Leave the Villainous Second Male Lead Alone - Chapter 8.8

“Callisto, this ship has already taken heavy damage from the bombardments. If we ram them like before, our ship will break apart first.”

“Then I’ll just board their ship.”

“What if it catches fire and everything burns?”

“Then I’ll dive into the sea.”

“No, that’s too dangerous!”

“It’d be a shame not to ram them again after building such a fine ship.”

“We don’t have to ram them! There’s no need to do it again!”

Before departing Blast Harbor, Etienne had pulled Ivry aside for a word.

“Ivry, I have a favor to ask… If Callisto attempts any dangerous maneuvers, could you try to stop him? I know it’s impossible to stay completely safe in battle, but I’d like him to take at least a little care of himself.”

Ivry had been taken aback. While she had agreed to join the fight, she wasn’t particularly close to Callisto, and there was still lingering tension between them from the past.

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask the Gillos siblings? Callisto doesn’t fully trust me yet.”

But Etienne had disagreed, shaking his head with a worried expression.

“They can’t stop him. If anything, they seem to encourage him. Every time Callisto… well, whenever he does something reckless, they seem to cheer him on.”

Though clearly annoyed, Etienne had euphemistically referred to Callisto’s madness as “boldness.” Such was the depth of his devotion.

Regardless, Ivry owed Etienne too much to ignore his earnest plea. So she did her best to dissuade Callisto from his suicidal idea of ramming their battered ship into Roen’s. But neither Ivry nor Callisto expected her protests to succeed. Ivry could see from the determined glint in his eyes that he was set on his course, and Callisto wasn’t even listening to her.

With Callisto personally at the helm, their advanced warship began its charge toward the enemy vessel.

It’s nearly impossible for a massive ship to disappear unnoticed. Roen had planned to use other ships in his fleet as bait, slipping away from the battlefield amidst the chaos. The disorder of the naval battle was supposed to serve as a shield. Even if someone noticed his escape, navigating through the tangled mess of ships would make pursuit difficult.

At least, that’s what Roen had thought—until a ship from Callisto’s fleet emerged from the maze of vessels and began chasing him.

The pursuing ship moved deftly, slipping through narrow gaps between oars with astonishing skill. Even Roen, despite his frustration, couldn’t help but briefly marvel at the masterful navigation of the unseen helmsman.

However, as the ship drew closer, Roen’s blood ran cold. Its design was hauntingly familiar: a hybrid of a galley and a sailboat, bristling with strange features, including a massive iron ram at its prow and insect-like oars clawing through the water.

Roen shouted in alarm. “That monstrosity! Wasn’t it sunk earlier?!”

“N-no, Your Highness! This appears to be a different ship!”

“What?! How many of those things do they have?!”

Fortunately, the enemy ship wasn’t moving very fast. Its hybrid design allowed it to move without wind, thanks to its oars, but it lacked the sheer manpower of Roen’s galley, where the enslaved rowers far outnumbered the soldiers.

Despite its earlier impressive maneuvering, the enemy ship’s speed soon dropped. Watching this, Roen laughed triumphantly.

“What a waste of effort. There’s no need to worry about that thing!”

But if Roen had overheard Callisto’s quiet murmur as he licked the blood from his lips, he might not have been so confident.

“The east wind should pick up about now…”

Callisto, who had spent years serving as a naval officer in these waters, knew them intimately. He glanced at the sky, waiting. And just as he expected, the wind began to blow.

Callisto’s voice rang out with exhilaration. “Unfurl all sails! Full speed ahead!”

“Your Highness, the enemy is opening fire!”

The moment the east wind filled their sails, the pursuing ship unleashed a barrage of cannon fire. The bombardment was relentless, shaking Roen’s vessel and causing it to tilt precariously.

Roen screamed furiously as a cannonball splashed into the water nearby. “That lunatic! How many cannons does that thing have?!”

But suddenly, the enemy ship veered sharply, accelerating straight toward Roen’s vessel. The massive iron ram loomed closer. Roen’s face went pale.

“That madman is doing it again!”

Boom!

A deafening crash echoed as the ships collided, shaking Roen’s vessel with devastating force.

The ship’s stern, weakened after being battered repeatedly by cannon fire, could no longer hold out. With a deafening roar, it exploded, sending dozens of soldiers stationed at the rear sliding off the deck and into the sea.

“Aaaah!”

“Help us, please, Your Highness!”

There was no time to worry about the soldiers who had fallen into the water. They clung desperately to the hull, trying to climb back up, but Roen gave a cold order to drive them away.

“The ship is sinking! Get rid of them—every last one!”

“Ahhh, Your Highness!”

Their anguished screams rang in his ears, but Roen frowned, irritated by the noise, and barked his next command.

“Row! Row harder!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Meanwhile, from the ship that had rammed Roen’s vessel and stopped it in its tracks, Callisto’s soldiers were pouring out onto the deck. Roen anxiously scanned the approaching enemy but, thankfully, the golden-eyed madman was nowhere to be seen. Still, there was no doubt that only Callisto would orchestrate such a maneuver. He had to be on that ship somewhere. Roen needed to escape before Callisto himself boarded.

But the ship refused to move as expected. The iron ram of the enemy ship, which had smashed through the stern, had already detached. There was nothing physically holding the vessel in place, yet it remained sluggish. Roen, his veins bulging with anger, roared.

“I said full speed ahead! What are you all doing?!”

At that moment, the overseer of the rowers stumbled forward, collapsing to his knees before Roen. His uniform was in tatters, and he looked as though he’d been through a fight.

“Your Highness, the ship… it won’t move.”

“What? Are those wretched slaves slacking off? Use the whip! Tell them to row until they die!”

“Your Highness, we can’t use the whip on them anymore…”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Is this insubordination?”

“N-no, Your Highness…”

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