The sailors on deck did not even have time to scream before a terrifying force beneath their feet hurled them into the air. Like a handful of beans tossed up by a mischievous child, they tumbled through the smoke and dust, limbs flailing.
The Alchemy Cannons snapped their securing ropes and careened across the slanting deck, crushing barrels and cargo into splinters.
The mainmast groaned under the strain. As the middle of the hull collapsed, the entire mast toppled with its enormous sail, spreading over the chaotic crowd like a burial shroud.
Carlson felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. The level deck he had been standing on disappeared. Before he could even raise the battle-aura shield he was so proud of, he plunged toward the sea with the shattered wreckage.
"Bastards!!"
Carlson roared. Still airborne, he drew his sword, about to sweep a brilliant arc of sword energy through his surroundings-he would force the enemy out!
But what awaited him was not an enemy. It was a net.
A Web of Death woven from high-voltage currents.
Bzzzt-!!
The [Storm Garrote], primed and waiting, activated instantly. Blue-violet serpents of lightning danced across the water, latching naturally onto Carlson's metal-clad body.
Carlson's protective battle aura lasted only half a second before shattering. Electricity bored into his armor and paralyzed every muscle.
The slash of sword energy he had only half unleashed veered violently off course as his arm spasmed, slicing his own sinking bow section in two.
"Ugh..."
The Fifth-Rank Knight could not even finish a curse before the electricity sent his eyes rolling back. Stiff as a board, he plunged into the water like a stone.
The moment he hit the water, several thick tentacles reached out from the depths and dragged him down into the endless dark abyss.
From