#129 - Use of spells

The Vena Islands consist of six main islands and over three hundred smaller islands.

Many places remain uninhabited due to underwater reefs and harsh weather, becoming havens for pirates.

Myles, based on Serpent Isle, leads one such pirate group.

Pirates have their own organizations, and Myles knows some merchant ships cannot be attacked if they fly specific flags.

However, a wealthy patron offered more than the meager shares from pirate organization spoils, hiring them to raid at sea.

Before launching the war, the Menelaus Empire was well aware of its shortcomings.

Lacking natural large harbors and shipyards, the Menelaus Empire's naval construction lagged far behind the Federation's.

This temporarily made the Vena Islands a place far from the war.

But the Menelaus Empire had its advantages, sending many people with gold coins and various equipment.

They found the pirates hidden in the Vena Islands.

Using tangible benefits, they lured the pirates to constantly harass nearby ships and islands, effectively cutting off the Gracia Federation's rear supply line.

Myles received many valuable items and set out to sea to plunder.

The Sea Serpent, originally a three-masted sailing ship, was slightly larger than the Thistle and very fast.

With powerful sails and oarsmen, the Sea Serpent could handle various emergencies.

"Lads, this is a three-ship deal, much fatter than the last two! Same as always, I pick the women first, the rest are yours."

After the pirate leader Myles shouted, the nearly three hundred pirates on board laughed and roared.

Looting wealth, playing with women, and freely killing people.

This period could be said to be the most comfortable days for the pirates on the Sea Serpent.

Just as the pirates were waving their weapons and roaring madly, a gunpowder barrel suddenly exploded.

Boom!

The explosion occurred in the middle of the crowd.

Caught completely off guard, three pirates died instantly, one even blown to pieces.

"Which bastard didn't watch his torch!"

Myles stood on the Sea Serpent's command platform, initially thinking their ship had been hit by enemy cannon fire.

But after seeing the power of the explosion, he knew it was a gunpowder barrel from his own ship.

"This is a powerful weapon sent by the Menelaus Empire! If you don't watch the torches, you'll die..."

Boom!

Boom!

Before Myles could finish speaking, more gunpowder barrels exploded.

The number of exploding gunpowder barrels increased, some ignited by Munn's [Firestarter Spell].

Others were ignited by the flames from the explosions because the pirates carelessly placed the gunpowder barrels too close together.

As the number of gunpowder barrel explosions increased, the pirates panicked, but some still noticed the anomaly.

"Throw all the gunpowder barrels into the sea!"

Myles reissued the order, but the pirates had already suffered more than thirty casualties.

The deck was covered in flames and shattered flesh and limbs.

The surviving pirates knew what was causing the trouble and began to lift the gunpowder barrels and throw them into the sea.

However, some gunpowder barrels still exploded during the throwing process, tearing more than a dozen pirates to pieces once again.

"Boss! There might be a mage on the other side."

Some clever pirates realized what was happening and roared at Myles.

"What's there to fear? I've killed mages before."

Myles had already realized why the gunpowder barrels were exploding.

If it wasn't human error, it could only be those damned spells.

The distance to the enemy ship was still decreasing, but the Sea Serpent's sails had just been burned.

Myles could only order the bound slaves to row the oars faster.

"I'll make you pay!"

Seeing so many casualties before even engaging the enemy ship, Myles gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and his expression became increasingly sinister.

He took out the latest firearm sent by the Menelaus Empire.

A percussion-lock flintlock gun made entirely of metal, with a golden color.

The pirates gained confidence when they saw Myles loading bullets into the gun.

The last time they raided a ship, they also encountered a mage.

The mage could also summon flames, but in the end, he couldn't dodge the gun's bullets.

Seeing the explosions occurring on the pirate ship, Gold on the Thistle roared excitedly.

"Haha, the pirates are dead!"

The explosions on the pirate ship caused far more damage than the Thistle's cannons.

The crew was very excited; they had never imagined fighting pirates like this.

Before even making contact, the enemy had suffered so many casualties, which filled them with confidence for the upcoming battle.

Just as Gold was roaring, people came out of the cabin carrying long-barreled muskets.

These were matchlock guns that Gold had specially added to the ship; they had not been used much, and some of the barrels were already rusty.

However, Munn still asked him to bring out all the ranged weapons.

"Not many of my crew know how to use these, but this should be enough."

After selecting over a hundred matchlock guns, more than fifty remained.

Seeing that the guns were still in good condition and there were plenty of bullets, Zalan made his suggestion.

"There should be someone in the lower cabins who knows how to use them."

"But..."

Gold had just ordered the lower cabins to be locked to prevent these people from causing trouble.

Now that Zalan was asking him to release these people, he was naturally reluctant.

"Don't worry, this battle shouldn't last long."

Hearing Zalan's relaxed tone, Gold turned to look at Munn, who was still casting spells, and then decided to have someone find people who knew how to use muskets.

When the pirates had thrown all the gunpowder into the sea, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

The previous explosions had been frightening enough, but now that there was no gunpowder, they only wanted to take revenge after boarding the ship.

Munn's counterattack plan certainly didn't only consist of the [Firestarter Spell].

Seeing the pirate ship's sails burned and its speed slowed down, Munn asked Gold to keep the Thistle at a distance while he began to cast a new spell.

[Leg Binding Spell]

This was the fastest and most familiar spell Munn currently knew.

Munn could cast the [Leg Binding Spell] twelve times in a single breath.

Consequently, 12 pirates on the pirate ship were frozen in place.

After the pirates were immobilized, they would soon have an arrow or bullet hole in their bodies.

This was the second round of counterattack!

Munn cast spells very quickly; Zalan could keep up at first.

But soon Zalan ran out of arrows, and the veterans immediately took over.

However, their speed couldn't keep up with Munn and Zalan, so five people took turns shooting arrows in Munn's direction.