Devil Sea.
It was around 11 P.M,
At that moment, a large schooner pirate ship moved towards the shoreline at an incredible speed.
"Captain, I can see the shoreline now." A muscular guy stood on the mast shouted while peeking through the spyglass with wide eyes.
"Hmm, Can you see the Magic tower? Are there any skeletons on guard?" A rough voice came from the deck.
"Yes, Captain. Like Keith told us earlier, only a few skeletons are standing on the fort wall." Gibson again peered at the shore through his wooden-colored eyes and replied.
'I don't know why the Light Church put that much bounty on her head? Who is she? Is she also a necromancer?' Multiple thoughts whirled in Gibson's head as he monitored the old magic tower from the sea.
"That will make our job easier. Gibson." Brick said with a broad smile, revealing a gold tooth. At that moment, he wore breeches, an old black cap, and a linen shirt.
"But we still didn't get any news from the Black skull pirates, Captain." Gibson's said while searching for other ships in the sea and soon climbed down in disappointment.
"Don't worry. Nelson will come with his crew members on time. We can capture the tower before tomorrow evening." Brink understood what Gibson was thinking right now and said with a chuckle.
All the crew members nodded.
"Captain, what if the bandit group turned their back against us as they did to the necromancer?" Another pirate with gray hair and deep blue eyes asked.
"Not going to happen, Rowley. They must have already reached the pirate town by now, along with the booty. They have no choice but to sell that girl to us now." When hearing Brink's words, everyone got brightened.
"We are going to be rich. But Captain, is it necessary to give 10 percent to that bandit group?" Gibson felt they should kill the bandits and take the whole amount themselves.
"We have to give them, Gibson. That bandit Keith is a sly bastard with the strength of a 5th-tier warrior. Even if Nelson and I try to kill him, the fight will not end in a good way. It's not worth fighting for 5,000 white gold coins." Brick's reply made Gibson grumble inside, but he kept quiet.
"Captain, an unknown ship is coming on our way from the south. No! More ships are coming!" Another slim guy with black hair shouted.
"See the Blackjack clearly, Thayer. It's the black skull pirates." A slim woman revealing her curvy body said while shaking her head. She stood on the rear deck and looked at the ships with sharp eyes. She had thick eyebrows, almond black eyes, short brown hairs, and a low nose bridge.
She was none other than Lavada!
"Shiver me timbers!" Thayer looked at the number of ships and shouted in disbelief. Seven ships, led by one large ship, pierced those sea waters and rapidly moved in their directions.
"Are they bringing other pirates too?" Brick frowned as he looked in the southern direction and muttered.
Meanwhile, the Drake Pirate ship slowed its speed and had already reached the shoreline.
Noticing this, Brink took a deep breath and spoke.
"Hard to port!"
As he spoke, the pirates anchored the ship and furled the sails.
Soon, Brink and his pirate crew slowly climbed from the deck and started swimming toward the shoreline with their weapons.
After that, they turned towards the devil sea and waited for the other ships to reach the coastline.
A few minutes later, the other pirate ships arrived near the shore and docked one by one. Shouts and cheers echoed as hundreds of pirates climbed down from those ships and exchanged words with the Drake Pirate group.
Meanwhile, a hooded figure stood on the top floor of the magic tower and watched those pirate ships and pirates with wide eyes.
"Why are they here? Aren't these guys afraid of Baron Abium? Are they underestimating him?" Murius muttered in a shocked tone. He never thought these foolish pirates would attack the magic tower when the bandits were on a mission and felt troubled inside.
'Although I don't want to reveal my true power, I have no choice now.' A grim look appeared on his pale face.
He slowly shifted his gaze towards the undead skeletons on the fort wall and curled his lips upward. He then turned around and gazed at the large main hall.
"It's time to increase the numbers." Muttering, he touched his spatial ring and recited a short chant. Hundreds of undead skeletons appeared in the empty hall within a few seconds and started rising. Most were elite skeletons, while a few were Death Knights.
Their eye sockets shone bluish-green light, and they all appeared to be more than 1.5 meters tall. These strange skeletons wore black cloaks, had unique skull mark on their skulls and hands, and held different kinds of weapons.
"Move to the courtyard and prepare for an ambush," Murius said coldly and quietly turned his gaze towards the shoreline.
On the other hand, hundred undead skeletons nodded their skulls, moved towards the exit before going downstairs, and then entered the courtyard one by one.
After that, they picked up the shovels from the left store room and started digging large pits in the yard for an ambush.
Even a dark knight stood behind those skeletons, watching with its cold blue eyes and monitoring everything.
In truth, these skeletons were only a part of Murius's actual force. He never revealed even a bit of his true power to the bandits and always kept them in the dark.
'But still, something is not right. Wait. Did the pirates know about the absence of bandits in the Magic Tower?' Suddenly, a doubt arose inside his heart, but he shook that thought.
'Tsk, I will deal with these pirates and ask them myself.' His dark green eyes went sharp as ice. He didn't start an attack, though. Instead, he waited for those pirates to assemble.
He knew the bandits very well and thought that they would never dare to betray him. He wasn't overconfident, but anyone with some sane mind would never even consider going against a Tier-1 Mage or Necromancer.
At that moment, Aliza's face flashed in his mind.
'Why am I feeling troubled a little? I already informed Bilet to help the Viscount's men and kill the Baron beforehand. Will Bilet fail? Impossible. That sly guy is not a random bunch but a disciple of Lord Nezard. Although Bilet is just an apprentice necromancer, he is far stronger than any beginner first-tier necromancer and has enough power to kill the Baron and his friends.' Murius thought.
He was well aware of the bandits' strength and shook his head.
As for the safety of Aliza, he didn't think much about it. From his understanding of that girl, she needs outside battle experience the most. That was the reason he sent her along with bandit Keith and others.
'Well, I did give her a spatial ring with some materials that could help her during an unexpected circumstance.' Except for him and Aliza, No one knew she had a spatial ring. So, the slight worry that appeared in his heart slowly dispelled.
At that moment, his eyes slowly moved towards the shoreline and observed the pirates' movements.
A total of 300 pirates stood in line on the beach sand and appeared to be preparing for a large battle.
"Everyone get some sleep. We will attack at dawn." Brink said with a serious tone but soon clicked his tongue as he noticed ten ruffian-looking pirates were already walking towards the fort entrance.
The pirate group arrived near the fortress within a few seconds and bravely stood a few feet away from the 3-meter tall wall.
"What the hell are those fools doing over there?" Veins popped up on Brink's forehead as he saw their foolish action.
At that moment, a muscular guy leisurely walked near the stone wall, mocked with a laugh.
"Haha, you are already surrounded, necromancer. You don't have any chance to escape. Now, surrender to this mighty lord."
At that moment, a skeleton shadow stood silently on the fort wall, took an iron bolt from its small quiver, and loaded it into the crossbow in its hand.
After that, it aimed at the bandit's neck and pulled the trigger.
Swoosh!
Before the muscular bandit could walk forward and touch the stone wall, an iron bolt flew from the top and pierced his throat.
Arggg!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Multiple arrows and bolts flew up from the fort wall and killed the first batch of pirates. Within a few seconds, only bodies pierced by full of arrows lay on the ground.
"Damn it. Captain, shall we attack?" Another pirate with messy black hair unsheathed his cutlass and asked angrily.
Meanwhile, the other pirates nodded in unison and also unsheathed their weapons.
"Fools! Before dawn, I won't allow a fool to get near the fort wall. Got it?" Brink's raging voice silenced the whole pirate group. After that, everyone nodded and silently retreated from the wall.
...