The unleashed cannonball ignored the nobles’ cries and pleas for mercy. A single shot triggered a massive explosion the moment it struck the first person, and the nobles’ screams were reduced to ash within a sea of fire.
Boom. Boom.
Just as Peng Peng was preparing to lead his men to hunt down Arthur, the rhythmic sound of heavy thumping gradually approached the harbor.
“Which muddled fool forgot to keep up with the group?” Peng Peng joked. He assumed the newcomer was one of his own, but after analyzing the sound clearly, his expression turned grim.
The sound approaching them was the sprinting of a Giant Rock Lizard, a terrestrial magic beast that pirates like them could never raise.
Only a transport ship like this one, which functioned like an artificial island, could accommodate such a creature.
“Everyone, on alert!” Peng Peng commanded, thrusting his hand backward.
Giant Rock Lizards were mounts for the few nobles capable of fighting. While the pirates had been killing the nobles, they had also hacked their Giant Rock Lizards into mincemeat. It was a bit of a waste, as Giant Rock Lizards were worth a fortune on the market and were common mounts for knights, but they possessed a trait where they could not survive if they were not on land.
Along the way, the pirates had no intention of capturing the lizards. To maintain maximum traveling speed, they killed any magic beast of that kind on sight. They saw no need to let treasures they couldn’t take with them remain intact.
Yet at this very moment, a Giant Rock Lizard was rapidly approaching the harbor!
Peng Peng pinpointed the direction of the sound and shouted for the pirates on the ship to adjust the cannons, ordering them to prepare for ignition just in case.
Whether it was a magic beast that had lost control and gone berserk, or a beast being steered by a rider with a purpose, there were only two possibilities. The common denominator was that both could be executed!
If someone was galloping toward them on a Giant Rock Lizard, that person certainly wasn’t one of their own. Their pirates were born of the sea and died in the sea; none of them would ever ride a giant lizard like that!
It was an enemy. They would simply kill him.
Lumion also heard the heavy thumping that seemed to make the earth tremble. He was one step ahead of the pirates in realizing what was happening.
“Who?” Lumion stopped in his tracks. Even when the pirates escorting him pushed and shoved, he did not budge, standing like a statue.
Was it a beast out of control, or some ignorant fool coming here to die? He would assume the worst-case scenario first. You fool, this is a dead end.
Can’t you hear the cannon fire? Can’t you see the flames? Even if you can’t, surely you can see the corpses on the road. The path is lined with dead guards and nobles.
Please, notice these things and run away while you still can.
“Behave yourself! Or I’ll slaughter you!”
Lumion was roughly pushed down by an impatient pirate and then dragged by his collar toward a skiff. Throughout the process, he did not struggle, calmly accepting it all.
Even though he felt nothing regarding the deaths of the other nobles, at this moment, he hoped that whatever lucky soul had managed to escape the slaughter could continue to hold onto their good fortune and live on.
His life and his future were already over. At the very least, those who still had hope shouldn’t have to suffer the same pain as him.
However, Lumion’s inner thoughts could not reach the rider approaching the harbor. Even if the rider could hear them, no one could stop his will.
The sound of heavy trampling against the ground grew louder and louder until a black dot appeared in the pirates’ vision. A young pirate on the ship lowered his telescope and shouted a report to Peng Peng.
“Lord Peng Peng! It’s a man! He’s not one of ours! He’s not a slave either! He’s a noble!”
“He’s that unafraid of death?” Peng Peng didn’t know whether to judge the newcomer as bold or stupid. Charging straight here like that, he must be some foolish noble who couldn’t read the situation.
“Fire!”
At Peng Peng’s command, the cannon immediately erupted with a deafening roar, and the cannonball whistled as it shot toward the Giant Rock Lizard.
Using a cannonball to deal with a single noble was truly a waste, but they had no intention of wasting energy on a confrontation right now. If the opponent was skilled in horsemanship, killing him would inevitably waste a lot of time. After weighing the pros and cons, Peng Peng decided to solve the problem of this little bug with a single shot.
A life worth the price of one cannonball—this foolish noble should feel immensely honored.
The cannonball exploded into a blooming sea of fire. Peng Peng picked at his ear to soothe the discomfort caused by the ringing and then turned around, preparing to continue commanding his subordinates’ movements.
The moment the echo of the explosion faded beneath the rapid, heavy thumping sounds, Peng Peng whipped his head back. This time he saw clearly: a blond man was commanding the Giant Rock Lizard, charging through the sea of fire and continuously closing the distance toward them!
“Boys!” Peng Peng took a deep breath, simultaneously raising one hand and swinging it down as he roared his command, “Intercept him!”
Upon receiving the order, the pirates immediately grabbed their weapons and rushed toward the path of the Giant Rock Lizard. Battle was imminent!
“What is the meaning of this?!”
The cannonball was ineffective?! Peng Peng knew that if he took a direct hit from a cannon, he would be heavily injured if not dead. Even Diamond-grade powerhouses, if they hadn’t cultivated reinforcement-type martial arts, could not resist bullets and cannon fire with their physical bodies. Magic beasts of the same level, however, evolved Diamond Bodies, which was perhaps compensation for their inability to cultivate martial arts.
Failing to resolve the enemy immediately was an unexpected turn of events. Peng Peng ordered his subordinates to hand him his specialized weapon—a spiked mace that was half as tall as he was. He was going to join the fight! He wanted to know just what kind of powerhouse had appeared among the nobles!
The man and the Giant Rock Lizard drew the attention of most of the pirates. The pirates escorting Lumion also stopped their dragging and looked back at the place where the battle had broken out.
Lumion also noticed the change. He looked toward the Giant Rock Lizard clashing with the pirates and saw that the man on its back had blond hair.
Arthur’s hair was also golden. At first glance, it was a very warm color.
The Giant Rock Lizard was forcibly intercepted after knocking down and trampling over a dozen pirates. The man was forced to deal with attacks coming from all directions, and his situation instantly became perilous.
More and more pirates surrounded him. Under these circumstances, he was beyond saving; he was only one man, after all.
Lumion was already envisioning the scene of the man and his mount being hacked into mincemeat by a flurry of blades. It was at that moment that he felt a very intense fluctuation of mana.
It was at least a War-grade spell.
“Get back!” Peng Peng, who practiced both magic and martial arts, also sensed this anomaly. When he realized that the source of the surging mana was right in the middle of the pirates—on the man they had surrounded—he immediately felt a massive sense of danger!
However, Peng Peng’s shout was a step too late. The appearance of the mana fluctuation meant the spell had been activated. In the next instant, a burst of red light flashed, and the air suddenly became scorchingly hot. A powerful wave of fire erupted with the man at the center. The pirates surrounding him were all swallowed by flames in an instant, letting out agonized screams.
Only the man who cast the magic was unaffected by the flames. His mount, the Giant Rock Lizard, was turned into charred meat within the fire!
After the flames subsided, the handsome man with shoulder-length blond hair stepped out over the charred, brittle remains. He was dressed in white clothing with gold patterns, his pupils were crimson, and his expression was so cold that it discouraged anyone from even thinking about approaching him.
“Who are you!” Losing over a dozen subordinates in an instant at this critical juncture made Peng Peng’s temper flare, but he was wary of the man’s methods. He decided to try negotiating first to figure out the extent of the man’s strength!
Of course, Peng Peng didn’t expect the man to give a straight answer. He signaled his subordinates to surround the man from different directions while he himself walked toward him step by step. He would act as the primary force to initiate the fight.
“Hmph? Lowly ants are not worthy of knowing my noble name. What is this? You want to lay hands on me? That is a capital offense of great disrespect. Do you… want to die?”
The man was merely standing still, yet the aura radiating from him caused many pirates to break out in a cold sweat, each of them enduring immense pressure.
This man was extraordinary! Peng Peng was absolutely certain of this. Upon meeting the man’s gaze, a feeling of dread actually stirred in his heart, and his body trembled uncontrollably for a brief moment.
He actually felt like he was a lowly creature, just as the man had said. What a joke!
By now, the distance between the man and the shore was enough for Lumion to see his general appearance. Furthermore, Lumion had even used a Farsight technique, allowing him to see the man’s face with perfect clarity.
Lumion stared fixedly at the man. The man also noticed his gaze and looked toward him. Through a certain connection, the man instantly recognized Lumion.
“It is the captured Prince. You should just hurry up and die. You are a disgrace to Amidar, a useless piece of trash.”
The maliciously sarcastic voice echoed in Lumion’s ears. He finally confirmed it. The man currently facing off against the pirates was the last person who should have appeared in this place.
“Brother…”
It was his brother! Lumion’s biological older brother! Arthur Amidar!!
Why? Why would he appear here?!
He should have understood just how dangerous this place was, no matter how much he usually followed his own whims!
Lumion wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, his throat could not produce a clear syllable. His consciousness had not yet caught up; he was still immersed in the shock of seeing Arthur.
Lumion could not imagine any reason for Arthur to appear here. On the contrary, he could think of a thousand or ten thousand reasons why Arthur would want to stay alive elsewhere.
He had always understood Arthur—his brother—very well. Arrogant, proud, irritable, willful, jealous, and possessing a strong sense of paranoid persecution. To stay alive, he would use any means necessary and sacrifice anyone without hesitation. That was the kind of person Arthur was supposed to be!
Had his long-standing definition of him been wrong? What was this?!
“Why are you here…” Lumion used a sound transmission spell, sending his excited and trembling voice into Arthur’s mind.
“You have no right to meddle in my actions, prisoner.”
Arthur gave a cold reply and then ignored Lumion, focusing his attention on Peng Peng, who was gradually approaching him.
Arthur closed his eyes to sense the location of the Hellfire Laurel Spirit and found that she was already on the pirate ship.
“You lowly servants deserve ten thousand deaths. To think you would dare try to lay hands on my things. Hurry up and take your filthy hands off my precious treasure, and then offer up your lives.”
Arthur raised his left hand. Gemstone rings were worn on all five fingers, though the two gems on his index and pinky fingers were already dull and covered in cracks.
“Magic tools!” Peng Peng realized that the enemy might be difficult to deal with. To think he actually possessed magic tools, treasures that were priceless on the market!