Alka’s smile grew increasingly presumptuous. Jack, trapped inside the Mirror, felt a terrible premonition and began frantically pounding on its surface.
But Alka could only see Jack’s impotent, furious face; he couldn’t hear his curses.
The Hand of Precision materialized on Alka’s right hand.
A piece of gold and some Gemstones appeared in his palm.
As Magic Power surged from the Hand of Precision, the gold and Gemstones were swiftly smelted and fused. Like flowing liquid, they melded onto the back of the Magic Mirror, forming an ornate border.
In no time at all, a magnificent Mirror appeared in Alka’s hand, impressively heavy. It was encased in gold, its back adorned with brilliant Gemstones.
Alka smiled and said, "What do you think? Your new home is beautiful, isn’t it? It’ll make a fine tomb as well. And don’t you dare say I didn’t give you an apprenticeship gift."
Then he produced another piece of silver metal, waving it over the Mirror Surface.
"Recognize this, don’t you?"
Alka chuckled, using the Hand of Precision to remelt the silver metal, altering its composition and the Spell within. It then reformed into a solid silver block.
He encased himself and the metal block within a soundproof, transparent sphere. Words in an unknown tongue formed an activation Spell, which he fixed onto the silver block.
The metal block then liquefied, resembling mercury, and Alka carefully placed the Mirror upon it.
He gave Jack, still in the Mirror, a final wave goodbye.
The silvery liquid completely enveloped the Mirror, hardening into an incredibly dense metal block.
"Sleep eternally at the bottom of the sea. Live forever—isn’t that what you always wanted?"
With that, Alka tossed the heavy metal block overboard, watching until it vanished into the depths of the seabed.
He had done this because, aside from the Magic Mirror preventing Jack from escaping on his own, there was another crucial detail: the Magic Mirror lacked an automatic sleep function; its captive would remain forever awake.
Moreover, the decoding Spell on the metal block was in Alka’s former native tongue. The Spell read: "Jack is an idiot."
This was the heart of the Realm of Pitch Darkness. If, in such a place, the metal block were ever salvaged, the Spell deciphered, and Jack’s soul, still trapped within the Magic Mirror, somehow retained consciousness—if all those conditions were met, then Jack would deserve to live.
But if those conditions weren’t met, he would remain eternally conscious in the darkness, until his mind finally shattered.
Alka believed this revenge was far more satisfying than simply killing Jack. The elation in his heart swelled.
Having done all this, Alka approached the Knight who wielded the Sword of Love. He already knew this Knight was Badistan, the Knight Commander of the Holy Mother Church.
"Lord Badistan, thank you for your assistance."
The Knight Commander smiled, clapping Alka firmly on the shoulder. "Haha, we’re the ones who should be thanking you! If not for you, this Holy Sword wouldn’t have returned to the Church so easily. This is what you call mutual benefit. Besides, we needed to eliminate this Pirate Gang to show the world that while the Church is merciful, it also possesses a ruthless side. For pirates to provoke the Church? That’s simply courting death!"
After they exchanged a few more pleasantries, Alka bid farewell.
"Haha, if you have unfinished business, go attend to it. With so many ships and all this loot, we won’t be going anywhere fast."
He turned and returned to his own ship, where Pororo and Julia were already waiting.
Jason also leaped onto the deck.
Andre sat on the deck of the pirate flagship, Vanessa still tending to his wounds beside him. He looked at Chadite before him. "What are you waiting for? They’re all waiting for you."
"But..." Chadite glanced at Alka and the others, then back at her father.
"I’m your father, not some invalid. We’ll catch up with you later, it’s fine."
Vanessa, who was by Andre’s side, reassured her, "Don’t worry, Chadite. I’ll take good care of your father."
Hearing this, Chadite hugged her father, then gave Vanessa a quick embrace before dashing off and leaping onto the deck of Alka’s ship.
Seeing Alka waving at him from the other deck, Andre fumed, "That damn brat."
Chadite landed on deck and asked Alka and the others, "Is there something else we need to do?"
The battle just ended, and we’re already off to do something else? Isn’t this a bit too rushed?
Hearing her question, Alka smiled and winked. "Remember all those Treasures we hid? Do you really want to leave such precious things hidden away in this gloomy place?"
"Well, no, I don’t!" Chadite admitted.
Chadite thought of all the Treasures they had amassed over the past six months. Giving them up now would be a regret she’d carry for a lifetime. Now that they were safe and even had a Spell Ship, of course, they had to retrieve all those previously found Treasures and bring them aboard.
"Besides," Alka added, "that Music Ship is still waiting for us. Without these Treasures, we won’t have nearly enough money to repair it."
At his words, the others recalled the dilapidated Music Ship. Restoring such a massive vessel would undoubtedly require the finest craftsmanship, adhering to the highest Spell Ship standards.