Gareth once again jumped high into the sky.
His body launched from the deck soaring through the air, cutting through the rain, ascending toward the storm-dark clouds. He rose higher and higher, the wind screaming past his ears, the water shrinking below him, the chaos of the Infinite Sea spreading out like a painting of destruction.
This time it wasn't to actually throw any attack. Rather, it was the opposite. Despite relying on god Darlington, Gareth was still one who saw it as foolishness to put his life in the hands of a so called god. He needed to see. To understand. To plan.
In the air, he was able to see a large portion of the battlefield.
The pile-up of corpses stretched across the water like islands of death. The bodies of navy men and pirates lay intertwined, their blood mixing together, their lives ended in the same moment. The monsters that had risen from the depths were now dead, their massive forms floating on the surface, their blood turning the sea red.
The navy men were all fighting and killing the remaining pirates. It was a massacre large navy ships rammed into pirate ships, their hulls splintering, their decks collapsing, their crews spilling into the water. Boarding parties swarmed the pirate vessels, their blades flashing, their voices shouting, their will unyielding.
The navy men were filled with spirit. It didn't matter what was going on they fought hard and strong, all with a single belief and goal in sight: to win and to conquer the Infinite Sea.
Monsters also fought against the both of them their bodies massive, their jaws hungry, their rage absolute. They rose from the depths and fell to the blades, their blood mixing with the blood of men. This part of the Infinite Sea was also in a huge natural turmoil the waves crashing, the storm raging, the sea itself seeming to fight against all who sailed upon it.
Gareth looked down at it all.
His face hidden behind the black mask was unreadable. But his eyes were sharp, calculating, absorbing every detail. He saw the navy's strength, the pirates' desperation, the monsters' hunger. He saw the chaos and the order, the death and the life, the destruction and the creation.
He said to himself, his inner voice quiet, almost reverent.
No victory.
The dead are everywhere.
He began his descent, his body falling toward the battlefield, his spear ready in his hand.
in the space between the observation and the action, between the chaos below and the calm above.
Gareth fell.
The battle raged.
And the sea roared.