Chapter 568: Legendary Sea Witch - Kraken
The intense sounds of shouting and killing echoed endlessly along the beach.
The goblins in the stronghold trembled and hid inside the rooms.
They would risk death for a bite of food, but were extremely afraid of combat.
Fortunately, Bay Territory didn't expect them to fight—the soldiers on the walls were enjoying the battle.
Leon watched as hordes of barbarian soldiers fell, his face utterly calm.
According to Bay Territory's strength classification—
these barbarian soldiers were very strong. Although their class level was low, their physical capabilities were excellent. Their average challenge rating reached level 7.
In contrast, the new recruits trained by Bay Territory were only around challenge level 2–4, even after being enhanced by training.
The Netheril Empire never put much effort into developing the strength of ordinary citizens.
They only cared about nurturing and selecting spellcasters.
Because of this, while the chosen recruits had potential, their class levels and combat experience were severely lacking.
This had long been a major headache for the 8th Legion.
You couldn't expect these rookies to go toe-to-toe with towering, muscle-bound orcs, right?
Carlos, who happily entrusted these recruits to Bay Territory, would've never guessed—
Bay Territory indeed didn't send them to fight ferocious orcs.
Instead, they were sent to clash head-on with these equally powerful barbarian soldiers.
However, shooting a crossbow was not hard—on the contrary, it was very simple.
After their initial nerves, the recruits saw that no barbarian soldier ever reached the wall.
Hearing only screams, they quickly relaxed.
No matter how terrifying or dangerous the enemy looked—
if they couldn't even touch a hair on you and were instead wailing under your fire, who would be afraid?
Confirming that the recruits were gaining combat experience as planned, Leon's own tension eased. Pointing at the siege equipment being rolled up, he shouted:
"Maanhammer, take them out!"
Fired up, Maanhammer was ready to test the newly upgraded dwarven cannons from the joint factory. Seeing fresh targets roll in, he shouted in his rough dwarven voice:
"Aim at the siege gear—fire!"
Boom!
The cannons on the wall spat blazing fire.
The barbarians pushing siege gear suddenly shuddered as they were shoved back by the machines.
They turned in confusion and saw their heavy, solid siege machines suddenly explode like splinters—just like the crazy tales they'd joked about.
Panic-stricken, the barbarians had no idea what happened. They scattered to avoid being crushed by falling debris.
Hearing the deafening roar of cannonfire and recalling terrifying memories, many barbarian soldiers began fleeing in fear.
"The new cannons are great! Range has been boosted to a kilometer, accuracy is solid—six hits out of ten."
"The damage is good, but I think we can boost it even more."
Seeing the excellent results, Maanhammer beamed and ordered his assistants to record data while continuing to fire.
Though the cannons still fired solid shells, once they landed among the enemy, they carved bloody paths of destruction.
The shocking power of the cannons even frightened the brave barbarians.
The firing interval of a cannon was more than ten times that of a crossbow.
Each shot killed a dozen or two barbarians—not many in total.
But the visual and psychological impact far exceeded that of bolts.
After a few salvos, the battlefield 500 meters away was littered with broken siege machines and mangled corpses.
No matter how fearless, even the bravest barbarians began to fear the cannons.
Especially since they'd previously suffered heavy losses to such devastating weapons.
They'd fled for tens of thousands of kilometers, only to face similar weapons again on this battlefield.
Just the roar was enough to strike fear into their hearts.
As the barbarian advance stalled, the commanding shaman made their move.
Dozens of gray-brown cloaked shamans chanted low incantations, and terrifying creatures they'd brought from afar began surging toward the stronghold.
On the wall, Leon noticed the shamans' actions and instinctively frowned, turning to the knowledgeable Arnold and asking:
"There's no clear elemental fluctuation. What are they trying to do?"
Sensing the growing danger, Arnold narrowed his eyes and answered thoughtfully:
"I've heard these shamans aren't strong with attack spells—but they can control certain magical beasts..."
Control magical beasts?
Leon instinctively looked to the sky.
Under the clear blue sky, only a flock of dark crows hovered greedily.
No large magical creature threatening the stronghold was in sight.
If the sky was clear—then the danger was underground!
Having seen hundreds of draconic creatures, Leon could name twenty or thirty types of giant subterranean beasts.
With dozens of shamans deployed, there were certainly many beasts under their control.
These might even just be decoys—the real threat had yet to emerge.
Now understanding their plan, Leon quickly turned to Chris and ordered, "Force all underground monsters to the surface!"
Chris immediately responded and shouted to the others:
"Use Potion #4—fire!"
Dozens of glowing red bolts flew—not at the incoming barbarians—but directly into the ground.
Upon impact, the red liquid in the bolts seeped out rapidly, spreading an eerie and terrifying aura.
It was a special potion developed using a modified Ser Family formula—a brand-new "deterrence" agent.
Its ingredients included blood from various extraordinary drakes and fluids from the Katachan Demon, giving it potent volatility.
It not only repelled nearby beasts but also enraged large creatures, forcing them to reveal themselves early!
Once exposed, no matter how strong, they were just targets.
Whoosh!
Huge twisted maws suddenly burst from underground.
Swallowing dirt, potion-soaked soil, and unfortunate barbarians in one bite.
Dozens of grotesque monsters emerged, writhing from the earth.
They were massive worms, covered in gray-black armor plates that shimmered with a metallic sheen.
Their gaping maws were lined with thousands of curved fangs.
Though some barbarians panicked, more were delighted.
To them, the appearance of these death worms meant victory was assured.
But to their horror, the worms began attacking indiscriminately.
Twisting bodies and scythe-like limbs easily sliced nearby barbarians in half.
From their toothy maws, they spat greenish acid.
Even a touch could tear through flesh, melt muscle, and corrode bone.
Chaos erupted across the battlefield.
The distant shamans' expressions changed drastically.
They were horrified to discover that their commands to the death worms had vanished into nothing.
Watching all this, Alice resisted her inner shock, avoiding eye contact with her excited teammates.
She knew exactly what they were thinking!
Unfortunately, the only reason she had prepared these special potions ahead of time was due to the lord's command.
Seizing the moment, Leon immediately ordered artillery fire on the terrifying worms.
Armored as they were, a direct cannon shot could only leave dents and cracks.
When heavily injured, the worms became even more frenzied and violent, slaughtering indiscriminately.
With their trump card backfiring, the barbarian army quickly lost its momentum.
Even the rear troops, still assembling, grew hesitant.
At that moment, distant sails suddenly appeared on the sea's horizon.
Twenty warships of all shapes charged toward the coast at high speed.
Spotting them, Leon quickly issued new orders:
"Watch those ships! Stop them from approaching. If they ignore warnings—sink them!"
The soldiers on the eastern wall immediately perked up.
They had long envied their comrades on other walls who got to "eat meat." Finally, their turn had come.
Seeing the flamboyant pirate flags, Maanhammer rushed over and muttered:
"Took you long enough to show up!"
Rolling up his sleeves, Maanhammer waited until the ships came within 600 meters of the docks, then roared at the top of his lungs:
"Fire! Blast those bastards!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of whistling iron balls flew out, smashing into the oncoming warships that couldn't dodge in time.
The leading five-masted warship took five full hits, and the Wokou pirates on deck instantly fell into chaos.
A dazed pirate general stared at the splintering wood flying before him—a shard sliced open a bloody gash on his cheek.
Awakened by the pain, he looked toward the city wall 800 meters away and shouted with a panicked expression:
"Don't stop! Don't be afraid! Power through!!"
And indeed, charging warships weren't easy to halt. Braving the bombardment, they scrambled forward to about 500 meters.
Glancing at the two sunken ships behind, the pirate general drew his saber and shrieked:
"Fire! Retaliate!"
Finally within firing range, the Wokou pirates launched their counterattack without hesitation.
But the charging warships couldn't provide accurate aim—most cannonballs landed harmlessly on the beach before the walls.
A few struck the walls, but only left shallow dents before bouncing off and falling.
Seeing the enemy's weak response, Maanhammer, who had already tasted the power of the improved cannons, roared:
"Haha! Aim carefully—hit that big seven-masted ship!"
Bay Territory's gunners, focused and precise, showcased their outstanding aim.
A hail of cannonballs flew toward the leading warship.
The pirate general's face changed drastically—he turned and fled without hesitation.
BOOM! The thunderous barrage shattered the deck behind him.
The continuous screams made the general's face grow even paler.
He had never imagined the enemy's cannons were this terrifying—long-ranged and immensely powerful.
According to their plan, they were supposed to blockade the port and bombard the stronghold to break down the walls and help the barbarians storm in.
But the plan had already failed at step one.
The cries of the surrounding pirates snapped the general back to reality as he huddled at the rear, narrowly escaping the blasts.
Realizing the ship was heavily damaged, he was both terrified of Bay Territory's firepower and quick to command:
"Stop firing—full speed ahead!"
Their cannonballs couldn't harm the walls. Better to save ammo and attack later.
However, the closer they got to Bay Territory, the deadlier the incoming fire.
More and more ships were damaged and immobilized.
Still, with their swift pace, five warships were sacrificed to push through to the docks.
As soon as they stopped, a storm of cannonballs rained down.
Even though prepared, the leading ships were riddled with holes, their crews suffering heavy casualties.
But these fierce warriors still launched counterattacks from their battered vessels.
Their will to fight was strong, though their weapons were weak.
Their cannonballs couldn't breach the reinforced walls, let alone hit the wall-mounted artillery.
Watching the return fire, Maanhammer didn't hesitate:
"Aim for their cannons—fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Whistling cannonballs crisscrossed, flying toward each other's artillery.
The spinning shots caused completely different damage.
Over a dozen pirate cannons were destroyed, while the wall cannons remained nearly unscathed.
The soldiers, morale surging, quickly reloaded.
After two volleys, the pirates were horrified.
The wall's artillery was untouched—they, however, had suffered grievous losses.
Gritting his teeth, the pirate general stared at the 4-meter-high wall and shouted:
"Form a death squad—follow me!"
These fierce Wokou pirates howled and jumped off the ships, charging across the dock toward the wall.