Attacked At Sea III

Clang BANG BOOM!

The enemies and our people met and began to clash while cannons and spells blasted from the ships.

It is utter chaos, but those fighting seemed to understand it. Except for me and my guards, everybody here has a good experience the naval combat, including Captain Azalea and her men.

They are going well, but my focus is on the enemy leader, who is responding to the attacks of the Stone and Captain Azalea.

He seemed fearless with his cutlass. He dodged attacks Stone and responded to the attack of Captain Azalea, sending her back, before leaping at her with a lethal strike.

Stone stepped in front of her and defended against the attack, shaking, before Captain Azalea attacked.

They have only fought once together against the bandits, and their teamwork is better than I had expected. They are also fast, but the leader is faster and stronger, seeing how he is dealing with them.

It is all blurry to me and even without suppression; I am feeling it would have been only slightly clear.

It is kind of scary, considering they have been barely using any skills. They are not even using their speed skills; I know both Stone and Captain Azalea have them.

There is a good chance that the enemy has it too.

However, using a speed skill in a small space like a ship deck, is complicated. One needs to be quite agile.

Clang!

I was watching the battle when suddenly the blades clashed behind me.

I turned and saw Jon clashing against a woman with daggers in both of her hands. 

'Rogue.' I thought and shuddered.

She had reached so close to me without getting discovered. If Jon hadn't been here, I would have had my head flying with my enemies cheering on the victory.

The three people beside me got alarmed and I could see them activating more of their skills.

Hun!

A few seconds passed when suddenly, the ship began to rise. It immediately alarmed me. 

The sea is calm, but a wave has formed below the ship and taking it high. Since there are not any waves around me; the only thing that could do something like that, is a spell.

I was panicking over it, when suddenly, the wave seemed to lose its power, and the ship fell; shaking everyone on the deck.

The effects should have been greater, but it seemed like skills, had saved us. Captain Perry had kind of skills; almost all ships' captains above Lv. 20 have such skills, especially those sails in rough seas or fighting naval battles.

The fall wasn't as forceful as I had thought, but it still made quite a lot of people stumble in their places.

These people fought through the stumble. Some even used this opportunity to injure and kill the ones they were fighting.

Including the enemy leader, who was able to give a minor cut to Stone on the shoulder.

He acted like it was nothing and went on to attack the enemy leader, who defended and attacked back.

The way the leader is fighting, he is clearly experienced in the battles like this. It is clear by the grace; he is fighting with them, that Captain Azalea and Stone couldn't be compared to him in that.

This isn't surprising, seeing they wouldn't hire land mercenaries when they want to kill the target at the sea.

It might not look like it, but I am scared right now; more scared, than even when thousands of bandits attacked us on the snowy hills.

The bandits attacked, but their target wasn't me and interrogation afterward was proof that they only wanted to kill Ignatius and capture everyone for the ransom.

These people want to kill me; kill everyone on the ship and they have already made that obvious.

They aren't weak. It is clear as day that they have made a preparation to achieve their target.

I wouldn't let myself be a deadweight, when I had decided to stay on the deck, increasing the difficulty of people around me. 

Though hiding would have been even worse because they would only have needed to send one powerful person to secure the cabin and they would have been able to finish me and the rest that were hiding.

Ejecting out of the safe cabin would have been a suicide; seeing how powerful the mage on the other side is.

He would have drowned us to death within seconds.

So, staying on the deck might seem idiotic, but it is the safest choice to protect most people. Though bad for my own safety, here, everybody could see me and target me as long as they breached through the line of guards.

They are targeting me; the arrows and spells are coming toward me, but the mages are guards are defending against them.

Still, I am ready and will fight the moment, I need to. I only hope someone would help me, with the suppression, I am feeling.

Hun!

Nearly a minute passed when something surprising happened.

Zela, who was fighting against the mage on the other ship, jumped from the ship into the ocean in a barrage of cannons, that we were still firing.

Some cannons didn't have people on them, but those cannons were still firing and targeting the other ship, keeping their mages busy.

Captain Perry isn't a fighter. He specializes in ship control, and he is showing that. 

Still, I wished he had been able to move the ship fast enough that we would get away, but from the beginning, it was clear that we wouldn't be able to do it.

The other ship was fast enough that even with the skills and aid of our mages, we wouldn't have been able to get away. At most, we would have been able to buy a few minutes before the ship caught up to us.

Zela jumped into the water but didn't drown and instead began to walk on the water, dodging and defending the cannons and spells, while at the same time casting her own offensive spells at the enemy.

For a moment, I was confused why she had done that, before understanding, that it is better for her at sea, here, it gives her better freedom against the enemy, without any distraction.

Here, it would be hard for even a rogue to sneak at us.

It also had the disadvantages. Especially to me. If a powerful mage attacked me; she wouldn't be here to defend me.

Though, I can't say her decision is wrong.

From the ocean, she will be able to deal with that strong mage better. The mage is the greatest danger, more than the enemy leader, who has started to suppress Stone and Captain Azalea.

He is definitely Lv. 30 or above.

Stone is very good, but he is getting suppressed by the enemy leader. Though not as much as one would expect.

While the ship deck might not be his favorite place to fight, he could fight in it. Especially with that sword, which is shorter than his other sword.

I gave him another sword before we left Greltheaven. I had borrowed it from the armory of Greltheaven.

It was wise on my part; with that huge sword, he would have been more restricted in fighting in this small space. The shorter one, gives him much greater freedom, with the same lethality.

Hun!

A few more seconds passed, when suddenly Captain Perry appeared beside me, and his speed was amazing.

"{Ward of Ship}" 

He said simply and tapped on my shoulder, and immediately, the restrictions of the enemy's skills had loosened.

Not completely, but 80% of their power has gone. It made me somber, instead of joyous. As of now, I am completely sure the leader is Lv. 30 and above.

The skill that Captain Perry used is 'Home-Advantage Skill', the type of skill that gives home-field advantages and is thus stronger than the skills of the same level.

Captain Perry isn't a weak man. 

He might not be particularly talented, but he had swaths of experience. Had been part of the imperial armada and fought in countless naval battles and survived, luck alone isn't enough for that.

"Thank you, Captain," I said, and the man just nodded and moved fast, faster than anyone on the ship.

It is clear, that he has a skill that lets him move fast across the ship and it is a very useful skill, in times like this where he needs to act fast, and he is doing that.

He is the reason why, our cannons are still firing and keeping the enemy mages busy.

The enemy is also firing their cannons, but their intensity is much weaker and more targeted. Unlike before, their people have boarded the ship. They couldn't attack, like before, or will end up killing their people and ours.

Still, it is not enough. We are getting suppressed. Not heavily as enemies our enemies might have expected, but still.

They have come with great preparations and the people they have brought are higher level, with experiences in battle like this and it is showing, seeing how they are fighting.

It is not good for us, because the result of the battle depends on the people like Stone and Captain Azalea.

If a single one of them had been killed; the enemy leader wouldn't have had any problem crushing the blockage and coming at me.

Hun!

I had just thought that when the enemies broke through and came at me, with murder in their eyes.

"Kill him; the leader said, whoever kills him will get the biggest reward!" shouted a man with dark green hair.

For a moment, I panicked, but took a deep breath, before taking a step forward and attacking the first enemy that appeared in front of me.