Translator: CinderTL
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The crimson sea surged in turbulent waves, the flags of the Blood Sea Vice Admiral's pirate fleet standing out starkly against the blood-red horizon.
For a moment, everyone stared in bewildered silence at the massive pirate armada approaching.
But before they could regain their composure—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Blood Sea Vice Admiral's fleet suddenly opened fire, dozens of cannonballs hurtling forward. Normally, these projectiles would have lost momentum and fallen short. But at the crucial moment, the power of the storm surged, propelling them toward their target.
"There are Storm Sequencers among them," Delia murmured, her eyes narrowing as she observed the numerous mid- to high-tier Sequencers within the pirate fleet.
A soft azure light bloomed from her body, summoning the power of the sea. She conjured a colossal water curtain that rose before the island, shielding it from the incoming barrage.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Muffled explosions reverberated across the sea, shaking the entire island.
Merfolk and sailors staggered, nearly losing their footing. The giant sea turtles carrying sailors recoiled into their shells, whimpering in fear.
Fortunately, though the water curtain shattered upon impact, it absorbed the full force of the dozens of exploding cannonballs.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
But before the echoes faded, a fresh barrage of heavy cannon fire roared toward them.
Simultaneously, several mid- to high-tier Sequencers unleashed their abilities, transforming into flaming arrows that pierced the air and shattered stone, or stirring the sea into surging waves that crashed toward them from afar.
"Six Fourth-Tier Sequencers? And even two Fifth-Tier ones?"
"When did the Blood Sea Vice Admiral's pirate fleet amass such strength?"
Boom!
Lei Long channeled his Storm Force, conjuring a wall of hurricane winds to intercept the incoming flaming arrows. Water vaporized as gale-force winds tore around him. He sensed the powerful auras emanating from the distant pirate fleet, his expression turning grave. Something felt amiss.
Though the Blood Sea Vice Admiral was a notorious pirate, he was only Fifth-Tier, ranking at the bottom among the Three Kings and Seven Generals. Lei Long had never heard of him commanding other Fifth-Tier experts.
Whoosh!
Before he could ponder further, the raging winds coalesced into a spiraling tornado that charged toward him. A Fourth-Tier Storm Sequencer from the pirate fleet had briefly hovered ahead of the fleet to unleash his devastating technique.
"All hands on deck!" a thunderous roar erupted from the pirate fleet. The cannons resumed their bombardment, now empowered by a Fifth-Tier Sequencer, and forcefully breached Delia's Wall of the Sea.
At the same time, over a dozen pirates plunged into the water, likely planning to approach stealthily and launch a flanking attack.
The situation instantly descended into chaos as Lei Long and his forces visibly began to lose ground.
Cannonballs rained down like meteors, their flaming trails scorching the air as they hurtled toward the island.
Delia struggled to keep up, overwhelmed and pinned down by another Fifth-Tier Sequencer. Behind her, the sailors and Mermaid Warriors paled and scattered for cover.
"Sha!!"
At the critical moment, a deep rumble echoed from the seabed. The previously submerged Deep Blue Reef suddenly breached the surface.
Boom!
A tsunami surged forth, creating a towering wall of water. This marine force, far greater than Delia's, formed a sapphire-blue barrier that intercepted every cannonball.
"Ah!!"
"It's the sea beast!!"
Horrified screams pierced the air—the voices of the pirates who had dived into the sea earlier. They were now entangled in massive tentacles, their swords clattering to the seafloor.
"That damned sea beast again!" A grim-faced Sequencer on the pirate fleet's deck recognized the Ocean Overlord they had previously encountered.
Before they could react, the advancing fleet abruptly shuddered to a halt, as if mired in quicksand. Looking down, they saw a colossal whirlpool, spanning over a hundred meters, forcibly dragging the ships into its churning depths.
The sound of a conch shell echoed through the air, and countless sea beasts emerged from the depths. Sharks, sea turtles, colossal crabs, and shrimp hurled themselves at the pirate fleet with suicidal abandon, intent on shattering the wooden hulls.
"Fools!"
Witnessing this onslaught, the Blood Sea Vice Admiral on the deck sneered, his crimson aura erupting in a blinding radiance. Fleshy tendrils erupted from his body, plunging into the sea with a thunderous boom.
The hundred-meter-wide whirlpool vanished instantly, the surrounding azure waters turning pitch-black as if poisoned. A wave of corrosive energy washed over the area, rotting the flesh of the Ocean Spiral-controlled sea creatures and killing them swiftly.
"A Sixth-Tier Crimson Sequencer?" Delia's face paled. She immediately sensed the aura transcending the Fifth-Tier, a mere brush with the realm of Saints, yet undeniably Saint-level.
The fleet was on the brink of disaster.
"Sha!!"
The primordial roar erupted again. The Giant Octopus, now fully emerged from the sea, bellowed in fury. Using the pirates still entangled in its tentacles as living projectiles, it flung them toward the pirate fleet like cannonballs.
Simultaneously, an overwhelming aura, no less formidable than that of the Blood Sea Vice Admiral, erupted from the depths. The sea surged, rising dozens of meters high in a tsunami-like wave that crashed forward with thunderous force.
Boom!!
The Blood Sea Vice Admiral's tentacle assault was forcibly nullified, leaving behind a residual wave that surged onward. Weak marine creatures instinctively scattered, obeying the call of survival and avoiding unnecessary death.
This unexpected turn of events darkened the Blood Sea Vice Admiral's gaze. His face had inexplicably transformed into a grotesque octopus-like visage.
Buzz!
Crimson light flared anew as dozens of fleshy tentacles intertwined to form a living wall, blocking the remaining force of the tsunami.
The man and the beast locked in a tense standoff, prompting murmurs of awe and disbelief from the pirate fleet.
"Who would have thought the Merfolk Clan was hiding a Pseudo-Saint-level sea beast as their protector?"
A figure stepped forward, positioning himself beside the Blood Sea Vice Admiral. He was tall and powerfully built, clad in a long, gray-blue robe. As he lowered his hood, shoulder-length ash-brown hair cascaded down. Beneath triangular eyes, his middle-aged face bore two thin, knife-like scars that lent him a menacing appearance. His exposed teeth resembled jagged saw blades, their edges razor-sharp and unnervingly visible.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With a casual wave of his hand, the man sent another shockwave through the sea.
The violent tsunami unleashed by Gata shattered into layers, as if cleaved apart by invisible blades. Even a massive tentacle snapped instantly, plunging into the sea and staining the water crimson.
"It's Admiral Darkblade!" Delia, pinned down in the distance, turned pale with shock and disbelief, narrowly avoiding a blow from an enemy Fifth-Tier Pirate. She recognized this formidable pirate, a Sixth-Tier Saint of the Warrior Sequence and one of the Three Kings and Seven Generals.
Lei Long, standing beside her, also felt the overwhelming pressure emanating from the figure. His face grew grim and pale, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. He finally understood why the Blood Sea Vice Admiral commanded such a formidable force. Clearly, two of the great pirate lords had joined forces. But he couldn't fathom what the Merfolk Clan had done to provoke such powerful enemies.
Sha!!
Sensing danger, Gata hastily submerged, attempting to retreat. At the same time, it summoned high-pressure water jets that erupted from the sea like coiling dragons, streaking skyward.
But fate intervened.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every water jet was struck by invisible blades, shattering into spray. Even the seawater surrounding Gata seemed to part as if sliced, forming an Imprisoning Water Cage that trapped it in place.
Sha!!
A pained cry echoed as deep, bloody wounds appeared on Gata's tentacles, revealing the flesh beneath.
Upon closer inspection, one could see countless razor-thin, invisible threads slicing through the seawater, forming a massive, three-dimensional square cage.
Even when Gata unleashed its full power, it couldn't break through the intricate barrier of threads. In fact, its struggles only worsened its injuries.
"A Pseudo-Saint's sea beast," Admiral Darkblade remarked, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad. It will make an excellent mount."
The middle-aged admiral slowly clenched his fist.
In the next instant, the colossal three-dimensional water cage imprisoning Gata lifted from the sea surface, inexorably dragging the sea beast toward the pirate fleet.
"This is bad!" Lei Long roared from afar, his face pale and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He had been wounded in a joint attack by two Fourth-Tier pirates.
He was acutely aware of the bond between Lord Gata and Master Feng Chen.
Yet now, Lei Long himself was trapped. In the blink of an eye, he was completely encircled by a ring of scorching flames.
Simultaneously, a raging storm descended from the sky, intensifying the inferno and completely immobilizing him.
Nearby, Delia faced a similar predicament.
Her Fifth-Tier Sequencer opponent sneered coldly, his body encased in silver-white frost.
As if naturally countered, every time Delia attempted to summon the power of the ocean, the frost would solidify around her, trapping her helplessly.
Meanwhile, cannon fire rained down, wounding several Mermaid Warriors.
Scales shattered, staining the seawater crimson.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Delia gritted her teeth and unleashed another surge of water magic, propelling all the Mermaid Warriors and sailors away from the island.
"Run!"
"No! Elder Delia!!"
Panic-stricken cries erupted. The Fifth-Tier Pirate sneered coldly and immediately froze the surrounding seawater, attempting to block their escape.
But then...
Ignoring her injuries, Delia pulled a palm-sized, brown miniature ship from her robes.
"Go!"
Activating its Spirituality, the tiny vessel rapidly expanded, transforming into a colossal warship tens of meters long in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
The frozen sea shattered as the ship forcefully broke through, carrying all the Mermaid Warriors and sailors away from the island.
Delia's eyes burned with a mixture of grief and resolve. If she could preserve the Fire Seed of her clan, even her own demise would be without regret.
"An impressive Extraordinary Artifact."
"The Merfolk Clan truly possesses a wealth of treasures."
Suddenly, a cold snort shattered all hope and illusion.
Delia's expression darkened as she whirled around.
The Blood Sea Vice Admiral, clad in his brown admiral's uniform, had slipped away from the pirate fleet unnoticed and now stood nearby.
Flesh tentacles erupted from the depths, ensnaring the ships and pinning them to the sea's surface, rendering them utterly immobile.
"No!" Delia cried out in anguish, her face contorted with desperation. Those ships carried the last of her clan.
But then...
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Frost seized the opportunity, encasing her legs in icy shackles. The icy tendrils crept upward, threatening to transform her into an ice sculpture.
Boom!
On the opposite side, a wall of flame compressed and twisted into scorching ropes, binding Lei Long in their fiery embrace.
With their two strongest Sequencers neutralized, the pirates erupted in savage laughter.
"These Mermaids are quite the beauties! Finally, we can have some proper fun with them!"
"I like that blue-scaled one. She's just my type."
"And the sailors? We can sell them as slaves to the Holy Star Empire's slave city for gold!"
"Hahaha! We've struck gold!"
The pirates' deafening, gloating laughter pierced the air. Gata struggled frantically against the constricting seawater, his gaze fixed on their leering faces, but he couldn't break free.
Worse, invisible threads tightened relentlessly, slicing through his fleshy tentacles.
"Become my mount, and I'll spare your life."
"Otherwise, don't blame me for tossing you into the Sea's Eye," Admiral Darkblade threatened coldly, his eyes glinting with malice. The cubic Imprisoning Water Cage materialized before the pirate fleet.
In an instant, their desperate struggles proved futile.
Within the Merfolk ships ensnared by fleshy tentacles in the distance, the Mermaids were gripped by panic and confusion, their terror palpable. Some, overwhelmed by despair, collapsed to their knees, gazing skyward. Tears streamed down their faces as they clenched their fists, clinging to a sliver of azure sky glimpsed through the gaps in the grotesque tendrils. In their final moments, they placed their hope in that ethereal wisp of faith.
"Gods!"
"Save us, we beg you!"
Their anguished cries echoed through the air, met only by the Blood Sea Vice Admiral's disdainful sneer. The Nine True Gods had slumbered for millennia, their Apostles rare and seldom seen in the mortal realm. What chance did the insignificant Merfolk Clan have?
Boom!!!
The sky erupted with a deafening roar, as if divine fury had answered their pleas. A torrential wind pressure swept across the sea, violently reversing the clouds. The vast ocean surface buckled downward under an immeasurable divine force, crushing like a mountain.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The multi-masted pirate fleet groaned under the strain, cracks spiderwebbing across their hulls. The pirates stood frozen in shock and terror, overwhelmed by the crushing pressure. Their bodies trembled violently, their blood vessels straining to the point of bursting.
"What is this..."
Pinned in place by the divine wind, they couldn't move. Admiral Darkblade and the Blood Sea Vice Admiral stared upward, eyes wide with disbelief and apprehension.
Whoosh!!
A brilliant platinum streak tore through the heavens, plummeting like a meteor hurtling toward the earth!
A colossal object descended from the sky, a divine manifestation descending upon the world!
(End of the Chapter)
---
📖Read (MF) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c500. 🎉 [+5k]
🔑Early Access at $5.
✍Translated (6) Series, (3.6K+) Chapters, (5.1M+) Words.