Clooney stood tall, his posture rigid and proud, raising both hands above his head in an eerie, exaggerated gesture. His fingers curled into a strange, contorted pose.
"Iragud... Ne... Will...""Secret Master... Dales... Alcontias..."
He muttered an ancient and indecipherable chant under his breath. As the words spilled from his lips, a dark green vortex of swirling chaos began to take shape above his palms, spinning slowly with ominous force.
The moment this dreadful energy began to manifest, the air around him warped. The atmosphere grew heavy, and even the fabric of space itself seemed to twist.
Waves surged violently around the ship. The sea roared as the pirate vessel rocked wildly, threatening to break apart under the strain.
"W-Wait, President! If you use that magic now, we... we won't have time to escape!"
"Please! At least let us get free from these bindings first!"
"Dammit! What are those three glowing blades? Why can't I shake them off?!"
The panicked cries of the restrained pirates echoed across the deck. Their bodies trembled with fear as they writhed against the magical restraints pinning them down.
They knew all too well what Clooney's magic was capable of and it terrified them. Desperation surged through them as they poured every last drop of magic power into their limbs, trying to break free and fling themselves into the ocean before it was too late.
But no matter how fiercely they struggled, it was all in vain.
On the opposite side of the deck, Chase gently set down his teacup and rose to his feet. His eyes narrowed slightly, and the relaxed expression on his face faded into a look of solemn determination.
He hadn't been mistaken. That strange magic Clooney used earlier the one that silently erased his sniper bullet was unmistakable. It was identical to the technique used by Minerva from Sabertooth.
Yes… it was that ancient, long-lost magic.
The magic of the Eighteen Battle Gods of Evil!
"The plan has entered its final phase," Clooney growled, flashing a wicked grin. "As long as I capture Chase, the rest of you worthless fools will be of no use."
Despite the desperate cries from his underlings begging him to hold back, Clooney showed no hesitation. With a sinister glint in his eyes, he brought his palms together, forming a seal, and locked his gaze on Chase, who stood behind the elven swordsman. He uttered the final words of the incantation.
"Ah Gude Igula!"
Chase moved in a flash.
He triggered the trap he had secretly placed at his feet.
Boom!
In the next instant, space itself seemed to rupture. A compressed torrent of spatial magic erupted like a volcano, sending a blinding beam of energy roaring skyward.
The sheer force of the blast surged outward in all directions, tearing across the sea. Waves exploded into the air, rising like walls of water. The magnitude of the shockwave was so intense that even merchant ships anchored a hundred meters away were rocked by the blast. Cargo crates toppled over. Ship equipment cracked and splintered.
Ina and the others clung desperately to the masts and railings of their vessel. Their knuckles turned white from the force, their eyes wide with horror as they stared at the pirate ship, now completely engulfed in the towering column of light.
They had never witnessed such a devastating level of magic before. It was beyond anything they had imagined.
Their minds went blank.
All they could do was pray silently in their hearts, hoping that Mr. Chase had survived.
Though the terrifying pillar of light lasted only a dozen seconds, to them, it felt as if an entire hour had passed.
As the blinding beam of light slowly faded and the roar of magic died down, a heavy silence settled over the sea.
When the light finally cleared, what remained was a scene of utter devastation.
The once-mighty pirate ship, clad in dark armor, now lay in ruins. Its hull was splintered, the towering mast had toppled, and the glowing magic arrays on either side had been completely destroyed. Only a broken half of the ship's frame still floated, bobbing helplessly on the churning waves.
Not a single pirate remained.
Every one of them had vanished scattered to the sea as dust.
"Where are Mr. Chase and Clooney?"
Ina and the other two crew members frantically searched the wreckage, eyes darting across the floating debris. Then, at the very front of the shattered bow, they spotted two figures.
Their hearts skipped a beat.
The next second, their pupils dilated in shock, and their faces froze in disbelief.
There stood Chase, arms calmly crossed over his chest. His sleeveless cloak fluttered slightly in the sea breeze, still crisp and spotless. He looked completely unharmed, as if he hadn't just survived one of the most destructive spells they had ever seen.
Beside him, Clooney was in a pitiful state. The once-fearsome pirate leader was now a battered wreck. His arms hung limp at his sides, drenched in blood, with no uninjured spot visible on his body. Wounds crisscrossed his frame, and his chest rose and fell with painful, labored breaths.
He looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
What... what just happened?
It wasn't just Ina and the others who were left stunned.
Clooney himself was overcome by a roar of fear from deep within his heart.
The moment he had unleashed the magic of the Eighteen Battle Gods of Evil, he'd caught a glimpse just for an instant of a glowing energy barrier shimmering in front of Chase.
Then, without warning, his devastating attack had been reflected straight back at him.
"Cards?! Another cursed card?!"
Clooney screamed hoarsely, his voice raw with pain and his throat thick with blood and foam. He glared at Chase with wide, bloodshot eyes.
"Congratulations," Chase replied coolly, a small, amused smile tugging at his lips. "You guessed it."
With a sharp snap of his fingers, a card rose slowly from the ground in front of him. Its surface gleamed in the sunlight as it revealed its name and effect.
[Trap Card: Holy Shield – Mirror Power]A powerful mirror barrier that blocks incoming attacks and fully reflects them. The stronger the opponent's magic, the more magic it drains from the user until the limit is surpassed.
The calm demeanor Chase had displayed earlier sipping tea while chaos brewed on the pirate ship hadn't been arrogance or carelessness.
Quite the opposite.
From deploying the Holy Light Sealing Swords that pinned down the pirates, to summoning the elven swordsman who stood guard at his side…
Every move had been part of a carefully laid plan.
All of it was preparation.
All of it was to set his trap cards in place.
Because the power of Holy Shield – Mirror Power was immense, even for Chase, activating it required a lengthy incantation and precise preparation.
That was why, from the very moment he saw Clooney erase his sniper bullet with the magic of the Eighteen Battle Gods, Chase had already started to formulate a plan.
And that plan was tied to the words he had spoken before the battle began.
There was "something that needed to be confirmed."
As expected, Clooney had walked straight into his trap.
Poetic justice.
"What a shame," Chase thought to himself with a silent sigh. "Those pirates were just pawns… bargaining chips for demanding ransom from the Council."
Still, it didn't really matter.
This group had rampaged through the seas pillaging, murdering, and leaving chaos in their wake. Honest merchants like Lambert had died at their hands. Their fate was well deserved.
And besides...
The real threat was still standing.
Chase turned his gaze toward Clooney, who looked like he was barely holding himself together, trembling with fury and frustration.
"Still want to keep going, President Clooney?" he asked calmly.
As he spoke, light began to gather once more around his body. The undead elven swordsman appeared again, summoned to his side like a silent sentinel.
Clooney let out a low, bitter laugh.
"Hah... I can clearly feel it. Your aura... it's unstable now."
"That card you just used must have drained a huge amount of your magic power, hasn't it?"
Clooney let out a cold, guttural laugh. Blood still trickled down his raised right arm, but that didn't stop him from conjuring another spell. A swirling vortex of chaotic energy began to twist slowly in the air around him.
He still had magic left to fight.
Chase, unfazed, didn't bother responding with words. Instead, he gave a subtle nod to the elven swordsman beside him.
The swordsman instantly understood.
With a flash of light and the grace of a trained warrior, the undead elf surged forward, blade poised to strike.
"You really think I can't handle this second-rate swordsman?!"
Clooney's furious roar echoed across the broken deck as he swept his arm forward. The space around the elven swordsman immediately warped, contorting into a dark green spiral of distorted magic.
The swordsman's blade swung with elegance and speed, but it was no use. His body was pulled into the vortex and vanished dragged into a separate dimension, severed from this reality.
"Unless he's truly indestructible... I didn't expect you to be so talented with cards," Clooney sneered.
Chase simply clapped lightly, as if impressed by a street performance.
"If you're going to ramble, you should probably worry about yourself first."
Clooney's eyes filled with murderous intent.
He ignored the vanished swordsman and began walking toward Chase, his boots creaking against the shattered wooden planks of the ruined ship.
To him, this was his moment.
In Clooney's view, card wizards were entirely dependent on their spell cards. Their physical strength was laughable, barely worth considering.
Even if he was covered in wounds and bleeding from head to toe while Chase looked untouched he believed it didn't matter.
As long as there was no blasted swordsman in his way, Clooney was confident he could crush this smug card user with nothing more than brute force.
Three punches. Maybe two.
This was his advantage.
His chance to turn the tide.
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