Meanwhile, the battle on the other side had also reached its conclusion.
——[Dragon's Breath!]
Isabelle was still in her half-dragonkin transformed state, the fiery red scales on her body resembling a brilliant suit of flower armour, her entire being like a valkyrie descended upon the mortal world.
Having seen that the battle had dragged on without resolution, Isabelle activated her bloodline ability without hesitation!
Dragonblood sorcerers naturally inherited the quasi-magical abilities of red dragons, and Isabelle possessed the bloodline of a legendary red dragon — granting her terrifying enhancements in this regard.
Raging flames engulfed Orgert in an instant. Even the most iron-willed barbarian let out a howl of agony.
——[Sharpness!], [Armor-Break!]
Seeing this, Isabelle activated the abilities imbued in the Red Dragon longsword without hesitation.
A flash of light, followed by the crisp sound of something snapping — Orgert's alchemical horse-chopping blade, already pushed to its absolute limit, shattered apart.
The Red Dragon longsword, no longer impeded, pierced through Orgert's heart without hesitation, the searing heat of its flames instantly destroying all life within his body.
"Mm..."
Orgert lowered his head with difficulty, gazing at the charred wound on his chest as the light in his eyes slowly faded away.
"Oh... no!!!" Lady Tyrion let out a piercing shriek, and with strength drawn from who knew where, she struggled her way to Orgert's side.
"D...ear..."
She clasped Orgert's lifeless hand, her eyes brimming with contentment, as though she had grasped some precious treasure of the world, and slowly closed her eyes.
"A tragically beautiful love... wouldn't you say?"
Neither Lein nor Isabelle made any move to intervene, quietly watching the pair of star-crossed lovers depart together for the afterlife.
"Somehow I don't think you're the right person to be saying things like that!"
Hearing Lein's teasing, Isabelle rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"And... why are you being so urgent about this..." Isabelle glanced around. The Savage Pirates were already completely at a disadvantage.
In particular, after Oggord and Madam Tiren had been killed, although the remaining savages had become even more frenzied, it was nothing more than a final death throes.
After the last few Savage Shamans also fell, the complete destruction of the Savage Pirates had become an unstoppable force.
Under the crushing pressure, the remaining savages finally collapsed. They jumped into the sea one after another to escape, only to be systematically picked off by
This was the downside of fighting at sea. Once you lost, it was nearly impossible to escape. It was either total victory or total defeat — once you lost, it was extremely hard to make a comeback.
Lein's luck had always been on his side, though it was less about luck and more about the confidence that came from careful planning and strategy.
Isabelle tilted her head to look at Lein. In his current state, Lein was pursuing a swift and decisive victory. He was even willing to slaughter Savage tribes and use his own people as bait — there was a distinctly rushed, success-at-all-costs quality to it.
"You noticed? Then why don't you take another guess at who I was on guard against..."
Seeing that his cousin had grown as well, Lein felt quite pleased. She was proving to be his greatest asset in the
"Could it be... that priest and thief from last time?" Isabelle only thought for a moment before her eyes lit up immediately.
"Mm." Lein nodded and waved his hand casually.
A plume of translucent seawater rose up, forming a small water screen before them.
A hazy image materialized on the screen — somewhat faint, but still clear enough to make out an approaching fleet of ships.
Though their affiliations were not marked, the sailors aboard carried a distinct and murderous aura.
"These are... pirates? And cultivated by the Church of the Murder God? They've been hiding in Pirate Harbor all along, I never expected..."
Isabelle drew in a sharp breath. All this time, she had believed that the only pirate forces remaining in the Outer Seas were the Scarlet Tiger and the Savage Pirates, completely overlooking those scattered, independent smaller pirates.
But in truth, those small, scattered pirate groups were the very backbone that held up all of Pirate Harbor! At least half of the Pirate Tide was propped up by them.
Even if Lein had only subdued a small portion of them, the combined force they could muster was more than enough to make Isabelle wary.
"Thank goodness you discovered them early. Otherwise, once we and the savages had both suffered heavy losses and this swarm of locusts closed in on us, the consequences would have been unimaginable..."
Isabelle said, her expression grim.
She now harbored not the slightest doubt about the Church of the God of Murder's desire to play the fisherman — sitting back and reaping the profits once the others had worn each other down.
"Yes! Exactly!" Lein agreed with Isabelle's assessment.
"In truth, the reason I avoided the Pirate's Harbor as the site of the decisive battle — apart from not wanting to hand the terrain advantage to the Barbarian Pirate Fleet — was precisely because I feared those lurking maggots lurking in the shadows..."
A mocking smile crept across Lein's lips. "But now that we've discovered their plan ahead of time, we're on guard, and we've already finished off the Barbarian Pirate Fleet — what is there left to worry about?"
"You mean...?" Isabelle asked hesantly. From Lein, she could already smell that unmistakable scent of bloodlust.
"We go meet them head-on and wipe them out!"
Lein's eyes glinted as he made his decision. "Now is the perfect opportunity. Nearly the entire strength of the Church of the God of Murder in the Outer Seas is gathered here. If we eliminate them all at once, it will be a devastating blow to the church itself!"
"A blow?" Isabelle had never imagined Lein's ambitions ran so deep — that he would dare lay a hand on a true god's church.
"If I don't eliminate them, how am I supposed to spread my own faith?" Lein thought with a cold laugh. "The Outer Seas are still relatively peaceful for now, and
In essence, it all came down to a question of self-interest.
Lein had long had his eye on the Outer Seas as a foundation — a source of faith and a base of operations for the future. Naturally, that put him in direct conflict with the powers of worship already entrenched here.
He had chosen Cyric first because the God of Murder commanded the greatest influence in the Outer Seas and also controlled a portion of the pirates.
Moreover, this deity was an evil god! Striking at him openly would draw no condemnation — it might even earn Lein the goodwill of the good-aligned gods.
In the foreseeable future, it would be perfectly normal for Lein to sweep through the Outer Seas, rounding up and crushing all manner of indigenous faiths and evil gods in a single net.
"Relax, cousin! The Church of the God of Murder isn't nearly as powerful in the Outer Seas as you might think — there are plenty of good-aligned gods keeping it in check... And besides, even the Thieves' Guild isn't under its sole control..."
After his journey across the continent, Lein had gained a far deeper understanding of the true nature of the so-called three great guilds.
Cyric could at most be counted as one of the shareholders behind the Thieves' Guild — but certainly not its chairman or anything of the sort. Numerous other gods backed the organization from behind the scenes as well.
The same was true of the Warriors' Guild. Those gods would never permit any single true god to monopolize those channels.
And even the most insular of the three — the Mages' Guild — was not a case where the Goddess of the
Therefore, striking at Cyric was an entirely different matter from striking at the Thieves' Guild.
"Even so... that is still a true god of greater divine power..." There was worry in Isabelle's eyes.
Even a lesser deity wouldn't abandon their own territory, let alone one that had just suffered a major setback.
Even if Cyric's church was currently weak in the Outer Seas, his influence on the mainland was far from insignificant — he secretly controlled numerous high-level fighting forces.
Sending one or two Legendary experts to settle the score was entirely plausible.
Only Legendary beings were the ultimate decisive force in the entire Material Plane! Once a powerhouse of that caliber descended, Isabelle knew full well that their side would have absolutely no power to resist.
Beyond the Legendary realm lay a level that mortals could no longer reach. Everything the Faolan family currently possessed was practically nothing in front of a Legendary expert.
"Even if it's a Legendary! If they want to hurt my family, they'll have to step over my corpse first!"
Isabelle gripped the red dragon longsword in her hand, her resolve forged.
Raylin could clearly see the determination in her eyes, but he kept his own plans to himself.
It was indeed possible that Cyric would fly into a rage and summon Legendary experts from the mainland, but that would take time — and by then, he himself would likely have advanced to the Legendary realm!
Moreover, if one wanted to grow, it was almost impossible to do so without seizing existing territories of interest, and that would inevitably lead to conflict.
The Outer Seas that Raylin had chosen were already the region with the least amount of conflict.
If he had started developing on the mainland from the very beginning, his current scale of operations would likely have already drawn the intervention of Legendary-level powerhouses!
"At the end of the day, it all comes down to strength! As long as your power is sufficient, who could object if you claimed the Outer Seas or even killed the gods' priests?"
Chaotic and evil gods like Cyric and Mara were inherently at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion, which allowed Raylin to use every means at his disposal against them.
"Alignment choices are enormously important. Since Good is no longer an option, Lawful is something I absolutely cannot give up..."
Raylin stroked his chin, mulling things over in idle thought.
"My lord! The barbarian pirate fleet has been completely wiped out! Five ships were sunk, and all the rest have been captured!"
While Raylin and Isabelle had been talking, Ronald had already finished his task. He came over to deliver his report with an excited look on his face, still spattered with barbarian blood.
"Good! Activate contingency plan two! All seriously wounded and captured ships, pull back! We prepare for the next battle!"
Raylin gave his instructions calmly.
"Hm? There are still enemies?" In Ronald's mind, once the barbarian pirates had been annihilated, the Scarlet Tiger was already the greatest power across the entire open sea.