Chapter 308

(308)

Leading the charge, the Eastern knights, led by Cariosa, formed a wedge and galloped forward as I pulled Arins along behind them.

Soon, I saw them on a gentle incline.

“C-Cariosa?”

“The Daughter of the Storm!”

“How did you get here?”

The pirate admirals and the Undersea People warriors all froze, their faces aghast.

As I looked at the scaled giant and the massive pincers of the crab, memories of my return began flooding back.

I had defeated the traitorous Cariosa, but the pirates and Undersea People she had been suppressing had now surged, turning the eastern coast into a wasteland.

After ascending up the river into the inland, pirates, Undersea People, and Greenskin groups were fighting amongst themselves over control of the city.

‘It’s mine!’

‘It’s our turn!’

‘Screee! Screee!’

As someone tasked with protecting that city, I was at my wit’s end.

‘Get lost!’

“Die!”

Overjoyed at the sight of them flocking towards each other, I summoned a spear of fire.

Whoosh!

In the dimly lit cave, flames erupted, taking the form of a spear, and flew forth with a devastating crack.

Swoooosh!

Suddenly, an Undersea People sorcerer, mixing in among the warriors, came forward, wielding a coral staff and chanting a spell.

“Karrrrr… Wall of Water, Breath of Waves, Shield of the Sea.”

As if not even taking a lengthy casting time, a massive shield made of water burst forth from the air, blocking my spear.

As the spear collided with the water shield, it exploded with a loud bang.

Fwoooooosh!

Black smoke and steam mixed and spread within the cave, causing a few of the pirate admirals to cough.

I scowled as I looked at the sorcerer with purple scales.

Surely, a mere sorcerer couldn’t so easily block my spear of fire.

Cariosa glanced back at me and shouted, “Valencius! That basket is full of potions!”

“!”

The sorcerers with purple scales were all carrying large baskets tucked under their arms.

“Great!”

It seemed it would take dozens of minutes to exhaust all of that.

“Let’s do this! You monster eaters!”

I hurled a string of curses and raised the spear of fire into the air.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoooosh!

Flames erupted, and the spear flew into the sky.

“Wall of Water, Breath of Waves, Shield of the Sea!”

The Undersea People sorcerers chanted together, wrapping multiple layers of the water shield around themselves, while also blessing the warriors.

“Barnacle Armor, Ten Layers of Scales, and Land Legs.”

Hard barnacles grew upon the scales of the blessed Undersea People, thickening the scales and slightly lengthening their legs to be more suitable for land walking.

The Undersea People warriors screeched as they charged down the slope.

“Karrrrr!”

“Keyiiiii!”

“Soft, meat!”

Leading the charge was a massive crab as big as a carriage.

“We will go to the deepest depths!”

It gurgled in a horrific voice.

Cariosa wielded her magic sword Storm and Wind and shouted, “I will dismantle those fish creatures, Valencius, you take care of the pirates!”

Cariosa was a superior commander compared to me, and I was better at dealing with humans than monsters, so there was no time for idle talk.

“Understood.”

Swoosh!

Four Eastern knights wrapped mana blades around their direct swords, and Cariosa dashed out on her own.

Thwack!

The rough magic sword Storm and the sleek magic sword Wind glowed with a faint blue light, and the white mana blade spiraled around them.

With her water-colored hair and manta-ray leather coat fluttering, she looked just like a shark leaping after its prey.

The armored crab warrior swung its gigantic pincers, greater than a spear.

Huwoosh!

A red energy surged like a mirage, aiming at Cariosa’s head.

It was an attack that seemed capable of shattering even a giant rock in a single blow.

Even seeing this, Cariosa leaped into the air.

Thwack!

The moment the pincers brushed against her coat’s hem, the pieces of her iron armor glowed blue, swelling massively to create a translucent barrier.

Clang!

The pincers slammed into the barrier.

Bang!

The white flames erupted, and the colossal pincers bounced back as if struck by a hammer, scattering the barrier like a lie.

And Cariosa lightly landed on the crab warrior’s shell.

“Within the abyss! A monster destined to wander eternally!”

She raised her storm sword and plunged it deep into the crab warrior’s mouth.

Screeeek!

The longsword-length one-handed sword sank to the hilt, bulging the crab warrior’s eyes wide, and the Undersea People warriors hesitated a moment before raising their harpoons.

Filled with rage, Cariosa infused the magic sword Storm with mana.

“How dare you set foot in my sea!”

Wooooooom!

The blade, slightly visible in front of the storm grip, glowed with a blue light, and the crab warrior’s massive body shuddered, before exploding in an instant.

Bang!

The gigantic pincers flew into the wall, and the shattered shell fragments rained down like shrapnel, hitting the Undersea People and pirates, while putrid guts sprayed across the ceiling.

She had blown the crab apart by endlessly forcing air inside its body.

The next moment, the Eastern knights waiting below the slope charged in earnest.

“Strike!”

“Follow Lady Cariosa!”

“Those fools aren’t even worth fertilizer!”

“Let’s teach those fish creatures the dignity of the food chain!”

They had deliberately kept their distance to avoid the explosion.

Zzzkrak!

The blue mana blade shone intensely.

One Undersea People warrior, brushing off the crab’s remnants from his face, had his head neatly severed.

“Karrr!”

With that signal, the hunt began.

* * *

While Cariosa and the knights turned the Undersea People back into the Undersea People, the pirates fled in a panic.

“Run!”

“No matter how fast you run, you can’t outrun Cariosa.”

“You idiot. Just run faster than those fish!”

“!”

There was no one among them who lacked wits, but few had any sense of loyalty.

Since we had already come this far, we had a rough idea of the way, and I thought we could at least find a way to survive once we reached the beach.

“Let’s go for now!”

“Get out!”

“Let’s survive! If we die, we’re fools!”

At that moment, the pirate admirals and Feijins stiffened upon seeing a figure standing before the passage leading to the sea.

“Why are you coming down now?”

The figure called out to them in a clear voice.

“Ugh-!”

“I’ve been waiting.”

The cave area was filled with barnacles, seaweed, sea stars, columns, and tidal pools of seawater.

In the center of the maze of tunnels extending in all directions, Duke Valencius stood.

His exquisitely arrogant yet slightly fatigued golden eyes gleamed dangerously in the darkness.

He was clad in a flashy uniform, utterly unsuitable for this gloomy locale.

Though he must have emerged from the sea, his hair was fluffy and neatly combed.

Feijin, his brown face turning a shade grimmer, asked, “This is a path even I didn’t know. How did you get here?”

Valencius did not answer that question, chuckling as he recalled Arins, hidden among the rocks with his legs pinned.

‘Indeed, showing a bit of mercy yields good results.’

“The majestic laws of the Empire deem all acts of pillaging punishable by execution.”

Swoosh.

He drew the Black Tear and spun it stylishly before pointing it forward.

“As the constable of His Majesty the Emperor, I will impart justice to you pirates.”

Feijin gritted his teeth, and the pirate admirals ground their own.

Yet none had the courage to charge forth with a battle cry.

Swoosh.

The golden-eyed young noble’, with white hair, emanated a terrifying presence that felt as if he weren’t of this world.

Just looking at him made my hands and feet tingle, and my hair stand on end.

‘That’s not human. Absolutely not.’

‘They say he’s of dragon blood… Could he really be like a dragon?’

‘I heard a fool ambushed the cruise ship that Cariosa had boarded, and it feels like I’m face to face with the protagonist of that dreadful tale.’

The pirate admirals all turned pale.

Cold sweat dripped down their foreheads and necks.

“…!”

“……! ……!”

A heavy silence hung in the air, and unable to bear the tension, one admiral charged forward first.

“Aahhh!”

Jan Schear, a Southern person clad in a turban, was unmatched with a heavy curved sword in beheading people.

Once, he even had the audacity to seize six merchant ships with a single vessel due to his boldness and prowess.

Wooooom!

A blue mana blade glimmered along his curved sword as he charged towards Valencius.

Valencius did not even adopt a defensive stance with the Black Tear; he merely stood still.

And just as Jan Schear reached Valencius—

Splash!

It looked like he staggered before tumbling to the ground, as if it were a trick of the light.

“Cough!”

The result of tumbling over onto barnacle-covered rocks at full speed was horrific.

Jan Schear, bloodied, writhed in pain, and Valencius raised his sword to stab him in the back.

Thrust!

Feijin blinked several times before comprehending what had just happened.

‘There was a puddle, a puddle was there.’

Valencius stood with one foot placed on a small but deep puddle of water.

‘It was Tarti’s magic tool. He had been pretending to stand on a flat ground. Jan Schear, oblivious, charged in and fell into the water.’

The pirate admirals shuddered at that cruelty, and Valencius grinned coldly.

“Is no one coming?”

That was a laugh truly befitting a bandit.

“Then I’ll go!”

The moment he slammed the ground, all the admirals began fleeing into the tunnels in every direction.

* * *

I had one misunderstanding.

No matter how much they called themselves kings and gathered a considerable force, I thought the pirates would have some camaraderie, loyalty, or something similar.

“Run! Run!”

“Your Highness! May you live long~!”

“Let’s all survive! If we die, we’re fools!”

I felt like a cat that had cornered a mouse as I watched the backs of the pirates.

“What ridiculous fools are these!”

I was beyond flabbergasted; I was astonished to the point of speechlessness.

“What are these dogs…?”

Realizing I had to catch at least one to see Cariosa’s face, I searched for the flashiest among them.

Feijin had dashed to the left tunnel alongside an admiral dressed in a gold-embroidered coat.

“A blue coat with gold embroidery, a flamboyant captain’s hat, a dignified face… Aquila.”

It had to be the pirate king that Tarti had told me about.

I charged after him, slamming my feet into the ground.

“Stop… No, of course, you can’t hear me.”

Thwack, splash, thwack!

I leaped over the puddle, bounding over the wreckage of a ship whose origins I couldn’t discern, and darted past seaweed that rose like a wall.

There were a few inclines here and there, and I began to notice several thick columns reaching from the ceiling to the floor.

It was a considerably larger cavern than the one I was previously in.

I could see multiple deep-looking puddles scattered across the ground.

Somewhere light was coming in; it was bright enough to distinguish colors.

“!”

At that moment, I pushed off the ground like a gust of wind and moved away from the column.

Swoosh—!

An unseen blade cut through the air.

The space where the column and I stood was sliced away simultaneously.

“Oh! Not a nobleman’s grace in your movements. Quite satisfactory.”

“Aquila…”

He was hiding in the crevice, eyeing me.

For the first time, I looked directly at his face.

As rumored, he was a half-blood of the Eastern Continent and Empire subjects, very handsome, with impressive dark circles under his eyes that were deeper than mine.

He wore a wide-brimmed blue hat, probably adorned with a magic tool, and a coat on top.

He wielded a sword that had a hilt and cross guard but was extended with a blade made of nearly transparent wind.

If I hadn’t felt the distinctive aura of mana, I might have walked right into it.

I still didn’t know the exact length of it.

Leisurely, he asked, “How did you know I was here?”

I ignited flames behind me as I answered.

“Targeting a bright spot from a dark place is just basic, you know.”

“Indeed, you’re notorious for being a bandit. Knowing the basics of ambush makes you no less of an adversary to this pirate king.”

His tone was antique, reminiscent of opera.

I knew people like him who were obsessed with such things all too well, and I wore a look of disdain.

“Seems you were originally a slave.”

“!”

His face twitched.

It must’ve hit a nerve because I taunted him again.

“The sound of your breathing is quite vulgar.”