14: Raid on Bloodclaw Island 3

The bloody scent at the docks had not yet been dispersed by the sea breeze, and the sounds of battle were already spreading like a plague into the interior of the Blood Claw Island camp.

On the wooden walls of the camp, several pirates, awakened by the commotion from the docks, had just poked their heads out when they were shot down by Elise's precise arrows.

Angus and Clay, acting like two sharp blades, led the main force and rushed to the crude wooden gate of the camp, meeting almost no decent resistance.

"Smash it open!" Angus roared. Joining forces with Clay, he channeled his Qi into his shoulders and legs, slamming fiercely into the wooden gate.

"Boom!"

The wooden gate, which was not sturdy to begin with, shattered into countless splinters under the combined impact of the two Bronze High Rank warriors.

The two guards behind the gate who had tried to hold it back screamed as they were struck by the flying wood splinters and sent flying backward.

"Charge in! Eliminate all resistance!" Linn followed closely behind, waving his Staff, and the soldiers and Slaves surged into the camp like a tidal wave.

Fighting erupted instantly in every corner of the camp. It was a premeditated operation against a rabble that had just been startled awake from their sleep and plunged into panic. The outcome was clear at a glance.

By now, Linn and his group had fought their way to the outside of the Blood Claw Pirate Group's main hall.

Bartley, who had been sleeping soundly after drinking, woke up instantly and used his Qi to disperse the remaining alcohol. "Who the hell grew a pair and dared to come challenge me?"

Like a thunderclap, the heavy wooden door of the great house exploded from the inside, as if struck by a battering ram! Countless wood splinters shot outward like arrows!

A figure like a giant bear, enveloped in incomparably violent Killing Intent, burst through the swirling dust and appeared before them.

It was none other than "Blood Hand" Bartley.

He was nearly two meters tall, his naked upper body covered in knotted muscles that bulged like granite, and his bronze-colored skin was crisscrossed with scars.

His face was twisted in extreme rage as he looked at the corpses of his subordinates scattered everywhere, his blood-red eyes nearly spitting fire.

He carried a broad-bladed giant axe nearly as tall as himself, resembling a door panel, its blade flashing with a chilling light in the sun.

The violent Qi of a High Silver Rank burned and rose around him like tangible flames, causing the air to slightly warp from the sheer power.

His gaze, sharp as two bone-scraping steel blades, swept instantly over the strangers like Linn and Clay, before finally locking onto Hogan, who was deathly pale and trembling like a sieve.

"Hogan! You damned, ungrateful traitor! I'm going to crush your bones one by one! I'll rip out your Soul and light it like a lamp!" Bartley's roar was like a storm, causing everyone's eardrums to hum.

Before the words had even faded, his massive body was already in motion! There was no unnecessary chatter, only the most direct and violent intent to kill!

Like a crazed rhinoceros, he pushed off the ground, causing it to tremble slightly. With an Aura of unstoppable destruction, he charged straight toward Linn, who was standing at the front of the group!

Capture the leader first; he saw at a glance that Linn was the core of this group.

The massive battle axe was swung up with one hand, accompanied by a shrill whistling sound as it cleaved down toward Linn's head with the simplest, most brutal force, like a mountain-splitting strike!

Before the axe arrived, the violent wind pressure already choked Linn, causing his hair to fly backward.

"Protect the Master!" Clay had been prepared, and the moment Bartley moved, he moved as well.

He channeled his Silver Elementary Qi to its limit, the pale silver light becoming even more solid than before. He knew he absolutely could not clash with Bartley in terms of raw strength, but he had to buy time for Linn to cast his Spell!

Choosing not to take the blow head-on, he lowered his body, slipping into Bartley's blind spot like a nimble fish. His longsword transformed into a venomous snake, thrusting rapidly toward the vital point under Bartley's axe-wielding arm! This was a tactic of attacking the enemy to save the ally, forcing him to defend.

Bartley had extremely rich combat experience. Facing Clay's tricky sword strike, he roared, his giant axe's trajectory toward Linn remaining unchanged. He simply lowered his wrist slightly, using the broad axe face like a shield to block Clay's longsword, while his left fist, like a cannonball leaving its chamber, roared with Qi and smashed fiercely toward Clay's face!

Offensive and defensive in one, it was incomparably ruthless!

"Clang!"

The longsword collided with the axe face, emitting a deafening sound. Clay felt an irresistible force surge from the sword, his tiger's mouth instantly splitting open and bleeding profusely. His entire right arm went numb, and his body staggered backward uncontrollably.

Bartley's left fist strike forced him to retract his sword to block.

"Bang!"

As fist and sword met, Clay groaned again, tasting sweetness in his throat as a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He was knocked back five or six steps before barely managing to steady himself. In just a single exchange, the gap in Rank was fully demonstrated.

But this brief delay had won a precious moment for Linn!

Linn's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, and the obscure incantation on his lips was already complete. The gem at the tip of his Staff erupted with intense red light!

"Flame Explosion!"

A massive fireball, over half a meter in diameter, burning with raging flames and containing unstable magic energy, roared toward Bartley like a falling meteorite! Wherever the fireball passed, the air was scorched and warped by the high temperature.

Facing this massive Fireball Spell attack, he dared not be arrogant enough to take it head-on. He let out a manic roar, forced to abandon his pursuit of Linn. His arm muscles bulged as he held the giant axe horizontally in front of him, frantically injecting Qi into the axe body to form a thick barrier of Qi.

"Boom!!!"

The fireball slammed solidly into the giant axe and exploded violently! A deafening explosion rang out, and the scorching heat wave spread in all directions like a tangible shockwave, whipping up dust and wood splinters from the ground, making it impossible for everyone to open their eyes.

Bartley was blasted back several steps, the light of his Qi flickering violently. His arms holding the axe trembled slightly, and there were traces of burns on his face and exposed chest. His hair was scorched, emitting a foul smell. Although he had blocked the attack, it was clearly not easy for him.

Just at the moment when his posture was unstable and his breathing slightly disordered!

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Elise, like the most patient hunter, had been searching for an opportunity. Her arrows were finally released! Not just one, but three consecutive arrows!

The first aimed straight for Bartley's left eye, forcing him to dodge or block; the second shot toward his knee joint, which was slightly raised due to his retreat; the third was the trickiest, aimed at his right flank, which was exposed due to his blocking of the explosion!

Elise understood that her meager strength might not cause damage to Bartley, but it could block and delay Bartley's offensive.

The series of coordinated attacks left Bartley's movements in disarray.

Meanwhile, Hogan and his several contracted pirates were also red-eyed, desperately holding off several pirate sub-leaders who had arrived upon hearing the news and were trying to support Bartley.

They knew deeply that if Bartley won, the fate of these traitors would be worse than death; but if Linn won, they might still have a glimmer of hope for survival. The desire to live overcame their fear, causing them to erupt with combat power far exceeding their usual, temporarily tying down the reinforcements.

The core of the battlefield became a tangle between the three—Linn, Clay, and Elise—and Bartley.

Bartley was powerful, with an absolute advantage in strength and Qi. Every swing of his giant axe carried the power to split mountains and crack rocks, forcing Clay to constantly skirmish and dodge, not daring to easily take a hit head-on again.

Linn's magic was his greatest threat, but chanting Spells took time and consumed huge amounts of Mental Energy. Elise's arrows were like maggots on a bone, constantly interfering, weakening, and looking for a chance for a one-hit kill.

The battle fell into a dangerous stalemate. Bartley was like an untiring war machine, his giant axe dancing wildly, his Qi surging. Although he had added a few arrow wounds and burn marks to his body, his Aura did not decrease but instead increased.

Looking at the three from Linn's side, Clay's injuries were not light, blood constantly spilling from the corner of his mouth, and his movements beginning to slow down; Linn's face was pale, fine beads of sweat oozing from his forehead, as continuously casting powerful Spells was a huge burden on him; Elise's quiver was also being rapidly depleted.

If the battle continued long, the one destined to be defeated would be Linn's side!

A flash of determination crossed Linn's eyes. He knew he could no longer hold anything back; he had to finish it in one blow!

He bit his tongue hard, the intense pain stimulating his nearly exhausted Mental Energy to surge again in a forced manner. The Staff was tightly gripped in both his hands and held high above his head. More ancient and complex incantations poured from his mouth like flowing water, and the gem at the tip of the Staff shifted from intense red to an unstable, bright white that seemed to contain the core temperature of the sun!

This was a Forbidden Spell Linn had learned from Dolia after leaving Tianhai City, which used his own Lifespan as the price. Linn was fired up now; with a Silver Rank possessing a Lifespan of about 150 years, losing a few decades now didn't matter.

Bartley sensed that heart-palpitating magic fluctuation, and his intuition told him that fatal danger was imminent. His blood-red eyes locked onto Linn, ignoring Clay's harassing attacks on the side. Roaring, he poured all his Qi into the giant axe, preparing to launch his strongest strike to forcibly interrupt Linn's spellcasting!

"Cover the Master!" Clay roared hoarsely, knowing this was the most critical moment. He no longer dodged, his remaining Qi boiling as if burning. He abandoned all defense, becoming one with his sword, transforming into a dazzling silver stream of light. Not attacking, but unhesitatingly slamming into Bartley, wanting to use his own body to buy that final, life-or-death deciding moment for Linn!

"Seeking death!" Bartley roared, the giant axe cleaving toward the sword light that Clay had transformed into with the momentum to crush everything!

Just at this critical moment!

Elise fired the last arrow in her quiver, the one infused with all her spirit and magic! This arrow was not aimed at Bartley's vitals, but at the ankle of the foot he was inevitably stepping on to support his body during his all-out cleave! It was an extremely tricky, counter-intuitive angle!

"Pfft!"

The arrow accurately sank into his ankle!

Bartley's massive body suddenly lurched, and the trajectory of that sure-hit axe showed an imperceptible deviation!

"Clang!"

The giant axe and Clay's sword light collided violently! Clay flew backward like a kite with a broken string, the blood spraying from his mouth tracing a miserable arc in the air before he fell heavily to the ground, unable to get up for a moment. His sword was broken.

But he had succeeded! He had won that precious final moment for Linn to complete the incantation!

Linn's chanting stopped abruptly.

"Forbidden Spell: Crimson Flame Storm!"

His hoarse voice seemed to carry the power of Law. The fireball at the tip of the Staff, condensed to the extreme and presenting a scorching white color, seemed to possess life, and with a shrill sound that tore through space, it shot toward Bartley, who was unstable and had just retracted his giant axe!

"Boom!!!" A terrifying explosion sounded!

Bartley let out an earth-shattering scream. The scorching white light enveloped Bartley, his sturdy Qi defense torn apart like paper, and his body and bones instantly carbonized and shattered under the extreme heat and explosion!

At this moment, Linn's vision went black, and he fell straight down. Elise, who was still holding on nearby, hurriedly stepped forward to support Linn.

"Oh my god! What kind of Spell is this? The First Chieftain didn't even leave a trace behind!"

"Boss Bartley is dead! Run!"

The remaining scattered pirates, who were still putting up a desperate resistance, saw that Bartley, who was like an invincible god of war in their hearts, had actually fallen, and their last shred of fighting spirit completely collapsed. They dropped their weapons and fled in all directions like headless flies, or knelt directly on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.