The battle began shortly after dawn, with the faint light filtering through the black clouds.
It was a stormy morning, and from the moment she felt the strong winds, Yowo knew trouble was lurking. She donned her chainmail as soon as she heard the captain’s horn and gripped her sword. When she reached the deck, her heart sank: as far as she could see, triremes and skiffs with black sails loomed, swarming with orcs and goblins armed with bows and scimitars.
Fortunately, the captain had anticipated the attack hours earlier, thanks to the mages’ reports, and had positioned the fleet amidst rocky outcrops to prevent flanking.
“We’re on our own!” he shouted to rally the frightened warriors and crew of his galleon. “Let’s show them what they’ve gotten into!”
When the first enemy ship crashed into theirs, Yowo welcomed the initial foes with near delight, despite her fear. She hadn’t fought in days, and the skirmish promised to be invigorating.
Her first opponent was a green orc twice her size, with a patch over its left eye. Though the beast’s overwhelming strength stunned her in the initial clash of blades, within seconds she read the pirate’s movements like an open book. She killed it with a precise slash to the throat. The creature collapsed onto the deck with a thunderous thud.
You have defeated Khalgas, raider of the Dark Archipelago.
Experience points: 80
Core dungeon points: 20
She barely glimpsed the notification before another orc charged her. As she fought, she assessed the level of the adversaries around her.
They’re so weak, she thought after gutting the next enemy and deflecting the knives of a goblin that tried to ambush her. But there are too many of them.
She surveyed the deck after kicking the goblin overboard. Nearby, Xyrna fought with fervor. The sight of her ally eased the icy terror in Yowo’s gut. Though the swordswoman’s level was low—like the rest of the allies and enemies—she was cutting down the surrounding pirates as effortlessly as Yowo.
Elves are on another level.
Soon, a pile of orc and goblin corpses surrounded Yowo, their green blood pooling beneath them. The remaining invaders realized it was wiser to avoid her and instead hurled themselves at the defenders elsewhere on the deck. But it was futile. Yowo was a human predator, darting with feline speed to wherever the battle raged, tipping the scales in her allies’ favor. Her swift strikes and the chainmail that deflected the few blows that landed made all the difference.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Within hours, the pirate forces fled back to their trireme. Ridis, the burly galleon captain, proved just as formidable in close combat. Armed with a short scimitar and magical grenades that dealt devastating area damage, he routed the surviving orcs.
“After them!” he bellowed, leaping onto the enemy deck without checking if his crew followed. His steel-toed boot sent an orc archer flying into the shark-infested waters. Yowo joined him, thirsty for blood and experience.
This is too easy, she mused after slaughtering several foes. Soon, they seized the enemy ship, its loot and weapons now theirs. The few orcs left alive had no choice but to throw themselves into the sea, fodder for the beasts below. I hope that stiff Leye is making good use of all the experience I’m sending him with these wretches.
With the ship secured, Yowo scanned the naval battle around her. Steel clashed against steel, and the agonized cries of the wounded and dying filled the air.
The captain and the other heroes returned to the main galleon. Amid the storm, the hulking man led her to an allied ship besieged by two enemy skiffs. The galleon’s dragon-prowed ram struck the pirate vessel’s port side with enough force to nearly split it in two. The impact sent enemy fighters sprawling—orc and aneita alike, the latter recognizable by their tan features and the green robes draped over their muscular frames.
Though her kin outclassed the orcs in skill, they were no match for Yowo’s agility and lethality. Seizing the confusion from the collision, she flanked the enemy mages, who were jealously guarded in the rear.
With tiger-like speed, she cut them down one by one, slashing throats and bellies before they could cast a single spell.
Necromancers. Thank the gods I killed them first. If they’d summoned an army of the dead, things could’ve gotten messy.
Such mages were common across Anen, turning corpses into weapons. They were one of the reasons why a small jungle-border nation had swallowed its neighbors to become the mighty empire it now was.
With the necromancers gone, Yowo fought more freely, targeting enemies in ascending order of strength. She dispatched goblin spearmen first—the weakest—then green-skinned orc archers and swordsmen, far inferior to their red-skinned kin. Her rapier thrusts were unpredictable, as if her foes fought underwater while she moved with an eagle’s grace.
She slaughtered them so swiftly her allies barely had to lift a blade.
“I thought I had a sense of your level!” Xyrna exclaimed after casting an energy-restoring spell. “But you’re something else entirely!”
From then on, the elf focused on supporting her, weaving shields and enhancement spells. Together, they turned the tide on every enemy ship they boarded alongside the captain, while the allied fleet remained safe among the rocks.
The corsairs soon realized their only option was to retreat. They raised their sails and fled to open waters, dignity in tatters.
“You might as well be a gift from the gods themselves,” the captain said, wiping sweat from his brow. “I’ve no idea why you’re fighting your own people, but with you, we’ll reach the very gates of Dalux.”
Not just Dalux, old man, Yowo thought, sheathing her sword. To the ends of the world. I am the new empire.
