Chapter 145: Chapter 144: Late-Night Attack

Colin had just gotten to his feet when several figures climbed over the rails on both sides of the ship.

A closer look revealed what they were.

The creature’s entire body was covered in gray-green scales. It wore clothes woven from shells and seaweed, and clutched a short spear made from some kind of sharpened conch.

In addition to a humanoid torso and limbs, it had a shark-like tail, webbing between its fingers and toes for swimming, and a dorsal fin on its back like a shark’s.

Furthermore, their heads were also shark-like, with streamlined skulls, small black eyes the size of quail eggs, and a gaping, bloody maw.

’Sahuagin?’

These things were intelligent creatures that lived in the ocean. Due to their cruel and bloodthirsty nature, coastal dwellers called them "Sea Demons." They were natural-born pirates. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

’And it seems these things have a blood feud with the sea-dwelling Elves... These monsters will probably go berserk when they see my Elf Giant Sword.’

To be honest, Colin wasn’t the least bit surprised they had run into this kind of trouble mid-voyage.

’Come to think of it, the deck is very steady right now. The jolt that woke me up was probably caused by this bunch!’

As he recalled information about the monsters, Colin set down the Elf Giant Sword. He instead drew the Hand Half Sword at his waist and initiated Sword Dance, causing a black radiance to flow along the blade.

Just as he drew his weapon, a Sahuagin thrust its spear at him.

Colin sidestepped, his blade blocking the shaft of his opponent’s spear.

As he parried the attack, the blade erupted in fiery light. The Emerald Flame Sword slid down the spear shaft, severing the Sahuagin’s wrist and slicing a large gash across its stomach.

Its massive mouth, filled with sharp teeth, tore open in an ear-piercing scream.

With a thought, his Blade Spell Mastery activated!

The flame on the blade wasn’t as spectacular as before, but it still burned fiercely.

Colin swung his sword, cutting through his opponent’s neck as if it were a stick of cold butter, sending the shark-like head rolling across the deck.

The sequence was fluid and seamless, without a moment’s hesitation.

More than half a month of training hadn’t been for nothing. The two specialties, Attack Prediction and Silent Sword Dance, worked quite well together. Colin handled his sword with far more skill than an ordinary swordsmanship novice.

The sound of a shield clashing with a weapon came from behind him.

Colin glanced back, swung his Hand Half Sword over Orelia’s head, and leaped forward, striking another Sahuagin in the shoulder.

"Morninglord, may your light dispel the darkness..."

Orelia’s voice, reciting a prayer, came from behind. The next moment, a point of light signifying Sacred Flame appeared above the opponent’s head. Holy fire descended, scorching the fin on the Sahuagin’s head black.

Colin pressed his advantage, leaping forward and thrusting his flaming blade into the opponent’s throat.

A spray of blood blossomed as he withdrew the sharp blade.

The Sahuagin’s body went limp and collapsed to the ground.

"Colin, there are more around us."

Orelia looked around, then placed her hand on a Sahuagin’s dropped spear and began to recite another prayer.

Light took effect. Rays of light clung to the spear, faintly illuminating a radius of over ten meters around the two of them. Orelia then jammed the spearhead into a wooden barrel fixed to the deck.

The darkness was dispelled, revealing the glint of countless fish scales all around.

The monsters that had climbed onto the deck were exposed in the light. Pairs of dead-fish eyes stared at them, enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

’In this Magic World, pirates don’t just come from on the water, but from under it as well...’

Colin tightened his grip on his sword.

Shouts constantly echoed from the front of the deck. It must have been the guard who had walked past earlier.

The sounds of battle also came from the rear of the deck. It seemed the awakened sailors had rushed onto the deck and were starting to drive off these uninvited nocturnal visitors. Colin could also faintly hear Kase’s voice, which put him slightly at ease.

Seeing that the Sahuagin weren’t attacking for the moment, Orelia tentatively placed a hand on Colin’s back. "Morninglord, may your radiance protect this man."

A faint glimmer of light immediately appeared on the surface of Colin’s body.

’It must be Devout Shield,’ he thought. ’I’ve read about it in a book. It’s a magic that enhances defense. I heard this faint shield provides about the same defense as a layer of leather armor over a cotton armor liner—which would be two points of Defense by the system’s metrics.’

"HAAH!!"

The moment the Divine Art ended, several of the surrounding Sahuagin let out intimidating roars in unison and surged forward.

Colin unhurriedly extended his hands.

’I hope the captain doesn’t mind a little fire...’ With a thought, the fiery light of Burning Hand burst from his palms, instantly enveloping the three Sahuagin at the front.

Wisps of white steam rose into the air.

Licked by the flames, the Sahuagin’s wet scales were instantly steamed dry, curled, and scorched. Several bursts of steam also erupted from the wet deck. Though it didn’t catch fire, it was clearly blackened in many places.

Sparks of flame danced.

The few Sahuagin within the spell’s range immediately halted their charge, screaming hysterically as they frantically clawed at the scales on their bodies.

Colin gripped the hilt with both hands, raising the blade high behind him like he was swinging a baseball bat.

He twisted his feet, putting power into his waist.

His entire body was like a coiled spring, all its force concentrated into the blade held in his two hands.

Turn, spinning slash!

Empowered, Emerald Flame Sword!

The newly born flame split the rising white steam in two.

The instant the first Sahuagin’s head was sent flying, Colin once again concentrated the flame on his blade.

An arc of fire cut through the night.

Three Sahuagin heads hit the deck and rolled across the ground.

Foul-smelling fish blood spattered like rain against his helmet, making a CLATTERING sound.

Colin landed lightly on his toes, coming to a steady stop on the slippery deck as if he had just finished a formal dance rather than slaughtered several troublesome monsters.

Several Sahuagin charging from behind thrust their short spears at their enemy.

The instant the weapons were about to strike Colin, the shimmering membrane on his body flashed, nullifying most of the force from the spear tips. The remaining impact was only enough to produce a CLANG against his Plate Armor, causing no damage whatsoever.

However, two spears did graze Colin’s arm, leaving a few bloody cuts.

He swung his sword again, landing a vicious backhanded blow on a Sahuagin.

The sharp blade forced the surrounding Sahuagin to halt their attack.

Orelia, hiding behind Colin, seized the opportunity and retaliated against the attackers with Sacred Flame.

Compared to close-quarters combat, the Priest was far more proficient with offensive Divine Arts.

Just as Colin was about to counterattack, several fishing nets suddenly fell from the sky. Even though he did his best to dodge, he was caught off guard and ensnared by one.

A closer look revealed that several Sahuagin had, at some point, climbed up the ship’s mast.

These creatures were holding several casting nets, and they had just thrown two of them down in his direction.

Colin tried to struggle free, but the net, woven from seaweed, was studded with shark teeth sharpened into barbs. A careless move tore his clothes and opened several more cuts on his arms.

THUD!

A loud noise came from in front of him.

A Sahuagin wielding two scimitars, standing two heads taller than the others, appeared before him. This one wore armor made of seaweed and sharkskin, and it looked to be the leader of the raiding party.

’Damn it...’

’I stood out too much,’ Colin thought. ’This group has made me their primary target!’