"I call upon the powers of the Void and Outsidness to protect me from the enemy across time and space, as my unbreakable shield."
As they finished chanting, a light appeared around the ship, as both of them breathed in relief that their prayers were heard and answered. This form of protection would at least protect them from possible storms and strong waves; hopefully it would scare away powerful magical beasts...
"Hopefully, with this, we will have a smooth journey toward the Laros."
Samiel muttered as he looked into the distance of the horizon.
Only several hours later, after they set sail from the island where they picked up the Silvermoon Princess, did she come from the captain's cabin, probably already finished with refurnishing, when they saw several ships appearing on the horizon.
"Do you see there? What are their flags?"
Samiel questioned as Juulius handed him a binocular as he then looked through it and observed three ships that were coming here.
Neither one of them were of the pirate crew because they lacked distinctive flags, but he noticed another symbol hanging on the ships.
'Bounty Hunter Guild.'
Samiel muttered as he saw the distinctive logo of the Bounty Hunter Guild, which wasn't organization solely restricted to the 11th Floor of the Tower, they had branched across other Floors or in some bigger and more open Higher Worlds and Principal Worlds.
They were pretty much similar to The Guild, but their influence was countless times smaller; they didn't possess any sort of internal unity or obligation to help their faction grow.
They were true mercenaries in every sense and due to that, their influence was many times slower.
The Guild possessed their own Legendaries and even several Holies, their own worlds and even "Punishment Armies" that were considered as one of the best across the Material Plane of the Cosmos.
"Bounty Hunters... should we go after them or just ignore and attack in case they attack?"
Juulius asked as Samiel was meanwhile considering the situation and, in the end, deciding for the attack on the Bounty Hunters because they could get some resources and they could get their hands on a better ship compared to the shabby ones he got from the Tooth Grin Pirates.
A better ship meant that they could get to their target destination faster, which would mean saving more time, so that was a good bonus.
Not to mention, l there was still a possibility that they would be attacked by the bounty hunters as they were sailing on the pirate ship and in truth, based on what Juulius told him, many of bounty hunters were ruffians and not different from bandits and pirates.
They were just kicking for a different team.
"Everyone prepare for an attack. We will take care of the bounty hunters and take their ships; hopefully, they will have something useful."
When Samiel gave out the order, everyone started gathering their weapons and preparing for the battle; as they were approaching the ships, with even the felines woke up from their sleep.
Juulius was meanwhile considering if the Magicite Canons that were installed on the ships could be used, but Samiel decided against it as the ship wasn't in a state to be used as a combat tool.
"We lack munition for the Magicite Canons... this level of technology is already pretty obsolete and is used only in some less developed Lower and Middle Worlds. If we start firing, they would retaliate and this ship couldn't handle even hit..."
Samiel growled with frustration, saying this, though another reason was the fact that during the naval battle, there was a high chance for the ships on the other side to be damaged, something he didn't wish for.
Magicite Canons were prototypes of the proper Magitek Artillery Batteries and were considered "ancient" technology according to the standards of the Tower, but they were still very popular across the Material Plane due to their easy maintenance.
The only thing needed were the Magicite Cores which could be either mined from the areas that had high Mana Density or created through the Alchemical Transmutation of several Magic Crystals.
If Samiel had to compare it to something, it was like arquebuses from Earth... they were primitive canons but were cheap and dependable in certain situations.
"So the boarding action it is..."
Juulius nodded in understanding as they watched the bounty hunter ships approaching. Tytos yawned from the side, eager for battle and food; he always appreciated eating Professionals.
Their meat was more nutritious for them, not to talk about the fact that the magical beasts advanced from consuming either powerful lifeforms or Magic Crystals.
"We would be fighting against entire parties... it is doubtful that they are just individuals... probably they are entire bounty hunter parties altogether."
Yvraine stated from the side while she was polishing her jade swords. Even she was eager for battle, not caring against whom she was fighting; hopefully this would be way better than just fighting the dregs of the pirates.
"That is very much probably... most of the bounty hunters are individualistic, so the possibility of them working together is relatively low; this should be one of the bigger bands. Considering the dimensions of their ships, they should be the party of considerable size and power."
When Samiel saw their ships, he noticed that their size and equipment.
Even though the ships were made from wood, he noticed that the quality of the wood seemed much better compared to the ones from which their own ship was built, not to mention the ships were in pristine condition.
"Another reason for capturing them is the information... we can get info on the local waters if there are any pirates with high enough bounties to take a detour. While unlikely, the possibility still exists and who knows, maybe they have some precious things."
Yvraine just pursued her lips, hearing Samiel's rationalization of the attacks; the man rarely admitted that he wanted to kill them just for the sake of killing.
But he told her many times that proper reason always matters, not from the material side, but for the formal side...
It was politics, something that he was fond of playing and something that Yvraine was not.
"Stop looking at me like that... I know what you are thinking.."
He refuted her glare when he noticed what she was thinking about.
Within several minutes the incoming ships of the bounty hunters were already near them, as Samiel was looking at the biggest ship in the middle of the three of them.
"That should be a ship of the leader... I am taking that one; you two take care of the remaining ones."
Samiel ordered for the attack when he noticed that the incoming ships of the bounty hunters were hastening up.
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