Elemental Cats

Stris gritted his teeth at how every pirate looked at him with suspicion, but he didn't say anything. If he said something without proof, it wouldn't only backfire. Stris could only send a signal using the magic item in his hand as he waited for the ruckus to die down and for the other big crews to take action against the Blue Lounge.

Since Stris didn't deny Wulf's accusations, a lot of the pirates at the Pirate Meet started believing that Stris and the Blue Lounge League of Pirates had connections with the Starsling Kingdom.

Stris noticed the shifting atmosphere, but he didn't care. Stris only cared about the leaders of the other big crews, the Bunglehoppers and Toz. He was wary of Red Hook and the Representative since they rivaled him in strength, but he kept an eye out for the Bunglehoppers and Toz because he wanted to personally take revenge for them raiding his base and openly mocking him.

Wulf wasn't too hard to keep track of since he stood on top of the stage without moving a muscle as he waited for Stris to admit his guilt.

However, there were no signs of Toz anywhere which frustrated Stris, but it didn't interfere with his plans. Toz wouldn't be able to get away. The only difference was whether Stris or someone else would get to him.

"I know what this looks like, but I can guarantee you all on my pirate's honor that neither I nor any of the executives of Blue Lounge are related to the Starsling Kingdom in any way."

Since his reinforcements were taking a little longer than expected, Stris decided to stall by trying to talk and keep the pirates from attacking him.

"Bullshit! Do you have any proof?!"

"Do we even need any proof? He speaks just like any other noble bastard!"

"'Pirate's honor'?! Only someone pretending to be a pirate would think that pirates have honor!"

"Death to the blue bastards!"

"'Death to the blue bastards!"

However, Stris' words irritated the pirates further instead of managing to delay the outburst of aggression.

Shortly after the pirates began chanting, they started attacking the members of the Blue Lounge League.

The Blue Lounge Pirates, who had been about to confront the cultists due to a drunkard's rude remark, found themselves surrounded on all sides by angry and violent pirates.

The ships in the Void turned and pointed their cannons toward the Blue Lounge's ships. Several booms rang out as the Blue Lounge came under heavy and concentrated fire by the other pirates' ships.

The Blue Lounge pirates, who were too weak to know about the Blue Lounge's affiliations with the Starsling Kingdom, tried to explain to their comrades from other crews how they were innocent. Some tried to rip off all the blue on their clothing and pretend to be rogue pirates. However, few were successful, and the Blue Lounge pirates were forced to act in self-defense.

The Blue Lounge pirates on the island grouped up as they tried to flee to the boats and get away from the encirclement. However, the boats, despite being generally better than the boats from other crews, were outnumbered and under heavy fire. Just surviving the onslaught gave the Blue Lounge pirates a feeling of futility. Not to mention trying to save their comrades stuck on the island.

Stris looked on at the mayhem his words helped unleash. However, Stris wasn't in a position where he could leisurely spectate others fighting. He pulled out his greatsword as Red Hook, the Representative, and Wulf approached him in a triangular formation.

"If you enter the Void by yourself, you will at least die peacefully, heathen."

"Though, I don't mind if you're stubborn. I'll appreciate the help in trying out my new spell."

"Same here. I want to demonstrate my gratitude for the technique you saved for me."

The Representative, Red Hook, and Wulf all threatened Stris as they closed in on him. Stris was annoyed to find out that the spells and techniques he painstakingly gathered and kept out of reach for his competitors still ended up in the hands of Wulf and Red Hook. But he didn't show it on his face as he smiled and responded.

"Come at me. I have no intention of dying here. Though, I can't say you three will make it out alive as well."

Stris didn't hold back as he held his greatsword horizontally with both hands and prepared to strike. Dusty brown earth attribute sword energy gathered around his sword, forming a large, three-meter-long extension on top of it. Stris swung out with the large earth sword, striking in a half-circle in front of him, right at the Representative and Red Hook.

Red Hook nimbly avoided the sword by jumping back. However, the sword continued unobstructed toward the unmoving Representative. Stris didn't continue paying attention since he knew his strike was useless against the Representative and instead turned around to face Wulf.

Wulf was busy watching how the earth sword disintegrated upon contact with the Representative's outstretched hand, so he was slow to react to Stris' upward strike.

However, he reacted quickly enough to slam down with his axe using the Heavy Downward Slash he learned from the manual.

Wulf's technique would have been enough to destroy any ordinary strike. Even his ordinary downward slash would have been enough to overpower most attacks.

However, Wulf had sensed the building earth energy in the ground following the path Stris' sword drew. Wulf realized he had to respond in kind to Stris' Crust Breaker.

Wulf's great-axe met Stris' sword head-on in a resounding clash. Unfortunately for Wulf, Stris' technique wasn't meant to empower his strike.

The earth attribute martial energy flowing through Stris' sword path entered the ground they stood on and tore it open with explosive force that sent Wulf flying into the air.

Wulf tumbled around in the air and tried to regain his bearings. However, Stris wouldn't let go of the opportunity he had made by sending Wulf into the air. Wulf wouldn't be able to defend himself against Stris' attack until he landed on the ground again. But Stris didn't wait for that to happen as he dashed along Wulf's trajectory and prepared to land a fatal blow on Wulf's defenseless body.