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My Villains Chapter 004
2. Opening Eyes (2)
The sudden scene of death right before my eyes.
My mind went blank and I stumbled backwards on trembling legs.
"F-fuck..."
I collapsed in the spot where I had been sitting throughout the voyage, catching my breath.
Instinctively, I groped around with my feet and picked up the fallen sword.
"Argh!"
"Take up arms! Hold on!"
Suddenly, small boats appeared and surrounded the ship.
Each of the ramshackle boats, with a couple of oars strewn about, carried about six or seven pirates.
"Shoot!"
"Kill them all!"
The pirates looked like they had never bathed in their lives, with filthy appearances.
Their hair and beards were unkempt, and when they shouted, their visible teeth—no, fangs—were not just yellow, but black.
They wielded crude weapons like axes with missing teeth, broken-tipped scimitars, and spears made by tying daggers together. Despite their crudeness, they looked sufficient for killing people.
"Board!"
"Board! Kill!"
The pirates were skinny and small in stature, but extremely violent.
They shouted fiercely as they shot arrows and threw spears. They relentlessly boarded the ship while incapacitating the crew members.
Thanks to some crew members and a few passengers who took up arms to resist, they seemed to be holding the pirates off well.
However, after several burly crew members fell to the arrows shot from below, the pirates finally made it onto the deck.
"D-damn it! We must stop—urk..."
A resisting crew member collapsed after taking an axe to the shoulder.
By the time he breathed his last, the pirates who had boarded and were shouting ferociously seemed to number over a dozen.
"Uwaaah!"
"Kyaaak!"
The scene that unfolded afterwards was utterly surreal.
For me, who had never killed an animal larger than a frog, witnessing people being massacred was hard to accept.
"Aagh!"
"Save me, please save me!"
Every time the pirates swung their weapons, people died mercilessly.
They killed all the males, from children to the elderly, and subdued the women with brutal violence before dragging them to their small boats.
There was more blood than in hero movies or action films, but it was less gruesome than deliberately made gore movies.
So the massacre unfolding on the ship looked just like a scene from a well-made R-rated slasher film.
"I-insane..."
I clenched my chattering jaw and squeezed my eyes shut.
Then, I prayed that the death approaching me now was nothing more than a nightmare.
But the situation around me, perceived by my heightened senses, was cruelly realistic.
"W-wait, I surren—gak."
Along with the unfinished words, I heard the sound of flesh tearing and something spilling onto the floor.
The horrific sound coming from nearby made me snap my eyes open.
Then I began tightening my loose breastplate with trembling hands.
So far, I had luckily avoided their eyes among the luggage, but I couldn't hide this large body forever.
I didn't want to meet death with my eyes closed and head buried like a terrified ostrich.
Though my hands were shaking violently, they diligently found the straps.
Fortunately, only one side of the connection between the back plate and breastplate was undone, and its shape was similar to shoelaces, so I could tighten it without much difficulty.
After desperately tightening the breastplate, I cleanly gave up on the shoulder plates.
The armor worn on the shoulders was unfamiliar in shape, and the straps were tangled, so I wasn't confident I could tie them quickly.
'Shit, I should have picked up a helmet too.'
While progressing through Chapter 1, I arrogantly never picked up normal items.
For that reason, all the weapons, buckler, and breastplate I had now were magic or rare items.
But I had no helmet or gloves at all, and the boots were junk I had from character creation.
"Huu, huu-" I caught my breath as I unwrapped the cloth around the sword.
The sword I drew from the leather scabbard after unwrapping the cloth was a falchion with a smooth curve extending to its sharp tip.
I couldn't remember the exact name of the sword I had mechanically picked up while progressing through Chapter 1.
It was something like Lion's Tooth or Claw, or something like that.
Anyway, the falchion's hefty weight and comfortable grip made me feel quite reassured.
The blade, with its imposing shape, gleamed white as if carefully maintained. The sunlight that shone down scattered into pieces along the blade of the falchion.
That scattered light instantly drew the attention of the pirates rampaging on the deck.
Gazes flickering with incomprehensible heat. I faced those gazes and let out a small groan.
"Ugh."
...I think I peed a little. I swallowed hard, trying to stop my trembling legs.
"Who's this bastard?"
"Kill him!"
Despite their intimidating shouts, they didn't approach me easily. It must be because the visuals of me, or rather, the level 10 Blood Knight 'Hey Hacker Bastard', were quite threatening.
It made sense, as I was about one and a half heads taller than the small pirates, and although I looked lean at first glance, I had a solid build with muscles all over my body.
Add to that the scarred breastplate, the shield dangling at my waist, the sharp sword, and the black eyes with a hint of red energy.
The level 10 Blood Knight 'Hey Hacker Bastard' had what you'd call a 'capable' appearance.
I glanced at them while fumbling at my waist.
I wanted to draw my shield, but I was afraid to take my eyes off the extremely vicious pirates.
I tried to grab and pull up the shield, but as expected, it was fixed to the belt.
While they were examining me, I quickly glanced to check the shield's attachment.
"Damn it-"
The shield was hooked onto a ring, but the problem was that the ring had rolled inward into the back plate.
It must have gotten tangled when I was tightening the armor earlier.
I frantically glanced between the pirates in front of me and the shield, busily moving my hands, but the shield showed no sign of coming loose.
The only fortunate thing was that the pirates were also just watching what I was doing.
Or so I thought.
Thwack, thud!
"Gak!"
I staggered, shuddering from the terrible pain. Instinctively, I swung my sword to keep the pirates at bay.
"Son of a-"
I swung my sword pathetically as I stepped back.
"Hehehe."
"Look at this bastard."
The pirates watched, letting out eerie laughs.
Leaning against the railing, I looked down to find an arrow protruding from my thigh.
The arrowhead seemed to have dug in at least three or four finger joints deep.
I tried to pull out the arrow as I'd seen in movies and dramas, but-
"Argh!"
Ugh, just touching the arrow shaft slightly sent tremendous pain surging through me.
Damn, how am I supposed to pull this out?
"Hahaha!"
"What's that idiot doing?"
The pirates who had been mocking me slowly approached.
It seemed they had figured out that I wasn't the level 10 Blood Knight 'Hey Hacker Bastard', but just a weak middle-aged man.
"Ugh, Trickster, you rotten bastard-"
I gritted my teeth and grabbed the arrow shaft again. Then I took a couple of deep breaths.
I'm not sure why I did that. Maybe it was because I didn't have the courage to swing the sword and take a life, but I also didn't want to die without putting up any resistance.
"Argh!"
Filled with rage, I pulled on the arrow stuck in my thigh.
That's when I realized that not only is an arrow not easy to pull out, but removing it is more painful than getting hit by it.
"Aaaaargh!"
With a scream that felt like I was coughing up blood, the blood-stained arrowhead came out, dragging flesh with it. Despite tears streaming down my face, I smiled triumphantly.
"Huu, huu-"
Looking at the slightly unnerved pirates, I tossed away the bloody arrow.
"Whew, hah! Come at me, you trash bastards, ack!"
Just as I was shouting to gain the upper hand, I suddenly screamed and collapsed.
Another arrow had flown in and struck my shoulder.
I could hear the pirates' uproarious laughter. Before I could even feel shame, I tried to get up, scraping against the floor, but-
Thwack, thud!
"Guh!"
More arrows flew in, piercing my thigh and shin in succession.
One also came at my chest, but it only left a dull impact before bouncing off the breastplate. It was sheer luck that I wasn't hit in the neck or head.
I collapsed into a corner by the railing.
"Huuh-"
It was pain more intense than anything I had felt in my entire life.
I could only writhe on the floor like a pinned insect, creating a pool of blood.
"Ugh."
My body was shaking so much I couldn't even curse.
It felt as if there was a heart attached to each of my limbs, with pulses throbbing throughout my body. The blood, empowered by those fierce pumps, gushed out through my wounds.
A terrible chill, as if I had been thrown naked into a freezer, crept through my entire body.
In the agony of death, I unconsciously lifted my eyes to look at the sky. Unlike the horrible scene on the ship, the sky was blue.
Along with heavy footsteps, a shadow fell. Even amidst the fishy smell of blood, the stench emanating from the pirate stung my nose.
"Fuck-"
Why don't you wash up a bit? Having to die while smelling this stench.
Just as I was about to close my eyes, hot blood splattered on my face.
But... It wasn't my blood.
"Huh."
The head of the pirate who had been blocking the sun was tilting over. As his head tilted abnormally, the sun that had been obscured became visible.
I narrowed my brows, trying to grasp the situation. The pirate who had been standing in front of me had collapsed, spilling an enormous amount of blood.
His neck was split about halfway.
What on earth is happening?
"It's a magician!"
"Be careful!"
The pirates screamed out in near panic.
A figure that appeared from somewhere was swinging something like a short recorder. No, not a recorder, but a small wand.
Whoosh!
A deep green wind gathered at the tip of the wand.
The wind stretched forward, gradually expanding, and finally swept around in a semicircle like a blade.
Slash!
The deep green wind deeply cut a pirate's arm, and he screamed with a gurgling sound.
"Arghh! Damn it!"
"Catch that sorcerer!"
Watching that magical scene, I was reminded of a skill from Dark World.
Wind Blade!
An Elemental Mage's wind-based spell that inflicts cutting damage in a narrow range.
As the Elemental Mage who suddenly appeared from the cabin instantly took down two pirates, the pirates nearby scattered all over the deck in panic.
Instead of chasing after them, the Elemental Mage started launching wind blades at the pirates who were shooting arrows from afar.
Every time the wind blade cut through the air, the bastard pirates invariably lost their limbs or had their necks sliced, falling down.
Meanwhile, the greenish wind repeatedly dispersed and gathered as it rode the wand.
As the wind flow swept over the mage's head, it flipped back the robe that had been covering it.
"Uh..."
I let out a stupid sound involuntarily upon seeing that face.
Long, wavy blonde hair and delicate features of a beautiful girl. It was the female Elemental Mage character that adorned one side of the Dark World package.