Chapter 13: Adapt

Once Hermes announces the fight, Mary and Anne quickly surround Saihua. They stalk around her like wolves circling a deer. 

"Smart strategy, you two. It's wise to look for my weakness. If I let you take advantage," Saihua said, anticipating which opponent would strike first.

Anne lunges first as she goes for a quick flurry of slashes. Saihua encounters excellent parries to perfection. Mary Read goes behind Saihua's back to try to skewer the general with her trident. But Saihua smirks as she blocks the trident's gore with the other end of her staff.

"Wohohoho! Despite going for a pincher attack, She Saihua has encountered it with such ease," Hermes announces as the audience is amazed by this. 

"When dealing with political sabotage and assassination attempts, I had to develop a sixth sense, you know?" Saihua gave a bold smile at Mary.

"Yeah! Well, let's see if you can anticipate this," Anne said as one of her blades tried to gut Saihua. 

Saihua uses her staff to maneuver the attack at Mary Read. Mary quickly jumped back from the attack.

"MARY! I'm so sorry! Are you-" Anne's words were cut off as Saihua swept the leg, knocking Bonny to the ground.

Saihua spins the staff to build momentum for a downward strike. But Mary denied her by intersecting the weapon with the blades of the trident.

"I'm not letting you hurt her," Mary said sternly.

Saihua smiles, "Well, now. Here, I thought pirates have no camaraderie. Glad to be proven wrong." 

Mary smirks as she pushes Saihua back.

"You okay?" Mary asked as she helped Anne help.

"Y-yeah. I didn't think this old lady was this skilled. That's a problem," Anne said with a bit of sweat on her face.

"So what do you think we should do?" Mary asked

Anne has a sly smirk across her face as she looks at Mary.

"Say, Mary. Up for some spearfishing?"

Mary smirks back, "Hell yeah!"

Anne rushed toward Saihua as the general prepared to block any attack. Before she realized it, Anne slid under Saihua, much to the general's surprise.

"Huh?"

As Saihua was distracted, Mary focused as she readied her trident to throw it at her opponent. Upon hurling her weapon, the trident traveled faster than the speed of sound.

Great Sea Skewer

For a moment, everyone gasped as Mary's trident seemed to pierce Saihua's skull. 

"Yes! They wo-!" Before Davy could celebrate, he saw the middle blade of the trident caught by the general's mouth.

"S-she caught it!? She Saihua caught the blade with her own mouth," Hermes announces in disbelief, which is shared by the audience.

Saihua drops the weapon from her mouth, and she messages her neck. 

"Whew! Gotta say you put a lot of force into that throw. My neck is still suffering from the whiplash."

From the crowd, the army from the Song Dynasty cheered for their general. Along with them is a plucky older man with cinnamon brown eyes, white hair tied into a bun, a long silver grey mustache and beard, and wearing decorative golden scale mail armor.

"That's right, my beloved! Prove why you're the greatest general of our era!"

Husband of She Saihua and General of the Song Dynasty

Yang Ye

Saihua goes to pick up the trident and toss it back to Mary.

"Alright then, let's continue."

Mary looked confused, "You...gave me back my weapon?"

"Why wouldn't I? It wouldn't be a fight if you were defenseless," Saihua replied.

Anne was amused at this. Fairness was not a courtesy but a luxury for pirates like her and Mary.

"You're a bloody intriguing woman, Saihua. But don't expect us to play fair."

Saihua smirks confidently at Anne.

"Fairness aside, prowess is what matters in battle. Now show me more of your tricks, young ones!"

With that statement, Mary and Anne rush at Saihua, who continues to block each attack simultaneously. 

"Amazing! Saihua is holding off Mary and Anne with ease," Nike said, amazed by this.

Athena smirks, "Are you surprised? She spent most of her life surrounded by battles on the field and within the courts. Any warrior learns to sharpen their awareness like a honed blade."

Meanwhile, Davy Jones nervously watched as he didn't expect a grandma to fend off his champions.

"Come on!!! This old wench shouldn't be capable of doing this! How can this be?"

Guan Yu glances at the skeletal god and gives a judgemental glare.

"So you chose two women just to kill an old lady, huh. Jones, to think I couldn't loathe anymore than I do now."

Davy Jones scoffs, "Piss off, Guan Yu! I do whatever I want!"

Tomoe was in the audience and was impressed by Saihua's ability to hold her own.

" She Saihua has blocked those attacks with such grace and focus. It's phenomenal!"

Benkei nodded, "Indeed. Looking at her now. She is putting her focus solely on this fight. As we speak, Mary and Anne are in her domain."

"Ufufufu. I wouldn't be some sure about that, Benkei-san."

Tomoe scowls as Nohime struts towards the two samurai.

"So you finally come to see the fights, huh insect?"

"My, such uncouth behavior. Of course, I shouldn't be too surprised," Nohime sneered.

Nohime snaps her fingers, and warriors from the Saito clan move to clear some space for her. They set up a black canopy tent with the crest of the Saito family. Then, they place a large, soft cushion pillow for their lady to sit on and a stand with a teapot of green tea waiting for her.

"Is all of this necessary?" Tomoe spat, her eye flicking between green and red.

Nohime scoffs as she takes her seat.

"Well, I couldn't be in the VIP section for the gods, so this is the next best thing." 

Before Tomoe could retort, Benkei asked Nohime.

"I want to know something, Nohime-sama. Do you think Mary and Anne could win?"

Nohime smirks, "I believe so. So far, Sasaki and Crazy Horse have won due to the advancement of combat in their lifetime. Regardless of the era, warfare changed and evolved. And despite their... unpleasantries, pirates, like shinobi such as myself, adapt. Of course, a general can adapt to warfare so well. So it depends if those two can play their cards right."

Back in the fight, Saihua's staff was caught between the blades of Mary's trident.

"Now, Anne! I got her where we want her!"

"On it!" Anne yelled as she leaped in the air, preparing to cut down the general.

Saihua leaped back away from the attack in the nick of time. As she creates space for herself, she hears dripping on the ground and a warm feeling on her right cheek. She rubs her cheek and sees blood on her fingertips. Saihua then realizes that her face is marked with a scar.

"Anne Bonny has drawn first blood!" Hermes announces as the audience cheers.

"YAHAHA!!!!! That's it, you two! Shake that hag's morale!" Davy Jones boasted.

However, Saihua wasn't shaken by this scar. In fact, Saihua felt a surge of determination course through her body.

"Not bad! I can't remember the last time a scar cut onto my skin," Saihua said as she wiped the blood from her cheek.

Then the general held her staff, and it began to glow a golden aura. Immediately, Mary and Anne were feeling uneasy about what their opponent had in mind.

"Now then, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Allow me to introduce to you the Four Divine Symbols."

Saihua's Power about to be Unleashed...!

A Woman Who Was Held as the Greatest of Her Era...!