"That was close!"
A bit of cold sweat glistened in Steve's palm, and only he knew just how perilous that moment had been.
Once he'd shaken off the shock, he immediately looked ahead. There,
Moreover, Isabelle had retreated to his side, surrounded by Jacob and several other guards who had rushed over in haste.
Thanks to Isabelle's earlier delay, Leylin's side had gained enough time to defeat the enemy—they had even seized the pirate ship itself.
Now, Jacob led the remaining guards, along with several of the treasured crossbows from the Faolan family, forming a cordon around them.
On the other battlefields, the Faolan family's guards were also gaining the upper hand, and more and more of them were converging.
Under the flickering firelight, Steve's face was as pale as a corpse's. He understood perfectly well that after this battle, the entire Black Tiger pirate crew might just be erased from existence.
"How did it come to this? Why did things turn out this way?"
Steve's mind was a daze, but the cunning, fox-like instinct honed over years of experience told him it was time to flee.
As long as he was alive, he could rebuild the Black Tiger pirate crew.
And when that time came, he would absolutely unleash a frenzied vengeance upon this young mage!
"Fire!"
But would Leylin possibly give him that chance? At Leylin's command, several crossbows personally directed by Jacob immediately let out terrifying whistles.
Several arrows flew straight, sealing off every possible escape route for Steve.
"Damn it!" Steve cursed, his body twisting unnaturally in mid-air. A dark shield materialized out of thin air and clashed violently with the sharp bolts.
*Crack!* The dark, luminous shield shattered completely, but the crossbow bolts also lost most of their force, managing only to leave a shallow wound on his body.
*Thump! Thump!* Steve's body landed steadily on the ground. He shot a glance at Leylin, his eyes filled with venomous hatred, then prepared to rush out of the camp.
As long as he made it outside, with his strength as a tenth-level warrior, he would surely be able to slip away without any trouble.
But just at that moment, something unexpected happened!!!
A massive white spiderweb burst open from the ground, casting him in its shadow.
"No—when did he—?" Steve's face was filled with terror as he instantly recognized the origin of the spiderweb. "A Second-level Web spell! Once I'm tangled in this, I'll be nothing but a target…"
Steve's expression turned vicious, and he raised the curved blade in his left hand.
But if Leylin had set this trap well in advance, how could he possibly give Steve any chance to escape?
[Weakening Ray!][Hypnosis!][Suppression!]…
Several First-level Spells blazed to life, their light enveloping the space above Steve's head. Due to the earlier battle and his enormous expenditure of energy, Steve was unable to block them in time.
In the next instant, his head went dizzy, and his entire body was flooded with a sense of weakness and powerlessness.
*Clang!* The curved blade fell straight to the ground. Immediately after, Steve's entire body was wrapped up by the Web spell—those sticky spiderwebs were enough that even a wild bull couldn't break free from them.
"Take aim—prepare to fire! He's still a tenth-level warrior at the end of the day. Be careful!"
At that point, the other guards holding crossbows had already trained their weapons on Steve with calm precision. With a target that couldn't move, any fool could hardly miss.
"You're still thinking about escape, because you've still got a trump card. Don't you?"
Leylin walked right up to the edge of the Web, gazing down at Steve from above. His eyes held a hint of amusement.
"Don't think that the [Vampire's Touch] on your right hand can be hidden from me? After all, I'm a mage!"
The moment these words left Leylin's lips, he could see Steve's eyes fill with horror and despair, along with one last desperate struggle.
Leylin let out a cold laugh and swiftly retreated, dodging the arc of blood-red light that shot from the other's right hand.
"Watch out! The iron hook on his right hand has been imbued with the effect of [Vampire's Touch]. Don't let him touch you, or you'll become his source of vitality…"
Leylin stared at Steve with a cold smirk, and the other man's complexion immediately turned ashen. "You're a demon—a demon!!!"
The terrifying sensation of having everything about him seen through so completely left Steve's mind reeling in a daze.
"Knock him out!"
Leylin's brow furrowed. "Then cripple both his hands and feet!"
Such grievous injuries, without the aid of a high-ranking priest, would practically render the man a complete invalid.
As for how to deal with him afterward, Leylin hadn't yet made up his mind. As the vanguard sent to intercept House Faolan, this man had certainly made contact with Viscount Dim—perhaps he could serve as a useful witness.
But who would ever believe the word of a pirate? At most, he might cause Viscount Dim a bit of trouble in the court of public opinion.
"His real value lies in the fact that he hasn't been handed over yet…"
Leylin gazed at Steve, who had already been knocked unconscious and had the tendons in his hands and feet severed. His eyes gleamed with a deep, inscrutable light. In his mind, the man served only two purposes. The first was as bait—luring more assassins and experts into the open, then springing an ambush. But that was rife with risk. If they sent someone even Leylin couldn't handle, it would be nothing short of suicide.
The second purpose was to use him as leverage in a transaction with Dim, forcing the viscount to back down.
After all, the island fiefdoms at sea didn't belong exclusively to House Faolan. Once they'd demonstrated their strength here, they could return Steve as a gesture of goodwill—signaling that his family had no intention of starting a war. That might just buy them a period of peace.
Of course, Leylin never placed his safety in the hands of his enemies' mercy or hesitation.
But buying time was still a worthwhile strategy. His own strength grew by the day, and the complete annihilation of the probing force sent to Faolan Island should be enough to keep the other side quiet for a while.
Leylin rubbed his chin. "Move quickly. Round up all the prisoners and bring them here. Kill anyone who resists!"
"Yes, sir!"
The guards shouted in unison. In truth, once most of the pirates had seen their captain Steve taken prisoner, their will to fight had already crumbled. Under the suppression of
In the face of even the most savage pirates began to contemplate surrender.
Before long, the sound of weapons clattering to the ground rang out in rapid succession, while the guards busied themselves binding prisoner after prisoner and escorting them aboard the great ship.
"Set fire to this place. We're leaving!"
Leylin gave the order.
He then returned to the two-masted great ship they had arrived on. Trailing behind it, tethered to the stern, was the captured pirate vessel—now a war prize.
Gazing at the sea of red flames, Leylin quietly listened to Jacob's report. "...We lost nine guards this time, with fifteen seriously wounded. The rest sustained minor injuries..."
Even with the advantage of a surprise attack and superior equipment, the battle had still turned out like this — Jacob's face flushed red with embarrassment.
At the same time, he gained a much deeper understanding of just how vicious the pirates were. If the Black Tiger Pirates had managed to land on Faolan Island this time, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
"So, what did we recover?"
Leylin's expression was calm; this sort of small-scale skirmish had long since failed to impress him.
"As for spoils, we killed seven pirates and took five prisoners. The rest are unaccounted for, and we also captured Steve — the Black Tiger Pirates can be considered completely wiped out…"
At this point, Jacob's spirits finally picked up: "Unfortunately, there's not much in the way of war loot. Just a pile of rum and dried meat and the like — no letters or documents were found either…"
"Pirates are paupers to begin with — what were you expecting?"
Leylin shook his head with an amused smile. Those low-ranking pirates never had much coin on them to begin with. Even if they got lucky and scored a big haul, it would quickly be blown on cheap port-side booze, roasted meat, women, and gambling. By the next morning, they wouldn't have a single copper coin left in their pockets, and only then would they follow their captain out to sea, howling like wolves as they attacked other ships.
"In fact, if you pooled the assets of every prisoner we took, I doubt it would amount to even half of what Steve has hidden in his personal stash!"
Leylin chuckled.
"That Steve needs to be interrogated thoroughly. While it's unlikely he's carrying any noble correspondence, you must extract the location of his stash, at the very least…"
If he could find evidence of Steve's dealings with Viscount Dim, then Leylin would no longer have to worry so much — but in reality, that was practically impossible.
The man wasn't a fool; he wouldn't leave behind something as damning as letters.
So Leylin could only hold out a sliver of hope.
As for the money, it would go toward compensations and burial funds. At the very least, the guards who had gone out to fight for him and died had to receive generous rewards — otherwise, no one would be willing to lift a finger for him next time.
Once all of this was settled, Leylin made his way to the ship's cabin.
With dozens of additional prisoners crammed aboard for the return voyage, the hidden hold felt even more cramped and disorganized.
Leylin certainly wasn't going to lock all those prisoners together on the pirate vessel trailing behind — that would be asking for trouble.
But even in these cramped conditions, Isabelle had been given a room of her own. Such was the privilege of nobility and strength.
"May I come in?"
Leylin stood before her cabin and knocked.
"Come in!"
As the door swung open, Leylin stepped inside the cabin and even cast a Sound Silencing Spell.
This immediately put a grave expression on Isabelle's face.
Leylin sniffed the air, which was thick with the scent of herbal remedies. Isabelle's clothes were still somewhat disheveled — clearly she hadn't fastened them properly in her haste just a moment ago.