Late at night, the city was silent, and most people had fallen asleep. Only the soldiers at the harbor lighthouse watchpost were still laboring through their duty.
Just as the sentry yawned, he vaguely saw several wooden ships sailing through the darkness. He rubbed his eyes and confirmed that what he saw was real. His heart tightened, and just as he was about to sound the alarm and wake the harbor guards, a large hand suddenly reached out from behind him, covered his mouth, and dragged him into the darkness.
After wiping the blood from his dagger with the soldier's clothes, the man picked up the lantern from the ground and flashed several signals toward the sea.
Seeing the signal, Redbeard's expression brightened. He immediately ordered the helmsman beside him to increase speed.
Six pirate ships successfully docked at the harbor, and the pirates disembarked one after another. A group was already waiting at the docks. When Redbeard approached, the leader stepped forward, placed a map in his hand, and said,
"I drugged the harbor guards, but there's nothing I can do about the ones in the city. Once you get inside, don't loot wildly and cause a huge commotion. I've marked several major merchant guild outposts on the map. Move quickly."
"Hehe, got it! Once I succeed, I won't forget your reward!"
The black-robed man nodded without another word, turned, and led his group away. He needed to return quickly before anyone noticed.
Redbeard did not waste any more time. After glancing at the map, he tossed it away and split his men into three groups.
"One target each. Don't get bogged down. Grab the money and goods, then run. We need to withdraw before the guards surround us."
As the pirates began moving, Guldan and his men had already hidden near the inn where Ronan's group was staying. He waited. He waited for Redbeard's actions to draw away the guards. Only once most of Whiteport's defenders were focused on Redbeard would he have a chance to succeed and escape Whiteport again.
Guldan was extremely confident in this operation. Aside from the few orc warriors he had brought into the city, he had forged orders to recruit thirty assassins hidden within Whiteport and hired more than twenty Slovak mercenaries with money.
And this was a midnight surprise attack. Caught off guard, they would surely struggle to withstand the assault.
Aside from Ronan's group, the innkeeper, and another group of travelers, everyone in the entire inn was a disguised assassin. Once Guldan began the attack, they would emerge from behind and strike Ronan's group from both sides.
But unfortunately for Guldan, while the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole waited behind. He did not know that the Xintelan Royal Guard led by Thursma had already caught up with Ronan's group and made contact with Belicha. Even Ronan did not know this. Belicha had still kept many things from him, such as his true identity.
The once-silent night became noisy. Whiteport's garrison soldiers hurriedly got up, donned their equipment, and formed their ranks. No one had expected Redbeard to dare attack a harbor with regular troops stationed there, much less that the harbor guards would show no reaction at all.
Only after the pirates broke into the merchant guild compounds and even Whiteport's Treasury Department did the guards realize what had happened. Whiteport's commander was astonished by the pirates' audacity while nervously dispatching soldiers to intercept them.
If the pirates escaped with the money they had stolen, then his head as commander would basically be forfeit as well.
Meanwhile, after receiving the signal, Guldan and his men launched their attack without hesitation. The black-robed orcs and mercenaries smashed through the inn's front doors and rushed straight into the first-floor hall.
Ronan jolted awake the moment the doors were smashed open. Hearing the commotion outside, he grabbed the Starfall Katana from beside his bed, put on his shoes, and rushed out of his room.
The corridor was in chaos. Ronan's subordinates were locked in battle with a group of black-robed men. Having been forced into battle in haste and without armor, they were clearly at a disadvantage, and many had already been wounded.
Ronan drew his blade and blocked the longsword swung at him by a black-robed man. He then shoved the man hard against the wall and thrust his blade through his heart.
He pulled out his sword and let the corpse slide limply down the wall. Ronan turned as he heard movement from the stairs.
"Shit!"
At that moment, a longsword suddenly pierced through a tightly shut door, stabbing straight through a black-robed man's body.
The door then opened, and several elven Knights in green armor charged out. The same happened in another room.
Belicha also rushed out at that moment, holding a longsword.
"They're the Xintelan Royal Guard. Leave this place to us, Ronan. Go hold the stairs!"
Without time to think about anything else, Ronan gave a shout and led his men toward the stairs.
"Everyone else, protect Daisy. Nord, come downstairs with me!"
The orcs and mercenaries who had rushed into the inn were climbing up the stairs. The staircase was narrow, so they could only ascend one at a time.
Ronan snatched a shield from a Nord guard, raised it, and charged toward the stairs.
They met midway up the staircase. Startled, the black-robed mercenary swung his blade, but it struck Ronan's shield. Ronan shoved him hard, and the mercenary lost his footing, fell backward into the people behind him, and sent them tumbling back like dominoes.
They crashed back onto the first floor in a tangled heap. As the black-robed men struggled to rise, Ronan led the Nords down the stairs. He returned the shield to the Nord guard and immediately began fighting the enemies.
The black-robed men numbered more than twice as many as Ronan and the Nords, yet they did not put much pressure on Ronan. Apart from a few large figures with tremendous strength, the others were not particularly capable fighters.
Ronan kicked the groin of a black-robed man in front of him. As the man instinctively doubled over, Ronan slashed upward and cut open his throat.
He then grabbed the corpse and used it as a shield to block another man's incoming longsword. Pushing forward with all his strength, he drove the man all the way to the wall of the inn's hall, then thrust his blade through the corpse's chest and into the black-robed man pinned against the wall.
He ducked beneath a swinging broadsword, then pulled his katana from the bodies skewered on it, spun around, and slashed across the thigh of the tall black-robed man behind him, carving a deep wound.
As the man cried out in pain, Ronan stepped into his guard, gripped the sword with both hands, and thrust it upward into the enemy's chin.
As he pulled out his sword, he removed the man's mask, revealing dark brown skin and a face with two tusks protruding past his lips.
"Orcs. As expected, Moran's assassins. But how did they get in? Whiteport's guards are terrible. And we've been fighting this fiercely for nearly ten minutes, yet there hasn't been any response at all."
In truth, Whiteport's guards were already overwhelmed. They were pursuing and intercepting the slippery bandits throughout the city, but they simply could not stop them. The pirates were about to escape to the harbor. Once they boarded ships there, they would truly be impossible to catch.
Judging from the flames and thick smoke rising from the harbor, the reserve ships left there had likely all been burned. The main fleet was still out on patrol and could not return anytime soon.
One chapter owed from yesterday (°з°)-
Before you continue