The Undead Captain Takes No Living - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When the Soul-Crossing Blade split through the blue flames, I heard countless voices.

They weren’t ghosts screaming.

They were human voices.

The Sea Patrol Navy who had died at Ghost Port three years ago.

The children who had been chained at the bottom of the well seven years ago.

And, from even longer ago, generations of House Melowen who had stood guard by the sea.

They were all talking.

The noise made my head pound.

Some shouted to close the gate.

Some shouted to kill Auguste.

Some shouted that they were hungry.

Someone even asked if the sesame flatbread shop at South Seven Pier was still there.

That one nearly threw me off.

Auguste hadn’t expected me to be able to swing the blade.

He dodged sideways, but the edge sliced open his sleeve.

No blood came from the wound.

Only blue fire seeped out from beneath his skin.

Victor saw it, and his expression turned ugly.

“You’re not alive, either.”

Auguste lowered his head and glanced at the wound.

“Being alive is too inconvenient.”

He said it as lightly as if it were nothing.

“Pain. Age. Guilt.”

The last trace of hesitation vanished from Victor’s eyes.

He drew his bow.

This time, the arrowhead was aimed at his father’s heart.

Auguste looked at him.

“Are you truly going to kill your own father?”

Victor’s hand was trembling.

But the arrow did not waver.

“The one I’m killing is a disciple of Ghost Port.”

The arrow flew.

Auguste raised a hand and blocked it.

Blue fire collided with golden light.

Victor was thrown back by the impact and dropped to one knee.

Auguste said flatly, “You’re still too soft-hearted.”

Leon suddenly lunged at him from the side.

The chains on his shoulders hadn’t all broken yet, but he moved with startling speed.

He smashed an entire sack of coarse salt at Auguste.

The salt scattered over the blue flames, burning with a piercing hiss.

At last, pain flashed across Auguste’s face.

“Leon!”

Leon grinned like an absolute menace.

“Yeah? Daddy’s here.”

While swinging my blade to fend off the white bones, I snapped, “Stop taking advantage of people!”

“It’s called tactical interference.”

Auguste sent him flying with a palm strike.

Cedric caught him.

The two of them slammed into the stone steps of the lighthouse together.

My heart clenched.

Cedric looked up at me.

“Don’t stop.”

I gritted my teeth and charged toward the tower door.

The human world behind the door was drawing closer and closer.

I could even smell the fishy tang from the pier.

The fish-selling auntie seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up.

She saw me.

Separated by a ghostly gate, her mouth fell open, and she shouted,

“Lia, girl!”

I couldn’t hear what came after.

Because Auguste had caught up.

His hand clamped down on my shoulder.

A chill instantly drilled into my bones.

“Didn’t your father ever teach you?”

He spoke beside my ear.

“Once a Soul-Crosser opens the blade, they must repay it with a soul.”

My knees went weak.

The blade nearly slipped from my hand.

Countless images surged into my mind.

I saw Father kneeling before Auguste, begging him to spare Leon.

I saw Leon dragged onto a ship, clutching my hair ribbon tightly in his hand.

I saw Cedric standing on the deck, saying to Leon, “She won’t come.”

Leon smiled back at him. “If my sister actually listened, I’d be a lot less worried.”

Then I saw the moment Cedric died.

Ghost Port needed an anchor.

Leon had been about to jump.

Cedric cut open his own heart first.

Leon lunged over to grab him.

But Cedric said, “I owe her half a life.”

Leon cursed him for being insane.

Cedric looked toward the shore.

“Tell her not to wait.”

My vision darkened.

Auguste’s voice grew very far away.

“Sleep.”

“When you wake, you will be the Port Gate.”

I really was about to lose my grip.

Just then, someone took my hand.

It was very cold.

But it dragged me out of those images.

Cedric stood behind me.

An old wound had split open across his chest, and black blood kept pouring down.

It had to hurt.

But he only held my hand and guided me in lifting the blade.

“Look ahead.”

I gasped for breath.

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t die for me a second time?”

“I’m not.”

His voice was low and hoarse.

“I’m staying with you to live this once.”

The words were not heavy.

But they were like a nail, pinning my scattered heart back into place.

I tightened my grip on the blade.

Cedric held my hand.

Together, we stabbed the blade into the crack of the Lighthouse Gate.

A shriek came from within the gate.

All of Ghost Port began to shake.

Auguste’s face changed drastically.

“You’re insane!”

I gritted my teeth.

“You’re only realizing that now?”

The blade pressed down inch by inch.

Black water seeped from the crack.

Countless hands reached out from within the water, clawing at me.

Cedric stood behind me, shielding me.

Those hands tore through his robes and dug into his old wound.

I heard his breathing falter for a moment.

I looked back.

He said softly, “Don’t look.”

That again.

All of a sudden, I was annoyed.

“Cedric.”

“Mm.”

“From now on, stop always telling me not to look.”

He paused.

“All right.”

“If it hurts, say so.”

“It hurts.”

My nose stung.

Why was this man so obedient?

I turned back and, with all my strength, slashed the blade downward.

The Lighthouse Gate was split open.

South Seven Pier behind the gate instantly receded into the distance.

Ghost Port let out a thunderous boom.

Auguste lunged at us.

Victor’s arrow pierced through his chest from behind.

This time, he did not hesitate.

Blue fire exploded, illuminating Victor’s pale face.

“Father.”

His voice trembled.

“This ends here.”