Pirate: Crew of Desire and Bonds

But at that moment...

...Grace’s golden eyes glinted slightly.

Jake, still rushing forward, also noticed the glint in Grace’s eyes.

Then—

”...!”

Multiple orbs of condensed light suddenly popped into existence along his path, floating silently in the air like hidden bombs.

His [Instinct] flared immediately.

Without hesitation, Jake swung his sword in a sharp arc and sliced through the nearest orb.

The moment the blade made contact—

BOOOOM!

The light orb detonated violently, releasing a concentrated blast of radiant force that forced Jake to dig his feet into the ground and brace against the shockwave.

Jake turned to look at Grace—

And immediately saw them.

Multiple orbs of light floated in the space in front of her, arranged like a scattered field of mines waiting to be triggered.

But then, one by one, the orbs began to fade.

Their golden glow dimmed rapidly until they vanished completely from sight, as if they had simply turned invisible.

Jake’s lips curved into a wry smile.

’So this is her counter...’

It was probably a skill specifically designed to deal with close combat as a ranged fighter.

If he charged in blindly now, he would be walking straight into an invisible minefield of light.

Seeing the smug look on Grace’s face, Jake also smiled.

CRACK!!

Then a deep red aura suddenly surged along the length of his sword, wrapping the blade in a dense, crackling energy.

Without hesitation, he swung.

BOOM!

A thunderous aura slash exploded forward, carving through the air with raw power.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The invisible light orbs hidden in his path detonated one after another in a spectacular chain of golden explosions, lighting up the training ground in successive bursts of radiance.

Jake’s voice cut through the fading shockwaves.

”Haha, nice... but not enough!”

Then he charged straight toward her once more.

Jake closed the remaining distance in an instant and once again arrived right beside her.

Without hesitation, he swung his sword toward Grace.

Even if she teleported again, he didn’t mind.

He already understood that ability had its limits.

Using it repeatedly would surely exhaust her fast.

In the end, he could simply win by tiring her out.

So if she wanted to win... she had to make a real move now.

Grace’s golden eyes remained calm as she watched the incoming sword.

In the next moment, another orb of light suddenly appeared directly in the path of his blade.

Jake’s brows furrowed.

If that orb detonated at such close range, even the user wouldn’t escape unscathed.

’Was she planning to use herself as bait?’

But then—

To his surprise, the orb of light did not explode.

Instead, it rapidly changed shape.

The condensed light expanded and solidified in an instant, transforming into a glowing golden shield that interposed itself between Jake’s sword and Grace.

Clang!

Jake’s sword was stopped cold by the golden light shield.

In that brief opening, Grace moved without hesitation.

She raised her rifle and aimed straight at Jake’s chest.

At this close distance, even if she wanted to miss, it wouldn’t have been possible.

Just as Grace was about to open fire—

Jake suddenly released his sword.

In the same motion, his hand shot forward and reached straight toward her rifle.

Jake’s hand struck the muzzle of her rifle and smacked it aside.

Zing!

The light bullet shot past him harmlessly, missing by a hair.

In the same fluid motion, Jake swept her leg out from under her.

WHOOSH!

Grace’s balance broke instantly, and her body fell backward onto the ground.

But she wasn’t done.

Even as she hit the floor, she kept her rifle trained upward and continued firing.

Golden light bullets streaked toward Jake from below in rapid succession.

Jake quickly crossed his arms in front of him, coating them in a dense layer of red aura to block the incoming shots.

But strangely—

The light bullets missed.

Jake blinked in mild surprise from behind his crossed arms, then let out a short laugh.

”Haha! You shouldn’t panic when you fight. You need to focus on every direction!”

In the next instant, he smacked her rifle aside once more, forcing the barrel away from him.

Before Grace could react further, Jake grabbed her delicate wrists and pinned both of her arms down against the ground.

At the same time, he used his legs to firmly pin her lower body in place, completely restricting her movement so she couldn’t even attempt to kick upward toward his groin.

Jake looked down at her from above, a slow, wicked grin spreading across his face.

It was the kind of grin a villain wore after finally capturing his long-sought prey.

”Well, well...” he drawled, voice low and teasing as he kept her firmly pinned.

”Looks like the little gunner finally ran out of tricks.”

His eyes gleamed with playful dominance.

”What are you going to do now, Grace? You’re completely at my mercy.”

...Jake felt strangely aroused for some reason at that moment.

Seeing this helpless beauty pinned underneath him after such a rough fight filled him with a strange, heated feeling.

’Could it be... I love capturing beauties...?’

’Ahh... maybe my pirate class is affecting me...’

He decided to quietly blame this sudden fetish on his class.

But then he paused slightly.

Even with all four of her limbs completely pinned down, Grace’s face remained calm.

There was no panic in her golden eyes... only a quiet, composed look that made him suddenly wary.

Then Grace smiled.

”Just like you said...” she murmured softly, ”you should be focusing in all directions.”

Jake blinked at her words.

A second later, realization struck him.

He quickly turned his head and glanced sideways, then upward—

And saw it.

A golden frying pan hovering in the air above him as it fell down.

”???”

Before he could even think of dodging—

The pan dropped straight down and smacked him firmly on the head.

BONK!

It wasn’t painful at all.

But Jake just stared, completely dumbfounded, as the golden frying pan made of pure light slowly dispersed into fading particles.

And he realized something.

’She... used one of the shots that missed...’

In that brief moment when she missed her shot... she must have deliberately missed it and guided a light bullet behind him, reshaped it into a frying pan in midair, and simply let it drop once he was fully focused on pinning her down.

Just then—

”Grace won!”

Vivian’s cheerful shout rang out across the training ground.