai had chosen the relatively lighter option. He smirked in satisfaction after discovering another benefit of his decision of choosing two smaller cannons instead of one.
But as soon as he was done aiming, he drove his ignition stick deep into the barrel hole and ignited another gunpowder pouch.
The barrel erupted with flames once again and another deadly cannon ball cut through the night.
It flew towards the pirate crew. Its lethal force and precise aim coupled with lightning fast speed blew through the torsos of multiple pirates before a single trigger was pulled.
A man in the front fell forward, failing to find strength in his legs as viscera fell out of his belly. The man next in line felt the shards of his ravaged ribcage stabbing into his heart. While the third in line, no longer had a heart at all.
The cannon ball tore through the three of them like air.
The three tried to look back, and stare into the eyes of their promised saviour. But all they found was the right eye shut, and a patch on the left.
They fell to the ground, or into the sea, losing the last hints of consciousness in a single moment.
But as soon as their bodies fell, their savior awoke, his red eyes flew open. But no concern, or guilt followed his expression, rather he brought his arm up to his ear and delicately touched it. Then he brought his arm forward and gazed at the fingers that touched his ear. As expected, they were mottled with fresh crimson.
He looked forward, and said with no emotion in his tone, "That second cannon ball came too close to my head, and we cannot risk losing more subjects." He lingered, the rest of the crew that looked forward apprehensively turned for a moment in silence. "I must awaken."
Its symphony of sighs followed his words, an atmosphere of relief coupled with hints of guilt.
The burly pirate spoke with his head down, while the periphery of his vision stayed locked onto the previous cannon fire. "We do not deserve your mercy"
Then many voices joined him on the burning deck, "May the dark guide its blind children." they all said together.
"May the dark guide me." Teror told himself, before taking off the eye patch on his left eye.
…
Sho Kai on the other side, prepared another round and adjusted his aim to the pirate ship. He grabbed a gunpowder pouch with one hand and a cannon ball with another. Then he bent forward and slammed them both into the left cannon's fiery barrel.
And then the ignition stick got shoved into the barrel vent hole once again. In the few moments it took for the gun powder to ignite, Sho Kai did not stop.
He immediately proceeded to reload the next cannon even before the first was ignited. He made sure to brace himself for the recoil, so that he won't fall and end up being too late to reload the next cannon. Everything happened like clockwork. Sho Kai's dexterity at handling the task was efficient, he wasn't without practice and preparation after all. The slow days spent on the Marine Ship were all used for preparation.
That was the bare minimum of what needed to be done. If the pirates were given even a little breather, they would immediately riddle Sho Kai's slender body with countless holes.
When Sho Kai threw the pouch and ball into the right cannon, the sparks finally ignited in the left cannon and the gunpowder pouch erupted again. The force of recoil knocked the ship a dozen meters back.
Sho Kai held on to the base of the cannons, and just a moment later when the recoil became more manageable he put the ignition stick into the right cannon. The needle punctured the pouch and sparks began to fly. And again, in the few moments it was going to take for the gunpowder pouch to ignite, Sho Kai moved onto the left cannon and started reloading it with a new gunpowder pouch and cannon ball.
'I have to keep doing this non stop. Keep the pressure going with constant attacks, and keep increasing the distance using the recoil. That's the only way we can get out of this death trap that we set up for ourselves.'
But before he could ignite the next cannon, a sudden sound of a heavy object hitting the ocean at great speeds rebounded in front of him. The splash was great enough to reach the reversing pitch black ship. Sho Kai got awashed in a wave, and felt a chill throughout his body. Normal reaction after getting doused by cold water.
'Huh, what was that splash? Did something fall in front of my ship from the sky? Or was a projectile just thrown towards me with such force to create a noticeable wave? Did one of the pirates fire a bullet that almost got me? No, the splash was way too big for that. Could they have started using cannons themselves to attack me? That would explain the splash, as only a cannon ball could have this much power behind it.'
The right cannon ignited into an eruption and another cannon ball flew towards the pirate ship. The recoil pushed the pitch black vessel further back, but in the next moment, the same splash sounded again.
Another wave of water rose and fell on Sho Kai, but this time the chill he felt wasn't just skin deep, but it was a chill he felt within his soul.
His thoughts exploded in anxiety, 'Wha- What is this abnormal splash? Are the pirates really using Cannons now? But even if they are using Cannons, why stop using guns? I haven't heard a single bullet being fired, what are they doing?'
Sho Kai looked forward. He had been too focused on the cannon work and his own thoughts for a few moments and had accidentally let the pirate ship out of his vision.
But now that he looked back, it was gone. Vanished from sight, completely erased from existence and all that remained was the dark night and a few floating debris of burning wood.
…