Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 491: King of the Wild Hunt, Attack and Defense Change

When the situation in the capital of Castile changed drastically, Byron was still in the "First Circumference Belt" with his men cleaning up the battlefield.

He had never expected that the [Puppet King] Louis would be so decisive that he went back to rebel without wasting even a second.

In fact, the peak battle between the two fake [kings] lasted less than five minutes at most.

He's not the Giant of Light who can only last three minutes. How could he be so weak?

Despite losing his body, his spirit remains strong.

Of course, the price he paid was very heavy. From being the man who could not live without women, he has now become the second most "incompetent person". From now on, he doesn't even have three minutes left.

Byron didn't even know that when Henry IV faced death, he abandoned the real world and his own country and switched to a new track because of the information about the great flood shared by the church.

Otherwise, no matter what tricks and plans the most noble king in the world has, and whether the "Noah's Ark" mentioned by the traditional church is reliable, everyone will sneer at this "incompetent man".

The real world has entered the "intertidal zone" and is about to face a catastrophe, and you, the king, are just going with the flow and running away?

This choice may not be considered incompetence, but it is definitely cowardly and irresponsible.

Upon learning that a catastrophe was about to occur, the first thing to do was not to conceal the news and pass the buck, but to find a way to control the floods in advance and protect your homeland and your subjects, right?

Of course, although Byron did not know that the situation in Castile had changed, he had already made preparations in advance.

As [Wild Hunt] and the new Black Sail Pirate King [Uncrowned King], he connected with another key figure in the Kingdom of Castile through the membership number of the online financial street.

The smile and manners on his face were impeccable, like those of a graceful prince, but the discord-seeking banditry in his words perfectly matched his current identity as a pirate leader:
"Your Highness, you have just heard what Don Quixote said.

[Puppet King] In order to allow Juana, his illegitimate daughter with Queen Joanna, to ascend the throne, Louis did things that were simply outrageous to both humans and gods.

Everyone in the royal families knows that your mother is the princess and sole heir of the Kingdom of Avis, and your father, Juan II, after acquiring the territory of the Kingdom of Avis, promised to rank you in the order of succession after Enrique IV and before all other members of the royal family.

If Princess Juana is really the daughter of the "Incompetent", the order of succession may need to be discussed.

But now they are clearly taking advantage of your youth and want to use an illegitimate daughter who has no right of inheritance to usurp your throne.

Not to mention, when your father, King Juan II, had just passed away, King Enrique IV the Incompetent drove you and your mother into a monastery to fend for yourself, causing you to suffer since childhood.

If it happened to me, I wouldn't be able to stand it.

At least we have to give them a complete family, and then this matter will be over."

The all-pervasive "Faust Contract" does not have to worry about the lack of a legal network. The person who appears opposite the projection at this time is Isabella, the eldest princess of the Kingdom of Castile.

To date, thanks to the activity of registering members to get a discount, the coverage of the online financial street has already exceeded everyone's imagination, and the eldest princess is one of them.

Isabella wore a black dress in the style of a cassock, which covered 90% of her skin, leaving only her face and a pair of hands exposed.

Her skin and hair were clean, her clothes were free of stains, and her eyes were exceptionally bright, making it impossible to tell whether she had only taken one bath in her life.

According to the teachings of the Church of the Creator, the desires of the flesh are considered original sin, and the enjoyment of worldly things is considered pollution of the soul.

Bathing was also considered a form of bodily indulgence that could arouse carnal desires and depravity in believers.

Therefore, the dirtier the body, the cleaner the soul.

Based on this, the church canonize people who never take a bath in their entire lives.

So you can also call Isabella by her full name: Saint Isabella the Unsullied!

This princess not only has an outstanding reputation in the church and the secular world, she is also a fourth-order heroic-level [Coronation Priest] of the Temple Sequence.

He is also the highest-ranking religious leader in the Kingdom of Castile - Archbishop Burgos. He wears the [Bishop's Ring] on his hand and, with the blessing of the Silver Law, is one of the 98 cardinal archbishops of the church.

Although Isabella is very young, only twenty years old this year, she acts steadily and generously, and looks more like a qualified king than her brother Enrique the Incompetent, who is almost fifty years old.

With his hands folded on his belly, he bowed slightly to Byron in thanks:

“I didn’t expect so many things to happen behind the Treasure Fleet.

Your Highness Byron, thank you for exposing the Puppet King's conspiracy and resolving a crisis of the royal power falling into the wrong hands.

You will have my personal friendship, and I am willing to provide you with all the assistance I can when you restore your country in the future."

Of course she understood Byron's true intention in tipping her off.

In essence, it was to balance the power comparison between the two political rivals in the Kingdom of Castile and prevent the Puppet King from succeeding easily, but what she did was ultimately beneficial to her.

It is hard to say whether they will be enemies or friends in the future, but now the two companies can reach limited cooperation.

Isabella knew that time was running out, so after thanking him, she immediately called over her trusted attendants and whispered a series of orders in an orderly manner.

The faction's headquarters, centered around Burgos Cathedral, immediately took action, and the suddenly tense atmosphere of war on the opposite side could be felt even through the projection.

It seems that he is planning to take the initiative before the [Puppet King] Louis takes desperate measures.

After everything was arranged, Isabella glanced at the Castilians led by Jeanna Don Quixote behind Byron, and after a moment's hesitation, she spoke again:
"I would also like to thank you for 'taking care' of Miss Don Quixote, the knights of the Poor Knights, and the Dibo brothers and sisters.

I will pay you the 'hardship fee' through the online financial street account.

Can they go now?"

Now, this is called professionalism.

The basic skill of a qualified politician is to tell lies with open eyes in a serious manner, treating the "ransom" as hard work fee, but not mentioning a word about the lost treasure fleet, so that everyone can save face.

Byron smiled and nodded:

"anytime."

He also didn't want to risk offending all factions of the Kingdom of Castile, and even one of the kingdom's guardians, the Barcelona Shipping King, by keeping all these people.

Why not just do them a favor and let them go back and continue fighting the Puppet King to the death.

I am their "savior" and there is no need to worry about being retaliated against in the future.

Before saying goodbye, Byron glanced at the back of Knight Isaac of the Poor Knights, and suddenly asked Isabella as if nothing had happened:
"Your Highness, I would like to ask you a question, but what are you going to do with the loan from the Knights?

I have a large amount of idle funds recently. If the project has a good return rate, maybe I can invest in you.

I suppose it's not about your wedding to His Majesty King Ferdinand II of Aragon?"

Ever since he discovered the other party's little secret, he has been very curious about the specific purpose of the loan.

With the [First Stock] in hand, it is impossible to lose money by using the Castilian people's money to invest in a potential stock for the throne of Castile.

If the other party can really sit on the throne, you can definitely make a lot of money by drawing blind boxes from the Castile Treasury.

But Isabella shook her head:
“Thank you for your generosity, but my marriage to Fernando, as a cardinal, is a special case, so everything will be kept simple and there will be no extravagance.

This will serve as an example for the faithful in the two kingdoms of Castile and Aragon."

The church during this period theoretically prohibited clergy from marrying.

However, the ban lasted for hundreds of years, and the desires of the clergy were always difficult to eliminate, and more people broke the ban than kept it.

A certain pope suddenly decided that in order to resolve the conflict between the growing desires and the not-so-devout beliefs, marriage was not allowed but having mistresses and pedophiles was allowed.

A special tax was even introduced for clergy: the "concubine tax."

And in order to prevent tax evasion, every clergyman has to collect it, regardless of whether you have a mistress or a pedophile.

The problem was solved and finances were expanded, and everyone was happy.

However, it also proves from the side that the true God [the bound Creator] has not cast his gaze on the human world, otherwise he would have slapped these "monsters" to death first.

Now, hundreds of years later, the decrees prohibiting marriage are almost in name only, especially for those clergy who have made significant contributions and received special approval from the Pope.

That was the case with St. Isabella.

At the end of the Dark Millennium, the power of the Church declined rapidly, and now a major change unseen in a thousand years is about to come.

The Apostolic Basilica of St. Peter's is also happy to see an extremely devout Templar Order Beyonder holding more power.

As for the real purpose of the loan, Isabella was obviously unwilling to say more.

Even if she was open-minded about the "treasure fleet hijacking", she could still communicate with Byron calmly, which was considered an extraordinary character.

If she were the king, she would have definitely ordered a fleet to wipe out the pirates by now.

Finally, he just forced a smile and said:
"My funds are sufficient for the time being. If I need financing, I will seriously consider applying for your financial support."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly turned his head to look outside the church, his expression slightly changed:
"A city guard has arrived? Did something happen to Enrique, or has Louis already taken action?"

Through the projection, Byron couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear the noise and screams getting closer and closer.

It is speculated that it was most likely the Puppet King's troops who wanted to steal the home, and they ran into the Princess's troops who had assembled in advance and were also preparing to steal the home, and they started fighting without saying a word.

Obviously, Isabella no longer had time to chat with Byron, the pirate leader, and immediately hung up the phone.

But at the last moment, Byron heard the clear sound of a flute and several loud dragon roars!

The logbook also had the synaesthesia of "divine vision", which allowed him to vaguely "see" the last scene on the other side with his own ears.

Isabella seemed to have a [Dragon Flute] in her hand, which had been passed down from the mythological era.

At this point, Byron finally figured out what the princess was secretly borrowing money for:

"Using money to bribe ancient dragon spirits, using a [Dragon Flute] to build a giant dragon army, and playing the role of the Dragon Mother? What a big deal, what a rich family!"

After being stunned for a moment, he had to admit that if this secretive Princess Isabella came to power, she might be more difficult to deal with than the Puppet King.

It is very likely to become a powerful opponent to the rise of the Kingdom of Hastings.

However, Byron's current role is just a troublemaker. After disrupting the situation, whether the real people win or the fake ones win is not something he can control.

As long as you are strong enough, no matter who your final opponent is, you can defeat him cleanly and neatly.

Looking back at the battlefield that was almost cleaned up, the incarnation of [Sea Hunter] and Hastings' Seventh Fleet were no longer there.

The naval battle took far more than an hour, and the cooling-off period for the large sea monster fiddler crab to launch the "deep sea jump" had long passed.

While the Dream Castle escaped with the help of the sextant, the Sea Hunter "escaped" with his own men and a small part of the treasure fleet.

After only five minutes of pretending to be King Ge, the Wild Hunt and his pirates were unable to catch up and could only let them leave successfully.

The Seventh Fleet took away more than twenty treasure ships, and there were more than eighty left. The exact value has not been counted yet, but it is estimated that it is definitely an astronomical figure.

And money is only the most insignificant gain.

After unloading, most of these large galleons in the Treasure Fleet will be sent to the shipyard in Torrent Fortress for deck trimming and modification.

The superstructure and open decks were removed, the ship was re-outfitted with full heavy guns, and the unmaneuverable and bulky galleon was transformed into a flat-deck heavy cruiser.

It is much faster than building a new ship from scratch.

It shouldn't be long before they can obtain a fleet of heavily armed cruisers that can travel freely in the seven seas, and even obtain their own legion title!

In addition, the [Sea Hunter] occupies Yucatan Island, the westernmost of the Bantan Islands, and has a sacred golden empire with a population of tens of millions;
[Wild Hunt] occupies the easternmost Bahamas Islands. As the Pirate King and a group of Bay Pirates, he controls the most powerful pirate group on the sea.

It is like two powerful hands, one on the left and one on the right, firmly controlling the sea throat between the Old Continent and the Southern Continent.

This throat is to the whole world what the Suez connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, the Malacca Strait in Asia, the Hormuz Strait in the Persian Gulf, and a certain Eastern power, "not a single bit can be missing."

You can imagine how important it is.

Byron's eyes sparkled:

“Even if we do nothing in the future, the freight collected by our fleet of heavy cruisers alone will be enough to support the population of a country.

Moreover, the transformation of the Golden Deer is imminent.

This relic battleship served as the main force, successfully plundered the treasure fleet, and defeated the old-time [Niucheng], achieving the 'first impossible' of its legendary promotion ceremony.

There are obvious signs of spiritual development already, and one more similar feat should be enough to fully take that step.

Just ask yourself, what kind of thing can a pirate ship steal that can be compared to stealing a country?
It's almost done. Now our whole family has been promoted to the fourth level, and we can also be promoted to the fake level [King] at the critical moment. As long as the fleet is in place, we will go back to steal the country immediately!
It is now October 1472, and the time for the counterattack will come before the end of next year at the latest. "

The power took a big step forward, and Byron's personal strength did not stop at the fourth level.

[Secret: Crisis of the Treasure Fleet, Historical Influence 28] After the decryption density reaches %, a new entry [Forget Everything] is obtained.

The effect is: "You can erase other people's titles along with other people's memories, so that everyone thinks it was actually you who did those amazing deeds.

It's equivalent to being a thief.

But the restriction is that the target of the theft must have a similar legendary rank (within 10 points), and you can only equip one title at a time. Once you steal someone else's title, it will automatically replace your original title."

If it is when you are just starting out, this is obviously a god-level skill that can replace your identity. You can steal the title from a wealthy dog ​​owner and immediately become successful.

But for Byron now, it is not even a piece of cake, it can only be regarded as poison.

His two main titles, [Wild Hunt] and [Sea Hunter], have both reached 30 points, and their abilities are extremely powerful.

Once you use [Forget Everything], won't all the hard work for so long be in vain?

He immediately used the term [Why not eat meat?] and transformed this "idle term" into spirituality.

The spirituality of the three people before their breakthrough today was: Catherine was 15, Byron and Violet were both 16.8.

After the three of them broke through one after another, coupled with the blood recovery of this item, they all reached a unified 17.2, taking a firm step towards the fifth level.

At the same time, the legendary level of [Wild Hunt] successfully broke through the 30-point mark amid the pirates' calls of "Pirate King" and "Uncrowned King".

The title ability [Wild Hunt Legion] is strengthened again.

“The legendary Wild Hunt is never just one person, but a legion.

They are led by the King of the Wild Hunt, riding on black warhorses, and appear in groups.
Bringing storm, war, and death wherever he goes!"

Ability 1: [Undead Servant]:
“Every enemy killed by you and your followers will have their souls stripped away and transformed into [Dead Servant], joining the Wild Hunt Legion led by you.

The stronger they were when they were alive and the more fear you created for them, the stronger their fighting power would be after death.

At the same time, retain all fighting instincts and become the best executor of your will.

The target is not limited to humans, it can be monsters, evil spirits, demons, etc.

Maximum quantity: None. ”

It turns out that the upper limit of the number of undead servants is one hundred, and they are required to kill the enemies personally.

Now that the restrictions have been lifted, Byron feels that he can create a specialized, independent army just like the Puppet King's toy soldiers.

And it’s the kind you can carry with you.

Ability 2: [Wild Hunt Servant]:
“You can choose whether to retain the Undead Servant’s self-awareness and extraordinary abilities and transform it into a [Wild Hunt Servant].
The upper limit for the same level or higher is still four, and the number is multiplied by three for each level lower."

The first ability is to be a soldier, the second ability is to be an officer at all levels, which is enough to form a real wild hunting legion that will make people tremble with fear.

The last one is also a newly added capability.

Ability 3: [Wild Hunt King]:
“You are the king of storms and undead, and will never be actively harmed by them again.

Able to freely enter and exit the various kingdoms of the dead on the edge of the world as a living person.

You can transform into the [Wild Hunt King] at will, perfectly command your Wild Hunt Legion, and gain bonuses in spirituality, strength, speed, power, etc. from the Legion.

When three people of the same level are sacrificed, you can advance one level within three minutes."

[The Lord of Heaven] already possessed authority over the underworld, and this authority had obviously been further strengthened at this time.

Byron felt that he was now qualified to go to Valhalla and rescue his mother Hathaway.

In addition, the three minutes of King of the Wild Hunt plus the five minutes of the Golden Rule can almost make him a true [King] for ten minutes, which is cause for celebration.

“What a coincidence, the war has just ended, and countless soldiers have died in this sea area.

The King of the Wild Hunt is here! "

Byron glanced at the sea littered with floating corpses, turned around, and a huge pillar of blue flame exploded.

The ghost horse grew a horn, and Byron, who was riding on the horse, was wearing heavy black knight armor and a scarlet cloak, and especially a helmet that turned into a golden crown.

There was also a "Morning Star Necklace" around his neck that looked like a dried empty bean pod, which hit the black breastplate with the wind, making strange crackling sounds.

It is said that this necklace was once inlaid with precious gems, but in the mad pursuit of the King of the Wild Hunt across the sky, the gems had long since fallen off and turned into stars in the sky.

Now it simply symbolizes the wearer's status as ruler of the sky.

Byron clenched his right hand, which was wearing an iron glove, into a fist, raised it high above his head, and shouted in a low voice:
"Rise up, Wild Hunt!"

Om-!
The pale blue light waves spread across the entire battlefield.

The bodies of countless Castilian soldiers in the sea suddenly twitched, and then one after another illusory human figures were suddenly hooked out by invisible hooks.

Woo woo woo.
The biting cold wind mixed with frost and mist howled across the sea, and one after another, the ferocious blue and white undead with slightly blurry figures crawled out of the water.

Many pirates in the fleet shuddered:

"Look, what is that?"

"It seems to be a Castilian. I was the one who killed the undead with half of his neck broken."

“Legend has it that the Wild Hunt will turn the enemies it kills into a part of itself. Could this be the true power of the Black Sail Pirate King?

This should be the power of God, right? "

"."

Byron laughed as he faced the countless increasingly fanatical gazes.

He picked up Violet, who also had stars in her eyes, and held her in his arms. Then he rode his horse into the sea and galloped across the ocean. The [Undead Attendants] behind him followed one after another.

Equipment and mounts from the real "Wild Hunt" in history gradually appeared on their bodies, and in the blink of an eye they turned into a huge undead cavalry.

There were who knows how many thousands of knights in the shadows, with buffalo horns and tattered feather crests dangling from their helmets, and even paler skin beneath their deathly grey masks.

The skeleton horse under his crotch was wrapped in a ragged horse cloth, and the lightning-shaped blade in his hand split the black sky.

Da da da.
The sound of the skeleton horses' hooves spread in the wind, and the ghost fires on their hooves burned fiercely, following the [King of the Wild Hunt] and burning all the way to the horizon.

Byron looked at the burning sea in front of him, and felt his heart broadened. He whispered to himself:
"From now on, offense and defense will change."

(End of this chapter)