It was around 5.50 A.M.
On the eastern shoreline of Alastall woodland, many pirates stood at the magic tower's entrance and held different kinds of weapons in their hands.
The dawn light rose from the devil sea and illuminated the surroundings.
At that moment, a three-meter tall stone wall encircled the magic tower and protected it from any unexpected outside attacks. If someone wanted to capture the magic tower, they had no choice but to break the only sizeable wooden gate on the western side. But the problem was that they wouldn't even be able to get near the entrance due to multiple undead skeletons standing on the stone wall.
"Get your long-range weapons ready." Brink shouted as he raised his long sword.
Meanwhile, the other pirates got excited by his shout and roared in unison.
He knew that recklessly charging towards the wooden gate would only reduce their numbers. But he had no choice now.
'Although it will cause more casualties, I'll believe in Nelson's words.'
"Do you have anything in mind?" A rough voice came from behind. Brink turned his head and saw a middle-aged man in normal breeches was looking at him in question. He wore a skull-symbol embroidered hat and an eye patch on his left eye. He had hazel eyes, a Nubian nose, sepia-colored skin, and wiry brown hair.
"Nelson, are you sure we can win this battle? I never battled against any mages or necromancers." Brink said with a stiff smile on his face.
"Don't be so stiff, my friend. If you aim precisely and attack the necromancer's head, he will also bleed and die. They are tougher to kill but not invincible." Nelson spoke with a chuckle and patted Brink's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard that from you countless times. But have you ever heard from anyone saying that a random warrior killed a necromancer? Not even once. That's why I'm feeling unsettle inside." Brink said in a grim tone.
"Humph, you shouldn't have become a pirate. I think you better change your profession, Brink." Nelson removed his hand from Brink's shoulder and spoke coldly.
"Tsk, you are so annoying. All of you, get ready to attack." Brink quickly shifted his gaze towards his crew members and ordered.
Meanwhile, multiple pirates aimed their bows and waited for Brink's orders.
Brink raised his hand and ordered.
"Fire!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Multiple arrows flew from all the hundreds of pirates and pierced the undead skeleton's chests and heads.
A second later, those skeletons made strange shrill cries and silently fell from the three-meter tall wall.
"See? Not much hard, right?" Nelson grinned. Nodding his head, Brick took a deep breath to calm down his thumping heart and shifted his attention towards the tall wall.
"Get the ladders and ropes ready!" Brick send out another order. Soon, multiple pirates carried a few ladders and ropes from the seashore and moved towards the wall.
After a few attacks, most undead skeletons on the fort wall were already annihilated.
"See, I told you, right? At this rate, we will kill that necromancer quickly." Nelson spoke with a confident smile.
"Hmm, it would have been easier if we had carried the battering ram here." Brick spoke out loud.
"Nah, it will take time. Besides, no one died except those fools who went ahead and killed themselves, right? It's a good start." Nelson said while marching near the wooden gate. At that moment, some pirates had already put the ladders on the wall and started climbing. The first one to jump to the other side was Gibson.
After a few seconds, a loud clanging noise echoed from the inside.
Everyone was startled by the sudden noise. Noticing that the noise was coming from the other side of the wooden gate, everyone looked at the wooden gate and glanced at each other.
A second later, Gibson spoke from the other side and made everyone relaxed.
"C-Captain, no undead s-skeletons are guarding inside!"
Creeaaaak!
The next instant, the three-meter tall wooden gate made of Red Cedar made a creaking noise and opened from the inside. Slowly, Brink noticed Gibson was standing at the entrance with a pale face and waved his hand at them.
'Why is his face looks so pale?' Brink's sky blue eyes squinted sharper.
But before he could say anything, Nelson stepped forward and advanced along with other pirates while shouting.
"Let's go and capture this tower."
A total of 250 pirates entered the fortified magic tower while only a few stood outside to guard the ships.
Everyone followed Nelson's footsteps like a flock of sheep and entered inside.
Brink also cast those unsettling feelings away from his heart and followed after the pirate group while giving a light pat on Gibson's shoulder.
"Gibson? Why are you staring blankly at the ground? Come on!" Lavada also noticed her brother's odd behavior and shouted at him before chasing after Brink.
Brink was the first to notice that something was off inside as everyone passed through the wooden gate.
Except for the tower that stood at the center, he saw nothing but an empty yard around the cylindrical magic tower.
A second later, everyone glanced at each other in confusion.
'Is this the only strength of a necromancer?' The pirates thought.
Everyone from the pirate group had expected that some high-level undead creatures would be guarding inside but didn't expect this result.
They had heard of legends about evil necromancers and started to search the surroundings in anticipation.
Suddenly, Brink's heart thumped up like a fierce fire explosion.
'I have a bad feeling about this.' Brink's instinct was telling him something was wrong with this place and warning him to get away from here.
But as he was about to shout, his light blue eyes caught a slight movement of the ground.
At that moment, he noticed the sand's color difference.
It appeared more like plowed sand!
Brink instantly understood the enemy had planned something for them!
"Everyone, back away. It's a trap." He started to yell while grabbing Lavada's hand to back away.
But just as he took a few steps towards the wooden gate, something happened out of the ordinary!
Creeaakkk! Bam!
The opened wooden gate was starting to move and shut down from the inside.
No, he noticed that it was Gibson who locked the door from inside!
"Gibson! What are you doing?!" Brink roared at Gibson with bloodshot eyes and soon froze.
At that moment, Gibson's face now looked more like a doll with a void of expression. There was no color on his face, and he looked more like a zombie than a human being.
'What happened to him?' His heart raced at the thought.
"What happened to him, dear?" Lavada looked at Gibson with a worried expression and tried to get near him, but Brink's hand grabbed her shoulder.
"D-Dear?!" She got startled.
Meanwhile, other pirates also shifted their direction towards Gibson and looked puzzled.
"Don't go near him. He-"
Before he could finish his words, the earth started to move like a wave.
Then, multiple undead skeletons crawled out from the ground from different places and gave them an eerie look.
One hundred undead skeletons started to pop up from the ground and stood up slowly. They soon moved coordinately and encircled the whole group while gripping their rusty weapons.
"A-Ambush!" Lavada cried out in alarm.
"Attack!" Nelson unsheathed his cutlass without any delay and moved forward while his crew members followed after him.
Cutlasses collided with undead elite soldiers' weapons and created clanging sounds everywhere.
Meanwhile, Brink and Lavada glanced at each other and soon shifted their gaze towards Gibson.
Like an undead with flesh, Gibson unsheathed his cutlass and attacked them without hesitation.
"W-Why are you attacking us? S-Snap out of it, Gibson!" Lavada's screamed in anger.
It was too sudden that caused her thoughts to disarray. Gibson was her younger brother and also the only family member.
But watching him moving like a possessed person caused her body to shake in uneasiness and fear.
"Calm down, Lavada." Brink parried against the slash from Gibson's cutlass and backed away while grabbing Lavada's hand. She, too, understood the situation, unsheathed her two daggers, and observed the surroundings warily.
After a swift look, she calmed down and took a deep breath.
"Honey, I'm okay now. I will handle Gibson. You can go and help Nelson and others." Lavada said while biting her lips in frustration.
"Okay. Don't get yourself killed." Brink said comfortingly and hurriedly moved towards the left side.
On the other hand, Lavada nodded her head at Brink's comforting words and quietly scanned the surroundings.
"Don't you think these skeletons look different from before?" Lavada knitted her eyebrows as she observed the skeletons' movements and asked.
'The undead skeletons that guarded the fort wall appear too weak. But these skeletons look more like elite soldiers.' Her eyes wandered.
Brink also noticed this anomaly and asked Nelson in confusion.
"Nelson? Do you know anything about these undead skeletons?"
"How would I know? You are the one who gathered information about this tower from that bandit leader, right?" Nelson shouted, leaped towards the two elite undead skeletons, and decapitated them swiftly.
But that doesn't make anyone happy at all.
Clang!
"I don't think our crew members will be able to hold off against these skeletons," Lavada said grimly and greeted the attack from Gibson's cutlass.
Soon, she blocked the thrust with her black dagger and evaded the other two attacks using a movement-type skill.
Even with that, Gibson's cutlass pierced the surrounding air and gave a shallow cut on her right shoulder.
"Careful!" Brink shouted from behind in a concerned voice.
"I'm okay. Concentrate on the battle and reduce the numbers quickly." Lavada responded coldly and soon shifted her attention to Gibson.
'Both of us are even in strength.' Lavada observed Gibson's movement and gripped her dagger tighter to unleash her dagger skill.
Alas, emotions started to get in the way and stopped her from giving heavy wounds to Gibson.
'If it is another guy, I won't even show any hesitation like this.' A look of frustration appeared on her face.
At that moment, she heard multiple screams from all directions, followed by Nelson's roar.
"Ughhh!" "Arrrggg! My Hands!" "Noooo!!" "Help me!!"
"Fools, don't panic. Attack them in the head." Nelson roared.
Finally, she gritted her teeth and chose to face him head-on without any hesitation in her heart.
'I have to defeat him and help others. If not, most of them might die here.' Lavada muttered inwardly and took a step forward.
Simultaneously, she activated her movement skill and enveloped her body in darkness elemental energy before sprinting forward.