These undead pirates had [Dragon Vitality] and [Hyper Regeneration]. Those were no jokes. They were usually traits possessed by BOSS level characters. Putting them on disposable pawns like these pirates were pretty damn broken. Troublesome.

  Jack focused his [Eyes of Judgement] searching for some weaknesses. And he found it. It was the [Undead Nature]. It made them immune to aging, fatigue, most physical afflictions, and mental de-buff like fear or guilt. But it also made them weak against light and holy element.

  The problem was... his stocks of holy water, holy bullets, and holy grenades were almost empty. It wouldn't last long enough. Was there any other way?

  Yes... Jack, right away, remembered a relic he had just stolen. One that was supposed to suppress power originated from undeath, eldritch, or faith energies. The [Azure Moon Lantern].

  It was another way. He quickly scanned the surrounding until his eyes locked onto a fallen scimitar on the blood-slicked cobblestones. Its curved blade was polished enough to provide a reflection.

  He immediately focused his mind. Activating his [Mythical Mirror Realm] power and reached for the blade.

  In an instant, the world blurred. Jack slipped through the reflective surface of the blade. Vanishing from the battlefield.

  But just a few seconds afterward, he reappeared. Holding the [Azure Moon Lantern] he had stolen from the Eternal Soul cultists earlier. He had scanned its basic information in his Mirror Mansion just now. And he knew how to activate it.

  Jack decisively bit his thumb until it bled. And then he drew a smear of his red, empowered blood across the glass pane of the lantern. For the last step, he shoved his own spiritual energy into the artifact. Forcing it to wake up.

  A wave of pale, azure light erupted from the lantern. It wasn't warm like a campfire light. It was the chilling light of a winter moon.

  As the radiance washed over the docks, the undead pirates shrieked. The black miasma knitting their wounds together began to evaporate like steam. The pirate Jack had blasted earlier had been halfway to compete recovery. But it collapsed as his chest cavity refused to close.

  The undead pirate's [Hyper Regeneration] was powered by undeath energy. And it was automatically smothered by the lantern's suppressive aura.

  "That's more like it." Jack muttered.

  He looked around. The tide of the battle was shifting. The undead pirates were first held back by the elite mercenaries. And the mercenaries didn't struggle alone for long. From the main thoroughfare of the city, reinforcement came.

  About forty transcendent City Watch members appeared and quickly joined the battle. And there were more transcendent mercenaries from Mercenary Union. Hundreds of them.

  But the more important ones were the appearance of a group of robed people. The ones who were accompanied by the sound of rhythmic chanting and heavy bells.

  The divine acolytes had arrived.

  Leading the charge were the priests of the Church of Justice. Clad in reinforced, pale-blue battle robes and carrying either swords or heavy maces.

  Behind them, the acolytes of the Church of Prosperity and the Church of Redemption followed. Each in the color of their respective robes. White and golden color for the first. And plain grey for the latter.

  "By the name of Justice! Divine Punishment!" The front-most church acolyte bellowed.

  A pillar of pale blue meteoric light descended from the cloudy sky. Incinerating three undead pirates instantly. The combination of Jack's [Azure Moon Lantern] suppressing their healing, and the holy fire of the acolytes, demolishing their undead bodies, turned the tide even further.

  The 'massacre of the living' had now shifted into the 'slaughter of the undead'. Mercenaries who had been on the verge of desperation found their second wind. Many of them were cheering as they began blasting the weakened undead pirates to pieces.

  But the celebration was still... premature.

  The ghost ship, a towering oriental junk, produced an eerie sound. Like a painful groan. The sea around it hissed as the water began to boil. From the main deck of the ship, a figure appeared. A man with a mixture of oriental martial art attire and a captain tricorne hat. The undead pirates' captain.

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  He leaped high to the sky. And plummeted like a meteor.

  BOOM!

  The impact shattered the stone pier. Sending a shockwave that destabilized the balance of the pirates, mercenaries, and acolytes alike.

  Standing in the center of the crater was the Undead Captain. He was short. Almost a head shorter than Reina.

  He was wearing tattered oriental martial robes and a wide-brimmed tricorne hat that shadowed his face. His skin was pale white. His eyes burned with a steady, hateful green flame. Unlike the other undead pirates, he didn't seem to wield any weapon.

  Jack grimaced. He could feel it. This was an illuminated-level being. None of the transcendent combatant in their side had reached illuminated level. Even the strongest among them, Big Boss Lodegrey, was still at the peak of enhanced transcendent level. This was bad.

  Big Boss Lodegrey and Lady Gemrose must have felt the same concern. Still inside their towering steam-mechas, they didn't hesitate to act.

  The winged gorilla steamrun mecha roared and spread its wings. Showing a gesture of intimidation. Then, the hulking beast of steam and iron swung a massive wrecking-ball fist at the pirate captain. The piston-pumped arm moved at incredible speed.

  The undead captain didn't dodge. He caught the multi-ton iron fist with one hand. The screech of metal on bone echoed across the harbor.

  With a flick of his wrist, the illuminated pirate redirected the momentum. Swinging the entire mecha off its feet. And slamming it into a nearby warehouse.

  Lady Gemrose opened fire with her shoulder-mounted cannons. But the pirate captain moved in a blur of wuxia-style footwork. Mysteriously appearing beneath her mecha's legs. He delivered a palm strike to the machine's chassis.

  The armor plating buckled. And the massive steam-engine hissed, as if in agony. The mecha was lifted off the ground. And tossed into the bay like a child's toy.

  "Divine Punishment!"

  A pillar of pale blue meteoric light descended once more from the dark sky. Striking the undead captain's body. The pirate leader simply lift one of his hand to block the light.

  The bright light exploded. When it subsided, the captain remained at his place. Undamaged. Uninjured.

  "The divine power... It's doing nothing!" The acolyte casting the divine spell shouted in bafflement.

  The pirate captain turned his head. In a flash of movement too fast for the normal eye to follow, he appeared in front of the priest. He struck once. A simple, straight palm strike.

  The acolyte's protective barrier shattered like glass. And the man was sent flying. His chest caved in before he even hit the ground.

  The power of faith was being ignored. This wasn't just a common undead. This was an undead martial powerhouse.

  The illuminated level undead didn't stop and wait. He moved lightning fast. With flowing movement of his limbs, he unleashed hells upon the front ranks of acolytes and mercenaries. The city defenders simply fell apart. Their bodies and armors were crushed with every palm strikes and kicks.

  The massacre had begun anew. And this time, the victims were the members of the city defensive force.

  Jack activated his [Eyes of Judgement] again. Targeting the pirate captain.

  [Name: Captain Long Feng]

  [Race: Undead Human]

  [Affiliation: The Lonely Queen]

  [Karma: Extreme Negative]

  [Power Level: Extremely High]

  [Power Class: Undead Martial Fighter]

  [Power Traits: True Dragon Vitality, Hyper Regeneration, Illuminated Core, Undead Supremacy, Ship-Bound Curse]

  [Personalities: Serious, Vicious]

  [Attitude: Hostile]

  "Crap!" Jack immediately swore when he saw the information panel. This creature was out of his league. He couldn't defeat it. But, if only for stalling...

  "Love! Get the wounded out of here!" Jack shouted.

  "Be careful!" Reina cried out. She disappeared with a puff of smoke. Reappearing next to a heavily injured acolyte.

  Jack shifted into his other form. The Black Buto form. [Incarnation Shift]. In just a blink of an eye, he transformed.

  His body expanded. His [Daydream Undersuit] and leather clothes turned into his powerful, blazing [Naraka Armor]. His muscles swelled into iron-hard cords of thicker muscles. His skin turned dark. Reddish black.

  Just within a second, the man had disappeared. And a hulking rakshasa stood where he was. A towering, berserker of destruction. With thick mane and sharp teeth. And wielding the [Judgement Warhammer].

  Jack roared. [Chains of Vengeance] erupted from his left bracer. The black links of the chains glowed with a blazing heat. They coiled around the pirate captain's arm, legs, and neck. Holding him for a while.

  Jack didn't stop there. He swung the [Judgement Warhammer] with one hand. The massive weapon crackled with primordial energy. It brought down with the destructive force into the undead body.

  BOOM!

  The ground groaned. The pirate captain still stood there. His feet were buried deep into the ground. He was holding the head of the hammer with one hand.

  The undead captain's blazing green eyes met Jack's. He smirked. A terrifying, dry peeling of his lips. He used his other hand to yank on the chains.

  Jack, despite his rakshasa strength, was pulled forward. The Captain delivered a kick to Jack's solar plexus that felt like being hit by a freight train.

  Jack was launched backward. Tumbling through the debris of the docks. His ribs were groaning under the pressure.

  "Tough Bastard!" Jack spat. Coughing up a glob of dark crimson blood.

  Before the Captain could finish Jack off, a deafening hiss of high-pressure steam filled the air.

  "Get away from our city, you... Rotten Bastard!" A loud voice boomed.

  A slab of concrete flew and broke as it struck the undead pirate. It was thrown by... Big Boss Lodegrey.

  The union president hadn't given up. He had ditched his ruined mecha. He was now wearing his personal combat suit. A masterpiece of steampunk engineering. Bulky and reinforced. With oversized, piston-driven arms that hissed with every movement.

  From the sky, Lady Gemrose descended. Shooting barrage of superheated pellets toward the captain from her oversized, eight-barreled Gatling gun. Her steamrune armor was sleeker. Huge, articulated metal wings kept her aloft.

  "The next round, Rotten Flesh!" Jack also stood up. Three versus one this time.