Flames burst around him, and the cloud that Mr. Zank had worked so hard to create exploded into a sky full of mist when Coral gave it the gentlest bump.
Coral kept to its original course and charged straight toward the pirate flagship. It slammed into the center of the deck, smashing through the hard planks before disappearing from sight.
Using the mist as cover, Liam jumped down from Coral's back first. Before his feet touched the deck, he activated Stealth, then landed lightly at the bow, waiting for Coral to deal with a few enemy ships and come back for him.
But the deck shuddered violently beneath his feet. The great ship lurched, then let out a teeth-grating creak as it slowly began to sink. At that rate, even if the pirates took measures to keep it afloat, the whole ship would be underwater in less than twenty minutes. By then, it wouldn't even be worth salvaging.
Meanwhile, Coral—the culprit—burst out of the water, wrapped in steam. It looked like this was his first time in the water since hatching, and he'd clearly taken on quite a bit of water. The fact that he was now just flying circles around the four remaining escort ships showed that there was no chance he'd launch another suicidal attack.
Liam glanced over, then focused his attention on the mage nearby. Although the mage looked as panicked as everyone else, Liam had noticed him make a subtle movement the instant he landed on the deck: he'd retreated half a step and positioned himself against the ship's rail.
That move made it clear the man had plenty of combat experience. He'd also spotted Liam right away, and whether or not he was setting a trap, he was certainly on guard now.
"Come out, kid. The ship's about to sink anyway. If you keep hiding, I won't hesitate to drop a Blizzard on your head."
As Mr. Zank spoke, he lifted a hand slightly. A shield shimmering with an azure light appeared in front of him, then vanished. In its place, a faint glow surrounded him, reflecting the bright sunlight like ice crystals.
Mages didn't unleash earth-shattering spells the moment a fight began. Spells that required a lengthy incantation were useless in actual combat. But they did have a set of "simplified" spells. As he'd just shown, if Mr. Zank wanted to test Liam's location, he could easily conjure a Blizzard that covered the entire bow. Once attacked, Liam would have little chance of remaining in Stealth.
The Ice Shield he'd just cast was also a simplified spell. If he gathered his mana and cast it properly, he could cover a much larger area with shields. For someone at the Hero tier, enveloping the entire ship beneath their feet in Ice Shield would be no challenge.
After all that, though, Mr. Zank had only been bluffing to draw Liam out. He'd seen a young man jump off the Phoenix's back, but had no idea where Liam was hiding. Unless he resorted to indiscriminately scouring the entire deck with attacks, finding Liam would be extremely difficult. The two of them would have to remain at a standoff.
Unexpectedly, Liam simply revealed himself right in front of the mage. Even an old hand like Mr. Zank was taken aback. It was the first time he'd ever encountered a rogue who had stepped out into the open to fight a mage.
To Mr. Zank, giving up the initiative like that was a rookie mistake. And anyone who had an ancient divine beast like a Phoenix for a bodyguard clearly came from a distinguished family. He'd already made up his mind: he couldn't kill this man, but he could capture him and squeeze a hefty ransom out of him!
Liam hadn't had any particular reason for revealing himself. An ambush on a mid-tier mage might force him to use Blink at most, and even that was unlikely. The conditions for pulling it off would be extremely demanding, too.
Rather than let the mage knock him out of Stealth, Liam figured he might as well come out in the open. In such a cramped space, the mage's mobility was severely limited. And after casting two major spells in a row, the man had almost exhausted his mana. Liam had only one thought now: Take him down!
Unlike other rogues, Liam didn't need to get close to Mr. Zank to attack. With a flick of his wrist, Queen Killer appeared in his hand. Before Mr. Zank could react, Liam fired. The iron pellet tore through the air and struck him in the chest. A thunderous gunshot rang out, mixed with the sound of impact and shattering crystal, echoing into the distance.
"So this kind of firepower still isn't quite enough against a mid-tier mage..."
Liam looked at Mr. Zank's chest. A fist-sized patch of cracks had appeared in the Ice Shield there, clearly caused by the shot.
Liam was less than satisfied with the damage, but Mr. Zank was utterly stunned!
For one thing, he'd seen plenty of rogues who used firearms, especially among pirates, but almost none of them fired right away. Most of their guns could only shoot once, and only a few double-barreled ones could fire twice. Such precious shots were supposed to be saved for the decisive moment. Who would waste one like that?
Then there was the power of the shot!
Mr. Zank had already given Liam's abilities as much credit as he could, but clearly, he still hadn't expected enough. Looking at the dented steel pellet that had fallen from his chest, he immediately realized that Liam's firearm was no ordinary weapon.
"An ordinary steel pellet, and it still hits that hard..." A gleam flashed in Mr. Zank's eyes as he stared greedily at Queen Killer in Liam's hand, forcing back the blood that had nearly spilled from his mouth. He leveled his staff, and with a flash of blue light, Ice Lance formed and shot toward Liam.
The shot had injured him badly. He abandoned the Frostbolt he'd originally intended to cast and switched to the easier Ice Lance instead.
Facing the spell flying straight at him, Liam didn't dodge. He charged forward, swinging the longsword at his waist in an upward slash that cut away half the long icicle. The remaining half kept flying and struck him in the shoulder.
The Ice Lance didn't do much damage, but a layer of frost quickly formed over the shoulder it hit. Liam could feel that his left shoulder had become noticeably less mobile. That was the worst sort of problem to face in a fight!
But after taking the hit, Liam had already closed in on Mr. Zank. Now it was his turn to strike!
Before you continue