Chapter 67: The Second Battle of Cutthroat Isle
The Stepstones, Cutthroat Isle Main Island
"Caw, caw, caw..."
The terrifying storm had come quickly and left just as fast. Cutthroat Isle, which had looked like a scene of doomsday just a second ago, soon became quiet and peaceful again.
The sea shimmered, and seagulls soared freely in the sky. If it weren't for the garbage and ship wreckage still floating on the water, no one would have known that a storm like an apocalyptic catastrophe had once occurred here.
However, this tranquil scene was soon broken by the approaching black-sailed ships in the distance; the pirates under "Mad" Jack had already steered their warships toward the harbor.
Greed and ferocity flickered in the eyes of these pirates. Although the storm "Mad" Jack obtained by sacrificing to the Black Goat of Qohor had not destroyed the ships and buildings of Cutthroat Isle as he had expected,
the pirates under him did not know this. In their eyes, everything that had just happened was complete proof that the gods were on their side.
Unlike the excitement and agitation of the pirates, "Mad" Jack felt somewhat apprehensive at this moment. He had spent a lot of time and energy on this sacrifice.
But at that final moment, when that terrifying rift appeared in the sky, "Mad" Jack had vaguely heard a series of curses and screams with ominous pronunciations.
However, this feeling of unease was soon covered up by the killing intent and madness constantly surging within "Mad" Jack's heart.
As the first warship broke through, more and more pirate ships with black sails swarmed into the waters of the main island. Excited roars from pirates came from the longships at the very front; they could not wait to begin their plundering and slaughter.
As the leader, "Mad" Jack was much like his pirates. At this moment, he looked like a demon possessed, his eyes bloodshot, and a faint blood-colored mist seemed to linger around his entire body.
Completely controlled by the bloodlust in his heart, "Mad" Jack was now like a salivating mad dog. After slashing a wound onto his hand with his longsword, he shouted loudly to the people around him:
"Charge, brothers! Today, we will make this port our slaughterhouse!"
"Whoo, whoo, whoo..."
"Kill! Kill them all!..."
Following "Mad" Jack's command, the pirates jumped into skiffs and small boats, quickly approaching the harbor docks in teams of five.
The pirates skillfully maneuvered their boats toward the harbor, while some pirates in the front held up oak shields to dodge the arrows fired by the harbor defenders.
"Ready! Fire! Let these fools witness the power of the ballistae!"
Narsas, commanding from behind the distant troops, immediately ordered the ballista units to fire once he saw the enemy's small boats enter range.
Soon, several stone arrow towers located at the junction of the dock area and the marketplace launched their attacks.
These arrow towers were newly built after Jon took power. Although there wasn't much stone near Cutthroat Isle, as long as one was willing to spend money and effort, many things could still be bought.
Thump, thump, thump...
Under the interaction of the bowstrings and bow arms, the double-shot ballistae produced in Myr launched two massive bolts as thick as an adult's fist.
"Watch out!"... Boom... Crack!
"Ugh... Aaaargh..."
...Although the pirates had noticed the attacks from the arrow towers, they had no way to deal with bolts that were nearly as tall as they were.
The ballistae, firing at high, middle, and low trajectories, created bursts of blood mist among the dense clusters of pirate boats.
Because the power of these bolts was so immense, after the boats in front were hit, the pirates behind them were also caught in the crossfire.
Many pirates who were lucky enough to escape frequently saw their companions skewered like candied haws as they passed through this hellish stretch of sea.
Looking at their companions still struggling to survive, many pirates who were still somewhat clear-headed subconsciously swallowed hard.
"Kill!..."
But for some pirates who had completely fallen into madness, none of this meant anything. Only slaughter and blood remained in their minds.
After approaching the piers near the harbor, some pirates who were already impatient simply jumped into the water.
The hearts of these pirates were filled with slaughter and cruelty. Now, they viewed human life as grass, caring only for the pleasure of killing, as if it were the most important thing in their lives.
Due to the storm, many ships docked at the wharf had been churned into a tangled mess by the strong winds. Ropes and masts were intertwined, and one galley, because its hull was relatively low, had been blown directly under the hulls of several large sailing ships.
"Ready! Fire..."
Seeing that the pirates had already invaded the dock area, Narsas immediately ordered the archers and crossbowmen to attack. Most of the dock area consisted of single-story flat warehouses.
Such a position was the perfect firing zone for the archers located on the perimeter wall and the roofs of the marketplace. Some soldiers who had been selected to change classes into system archers even treated the pirates shouting orders as sniping targets.
Swish, swish...
After a dense rain of arrows, the first pirates to rush into the dock warehouse area fell onto the central avenue like hedgehogs.
Although it was called the central avenue, this road leading from the dock area to the marketplace was only five meters wide.
The wood-and-stone perimeter wall was about eight meters high, and its distance from the nearest building in the dock area was about ten meters. It was precisely because of this open area that many pirates had nowhere to hide.
"Commence free fire now. Aim carefully! These arrows are very expensive, so look clearly before you shoot!"
Seeing that the enemy had already gone to the dock area to dismantle door panels and wooden planks for cover, Narsas issued a new command once again.
Looking at the increasing number of enemy warships, Narsas felt no fear in his heart, because he knew very well that no matter how many enemies came, they were just delivering themselves to the slaughter.
When dragonfire descended, these fellows could only bow their heads and submit. Although Narsas was not as good at speculating as Kapo, he understood that only by letting all the enemies in would Jon have the chance to finish them all off.
Due to the repeated attacks from ballistae and arrow fire, the pirates finally understood the disadvantages of charging in a swarm. Therefore, the subsequent units all advanced with space between them.
Seeing that the ballistae no longer held an advantage, Narsas ordered the soldiers to switch to using hand crossbows for shooting.
Although the power of a ballista was immense, its cost per attack was too high. Furthermore, when facing scattered enemies, the continuous damage effect of the ballista would be greatly reduced; continuing to fire would only result in losses outweighing the gains.
"Get ready, you little runts! Let these pirates taste the might of our Chainbreakers! If you're scared, just close your eyes and listen to my instructions. As long as you didn't slack off during training and your posture is standard, I guarantee you'll live through this safely!"
Garo, wearing a horned helmet and carrying a double-edged great axe on his back, shouted loudly among the crowd.
The double-edged battle axe on Garo's back was a top-tier axe-type weapon from Jon's system shop, named the Whirling Axe.
Although it couldn't actually fly out to hit enemies and return like in a game, the system had specially attached a property similar to an energy attack to compensate for this special function.
After Garo activated this Whirling Axe, it could trigger an energy attack similar to an afterimage, with its lethality being half of Garo's normal attack power.
Since Jon had a relatively abundant supply of soul energy during this period, he had increased the class levels of several of his subordinates. Their average level had reached Level 10, and their five-dimensional attributes had been raised to around ten points by Jon.
This damned system was a real rip-off; when the system class level increased, it wouldn't randomly increase five-dimensional attributes like in a game.
After increasing the five-dimensional attributes, the soul energy points required for the next upgrade would double.
However, as long as these people underwent a high-level class promotion, the system would grant a one-time increase to all attributes, which made up for part of the expenditure.
"Kill!..."
Just as Garo was loudly encouraging the many Chainbreaker soldiers, a coarse voice suddenly appeared in the distant pirate ranks.
Following that, everyone saw a large group of pirates holding all sorts of wooden planks and blocks, hoping to use them to counter the sniping of the Chainbreaker crossbowmen.
Although the defensive equipment in these fellows' hands looked ridiculous, it was indeed effective. Some Chainbreaker warriors who were not system class-holders were indeed stumped by these strange defensive items.
"Prepare for contact! Raise spears!"
Seeing a giant pirate carrying a massive wooden board, Garo felt the urge to kill the opponent to establish his prestige.
This kind of tall and sturdy fellow was usually the vanguard of a unit. As long as he killed this guy, it would definitely deal a devastating blow to the enemy's morale.
Thinking of this, Garo took the Whirling Axe from his back and recalled the previous method of use.
Garo poured all of his mental energy into it. A person's mental energy was not actually an abstract existence, but something that tangibly existed.
And the Whirling Axe was such a magical weapon; it could extract the user's mental energy and localize it into an energy attack.
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