CHAPTER 147: TIDESHEAR COVE RAID [IV]

The Octopus monsters that were heading toward them were shredded by the cannonballs.

Each orb of mana-fused iron struck the water, detonating on impact with a deep blue flash that split the sea apart.

The explosions tore through the smaller creatures instantly... burning, boiling, and scattering them into clouds of blood and steam.

’The monsters here sure are oversized,’ Trisha thought, her hands trembling slightly as she steadied her rifle.

She hated water creatures.

The slimy ones always made her skin crawl. But what made her shiver more was how durable they were.

Even as chunks of purple flesh floated across the surface, she could feel it in her bones...

The big one was still alive.

She crouched at the top of the mast, the wind whipping her hair around as she brought her sniper rifle forward.

Her eyes glowed blue as she poured mana into them, letting her vision sharpen through the mist.

From her vantage point, she could see the carnage below... the corpses of smaller octopus-like beasts, some half-burnt, some torn to bits, others no more than stains in the waves.

But the big one... wasn’t there.

"Where are you, ugly bastard..." she muttered, scanning the water.

Her scope reflected the light from the sea, blinding her briefly, but then...

She caught movement.

It was still under the water, deeper than the rest, moving straight toward them like a torpedo. The cannonballs hadn’t even slowed it down.

"Captain! The monster’s still alive!" she shouted.

Lucius looked up calmly with his coat flapping with the wind.

"I didn’t expect it to die," he said. "Try and take a shot."

Trisha’s throat went dry.

Shooting something moving underwater was hard enough... shooting something that far and that fast was borderline impossible.

But this was her job and she needed to impress him.

She steadied her breath and looked through the scope again.

There it was...its massive body gliding upward, she could even see the glow of mana pulsing around its tentacles.

She adjusted... waiting for a glint... a weakness... something.

Then she saw it... the white gleam of its pupil.

She switched ammo types, pulling out a new clip of shimmering green bullets.

They were poison-coated.

"Alright, come on..." she whispered, pouring mana into the gun.

She fired three shots in quick succession.

The first hit the water and stopped instantly, its mana dispersing into steam.

The second went deeper but lost power halfway.

The third...

The third zipped clean through, slicing through the ocean like a spear of light.

A moment later, a deafening screech echoed across the waves as the ocean exploded upward.

A giant purple mass rose from the depths, spiked tentacles thrashing violently as one milky white eye bled with poison.

Trisha smirked.

’Bullseye.’

[@SharpShotz: HOLY AIM 💀💀💀]

[@AimZoneOfficial🔹: We need her for the Continental Shooting Tournament ... ASAP!]

[@ManaSniperFan: THROUGH THE WATER?! THAT’S INSANE 😭🔥]

[@GunnerGirlLover: SOMEONE GIVE HER A SHOW 😩👏]

[@RaidViewer900: THAT’S MY QUEEN 😭💘]

The beast roared again, flailing wildly.

The poisoned bullet was doing its work... the veins around its right eye had turned a sickly shade of violet. But even blinded in one eye, the monster was far from done.

Lucius’s expression didn’t change.

"Cannons again!" he barked.

The deck trembled as Erika, Matthias, and Raven sprang into motion.

The crew moved like a well-oiled machine now, shouting in rhythm as they reloaded. A new volley thundered through the air.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Mana-charged cannonballs streaked across the sky, trailing blue fire before plunging into the sea.

The Octopus reacted immediately, wrapping its enormous tentacles around them in an attempt to crush the projectiles.

Lucius grinned faintly. "Too slow."

The cannonballs glowed and detonated.

A wave of blue-white light burst outward, blinding everyone on deck. The shockwave rocked the ship, scattering mist and seawater high into the air.

When the light faded, the monster was gone.

All that remained was its blood which was spreading fast across the waves like ink.

[@OceanBlaster: THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL 😭🔥🔥🔥]

[@ManaSpectator: FIVE DIRECT HITS HOLY HELL]

[@LuciusMainFan: CAPTAIN HOHENBERG’S TEAM NEVER MISSES 💀]

[@DeepSeaWatcher: THAT EXPLOSION TURNED IT INTO SUSHI 😭]

[@RaidHighlights: CINEMA. PURE CINEMA.]

Lucius exhaled slowly, brushing seawater off his shoulder.

"Alright. Clean-up crew."

He took his coconut drink from Grimm, took a sip, and leaned back in his throne-like chair. "Get in there and retrieve its crystal."

Grimm grinned like a kid on holiday.

"Aye, Captain!" He tore off his shirt and dove straight into the water with a loud splash.

Cyrus and Felix looked at each other, sighed, and began removing theirs as well.

Before they could jump, Lucius waved his hand lazily.

"Allow me."

A wave of spatial force hit them, launching both brothers off the deck in perfect arcs into the water.

Their screams faded behind them as Lucius sat back again, swirling his drink with satisfaction.

He sighed, "Now that’s how you delegate."

Trisha’s voice cracked in the air. "Boss... we might have a problem."

Lucius tilted his head up lazily. "A problem?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice uneasy. "Look around."

Lucius turned, and his eyes narrowed.

The horizon... once blue and clear was now shifting. Dozens of dark shapes were surfacing. Fins, tendrils, glowing eyes, even entire dorsal plates.

The sea itself seemed to move with them, the tide growing heavier as if the ocean had turned alive.

Trisha didn’t need her scope to see them.

Her gut twisted.

"There are too many coming for us."

Lucius stood up slowly, resting both hands on his cane. His eyes reflected the growing swarm of monsters.

"I don’t see the problem," he said softly, a confident smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

He lifted his cane high, the sea breeze catching his coat as his voice roared across the deck.

"Man the cannons, ye salty dogs! Load the powder and prime the cores! Today, we paint the sea red and send these slimy bastards back to the depths where they came from!"

The crew erupted.

"Aye Aye, Captain!"

[@CannonFanatic: CAPTAIN HOHENBERG IN FULL FORM 🔥🔥🔥]

[@StreamQueen: THE WAY HE SAID THAT OMG 😭😭😭]

[@OceanBloodline: HE’S BUILT FOR THIS SCENE 💀]

[@ManaLord88: THAT LINE NEEDS TO BE FRAMED 😭]

[@LuciusLover✓: THIS IS WHY HE’S THE MAIN CHARACTER 😩💘]

Sometimes being cringe had it’s advantages...

...

Grimm continued forward through the cold water, bubbles rising around him as he kicked his legs in rhythm.

One hand clutched the hilt of his sword; the other stretched out ahead, chasing the faint golden glow that was sinking deeper. That was the monster’s core which was their reward.

He squinted through the murky waves.

The core was descending fast, sinking into the dark blue abyss. He reached out and grabbed it, the moment his hand touched the glowing stone, he could feel the warmth.

But then... his instincts screamed.

A shadow moved above him.

Grimm looked up and froze... something massive was swimming right over his head.

He saw a huge rock below and didn’t hesitate.

He dropped, planting both feet on the stone and flooding mana into his legs. The water around him swirled violently as he shot upward like a cannonball, ramming into the shadow with all his strength.

The impact cracked through the water like thunder.

The creature... a grotesque pufferfish the size of a carriage puffed out instinctively, its skin covered in jagged spikes.

Grimm’s kick landed right on its swollen belly.

The monster popped.

Blood and guts sprayed outward in a red cloud, covering him head to toe for the second time that day.

"Ugh, gross!" he muttered, shaking off bits of meat. But there was no time to complain.

Dozens of other shapes were moving through the water... more creatures heading straight for the ship.

He turned as two silhouettes swam closer.

Cyrus and Felix.

His brothers.

"What do we do?" Felix asked, his voice trembling slightly. He wasn’t exactly the bravest of the three brothers.

Grimm sighed, spinning his sword once underwater before sheathing it on his back. "Captain will kill all of them... then we get the cores."

The two nodded reluctantly. They knew he was right. Whenever Lucius was involved, all they needed to do was wait.

...

On the ship, Lucius watched the horizon with calm eyes as the sea erupted into chaos.

From every direction, monsters were surfacing... some were large, others were small but the most troublesome were the ones climbing up the hull.

They looked like goblins... green-skinned, long-limbed, and dripping with slime. But these ones had fins on their backs and rode on shell-covered mounts.

The creatures hissed as they gripped the sides of the ship, claws digging into the wood as they climbed.

"As long as they don’t damage anything seriously, I don’t mind," Lucius muttered, tapping his cane against the deck. "It’s been a while since I stretched my arms."

He raised his palm and space warped.

The water around the ship began to twist and shimmer, and in an instant, the larger monsters began to slow down more.

"Attack!" Lucius barked.

The first goblin reached the railing. Lucius met it halfway, swinging his cane two-handed into its skull.

The impact detonated with mana, sending the creature’s head bursting into vapor.

The rest fell backward, screeching.

Matthias was already moving, his twin daggers glinting under the sunlight as he danced between enemies.

Each slice was clean as he made them headless. Erika on the other hand was trying her hardest to slash but her sword missed.

Meanwhile, Luna stood near Trisha, her arm raised as energy pulsed from the glove of her suit.

Blue beams fired in short bursts, blowing apart the goblins trying to board from the left flank.

Lucius paused for a second, scanning the deck.

’Oh right... it doesn’t only have cannons.’

He stretched out his hand.

A platform of wood rose from the deck beside him, the boards creaking as something heavy emerged from below... two sleek mana-powered machine guns.

Lucius smirked. "Man the machine guns!!!"

[@SeaHunterFan: MACHINE GUNS?! IN A PIRATE RAID?! 😭🔥🔥]

[@LuciusLover: HE BROUGHT A WHOLE ARSENAL OMG 💀]