Lord: Sequence Master

The Storm Thunderbird, now no larger than a sparrow, affectionately nuzzled Rosen's palm, showing a strong bond through the Divine Beast Seal.

Rosen assessed the Thunderbird's attributes with ease:

[Storm Thunderbird: Divine Pet]

Level: Sequence 6

Inherent Skills: Storm Feathers, Thunderheart

Divinity: 37

Skills: Mastery of Wind Element, Mastery of Lightning Element, Storm Dance, Storm Guard, Thunder God's Eye, Storm Arrow Rain, Storm Vortex, Storm Thunder, Judgment Lightning, Life Thunder Sound...

Based on its attributes, the Thunderbird's combat strength rivaled that of Graymouse, although Graymouse's talents were more in treasure hunting and evasion. The Thunderbird's combat potential was immense, and Rosen expected it to surpass Graymouse and ascend to Sequence 3, becoming a demigod.

As Rosen piloted his Feathered Serpent Warship, Blackstone Port appeared on the horizon. Unwilling to wait for the Black Shark Pirate Crew to return on its own, Rosen decided to accelerate the process. Using his Pen of Fate, he carefully crafted a script for the Black Shark Captain's fate. With Fate Hunting, Rosen tracked the captain and learned that the pirates were already en route to Blackstone Port, just half a day away.

Rosen took the Storm Thunderbird out to sea, where it transformed into its warship form. Within two hours, the bird had spotted the Black Shark Pirates. The thinning ash on the water surface made it easier to locate human vessels.

Through the Thunderbird's vision, Rosen confirmed the target and ordered the first strike.

The Storm Thunderbird activated its Thunder God's Eye, focusing arcs of electricity into its eyes as it locked onto the Black Shark flagship. With a burst of Storm Dance, it accelerated through the skies and descended upon the ship.

A swirling Storm Vortex formed in the air, rapidly growing and descending toward the pirate ship. By the time the pirates noticed, the storm had engulfed a thousand-meter radius of the sea, trapping them within. The Thunderbird flapped its wings, creating powerful gusts with Storm Feathers and pulsating with Thunderheart, generating a deafening Storm Thunder. The force left the lower-level pirates writhing in agony as they clutched their ears.

Then, the Thunderbird unleashed Judgment Lightning—its entire body surrounded by brilliant bolts of energy. A blinding purple flash shot from its Thunder God's Eye, slamming into the Black Shark. The ship's figurehead summoned a protective barrier, but it barely withstood the impact. Immediately after, Storm Arrow Rain—sharp wind blades—rained down on the pirates, slicing through ships and sailors alike.

Although the Black Shark flagship remained afloat, the other pirate ships were shattered into wreckage, littering the sea with debris and bodies.

The Black Shark Captain, using his monocular, spotted the Thunderbird soaring through the storm. Despite never seeing this particular creature, he knew it was no accident. This was the work of a human transcendent, not a rogue beast.

With grim determination, the captain adjusted two ancient bronze cannons on the ship. Though weathered, these Sequence 6 artifacts could fire soul-based ammunition. With a silent boom, two ghostly projectiles shot into the air.

The Storm Thunderbird sensed the incoming danger and prepared to dodge, but a volley of arrows from the Black Shark's Vice-Captain, now a Sequence 6 hunter, blocked its escape. The bird activated Storm Guard and nimbly evaded most of the arrows, while its wind shield deflected the rest. However, the soul projectiles made a sharp U-turn, continuing their relentless pursuit.

Startled by the unfamiliar attack, the Thunderbird called out to Rosen for help.

Rosen, watching through their bond, shook his head. The Thunderbird needed to learn combat discipline. Taking control through the Nightmare Shackles, he infused the bird's Storm Thunder with Golden Divinity, amplifying its power. The divine lightning, imbued with purification, obliterated the soul projectiles before they could reach the bird.

Instead of ordering a counterattack, Rosen had the Thunderbird circle the Black Shark, manipulating wind and water vapor to form dense clouds. As the storm intensified, the sky darkened, obscuring the sun. However, the Black Shark submerged into the sea, transforming into a giant black shark—a standard feature of transcendent ships in naval combat.

Rosen, undeterred, activated Storm Vortex, summoning a series of massive waterspouts. These waterspouts, modeled after those in the Ghost Black Sea, formed an impenetrable blockade, trapping the Black Shark.

Enraged, the Black Shark Captain opened the ship's lower hold, releasing hundreds of Sequence 8 black sharks into the stormy sea. These sharks hurled themselves into the waterspouts, their bodies ripped apart as they transformed into ghostly apparitions. The ghost sharks swarmed through the void, aiming for the Thunderbird.

Undeterred, Rosen unleashed Judgment Lightning, destroying several ghost sharks in an instant, but more continued to attack. Meanwhile, the Black Shark summoned a holy aura, neutralizing the Thunderbird's suppression of the undead, allowing the ghost sharks to push forward unhindered.

The Thunderbird, confused by this unorthodox battle, hesitated. It was used to normal fish—not sharks flying through the sky. Rosen withheld his assistance, determined to make the bird unlock its latent potential.

Realizing that no help was coming, the Thunderbird's instincts kicked in. Being a Divine Beast, it understood the situation. Activating Storm Guard, it contemplated how to enhance its defenses, eventually combining it with Storm Vortex to create a highly compressed barrier of rotating winds. This amplified version shredded the capturing net around it and propelled the bird into the air.

Now free, the Thunderbird soared high into the darkened sky. Rosen, satisfied, resumed control. The trial was over—further lessons could wait for another day.

With the bird's newfound determination and improved battle instincts, Rosen had it ascend above the storm clouds, summoning a massive thunderstorm. Lightning surged through the sky, splitting the seawater and igniting it. Mushroom clouds rose as the Black Shark struggled to evade the relentless bombardment.

The ghost sharks closed in again, but Rosen paid them no mind. Using Storm Dance, he led the Thunderbird into a rapid series of evasive maneuvers, teaching it combat tactics on the fly.

The Black Shark Captain, watching the Thunderbird dance through the storm, grew pale. He realized that the creature's fluctuating power meant it was not alone—it had a master. And if the Thunderbird alone had pushed them to this point, facing its master would spell certain doom.

\

The Black Shark Captain quickly abandoned any thoughts of defeating the Storm Thunderbird, focusing entirely on how to escape. But before he could act, a bullet tore through the darkness, aimed directly at him. It pierced his skull with devastating force, shattering his head into pieces and obliterating his soul.

"Courting death..." Rosen muttered, turning the barrel of his Dragon King's Fury toward the vice-captain of the Black Shark. Within ten seconds, every pirate aboard the ship had been sniped and killed.

Initially, Rosen hadn't planned to kill the Black Shark Captain himself, but Time's Eye revealed that the captain would escape in a few seconds if he hesitated. Left with no other choice, Rosen acted swiftly, sniping the captain before he could flee.

Under the power of Void Gun Dance and Judgment, the captain's soul was captured and condensed into a Judgment Bullet. Before the soul's memories could dissipate, Rosen used the Ashen Canvas to reflect and capture fragments of the captain's past.

Rosen soon uncovered a disturbing truth: the Black Shark Captain was one of the Black Gloves, a covert operative under the Grand Duke of Blaze Shadow, tasked with secret missions. The captain's goal had been to locate the genuine Cat God's Icon. Over the years, he had destroyed numerous coastal villages, framing the attacks on sea beasts, and kidnapping villagers to be sacrificed to a fake Cat God's Icon in the Deathwood Forest Spirit Realm. This sacrificial ritual strengthened the connection between the captain and the real Cat God's Icon. In a few years, he would have completed his mission.

Rosen's suspicions deepened. The Grand Duke of Blaze Shadow had preemptively rewarded the Black Shark Captain, making it easier for him to obtain the Cat God's Icon, but the captain's actions had been illegal under World Government law, as they involved boosting the strength of an alien realm.

After investigating through the Deep Web of the Spirit Realm and purchasing information from the Assassins Guild, Rosen confirmed his theory: years ago, Graymouse had a wager with the Grand Duke of Blaze Shadow. Graymouse lost and had to lift the plague curse on the Blaze Shadow Duchy, almost losing his life. However, the curse hadn't been fully removed. While the rat infestation disappeared, the curse on the Blaze Shadow family only grew stronger.

The Grand Duke had likely been searching for the Cat God's Icon to lift this curse entirely. But if the Cat God still existed, as Rosen now suspected, it would be impossible to claim the true icon. Sensing a powerful presence watching him, Rosen realized the Cat God wasn't dead—he had stirred something far more dangerous.

Deciding to claim the Cat God's Icon for himself, Rosen stored the Black Shark ship in his Scavenger Space, planning to refit it for the knights of his domain. He then set course for the Deathwood Forest Spirit Realm aboard the Feathered Serpent Warship.

Upon reaching the realm, Rosen effortlessly crossed the spatial barrier using Lazy Foot. Once inside, he felt the realm resisting his presence. The Deathwood Forest, fed by the sacrifices of the Black Shark Pirates, had grown in power, reaching Sequence 6 strength—an illegal act punishable by the World Government.

Rosen marched through the forest, gunning down shadow cats with his Dragon King's Fury, until he reached the buried Cat God's Icon. Clearing the overgrowth, sunlight hit the icon, causing it to flicker with divine flames. Rosen tossed Graymouse's corpse into the flames, fully awakening the Cat God's Avatar.

As the flames intensified, Rosen realized he had made a grave mistake. The Cat God wasn't dead—it was preparing to descend, not to reward him, but to kill him.

Suddenly, the Cat God's Avatar, a Sequence 6 entity, appeared and attacked. With blinding speed, the Cat God almost decapitated Rosen, its claws barely blocked by Rosen's Dragon Fang Dagger. Even with Bullet Time slowing his perception, Rosen struggled to keep up.

Sensing the danger, Rosen swapped places with his Self-Portrait Clone across the Void Gallery. Despite the clone's abilities, the Cat God Avatar continued to dominate the fight. Using every Hunter Sequence technique he knew, Rosen held off the avatar, honing his skills under extreme pressure.

For half an hour, the battle raged on until the Cat God Avatar finally decapitated Rosen's clone, reducing it to paint. The Void Gallery became visible, its layers of spatial mist protecting Rosen. Frustrated by the gallery's spatial defenses, the Cat God Avatar shifted into a humanoid form, pulling out dual pistols.

In a blur of motion, the Cat God Avatar fired thousands of rounds per second, each shot as precise as a sniper's. The relentless barrage tore through the forest, reducing everything within a kilometer to dust. The Void Gallery withstood the assault for a time, but its defenses began to crumble under the weight of the avatar's relentless attack.

As the Void Gallery neared collapse, Rosen revived his Self-Portrait Clone and sent it back into the fray. But even with the clone's return, they were running out of time.

Positioning himself within the eye socket of the Void Gallery's skull-like structure, Rosen activated his Dragon King's Wrath rifle. Using the Time Scope and Time's Eye, he locked onto the Cat God Avatar's future movements.

The Future Silencer engaged, and a Sequence 9 Judgment Bullet silently left the barrel.

Two seconds later, the bullet struck the Cat God Avatar, embedding a Hunting Mark in its divine essence. Enraged, the avatar's attacks became even more ferocious, recognizing the mark as the one tied to the Cat Paw Pendant, a relic it deeply despised.

Rosen activated the Hunting Mark, using the Cat Paw Pendant to forcibly drag the Cat God Avatar into the Void Gallery.

(End of Chapter)