"Heh, I..." Lancelot smiled and began to introduce himself, but before he could get more than a few words out, Sea Wolf raised his hand and fired a crossbow bolt straight at the spot between his eyebrows. Startled, Lancelot hurriedly twisted aside. The bolt swept past the tip of his nose with a chill and buried itself deep in the eye socket of a naval soldier behind him. The soldier screamed and collapsed, twitching twice. He clearly wasn't going to survive.
"Ha! Not bad! But you're still too green! So what if you're a genius? You're still getting your ass handed to you by me!" Laughing wildly, Sea Wolf brandished his curved saber and slashed relentlessly at Lancelot.
"You're despicable!" Lancelot's carelessness had allowed Sea Wolf to seize the initiative. He hadn't even managed to pick up the broadsword planted in the deck before Sea Wolf forced him to fight barehanded. Furious, Lancelot shouted at him.
"Despicable? Ha! I call it tactics! Learn from this, kid!" Rather than getting angry at the insult, Sea Wolf grew even more pleased with himself.
No wonder this guy leads a pirate crew! He doesn't care about rules-he just does whatever works. What a sneaky bastard! Zhang Yao thought as he watched the two fighting above him. Lancelot lost the initiative, and now he doesn't even have a weapon. His chances don't look good! Should I leave? Once Sea Wolf beats him, getting away won't be so easy!
By now, Zhang Yao could tell that the Sea Wolf Pirates and the Dora Merchant Alliance's naval forces were evenly matched. If they kept fighting, both sides would only suffer heavy losses. Everything now hinged on the battle between their leaders. Whichever side won would receive a huge boost in morale and take the battle in one decisive push.
Sea Wolf already had the advantage. From the looks of things, victory was only a matter of time. Zhang Yao therefore prepared to retreat first. Otherwise, once the pirates launched a full-scale counterattack, there was a good chance they would discover him, and then he would be in danger. He planned to go back and find Luo De. After all, he couldn't pick off any easy targets here, and he was still 100 experience short of leveling up. That made Luo De's 200 experience especially important now.
Bzz! Just as Zhang Yao was about to slip away, a sudden roar filled his ears. His heart pounded so violently that it felt ready to burst. An overwhelmingly powerful aura erupted from above, pinning him in place as though an enormous mountain had fallen on him. With difficulty, Zhang Yao turned his head toward its source.
Lancelot? Lancelot!
The one releasing that tremendous aura was none other than Lancelot, who had been taking a beating from Sea Wolf just moments before. A faint white glow now shrouded his entire body, and his golden hair stirred without wind. Combined with his already handsome features, it made him look like a sun god.
Not a single person around Lancelot could remain upright. They all lay prostrate, pressed against the deck and unable to move. Even Sea Wolf, the powerful pirate captain, was no exception. Though he gritted his teeth and tried to stand, all his efforts were futile before that overwhelming aura.
"Impossible! Impossible! How can you be a Heaven Tier expert? Impossible!" Sea Wolf's eyes bulged until they seemed about to bleed. Fighting against the immense pressure, he used every ounce of his strength to roar in disbelief.
"Nothing in this world is impossible," Lancelot said calmly. Set against the aura surrounding him, that calm became an air of serene detachment, giving him a captivating presence. Had there been any women nearby, they would surely have screamed.
"All right, Captain Sea Wolf. It's time to send you on your way! Don't worry, you won't be lonely. I'll send your crew down to keep you company soon enough!" The previously calm Lancelot suddenly became cold as ice. A chill that struck deep into the heart mingled with his aura and spread outward, making things even harder for everyone already struggling beneath its pressure.
Lancelot raised his hand, and a semicircular blade of battle energy instantly tore through the air, whistling toward the prone Sea Wolf.
"Lancelot! Fuck your ancestors!" Despair filled Sea Wolf's eyes as he watched the blade of battle energy hurtle toward him. Unwilling to accept his fate, he cursed Lancelot and summoned all his battle energy for one final struggle. Perhaps human potential truly was limitless. Just as the blade was about to strike, Sea Wolf miraculously rolled over, avoiding the fatal blow. Of course, he had only avoided being killed, not evaded the attack entirely. The blade sliced off his saber-wielding right arm as easily as cutting tofu.
Perhaps because Sea Wolf had dodged his supposedly certain killing blow, Lancelot felt a moment of surprise. That surprise caused his aura to falter, and everyone who had been struggling to breathe beneath its pressure suddenly felt the weight ease.
"Lancelot, even if I die, I won't let you have your way! Hahaha!" Taking advantage of Lancelot's surprise and the brief easing of his aura, Sea Wolf used every last bit of strength to roll sideways, straight off the deck and toward the sea. Still in midair, he laughed and shouted at Lancelot.
Splash! Sea Wolf fell into the sea. A few waves washed over him, and he vanished without a trace.
"Hmph!" Lancelot watched Sea Wolf plunge into the sea without stopping him or giving chase. Instead, he gave a soft, cold snort and told his men, "Take down the pirates on the other side, quickly! And send a squad down to recover Sea Wolf's body!" With that, Lancelot pulled his broadsword out of the deck, turned back toward his own ship, and walked straight into the cabin alone.
The entire battlefield was silent. No one dared to stop Lancelot. The naval soldiers gazed at their commander with utter adoration. The pirates had already been terrified into silence by his might. After seeing the captain they believed invincible defeated with a mere wave of Lancelot's hand, they were even more frightened. Many stood frozen in a daze.
Bang! The cabin door slammed shut. As though it were a signal, the naval soldiers charged at the pirates with wild cries, while the pirates began fleeing in panic.
Listening to the sounds of battle outside, Lancelot leaned heavily against the cabin door, his face deathly pale. Not a trace of his earlier imposing presence remained. Feeling waves of pain coursing through his body, he murmured, "As I thought, using this is still too much for me right now!"
With both his stamina and battle energy exhausted, Sea Wolf had forced himself to leap into the sea through sheer conviction. But once the icy water surrounded him, he could hold on no longer. His consciousness began to fade, and his mind grew hazy.
Through the haze, Sea Wolf suddenly saw a figure swimming toward him. Although visibility was poor underwater, he recognized that familiar leather armor at first glance. Ha! My Drowned Ghost has come to save me! I don't have to die! Just you wait, Lancelot! You think you can take my head? Not a chance! After seeing the leather armor on that figure, Sea Wolf finally let out a breath of relief. The instant he relaxed, he lost consciousness completely.
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