| 028 | Captain Crassus's Circumstance

In the captain's cabin of Pinguis Arca, Abraham stood on the wooden deck while holding an old-looking notebook between his gloved fingers. He had furrowed eyebrows as he glanced at the words written on the pages. 

"I overestimated the Throne of Babel." He muttered with a tinge of disappointment in his tone. It appears that his perk, Throne of Babylon, didn't give him the ability to understand written language.

Or perhaps, this was something that was beyond language.

Nonetheless, it was disappointing for the middle-aged man who desired to learn more about magic. It felt like a great loss, but there was no use in continuing to be depressed about it.

With this in mind, Abraham shook his head and threw the disappointment to the back of his mind. He turned his gaze towards the captured captain who looked at him with a horrified gaze.

His eyes squinted as though asking what he had done to make the ugly bastard so terrified of him. 

"I guess there's nothing left here, or is there?" Abraham raised an eyebrow and the captain flinched in instinct. This made Abraham feel that there were more treasures lurking about.

'This guy is hiding a lot of secrets.' Abraham thought and looked at his men. He signaled the Marines to deeply inspect the area and destroy any obstacles in their path.

The Marines nodded in understanding and swiftly followed their orders. They destroyed the cabinets of the captain and broke every part of it where something could be hidden.

After seeing nothing, their next target was the luxurious wooden desk. Crassus subtly moved, which was instantly noticed by Abraham who was keenly observing the captain.

'So, he hid it inside his desk.' The middle-aged man snickered inside his mind and watched the Marines break the luxurious wooden desk into various pieces.

Its destruction resounded throughout the cabin, and after some time, a chest was revealed. It was a small chest that could only be considered as storage for jewelry.

"What a treasure we have here, Crassus. How do you think should we open it?" Abraham grinned at the captured captain. 

Crassus didn't reply, which prompted the Fleet Admiral to look at his fellow subordinate, 2nd Lieutenant Campbell.

Campbell nodded with a determined gaze and stepped forward. Crassus gazed at the platoon leader in confusion before getting hit by a hard punch in the cheeks. 

*Pam!*

Blood splattered across his face as he felt the stinging pain of his bloodied mouth. Crassus almost lost his consciousness and was barely holding on to his senses.

"I don't want things to become violent, Crassus. Tell me, how do you open this chest?" Abraham's smile disappeared as a threatening tone escaped his mouth.

Crassus looked at the Fleet Admiral and instinctively wanted to spit his blood on the middle-aged man's face. Luckily, he stopped himself as he didn't want to die yet.

"Y-You… Use blood…" Crassus breathed in and out throughout his response as he was barely out from the effects the hard punch did to his face.

"Blood, huh… As expected, things are always interesting with you." Abraham commented and took a drop of blood from the ugly bastard's lips.

After taking the droplet, he smeared it onto the small fancy chest. 

It didn't take long as the locks inside the chest unfolded themselves, bringing about its opening. Inside were two interesting artifacts, with one being somewhat familiar.

The first artifact was the runic communicator resembling a bar of silver engraved with various runes of magicraft. As said before, it was used for long-range communication for those that acquired it.

The second artifact seemed stranger than the first one. It resembled nothing more but a crimson gem with no obvious engravings in it. It makes one wonder whether or not it has any special properties.

"I'll be bothering you to know more about these two." Abraham smiled at the captain who felt repulsive anger in their heart. 

But Crassus contained it with all his might and released it with a sigh.

The captain then started slowly explaining the properties of the two artifacts. Although, he was having a hard time uttering words because of his bloodied mouth.

Abraham listened carefully as he realized that the so-called runic communicator was how the Pinguis Arca managed to call for reinforcements.

With this in mind, his thoughts were directed at how they could jam the connection between two runic communicators.

However, he decided to have these thoughts at the back of his mind as there was another artifact he needed to think about. It was an interesting artifact, to say the least.

The second artifact was called the Lingua Gem by Captain Crassus. According to the captain, it translates the words spoken by anyone or anything. Practically, a portable Throne of Babel. 

'I see… So, this is what they use to communicate with the beastfolk. I guess the language barrier is problematic.' Abraham furrowed his eyebrows as a realization struck him.

 'They made this gem to tell the beastfolk they will be enslaved. Resistance is futile, and the results are death. A horrid use for an amazing artifact.' He shook his head in disappointment.

"Campbell, take this gemstone. Treat it as a translator, which will help you communicate with the locals of this place." Abraham gave the Lingua Gem to his 2nd Lieutenant.

Campbell accepted the gemstone and nodded at the Fleet Admiral. Afterward, Abraham returned his attention to the captain. 

"Untie him and cuff his hands. We'll be bringing him to the lower decks." He ordered the Marines, who acknowledged the orders with a nod.

The Marines swiftly surrounded Crassus, who shivered from fear. They untied him from the luxurious chair, but immediately cuffed his hands behind his back.

Crassus was a bit confused as to what was going on, but instantly understood after the Marines led him outside the cabin. They were planning to free the monster below.

"What a great day, Crassus." Abraham smiled while some Marines were mopping the bloodied wooden floor. All of the corpses were already thrown overboard, leaving nothing behind but splattered blood.

The captain of Pinguis Arca felt chills in his spine. The so-called United Navy gave no mercy to those who had died. Luckily, it seems that those alive were given mercy.

Though… As war prisoners of the United Navy.

Crassus didn't reply to the Fleet Admiral who was enjoying the warm sunlight of the golden sun. It made the middle-aged man feel a bit light, especially after the cold slowly seeped into his body. 

Abraham merely shook his head after getting no response from the captain and led the group to the lower decks. They entered the staircase and soon reached the lower decks.

In the lower decks were several guarding Marines with some of them giving assistance to the injured and shackled hostages. Other Marines were also busy breaking the chains.

Abraham's entrance into the lower decks brought everyone's attention. The Marines immediately stopped what they were doing and saluted the Fleet Admiral.

"At ease." He uttered, making the Marines continue what they were previously doing. 

Meanwhile, a Marine officer stepped forward and lightly bowed to the highest of command. The Fleet Admiral must need something for him to go down into the lower decks.

"How may I help you, Sir." The Marine officer asked with obvious respect.

"Is there someplace in the lower decks that your team can't enter?" Abraham inquired, to which the Marine officer nodded in agreement and replied.

"Yes, there is a strange vault at the bottom of the lower decks. We are still trying to force our way into it, but it will take time. The vault is somewhat tough."

It appeared that the Marines had discovered the prison cell of the imprisoned revolutionary and were making an effort to open it.

"Can you lead us to it?" Abraham asked and the Marine officer responded with a thumbs up. "If that is the wish of the Fleet Admiral, I shall do so."

With the guidance of the Marine officer, Abraham's group went deeper into the lower decks. They arrived at the bottom and saw a strange-looking vault engraved with several runic enchantments.

The prison cell of this revolutionary was lavish and extremely secure. Her power must be somewhat powerful, enough to give Crassus a sense of caution. 

'I wonder if such runic enchantments can work against a magus.' Abraham was already thinking of ways to use the prison vault against the magi.

But that wasn't the subject they were tackling at the moment.

He turned his gaze to the cuffed captain of Pinguis Arca as if expecting him to do something. Crassus noticed the eyes of the Fleet Admiral and sighed in disappointment.

Becoming a prisoner was far from delighting, but it was his fate as the defeated.

Following the desire of the Fleet Admiral, Crassus walked forward and stood in front of the vault door. He looked at it and remembered the revolutionary he had captured.

He couldn't help but wonder if what he had done was the worst choice of his life. After all, without it, his fate would have been far from a prisoner.

Crassus took a deep breath and muttered one single word to the runic enchanted vault imprisoning the revolutionary.

"Aperta."

The locking mechanism of the vault door slowly unraveled, causing clicks of metallic hum to reverberate throughout the bottom deck of Pinguis Arca.

Everyone backed away from the vault door as it steadily loosened and released its bolts. In a couple of seconds, the vault door unfastened and opened before their eyes.

The Marines prepared themselves for the worst while Abraham squinted his eyes with a serious expression plastered on his face.

Even though he might have been acting easygoing, he was the most nervous amongst the group. He hoped for whatever was inside to be peaceful as a bloodbath would probably follow if it was hostile.

When the vault door fully opened, Abraham and the Marines saw what was inside. The walls of the vault were cluttered with runes while chains spread throughout the interior preventing movements.

At the center of it all was the shackled revolutionary.

A gorgeous lady with silver-white hair and a pair of sharp black horns on her head. She had a thick dark-scaled tail laying beside her body, while her limbs were strapped in chains.

She was the fallen one.