infodatos Chapter 453 The Spirit Erosion Ring: A Life-or-Death Struggle
Chapter 453 The Spirit Erosion Ring: A Life-or-Death Struggle
Chapter 453 The Spirit Erosion Ring: A Life-or-Death Struggle
Rumble! Rumble!
The deafening explosions echoed across the entire sea, and the continuous barrage of cannon fire instantly silenced the previous din of the battlefield. The towering flames reflected on everyone's faces, and the pirates, their bodies ablaze, cried out and jumped into the sea.
Just then, a ragged pirate covered in burns stepped forward and pulled out a huge scroll from somewhere, tossing it into the air.
The scroll turned to ashes in mid-air, followed by a blue light that shone on the pirate ship engulfed in flames. A tooth-grinding condensation sound was heard as frost rapidly formed on the pirate ship, causing the temperature to drop sharply. While it didn't extinguish all the fires immediately, it did prevent the fires from spreading to some extent.
He was Herman Necker, the first mate of "Twilight General" and "the skin painter with a bounty of 20,000 gold pounds".
This Sequence 6 Roll Professor is known worldwide for his cruel murders and psychopathic tendencies.
His favorite thing to do was to peel off the smooth skin of a beautiful young girl's back and use it as material for making "scrolls," because there was no better canvas than a young girl's pink and neat back, and no better spiritual material than the skin of a youthful and lively girl.
In order to obtain better skin from young girls, he would subject them to inhumane torture before peeling them off, plunging them into extreme fear, all to make the peeled skin tighter and easier to preserve.
It was precisely because Herman Nek was notorious for his cruelty and the victims were mainly citizens of the Kingdom of Rune that the Kingdom of Rune gave him a huge bounty of 20,000 gold pounds, which was largely contributed by the families of the Rune victims.
It's worth noting that Lieutenant General Ivan Bratov's bounty was 30,000 gold pounds, while Lieutenant General Edwina Edwards' bounty was only 26,000 gold pounds.
The Kingdom of Rune offered Herman Nek a bounty of 20,000 gold pounds, which shows how much he was hated.
Not only was Herman Necker still alive, but others on the other pirate ships also survived the first round of cannon fire. After regaining their senses, they all took various measures to try to extinguish the fire on their ships, turn their ships around, and get away from the warships that were constantly firing at them, in order to escape the enemy's cannon fire range. Only in this way could they have a chance of survival.
Meanwhile, Herman Neke pulled out all his best-kept scrolls and frantically threw them into the air. In an instant, either dense lightning appeared in the sky, prematurely detonating the cannonballs falling from the sky, or warm green light descended to heal the dying pirates so that they could return to their posts and escape in their pirate ships.
Because of his reckless burning of the scrolls, the situation seemed to have been stabilized for a time. The pirates, who had lost all hope, seemed to see a glimmer of hope and struggled to their feet, trying to save themselves.
Even the warships of the Kingdom of Rune seemed to be shocked by this scene, and actually stopped firing.
Just then, the Kingdom of Rune's warships began to turn around and sped towards the pirate ship.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen people rose from the warship, rushed out ahead of time, and flew towards the pirate ship.
Pirates who had dealt with navies from various countries for a long time knew that this was a common tactic used by the elite Rune Navy against pirates—using the "Storm" spell to organize an elite squad of extraordinary individuals to launch a surprise attack from the air, beheading the pirates leading the squad. Other pirates who witnessed this scene would almost always lose their will to fight.
Therefore, all the remaining pirates on the ship, those with extraordinary strength, stood ready and prepared for this battle that was destined to be difficult.
To be honest, these pirates weren't really afraid of this kind of surprise attack. After all, almost every pirate ship had a Sequence 6 or Sequence 7 Extraordinary and several Sequence 8 or Sequence 9 Extraordinary. With such a one-on-one fight, they weren't necessarily afraid of the other side. It wasn't like they hadn't dealt with the Kingdom of Rune's navy before.
Some of them believed that the losses they had just suffered were simply because the Rune Navy had found a way to improve the accuracy of their artillery, catching them off guard. They didn't think that the Rune Navy was actually inferior in skill, and some even harbored the idea of engaging the Rune Navy in close combat to see who could outdo them.
Only Herman Nek had followed Lieutenant General Twilight Ivan and met with important figures in the Fusak Empire. Knowing the immensity of the world, he understood, like Lieutenant General Twilight, that they might have fallen into a trap. So he immediately pulled out many more scrolls that could create "whirlwinds" in the hope of stopping the enemy from getting closer.
But before he could even utter the incantation to activate it in Hermes, a figure engulfed in flames suddenly emerged from the still-burning fire behind him.
The moment the figure appeared, before Herman Necker's intuition could even warn him, he felt an unprecedented burning pain in his chest. Before he could even realize what was happening, everything went dark, and he crashed heavily onto the ship's deck, motionless and dead, like a stray dog on the roadside.
The remaining pirates who were on the same ship as Herman Necker stared in disbelief at the scene, unable to believe that the number two figure of the "Twilight Pirate Crew" could be so easily killed. Their last bit of courage to survive vanished in an instant.
They were just ordinary pirates, and there was nothing more to them than that. They only saw a young man dressed in the uniform of the Kingdom of Rune stroll leisurely out of the raging flames. He casually pointed at Herman Nek, and a blue flame ignited on the first mate's chest, burning his heart and piercing through his chest.
They had never seen such tactics used on General Hunyun before. Some of those with weaker mental fortitude were so frightened that they dropped their weapons, which fell onto the deck. Some even started to wet their crotches.
It was Evan who killed Herman Necker, the "skin painter".
After Herman Necker threw out many rolls to intercept the cannonballs, he already knew that simple cannon fire could not sink all the pirate ships in front of him. In addition, he did not want to waste time on these small fry, so he decisively adopted the naval tactics commonly used.
Furthermore, because "Professor Roll" has so many ways to deal with things, Evan made him his primary target to prevent any accidents from happening.
At the same time, it could instantly kill the number two figure of the "Twilight Pirates" and destroy the will to resist of all the pirates present.
Just as Herman Necker was being instantly killed by Evan, Dunn Smith and his crew had already landed on other pirate ships and were beginning to make their mark, with the screams of the pirates echoing everywhere.
Meanwhile, Ian Wright had already landed from mid-air, looking at the pirates around him who showed no will to resist, and looked at Evan with an inquiring gaze.
Evan transformed into a ball of fire once more and flew towards the "Azure Avenger," leaving only one sentence for Ian Wright.
"Space on the ship is limited, and we also need to load spoils; there's no extra room for them!"
Ian Wright watched Evan fly away like a shooting star, paused for a moment, then pulled out the pistol from his waist and opened fire on the pirates around him who had already laid down their weapons. Seeing this, the others followed suit and began a wanton slaughter.
Dunn Smith, Isengard Stanton, and the others watched all this with furrowed brows, not getting involved, but focusing their attention on the pirates who were still resisting, without any "saintly" intervention to stop the others.
After all, they knew the official attitude of the Kingdom of Rune towards the "Twilight Pirates," and they had heard too much about the cruelty these pirates inflicted on the people of Rune.
Meanwhile, Alger's condition was already extremely precarious.
Ever since Ivan Bratov realized he had fallen into a trap set by the Rune navy, and his distant ships had been decimated by a barrage of artillery fire, he had already lost all hope.
The navy of Rune came prepared, and it would be difficult for him to escape alive in the middle of nowhere. After all, he was an extraordinary person of the "Warrior" pathway, not an extraordinary person of the "Sailor" pathway.
But his long years of fighting still led him to think of a possible way to survive, and that was the man before him, the captain of the Ghost Pirates—Alger.
Whether it's the "Ghost Ship" configuration, the "Wind-Cherish" sequence, the existence of the "Guardian of Glory" seal, or the courage to act as bait to lure him, all of these factors led Bratov Ivan to believe that Alger was definitely a key talent being cultivated by the Rune Navy and the Storm Church.
If he could take control of Alger before the enemy could reach him, there might still be a sliver of hope!
So when a fierce naval battle broke out in the distance, Vice Admiral Ivan Bratov gave two orders to the second officer who remained on the ship "Twilight".
First, abandon support for the distant pirate ships and surround the "Azure Avenger".
Secondly, he must spare no effort to stop any people or ships from getting close, in order to buy time for him to capture Alger.
These two orders naturally puzzled many pirates in the "Twilight Pirates," as they were unaware that they had stepped into a trap. However, General Twilight's usual military-style management of his subordinates had earned him considerable authority, so no one dared to raise any objections and could only begin to comply.
As for General Ivan Bratov, he knew that time was limited and dared not hold back any longer. He directly activated his spiritual power, causing the ring on his left hand to emit a dark light that enveloped his entire body, including the greatsword he had condensed with the light of dawn.
As the dark light enveloped the entire Dawn Greatsword, Ivan Bratov did not hesitate for a moment and slashed directly at Alger, who was still in "Guardian" form.
"Clang!"
Under Alger's somewhat terrified gaze, the invisible wall formed by the "Radiant Protection" held firm and did not break.
But Alger felt a chilling coldness seep into his body through his hands. His spirit seemed to be frozen instantly and then shattered, causing him excruciating pain as if he were being slowly tortured. Even he, who was usually very patient, couldn't help but let out a scream. The fact that he didn't faint on the spot was a testament to his strong willpower.
What was that dark light? How could it break through the guardian's defenses and directly damage my spirit?
The Guardian's defense is all-encompassing. Giving the Twilight General such a great boost, the sealed artifact that can damage me must be extraordinary!
What is Evan Horn doing? Does he really want to see me die by the sword of the Twilight General?
Alger was unaware that the sealed artifact in the hands of Ivan Bratov had already reached the realm of demigods. The fact that he still had the mind to think about so much was already a testament to the fact that the "Guardian of Radiance" had mitigated the destructive power of that dark light; otherwise, he might have already died instantly.
The "Spirit Erosion Ring" is a magical item made from the gallbladder of a "Rotten Feathered Serpent." It can release a black light that attaches to the holder's entire body and weapons, allowing the holder to transform into a necromancer state. This enables the holder to effectively evade many difficult-to-defend mysterious attacks, while also allowing the holder's weapons to directly damage the opponent's spirit.
The gallbladder of the "Rotten Feathered Serpent" is the main material for the "Corpse Collector" pathway Sequence 4 Undead, and is also the reward for Bratov Ivan's many years of hard work serving the Fusak Empire.
During the first half of last year, when the Fusak Empire and the Kingdom of Rune were engaged in a major war in the Southern Continent, he played a very good role in blocking the reinforcements of Rune civilian ships to the Southern Continent. In addition, due to his years of accumulated merits and the Fusak Empire's rich harvest in the Southern Continent, he obtained this coveted upgrade material.
Because he was unsure when he would obtain another key material, in order to improve his combat power, he used his connections and spent a lot of money to find a Sequence 5 craftsman from the "Morse Ascetic Order" to temporarily transform the material into a usable magical item.
However, because the craftsman they found was so different from the materials they used, this magical item also had very serious side effects.
Firstly, if he wears it daily, he will really like to eat rotten flesh and like women who are already rotten.
Furthermore, he cannot use this ring frequently. The more times he uses it and the longer he uses it, the weaker his life force will become, turning him more and more like a dead person. Moreover, after each use, he must undergo purification to varying degrees depending on the length of time he has used it. Otherwise, even without using the ring, he will irreversibly turn into a dead person.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, Ivan Bratov doesn't use this magical item much. Even when he does use it, it's only at crucial moments, such as when he was fighting Alger just now. He uses it to change the course of the battle and regain the advantage, and then he doesn't use it again.
Now that the situation has reached a critical juncture, Lieutenant General Ivan Blatov can no longer afford to worry about the side effects of the "Spirit Corrosion Ring." He must capture Alger in the shortest possible time, or he will face certain death.
After his first sword strike hit the defensive wall in front of Alger, Ivan Blatov did not hesitate and immediately swung his second sword.
Seeing this, Alger knew that if he were to be struck by this sword, he would either die or be seriously injured. So without hesitation, he shattered the Dawn Greatsword in his hand and slashed at Ivan Blatov.