The owner of the voice swung his sword while uttering words that were incomprehensible to her. Lil lowered her body on pure instinct. If she had been a moment later, she would’ve had her shoulder slashed.

Her heart thumped loudly.

“What are you… Ack!”

‘He’s from the Navy.’

Lil frantically scanned his epaulettes. 

‘A commodore. Judging by the fact that he was aboard the Visha, he’s definitely the commander of the fleet… Red hair and a large physique…’

Lil actually didn’t know much about the Mondovi Navy, but she could easily tell from these clues whom she was dealing with.

“Commodore Sagastar?”

Thick eyebrows rose.

“And who are you? Identify yourself.”

Lil couldn’t believe her luck. It had only been seconds ago that she felt a complicated sense of gratitude upon seeing Ed. And now, a prominent person like Sagastar walked toward her on his own. Lil tried to explain the situation without delay.

“Commodore! This ship is carrying Viscount Noirmont’s cargo. Rioters caused a mutiny on board…”

Sagastar indifferently cut off her words.

“I said identify yourself!”

A sword, loaded with heavy power, descended diagonally. Lil hurriedly raised her arm and managed to block his sword with hers. 

 – Teng! –

As the clashing power was no joke, her back foot was pushed out a span. Some of her ribs were still strained due to her fall off the stern a while ago, but now even her healthy ones felt like breaking as well. Lil broke out in sweat and explained herself more quickly.

“We’re hostages that have nothing to do with this attack! Let me see Admiral Retiro. I have something very important to tell him!”

“So you’re after Sir Edgar, after all? What are you trying to do?”

“What?”

“You bastard! What are you up to!”

“I am…”

 – Teng! Teng! – 

Lil did her best to say something between the attacks, but as Sagastar resolutely ignored her, it was to no avail. And every time they collided, her remaining strength drained further away. 

Lil couldn’t understand why Sagastar was so suspicious of her.

‘If this continues, I can only dream of meeting the Admiral.’

The more she was convinced of that prospect, the more Lil looked back at Ed. 

‘Instead of Sagastar, who clearly can’t be reasoned with or Admiral Retiro, whom I haven’t even seen yet, Ed will undoubtedly be the most helpful.’

So in the end, Lil ran towards Ed after deflecting Sagastar’s sword. She had to push the sailors in front of her, run up the broken mast and jump from it.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Sagastar’s sword managed to nick her back. The sudden burning pain didn’t fade and made her tumble over. Lil eventually managed to regain her balance and had to quickly turn around to block his incoming sword. 

“I have something to prove my identity!”

“Shut up! Who do you think will fall for such trickery?!”

“Let me meet the Admiral… No, just call him here! I’ll prove it!”

This time, Sagastar’s red eyes burned like torches. Lil still had no clue why Sagastar’s reaction was so intense.

“You bastard… Who dares to know the Admiral’s face?”

“What?”

“How do you know the Admiral? Answer me!”

As if she had been kicked in the head, Lil instantaneously came to her senses.

“The Admiral? Admiral?!”

Even in the middle of his questioning, Sagastar had relentlessly been swinging his sword. 

‘He orders me to give him answers, but doesn’t give me a chance to properly answer… It’s also becoming more and more difficult to deflect his attacks even if I use both hands. The collisions not only leave my arms shaking, but the vibrations reach all the way to the bones of my upper body due to the overwhelming difference in power. Not to mention, he’s still holding that dagger in his left hand using it as a shield, easily intercepting the longer trajectory of a longsword. Sagastar wields such an inexhaustible skill… If my body had some more strength left, I would’ve tried to use my flexibility to my advantage, but my arms are already too worn out…’

– Teng! – 

Unable to withstand his strength, Lil bounced off. Falling backwards, a thick arm slid through the gap she had involuntarily opened. As she was unable to defend herself any longer, she had no choice but to give up her neck.

“Ugh!”

“Is the portrait of Sir Edgar leaked? How do you know? Now! Answer me!”

“Ed…”

With a squeezed voice, Lil tried to call Ed, but doing so made her remember his name. 

‘Ed.’

The short word cut through her brain like a blade. 

‘No way.’

It almost seemed like a coincidental connection. 

‘It can’t be, no, it can’t be…’

“Ed… Edgar… Retiro?”

“Don’t you dare put his name in your mouth!”

“That… that man… is the Admiral?”

Sagastar didn’t bother to answer such a stupid question. He did, however, tilt his head a little in wonder. Lil used that small opening to thrust her knee hard into his abdomen. The hand holding her collar let go. While losing her balance, Lil struck the hand that was pressing a sword against her throat and Sagastar’s arm bounced off. 

Knowing she was running out of time, Lil deliberately rushed towards Ed. Meanwhile, Ed, with a face covered in blood, looked around busily as if searching for something. Seeing that bloody face and drawn sword, Lil could easily assume he had already slashed a few people. However, she had no time to be puzzled or tremble at the sight of his betrayal. It was because Sagastar had quickly caught up with her. 

Lil, who instantly lowered her posture, managed to stay out of Sagastar’s range.

“Stop! You bastard!”

Sagastar quickly rolled his eyes and ran toward her. 

‘His movements show obvious signs of desperation and he isn’t even paying attention to his swaying posture. There has to be some larger cause than this battle for him to have such wrath in his eyes…’

Lil shook her head to dispel her illusions. She opened her eyes again and focused on Ed. An epaulette, three gold stars, and the symbol of an admiral, which had previously been invisible because of their distance, were all resting on his shoulder. It was also then that the group of uniforms around him caught her eye. Four officers were escorting Ed in a circle.

Lil came to a shocking realisation. She couldn’t believe it, but there was no time to think about it too deeply. She finally understood why Sagastar had pushed himself so hard.

‘Admiral Edgar Retiro… It’s only natural that someone belonging to a Southern ship and knowing the Admiral’s face would be deemed suspicious. After all, this League’s ship is just another group of pirates to them and the one to which Ed almost lost his life to. Furthermore, our ships have already exchanged attacks. The likelihood of being charged with any type of indictment is high. This misunderstanding can’t be resolved by simply proving that the ship belongs to Viscount Noirmont. There’s only one way to end this battle.’

Lil quickly manoeuvred her body to the relatively calmer left side just before Sagastar broke the air where she had been standing. Lil was relieved for a moment until Sagastar suddenly twisted his wrist with phenomenal force. The blade that changed its trajectory rushed toward her neck, but Lil instinctively dodged Sagastar and shoved his sword away with her own. She wanted to run again, however, her surroundings were filled with battles, leaving her with nowhere to go. 

Sagastar’s attacks never stopped and Lil had to defend herself in a hurry. 

‘My arms are so numb it feels like they can fall off at any moment…’

Additionally, she was becoming increasingly burdened by her body, which was already full of injuries. 

‘…My stamina is bound to run out soon as well…’

Running out of viable options, she figured there was only one way left. But it was a risky one as the gap she could be leaving open would render her defenceless…

‘I guess it can’t be helped.’

Lil risked it all and tore off her necklace.

From a distance, someone shouted a roaring cry.

“…Sagastar!..”

Lil, who threw away her necklace, belatedly raised her sword again. And as she had feared, she placed herself in a position where she couldn’t properly defend herself. Lil shouted, looking at the edge of a sword that was being deflected by her own.

“Commodore! I…”

Suddenly, her abdomen took a heavy blow. Unable to breathe, her back bent forward. For a moment she fought that she was hit by his fist, but that wasn’t the case. 

Lil looked down at a blade piercing her belly…