Caught in the Trap

The heavy winch creaked, and the iron chain slowly rose.

The "gate" opened, revealing a maw of death bristling with fangs.

Under Rollo's direction, so tense he could barely breathe, the Pebble Cat and the other oared vessels entered the narrow, dark, oppressive cleft first.

The disguised "merchant ships" followed close behind.

The towering black rock walls on either side seemed ready to close together at any moment and crush them.

Almost all light vanished. Only the faint torches at the bows flickered, illuminating the jagged, slippery rock walls and the ink-black seawater below.

The current was swift and treacherous, making the ships difficult to maneuver in the cramped passage.

As the Pebble Cat struggled through the narrowest part of the channel, where the fjord bent at almost a right angle-

"Loose!!!" Crab Claw's shrill, night-owl screech suddenly erupted from a dark cave somewhere above.

His voice echoed wildly through the gorge.

In an instant.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-!!!

Countless arrows poured down like a deadly swarm of poisonous locusts, raining from innumerable holes and fissures in the towering rock walls on both sides, as well as suspended wooden walkways built against them!

Their target was the fleet packed tightly into the channel.

Liu Qian's heart sank. We've fallen into a trap. He shouted, "Everyone, raise your shields!"

But before his words had faded, the locust swarm of arrows was already upon them. The rapid clatter of shafts striking the decks mingled with the grunts and screams of Dragon Spirit Guardians caught off guard and struck, instantly filling the narrow channel.

At that critical moment, a cold gleam flashed in Liu Qian's eyes. A clear sword-song rang out like a dragon's cry as the Valyrian steel sword at his waist flashed from its sheath.

Liu Qian poured magic power into the Valyrian steel sword. The intricate Valyrian steel hieroglyphs along its blade suddenly lit up, and crimson flames sprang from thin air like living creatures. A scorching wave of heat instantly drove away the surrounding darkness and chill.

With a flick of his wrist, the flaming sword traced a dazzling crimson arc.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The instant the incoming arrows touched the flaming sword's radiance, their heads melted in the heat and their shafts burned to charcoal, snapping and falling to the deck.

More of the arrow storm was disrupted by the sudden flare of fire and searing heat, throwing the archers' aim wildly off.

"Dragon Spirit Guardians, form a shield wall! Fight back!" Liu Qian's roar thundered through the chaos.

The flaming sword in his hand became the brightest beacon in the dark channel.

He swept his sword sideways, sending a blazing wave of sword energy crashing like a roaring fire dragon into the section of rock wall where the arrows were thickest.

Boom!

The flaming sword energy struck the rock wall and burst into a brilliant, terrifying cloud of fire.

The pirate archers hiding behind it were hurled away and set alight by the heat and shock wave, screaming as they plunged like fireballs into the black seawater below.

Dry moss and tinder on the rock wall ignited instantly, revealing more of the ambushers' positions.

As Liu Qian killed the pirates, his gaze searched the shadowy fjord for their commander.

He could not help feeling frustrated. Ever since he had left the Valyrian Ruins, the magic power within him had been growing at a snail's pace.

He gained only a little magic power each day.

With every use depleting his magic power, he felt immense pressure. Whether the Ghost Grass he had brought out of the Valyrian Ruins could even be cultivated remained uncertain.

He vaguely suspected that, before the Red Comet arrived, the world's magic power was at a low ebb. The abundance of magic power in the Valyrian Ruins was merely the result of Blood Magic running out of control.

Unless he returned to the extraordinarily dangerous Valyrian Ruins, he could only conserve his magic power.

That was why he had decided not to use his ultimate dragon-transformation skill in this raid, relying instead on the Dragon Spirit Guardians to win a clean victory.

He had never expected these pirates, whom he had never taken seriously, to see through his carefully devised plan to trick them into opening their gate during a night raid. He felt thoroughly embarrassed.

Almost at the same moment Liu Qian unleashed his flaming sword energy, a silver figure on the deck below also erupted with a clear sword-song.

It was Jelena!

Her slender, long-bladed sword, likewise rippling with the patterns of Valyrian steel, flashed from its sheath. Fierce, brilliant crimson flames burned soundlessly along it.

"Dragon Spirit Guardians, follow me ashore and clear out the ambushers!"

Jelena's voice cut through the chaos. Ignoring the arrows flying toward her, she whirled her crimson flaming sword into an impenetrable curtain of light before her.

Clang, clang, clatter!

Seizing the opening, Jelena led the Dragon Spirit Guardians onto the wooden walkway along the fjord's shore.

The walkway was packed with pirates frantically drawing their bows and shooting. They were stunned by the deadly woman who suddenly leaped up from the darkness below.

"Die!" Jelena used no broad, sweeping blows, only thrusts and cuts of exquisite precision. Wherever her blade passed, rough leather armor, flesh, and wooden bow limbs were either sliced apart by its supreme sharpness or scorched by its blazing flames the instant they touched it. Every step left afterimages of silver flame and fallen bodies in her wake.

A section of the ambushers on the walkway was cleared in an instant.

Her advance served as a signal. More elite Dragon Spirit Guardians began climbing fearlessly upward through the thinning arrow storm, using grappling hooks and protrusions in the rock to follow her breakthrough.

Screams and splashes came one after another, with no way to tell which side they belonged to.

"Found you!"

Liu Qian's hawklike gaze swept the surroundings until it finally locked onto a burly, bald figure standing on a rocky outcrop, holding a torch and frantically bellowing orders-Crab Claw.

The red crab tattoo on his bald head was clearly visible in the firelight.

Liu Qian did not hesitate.

He slid the burning sword back into its sheath with a reverse grip, and the flames instantly went out.

Then he took out the enormous Dragonbone Longbow he had obtained from the Valyrian Ruins.

The bow was a muted grayish white from end to end, densely engraved with hieroglyphic runes and spiral symbols.

As he infused it with magic power, the magical runes on the enormous dragonbone bow shone with a flowing crimson glow like molten lava. Its string was twisted from some extraordinarily tough sinew.

He nocked a black arrow that gleamed with a cold, ominous light.

Liu Qian drew a deep breath and poured magic power into his arms. The Dragonbone Bow bent into a fearsome arc, nearly at full draw, giving off a low, commanding hum.

The instant he drew the bow-Hum!

It was no spectral glow that appeared on the arrowhead. Instead, a strange, scorching flame flared to life.

The flame burned soundlessly, radiating such terrifying heat that even the surrounding air warped.

The Dragonbone Bow reached full draw, and its spiral symbols shone ever more brilliantly, as though they had

come alive.

Twang-!!!

The bowstring rang out.

The heavy, burning arrow became a fiery meteor that tore through the darkness.

Trailing a long, scorching tail, it cut through the chaotic arrow storm straight toward Crab Claw's mouth!

Crab Claw was roaring in fury at the chaos below and the slaughter Jelena was wreaking.

Suddenly, a deadly killing intent seized him.

He turned to look, breaking into a cold sweat.

Out of the darkness, a meteorlike flaming arrow was hurtling toward him as fast as lightning!

He tried to dodge, but his body stiffened for an instant. He could only watch the fiery light swell in his pupils.

Thud-boom-!!!

It was not the sound of penetration, but a terrifying explosion.

The burning arrow flew with perfect precision into Crab Claw's mouth, wide open in mid-roar. The tremendous kinetic force within the arrowhead and its annihilating flames erupted at once.

It was as though Crab Claw's head had been shoved into a furnace.

His mouth, nasal passages, and even his eye sockets were forced open and vaporized from within by that instant of intense heat and impact.

No shattered bone or brains splattered outward. Only fire mixed with instantly carbonized black-and-red matter erupted violently from all seven openings in his head.

In less than a tenth of a second, most of his head was burned away from the inside out.

The burning arrow continued onward, carrying Crab Claw's huge, charred, headless body and slamming it backward.

With a thunderous crash, the charred corpse struck the rock wall behind him. The arrow drove deep into the stone, pinning the body there as it continued to burn and tremble.

All of Torturer's Deep fell deathly silent.

Every pirate who witnessed it was scared out of his wits! Their boss had lost his head... burned away by a single arrow?

"Crab Claw has been executed! Surrender and you will be spared!"

Liu Qian's icy voice, reinforced by the lingering terror of the Dragonbone Bow and the gorge's echoes, crushed the heart of every surviving pirate.

The pirates' will broke completely.

Wailing, kneeling, and the clatter of discarded weapons replaced the fighting.

The Dragon Spirit Guardians met no further resistance as they climbed and cleared out the remaining positions.

The burning gorge lit Liu Qian's figure as he stood with his bow lowered, the grayish-white sheen of the Dragonbone Bow shifting in the firelight.

Torturer's Deep had a new master.