Beomseok was a strong man from his experience. Before the return of the wakos, he was an incompetent admiral who owed his position to his privileged status in Joseon society. But the return of the wakos who had almost taken his son had changed everything. 

Going to sea was no longer something he took lightly. He had a life mission: to protect Joseon from pirates and especially from the wakos who infested the eastern seas and sowed death. He had thus fought a series of battles against the wako crews, had escaped death numerous times and had thanks to all this acquired invaluable tactical experience in the fight he was going to wage against Kaito. 

But this time, one thing changed: he couldn't just survive the powerful wako attack, he had to rescue Seokjin from the clutches of this dragon whatever the cost.

Aim fiercely at the masts and sails of the enemy ship while fleeing its cannons was a tactical maneuver he had imagined. In reality, he wasn't running away, he was just patiently waiting for their damaged ship to prevent them from attacking his. Because if Kaïto believed his ship was doomed, stranded far from the coast, they would want to spare the Taewang in order to save themselves from the sea. One of the two ships had to still be seaworthy and Beomseok was counting on the fact that it would be the Taewang.

To achieve this, he had to minimize the damage to his own ship, so he ordered his helmsman to turn starboard and adjust the sails and continue to circle around the Emperor. For several minutes, the battle looked like a deadly game of cat and mouse—the Red Emperor playing the cat who hunted and the Taewang the mouse, dodging and weaving.

Through his spyglass, Admiral Kim saw the enemy captain, Kaïto. He was quietly slumped on a large armchair in the middle of the deck, as if the fight bored him even though cannonballs whizzed over his head. Around him, his men were busy rolling barrels of powder in all directions, but he was not concerned to see their captain so little invested in this battle.

"He underestimates us," he realized with satisfaction. Kaïto didn't yet understand that they were there for Seokjin and that they wouldn't give up before getting him back. 

Suddenly, a cannonball ripped through the bow, making the Taewang lurch violently and Beomseok almost lost his balance. Yet, his ship held its course.

"That's a reliable ship," he said, tapping the wood of the rail affectionately.

At the same time, one of its cannons finally hit the Emperor's aft mast, weakening it without however succeeding in bringing it down. Indeed, the Taewang was no helpless mouse. Its gunners—some of the best in Joseon's navy—kept firing, relentlessly aiming for the masts. 

When the first mast fell, the crew's confidence soared. And when the main mast came crashing down, halting the Red Emperor almost completely, cries of triumph erupted across the Taewang.

"Don't let your guard down," Beomseok warned them.

They circled the Red Emperor for some time, and when they realized the enemy cannons had stopped firing, they felt reassured. Their captain had been right: the enemy couldn't risk damaging the Taewang further if they hoped to capture it.

From a distance, Beomseok saw Kaito staring at him in the same way with his telescope. His expression was unfathomable and the admiral concluded that he was trying to hold his head high despite his ship's defeat in the face of the Taewang's superiority. Around him, the pirates were preparing their weapons.

"Now let's head straight to the ship, it's time to board it," Beomseok ordered. "Soldiers, prepare your weapons."

But as they drew closer to the Emperor, the admiral realized his mistake. These wakos weren't afraid of drowning. They were children of the sea, thinking they were chosen by Ryujin, and they had no fear of sinking as long as they dragged their enemies down with them. This was not the boarding they were expecting, Beomseok realized too late, contrary to what Kaïto had led them to believe by ordering his men to openly arm themselves : they wanted to feed them to the sea.

The Red Emperor's cannons suddenly roared to life again, unleashing deadly fire upon the Taewang which was taken by surprise. Several men died instantly, struck by the blasts. The helmsman took a splinter of wood to the face and screamed, clutching his wounds. Another sailor quickly took his place, and Beomseok shouted:

"Turn starboard! Don't let them breach the hull!"

But as he was so close to the black ship, Beomseok realized the Red Emperor's cannons were as formidable as its size. While some were reloading, others were already firing again, leaving no reprieve for their enemies. Another volley shook the Taewang, rattling its crew.

"Admiral! The hull's been hit, we're taking on water!" a sailor yelled in panic.

Beomseok gritted his teeth. The Taewang's hull was built to withstand heavy fire, but Kaïto had anticipated his strategy and countered it effortlessly. Now there was only one ship that was coveted, and it was not the Taewang: the Joseon soldier had to quickly board the Emperor to escape drowning.

When Beomseok spotted Juwon lying lifeless on the deck, it pained him: he had not been able to protect him and soon, a father and mother would mourn the death of their boy. And that was what might happen to him too if he just let himself go down with his ship.

At that moment, he understood he wasn't the one who could save his son. It had been arrogant to think he could take on Kaïto alone, despite Jungkook's warnings regarding his father.

Now, he could only save time for Jungkook and kill as many pirates as possible to maximize his chances of defeating his father's crew. Jungkook was Seokjin's last chance to survive.

Instead of continuing to evade the Red Emperor's fire, Beomseok seized the wheel abandoned by the navigators who had perished and steered the Taewang straight toward the enemy ship.  As long as he continued, his surviving men would continue with him, he had no doubt. So when the hulls of the two ships collided with a thunderous crash, he yelled, drawing his sword out of its sheath: 

"Board them!"

Ropes were thrown, binding the ships together and ensuring neither could drift apart. All the soldiers who had survived abandoned the Taewang, which was slowly beginning to sink, and jumped screaming onto the enemy ship, ready to sell their lives dearly in a terrible confrontation.

"It looks very bad for them," Taehyung announced, peering through his spyglass, "they are outnumbered and they no longer have any possibility of retreat with their ship sinking." 

The Princess was still some distance away from the two entangled ships and had not yet been spotted, but close enough to grasp the unfolding disaster. Jungkook, who had been silently observing the chaos, turned sharply toward Kangdae.

"So this was your plan?" Jungkook hissed pointing at the two ships, his voice vibrating with anger. "The Taewang wasn't circling the Emperor, it was outpacing us to ram straight into it? I warned you what we were up against!"

"Your dragon father?" Kangdae snapped. "Yes, you warned us. Loud and clear."

"And yet you thought you could handle him without us," Jungkook said bitterly, his voice low but seething.

"Why should we have trusted the offspring of this monster?" Kangdae shot back. 

Jungkook's hands clenched into fists. He had wanted, for once, to put his faith in someone, to trust Beomseok, to see him as the father figure he had never had. But he had been betrayed. Admiral Kim considered him nothing more than a despicable wako and lied to him, refusing to trust him. How could he have believed it when he told her he considered him a son? It was painful and he felt stupid. 

"Lock him up now," Jungkook ordered Taehyung in an icy voice, pointing at the man.

"What are you planning to do?" Taehyung asked, grabbing the man's arm who didn't resist.

Jungkook's eyes remained fixed on the Emperor, its massive frame looming larger as they drew closer.

"Attack," Jungkook said grimly. "We'll use their moment of weakness to crush Kaïto's crew and rescue Seokjin. And his father."

Kangdae widened his eyes and stared at Jungkook who ignored him.

"You still want to save the admiral after what he did to you?" Taehyung questioned, his voice sharp with disbelief.

"I have no choice," Jungkook replied, his voice quieter now but no less determined. "He's Seokjin'father. He wouldn't forgive me if I let him die."

______

A/N : My chapters are of unequal length but this one is still the 50th! 

I must admit that I managed to plan a book with 40 chapters. But I definitely don't know how to tell a story in a linear way, I always need to add along the way the new ideas that spring into my mind. That's the type of author I am ^^'

And if you're still here, it's because you appreciate the type of story I'm writing, far from the standard BTS FF, so... thank you! Let's finish this year 2024 together 💜