The pirates met their match

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, Brightflame Bay.

Brightflame Bay had earned its name from the volcanoes in the Western Mountains that occasionally erupted along the northern coast. And it was not just the Western Mountains; volcanic eruptions also occurred from time to time on the seabed near this region.

The weather was excellent that day, perfect for sailing, and the strait running from Flint's Finger to the Western Mountains was relatively little affected by outside weather conditions. This was Eddard's second voyage since coming to this world. Having lived inland in his previous life, he had little experience aboard ships, but fortunately, his current physical condition meant he would not get seasick at all.

Standing at the bow, Eddard was observing the sea through a telescope he had made. Most telescopes in this world came from Myr in Essos, so people also called them "Myr tubes."

Myr in Essos had been a colony during the time of the Valyrian Freehold. Now it was one of the nine Free Cities of Essos, famed throughout the world for its advanced handicraft industry. Most of the handcrafted goods in Westeros and Essos came from Myr.

The telescope Eddard had made was a product of depleted Fire Dragonglass and Ice Dragonglass. Once the energy in Dragonglass was exhausted, it became translucent fragments, which could then be made into clear, pure glass simply by heating them to a high temperature.

Thus, whenever he tested magic arrays, Eddard would take out these Dragonglass fragments and powder and process them into various kinds of glass. Perhaps later, this depleted Dragonglass could also be made into all manner of glassware, but for now, Eddard could not spend too much time on things with little practical use.

Although Eddard's telescope looked very crude, its concave and convex lenses were exceptionally clear, and he had adjusted its focal length, giving it a very wide viewing range. Soon, as he casually surveyed the scenery, he spotted five longships approaching from the northwest.

The longships bore no clear markings, and it was impossible to tell which house they belonged to. Longships that flew neither banners nor heraldry were almost certainly pirate vessels.

"Unidentified longships to the northwest! Enemy attack! Prepare for boarding!"

Whooo...

Soon, following Eddard's orders, the two House Flint transport ships signaled their readiness for battle. As a horn sounded, sailors and crew were all issued weapons, while the captives and Dragonglass Lesser Demons in the hold also received orders to fight.

The transport Eddard was aboard was specifically carrying the captives and Dragonglass Lesser Demons. The other transport carried miners from Flint's Finger, along with a large quantity of tools. Eddard's "Arcane Power Two" had also been loaded onto that following ship.

The pirates aboard those five longships were none other than Mord Farwynd and Emmy Blacktyde of the Sons of the Drowned God. Since most of these pirates had connections with one another, after this band arrived at Brightflame Bay, they took over the former base of One-Eye Billy's band.

The pirates left guarding it joined the newcomers without a second thought. Ironborn pirates cared only about profit and slaughter, so loyalty simply did not exist among them. They essentially followed whoever was strongest.

"Oh... Drowned God above!"

Soon, the five longships accelerated and charged toward Eddard's two transports in a wedge formation. Their target was clear: Eddard's leading ship.

It seemed these pirates knew very well who was aboard. In fact, Eddard had deliberately arranged this.

After One-Eye Billy and his men were captured, Eddard had learned from them about all the Sons of the Drowned God pirates in the nearby waters. There were no fewer than three pirate bands hiding around Eddard's Sea Dragon Point Peninsula alone. These Ironborn pirates generally had one or two longships, and also kept one or two merchant ships hidden at their bases.

When gathering intelligence, these pirates generally disguised themselves as merchants and visited several nearby domains, both to sell their stolen goods and to gather more information.

Several days earlier, Eddard had already made a great public announcement that he would personally lead House Flint's miners to reopen the mine. This was intended not only to dispel the rumors circulating among his people, but also to lure the pirates over so he could surround and annihilate them.

No secret stayed secret forever. The terrifying experiences of many miners in the mine had inevitably made a considerable impact among his people, even though Eddard had been using news of construction projects and the expansion of his domain to dampen the rumors about the "mine incident."

Still, rumors involving things such as "curses" and "Others" inevitably circulated among the common folk. Besides dispelling his people's fears, Eddard's purpose this time was to make them understand his strength and authority.

Boom...

Amid a succession of impacts, Eddard's transport became the focus of the pirates' assault. After the collisions, the pirates on three longships quickly hooked their grappling lines onto the transport, then clambered over its sides with wild cries.

The first thing the pirates saw was a group of strange figures wearing odd cloaks. Just as the pirates thought Eddard would be hiding in the hold, these strange creatures suddenly attacked them.

Hiss...

The strangely hissing Dragonglass Lesser Demons caused quite a commotion among the pirates. The pirates' attacks did no damage at all to their scales. Instead, their swords and axes rang out with metallic clangs.

"Kill them!"

Bang... "Aah!"

One pirate, a sword in his left hand and an axe swinging in his right, unleashed a barrage of attacks on the Dragonglass Lesser Demon before him. His strikes were cunningly placed, all aimed at its neck and head, but when his weapons met its body, he felt none of the familiar sensation of cutting into flesh or making contact.

Then, under the pirate's astonished gaze, the Dragonglass Lesser Demon he had attacked drove its claws straight through his neck. Horrified, he tried to cry out, but the blood pouring from his neck clogged his throat.

Henry Pyke was a bastard from the Iron Islands. It was precisely because of his bastard status that he worked harder than ordinary Ironborn pirates. He did so in the hope that one day he could change his fate and become a captain respected by all.

There was a saying among the Ironborn pirates that the captain of every longship was a king. Henry Pyke believed that as long as he kept working hard, he would become a captain one day.

Henry Pyke's leader was the famous "Heart Eater" Les of the Sons of the Drowned God, Mord Farwynd's most trusted captain. Heart Eater Les was leading the main assault this time. Once, Henry Pyke had always regarded him as his idol.

But when Henry Pyke saw his idol torn apart by monsters, all his dreams and hopes burst like bubbles. Now, all Henry Pyke wanted was to escape. Though Ironborn pirates feared nothing, when faced with the unknown, they had little more ability to resist than ordinary commoners.

Although the Dragonglass Lesser Demons had received Eddard's orders, they had no sense of restraint. Many pirates were killed or maimed, so Eddard could only order the creatures to withdraw and send the captives armed with wooden clubs and grappling lines to seize the pirates.

Emmy Blacktyde, who had remained aboard a longship, also noticed something was wrong. Though he learned what had happened from the cowards who fled back, without seeing the monsters himself, he regarded it as nothing more than an excuse from his cowardly men.

Swish...

"Ugh... aah..."

Emmy Blacktyde cut down a pirate who had fled before him with a single stroke. As he acted, several burly men charged out from behind him. Only after these Ironborn pirates killed several fleeing men who tried to resist did the chaotic pirates gradually regain order.

"We are the children of the Drowned God, the mighty Ironborn! Slaughter and destruction are the mission our god has bestowed upon us! Charge!"

"Hoo-ha!"

After Emmy Blacktyde's proclamation-like shout, the Ironborn pirates around him shouted along with him. Then, unaware of the situation, these pirates followed Emmy Blacktyde onto Eddard's transport.

"Kill them! Urgh... cough, cough..."

The powerfully built Emmy Blacktyde had only just climbed over the side when Eddard seized him in midair. Under the influence of Eddard's tentacles, Emmy Blacktyde seemed to have been lifted by some invisible force.

For a moment, every pirate in the area fell silent. They stared at Eddard in terror, as though looking at some horrifying monster. The pirates who had charged up alongside Emmy Blacktyde mustered their courage and hurled their throwing axes at Eddard.

But just as the axes neared Eddard, they seemed to be disrupted by some invisible force field and flew off in other directions. At the sight of this terrifying scene, everyone involuntarily stopped what they were doing.

Eddard took the opportunity to send out all the captives, having them capture some of the pirates who had already boarded. Then he addressed the people below:

"Your god can no longer protect you. You have entered the domain of the Old Gods. There is still time to surrender. If you do, perhaps you will still have a chance to return to your Iron Islands. What I need are penitents, not corpses!"

Eddard's words seemed to carry some strange magic, drifting like ghosts around the ears of these Ironborn pirates.

Anything involving gods could inspire an inexplicable fear. These Ironborn pirates were already devoted adherents of the Drowned God, and after witnessing Eddard's miraculous power, much of their will to resist had faded.

This was Eddard's first time using Charm Magic. Among demonkind were many demons with strange talents and abilities, while certain weaker demons refined unusual abilities through constant slaughter and devouring. The magic Eddard was using now was the renowned Charm Magic.

Charm Magic used powerful mental strength as its foundation to forcibly influence the souls and perceptions of intelligent beings. Eddard's mental strength was not particularly great, but he could just about manage some simple Charm Magic. Especially when the pirates below were dispirited, casting it yielded twice the results for half the effort.

Eddard did not need to control them completely. As long as they lost their will to fight, his objective would be achieved. As the captives moved in, group after group of Ironborn pirates were taken prisoner. Only a few lucky ones hiding in the holds escaped this fate, but once the Dragonglass Lesser Demons joined in, all the pirates stubbornly resisting in the holds were rounded up as well.

Meanwhile, aboard the other two longships, Mord Farwynd finally noticed something was wrong. The stubborn resistance of House Flint's miners and guards prevented the Ironborn pirates from quickly taking the transport, and the unusual situation aboard the other three longships was discovered.

Mord Farwynd also ordered his pirates to halt their attack. Yet at that very moment, a terrifying sense of danger suddenly arose in his mind. The combat experience he had accumulated over many years made him instinctively shift backward.

Twang... whoosh... "Aah!"

Immediately afterward, a searing pain spread across Mord Farwynd's face. Before he could react, more screams and the sounds of bolts striking bodies reached his ears, followed by waves of terrible, indescribable pain. Mord Farwynd knew very well that he, too, had been wounded, and seriously at that.

Thud...

In his final moment of consciousness, Mord Farwynd saw bolts falling like raindrops, all coming from Eddard's transport and the transport they were attacking.

At that moment, many of Eddard's guards and captives were holding compact compound crossbows. These were crossbows modified using a special item he had produced while researching magic arrays: the Valyrian-coated spring.

In an age like this, making suitable metal springs was simply impossible. Yet while researching magic arrays and training his sensory tentacles, Eddard had specifically used his power to produce a batch of special springs.

Eddard then used these springs to modify the crossbows in the castle armory. There were many damaged crossbows in the castle. Because they were expensive, the father he had acquired in this life had never thrown them away after they broke. Under Eddard's modifications, these crossbows had greatly improved in both power and accuracy, all thanks to the batch of Valyrian steel ornaments in his possession.

These crossbows did not disappoint Eddard's expectations. They played a tremendous role in this battle. Under the concentrated hail of deadly bolts, the Ironborn pirates suffered heavy losses. Apart from one longship that escaped, all the remaining longships fell into Eddard's hands.