Chapter 52

Wild Hunt 10

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It was a calm and peaceful morning.

The sun was shining bright

Not a single cloud in sight.

The seas were as calm

The joyous laughter of the children echoed throughout the swimming pools.

The low murmur of guests peacefully chatting with one another.

The calm scream of pain and agony as a piece of steel is driven into a man’s chest.

A relaxing battle cry gently pierced the air as a large group of axe wielding pirates scaled the hull and boarded from the front, sides and back of the ship with calm disorder.

They then attacked specific individuals before peacefully rushing towards the Captain’s deck where they gently beat the shit out of the crew, effectively taking control of the ship.

And via the ships public announcement system, the new captain of the ship delivered his message that would soothe the people on board.

“To all the passenger and staff of the Sanctuary, I bid you good day. My name is Grimwal of Clan Volsung and we are pleased to inform you that you are now being raided. We have effectively taken over the bridge and now hold dominion on your lives. Normally we would kill the men, rape the women and loot your corpses of all the valuables you have, but unfortunately, there are simply too many of you. Killing and raping you would take too much time. As such, we have decided to do something uncharacteristic of us. If you simply give us your valuables, no one will die. Naturally, if anyone resists, many will die. We will begin our patrols to collect your belongings. And don’t bother trying to escape. We already destroyed the lifeboats. Once again: cooperate and live. Resist and die. Have a good day”

All in all, it was truly a calm and peaceful morning.

The axe wielding warriors took a bit of time on fortifying the bridge, thus giving the oh-so heroic members of the passengers to gather up and hastily plan a resistance.

Around 20 minutes later, the warriors began their patrols while 20 remained on the bridge.

The 160 warriors formed groups of 10 and began herding everyone into the large ballroom in the middle of the ship.

Naturally, they did this with kindness and compassion.

Of course there were some people who rejected this compassion by fighting back with the nearest pointy object that they could find.

The warriors responded to this with grace and dignity. They broke the poor bastard’s legs and forced them to walk to the ballroom.

After a few unfortunate incidents which resulted in a few broken legs, the even that the warriors were eagerly waiting for has arrived.

“They’re making their move. Those on the outside of the ship, expect ambushes from above and over the edge. Those inside the ship, be careful around doors and corners. Those on the bridge, expect a small strike force. This is the battle I promised you. Enjoy” Said Theo through the ear pieces he provided for every member of the raid.

And just a few moments later, battle erupted all over the ship as the defenders ambushed the raiders.

Hanging from the edge of the ship, they attacked in hopes of pulling the raiders off.

Those from the higher floors, hidden behind doors and just behind corners hoped to pull off a lethal one time surprise attack.

A vast majority of them failed.

If anything, the ambushers ended up being hacked and slashed to death by a downpour of axe strikes.

Those who did succeed were only able to wound or kill a small portion of the warriors. They died soon after when the warriors went in to avenge their comrades

Had the warriors not have Theo’s guidance, these ambushes would have been successful.

And thus began multiple life or death battles on the tight corridors of the cruise ship Sanctuary.

On one side were the defenders of Sanctuary filled with righteous vigor to protect the weak and the innocent. This united front of Cullet wolf shapeshifters, regular human bodyguards, security personnel of the Sanctuary itself and some guests with combat experience.

They were easily nearly 400 strong

ON the other hand were the Volsung Raiders who were as ferocious as they looked. Armed with full arsenal of magical items and a lifetime experience of raiding ships, costal villages and the rare cities, the raiders were a force to be reckoned with.

Their total number was 190 with 20 on the bridge, 160 rampaging around the decks and 10 remained on the longboats.

When the 2 sides collided on open conflict, it went exactly as you’d expect….

Despite being outnumbered, the Volsung Raiders endured the ambushed and quickly placed the defenders of Sanctuary in the defensive.

While it was impossible to tell from their looks alone, this particular group of raiders specialized in ship boarding combat. The tight corridors of ships were their preferred battleground.

And to make matters worse for the defenders, 10 of the raiders came from Ulkov’s honor guard unit. These men may look old, but they were the most experienced of the group. Their skill was easily noticeable by how they moved and killed effortlessly in the tight corridors.

Another particularly dreadful advantage the Volsung raiders possessed was Theo’s guidance.

Theo’s ability to see the entire battlefield via his spy drones and gum drones and maneuver the Volsung raiders into advantageous scenarios was nothing to scoff at.

For example, a raider team of 10 was fighting 15 defenders. Quite suddenly, another 10 man raider team appeared from behind the 15 defenders and charged at their flank.

Surrounded and outnumbered, the 15 defenders squashed between to walls of blades.

It was a simple combination of telling a particular group to go to a particular area via the coms he provided them.

Simple, easy and very effective.

Now despite the advantage the raiders possessed, they were still heavily outnumbered. They couldn’t hold their position without letting some defenders through.

As such, the front lines within the decks constantly moved back and forth with the raiders darting around in order to deter the defenders from making a break for it.

It was a weird stalemate.

But a question must be asked: ‘Where the hell is Theo in all of this mess?’

Theo was in fact still on the longboats where he sent command to the raiders via coms.

He and the others on the boats were using the Sanctuary’s lifeboat pulley system to load the plasteel container on to the cruise ship’s upper deck.

Thanks to the container’s light weight, getting it up to the decks was much easier than originally anticipated.

After that, Theo continued supporting the raiders by commanding their movements to counter act their numerical inferiority.

Personally speaking, Theo wouldn’t give a rats ass if all of the raiders died right here and now. That is the level of how much he despised the Norscan warrior culture as a whole.

An inter civilization that promoted the idea that stealing and killing as ‘honorable’ was a civilization that didn’t deserve to exist.

Unfortunately, Theo cant succeed in this plan without their help.

As such, Theo endured the temptation of shooting every Volsung warrior in sight and focused on the mission at hand.

A few moments after getting the container on the deck, Theo spotted a few anomalies in the battlefield.

With the generally temperature of the cruise ship, 5 small cold spots stuck out like a sore thumb.

Theo immediately knew exactly what these were.

“The vampires are on the move. There are 5 at the moment and they are all invisible. Group 8, 11 and 14 are the closest to them. Be careful.” Said Theo through the coms.

True to their warrior heritages, the three groups tensed up as they pressed forward.

A few moments later, Ulkov’s honor guard member assigned to group 11 suddenly threw a horizontal swing towards a hallway with no soul in sight.

The deafening sound of steel meeting steel echoed throughout the hallway as Ulkov’s honor guard locked blades with what was essentially a knight in shining armor.

4 of the other invisible vampires suddenly appeared to attack the honor guard.

This attempt failed as the other warriors of group 11 threw themselves into combat with rabid fury.

However, the vampire knights were monstrously strong.

Despite being outnumbered, they were able to hold the furious warriors off.

Only the Ulkov honor guard and the knight he was facing were equal in terms of martial prowess.

Once again, another stalemate was formed in an already convoluted web of stalemates.

However, this was exactly what Theo was hoping for.

With the defenders too busy with the Volsung raiders, Theo walked into the ship undetected.

Time for the true hunt to begin.

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