Battle Against "Ice Mage" [Seeking Recommendations]

Flames erupted around his body, yet the cloud that Zank had painstakingly conjured was blasted into a sky full of mist by a single, light collision from Coral.

Coral maintained its trajectory, diving straight toward the pirate flagship. It slammed into the center of the deck, its massive body shattering the reinforced planks before vanishing from sight.

Liam, meanwhile, had taken advantage of the mist to drop from Coral's back a moment earlier. Before his feet even touched the deck, Liam activated stealth and landed lightly on the bow, waiting for Coral to finish off a few enemy ships before returning to retrieve him.

However, a violent tremor shook the deck beneath his feet. Liam felt the massive ship shudder intensely, followed by a teeth-gritting screech of metal as it began to sink slowly. Judging by the rate of descent, even if the pirates took anti-sinking measures, the entire ship would be at the bottom of the sea within twenty minutes, leaving nothing worth salvaging.

As for the culprit, Coral burst out of the water wrapped in steam. Judging by its demeanor, this was likely its first time in the water since birth, and it had been thoroughly choked. The fact that it only flew erratically around the remaining four escort ships suggested that getting it to perform such a suicidal attack again was likely impossible.

Liam only glanced that way once before shifting his focus to the mage nearby. He could tell that although the mage was as panicked as the others, he had made an imperceptible, tiny movement the moment Liam landed on the deck, stepping back half a step to lean against the ship's railing.

From this action, it was clear that this man was highly experienced in combat and had spotted Liam immediately. Even if he wasn't setting a trap, he was certainly on his guard.

"Kid, come out. The ship is going to sink soon anyway. If you keep hiding, I don't mind dropping a Blizzard on your head."

As Zank spoke, he raised his hand slightly. A shield shimmering with azure brilliance manifested before him before dissipating. In its place, a faint luster appeared around his body, reflecting the dazzling sunlight like ice crystals.

Mages in personal combat don't always start with earth-shattering moves like the one just now; spells requiring long incantations are useless in real combat. However, they possess a set of "simplified" spells. Just like now, if Zank wanted to probe Liam's position, he could effortlessly create a Blizzard covering the entire bow, leaving Liam with no possibility of maintaining his stealth state.

The Ice Shield he had just cast was also a simplified spell. If he concentrated his mana, he could cast it over a wider range of targets; if he were a Hero-tier entity, wrapping the entire ship beneath their feet in an Ice Shield would be no difficult task.

But for all that, Zank's words were merely a bluff to flush Liam out. He had indeed seen a young man jump off the back of the Phoenix, but he had no idea where Liam was hiding. Unless he risked an indiscriminate attack to plow through the entire deck, finding Liam would be extremely difficult, and the two could only remain in a standoff.

Unexpectedly, however, Liam revealed his form directly in front of the mage. Such an action surprised even an old hand like Zank, as this was the first time he had encountered a rogue who would openly reveal himself to fight a mage.

In Zank's eyes, abandoning the advantage of a surprise attack was a sign of inexperience, and carrying an ancient mythical beast like a Phoenix as a bodyguard clearly indicated a prestigious background. Zank had made up his mind: this person could not be killed, but he would capture him and make a fortune!

In truth, Liam had no special plan in mind by revealing himself. Ambushing a mid-tier mage would, at best, force the opponent to use a Blink, and even that minimum requirement was unlikely to be met, with the conditions being extremely harsh.

Rather than being forced out of stealth by the opponent, it was better to stand out generously. In such a confined space, the mage's mobility was severely restricted, and the man before him had nearly exhausted his mana after two consecutive large-scale spells. Liam had only one thought in his mind—take him down!

Unlike other rogues, Liam did not need to get close to Zank to launch an attack. With a backhand motion, Queen Killer appeared in his grip. To Zank's astonishment, Liam fired a shot. The refined iron projectile, wreathed in a shockwave, struck Zank directly in the chest. A thunderous gunshot rang out, mingled with the sound of impact and shattering crystals, carrying far across the water.

"It seems this level of lethality is still somewhat insufficient against a mid-tier mage..."

Liam looked at Zank's chest, where the faintly shimmering Ice Shield now bore a fist-sized web of cracks, clearly the damage caused by the shot.

Liam was somewhat dissatisfied with the damage, but Zank was completely stunned!

First, he had seen many rogues use firearms, especially among pirates, but almost none would open a fight with one. These fellows' muskets usually only fired once, with only a few double-barreled ones capable of consecutive shots. Such precious firing opportunities were always reserved for the final blow to secure victory; no one would waste them like this.

Secondly, there was the power of that shot!

Zank had tried his best to overestimate Liam's methods, but it was clear his estimate was still too low. Looking at the flattened steel projectile that had slid off his chest, Zank immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of Liam's firearm.

"To produce such force even with ordinary steel bullets..." Zank's eyes flashed with greed as he stared at the Queen Killer in Liam's hand, suppressing the blood that nearly rose to his throat. He leveled his staff, a blue light flashed, and a Frostbolt condensed and shot toward Liam.

That shot had caused him significant injury, and the Frostbolt he had originally intended to cast was abandoned in favor of the easier-to-cast Ice Lance.

Facing the incoming spell, Liam did not dodge or retreat but met it head-on. He swung his longsword from his waist, a rising slash that sheared the long ice pillar in half. The remaining half, however, lost none of its momentum and still struck Liam on the shoulder.

The Ice Lance didn't deal much damage, but a layer of frost rapidly formed on his struck shoulder. Liam could clearly feel that his left shoulder was significantly less agile than before—this was the worst situation to deal with in combat!

However, having endured the hit, Liam had already lunged into Zank's personal space. Now, it was time for his counterattack!