His master wasn't sacrificing his life; he was making a deliberate move, convinced that Nimbus would only have that option to act. Somehow, he knew Nimbus had activated his power. Following that motion, Nimbus exerted even more force, and as he approached the enemy, he felt no impact of his weapon against his back. It was as if the sword was passing through a cloud while traversing the pirate's body. At this pace, the sword passed through the man's body, hitting its blade before reaching Lonios's neck. The strike was so violent that the weapon was ripped from the pirate's hand and flew slowly into the sky. At the same moment, as this sword slowly soared through the air, Lonios impaled the pirate's belly with the Indolent. The enemy was defeated. In that moment of relaxation, Nimbus noticed that everything returned to moving faster and faster until it reached normal speed.
Then the pirate fell to his knees beside Lonios, holding his entrails.
— I can't believe it, you killed me — the pirate laughed and spat blood from his mouth, falling with his hands on the earthy ground in the final moment of his death.
— How many seconds can you see into the future? Two? — Lonios stood up and looked down at the enemy.
— Yes — he laughed a bit more — you tricked me — and fell backward to the ground, gazing at the sky.
— Why are you laughing, you lost? — Lonios asked, holding the bleeding ribs where only the tip of an arrow was visible.
— Lo...lost? Ev...even... I...won... — and the pirate breathed his last.
— What did he mean, master? — Nimbus seemed concerned.
— I don't know, and it doesn't matter now.
Lonios took his weapon and decapitated the pirate. Lifting the severed head by the hair, he shouted:
— VICTORY! YOUR PIRATE LORD IS DEAD!
All the pirates on the battlefield turned to Lonios holding the head of the fallen enemy. No less than half of them dropped their weapons and began to flee. Taking advantage of the evacuation, Elisis, accompanied by Pola and the officers, started advancing towards the port. The few who resisted were mercilessly killed by Elisis, who targeted everyone in her path. What a deadly woman with a bow; everyone looked at her in awe. Some wounded were assisted, and in the distance, Nimbus breathed a sigh of relief. Dr. Henry approached, accompanied by Jim, both covered in blood and sweat but alive. Dr. Henry limped a bit, but that was normal for him, judging by the fight in the Dark Ether port; he didn't take much care of himself during battles.
— Congratulations, Nimbus. You managed to disable your nervous inhibitors the second time you used the Curse of Time. I had never seen that before. I was sure I would be killed in that maneuver we executed so skillfully. Congratulations, my apprentice. I owe you my life. You are a very special boy. I would like to know who your mother was.
Nimbus was pleased; his master seemed more proud to have him as an apprentice than ever. The boy had never seen him wear that look of admiration towards him. But the story about who his mother was sounded strange. Did he think his mother was a Drago? Or did he know that his father was a Drago, and his mother was something more? Because one thing was certain, he decidedly knew he wasn't a pure-blood Drago.
— Disable nervous inhibitors? — Nimbus decided to ask one thing at a time. There was so much to talk about with his master, and now that he had promised to tell him everything, there was no hurry to ask. They had all the time in the world; they had both survived.
— It's not time to let our guard down — Elisis approached with the other officers. Now the whole group was there, organized in front of the pirate port. They could choose any ship for their escape. — They will regroup and attack us soon. There's always another pirate willing to take the place of someone who died. — She pointed to the decapitated Pirate Lord's body.
That was what Nimbus feared; it wasn't over yet, not really. They would have a long journey back, pursued by pirates, alone in the vastness of the ether, at the mercy of all its dangers. But he imagined that nothing could be worse than what had happened there. Everything would be milder, at least he hoped so.
As quickly as they could, they headed towards the Pirate Lord's small ship, the same one that had taken them as prisoners. Nimbus glanced one last time at the Brand anchored in the pirate port. Only she and the ship they had fought before were anchored there.