Chapter 402: Decapitation

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Sharp arrows turned into a thin curtain of rain, covering down from the air. Amidst the splashing wood chips, they nailed themselves one by one onto the surface of the deck.

Under the order of Captain "Greasy Hand" Ba En, the pirate ship stopped stalling and quickly closed in on the cargo ship not far ahead, letting the other side confirm their hostility.

Knowing perfectly well that on this vast sea with no laws and no order, surrendering and admitting defeat was a dead end.

No matter how cooperative they were, even if they voluntarily handed over the safe hidden in the captain's cabin compartment, these bloodthirsty and cruel hyenas would never let anyone leave, only increasing future trouble.

With the ship's speed far inferior to the opponent's, only thorough resistance and showing their determination to fight could possibly make the opponent retreat and earn a path to survival.

Therefore, the moment they discovered the pirate ship raising its sails and approaching, Gregory, the captain of the *Black Gull*—that middle-aged man with dark skin and extremely rich seafaring experience—gave the order to counterattack to the sailors without any hesitation.

The sailors who had already taken their positions at the high point of the stern, occupying the high ground, drew their bows and crossbows, aimed, and fired, pouring arrows at the pirate ship that was closing the distance at a visible speed, as if they were free.

The *Black Gull* had been sailing for many years, and there were quite a few veteran crew members on board.

But after all, working in this line of business where one hangs their head on their belt, every voyage ended like picking up a life. Their daily indulgence was even worse than that of Adventurers, and few people would use their spare time to hone their skills.

This made the accuracy of the arrows shot by the vast majority of them very poor.

Many didn't even touch the opposite deck, nailing directly into the hull or even falling into the sea.

After one round, the only one who caused damage, grazing the calf of a pirate on the opposite side, was actually the apprentice sailor "Colin," who had just boarded the ship—before leaving his hometown with Xia Nan, he had been an apprentice to a hunter in the village for a while, so he had some talent and practiced hard, hence his good archery.

Regarding this, some inexperienced sailors appeared somewhat panicked, their bodies trembling so much they could barely hold their weapons.

And those veterans, although equally nervous, didn't stop their hand movements. While telling the young people around them to stay calm and not panic, they had already nocked arrows and drawn bows again, directing the second round of shooting.

After all, they were not professional Adventurers. On a ship swaying in the wind and waves, wanting to maintain accuracy was almost something that could only rely on luck and was entirely a matter of chance.

The first few rounds of shooting had little effect, which was perfectly normal; they just treated it as getting a feel for it.

And when the pirate ship ahead was close enough and the pirates stood on the deck attempting to board, that would be their real chance to exert their strength.

"Clang!"

The crisp sound of hard objects colliding burst forth in the air.

Accompanied by a sharp cold light, the arrowheads were easily blocked by a scimitar.

With just a light exertion of the wrist, the broken arrow was flicked away by the blade onto the deck to the side.

Hearing the painful wail of an unlucky crew member whose arm had been pierced by an arrow, "Greasy Hand" Ba En stared tightly at the cargo ship ahead, his face filled with brutality and bloodiness.

These damned, ridiculous, overestimating maggots actually dared to actively provoke him... At this moment, Ba En had already sentenced everyone on the *Black Gull* to death.

He even intended to keep the captain in charge of the opposite ship after the battle ended and torture him severely to vent the anger in his heart.

Of course, at the same time, as an experienced Adventurer and a part-time pirate for many years, it was impossible for him to have his reason destroyed just like that.

Although sailors could be recruited again after returning, the mission hadn't officially started yet, so excessive losses should still be avoided as much as possible.

He didn't want to take a ship full of wounded to the island to carry out the mission.

"Caoluo!"

Staring at the cargo ship that was gradually approaching, he suddenly shouted loudly without looking back.

Having been partners for many years, their tacit understanding went without saying.

Almost the very next second after Ba En finished speaking, an unusual sea breeze suddenly rose from the void.

It was not colorless or formless; this gale seemed to be driven by the purest natural magic particles, whistling and flickering with magical luster like phosphorus powder.

In an instant, it shrouded the sky above the pirate ship, turning into a blurry, transparent wall in the air.

Although it didn't completely block the sharp arrows that tore through the air and fell from overhead, it greatly weakened their kinetic energy.

They couldn't even pierce the wooden deck, falling to everyone's feet with a clatter.

Behind, Caoluo gripped his staff tightly, his lips moving, and the magical luster flickering in his eyes even melted the boundary between his pupils and the whites of his eyes.

He didn't know the name of this spell, and deep down, he didn't even feel it was a spell.

It could only be considered a certain technique for using magic particles.

Boen in a primitive tribe in a remote sea area, he had only been proficient in the common language for a few years. Even though he had learned some knowledge about spellcasting with the help of Captain Ba En, in actual combat, he still instinctively relied on his affinity with nature to perform extremely primitive spellcasting.

Through the crudest, simplest, and most common spell model, he roughly poured his mental power into it, inducing a gale to defend against flying projectiles.

If it were an ordinary Mage just starting out, this way of casting would probably drain the mental power in their brain in an instant, causing them to pass out.

But right now, Caoluo's mental power reserve, which was already outstanding in talent and had grown rapidly through painful growth experiences, unexpectedly formed a unique "brute force works miracles" way of casting.

If it continued to develop like this, and one day he truly had the opportunity to receive long-term, systematic arcane education, combined with these years of practical combat experience at sea, perhaps he could really achieve considerable accomplishments in magic in the future.

It's just a pity...

Hum—

The gale barrier above the pirate ship was in turmoil for an instant, and the next second it recovered.

Caoluo tried his best to maintain the spell, his brows furrowed.

He vaguely sensed that the moment he cast the spell, a piercing killing intent, as if it were substantial, came from the deck of the opposite cargo ship.

Like the deep shadow that always hovered and swam underwater in his mental world, it smelled some kind of blood, revealing its fin on the sea surface.

A sense of unease rose sharply in his heart.

At this moment, he even thought about whether to cancel the spell and, using his own life and the lives of the crew as hostages, grit his teeth and force Ba En to retreat.

But immediately, the painful experience of being tortured by his tribesmen as a demon when he was young, and the twisted personality formed by his high dependence on Ba En after being saved from hell, made him hesitate in his heart.

"Brother Ba En is a level 4 professional, and there is basically no opponent at the same level at sea."

"The brothers in our team are comprehensively ahead of the guards on the opposite ship in both number and professional level."

He comforted himself in his heart.

"We've made it through so many years."

"It should be fine, right..."

"..."

The role of a Spellcaster was vividly reflected at this moment.

The pirate ship, which should have had its combat power significantly weakened by rounds of long-range arrow attacks during the approach, now had no casualties other than two unlucky sailors who were just unlucky.

The distance between the two ships had almost been closed to the limit.

Ba En could even see the facial muscles of the young sailor holding a longbow on the opposite deck trembling violently due to excessive fear, and see the arm of the leader on the opposite side, that middle-aged man with dark skin, gripping a short sword, the veins bulging under his skin when he exerted force.

The corners of his mouth twisted, and a cruel and bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

"Grappling hooks! Boarding planks!"

Accompanied by his roar, more than a dozen cables with iron hooks were thrown hard by the pirates who had been prepared at the edge of the deck, drawing cold arcs in the air and firmly biting into the gunwales, masts, and railings of the opposite cargo ship.

The pirates' muscles bulged as they pulled back hard on the cables. ===== CHAPTER 403 =====