"Clack! Clack! Clack!"
Lorne's boots stepped onto the main ship's deck, making soft tapping sounds.
The sound spread across the deathly silent ice field, so clear it was almost piercing, each step thumping heavily against Krieg's heart, which was already filled with terror.
"Monster! You monster!"
Krieg finally wrenched a sliver of sanity from his extreme horror, leaving only the madness of a cornered beast.
He let out a beastly roar and suddenly raised that massive Battle Spear, which weighed over a ton, using all his monstrous strength to smash it down toward Lorne's head!
The tip of the spear even sparked against the air due to the sheer speed of the swing, and the gunpowder mechanism inside the spear was primed and ready to trigger a violent explosion the moment it struck its target.
Facing this blow capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, Lorne did not stop his pace; he raised his right hand, fingers spread, toward the massive weapon whistling toward him.
"Useless struggle!"
He softly uttered a few words.
In an instant, a visible white cold current gushed forth from his palm.
The heavy Battle Spear came to an abrupt halt less than half a meter above Lorne's head, the sparks at the tip instantly extinguished, and the entire shaft was rapidly encased in a thick layer of frost.
Krieg only felt an irresistible power of extreme cold travel from the spear's handle, and his hands instantly lost all sensation.
"Crack... Snap!"
A crisp cracking sound rang out as the Battle Spear, hailed as Krieg's strongest weapon, began to disintegrate inch by inch from the tip under his terrified gaze, turning into countless shimmering ice crystal fragments that drifted down like snow.
"No... impossible...! My Battle Spear!"
Krieg stared blankly at his empty hands; that was the power he was most proud of!!
He frantically threw away the remaining half of the spear handle, aimed his Diamond Gauntlets at Lorne, and charged forward recklessly.
A translucent ice wall rose from the ground, blocking Krieg's charge perfectly.
"Bang!"
The incredibly hard Diamond Gauntlets slammed heavily against the ice wall, letting out a dull, heavy thud.
The expected scene of the ice wall shattering did not occur; instead, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on Krieg's Diamond Gauntlets, centering on the point of contact.
"What?"
Krieg's mind went blank.
The next second, cracks spread across the entire gauntlet, which then shattered into crystalline grains all over the floor.
"Ah!"
Krieg let out a scream as his entire arm instantly lost sensation. The Golden Armor covering his arm let out an overwhelmed groan before peeling off piece by piece, disintegrating into the most primitive metallic debris.
He staggered backward, his tall frame finally unable to support itself, and he slumped heavily onto the cold deck.
The Golden Armor on his body had become incredibly fragile due to the extreme cold. As he fell, the shoulder and chest plates groaned under the strain, disintegrating and peeling off in large chunks, revealing skin that had turned purple from the frost.
A sharp longsword composed of pure ice crystals manifested in mid-air, silently pressing against his throat.
The chilling aura emanating from the sword tip made the hair all over Krieg's body stand on end. He sat paralyzed on the ground, not daring to move an inch.
"Commodore!"
"Bastard! Let go of Commodore Krieg!"
Just then, grief-stricken roars came from the ship.
Gin the Man-Demon and several of his most loyal pirates brandished their weapons and stepped onto the frozen deck, charging desperately toward Lorne in an attempt to create a sliver of a chance for Krieg to escape.
Lorne's brow furrowed imperceptibly, as if he felt a hint of impatience at the noise.
He turned his head and glanced at the rushing figures.
"Noisy flies."
He casually waved his hand.
A small ice crystal storm formed out of thin air, whistling as it swirled toward Gin and the others.
The storm was initially only about as tall as a person, but it expanded rapidly as it spun closer, instantly swallowing all dozen or so pirates.
"Aaaah!"
Piercing screams came from the storm, only to be quickly drowned out by the howling wind and snow.
Countless tiny ice crystal blades spun at high speed within the storm, constantly eroding their bodies and cutting them until they were covered in wounds, before they were immediately frozen by the extreme cold.
Lorne no longer paid attention to the scene over there. He turned back, looking down from above at Krieg, who had completely lost his will to fight.
"I'm curious."
Lorne's tone was flat, yet it carried a hint of genuine confusion.
"Are you all completely brainless? With such a massive bounty difference, you actually dared to initiate an attack. Who gave you the courage?"
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