Savior of the Mermaid Village
As more than ten of his subordinate pirates fell in an instant, Si Haolin panicked for a moment, but as a veteran adventurer, he quickly changed his orders.
"Kill the mages first! They'll weaken a lot if we take out the mages. Then we can win!"
At his command, the pirates swarmed toward the area where the magic had come from, but they were blocked by the sturdy guards.
Clang! Claaang!
The pirates' attacks bounced harmlessly off the guards' solid shields, and the deputy quickly reported to Si Haolin.
"Captain, it's not mermaids! Human adventurers! And a pretty high-level party at that."
The pirates' assaults continued to be repelled by the guards, while arrows and spells rained down from the mages and archers.
Whoosh... whoosh!
"Argh!"
"Help!"
As numerous pirates collapsed, Si Haolin immediately unleashed his specialty.
"Damn it, retreat! Everyone, fall back!"
No sooner had he declared the retreat than Si Haolin bolted first, and the pirates swiftly followed him in withdrawal.
A short distance from the battlefield, Si Haolin hastily counted the number of subordinates who had escaped with him.
'Damn... half of them are down?'
They had landed with over a hundred men, but only about fifty had made it out with him—meaning they'd lost half in the ambush.
"Let's head back to the ships first, then return to the city and bring reinforcements!"
"Yes, sir."
They tried to make their way back to the ships, but it wasn't easy.
Splash!
As they moved, a pit trap suddenly triggered beneath them.
"Wah! Save me!"
Several pirates moving with the group fell into the trap. Caught off guard in the darkness of night, they were helpless.
"Captain, it's a trap!"
Si Haolin irritably replied to his deputy's report.
"I just saw it myself! Everyone, watch for traps and keep running!"
Sensing his own life was in danger on instinct, Si Haolin took off running first. His men followed blindly without any countermeasures.
But as expected, there was more than one trap.
Thud!
"Gah! Help!"
Splat.
"Argh!"
The sounds of multiple traps activating along their path and the screams of his men echoed continuously. Still, Si Haolin didn't look back as he ran—his own survival was all that mattered.
"Huff... huff... I made it."
Si Haolin finally reached the shore where his ship was anchored. He bellowed loudly,
"Enemies! Support troops on the ship, come out!"
He shouted for the support troops left on board, but no one emerged.
"What the hell? Why aren't you coming out, you bastards? Quit screwing around and get out here now!"
In response to his frantic outburst, an unfamiliar voice replied.
"You mean these guys, maybe?"
Si Haolin whipped his head toward the source of the strange voice.
"......"
There, twenty sailors—the very support troops he was looking for—were bound and hanging upside down from trees. Standing beside them was Namgung Seojun, who said,
"Guess you'll have to be caught too, huh?"
As soon as he spoke, Seojun drew his sword and approached. Si Haolin pulled his own blade for one last desperate struggle.
"You bastard! Die!"
But his clumsy attack was easily dodged by Namgung Seojun, who lightly thrust his sword into Si Haolin's thigh.
Stab.
"Aaaagh!"
Si Haolin collapsed immediately, clutching his thigh in agony. Seeing this, the other pirates who had fled with him dropped their weapons and raised their hands.
"Spare us."
"Just our lives..."
With Si Haolin captured and the remaining pirates surrendering, the party achieved a perfect victory over his fleet through ambush and counterattack.
Dragged bound to Arhof, Si Haolin screamed at Namgung Seojun in a frenzy.
"We're both humans! Why are you helping the mermaids? The goddess will punish you. Let me go right now! Let me go!!"
Seojun ignored him and gave orders to his party members.
"How many prisoners did we take in this battle?"
"Seventy-two."
"Throw them all in the village jail! And did we secure their ships too?"
This time, the captains and sailors replied.
"We captured four medium-to-large ships they came on."
"Park them properly at the harbor."
Excluding minor loot, they'd seized seventy-two prisoners and four medium-to-large ships in a single battle.
Amazed at how effortlessly Seojun had repelled the large pirate force, the captain let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Party leader, you're incredible. How do you block an attack like that so easily?"
He replied confidently to the captain.
"I told you, didn't I? We can handle it with just our party members."
The captain still looked impressed, and Namgung Seojun persuaded him further.
"So, shall we head out to sea this time?"
"Yes, I'll trust you and give it a go, Party Leader."
Having witnessed the party's combat prowess, the captain judged they could handle close-quarters combat against an enemy force the size of one ship. And so, they set out to sea.
When Si Haolin, the third fleet captain of the maritime squadron, had been out of contact for over a week, Second Fleet Captain Wang Seungwon personally headed to the coast near Arhof.
"Hmm... That Chinese guy's incompetent and sneaky, but he always delivers results. Where'd he go? No way... Did he ditch us to go independent? Someone from the crew would've sent word if so..."
Suspecting something, Wang Seungwon had been lingering along the coast near the mermaid village for a while when a report came from his subordinate.
"Captain! Ships sighted. Looks like mermaid fishing boats."
A single mermaid fishing vessel caught the scout's eye, and Wang Seungwon immediately shouted,
"We'll take that one at least! Attack! Capture it with minimal damage to the ship!"
At the captain's order, the Second Fleet's ships sprang into action. Two vessels flanked the fishing boat, another blocked its retreat, and as the flagship approached, the others closed in from all sides.
Thus, four ships swiftly encircled the fishing boat without firing a single cannon to preserve the pristine vessel.
The mermaid aboard, seeing the Second Fleet close in, abandoned the boat and dove into the sea.
Splash!
The mermaid plunged deep into the safety of the unassailable ocean depths.
"Captain! One mermaid jumped into the sea from the boat. No others in sight."
"Too bad, but let's just nab the ship and wrap up."
Boom!
At that moment, a mana cannon roared, and one ship lurched violently.
"Captain, enemies!"
In Wang Seungwon's eyes appeared the Prokho—a small but swift vessel armed with powerful mana cannons.
"Enemies! Battle stations!"
The Second Fleet engaged.
The party's Prokho zipped about, firing its mana cannons relentlessly.
"Fire!"
Boom!
"Fire!!"
Boom!
Under Captain Kang Inho's commands, the mana cannons thundered forth with impressive accuracy, striking the enemy fleet squarely.
"Captain, enemies closing in."
"Evasive maneuvers!"
At the captain's order, the ship darted away. Modified sails from Arhof boosted its speed, enhanced further by Namgung Seojun's use of sylphs for wind assistance via the mana engine.
Thus, the Prokho evaded while firing continuously.
Boom! Boom!
Spinning nimbly, it landed hits that half-sank two of the Second Fleet's ships.
"Ships three and four have lost combat capability."
As the deputy reported, ships three and four listed badly, half-submerged.
"Damn it, what the hell? Why's it so fast?"
Empowered by mana engines and sylph winds, the Prokho dominated with superior mobility—closing only to fire during cannon recharge, then fleeing.
Second Captain Wang Seungwon finally yelled,
"Abandon the damaged ships! Scatter! Run!"
The five-ship Second Fleet ditched ships three and four, with the remaining three fleeing in different directions.
The Prokho fired its next mana cannon.
Boom!
It struck ship five's hull dead-on as it fled, sending it listing and depriving it of mobility.
Lee Guho then targeted another fleeing ship with magic.
"Firebolt! Firebolt!"
His spells hit ship two's sails, incinerating most of them. The ship itself was lightly damaged, but its speed plummeted.
Captain Kang Inho charged the last remaining flagship, Wang Seungwon's.
"Brace for impact!"
With shields activated, he rammed the enemy's side.
Kaboom!!
The massive collision fused the two ships, the Prokho embedding deeply into the flagship's waist.
Namgung Seojun seized the moment.
"Attack!"
Combat personnel waiting on deck charged onto the pirate ship first.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Boarding combat erupted on the Second Captain's flagship. Lee Guho stayed aboard, casting spells continuously.
"Magic Missile!"
Gisohee and the archers provided covering fire with their bows.
"Multi Shot!"
On deck, Pinara and Li Zhangwei shone fiercely.
"Pirates gotta die, right?"
Whoosh. Clang! Whoosh. Clang! Whoosh. Slash!
Li Zhangwei's spear swept through; pirates dodged desperately only to lose heads one by one.
"Don't beg for mercy!"
Stab! Stab!
Pinara's sword struck vital points with flawless precision.
It was overwhelming. Fearsome as Li Zhangwei, Pinara, and the others were, Lee Guho's long-range strikes terrified even more. Pirates began fleeing for their lives.
"Damn! We can't win!"
"Run!!"
They leaped into the sea—their only escape.
Meanwhile, Namgung Seojun faced Second Captain Wang Seungwon.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Damn!"
No matter how Wang Seungwon attacked, Seojun parried perfectly, frustrating him.
Seojun was mildly surprised too—Wang Seungwon's level and stats were impressively high, ten levels above his own. But with Domain Insight, Super Sense, and Prediction, he held firm.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Seojun kept blocking as Wang Seungwon fixated solely on killing the young punk before him, ignoring everything else.
And then, at some point...
"....."
Pinara, Li Zhangwei, and Isu-yeon entered the captain's quarters as Seojun's reinforcements. Seeing his men's corpses outside the window, Wang Seungwon realized defeat and dropped his sword.
Clatter...
"Bind him!"
At Namgung Seojun's command, Isu-yeon fetched rope and tied up Wang Seungwon.
Thus, the party claimed another victory over the Second Captain's fleet.