Chapter 351 - 343: No More Restraints

Chapter 351: Chapter 343: No More Restraints

Danger came without warning.

Xiaolan’s pupils constricted. The whistling table leg magnified infinitely before her eyes.

Her mind went blank, but her body reacted before she could even think.

Perhaps it was instinct honed through daily training, or perhaps her bloodline’s potential had been awakened.

Her body bent backward at an impossible angle, almost parallel to the ground, as the table leg whistled over her head.

Simultaneously, the short dagger in her hand sliced upward in an arc, plunging into the witch hunter’s unguarded abdomen.

SQUELCH!

The dagger sank into flesh, and blood gushed forth.

The witch hunter let out a muffled grunt, his assault faltering.

Xiaolan gave him no quarter. Her other dagger flashed out like lightning, severing the tendons in his wrist.

The table leg fell to the floor with a CLANG.

The entire exchange happened in a flash, so fast that Ola, who was watching from the side, was left dumbfounded.

A flicker of surprise also crossed Kael’s eyes as he stood ready to provide support.

He originally thought Xiaolan would be able to do little more than defend herself and was ready to jump in at any moment. He never expected her to unleash such astonishing potential in a life-or-death moment.

This was more than just skill; it was a near-primal combat instinct.

’Damn... this girl’s got something,’ Ola muttered, his own hands never ceasing their motion.

The witch hunter he faced was deranged, but his physical prowess was formidable. Every one of Ola’s mighty axe swings was dodged with unbelievable agility.

The man was like a caged beast, dodging and weaving in the cramped space while occasionally lashing out with his fists and feet.

"Stand still, you bastard!" Ola roared, stomping his foot so hard the floorboards groaned.

He stopped trying to land a killing blow, instead swinging his great axe to steadily shrink his opponent’s room to maneuver.

Finally, when his opponent failed to dodge in time and left an opening, Ola gave up on using the heavy blade. He swung the thick spine of the axe instead, smashing it viciously into the man’s temple.

The witch hunter grunted, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed to the floor.

「The battle on the first floor was over.」

Kael didn’t pause. He motioned to Xiaolan, and one behind the other, they crept up the stairs toward the second floor.

Ola remained downstairs to guard the captive, taking the opportunity to tie up the one Xiaolan had grievously wounded as well.

The second-floor door was shut tight. It was eerily quiet on the other side.

Kael pressed his ear to the door, hearing nothing. He signaled to Xiaolan, and they took up positions on either side of the frame.

The next second, Kael kicked the lock.

BANG!

Splinters flew as the door burst open.

Behind the door, two witch hunters—a man and a woman—stood back-to-back, already in a defensive formation.

The fight erupted instantly!

Downstairs, Ola grew anxious. He waited impatiently for reinforcements to take his place before hurrying up to the second floor.

"Kael! We’re here—"

His shout died in his throat.

By the second-floor doorway, the battle was already over.

The two witch hunters, the man and the woman, lay in pools of their own blood, no longer able to resist.

Xiaolan was leaning against the wall, panting slightly. Aside from a bit of dust, she was completely unharmed.

Kael watched Xiaolan quietly, his gaze a mixture of surprise, appraisal, and the subtle pride of a mentor.

Under his gaze, the tension from the fierce battle slowly drained from Xiaolan. Her cheeks, however, flushed uncontrollably, and she shyly averted her eyes.

Ola and the Warriors behind him were stunned. They had expected a vicious fight, but... it was over just like that?

And it was the young girl who had been tagging along who finished it?

The mission was complete. It had been full of twists and turns, but they had finally managed to take some captives alive.

But just as they prepared to withdraw, the unexpected happened once more.

The bound man and woman suddenly began to convulse violently. Their skin turned dark at a visible rate, and black foam gushed from their mouths and noses.

Their eyes snapped open, fixing on Kael, their gazes filled with both the most venomous curses and a sense of release.

"It’s a ward..." Kael realized.

The Church had implanted some kind of self-destruct mechanism in their witch hunters to prevent them from leaking secrets if captured.

Once they were completely subdued or their minds suffered irreversible corruption, the ward would trigger, resulting in their death.

A moment later, all four bodies were lifeless.

Kael stood frozen, his expression as black as a thundercloud.

He had failed. He hadn’t managed to keep a single one alive.

...

「The Sea Siren’s Song Tavern.」

Barbossa’s expression grew uglier by the second as he listened to his subordinate’s report.

"You’re saying that building... went quiet?"

"Yes, Boss. Not a sound. Dead silent."

Barbossa’s one eye narrowed, and a strong sense of unease washed over him. He grabbed his cutlass and, with a group of his most trusted men, charged back toward the rear courtyard.

The door was still intact.

Barbossa kicked it open, but inside... there was nothing.

The room was completely empty.

Everything was so clean it was as if those four lunatics had never been there at all. Or perhaps they had simply left on their own, without a sound.

"Where are they?" Barbossa’s roar echoed through the night. "Motherfucker, where are they?!"

No one could answer him.

He wasn’t afraid of ghosts or gods, but this bizarre scene still made his skin crawl.

Frustrated, he had his men search the house inside and out again, even checking under the floorboards, but they found nothing. It was as if the group had vanished into thin air.

"Damn it, what the hell!" Barbossa spat viciously on the ground and finally gave up.

He stomped back toward the main building, barking an order at a subordinate. "Send men out! I want you to tear Peace Bay apart, but find those bastards!"

「Meanwhile, in Velin’s cavern stronghold.」

He had just finished listening to Kael’s combat report.

"We may not have any survivors, but the gains were still immense," Velin said, his voice calm. "We’ve obtained complete data on the witch hunters’ close-quarters combat abilities, confirmed the properties of the ’Purifier’s Kiss,’ and gathered intelligence on the self-destruct wards inside their bodies."

"More importantly, we’ve pulled a thorn the Church had planted in the Southern Islands. We’ve bought ourselves some valuable breathing room before they can send their next team."

He looked up at the enormous animal-hide map on the wall. His gaze traveled past the marker for their cavern stronghold, settling on the location of Peace Bay.

"And our most important piece has been successfully planted in the enemy’s heart."

Mia, the gluttonous and cowardly little succubus, was currently at Barbossa’s side under the alias "Lillian."

She would serve as Velin’s eyes and ears, feeding him the most critical intelligence before the final battle.

With the witch hunters dead, Velin no longer had to hold back his assault on the Bloodsail Brotherhood.