Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO ON KINDLE SEPT. 2)

Cassius Flint stared through the handheld telescope at the island in the distance. It was wreathed in dense fog, though he knew that was something of a mirage. After a week spent in Ironshore, he knew his target, inside and out. He’d spoken to multiple men and women who’d been on that island, who’d felt the treasures it held. He knew it better than anyone else on the planet.

More importantly, he also knew that the owner was away. He’d watched the Druid – alongside the two other most powerful combatants in the city of Ironshore – use the Spires, and with his own two eyes. If they were going to strike, the time had come.

He glanced to his left, then to his right. Breeze had contracted two other ships for the job. Hundreds of bloodthirsty pirates, all with a reputation for ruthlessness. A hundred yards to starboard was the Laughing Jackal, captained by Pierce Lambert. Flint didn’t know the man’s background, but he’d seen him kill for practically no reason, and he had a penchant for taking slaves.

None of those lasted long before he tired of them and threw them to the sea monsters.

The ship to port was quite different. Much larger, and far better armored – it had once been a U.S. Naval Ship, and it had been reoutfitted with some sort of ethera-based engines and cannons. Pound for pound, the Widowmaker was the most dangerous thing on the water, and they specialized in taking down powerful monsters.

But like everyone else who berthed in Bloodrock Bay, they were not above piracy. The way their captain – and presumably, the crew as well – saw it, Earth had been invaded, and it was their job to kill as many of those invaders as they could. The profits were secondary.

That was why Flint had been surprised that they’d agreed to the job at all. The only reason he could come up with was that Breeze was offering a veritable fortune. Money, after all, trumped personal vendettas against settlers.

Still, aside from offering his input into the battleplan, Captain Reynolds had not really spoken to anyone else. He clearly thought himself above them, which meant that Flint and Lambert were more than ready to turn on him at the first opportunity.

Of course, Flint wouldn’t mind taking Lambert and his crew as well. All the better if he could get both ships for his burgeoning fleet. At present, it was only in the planning stages, but when he got paid for the job, he intended to amass an armada to rival anyone’s in the world.

Maybe he’d even build his own country.

King Flint definitely had a nice ring to it, and in their new world, it was more than possible to make that dream a reality. But first, he needed to take care of business.

“Signal the Widowmaker.”

Boris raised a hand and shot an ethereal flare into the moonless night sky. A second later, an explosion of power echoed – both in terms of sound and energy – rippled across the sea. Flint watched as seven balls of roiling ethera slammed into the beach, obliterating the enormous, truck-sized crabs that were its guards. Limbs, bits of shell, and rock went flying even as Flint commanded, “Ramming speed.”

“Ramming speed!” Boris shouted.

The oarsmen, already in place, put their backs into their task, and the Sea Serpent leaped forward. Another volley from the Widowmaker smashed into the beach, finishing off the rest of the crabs while the Laughing Jackal mimicked the Sea Serpent’s maneuver. A note of pride clutched at Flint’s chest as he realized that his ship outpaced the other, and not by a small degree.

The Laughing Jackal was much larger, though, and it hosted a crew of nearly three-hundred men, making it a true threat to any enemy in its sights.

After only a few moments, the keel of the Sea Serpent bit into the sandy beach. The second his men leaped free, he used two abilities. The first was Stabilize, which would hold the Sea Serpent in place. Normally, he used it in lieu of an anchor, but for their current task, it was perfect.

Next, he activated Pillage.