Rocky knew he could not beat ckbeard in a fair fight.


    ckbeard was a far superior swordsman, and there was no way that Rocky could win by actively taking him on.


    Rocky understood that to beat ckbeard his only hope was to think outside the box ande up with a creative solution to win the fight. As only by using the external environment around him could he hope to defeat ckbeard.


    Looking around, his eyesnded on the ship''s mast, towering above the deck, as an idea began to form in his head.


    While ckbeard menacingly walked towards him, a predatory glint in his eyes, Rocky quickly thought of a n to hopefully win this fight as he created a sequence of events in his head that if executed perfectly could help him achieve one moment of opening up ckbeard''s defenses.


    Looking at the mast, Rocky thought of a n where he could use the ship''s massive and heavy mast to his advantage.


    The n was risky, but it was his only shot, as with ckbeard approaching, he did not have enough time toe up with a n B or doubt the feasibility of his initial idea.


    [ Wind Wall ]


    Casting a Wind Wall, Rocky tried to slow down ckbeard''s approach as he stumbled on the rocking ship and ran away from ckbeard, towards one of the steel lines supporting the weight of the mast.


    The Ship''s Central mast, that rose to about 30 meters in height above the ship, was safely fastened to the deck using 4 main steel support lines that helped it stay intact.


    Without these support lines, the mast could easily tip over and fall, making the metal support ropes a key part of the ship''s infrastructure.


    "Running won''t save you, boy," ckbeard taunted, swinging his sword in a fluid arc, as Rocky ducked at thest possible second in a way that ckbeard''s sword shed right above him and chopped off one of the support lines to the mast.


    *SNAP*


    As the tense steel cord broke, it created a crisp snapping sound which made Rocky realize that his n had worked.


    However, not showing that snapping the cord was his intention from the start, Rocky rolled through and got away from ckbeard yet again as he strategically moved towards the next support rope.


    "This is the sea boy, you cannot run from me forever" ckbeard said, as he unleashed a sword projection towards Rocky forcing him to pause for a moment and dodge.


    As Rocky dodged, barely avoiding the deadly strike, he noticed that a whole flurry of follow-up attacks wereing his way after the first sh as he was forced to stand and block the flurry using his own sword.


    *Block*


    *Block*


    *Block*


    *Block*


    Blocking the attacks and retreating simultaneously, Rocky moved away from ckbeard and towards the second support rope, until he reached it and dodged a second attack at the very end, which shed straight through the second cord.


    *SNAP*


    As the second cord snapped, the ship''s mast finally tilted ever so slightly, causing the ship''s bnce to change as the whole merchant vessel tilted to an angle.


    "Stand still and fight like a man!" ckbeard roared, frustration creeping into his voice as not missing a beat he kept chasing Rocky with a singr focus.


    Each slice from him weakened the mast''s stability, but to him it looked like part of the ongoing battle damage as ckbeard did not suspect a thing.


    Finally, as Rocky was near the third rope securing the mast, he finally slowed down enough for ckbeard to deliberately catch up to him, as when the pirate saw that Rocky was within striking range he dangerously pounced towards him, his swords looking like a blur.


    *BLOCK*


    Rocky blocked with both swords, feeling the impact reverberate through his arms as ckbeard''s attacks hit him really hard.


    Staggering back, Rocky used the movement to subtly cut another rope as with the third rope now cut, the ship''s mast groaned ominously above them.


    "What''s the matter, climber?" ckbeard sneered. "Running out of tricks?" He asked as he continued his relentless assault on Rocky, every sword sh from him giving Rocky a sword wound on his flesh, as ckbeard gave him close to a hundred different minor cuts.


    Despite the pain and being outssed, Rocky focused all his strength on moving and defending his vitals as he slowly drew ckbeard towards the spot which was his end-game.


    Finally, as they reached the spot where Rocky wanted to lure him. Rocky cast a [Fire Wall], creating a zing barrier that forced ckbeard to step back.


    The mes provided a brief respite, allowing Rocky to assess the final weak points of thest rope and the precise angle of the masts fall, as the n he initially envisioned was finally nearing its conclusion.


    "You think this fire will stop me?" ckbeardughed, leaping through the mes with a predatory grin.


    Rocky retreated, his heart pounding as he guided ckbeard with every step, positioning him perfectly.


    With one final, desperate effort, Rocky shed thest critical rope and cast [Wind Wall] to control the mast''s copse.


    The mast creaked and began to tip, its immense weight groaning against the weakened supports as it was at that moment that ckbeard''s eyes widened as he realized what was happening, but it was already toote.


    The spot he was standing on was precisely the area where the mast was falling and he did not have the necessary speed to avoid the mastpletely.


    His only options were to either let the mast falls on his head, or to turn towards it and cut it apart, however, the problem towards cutting it apart was that, Rocky like a suicidal maniac was lunging towards him, giving him no time to deal with the mast.


    If he dealt with the mast. It was going to be Rocky that would stab him, but if he dealt with Rocky, then the heavy mast would fall on his head, injuring him severely.


    "Well yed child…." ckbeard said with a smile on his face as he decided to turn and deal with the mast as he tried to prevent Rocky from hitting his vitals with his free arm.


    *sh*


    Using his de to sh apart the falling mast in half, ckbeard avoided the fate of having his head bashed under it, as at that exact moment Rocky leaped in towards the pirate with all his agility and thrust his swords into his abdomen with all his strength.


    *CRASH*


    The two cleaved pieces of the mast crashed down with a thunderous roar, splintering the deck and sending debris flying, while ckbeard stood bleeding from his left arm and abdomen as he managed to block one of Rocky''s sword thrusts by using his free hand, however, the other managed to find its mark and puncture his kidney.


    ckbeard tried to recover, but Rocky was unwilling to let go. Using all his strength Rocky drove the stationary de upwards as he made a mess of ckbeard''s internal organs through sheer strength and will, exerting a force which made even his strong muscles shudder as he pushed beyond his limits.


    The pirate captain staggered, disbelief etched across his face as he saw his own insides being carved open. However, being the cold and ruthless man that he was, he recovered almost as quickly as he was stunned as he used his right hand to cleave off Rocky''s head.


    *Swoosh*


    ckbeard swung from close range, hoping to chop off Rocky''s head, however, Rocky reflexively bent his head towards his shoulder as ckbeard''s sh only managed to cleave off one of his ears and a bit of his flesh over his skull, but not enough to kill him.


    "You missed, I wont" Rocky said as he nted both his feet and ditched the left sword and gripped the right one with both his hands as he pulled it upwards with all his might.


    *Splurt*


    Bleeding profusely, Rocky felt his world spinning under him, however, ckbeard was not doing any better.


    With Rocky cleaning his body from his kidneys to his heart, ckbeard finally found his strength to becking as the internal bleeding caused his brain to undergo a shutdown.


    ckbeard''s eyes flickered, the realization of his bad condition dawning on him as he slumped, defeated.


    Rocky had done it. He had outsmarted the pirate captain, using his environment and limited skills to tip the scales in his favor.


    As the storm raged on, Rocky looked down at ckbeard, feeling a surge of relief and triumph as he stood over the pirate captain''s dead and still warm body with pure bloodlust in his eyes.


    "YAAAAAAASSSSSSS" Rocky screamed, ovee with primal joy as he felt extremely satisfied of the way he defeated the so-called best swordsman in the history of Earth by outsmarting him on the fly.


    It was by no means an easy win, however, Rocky had still managed to pull it off somehow.