The one-eyed man in the red robe left the slave ship with a group of thugs, while Pier and two other bald men stood on the front deck, chatting casually among themselves, occasionally glancing in Rein's direction.
"Pier, we'll finally reach the provincial city tomorrow. Once those ordinary slaves are delivered, we can go out and have some fun. These damn days, stuck on the ship every day," the bald man beside him cursed in a low voice.
Pier also laughed.
But just then, Pier and the others suddenly heard a terrifying roar of a magical beast—
"ROAR~~" A massive fire snake, formed entirely of flames and as thick as a water tank, abruptly burst out of the cabin, melting a huge hole in the side of the cabin wall.
The giant fire snake, as thick as a water tank and nearly a hundred meters long, roared as it circled continuously around the slave ship. The entire vessel instantly caught fire, and at the same time, the giant fire snake plunged directly into the bottom of the hull, tearing through the entire ship. Among the hundreds of slaves in the lowest deck, except for a dozen or so who were burned to death, the rest desperately rushed toward the hole melted by the fire snake to escape.
"Damn that pretty boy!" Pier's face changed drastically.
"Quick! Catch him!"
The two bald giants immediately charged toward the room where Rein was. They had no time to care about the ordinary slaves anymore, but at that moment, the giant fire snake charged at the two of them as well.
"Damn, a Blazing Fire Snake! Be careful!" Pier and his companion tensed up.
Seventh-tier fire magic—Blazing Fire Snake!
This was the most powerful Blazing Fire Snake Rein could unleash. If it advanced one step further, it would become the eighth-tier magic 'Fire Snake Dance.' Fire Snake Dance involved seven giant fire snakes attacking simultaneously, with even higher temperatures. But this 'Blazing Fire Snake' was already terrifyingly powerful.
An ordinary seventh-tier warrior would not dare face it head-on.
The bald man, 'Pier,' executed a fish-like leap, dodging the Blazing Fire Snake's attack and landing near Rein's original quarters. Pier looked into the room; inside, there was only a pile of ash—the remains of two thugs burned to cinders. On the wall, there were two melted holes.
Obviously, Rein had escaped through one of them.
"Ah, Ah~~" Piercing screams suddenly came from not far away. The other bald giant had failed to dodge the Blazing Fire Snake. Just a touch of it caused the snake to rapidly coil around him, wrapping him up instantly. The Battle Qi Shield on the bald giant quickly shattered, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Pier saw this, his face draining of color.
"Darlo!!!" Pier nearly went mad. "Damn you, bastard!"
At this moment, many of the ordinary slaves who had escaped from the bottom of the ship were fleeing frantically in all directions. Captured as slaves, they had already despaired. But now, filled with hope, they ran wildly for freedom.
Pier also burst out through the hole in the cabin wall, his powerful jump propelling him directly onto the shore.
"That damn pretty boy." Pier stared at the slave ship in the middle of the Bonney River. The heavily damaged vessel was rapidly sinking, flames still burning furiously, thick smoke billowing. The ship was finished.
"Pier! Darlo!" An angry roar came from the distance.
The one-eyed man in the red robe sprinted over, his single eye blazing with endless fury. Seeing Pier, he bellowed, "Pier, where is he? Where's that mage?"
"My Lord, that mage cast a Blazing Fire Snake. I don't know where he escaped to. Darlo is also dead." Pier was filled with resentment.
The one-eyed man breathed heavily with rage.
A Blazing Fire Snake was enough to handle a seventh-tier warrior, but if he, an eighth-tier warrior, had been there, he could have broken through the Blazing Fire Snake and captured Rein. That was precisely why the trafficking organization had sent an eighth-tier warrior.
But even the one-eyed man hadn't expected that this mage, who had just been taught a lesson, would dare to risk everything like this.
"Quick, search for me! Find that mage and bring him back!" the one-eyed man immediately shouted at the surrounding thugs. "You ten, go upstream and downstream, search thoroughly! The rest of you, search the surrounding area! You must find that mage and bring him back! Now!!!"
"Yes, My Lord!"
The furious thugs scattered in all directions. Their main effort concentrated on the surrounding land, while only five thugs were sent each upstream and downstream.
Rein, like the other slaves, wore tattered clothes, his body covered in wounds. Because many other slaves had also escaped, many thugs mistook other slaves for Rein and rushed to capture them. Unfortunately, they were just wasting their efforts.
One hour later.
The one-eyed man stood at the riverbank, his heart seething with anger as he glared at his surroundings.
"My Lord, we found over a dozen slaves downstream, but not the mage," a thug reported as he ran over. Their speed on land was definitely faster than swimming in the water.
"My Lord, the mage wasn't found upstream either."
"My Lord, we couldn't find the mage anywhere in the surrounding area. Only ordinary slaves."
The one-eyed man listened to his subordinates' reports, looking around at the vast, empty landscape. He was utterly furious. This riverbank was near a small town that did not have any of their organization's people.
This meant the one-eyed man could only send these few dozen thugs to search for Rein.
A few dozen people, unable to find Rein even after an hour. That... meant there was virtually no chance of finding him. One hour was enough for a person to get very far. In an area spanning dozens of miles, how could a few dozen people possibly find him?
"Bastard!" the one-eyed man cursed under his breath. "Let's go. Quickly report back to the organization. I hope I never get my hands on that pretty boy, otherwise... I'll make him wish he was dead."
Darkness fell. The one-eyed man and his group had no choice but to leave. On the riverbank, several thousand meters upstream from that spot, a figure emerged from the water.