Chapter 300

“Is this a joke?”

I murmured, recalling Cariosa’s words before we started.

“I’ve always been serious.”

Before landing, Cariosa had planned to gather a decapitation squad.

Their role was to circumvent and attack the islands corresponding to the anchor wings from the south.

‘We’re targeting the pirate scum handling the ballista from behind.’

I pushed further from there.

I would draw their attention by conjuring a firestorm, while the decapitation squad would circle south and ambush the pirates with the ballista.

Cariosa seemed quite worried and asked if I could do it.

“I told you I could.”

To be honest, I was a little willing to push myself, even out of guilt.

The fact that I was trying to distract the pirate admiral while I came to see her hung in my throat like a fishbone.

I would have to struggle and make amends.

I didn’t know if I could actually do it, but the thought of being able to repay my sins through battle felt void yet sweet.

That’s probably why the Church of Light was popular among the people.

Despite my initial doubts, it took barely ten minutes to prepare the typhoon.

The flames themselves created upward currents, and with a single wave of Cariosa’s hand, those currents transformed into a typhoon.

Maintaining it was sufficient with just my flames and spirits, and I could control it with my body using the upward currents and my telekinetic gauntlets.

Whoosh!

Mana flowed endlessly from my heart, but it wasn’t too burdensome.

With just one incantation, I could gather more mana than I had used until now.

For an ordinary person, the amount of mana could burst a mana road and leave them dead.

However, since absorbing Az, my mana road had become as robust as the road paved by the royal family, and I could easily handle the tide of mana rushing in.

I had yet to use the flames of resonance empowered by Az’s power.

Perhaps I wouldn’t need to.

“Let’s go! Brave soldiers!”

“Kill all the pirates!”

“We will go to the deepest part!”

The most brutal knights and soldiers from the eastern region landed on the southern wing island of the Nayt Archipelago.

The allied port the landing ships were heading toward was located in the eastern bay where the trunk and wings of the Nayt Archipelago met.

The water was not very deep, the waves were calm, and there were almost no reefs. However, the southern area where the decapitation squad landed was struck by storms even on clear days.

The sea men bravely pierced through the waves with loyalty and honed skills, landing and catching the pirates off guard.

“There are knights!”

“Why are knights popping up here!”

“Fight— cough, cough!”

The sea men diligently slaughtered the pirates.

They threw harpoons that pierced the backs of pirate captains, felled pirates with swordplay that crashed like waves, and thrust forward into enemy lines.

I chuckled with satisfaction and slowly dispersed the power of the firestorm.

Down below, a pirate wearing a hood was heading toward the allied port with his elite guards.

It seemed he intended to join the port’s defense.

Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.

* * *

Arins gathered the hundreds of his subordinates who had survived and charged toward the port.

“You all go to bridge four! You go to three!”

The islands were connected by several swaying bridges, and to avoid becoming entangled, quick regrouping was essential.

‘The ballista batteries are already done for. It’s right to block the port properly.’

Despite his subjective assessment, he was quite an excellent pirate admiral, and more subordinates than he expected followed his orders to head to the port.

Including the isolated pirates found amidst the islands, they formed a group that totalled 1,500.

Arins thought perhaps there was still a chance to fight back.

His body was agile, his gaze sharp, and his bow sturdy.

At that moment, he felt a scorching heat from behind.

“Ugh!”

“Admiral!”

“Ahhh!”

At the moment a few of his subordinates’ cloaks caught fire, Arins realized this heat was no mere gust of wind.

Boom!

He leapt and turned, spotting an entity descending from the sky.

“Ha, hahaha.”

Arins let out a hollow laugh that contrasted with his handsome appearance.

Deep sorrow clouded his face beneath the hood.

‘How do I beat that?’

As dark clouds churned in the sky, the firestorm colored them red.

Amidst twelve massive spears of fire arranged like clock numbers.

Duke Valenciaunos stood at the center, descending toward the ground.

“Kneel and bow your head, you lowly creatures!”

The golden aura shone like the halo of a saint, and piercing, slitted eyes were cruel like a beast.

His attire was endlessly splendid despite being barbaric, and the wide grin he wore was anything but courtly.

He appeared like a fallen angel descending on doomsday.

He was the spearhead of the Holy Emperor, the Bandit Duke.

“The demon of fire!”

“The angel has descended!”

“Cariosa summoned the battle angel.”

“We’re all going to die!”

Pirates making their way to the port began to flee.

The relatively intact fleet was on the verge of collapse.

There were those who tripped and fell amid the chaos.

Arins let out a low growl and drew his bow.

‘At this rate, we’ll be annihilated. I need to change the atmosphere. That bastard has come down quite a bit—about thirty meters. I can hit him.’

In his homeland, there was a myth about an archer who shot down a second sun.

“I’ve never killed a royal with dragon blood…”

Twang!

The bowstring tightened, and the spirit of the wind dwelled within the arrow.

The arrow blazed with a blue light, and Duke Valenciaunos raised an eyebrow.

“A spirit archer?”

Whoosh, and zing!

The blue arrow sped toward Valenciaunos.

The translucent form of a young girl flickered alongside the arrow like an apparition.

It was the wind spirit, Sylph.

Even a decently crafted magical armor couldn’t withstand its power.

However, Valenciaunos smirked disdainfully as he ignited flames in his palm.

‘It’s surprising that you haven’t succumbed amidst the pirate horde.’

“I regret meeting you like this!”

Whoosh!

A giant figure with a muscular upper body and the head of a royal lizard hurled itself towards the arrow.

It was the fire elemental spirit, Salamander.

Boom! With a blast, the arrow exploded, and the girl’s form dissipated.

Salamander charged headlong toward the ground.

Her form twisted, transforming into a fireball, and Arins grimaced as he leaped.

Boom!

The fireball that struck the ground swept a radius of 40 meters.

Dozens of pirates caught in the swirl tumbled to the ground, and Arins was thrown into the air by the shockwave.

“Ugh!”

But instead of losing consciousness, he recited an incantation, his eyes shining.

“To me, the winds that blow!”

At that moment, the translucent form of the girl reappeared behind him.

As he fell through the air, he flipped and drew his bow.

Whoosh!

Thwack!

The blue beam sliced past the Bandit Duke’s ear, and red blood dripped down.

Thud.

Arins landed deftly and commanded his subordinates to scatter.

“Spread out and shoot! There’s only one of him!”

He too raised his bow and took another shot.

Whoosh!

“That bastard is bleeding! If he’s bleeding, we can kill him!”

“W-what?!”

“Fire! Shoot! Follow Admiral Arins!”

“Whether we die like this or like that!”

“Let’s fight like pirates and then flee!”

The pirates, who had been fleeing in disarray, regained their spirit once more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows and bolt shots split the wind.

Since the higher-ups and captains also carried magical ballistae, several were enhanced with curses or spells.

In response, Valenciaunos answered with twelve spears of fire descending simultaneously.

Swoosh!

The spears, laid out like clock numbers, spun in the air, and the red lines became red dots, marking the pirates, soon falling like shooting stars.

Boom! Crash! Bang!

Each spear levelled dozens of meters in radius.

“I don’t expect you to die peacefully. All life struggles for its existence. No matter how trivial it may seem.”

Valenciaunos commanded the flames that burst forth as he supplied mana.

“So I must do my best to harvest!”

Flames erupted, sparks flew everywhere, and each spark turned into fire that leaped and began to swirl.

Whoosh!

Ultimately, a flame twice the height of a person burst forth from the unsightly black rock of the anchor wing island, transforming into a terrifying wave of fire that drove the pirates into the sea.

“Uaaah!”

Half of them threw themselves into the sea below the cliff to escape the advancing flames, while the other half dashed toward the coast where the eastern knights had landed.

Thus, the shark swarm from the east swiftly crushed the pirates that poured in.

Valenciaunos watched all of this and descended before Arins, who now had only a few dozen subordinates left.

Swish.

His white hair and uniform, without a hint of burn, felt alien amidst the towering flames.

The black gloves slipped away into his hands, and he looked at Arins with a slightly pale face.

“Spirit archer. You are Arins, correct?”

“…Duke Valenciaunos.”

“Normally, I would say you’d be spared if you surrendered. However, right now, I am not in a position to make any promises as a commander. Even if you surrender, you could die, but for now, how about surrendering?”

“…”

* * *

I proposed to Arins and his remaining subordinates.

Of course, I had no expectation that this proposal would be accepted.

Arins slowly raised his head.

I gazed intently at his handsome face.

He had a prominent nose, deep-set eyes, and his features were distinct despite the ravages of life as a pirate.

Underneath a thick gray robe, he wore armor made of leather and thin silver plates, with several daggers strapped around him and a bow in his hand.

I sensed the aura of mana emanating from his robe; it seemed to be some magical tool.

He briefly turned his head to glance at the port.

This anchor wing island was very close to the port.

The stone-paved wharf, a broad area used for unloading cargo, and the thick city wall serving as a quarantine station were all clearly visible.

The faces of the pirates lined up atop and behind that wall could be seen one by one.

Considering his probable objective was to join the port’s defense, it was hardly an exaggeration to say he was almost there.

Arins subtly shook his head.

The surrounding pirates wore determined expressions.

He gazed at me, attempting to sound jovial despite evidently trying to suppress his fear.

“Don’t spout nonsense! You monster!”

“…Ha.”

He looked back at his subordinates and raised his bow.

“Let’s fight bravely, and if it seems hopeless, we shall flee!”

Swoosh!

A blue aura spread through the air, borne on the winds.

The pirates’ bodies glowed with a faint blue light, and I felt my limbs become slightly heavier.

It was the blessing of a spirit that enhances allies’ physical capabilities while restraining the enemy.

“Indeed, that’s how you must be.”

“Waaah!”

Dozens of pirates and Arins surged towards me.

There were those wielding harpoons, those swinging hooks and cutlasses, others with tridents and nets, some with sword-like daggers, a niggling one with an eyepatch wielding a large shield, someone accompanied by five giant parrots with blade-like beaks, one with double-headed axes in each hand, another with a copper whip, and one with a spear that split into two at its tip…

“Then I won’t feel bad for killing you all.”

I drew upon the energy of the incantation and seized the Black Tear.

Mana blades erupted from the Black Tear, my left hand was shrouded in scales, and the energy of the Sylph that had entangled me shattered into pieces.

I smiled coolly and planted my feet firmly.

“Sink beneath the sea, wander forever.”

The brawl didn’t last long.

I snapped the harpoon-wielder’s weapon, beheading him, impaled the hook-wielder with his own hook, torched the net-wielder’s net and slashed the trident.

I decapitated the character with the sword-like dagger with the Black Tear, and the shield-wielder punched through the shield, penetrating his eyes, before igniting him along with the parrot.

I split the axe-wielder in half from head to groin, strangled the copper whip-wielder with his own weapon, and impaled the spear-wielder with his spear, tossing him into the sea.

“You’re the last.”

I grabbed Arins by the collar and pressed my blade to his neck.

He resisted until the very end and succeeded in lodging several arrows and daggers into my body, but that wasn’t enough to kill me.

“Let’s send you off to your subordinates. Do you have any last words?”

“Please spare me! I-I have to live!”

“What?”

It was a terribly unheroic last stand compared to the spirit he had shown.

I frowned, and he continued to squirm.

Swish.

His hood was pulled off as it got caught on my finger.

At that moment, I noticed something odd attached to his face.

“An elf?”

His ears were nearly half a foot long and sharp like leaves.

If my memory served me right, he was a real elf, the first to officially appear in about 130 years, not a half-breed.