Chapter 194: Operation Compass Theft (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 194: Operation Compass Theft (6)
Immediately, a second, third, and fourth beam of mana streaked through the air, piercing Kall’s limbs.
“Agh…!”
“Sir Kall!”
As Kall collapsed, despair washed over the faces of the three remaining knights and mages. If Chukon were to attack them now, they had no way to resist.
“Chu—Chukon, you bastard!”
“I’m simply returning the favor for what you did,” Jin said with a shrug.
The moment he did, the mages inside Chukon’s barrier unleashed a volley of offensive spells. Naturally, they weren't aiming for Jin, but for Kall’s few remaining subordinates.
“Chukoooon!”
Before the scream could even finish, every Zipple knight and mage was dead. It had been a foregone conclusion from the moment Jin decided to target Kall and Chukon chose to remain a bystander.
“You’re not as slow as you look, Chukon. I didn’t expect you to be so cooperative. Now Tess won’t have much to do.”
Kall had fainted. Jin lifted him with surprising ease, even with his injured arm, and tossed him toward Chukon. The moment Kall landed, the Kinzelo mages began casting healing spells.
They were taking measures to ensure their precious hostage didn't die from excessive bleeding.
“And you think you won’t be next?” Chukon growled.
“I wouldn’t have expected the ruler of the Anz Great Plains to be so foolish. Though, I did consider the possibility. I just decided it wouldn’t matter if you came at me.”
“Bluffing until the very end. Do you really think you can do anything to me, Chukon Tolderer, just because you summoned Tess? Especially in your state?”
“Hahaha…”
Caw! Caw-caw-caw!
Jin and Tess burst into laughter simultaneously.
“Chukon Tolderer, you aren’t certain you can kill me. That’s why you chose the path most beneficial to Kinzelo—the path I suggested. So stop spouting nonsense you don’t mean.”
For a long moment, Jin and Chukon exchanged murderous glares.
Both were telling the truth. Jin was bluffing, and Chukon lacked certainty.
Even if I release all my spirit energy, fighting Chukon in this state would be madness, Jin thought. Even at my peak, he’s an opponent I couldn’t defeat without leveraging every possible advantage. If he truly intends to fight, I’ll have to flee.
That mysterious lightning sword, and magic powerful enough to be chosen by Tess… there’s no telling what other hidden cards he might have, Chukon mused. Recovering the compass is already a lost cause. I need to at least bring Kall Zipple back safely to face the Leader.
They had lost five White Wolf Tribe assault captains and most of their high-ranking members. The compass had been stolen.
However, they hadn't lost everything, unlike Kall Zipple. The ships at the harbor were still loaded with Bubar’s other works, excluding the compass.
The variable known as Jin was a disaster no one could have predicted.
If I let my pride get in the way and things go further south, even the Leader won't let it slide. Besides, once the Leader hears the report, he’ll surely want to recruit this boy. I’ve gathered enough information to track him down.
Chukon was the first to back down.
“Fine. Let us each take our practical gains for today.”
“You haven’t lived all those years for nothing. Perhaps your Leader will be happier that you captured Kall Zipple than he would have been with the compass.”
Jin unsummoned Tess.
The first floor suddenly went quiet a while ago. I can't tell if the situation there is over or if the battlefield has expanded outside.
Thud!
Jin stomped his foot hard, shattering the floorboards and creating a large hole. Even that simple movement, part of the Pluto Sword’s basic martial arts, caused sparks of lightning to flicker around him.
“Well then, I’ll see you next time.”
As he dropped through the hole, the chaotic scene on the first floor immediately came into view.
Just like the second floor, a fierce battle had clearly taken place; corpses, blood, and shattered furniture were strewn everywhere.
He wasn't overly worried. To handle a party consisting of Murakan, Quicantel, Casimir, and Alisa, the entire force from the second floor would have needed to be down here.
Did everyone head to the extraction point? Or did they go to deal with the subordinates outside the gambling house?
A nagging feeling tugged at him.
No, if they had cleared the inside, they would have come up to help me. Something went wrong.
As soon as he stepped out of the gambling house, Jin encountered Murakan, who was in the middle of transforming back from a cat.
“Meow.”
He hadn't participated in the first-floor battle, keeping his identity hidden in case Jin fell into a crisis.
“Murakan.”
Poof!
Murakan shifted into his human form and pulled Jin into a tight embrace.
“Kid, just how strong have you gotten?! I saw almost the whole fight. I’m so proud I could cry. Strawberry Pie probably will. And your arm is a total wreck—how hard did those Pluto Tribe bastards work you?”
“Do you really think this is a wound the Pluto Tribe would inflict?”
“Hmph, you’ve gotten less humorous.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Your fanboy safely escaped the island, compass in hand.”
“Phew! At least six months of hard work didn't go to waste.”
“Yeah, but the rest of the situation isn't looking so great.”
“How so?”
“There were two more factions we didn't account for.”
“Not one, but two?”
“The Viment Special Task Force and Runcandel.”
“Hmm…”
“They aren't moving based on solid intel like we were. It seems they just caught wind that Zipple and Kinzelo were meeting here. They don't even know what’s being exchanged. They were in the middle of the island and rushed over when they heard the gambling house was being turned upside down.”
“This could get messy at the very end.”
“For now, the lizard, Alisa, and your lover are all either fighting them or leading them away.”
That was a relief, at least. Since the compass had been secured, they just needed to get off the island without their identities being discovered.
Just as Runcandel and the Viment Special Task Force didn't have all the details on Zipple and Kinzelo, Zipple and Kinzelo were also unaware that those two factions were on the island.
“How do you know the Special Task Force and our family don't know about the compass?”
“From what I overheard, if they knew, they wouldn't have sent so few people.”
“True. So, did the three of them decide to lose their tails and meet at the extraction point?”
“That was the plan, but unfortunately, there’s one more problem. And it’s the biggest one.”
“Damn it, nothing is ever easy. Tell me.”
Murakan furrowed his brows.
He pointed a finger toward the sea stretching out behind Jin. Turning around, Jin saw a dense cluster of tiny, bean-sized shapes filling the distant horizon.
“Warships. All of them. This island will be completely surrounded soon. Even if we gather the others and get on a boat within ten minutes, we’ll be pursued before we get far.”
There was no teleport gate on this island.
One could only enter or leave by boat, swimming, or flying.
Furthermore, being an island, there was nowhere to run or hide. And the escape boats Jin’s party had prepared were cheap pirate ships—nowhere near fast enough to outrun warships.
“…The Bellado Principality sent them. The Special Task Force headquarters must have prepared them to support their members on the island in an emergency. Those ships will be crawling with Task Force agents.”
That left Jin’s group with only one option: escaping on Murakan’s back.
That was the escape method they had agreed to save as a last, last resort during their meeting six months ago.
If Murakan revealed his true form, they might escape for now, but they would become special targets for Viment, Zipple, and Kinzelo forever.
There weren't many things in the world more exhausting than that.
This is driving me crazy.
It reached a point where the fight on the second floor felt like the easiest part of the mission.
“What’s the plan?” Murakan asked, deferring to Jin’s decision as always.
“If there’s only one option, there’s nothing to deliberate. We escape on you. We’ll just have to deal with becoming special targets.”
“Then we need to find the others first. Should I start flying around to look for them?”
“No, that’s too dangerous. We’ll split up and search near the extraction points, then regroup here in thirty minutes. If anyone is missing by then, we’ll start the aerial search.”
Crack…!
Crunch…!
Only five minutes after they began searching, the sound of splintering wood echoed from a distance.
It was the sound of Runcandel Guardian Knights smashing the ships anchored at the northern harbor.
“Destroy every single boat! Make sure no one escapes until the Bellado warships arrive!”
“Especially that woman named Zelia—do not let her get away! She is clearly a key figure in this incident!”
Runcandel was handling things in a quintessentially Runcandel way.
On someone else’s land, with someone else’s warships approaching, they were smashing someone else’s ships to prevent their targets from escaping.
It was a brand of tyranny possible only because they were Runcandels. Any property damage could be settled later by requesting funds from the main house. Once the warships arrived and the suspects were identified, they could simply take whoever they needed by force.
It’s the family that will eventually be mine, but… man. They really are something else.
In that process, the opinions of Viment or any other power didn't matter—especially in a place like this, where major powers were all involved in something shady.
“Oh, please, Sir Knights! Why are you doing this?!”
“We’re just honest folk who catch fish to get by! If you break our boats like that…!”
Men who appeared to be the owners of the boats approached the Guardian Knights and bowed deeply.
“Do you think we came here not knowing this island is full of pirates, beggars, and junkies? From this moment on, anyone who spouts nonsense or tries anything funny will be executed on the spot.”
In reality, every single one of them was indeed a pirate ship.
From the pirates' perspective, however, this was a special kind of atrocity. Yet, they couldn't exactly fight back against Runcandel Guardian Knights, so they were left fuming in desperation.
“Hey, damn it! There are only ten of them total, even if you count the ones to the west and south! They aren't even pure-bloods, just Guardian Knights! Get on the boats and run, you idiots! Our boats are our lives and our souls! We can always find another island!” a pirate who had been hiding from the knights suddenly yelled.
“He’s right! Even if they’re Runcandel Guardian Knights, how are ten of them going to catch all of us? There are over fifty boats left in the northern harbor alone!”
“The warships might be coming to throw us all in jail anyway. Everyone, get on a boat and weigh anchor! Good luck, you vermin!”
“Only those who get past them and onto a boat will survive!”
“Waaaaah!”
Suddenly, pirates who had been hiding all over the harbor came swarming out.
They were taking the ‘Runcandel Guardian Knights’ far too lightly. Bottom-tier pirates had no way of knowing what kind of people the knights of the world’s strongest swordsmanship clan were.
“Bottom-feeders will be bottom-feeders. To think they’d try to board the ships while we’re controlling the area.”
There were three of the ten Guardian Knights at the northern harbor.
With just those three, the knights looked ready to cut down every single pirate rushing at them.
Regardless of whether their comrades died, a few pirates did manage to run like mad and board a ship. The problem was that they were swept away along with their boats by sword energy before they could even raise the anchor.
It’s a living hell. It doesn't look like my comrades are around here… wait, the guy who incited them is actually running away in the opposite direction?
Just as Jin was about to turn away, a new sound began.
Boom!
Boom…! Boom! Boom, boom!
The warships of the Bellado Principality began firing shells toward the island.
They seemed to have the same idea as the Runcandel Guardian Knights: sink every ship to ensure no one could escape.