No one had been able to see Frey's movements.
Not Peran who grew up watching royal wizards duel from a young
age, of Kunst who had fought dozens of naval battles.
It was as if they blinked their eyes and the pirate was thrown into
the sea.
But Dullard had an idea.
'Magic Martial Artist?'
His actions were too fast.
Dullard had been vigilant yet even he hadn't been able to see what
happened entirely.
For the first time, his ever-present glare slightly subsided.
"Wha-, what the hell was that!"
A single armed pirate screamed and pulled out his sword. The
other pirates also became alert, spouting out obscenities.
One Eye was one of the higher-ups in the Bloodred Plunderers. He
was very good at fighting and more importantly, he was known for
his cruelty which allowed him to reach such a high position.
So when he suddenly fell into the sea, the pirates became uneasy.
Frey looked around with his ever-present nonchalance and the first
mate for the pirates gulped before saying.
"B-, be careful. There's something strange about that kid."
Frey could easily tell at a glance that he was another one of the
higher-ups.
Unlike the other pirates, his clothes could actually be called clothes
instead of being rags and he had three pirate bodyguards around
him.
Shik!
Frey's body suddenly disappeared before arriving before the first
mate.
He then raised his right hand and stuck it into the first mate's
chest, above his heart.
His flesh split apart like tofu and his ribs shattered like old dry
wood.
The first mate's eyes widened in fear.
"Kuk…"
"Fi-, first mate!"
"Damn it! This monstrous bastard!"
The bodyguards beside the first mate swung their swords as they
shouted.
Even with his bare hands through another person's chest, Frey's
the expression did not change one bit.
This caused even the pirates who were used to murder and looting
to be afraid.
Frey used the body of the first mate as a shield against their
attacks and the blades became stuck in the body.
If they had been good fighters, they would have been able to cut
through or around the first mate's body, but they were only simple
thugs who only knew about slashing and stabbing with their blades.
Frey threw the first mate's body at them without giving them a
chance to react.
"Ugh!"
Two of the bodyguards were hit by the first mate's body and only
one of them managed to barely evade it by letting go of his sword.
He fell to the floor, staring at Frey with a look of fear.
Splash.
"…"
"…"
If the ship had been noisy before, now it was completely silent.
Everyone on the ship was staring at Frey.
However even with their attention on him, Frey expressionless
shook his hand.
Sticky blood splashed onto the deck.
'Frey Blake..?'
Peran stared at him with astonished eyes.
He had heard that the formerly worst student in the academy had
suddenly become amazing in the past month but could it have been
such a large change?
'He killed four people in an instant without batting an
eyelid.'
Additionally, the martial arts skill that Frey had just showcased was
the greatest that Peran had ever seen.
"Amazing."
Kunst's voice had lost the mocking tone.
He couldn't be described with the word grace, but he definitely
showcased the charisma that proved him to be the leader of the
Bloodred Plunderers.
He only said one word and stopped smiling, but the aura around
he had changed completely.
Even Peran felt uneasy.
But Frey spoke without any agitation.
"You guys are just terrible."
"…do you know who you just killed?"
"Well I think it was one of the higher-ups, but I'm not
sure."
"He was my first mate."
"Hoo. Second in command. Bigger than I thought."
Kunst nodded while watching Frey with his cold eyes.
"That's right. Are you a bodyguard who was disguised as a
student?"
It was understandable why Kunst would have that thought.
Even most of his pirates would sweat and avoid his gaze when he
looked at them while releasing his aura like this, but there was no
change at all to Frey's expression as if he didn't feel anything.
This shouldn't be something that a flower raised in the academy
could do.
"…"
Frey didn't bother to correct Kunst's misunderstanding.
Kunst however, took it as an affirmation.
He hesitated for a moment before making up his mind and
speaking with determination.
"Let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"That move just now. It's obvious that you're a mage with
excellent skills. But can you save all the students here from
us?"
Kunst looked at Dullard for a moment as if to give pressure using
his presence.
Frey chuckled at that moment but Kunst kept talking.
"Half. Give us half the students on this ship and we won't
touch the rest."
The nearby pirates looked at their captain with amazed gazes.
It should be known that the captain of the Bloodred Plunderers
rarely yielded to anyone.
However, Kunst's judgment was a natural decision.
'This guy is a lot more powerful than I thought.'
The evidence of this was Dullard's silence.
If he had the confidence to subdue the man before them then he
would have acted already.
'Even the lich can't guarantee that he'll beat him.'
It was clear that Dullard didn't want to fight the man either.
Frey raised his eyebrow and said.
"I killed your first mate. I also took care of three or four
other guys. Aren't you going to take revenge?"
"Revenge? You see pirates as too caring."
Kunst laughed, revealing his yellow teeth.
"With the exception of me, the first mate has changed five
times in the past year. They'd find it hard to hold the position
for half a year."
Frey seemed to not understand his meaning.
Kunst continued speaking.
"Do you think it's bad? Don't you think the unnecessary
bloodshed is inefficient? Additionally, we don't touch our
prisoners.
This means that the twenty or so people we are
taking now will be released right away once we get our
money."
He then glanced at Peran.
"Of course, the man from the Jun family must be taken
unconditionally. You're not a man with no eyes."
Although the ancestors of the Jun family were powerful, as long as
they hid within the Oscar Islands, then not even the emperor could
do anything even if he brought his entire army.
"…"
Frey seemed to hesitate.
Kunst thought he had almost convinced him, and smiled.
"I will leave the selection up to you. Send 20 people over,
including Peran."
If he had common sense, then he would keep the students from
the larger aristocratic families. That way he could be said to have
protected the core students with the exception of Peran, so his
punishment would be minimal.
Frey looked at him silently.
The students looked at each other and began to shiver.
This was until a student couldn't take it any longer and shouted
out.
"Me, Pick me! G-, when I go back to my family, I will give
you a reward!"
She said this and stuck to Frey.
Frey looked at her in bewilderment.
She didn't seem to be making the proper judgment because she
had been corroded by fear.
"1-, 100 gold! I'll give you 100 gold! I'll give you more if
you want!"
100 gold was hard for ordinary people to collect in their entire lives.
Her words seemed to have lit a fuse.
"Wha-, what are you doing? I have to save myself! You
know the power of the Plasico family right? I'll give you one
hundred and fifty gold coins!"
"Damn it! I am Ian Corona! I'll give you two hundred gold
coins! So choose me!"
"Th-, these guys!"
They didn't care to know what Frey was anymore.
Whether he was the academy's poor-performing student Frey
Blake, or a secret bodyguard placed on the ship as Kunst said.
The only important thing to them right now was that Frey held the
right to their life and death.
"…"
The appearance of the students shouting their family names and
bargaining for their lives was incredibly disgusting.
Even the pirates who were known for their craziness and
shamelessness was speechless.
In the end, those who kept their pride as nobles and didn't bow
down their heads could be counted on one hand.
Frey closed his eyes, and when he opened them again there was a
sharp flash of energy within them.
"Shut up."
He said it in a quiet tone, but it was heard by everyone on the ship.
The crying voices of the students quieted immediately.
He looked around slowly and the students all shivered as his eyes
landed on them. When he looked at Jack, Jack couldn't help but
become afraid.
The last thing Frey's eyes met were the fires within Dullard's head.
[Kukuku.]
Suddenly Dullard let out a quiet laugh, causing Kunst to look at
him.
"What's going on?"
[I felt something strange in that man's mana. It was a
unique mana that I had never felt before, so I was alert.
But…it seems he's nothing special.]
Dullard laughed darkly as a smile stretched across his skinless
face.
[He should be a 5-star mage at best. It seems he has a few
good moves, but I've killed more than a hundred such men
already.]
Dullard lifted a black hand.
Chujuk.
A black shape began to form within his fingers.
[Living Missiles.]
The black energy on his fingertips soon took shape before shooting
toward Frey.
Frey simply leaned back and dodged the attack.
[Hut.]
Dullard laughed.
At that moment the living missile that had passed, turned around
and headed for Frey again.
'That..!'
Peran realized what Dullard had done. It wasn't magic that
needed a preset direction.
From the beginning, the magic of the missile was tracking magic.
Dullard did not need to control the magic at all.
That way, Dullard had no problems casting another spell.
[Bone Hand.]
Kugugu.
Soon skeletal hands rose up from the deck. At a glance there
seemed to already be dozens of them as they shot towards Frey.
"Be careful!"
Peran shouted subconsciously.
With the bone hands at the bottom and the living missile at the
rear, it seemed that Frey would soon become a pool of blood.
But at that moment, Frey disappeared.
Shik.
[Kuk..!]
Everything happened in an instant.
As soon as he disappeared, Frey reappeared behind Dullard, his
hand protruding from Dullard's chest while holding a pulsating,
glowing crystal.
Peran knew what it was.
'The lich's life vessel..?'
Dullard's flaming eyes flashed and he stuttered.
[Ho-, w…moving ship…used blink…]
Blink, which allowed the user to narrow the distance within the
blink of an eye was a very well known spell, so of course Dullard
knew what he had done.
However, this was on a ship. It should have been an impossible feat
to use blink on a moving ship!
'Wouldn't you need to do at least five calculations at the
same time..?'
There was something else that he was wondering.
'How could he tell the precise location of the life vessel…'
As his vision dimmed, Dullard finally reached a conclusion.
'He was deliberately stalling for time…'
While pretending to hesitate under Kunst's offer, he had actually
been observing Dullard.
Even so, it didn't make sense.
The guy had looked through him and discovered his life vessel, but
that was only something that a 7-star Archmage should be capable of
doing.
'How could it be done by a mage who is weaker than me…'
If he had fought head-on from the beginning, then it would've been
his victory.
Frey did not have a way to beat him from the start and could only
stall for time.
But he was defeated by Frey's unwavering and creepy calmness.
Even when Kunst had killed students and created such a horrifying
the atmosphere, he didn't lift a finger.
Dullard was unable to complete his thoughts as his consciousness
finally faded.
When the glow of the fires in his eyes faded, his bones all
shattered and spread in the air like dust.
"…"
"…"
Once again silence took over the ship.
No one could believe what they had just witnessed.
The mighty lich had been killed before he could truly show his
hand.
Everyone stared at Frey, their mouths wide open, but of course,
Frey's expression remained the same.
He looked at Kunst and spoke slowly.
"There will be no transactions."
Then with the same face, he looked at all the pirates there and
said in a flat tone.
"You will all die here."