Chapter 3

Unrefined demeanor aside, Song impresses me with his ability to command the crew. Though I worry for the fresh crimson wound he sustained. I take not of the man before directing my attention back at the enemy squad crumbling in a blazing wreckage.

Three ships incapacitated. That just leaves the rest of the fleet.

It doesn't take long for guns to be ready and not a moment too soon as the enemy continues to close.

Point blank range for our gunnery.

"Fire now!"

The volley proves to be more devastating than I anticipated, as more ships become tattered and, what I can analyze to be the flagship, is battered yet still afloat. Even the ranks of the enemy's left flank are not spared from the carnage.

There is no way two of our vessels can cause this much destruction.

"Look! It's the rest of the fleet!"

"Oh, so NOW they wanna join the party!"

"Well, you guys took your sweet time! C'mon! Plenty for everyone I say!"

The elated cries of my men force me away from the battle to bear witness to a sight truly inspirational: The Central Squadron is sailing towards our defensive perimeter at full speed. Squad Leader Kim could not have come a moment too soon. Thanks to him, our odds have increased.

"You think you're gonna steal all the glory, Admiral? Not if I have anything to say about it!"

First, he disobeys my orders to join the defense, and now he has the audacity to be a glory hound. Were it not for rigorous discipline instilled by my superiors and training, Kim would feel the full wrath of my blade personally.

A clear mind assures me that this buffoon has blessed us with additional numbers and firepower, increasing our odds in the battle. A quick harsh motion of my hand is given, ordering him to form up on our perimeter.

With these numbers, and despite the current flowing the way it is, it is possible our ships can sink maybe three waves, at best, before they board us.

"Sir!" Toshisuna cries with joy. "Sir, look! It's him! That's Matashi! He's the general leading the assault!"

My eyes follow the direction of his finger until I see him. A mangled man adorning a red brocade uniform embroidered with flower crests.

My lips pursed in grim satisfaction. "Bring me the body."

*

To bear witness to their ships crackling and crumbling in the flames is a sight many Samurai and Ashigaru grimly saw many times before.

The hopes of their quick and decisive win, are quickly dashed away by their deep-rooted futility to fight against Yi Sun-sin.

Okpo, Sacheon, and even Hansan, all of them serve as reminders that Joseon possesses an unbeatable demon in man's clothing.

And now, this devil of the sea has been fully unleashed by what he is now displaying atop of his flagship's mast.

"Is that-"

"No! It can't be..." 

It's a trick it has to be. A dummy! A fake stuffed with straw! It must be! Brilliant men like Yi would of course deceive them like this!

But to the seasoned warriors, they are under no illusions, and what they are seeing turns them white as ghosts.

It's a sight that makes their limbs tremble in fear even the most hardened warriors: General Matashi, cut to pieces, his scalp, ears, nose, even arms and legs were savagely discarded from the head and torso with the rich crimson blood still leaving the corpse.

Whimpering and even unhinged laughter slowly infects the ranks, with one delusional ashigaru cackling that it is all just a dream.

"I-I mean yeah! It all makes sense! The Kingdom of Joseon, Yi Sun-Sin, it's all just a bad dream!" He gazes out at the ships, thirteen in total, and giggles. "Yeah, of course! That's what it is! There's no way the real world is this crazy! Hahaha! It's all just a crazy dream! I-I just need close my eyes… and when I wake up, none of this will have ever happen! Just wake up! Wake up! C'mon! Why can't I wake up?!"

Many of the men begin to believe him, that they were all trapped in the same twisted nightmare and that they must wake up. Whatever it takes.

Michufusa and his samurai could do little to keep their rank and file from descending into madness as they can watch in horror with heads slamming into the decks, leaping overboard, or even running into nearby flames before flailing about.

And Michifusa can only watch.

But his paralysis shatters when his ship violently shifts. The sudden turn is so powerful and quick that not even skilled oarsmen could even execute.

No. This is something else.

It's only when the ship begins spiraling and away from the enemy when Michifusa realizes what has happened: The current has shifted.

"Impossible…"

But as he watches as another ally ship whirling toward him, Michifusa braces for impact. Something many in his crew fail to follow.

*

"Look! The enemy is... are they actually retreating?!"

The disorderly shift in the enemy formations points to an unmistakable fact: the enemy is wavering and fleeing! Lukewarm thrill fills my hearts seeing our foe becoming more entangled in their own confusion to the point that the secrets the current holds might not have been necessary to our battle.

"Woah what the-"

"Hold onto something!"

"Woah… the current... did it... did it change direction or is it just me?!"

The sharp shift of gravity thrown at me is reinforced with a sailor plunging into me. Toshisuna quickly aids me to my feet and after helping the young man to his, disregarding his frantic apologies, it is clear what has happened.

The tide has shifted, and the result is clear.

The routing ships of our enemy begin to capsize into the strong current and collisions quickly become common and devastating. The creaking and snapping of wood reaches my ears making my skin prickle at such monstrous sounds.

It is chaos incarnate.

Only the flagship, a mutilated husk of it's former self, refuses to sink to the depths.

As our composure and balance fully recovers, my eyes take a quick count of the ships in our perimeter. All ships present and account for.

This is it!

Seizing the mallet from the dazed drummer, the drum roars from my smite with such ferocity that I fear my order has been drowned out.

"Full speed ahead! Ram them while the momentum favors us!"

Relief soothes my soul seeing everyone complying with my command.

The sudden rush coursing through me rejuvenates my spirit with the adrenaline and thrill only a young lad once held. The beating of the drum picks up speed, which serves to quicken the fleet's momentum. Many of my juniors cried out to brace for impact. Many react soundly without missing a beat as our vessel shatters the first unlucky hulking mess sending wood and frightened men flying.

My arm rises to shield me from incoming splinters and broken timber, faltering the beat of the drum, but never ceasing. And the rhythm rises once again, growing louder, more furious, as we ram into the next devilish horde.

It's not long before my men begin to contribute to the enemy's destruction with an endless swarm of fire and arrows.

The flagship has been spotted and no order must be given to pierce its vulnerable belly. However, the sight of a dangerously sizable force still alive presents an immediate danger! It's too late to slow the ship or change course, so the only course of action becomes clear.

Smashing the mallet back into the drummer's chest, my bow readies its arrow as my quick order howls, "Prepare to fire a full volley on the flagship!"

Several juniors and young men follow suit as we ready our bows and our motors. My aim adjusts to as the distance dangerously closes.

The time is now!

"FIRE!"

The smooth flick of arrows bouncing off their strings never ceases to satisfy. The volley of arrows casts a small but intense dark cloud over the heavens before swarming onto the deck of the enemy. Many found their mark, dropping and paralyzing many before succumbing to the wrath of the righteous. The thunderous roar from our cannons spews huge bouts of black smoke, forbidding me to witness the result from our attack for the moment.

When our arrows ceased and the smoke clears, only a mangled shadow of a husk remains. The structure bursts out balls of flame with maligned parts of our foe twirling in all directions.

 I can see only a few stragglers remain, broken as the will to fight forsakes them, leaving them to desperately leap into the depths. If only they knew they would be crushed or drown to the merciless strait.

There is only one man, another enemy commander I presume, that remains alive aboard the smoldering deck.

*

Michifusa, even with his armor failing to protect his flesh from the swarm of arrows, refuses to fall. With the aid of his katana, his knees break his collapse, though it does little to stop the rich copper taste before crimson black blood oozes down his chin.

His blood boils, succumbing to the red rage that sustains his will to live, as he gazes out at the ruin around him. With the flames with the scorching heat smiting his skin, the dead, limbs and grotesque innards tainting the deck, the screams of the desperate and the moans of the dying, Michifusa has never felt this much disgrace throughout his life.

And this was all done by mere remnants of a defunct navy of a dead nation! Yet he, the man who refuses him to fight as a true warrior, who cowers behind the protection of cannons and safe distances, continues to lead this lost cause against the grand inevitable! A true coward that refuses to die!

And that is why Yi Sun-sin will die a thousand times over in the most punishable actions known and unknown to the red-hazed Michifusa.

And once he is done, once his is maligned and carved beyond comprehension, Michifusa will soon deliver the same wrath beyond these shores, raze every village, ravage every innocence, exterminate every vermin!

And it all begins with him! Yi Sun-sin!

He can see him. He has his prey in his sights. The chance to claim his head becomes all too enticing. A manic chuckle rumbles as he rises to his feet, ready to, at long last, fight and prevail over these vermin!

"Your castle... is mine... I will conquer it... Your castle of the sea!" His smile grows as his castle rushes to him as if to embrace its new lord. "Watch me... watch me... watch me! Everything... will... be... mine! GEEAAAARRRGHH!"

His siege ends in his demise.