This stretch of sea had pirates, but as the captain of the Denis Three, Captain Wheat Bran was not afraid of them.
As a vessel that represented the Dennis Clan, both Captain Wheat Bran and his first mate were Professional Knights. Moreover, the clan arranged for a Knight Squad to escort them on every voyage.
This ti, for instance, there were more than a dozen Professional Knights on board, including so of Bronze and Silver Level.
As for the Fleming Clan of Screaming Island, the overlords of this sea region, they were indeed powerful. But their targets were passing rchant ships, and they only demanded a protection fee after stopping them, so they weren’t actually very dangerous.
Over the years, the Fleming Clan had intercepted a Denis vessel on only a handful of occasions. Moreover, this ti the ship was flying not only the flag of the Dennis Clan but also the Golden Mountain Range flag of the Wushan Clan.
A Count of the Kingdom wouldn’t go so far as to disrespect one of the Kingdom’s Marquises.
So, when Captain Wheat Bran saw a ship approaching, his first concern was a possible collision at sea. Only after that did he worry about anything else.
Awakened by a crewman’s shout, Ronin made his way to the deck, squinting as he peered into the distance.
Even with his Eye Power, he still couldn’t make out the details of the other vessel.
’Aren’t there any Telescopes here?’
Ronin glanced around. Neither Reis, Captain Wheat Bran, nor the lookout high in the crow’s nest held a Telescope.
Even the Dennis Clan, which owned its own port, didn’t have such a device. Clearly, the Telescope had yet to be invented.
He secretly committed this to mory. After all, anyone who had completed nine years of compulsory education knew the principles behind a Telescope.
All Ronin had to do was find a crystal artisan and have them grind the appropriate Concave and Convex Mirrors. With that, the Telescope would be eighty to ninety percent complete.
Compared to building a blast furnace for slting iron, or making ceramics and looms, the difficulty of crafting a Telescope was remarkably low.
"Those aren’t ships from Screaming Island!"
By this ti, the distance between the ships had closed to a few hundred ters, and the lookout, who had excellent vision, could already make out the enemy’s hulls.
Their hulls bore no crest of the Fleming Clan, the Counts of Screaming Island. At the sa ti, the large white flag hanging from their masts was not the Fleming Clan’s azure banner.
’rchant ships?’
’Or pirates?’
Ronin squinted. His vision was even better than the lookout’s; he could clearly see a white skull-and-crossbones flag flying from the opposing sailboats.
"Pirates!" Ronin imdiately shouted a warning.
Reis saw it clearly as well. He imdiately drew the Longsword from his waist and shouted, "Everyone, on alert!"
At his call, all the Knights on board sprang into action, grabbing their Shields, drawing their Longswords, and assuming ready stances.
Behind Ronin, Tom and David, who had struggled to erge from their cabin, made the sa motion. But this was not their battlefield; they would be fortunate to muster even half of their strength.
Just then, the three opposing ships changed formation:
Ronin looked ahead and saw the three sailboats change their formation:
The two on the flanks split off to either side, while the one in the center maintained its speed and sailed straight for them. The three vessels were clearly attempting a pincer maneuver.
Crucially, they had the wind at their backs and were faster than the Denis Three.
"Damn it, quick! Hard to starboard! Trim the sails!"
Captain Wheat Bran cried out.
He was horrified to discover that the ship in the center showed no sign of slowing down or turning; it seed intent on ramming them directly.
"Lord Reis, they’re going to ram us!"
Captain Wheat Bran ran over in terror. In his decades of sailing, he had never seen pirates who would willingly ram another ship.
After all, a ship like this cost nearly ten thousand Gold Coins. Pirates depended on their ships to live and treasured them dearly; it was unthinkable that they would do sothing that would lead to mutual destruction.
Reis had already sensed that sothing was amiss.
Although the Denis Three had already turned to evade, the enemy seed to have adjusted its course as well. Taking advantage of the favorable wind, it was rapidly closing in, making an escape almost impossible.
"Damn it!"
Reis cursed angrily and swung his Knight’s Sword, unleashing a mighty wave of Fighting Qi, but it failed to reach the enemy ship over a hundred ters away.
Ronin hadn’t expected this to happen, either.
This maneuver didn’t look like a robbery. It was more like they intended to ram and sink the ship; murder was the objective.
’Are they after , or Reis?’
Ronin raised his hand and cast the Fla Burst Skill with extre speed. In an instant, the surrounding temperature soared.
"Is that... the Fla Burst Skill?"
Reis was stunned by this scene. Looking at the massive fireball, a full six ters in diater, he thought, ’This doesn’t seem quite the sa as the Fla Burst Skill, does it?’
’What’s more, besides being a Silver Knight, is Ronin also a Senior Mage?’
Just then, the Fla Burst Skill finished forming.
But Ronin frowned.
Fire Elents were relatively scarce over the sea. The ti it took to form the Magic was several seconds longer than usual, and it was still a bit short of its maximum eight-ter diater.
Fortunately, he had used the Fla Burst Skill instead of Crimson Fla Fire Snake or the Fire Dragon Devouring Heaven Magic; otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have cast it in ti.
BOOM!
The massive, six-ter-diater fireball shot through the air and struck the enemy ship’s bow directly. The impact zone was blasted to pieces, and the entire hull shuddered. Its speed dropped sharply, and it began to veer off course.
"So strong..."
Reis swallowed hard. Although he wouldn’t admit he had lost to Ronin, the man’s display of power was truly awe-inspiring.
Thanks to the impact of the Fla Burst Skill, the two ships scraped past each other on the water, separated by an extrely dangerous distance of only two or three ters. As the terror of the near-miss subsided, everyone erupted in cheers.
But just at that mont, a chilling aura swept over them.
BOOM!
The Denis Three shook violently. Many people, caught unprepared, fell and went rolling across the deck.
Ronin whipped his head to the right to see a massive Ice Cone piercing the hull of the Denis Three, leaving a gaping hole!
The enemy’s second ship was actually equipped with a Magic Energy Cannon!
"It’s a Fourth-level Ice Cone Skill Magic Energy Cannon!"
Reis shouted, "All Knights of Interdiate level and above, use your Combat Skills and prepare to block the next shot!"
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH...
Before the words were even out of his mouth, the sound of Arrows splitting the air whistled in from the left, and agonizing wails imdiately erupted across the deck.
The Knights reacted quickly and were mostly unhard, but the ordinary crewn were hit by the Arrows. So were even shot through the neck, blood spraying as they fell dead to the deck.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The sharp whistling sounds were like a summons from death itself. After their initial panic, the people on the Denis Three quickly used the ship’s gunwales as cover and hid.
Being robbed at sea isn’t so terrifying; at worst, you just hand over so money.
But it’s a completely different story when your opponents are fighting with suicidal intent.
"Tom, David, watch for Arrows."
As he warned his two retainers, Ronin summoned his Fighting Qi Armor and simultaneously cast the newly mastered Wall of Sighs.
Fire Elents were relatively scarce at sea, but Wind Elents were not.
Just as he was casting the Magic, the Magic Energy Cannon on the enemy ship to the right unleashed a second massive Ice Cone.
"Block it with Combat Skills!"
Reis Knight shouted, taking the lead himself.
His frigid Combat Skill poured out to et the enormous incoming Ice Cone. At the sa ti, several of the Interdiate and Advanced Level Knights under his command also used their Combat Skills. The multi-colored streams of Fighting Qi converged, shattering the massive, incoming Ice Cone in mid-air.
They could still manage to block one or two shots from a Fourth-level Magic Energy Cannon.
By this ti, Ronin’s Wall of Sighs had finished coalescing.
Instantly, a translucent Wind Wall enveloped the entire bow. The Arrows struck the Magic Power shield like raindrops on a window, making a pattering sound, but not a single one penetrated it.
"What Magic is that?" Reis asked instinctively.
"Third-level Magic, Wind Wall."
Ronin answered casually, "Reis Knight, now isn’t the ti for such questions. We should be thinking about how to escape with our lives!"
With the Wall of Sighs in place, it seed the crisis was temporarily resolved.
However, the hull of the Denis Three had been damaged, which ant the ship would soon sink. On this vast sea, without a vessel, their situation would be extrely perilous.
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