Swords, magic, and martial arts

Before the river pirates could regain their sight, Rhodes swiftly ran across the deck, severing head after head.

Stimulated by the bright light and then suddenly plunged into darkness, the river pirates could see nothing and could only stand there waving their weapons wildly.

Even if the lights are suddenly turned off at night, it takes a long time for my eyes to see things clearly.

They were stimulated by strong light. Even normal people would have difficulty seeing clearly for a long time if their eyes were exposed to very bright light during the day.

Being unable to see has a significant impact on people; even though several river pirates could locate objects by sound, they were easily killed by Rhodes.

"Don't kill me!" a river pirate pleaded, slashing wildly with his sword.

puff!

The blade easily sliced ​​through his neck muscles. Rhodes showed him no mercy; he might spare a few lives for interrogation, but not his.

Rhodes had just caught a glimpse of the river pirate killing several young crew members during the battle.

Soon, with the concerted efforts of everyone on the boat, all the river pirates were either killed or tied up.

"Who has the guts to come with me onto these bastards' ship and wipe them all out?" Quentin shouted.

After saying that, he climbed up the rope that the river pirates had lowered down. Surprisingly, his huge body could climb so fast.

Rhodes put his sword into his system space and began to climb rapidly upwards.

The river pirates who remained on the ship were also blinded by Messiah's magic; otherwise, they would have surely come to cut the ropes.

Soon Rhodes boarded the large ship. Enraged, Quentin picked up the sword he had found earlier and began killing the river pirates one by one. These people had killed so many of his relatives and younger generations, and he had no intention of letting any of them live.

After a while, some of the river pirates gradually recovered from their blindness.

Rhodes noticed a river pirate dressed differently, squatting on the ground with a knife in his hand and his head down, looking very scared, but something was off, as if he was deliberately pretending to be like that.

As Quentin walked toward the middle of the ship, he killed a river pirate who was acting like a headless fly. When he raised his sword to strike the pirate, the pirate suddenly lunged and stabbed Quentin in the chest.

Having anticipated this, Rhodes used his last bit of magic to cast a spellball, exhausting his magic power to significantly slow down the sword's speed.

Quentin was also very experienced in combat, and he managed to deflect the river pirate's sword just as it was about to strike his chest.

The river pirate, realizing his trick had been exposed, stopped pretending and picked up his sword to fight Quentin.

His strength was greater than those Rhodes had encountered before. Quentin was at a disadvantage from the very first exchange, and several attacks threatened Quentin's life, but Quentin barely managed to cope.

"Now those who can see him, go deal with the younger one. I'll handle this big guy myself," the river pirate ordered. He was probably the leader of the river pirates.

Several river pirates, now able to see again, approached Rhodes with weapons in hand. Rhodes picked up his sword and walked towards them.

Despite being surrounded by several river pirates, Rhodes was still quite capable, and his strength had improved considerably without him even realizing it.

"How did you climb up so fast?" Baron also boarded the ship.

"You should probably lose weight," Rhodes said to Baron while dealing with several river pirates' attacks.

Baron came up unarmed and casually picked up a one-handed sword next to a corpse.

"Why are you talking nonsense during a fight? Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Baron used his one-handed sword to block a sword for Rhodes.

"Then you deal with the rest of them, and I'll go over there and help Quentin deal with their leader," Rhodes said.

After dodging several attacks with a series of rolls, he charged towards Quentin.

In a short time, Quentin was already covered in wounds. His hands and head were already injured, and now the injuries were even more serious, and the blood made him look even more ferocious.

The river pirate leader noticed Rhodes running towards him. He parried Quentin's attack with his sword and then kicked Quentin to the ground with a side kick, before facing Rhodes who was charging towards him.

Looking at Rod's young face, he thought he was just a simple lackey and became somewhat careless.

"Take this!" Rod shouted loudly, even feeling a little ashamed, but he mainly wanted to use his voice to confuse the river pirate leader.

He raised his sword with his right hand and slashed down at the river bandit leader, who then held his sword horizontally in front of his chest to block the attack.

Rod only feinted, and while the river pirate leader raised his sword, he clenched his left fist and unleashed a powerful Taizu Long Fist.

The river pirate leader's attention was focused on Rhodes's sword, and he did not expect Rhodes to punch him.

The fist struck the river pirate leader hard in the abdomen, and the leader cried out in pain.

The river pirate leader gritted his teeth and used all his strength to chop down the sword in his right hand. The sword landed on Rhodes' shoulder, cutting his skin and injuring his muscles.

Despite the pain, Rod pressed his advantage, turning around and slashing at the river pirate leader with his right-hand sword. The river pirate leader hurriedly tried to parry with his sword, but it was too late.

The sharp blade struck the river chief's arm, which was halfway raised, and the severed arm fell to the ground, while his hand still tightly gripped his single-handed sword.

"Ah!" The river pirate leader screamed in agony, clutching his severed arm.

On the other side, Baron, along with several adventurers and crew members who climbed up, also subdued the river pirates. The remaining river pirates on the deck, seeing that the situation was hopeless, jumped into the dark river and swam away to who knows where.

Rhodes held the sword to his neck, stepped on his back, and forced him to kneel on the ground with his face pressed against the deck.

"Quentin, you give him a good welcome," Rhodes called out to Quentin. "I'll go check if anyone else is down there."

Quentin nodded, walked over, grabbed the river pirate leader's intact arm with both hands, and with a sudden force, broke the arm.

"Just kill me," the river pirate leader pleaded in agony, his arms twisted so grotesquely that they sent chills down the spines of anyone who saw them.

Quentin ignored him, lifted him up, roared, and slammed him to the ground, then repeated the action.

After looking at it, Rhodes shook his head and went into the cabin with Baron.

Oil lamps hung on the walls of the cabin, allowing them to see their surroundings. Rod, carrying a dagger, checked each room one by one, but found no one.

They must have been involved in the battle beforehand, or they probably jumped into the river and ran away when they saw the situation was not good.

In the most spacious room, Rhodes found a strange wooden carving on the table. The carving was of a "fishman," a fish with arms and legs, standing upright on the waves.

Candles were burning around the wooden carving, giving Rhodes the feeling that he was being worshipped as a god.

He felt that this wood carving was definitely not simple, and that perhaps the reason these river bandits prioritized murder over robbery was related to this wood carving.

After doing all that, Rhodes returned to the deck and saw Quentin interrogating the river pirate leader.

"Why do you want to kill us all? If you asked for tolls without killing anyone, I would definitely give them to you." Quentin pressed the blood-covered river pirate leader to the ground.

Quentin's fists were covered in blood, while the river pirate leader's face was a mess, swollen and bruised.

"Please, just kill me. We were forced into this situation," the river pirate leader said weakly.

Rhodes tossed the strange wooden carving next to the river pirate leader.

"Speak up now. If you tell the truth, I'll give you a quick death. If you don't, well, do you want to experience being boiled or roasted?"

……