Escaping the storm

"A-ALRIGHT!"

Zane wasn't just staring for long, and the next second, he gulped down his saliva and nodded with a focused expression, full-on sprinting towards the edge of the ship.

"ADI! STAY HERE, AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT ABANDON THE SHIP! IT'S ALL OVER IF YOU GET INTO THE WATER!"

With screaming being the only valid method of communication in the howling wind, Melinda roared at Adrianna and patted her shoulder before running after Zane.

"O-OKAY! MY LADY, BE CAREFUL!"

Although it was unnecessary, the maid did call out after the gold-haired girl, staring at her back with a distraught expression.

The monstrous servant himself rushed past the desperate crewmates, having to jump over one or two of them before reaching the partially broken railing and throwing himself over it without hesitation.

"...!"

As he fell, he curled up into a ball, and after the raging waves swallowed him, as he felt his back hitting the reef, he used his ability.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?!"

The already horrified sailors were faced with something they never expected to see - a giant standing up from the depths of the sea, using the shallows that stranded their sheep as his foothold.

"ZANE!"

"COME!"

The next moment, the gold-haired noble girl called out to the giant, and he called back before reaching out and picking her off the ship's deck.

Before anyone witnessing the scene could truly comprehend what was going on, the giant straightened his back and raised his hand high into the sky, even higher than the ship's main mast could reach while it was still attached.

Up there, on the giant's open palm out of anyone's sight, Melinda stood up, gritting her teeth as she winded herself up for a slap, braving the crazed maelstrom.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFHU-UUUUUUUUUUUUCK THIS SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

She howled through her teeth and released the wave, twisting her body and spinning around on her heel.

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

The shockwave she unleashed spread evenly in all directions, pushing the clouds and waves away from the stranded ship.

With one attack, Melinda managed to create an enlarging bubble of peace, very similar to the eye of a cyclone - only that it was outrageously large.

"THERE! SEE?! LAND! WE HAVE TO AIM OVER THERE! OKAY! ZANE! GET ME TO THE BACK OF THE SHIP! HURRY!"

The drenched girl roared urgently, spotting the shapes of tiny buildings in the distance.

Despite her shockwave continuing, the dark clouds were already manifesting themselves again within the very center of the momentarily peaceful bubble.

"ON IT!"

Zane nodded and reached down, putting his hands with Melinda to where she requested.

"Carefully... gently... gently...! Please, do not count as an attack…!"

There, the girl pressed her hands to the ship's hull and pushed it...

"Yes~! ZANE! AFTER IT!"

...freeing the vessel and launching it like a torpedo, cheering out at the sight of the ship cutting through waves in one piece.

"W-WARN ME FIRST!"

Zane scoffed hastily and leaped after the speeding ship with all his might.

"HANG ON...! HURGHGGFRGH!"

The monstrous servant deactivated his ability by the end of the flight, protectively hugging the gold-haired girl, slamming his back, and rolling on the deck, barely making it on board.

"Fffffhhhhrghhhhh…!"

Even already on board, Zane had to grit his teeth and dig his fingernails into the deck as the acceleration of the vessel almost threw both him and Melinda off the ship.

The clearing created by Melinda was already disappearing, with the clouds, winds, and waves reemerging as unnaturally as they first appeared, but luckily, the sailless Galeon, which now looked just like an oversized boat, plowed its way through.

Completely uncontrollable... and completely unstoppable...

The distance that should have taken almost around an hour was shortened to barely minutes.

"Sh-shit! We're going to crash! Zane! Run for our stuff! I'll get Adi!"

"Wha…!? Oh, shit! On it!"

With the ship losing a bit of speed on yet another shallow but still plowing right through it, Melinda was shaken into realization and called out, making Zane gasp before springing into action.

Both of them got up and rushed through the slippery deck, passing by and over the traumatized sailors, holding onto anything they could with their dear lives on the line.

It turned out that Zane had the easier job - Adrianna wasn't where Melinda and Zane left her - the ship rescue operation ended up throwing the maid through the entire passage, where the gold-haired noble found her curled up into a fetal position and yelping, with blood dripping from the back of her head as well as the broken and torn off fingernails.

"Oh shit...! Oh, no...! You poor thing…!"

Melinda took a sharp breath, seeing the state of her maid, and then proceeded to pick her up as gently as she could before running all the way back onto the deck where Zane was already waiting with the suitcases…

…AND WITH THE RAPIDLY APPROACHING HARBOR, WITH ABSOLUTELY NO WAY OF STOPPING THE SHIP…!

"Z-ZANE! GRAB ONTO ME! I WILL JUMP OFF, BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE WE LAND SAFELY! I WON'T BE ABLE TO CONTROL MY STRENGTH TO THAT DEGREE!"

"O-OKAY!"

With only a few seconds before the impact, Melinda gulped her saliva and called out to her monstrous servant, which prompted him to embrace her from behind.

"...not too strongly…!"

*WHAM*

Melinda muttered to herself before jumping off high into the sky at the last possible second.

The ship's hull was collapsing under her feet, followed by the impact of the vessel crashing into the dock, causing pieces of wood, as well as the crewmembers, to be thrown all over the place.

"...!"

Melinda bit her lips, closing her eyes while holding onto the wounded Adrianna as gently as she could, all while in the embrace of Zane.

"...!"

The distance they traveled with just one hop, as underpowered as Melinda could make it, sent them across more than half of the city length.

While buffeted by the pressure of the jump, Zane's entire intellect wasn't required for him to realize how destructive the crash-landing of their will would be.

With no viable option, he gritted his teeth, preparing himself to move in a way to absorb as much damage away from the two girls as he possibly could as the paved ground was getting closer and closer...!