One other pirate joined the man sitting on the high-backed chair. He had similar slimy looks and didn't say a word to anyone else, from here they were only able to see his side profile.

Aldrich took a deep breath to calm his nerves, pirates, the worst kind of scum that have ever existed in all existence. It was by no means an exaggeration to say that pirates were the spoiled trash of humanity.

And there were many of them, Aldrich did a rough count, thirty or more pirates against five. It wasn't looking good at all. What they did with the bandits couldn't be replicated here.

With the bandits they were able to separate them and then used the laxative, finally they used a surprise attack to the fullest possible potential. It worked because of many factors and luck.

This could not be done here. But..

Their quest was not to eliminate the pirates this time though Aldrich would like nothing more, their quests was to exorcise the ghosts at the top of the lighthouse which could only be done by destroying the red ruby ring.

Aldrich could see the ring right now. The man sitting on the high-backed chair had it on his right hand. He just had to break it and then make a run for it, dealing with the pirates was not part of the quest.

This meant that he could just report them to the authorities, the lord of Ebrict was hunting pirates like a hound after a rabbit.

As for why he didn't immediately give the word to attack?

He was concerned about the ghost's warning, and how didn't the pirates dare deal with ghosts and plot against the whole town? His best and most likely guess was, an item, somehow the pirates got their hands on a certain item which made all of this possible.

He also noticed something fishy about the pirates demeanor, they were so.. weird. That was the only word he could think of now, they didn't drink nor smoke, they didn't even talk to each other.

But this was also their only chance. It was a stroke of luck that all the pirates but two were unloading the cargo and only two were alone, including the one they were after.

From here they could make an attack, overcome the two pirates easily and break the ring, make an escape all before the rest of the pirates knew what hit them.

Aldrich would be a fool to let such a chance go by despite his misgivings. There was no such thing as perfection in life, you take what's been given.

"Hellen, Cole and Nathan, you will stay here and provide us with cover and once we destroy the ring, make a run for it." Aldrich whispered his plan to the others.

"Frank you take care of the one standing behind the asshole sitting on the chair, do your best to block him from interfering, I will mainly focus on destroying the ring, after that we will run."

Frank was extremely athletic and the only person who was good with open confrontation in the party besides himself.historical

He was also not a novice at wielding that saber, Aldrich noticed, his moves were practiced, his footwork balanced. This could not be achieved by self-learning, he must have been taught by a mentor like Aldrich was.

Frank was annoying at times but he was competent nonetheless.

Everyone nodded, Aldrich and Frank looked at each other for a moment before charging at full speed to the high-backed chair. There was nothing to worry about it was a straight line if not for the sand.

He took a look at the pirates on the small dock, they still didn't notice that two intruders were in their midst and aiming for their boss.

When they were close enough, the pirate standing beside the chair, who was probably the first mate, finally noticed something amiss. Aldrich used his Light step skill and dashed through the distance bypassing the first mate directly.

Aldrich had no intention to pull his punches at this critical moment, while his speed doubled for ten seconds he thrust his spear through the back of the chair, intending to kill the pirate in one strike and then destroy the ring in one fell swoop.

However, at this moment, Aldrich felt fear. He wanted to stop and run away at this very moment which was obviously impossible.

He was no newbie, he knew to suppress his feelings in times of battle. He was already very experienced at it. But for some unknown reason he felt every fiber of his being telling him to run.

This skin crawling feeling, the goosebumps, it reminded him of his recent encounter with the banshee. However it was impossible to stop now.

—No, he knew why. After his spear went through the back of the chair, it cut only air. The man—rather the being that was supposed to be sitting there has stood up and dodged the spear coming for his life.

It had the same blank look as all the rest of the pirates and wore an oilskin coat, but it had a vertical eye on it's forehead and four slimy tentacles protruding out from the back.

Now he knew what it was, this was the great evil. It was an Aberrant acolyte, these were once humans but they were twisted by the creatures of the deep known as Shoggti to serve their dark purposes.

Aldrich didn't know much about the Shoggti as it was a grade two creature, however he knew that they possessed terrifying mental capabilities and could twist the minds of creatures into loyal slaves and servants.

Now the chained man on the rock made sense this was an evil ritual conducted by the Aberrant acolyte. The reason for these rituals was unknown but most speculated that it was done to apease it's masters in the deep sea.

Aldrich will his body to turn back, but it was useless, the Light step skill only worked when moving through straight lines.

"Whoosh!"

p One of the tentacles of the Aberrant acolyte stabbed him in the the chest sending him in the air. Aldrich saw the attack coming but he was powerless to do anything but watch, the impact was like being hit by a speeding carriage but with the sharpness of a spear all at once.

Grade...one..