375 - Against the Pirates
The Ocean Wanderer cut through the dark water like a knife through wet paper.
Jack stood on the deck. His hand rested lightly on the polished wood-railing. Beside him, Rune hovered. The tiny fairy guide didn't speak, but her body pulsed with a steady, pale blue light. Casting a cool glow over Jack’s human face.
They were close to the northern coast of the Giagantea Island. The thick, sweet smell of giant tea leaves was quickly replaced by the sharp, unpleasant stench of burning wood and gunpowder.
"There they are!" Argust murmured nearby. He was an experienced navigator. He knew how to read the sea, even in the dark.
His hands were steady on the secondary steering mechanisms of the ship. It wasn't his preferred way of sailing. The control cabin of the true Silent Mermaid was much more comfortable.
But they were in Ocean Traveler disguise now. It would be strange for a normal sloop to have no one steering the ship at the helm.
In the cove of Greenroot Village, four large frigates sat anchored. Their silhouettes looked jagged against the orange glow of the burning shoreline.
Jack could see... from the ships' mainmasts flew heavy black canvas flags. Painted on the center of each flag was a stark, grinning white dragon skull.
Baroness Artheim stepped up to the railing. Her eyes narrowed as she looked through her brass spyglass.
"Dragon Skull Pirates." She said. Her voice dropped its usual warmth. "They are a scourge in the Myriad Island Archipelago. They don't just rob. They love to burn everything to the ground."
"Then they chose the wrong island tonight." Jack said. He squinted toward the shore. Activating his enhanced vision.
The village was a mess. The local islanders... tall, leather clad warriors wielding spears tipped with ocean-beast bones... were locked in a brutal melee with the invaders.
Jack's [Eyes of Judgement] and his deep combat experience allowed him to read the battlefield instantly.
These weren't ordinary pirates. Not like the common structures of pirates operating near Elrush Kingdom Seas. Most pirate crews there were composed of desperate, non-transcendent men led by one or two transcendent beings.
These Dragon Skull Pirates were different. Almost every single one of them possessed the distinct aura of an awakened transcendent being. They were low-level, yes... But they were still in transcendent capacity. Their reflexes, strength, and stamina were far beyond those of normal humans.
Curiously, the island warriors fighting them were also low-level transcendent ones. Yet, as Jack watched the clash, he noticed something peculiar.
There was no magic. No fireballs, no ice spikes, no physical transformations, and no mystic scholars chanting formulas. It was a raw, kinetic bloodbath.
The pirates used cutlasses and heavy iron axes, while the islanders used their spears and martial arts. It was a pure, unadulterated physical clash of transcendent beings.
"They have no casters." Reina said. Observing the same point Jack had noticed. "Just muscles and iron."
Jack looked at her. She was standing beside him. Her long black hair was tied back, out of her face. She was checking the magazines of her dual handguns. Her movements were practiced and calm.
"Good!" Jack replied bluntly. "That makes them predictable. We aren't going to the village to join a chaotic brawl. We take their ships. Cut off their retreat, ruin their morale, destroy their mobility, and choke them out."
He looked back at his crew. "I'll take the flag ship. Leon! Take the second frigate. Moby! Bell! Take the third. Baroness! The fourth is yours."
"Reina! Aella!" He continued giving instruction. "Move as you wish. With your teleportation powers, you could assist any place you want. The rest! lay down suppressive fire from the deck. But Chloe... You and Sparkle have the most important job."
Chloe blinked. Her lightning kirin cub, Sparkle, let out a tiny sparks-filled sneeze from her arms. "What's my job, Captain?"
"Loot!" Jack said simply. "While we clear the decks, use your shadow power to go straight for the captains' quarters and the cargo holds. Take anything of value. Bring a few [Spatial Bags] as backups. Go!"
Chloe grinned. "On it, Captain!"
The Ocean Wanderer glided silently within boarding distance of the pirate flagship. The pirates on deck were too busy cheering on their comrades on the shore to notice the dark sloop. It easily slipped into their blind spot.
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"Move!" Jack commanded.
He didn't wait. He leaped over the railing. Crossing the gap between the ships in a single, fluid motion. He landed on the deck of the pirate flagship with a heavy thud.
The pirates turned. Startled. But, before they could raise their weapons, Jack had already raised his steamrune shotgun. The weapon was a heavy piece of steamrune engineering. Etched with intricate, glowing runes. He pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
The blast was deafening. A cone of superheated, jagged iron shrapnel tore through the front rank of pirates. Turning three of them into bloody mist.
Jack didn't pause. He slammed his left hand forward. The [Chains of Vengeance] bracers on his wrists flared with a dark, angry red light. Blazing black chains erupted. Moving like raging serpents of black iron. Whipping across the deck.
One chain wrapped around a pirate's neck. Snapping it instantly. Another chain impaled a brute holding an axe. Dragging him forcefully toward Jack.
Jack met him with a heavy strike of his shotgun barrel toward his temple. Shattering the man's skull easily.
He pumped the shotgun, ejected a steaming brass shell, and fired again. The deck of the flagship quickly became a slaughterhouse.
To his left, Leon Drake took flight. Draconic wings of shimmering energy erupted from the back of his heavy, full-plate armor.
He soared toward the second frigate and dropped down like a falling meteor. He crashed onto the deck. The sheer kinetic impact crushed the wooden planks into splinters.
The pirates on the second ship swarmed him. Their cutlasses made sparks appeared as they struck his heavy draconic plate. The armor didn't even show any scratch.
Leon opened his mystic grimoire calmly. The eyes behind his visor glowed red with draconic power.
"[Lightning Chains!]" Leon bellowed.
Arcs of blue lightning erupted from his armored palms. Leaping from pirate to pirate. The electricity cooked them inside their leather armor. It even shattered the ship's mainmast. Sending burning rigging to crash down onto the screaming men below.
Leon was a walking fortress. Completely immune to the enemies' physical attacks while delivering absolute lightning-powered destruction.
On the third ship, Moby Knot and Bell Basher worked together to cause more chaos.
Moby stepped forward first. His skin turned a dull, slate-grey as he cast [Stone Skin] toward himself. The [Vitality Belt] around his waist glowed with a steady golden light. Constantly pumping rejuvenating energy through his veins. Added with his [Tough Bone] and [Great Regeneration] traits, the huge man was practically an unbreakable tank.
A pirate stabbed him in the ribs with a spear. The metal tip bent against Moby's stone-hard flesh. Moby didn't even flinch. He grabbed the spear shaft and threw the pirate to the sea without any difficulty.
Not far from him, Bell Basher used his [Buckler of Retribution] efficiently. Every time a pirate mace or blade struck the small shield, it glowed. Absorbing the kinetic energy and releasing it back in a concussive blast. One that knocked the attackers off their feet.
Bell's other hand held a glowing grimoire. Without looking at the grimoire, he cast spells from it. Flinging fireballs with casual precision. Setting the ship's sails ablaze and turning the deck into a raging inferno.
On the fourth ship, Baroness Artheim showed her true power. She didn't win the Marksmamship Mastery back in Grandmoon Tournament not because she was weak. But, it was simply because her true power shone the best in a chaotic battle of one against many like the current situation.
She stood near the bow of the pirate ship. Her hands weaved complex patterns in the air.
"Fly!" She whispered. "Strike them!"
Seven eagles made of pure, crackling lightning materialized around her. They shrieked with a sound that was similar to the sound of tearing metal.
And then, they dived into the pirate ranks. The lightning eagles tore through them. Leaving charred corpses in their wake.
A group of archers tried to target her. But their arrows disintegrated against a shimmering, hexagonal forcefield. The barrier was powered by several wooden talismans floating in a slow circle around her head. The new ability she had finally completed during their voyage.
Meanwhile, the skirmishers were cleaning up the stragglers.
Reina moved like a ghost. She used [Absolute Blink]. Disappearing from one spot and reappearing behind a pirate officer. Her dual handguns fired in perfect rhythm.
BANG! BANG! Two clean shots to the back of the head. Before the body hit the deck, she blinked again. Appearing on the rigging to snipe an archer.
"Dear, watch your flank!" Reina called out casually.
"I see him, Love!" Jack replied with a similar, casual tone.
He didn't even turn around. He threw his arm back. His [Chains of Vengeance] lashed out to wrap around a pirate who was trying to sneak up on him. With a sharp tug, Jack threw the man over the railing into the dark, cold sea.
Nearby, Aella was having her own fun. The little faewitch girl blinked across the four ship decks using her [Voidfire Blink].
Every time she vanished, she left behind a small spark of purple-black fire. Every time she reappeared, her voidfire revolver spat deadly bullets of voidfire. Leaving charred, smoking holes on her targets.
The other crew members didn't bother joining their team-mates on the pirate ships' decks. They stayed on the deck of the Ocean Wanderer. But it didn't mean that they did nothing.
Other than Argust who had to steer the ship, the rest had brought out the steamrune sniper rifle Jack gave them. All of them were on the railing. Aiming and squeezing the trigger with mechanical regularity to support the vanguards.
Every shot from their enhanced rifle carried a heavy payload of kinetic energy. Blowing deep holes through any pirate or object they hit.
Through all the noise and blood, Jack could sense Chloe make her moves. She, hidden within shadows, slipped through the cabins. Together with Sparkle, she bypassed the fighting entirely. Doing what she could do best with her shadow stealth power... searching, scouting, and looting.
On the coast... It didn't take long for the pirates there to realize something was horribly wrong. The thunderous blasts of Jack's shotgun, the crackle of Leon's lightning, and the roaring fires on their ships were impossible to ignore.
"The ships! They're taking the ships!" A pirate shouted from the shore.
The battlefield on the coastal village fractured. The island warriors could sense what happened. Their enemies were distracted. Thus, they redoubled their efforts. Cutting down the retreating pirates.
"Retreat! Save the ships!" Dozens of pirates broke ranks and sprinted back toward the docks. Desperate to reclaim their vessels.
"They're coming back!" Ned called out through a communication rune.
"Let them!" Jack replied calmly. Reloading his shotgun. "Easier for us to clean up this way..."