Chapter 576: End of Pirate Lord Vance
With Corey's fleet following behind, the Big Bertha began her journey towards Aden. Michael remained at the helm looking at the night sky and enjoying the momentary peace.
"You are in deep thinking my lord," Maxine came to Michael's side and joined Gibson, Corey, and Elidyr.
"Have you notified Vance and Blackmane?"
Maxine nodded. Instead of catching the pirates off guard, Michael ordered Maxine to notify Vance and Blackmane about the attack. He wanted the pirates to prepare for the war and use their full might. Only then, could Michael destroy them and crush the pirates' morale once and for all.
"Vance and Blackmane will be waiting for us with all their fleet, My Lord,"
"Good,"
Michael remained calm despite the fact that he was about to face hundreds of ships in an all-out war.
"Are we really going to destroy them all?" Maxine really doubted Michael would destroy the pirates as he always tried to recruit them. However, by not joining Michael, Pirate Lord Vance and Pirate Lord Blackmane left him with no choice.
"Some of them yeah. Can't have a war without casualties, can we?"
"Hmm,"
"My Lord, what about their fleet? The fewer ships we destroy, the more ships to our fleet," Corey added her thoughts which aligned with everyone.
Except for Elidyr who didn't give a damn about the Pirate Lords, the others wanted the Dark Lord to spare the majority of the ships. At this point, none dared to doubt the Dark Lord. The two Pirate Lords may have superior numbers but The Dark Lord could destroy them with a few spells.
"How should I end the war? Should I kill the two pirate lords in front of their fleet or destroy their fleet in front of them?"
"If you're asking me, I'd say kill the two of them and end it quickly," Elidyr shrugged,
"I agree with Lord Elidyr, My Lord," Gibson said,
"Yes My Lord. Killing the two Pirate Lords would end the war quickly. Most of the pirates would immediately surrender. However, some of the fanatics might choose to fight until death path. We can destroy them to make a statement," Corey exclaimed.
They all shared the same thought. Hence, Michael decided to listen to them because what they said was correct. He should capture the ships and strengthen his fleet rather than destroy the ships. It would take years to rebuild those ships. According to Corey, once he conquered their fleet, he might have almost five hundred ships in his fleet.
"You focus on destroying the fanatics. I will deal with Vance and Blackmane. It's a pity they chose false freedom over the opportunity to be something great. Some people are born to live a simple life I guess,"
Under the full moon, Michael and his fleet sailed towards Aden. The Big Bertha moved in front of a hundred and twenty ships, including several frigates and man of wars. Such a massive force would terrify any foe. But, while they were sailing forward, Michael noticed a few ships in the distance, following them.
"Those are royal navy," Gibson, who looked at the ships through the spyglass exclaimed in shock.
"What are they doing in this water?"
"Watching us. They want to see the battle. If I am right, someone very close to the empress herself is in one of those ships,"
"Should we attack them my lord?" Maxine asked,
"No. let them watch. They are not a threat to us,"
*************************************
Meanwhile, in Aden, Vance was looking at the ocean through the window while taking long deep sips of rum. Several pirate captains in his fleet accompanied him in the room. Some of them looked worried, but some looked outright excited.
"How long till they reach our waters?" asked Vance.
Melina, the red-haired pirate who Corey met answered,
"Four hours top,"
"We will show them who rules this part of the sea Pirate Lord," one of the pirate captains exclaimed.
"Still have no news about Blackmane huh?" ignoring the pirate captain, Vanced questioned Melina.
"No, but we have his fleet. So even if he doesn't show up, we can still beat Pirate Lord Corey and her fleet,"
Vance took another long sip and threw the empty mug away,
"What about the magic-wielding captain? Lucifer? Is he coming too?"
As soon as they heard the name Lucifer, the pirate captains who were afraid became more terrified.
"According to Maxine's note, yes. He is coming,"
"I want to show him the true power of the pirates. I want to show him why those freaks never dared to set foot on our seas," Vance growled, and looking at his fearless tone, some of the pirate captains, including Melina became courageous.
"No negotiation. The moment they come into our range, fire at will," Vance ordered,
"Everything is ready Vance," Melina approached Vance,
"We'll take care of them. After today, there'll be only one true Pirate Lord," she seductively whispered into his ears,
"Blackmane you bastard? Where the fuck are you?" Vance looked at the hundreds of ships lining around the island, forming a defense line. Although the fleet included Blackmane's forces, Vance still missed the guidance and leadership of Blackmane.
"I also took the liberty to initiate the backstabbing, Vance" Melina licked her lips and Vance, he just grinned.
After everything was said and done, Vance came to his ship, a brigade built for speed rather than battle. Vance named his ship the sailing wind. The name suited the ship perfectly because it was one of the fastest ships on the southern continent. Vance used the ship for plundering hundreds of merchant ships transporting rum.
Sailing Wind's speed always enabled Vance to hit and run until the opponent ship was in no condition to fight. Vance even brought down a man of war with his ship. Now, he waited for Big Bertha to appear in his sight along with hundreds of ships behind him.
"Look!" the pirate who stood atop the crow's nest shouted as Vance looked at the horizon through the spyglass.
"They are here," Vance could see the giant frigate sailing towards them, leading the fleet of Corey. All those ships flew a pure black flag instead of Corey's flags. Like storm clouds, the black ships approached Aden at the horizon.
"Get ready pirates!" Vance shouted as the sound of cannons creaking resonated throughout the area. Additionally, a loud bell ran in Aden, indicating the approaching danger.
"As soon as they enter our range, fire with all you have!" Vance shouted again. Even in the face of war, he didn't neglect to bring a barrel of rum and chug a full mug down his throat.
Every cannon in the ship and Aden aimed at the horizon and prepared to fire at will as soon as they enter their range. However, all the ships, including the Big Bertha stopped a few meters away from their firing range.
"Why are they stopping?" Melina asked,
"Probably to negotiate. What if they don't sail towards us? We will go to them and sink them where they stand!" Vance raised his mug, riling up his crew. They all let out a thunderous battle cry and prepared to move forward.
But suddenly, they saw a bright red light shooting out of Big Bertha.
"What the hell?" Vance and his ship turned red like someone aiming a red spotlight at them.
Boom!
While they were in confusion, a thunderous booming sound echoed through the calm sea. Vance looked up at the sky to see countless stairs falling down upon them.
Vance and his ship didn't even realize what just hit them until they exploded into bits and pieces.
"Oh my god!"
"PIRATE LORD!"
"VANCE!"
"SHIT!"
"DARK MAGIC!"
The pirates were in utter confusion. Moreover, they were terrified. After destroying Vance's Sailing Wind, the red spot light fell on a couple of more ships, and the result was the same.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
At this time, the pirates did not wait for Corey's fleet to enter their firing range but began to fire the cannons aimlessly at Big Bertha.
As the pirates were raining down cannonballs, a dark cloud slowly flew towards Aden.
"Surrender!"
The demonic voice swept across the sea, terrifying the pirates.
Gradually, the dark cloud faded away, revealing the Dark Lord to the pirates.
"FIRE!"
However, a daring pirate captain decided to fire at Michael. But before he could take aim, the red spotlight fell on the ship.
Boom!
The result was the same as the ship exploded into smithereens. The mortar was more powerful than Michael expected.
Michael did not stop. Instead, he pointed at Aden, signaling Maxine to aim the mortar fire at Aden. He wanted to destroy the walls and the island partially to make a statement. Under the pirates' shocked gazes, countless meteors landed on Aden, destroying the walls and everything in the explosion's vicinity.
"Oh my god," Gibson shuddered in fear, looking at all the death and destruction. Instead of stopping with Aden's walls and a couple of ships, Michael continued to point at ships as Maxine fired the mortar destroying several ships in under a few minutes.
Everywhere Corey turned her gaze, there was nothing but explosions.
Vance did not even stand a chance. She thought Michael would fly to Vance, grab him by his neck and kill him in front of the pirates. Yet, what happened was the exact opposite. He did not even lift a finger at Vance.
"If you want to join your friends, fire," Michael's voice amplified to the point it sounded like a thunderclap. The pirates shivered to hear his demonic voice. Even the most fearless pirate captains shuddered and hesitated to order their crew to fire at him. Meanwhile, Big Bertha and Corey's fleet slowly started to sail towards Aden that was burning like a bonfire.
Everything was going according to plan until some of the ships in Corey's fleet began to fire at Big Bertha and the others. Michael quickly turned his gaze towards his fleet to see some ships firing at their allies.
"Backup plan huh?" Regardless of the sudden betrayal, Michael did not even raise a brow. Instead, he just flew toward Big Bertha to deal with the traitors in a most brutal way.
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