Rainbow Under Blood

Thud! Thud! Thud!

More than a dozen short arrows shot rapidly toward Arro, but he blocked every one of them. They struck the wooden board with crisp clacks.

Meanwhile, Arro had already successfully drawn near.

That brief delay was enough for countless grappling hooks to have already caught along the deck's edge. More than a dozen sturdy, bare-chested pirates, short knives clenched between their teeth, climbed swiftly upward like a troop of nimble monkeys. Several even had massive arm-thick ropes coiled around their waists.

Holding up the wooden board, Arro quickly glanced sideways. Relying on his powerful reactions, he rapidly calculated the result.

The pirate on the third rope from the right was climbing the fastest!

"Ha!"

The Knight's Longsword chopped down upon the grappling hook's rope, and the strange feel of it made Arro's expression shift slightly.

It was a rope made by drying and twisting cowhide, soaking it in oil, drying it repeatedly, then binding it together with force in alternating layers!

That was the very method used to make leather armor, yet it had been used to make grappling hook ropes!

The rope was extremely resistant to chopping, though it was not much tougher than ordinary rope against cutting. But at a time like this, who had the leisure to slowly saw through it?

"Rush up and kill them!"

"Kill! For the Knight's Potion!"

"For pretty wives!"

The pirates' frenzied cries were already close at hand!

Creak, creak!

The climbing pirates kept exerting force, and the grappling hooks scraped fine scratch marks into the hardwood deck.

Hearing the sound, Arro glanced over from the corner of his eye. He was about to turn his head when an unexpected discovery filled him with delight.

The hooks themselves were pitch-black, yet they had merely been forged from pig iron!

The Knight's Longsword in Arro's hand was the finest item in all of Grandfather's collection. It might not slice iron like mud, but hacking through pig iron would be no harder than cutting hardwood.

Clang!

The Knight's Longsword whistled sharply through the air and slashed swiftly into the grappling hook before him.

Whoosh!

The headless length of rope, along with a chunk of pig iron, snapped away and nearly struck Arro beside it.

"Aah!"

A pirate's desperate scream came from outside the ship. Before long, a heavy collision followed.

Bang!

Thinking of the thick ropes tied around their waists, Arro guessed that the sound had come from that pirate crashing into the hull of their own ship.

Given the current distance between the two ships, an ordinary person falling from mid-air onto a ship's hull would be dead—or at least half dead. It seemed that as long as he severed more grappling hooks, he could swiftly weaken the pirates' strength!

With the wooden board held before him, Arro moved with quick footsteps, continuously chopping at different grappling hooks.

The hooks were anchored in different places. Some had looped around the mast several times after being thrown up, making it useless to simply cut the hook free. Arro did not force the issue. He only targeted those hooks that had not been securely caught, hoping to reduce the number of pirates climbing aboard as quickly as possible.

At that moment, several other young men had also grabbed wooden boards and rushed forward. Yet their weapons and strength were insufficient to repeatedly sever grappling hooks.

After hacking twice more at the cowhide ropes and finding that they had achieved nothing at all, they were briefly at a loss.

Having just looked up, Arro noticed their situation and hurriedly shouted, "Quick! Take long weapons and stab down the pirates who are about to climb up!"

"Oh, right!"

Only then did the young men come to their senses. They hurriedly turned around, raised their boards haphazardly, and charged toward the deck's edge.

Since quite a few pirates were already about to climb onto the deck, the barrage of short arrows had stopped as well. That was the only reason the rash young men were not struck by arrows.

Though the young men were not very old, the island's living conditions had always been chaotic. They had long since grown accustomed to life and death. Gripping spears and short staffs, every one of them struck with decisive ruthlessness.

"Kill!"

"Aahhh!"

"Die!"

Blood splashed, staining the young men's tender faces red. The intermittent screams and crashing sounds testified to their gains.

But that situation did not last long. Soon, a trainee behind them cried out in despair, "The pirates are aboard!"

As the first pirate rushed onto the deck, it was like a breach had been torn open. More and more pirates surged up after him.

"Hahaha! Kill!"

"Get up there, hurry!"

"Pull the ropes! Pull the ropes!"

The pirates cheered in unison, all manner of clamor rising without end.

"You little brats think you can stop me? Die!"

How could these half-grown young men withstand the pirates' assault? One young man retreated just a fraction too slowly, and his tender head was immediately severed.

Whoosh!

Bright red blood sprayed several yards into the air!

The spraying blood fell like a light rain, slowly dripping down as it painted a cruel crimson ribbon across the sky.

A vibrant life was slipping away.

The pirates continued their pursuit. These half-grown young men were fighting aboard a ship for the first time—how could they outrun those dark-faced pirates?

"Aah!"

"It hurts!"

"Don't kill me!"

The various screams, mixed with the shrieks of cowards, only further stirred the pirates' cruel emotions.

"This feels good!"

"Don't steal him, he's mine!"

"Oh? There are women too!"

"Get lost! Don't fight me for her—I'm going to cut open her belly!"

Amid savage grins, blood splashed everywhere. Internal organs and severed limbs flew through the air. The small groups waiting in the rear immediately pressed forward, their densely raised spears and long staffs barely managing to squeeze the pirates into this corner.

At that moment, a pirate who had just climbed onto the deck spotted Arro and immediately shouted, "Over here! There's someone still cutting the grappling hooks!"

"Another little brat! This one's mine!"

With Cat Form Fist - Dash active, Arro immediately sensed something flying toward him. His heart jolted, and he exerted force through his legs, maintaining his balance as he swiftly shifted sideways.

Thud!

A short spear embedded itself in the wooden wall, its tail still trembling slightly.

I had wanted to cut a few more grappling hooks and reduce the number of pirates coming up afterward.

But it looks like I can only fight now.

Still, in this situation, whether I cut the hooks or not no longer makes much difference.

Thinking this, Arro swiftly turned around.

He pushed the Dash skill to its limit. Every faint movement around him continuously entered his awareness. Holding his breath and focusing, he activated his Nerve Reflex to the fullest, and the scenery around him gradually slowed in his eyes.

His body crouched slightly—then he raised his sword.

Advanced Skill—Thrust!

His rear leg drove forward, his body stretched open, and the longsword shot out.

The sword in Arro's hand seemed to teleport, crossing nearly three meters in the blink of an eye.

Advanced Skill—Upswing!

The simplest of moves became lethally dazzling in Arro's hands.

The sword light flashed past. The pirate's belly split open, blood and pink intestines spilling out together.

Thump!

The pirate fell to the ground, clutching his stomach and howling in agony.

"Aaaaaah—!"

Since he had already acted, Arro had never intended to conceal himself. He had deliberately not aimed at the pirate's throat with that strike. He was creating wounded men. With the sensing ability granted by Cat Form Fist - Tree Climbing, he could be certain that his previous strike had severed the pirate's spinal cord. That pirate had already lost the ability to move!

"What are you screaming for?"

Whoosh!

A blade flashed, and a head flew into the air. The pirates' expressions became even more frenzied as they bared cruel smiles and stared bloodthirstily at Arro.

Arro's eyebrows lifted slightly. His plan had unexpectedly fallen through!

"Go! Kill him!"

A Minor Leader immediately gave the order, and the surrounding pirates charged at Arro without the slightest fear.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

"Kill!"

Every object on the deck was put to use by the pirates. One pirate even grabbed a rope from the mast and, like a leaping monkey, swung an axe at Arro.

Oh?

They could do that too?

Master Level Cat Form Fist - Dash gave Arro the sensation of having eyes all around his head. Every sight in the surroundings entered his mind.

With his formidable reflexes, Arro swiftly spotted a flaw in their encirclement.

The ground!

"Trash, die!"

He lowered his head and bent down, gripping the sword hilt with both hands as he swept the blade in a half-circle!

Advanced Skill—Slash!

"Aah!"

The sword light flashed past. Like chopping carrots, Arro's strike directly severed seven thighs while avoiding the axe chopping down from mid-air.

Why an odd number?

Because the last pirate had dodged half a step away at the final moment.

"Die!"

The pirate falling toward Arro wore an especially savage expression as he thrust his short spear toward the back of Arro's head.

But how could he possibly hit Arro at the speed of his fall?

Moreover, without his legs to generate force, how could the momentum of his fall alone possibly contend with Arro?

Advanced Skill—Block!

Clang!

The Knight's Longsword slashed out along the motion!

Whoosh!

Spraying hot blood drenched Arro from head to toe.

His left hand swiftly seized the short spear, preventing the pirate from launching a dying counterattack. At the same time, he pushed against the pirate's body and rose to his feet.

"Get lost!"

With a furious shout, every muscle in his body bulged. Using the corpse as a shield to block the following attacks, Arro leaped in the same motion to the railing at the deck's edge.

"Pull! Pull harder!"

On the pirate ship, the One-Eyed Captain was shouting encouragement. The distance between the two ships was steadily shrinking. From the corner of his eye, Arro saw several pirates aboard their ship lifting an enormous wooden ladder fitted with hooks.

A Siege Ladder?

No wonder they had kept drawing the two ships closer. They had something like this too.

But why not use rope ladders?

Arro had no time to concern himself with that, because seven or eight pirates had already set their sights on him.

"Surround him!"

"Careful! Don't let him jump into the sea!"

"No, let him jump! Let's see where he thinks he can swim to!"

Jump into the sea?

Wasn't that just waiting to die?

Ignoring them, Arro ran rapidly along the narrow deck railing.

His Agility was not low either, but the pirates were tall and powerfully built. Though their stride frequency was slower than Arro's, each of their steps covered One Third more distance than his. Added to the fact that he could not build up speed on the narrow railing, the gap between them was closing.

"You little bastard, stop! Let your grandfather dig out your guts!"

"Run faster, or I'm going to catch you!"

Whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh!

The pirates continued shouting provocations on the surface, but secretly hurled all kinds of weapons.

Throwing knives, short spears, spiked balls!

One sinister trick followed another!

Yet Arro seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. Even while running with his back to them, he easily dodged every attack.

Close!

Arro watched the mast steadily approaching and recalled every detail of the deck.

That mast was only a little over a meter from the deck railing. He could easily jump to it. Once there, all he needed was to climb two meters up before leaping onto the high platform on the other side!

Now!

Arro narrowed his eyes. His left hand tightened around the Knight's Lance as his body swiftly rose into the air. As he neared the mast, his right hand slid forward like a swimming snake and swiftly wrapped around it. Pressing close to the mast, he crossed his legs, and his body clung directly to its shaft.