Chapter 474: The Boarding

"What was that?" Gabriel rose, with shaking legs, his head still ringing from the explosion. Black smoke filled the air as men cried out in panic and pain, not understanding what had happened. "WHAT WAS THAT!?" Turning to the equally stunned captain, he screamed, trying to understand. Deep down, he knew that the captain had no clue, but he needed something to explain the situation.

"I have no clue. Ahhh." The captain clutched his ear, leaning over the steering wheel. Looking around, he took a deep breath, coughing after taking a mouthful of black smoke. Gabriel watched as the Ammary ship burned with a bright light, popping every few seconds. Around it, the ships of his own fleet were close to the explosion, where only debris and bodies remained. Parts fell from the sky, as sails burnt, sinking into the ocean.

"This is..." He didn’t realise when he took the necklace out from under his armour, but when he did, he clutched the symbol of Sol, "This isn’t how it should have gone." Gabriel looked down at his hand, staring at the necklace. A few seconds passed, with the smell of burning wood and sulfur carried through the wind. Scoffing, he stuffed the necklace back under his armour.

Looking around, he spotted the ship heading the convoy that the exploding vessel came from. Taking the telescope from the captain, he watched and saw the golden hair of his enemy through the smoke. "I see him." Growling the words, he threw the telescope back at the captain, "Ram that ship."

"Sir?" The captain asked in confusion, not understanding. Gabriel leaned over and grabbed his collar, pulling him up to his feet.

"Do as I say. He is on there. He fights with them." Gabriel pushed the captain away and watched the ship Alfred rode on.’Of course you would have some trick.’Looking around, he saw that most of his ships had been destroyed. Whilst he still outnumbered Alfred, how many of his men would choose to remain after suffering such a blow was another question.

Gabriel didn’t care. He saw his target. Even if he died, he would complete his mission. That was all that mattered to him.

------------------------

Charles stumbled up the steps of the ship and onto the deck. Rubbing his ears, he looked at Alfred and laughed. "You didn’t warn me it would be this loud." Looking out to sea, he saw the aftermath of the explosion and whistled in amazement, "God... That’s the weapon you created." Climbing the steps, he watched Alfred staring into the fireball. There was a strange light in his eyes, a fear of what he had created and unleashed. "Alfred?"

"Charles." Alfred spoke quietly, looking at Parry to ensure he didn’t hear what he was saying, "I have released something into the world that can’t be undone." Charles saw his hand go white as he clenched the guard rail hard. In his eyes, Charles saw a look he couldn’t understand. It was distant and fearful seeing something far off that he would never experience. Alfred stayed silent for a few seconds before taking a breath, "Give the order. Prepare to fire again." Turning to Parry, he finally spoke so he could hear.

Parry nodded and shouted down to his crew that had slowly recovered, "LOAD THE CANNONS!" The crew worked slowly, still awestruck and dazed by what they had seen, but didn’t hesitate. Pushing the cannons to the other side of the ship, they prepared them as Parry steered to go around the enemy fleet.

Charles watched the enemy ships. Some rode off into the distance, trying to flee, but he noticed a few charging their way, beelining for Alfred’s ship. "Two ships approaching." Charles tightened his grip on his weapon, looking out at the fleet. Grabbing the telescope from the captain, he frowned, "Mainly Templars and a few Severian troops." Focusing on the captain’s deck, he saw Gabriel, standing with a cold expression, and recognised his armour instantly. "A Grand Templar is with them."

"Go below and prepare the Unyeilding." Hearing the order, Charles nodded and ran back to where he was waiting. Looking at the enemy ships, his men fired the cannons once more on Parry’s orders, shooting into the clumped-up ships. The shots missed the approaching vessels, hitting random targets.

"We won’t hit them. The men aren’t skilled enough, and we don’t have enough firepower." Parry said, recognising the situation in an instant. Sighing, Alfred nodded and grabbed his sword.

"Prepare for boarding." Parry nodded and looked down at his crew. The Unyielding quickly piled onto the deck, taking positions.

"PREPARE FOR BOARDING!" The crew quickly moved. Watching the approaching ships, one split off, targeting the boat behind them, cutting off Alfred’s support. The gap between them slowly closed, and Alfred braced himself. Parry stayed standing, watching, and when the gap closed, small enough to hear the men on the other ship, he cried out, "BRACE!"

Falling to his knees, the ships collided into one another, making the crew on the Alfred ship tumble. From Gabriel’s own, Templars jumped out, flooding the boat, with men in white and silver armour.

-----------------------------------

Gabriel slowly followed behind, muttering a prayer as he pulled his sword. Standing on the bow, he looked down at the deck of the enemy ship and saw the Templars in a fierce melee with the Unyielding. Despite the initial upper hand they had when boarding, the fight had become a stalemate with the Unyielding and the sailors recovering from the ramming.

Looking up, he saw Alfred staring back at him. The two eyes met, and Gabriel frowned, forming the symbol of Sol before jumping onto the ship. His sword reflected the setting sunlight that pierced through the smoke as a sailor charged at him. Dodging to the side, he easily avoided the strike, kicking the man into a cannon, stabbing through his chest.

Templars followed close behind, forming a protective guard around him, trying to clear his path towards Alfred. Cries echoed as men fell all around. The clashing of steel boomed as loud as the explosion before, with a quiet hymn underlining it, being sung by his fellow Templars as they fought.

Stepping forward, two unyielding blocks blocked his way. One of the Templars moved forward, taking one of them on as Gabriel dashed forward. He swayed side to side, but kept a firm footing despite the condition of the sea. The Unyielding faired just as well, and the two clashed, their swords bouncing off one another.

Staring into the soldier’s eyes before him, he saw the same cold, servile look he had in his own. They lacked the hate one would have for their enemy and had an absence of fear. The Uneyilding swung a large arc, forcing Gabriel to step back. Swinging his sword, he hit the enemy blade up into the sky, before stepping forward again.

Swinging his sword down from its position, the Unyielding soldier barely reacted, dodging to the side, the blade cutting along his chest plate. Gabriel closed the distance, not giving him a chance to recover. Slamming his shoulder into his chest, he knocked him off his feet and raised his blade to finish the job.

The blade fell, but not willing to die without a fight, the Unyielding soldier pushed off the floor with his hands, leaping towards Gabriel with his shoulder. The blade pierced through his back, making him cry out in pain, but through heavy breaths, he grabbed Gabriel’s leg, pulling as hard as he could.

Falling backwards, his head slammed on the ground. The Uneyilding, in his dying breaths, moved forward, reaching for the dagger tied to his back. His arms shook, and he moaned and cried, but never stopped. Gabriel didn’t hesitate. Kicking up, he pushed the man off, as the second Templar with him stabbed through his chest, finally putting him down.

’They fight and die like Templars.’With heavy breaths, Gabriel pushed himself up, taking his sword back. He looked around and saw the carnage taking place. Whilst the sailors showed fear as they fought, both the Templars and Unyielding fought without it, fueled by the belief in their own cause.’Disgusting.’It sickened him to think Alfred’s soldiers would fight with an equal determination to the Templars’ own.

Taking another deep breath, he moved his shoulder around to relax it a little before carrying on. Stepping over the corpse of his enemy, the Templar to his left killed the Unyielding he was fighting before collapsing to the ground, a wound through his stomach. His eyes never left Alfred, as another Uneyilding stepped forward. Gabriel lifted his sword to block the strike, catching his sword.

Locked in place, he grabbed his blade and pushed the attack to the right. Locking the Unyielding sword on the edge of the ship. Headbutting the helmeted man and letting go of the blade, he reached behind his back, pulled a small dagger and stabbed through the man’s eye, taking his sword out using. Grabbing his body, he threw him overboard, not daring to risk a sudden, impossible attack. He had seen enough in the day and didn’t doubt that Alfred somehow may have brought back the magic told in the Lost Era. It was all he could think to explain the situation after all.

The Templar, by his side, blocked another Unyielding as a second approached. Gabriel saw the attack coming and ducked; the man’s attack stopped by the wooden guard rail. Rolling backwards, he made room and threw himself to his feet, in time to block another attack. The two were inches apart, locked in place as they stared at one another, able to feel each other’s breath.

"Uhh." A heavy kick to his stomach made him fall backwards. Trying to find his footing again, he dove to the side to avoid another attack, pushing himself up. Bumping into another soldier, he quickly realised it was an enemy sailor locked in battle with a Templar and grabbed the back of his collar. Using his other hand, he spun him around to block the Unyielding’s next attack, before pushing the body into the man.

Lifting his sword, he stabbed his blade through the man’s neck, piercing clean through, and cutting along the Unyielding artery, almost giving a fatal blow. It was enough to stop the man, and not wasting a moment, Gabriel pulled his sword out, stepped to the side, and shoved the blade through his stomach, twisting and pulling it out.

Deeply breathing, he looked up at the bridge, where Alfred stood, watching the battle going on. The sounds of battle didn’t matter to either of them any longer as a Servian soldier fell down the steps to the bridge, joining the pile at the bottom. Atop the stairs, he saw Charles, coldly watching as the final line of defence between him and Alfred.

"COVER ME!" Gabriel cried out to those nearby and made a charge for the stairs after catching his breath again. The Templars formed a wall around him, holding off any who dared approach.

At the bottom of the stairs, Gabriel looked up at Charles. The two subconsiously tightened their grips on their weapons. Gabriel took the first step and slowly rose, watching every movement Charles made. Charles lifted the sword in his right hand, keeping the axe in his left hand low.