Explosion
“Brothers, we can’t risk our lives for that wizard who fled and left us all behind!” An unexpected figure stood out in the front line.
Cyclops growled, “If we surrender, they’ll overlook all the sins we committed against them. He’s a viscount, mateys! What are you sprogs still waiting for?” This pirate, one of Leylin’s first subordinates, betrayed him in the blink of an eye. Cyclops had even established contact with William some time before.
As they realised that Leylin was indeed absent, the morale of the other pirates was greatly affected. They were shaken by the suggestions of their leader, and many decided to throw down their weapons and surrender.
The door of the campsite was thrown open, and Cyclops stood aside respectfully to let Crowe and his gang in. Even if they still had any last remnants of resistance, it was of no use in this current situation.
“You’ve done well, I will put in a good word for you to my father!” William patted Cyclops’ shoulder contentedly, which made the pirate looked very touched.
“Where are Leylin and the rest?”
“Don’t worry, we’ve already sent our men to block off their paths, they won’t be able to escape!” Cyclops proceeded to welcome William into the meeting chamber, while the summoned skeletons were disposing of a handful of pirates that were still putting up a fight.
“What’s going on? What happened to all of you? I thought we had come to an agreement!” Cyclops raised his attention as he saw a few of the pirate leaders who had conspired with him grouping together.
“Be careful! I felt uneasy the moment I stepped in here.” Boruj whispered to William as he cast some spells.
“Mage Armour II!” “Detect Danger!” “Eagle Eye!”
Soon after, his expression grew dark. “Shit! Run!” A teleportation gate appeared and Boruj pulled William with him as he threw himself into its depths.
“Come and see the fireworks.” Outside the campsite, Leylin and Isabel stood next to each other and watched the camp near them.
*Boom!*
Dazzling sparks of flame emerged from all around the campsite, and immediately encircled the pirates within.
Cyclops was at a loss. Before he could even figure out the situation, an immense force ripped his body apart.
Terrifying explosions sounded, and a mushroom cloud soared into the sky. The resulting shockwaves were so strong that even the trees near Leylin were uprooted. Earthquakes ensued, the ground seeming to let out a deafening lament as it split wide open.
“With the money from the fish floss as well as some money borrowed from the church of wealth, I bought goblin explosives. What a scene!” Leylin commented as he observed the scene unfolding itself from afar.
Ronald stood behind Leylin, shock was written all over his face. Only his psychotic leader could think of a plan as crazy as filling the campsite with dynamite to send both his enemies and his own men to hell, hand in hand.
“But, even though we used a big amount of dynamite, this impact is just too big. This is as powerful as a rank 9 area of effect spell. Actually, it might even be equivalent to a legendary spell!” Ronald muttered, without noticing he had just voiced his opinion out loud.
Leylin smirked. In reality, the credits weren’t solely to the dynamite. He had added his own techniques and the A.I. Chip’s processing, enhancing the explosives and and increasing their damage.
Furthermore, Leylin made meticulous preparations, using many concealing spells to avoid the enemies’ suspicion.
Well, at the very least, the Black Skeletons became history. This plan ended up creating a huge hole in his wallet and exhausting him to the bones, but the results were satisfying. As for Boruj, Leylin did not plan on keeping the wizard around.
A bad thing about high-ranked wizards was that it got increasingly difficult to eliminate them once they grew familiar with teleportation.
But the rest of the people on the campsite were not so lucky.
“Be prepared, out men will soon catch up to us.” There were still around a hundred elite pirates under Leylin’s control.
These were Leylin’s true subordinates, the loyal ones that he chose through many bloody battles. Even their families had been sent to the Faulen Island to be supervised.
“Kill everyone in the campsite. No exceptions,” Leylin commanded icily at the crucial moment. He could not spare any time to care about collateral damage.
He knew that, even if it was stunning, this enhanced explosion’s damage was still limited.
After all, at least the rank 15 Professional Crowe would be able to run a few hundred meters away before the explosion, leaving the area with highest damage. However, he would still be severely injured. In addition, Professionals at or above rank 10 would still have a high survival rate. The deciding factor would be their injuries.
Others, however, would have no chance to live. Leylin had added some special elements to increase the damage, contaminating the campsite with large amounts of neurotoxins. With the explosion, the toxic gas would finish off any remaining people.
This was Leylin’s niche, so he was obviously confident about it. As for his current subordinates, they had already received their doses of antidote, so there was no need to worry. These trained pirates charged into the hellish campsite and started attacking every person and creature in sight.
Every Black Skeleton survivor was severely injured, and was no match for these guys. Thus, there was no way of resisting their fate. On the other hand, Leylin and Isabel were able to locate Crowe through their spiritual force and stop him from going any further.
“Captain Crowe, please be on your way soon. I’m extremely busy today.” Leylin spoke politely while he scanned the severely injured Crowe. He meant what he said. After all, once Crowe was dead, Leylin would have access to a huge number of ships.
The deaths of those stupid pirates meant nothing. As long as his 100 elites remained, he could have as many men as he needed. Of course, if the Black Skeletons’ magic battleship was included, then that would be a perfect ending.
However, Crowe suddenly did something out of the blue.
“My young lord Leylin! Please let me off! I promise you my loyalty and all of the Black Skeletons’ fortunes!” He got onto his knees with a thump and buried his head in the mud. This arrogant pirate had actually surrendered.
‘Really?’ Leylin looked at him with an undecipherable expression. Crowe’s condition was obviously not at its peak, but Leylin could feel that he still had the power of qi.
“This comes from the bottom of my heart! Furthermore, the ships are still being watched by the sharkman Citamo, I can kill all of them for you, my precious Lord!”
“It’s unbelievable that our cruel and merciless Black Skeleton Pirate captain still had this side to him!” Leylin smiled, “But I won’t be fazed by this little bloodline trick. You can stop your performance right there.”
‘He noticed!’ Crowe raised his head, while spell power glowing on his body.
But Leylin was faster. A crimson shadow flashed, and the Devilblood Dagger was pinned onto Crowe’s head in no time.
Crowe’s expression was weird as his body slowly fell. All the spell rays on his body broke into pieces. This brutal bloodline pirate, and high-ranked knight, ended up dead.
Loud gurgling noises could be heard. The Devilblood Dagger was glistening with blood, numerous blood vessels emerging and coiling around Crowe. Everything was sucked from him, causing the demonic skull to emit an excited growl.
After all, it had never encountered a creature of this strength. An immense power spread from the dagger, and Leylin felt a little uneasy.
[Beep! Host body enhanced by Devilblood Dagger! Strength+0.7, Agility+1.5, Vitality+0.3] The A.I. Chip’s alerts made Leylin realise his stats had updated once more.
[Leylin Faulen. Age: 16 Race: Rank 9 Human Wizard. Strength: 5.2. Agility: 6.5. Vitality: 6.3. Spirit: 9 Condition: Healthy. Feats: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell Slots: Rank 4(1), Rank 3(3), Rank 2(5), Rank 1(???), Rank 0(???)]
“You really live up to the fame of a high-ranked Professional. Look at the extent of this enhancement.” Leylin smiled with satisfaction as he felt his limbs become more nimble and light.
Crowe’s high rank was no joke. The enhancement he brought upon Leylin was great. He wasn’t interested in spirit enhancement from the man, given that everything he had would only raise it by 0.2, but there were better candidates to harvest spiritual force from anyway.
The A.I Chip flashed another prompt. [Beep! Target hods the ‘Wolf Skeleton’ bloodline, 12.19% compatible with host’s body. Begin absorption?]
“No, extract the bloodline instead!” Following Leylin’s command, a dark drop of blood appeared from Crowe’s forehead, seating itself inside a black bottle that Leylin was holding.
Leylin had no interest in this sort of bloodline power, but it would be useful to give to his subordinates so he could create a few bloodline holders.