NOVEL WEB Chapter 26: R18 Chapter 18: Screams
Opening Quote:
(They screamed for mercy. The pirates laughed)
The clouds cracked above, soft rain beginning to fall as The First Flame sliced through the sea like a silver fang. From the crow's nest, Veyr's eyes narrowed.
"Smoke," he said.
Allen stepped beside him, coat fluttering in the salty breeze. His gaze sharpened as he looked ahead.
A small island. Flames. Screams riding the wind.
Without a word, he turned the wheel.
"We're going in."
---
The Island in Ruin
The scene before them was hell.
Buildings burned. Ash rained like snow. Screams echoed from every corner — the screams of mothers, of children, of men begging for mercy.
Pirates—filthy, savage men—laughed as they dragged women through the dirt. One pissed on the remains of a crumbled stone wall where a noble crest was barely visible, defiled.
A villager ran out from a house, sword in hand, trying to protect his wife and two children.
He didn't make it two steps.
A pirate with blood-slick boots slashed him across the chest. The man fell gasping, eyes on his family.
They were dragged away screaming.
Others hid in the church, its stained-glass windows shattered. A few children were found, dragged by the ankle out into the mud. One teenage girl was kicked in the stomach and tossed onto the deck of a nearby ship, bound for slavery.
And yet—among it all—one girl stood up.
Rika screamed as the pirate dragged her sister away, her cries piercing louder than the flames
---
Rika Kujo
Small, bruised, barefoot. Cuts on her arms, blood on her face. Yet she stood. Not trembling, not crying.
Just burning with fury.
Rika Kujo, maybe eight or nine, glared up at the hulking pirate before her—his coat stained with blood, his face a sneer of twisted amusement.
"You've got balls, little runt," he said.
He slapped her. Hard.
She stumbled. But didn't fall.
"You done?" she asked through a bloodied lip.
Another slap. She coughed blood.
Behind her, a baby cried. A little boy, maybe three, was crouched behind the well, hands over his ears.
The pirate raised his axe.
---
The Beast Arrives
And then—a blur of black and red.
A flash of muscle and fury.
Boro landed in the street like thunder.
The first pirate didn't even scream—Boro's jaws clamped around his throat, tore through it like paper. Blood sprayed the dirt.
Another tried to run. Boro pounced, claws digging into his spine.
He landed beside the well, between the baby and the pirates. One moved toward the child.
Boro growled. Low. Deep.
They stepped back.
"Wha—what the hell is that thing?!"
But their fear turned to horror as the sky shifted.
The clouds darkened unnaturally. The air thickened.
---
Allen's Arrival
And then he walked into the village square.
Allen D. Walker.
His boots crushed the broken stones beneath. His coat billowed in the rising wind.
His eyes glowed—not with flame, but with something older.
One pirate charged.
Allen didn't move.
The man's body froze mid-step.
Then—he dropped.
So did three others.
So did five more.
A wave of invisible force radiated from Allen's body—a Haki burst so raw, so intense, the very air screamed.
The pirates began to shake.
Some collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
A few stood… barely.
---
Boro. Veyr. Allen.
Then came the slaughter.
Veyr dropped from the rooftops, his glaive sweeping clean through a pirate's chest.
Boro ripped another's arm clean off and hurled it into the burning inn.
And Allen…
Allen moved like fire.
A pirate tried to stab him from behind — Allen caught the blade with two fingers, shattered it, then crushed the man's ribs with a single punch.
His movements weren't wild — they were intentional.
Each strike brought justice. Each step brought terror.
---
A Moment of Wrath
Allen's eyes locked onto a pirate dragging a screaming girl toward the ship.
Something in him snapped.
He didn't speak.
He simply vanished — reappearing mid-air above them.
His fist crashed down like a meteor.
The ship's mast snapped in half.
The pirate? Reduced to pulp.
The girl crawled away, sobbing. Allen gently helped her stand, then turned back to the battlefield.
---
Rika's Fury
Rika didn't run.
She found a rock. Threw it at a pirate's head.
Picked up a broken dagger. Stabbed one in the foot as he tried to crawl away.
She screamed, bit, kicked, spit — tiny, fierce, defiant.
She fought like someone with nothing left to lose.
Allen saw it. And smiled.
When the last pirate finally dropped, when the air finally calmed, and silence took hold…
Allen turned to her.
Kneeled.
Held out his hand.
"You fight with heart," he said.
She looked at it. Then looked up at him.
Her eyes burned with tears — not from fear, but from rage.
She took his hand.
---
The Island Weeps
The rain washed away the blood.
Villagers came out slowly, broken but alive.
Allen watched them.
He wasn't smiling.
This wasn't a victory. This was a reminder.
The world… was cruel.
But so long as he lived…
He would never let cruelty win.
---
End of Chapter 18: