Chapter 22: What Kind of Monster Is This?
In the world of pirates, truly few nations can genuinely be called "countries." As this is a world of island nations, there are naturally large countries and small countries. Some small countries are even no bigger than a city or even a county in Alucard's previous world.
The Harald Kingdom is a considerable kingdom, while Joris doesn't reach that scale; it's merely the size of a "city."
Comparing the total troop numbers, Harald currently has about five thousand soldiers, while Joris has only three thousand. Logically, this should result in an overwhelming victory. However, most soldiers are just ordinary people with some training.
The strength of a chief commander can completely overturn the entire battlefield. Just like Kuzan, whom Alucard encountered right after leaving the island, even a Rear Admiral like him would be enough to challenge an army of over eight thousand men from both sides combined.
Overall, the Harald Kingdom currently holds a slight advantage in the war, primarily because they are fighting on enemy soil, so the opponent's losses are relatively greater.
But the difference isn't significant.
The key issue is Cahill, who is obstructing their progress. Without dealing with him, the war will struggle to advance.
On the afternoon of Alucard's first day after landing, the war horns eagerly sounded. Everyone wanted to see what kind of skill this pirate hunter, hired by the king with a hefty sum, truly possessed.
The main distinction between the two armies lay in their armor colors: Harald's was black, and Joris's was red.
In a dilapidated city, the two armies finally clashed.
Alucard, standing beside the Harald army's commander, Draugr, asked, "Who's my target?"
Draugr, hearing Alucard's question, pointed towards the front.
At the center of the red army, a figure with a colossal greatsword over two meters long strapped to his back, clad in crystalline, shimmering armor, stood out prominently amidst the troops.
BANG!
Alucard, without wasting another word, pulled out Casull and fired a shot at Cahill from five hundred meters away.
CRACK!
Cahill's body was knocked back dozens of meters. Soldiers who had been standing behind him were sent flying by the sudden impact of Cahill's body hurtling backward.
That's utterly unreasonable!
Seeing Alucard simply pull out his gun and shoot, not only was he able to hit the target with a pistol from over five hundred meters away, but frankly, before a battle officially began, both sides would usually exchange names before engaging.
Someone like Alucard, who just opened fire without a word, was an extremely rare type.
"Hmm?"
His face slightly tightened, Alucard noticed that Cahill in the distance hadn't been shot through the heart by his bullet. Instead, he slowly stood up and drew the giant sword from his back.
'Not dead?'
Alucard looked closer and saw that the bullet from Casull was embedded in the crystal armor Cahill wore, failing to penetrate his body.
"That's armor made from Frostvine," Draugr, witnessing the scene, explained to Alucard. "It possesses incredibly strong defense. If mass-produced into weapons, it would become a terrifying force."
Alucard had been curious about the special qualities of that so-called plant, which warranted a large-scale war between two nations.
Now, he had seen it.
To be able to withstand a shot from Casull was indeed an impressive material. If an entire army could be equipped with it, their combat power would multiply!
Cahill was entirely covered in this armor, with only his eyes and the lower part of his face below the bridge of his nose exposed.
From Alucard's current observation of the Harald army's strength, even breaking through that armor would be impossible, let alone harming the opponent.
But Alucard didn't know that while he was shocked, the Joris Kingdom's army, including Cahill himself, were even more stunned that Alucard's single shot could damage the Frostvine armor to such an extent.
Are there bullets with such power in this world?
"The invincible armor made from Frostvine, coupled with Cahill himself being a great swordsman, if he had a bounty, it would definitely be in the hundreds of millions," Draugr added.
Alucard smiled faintly and charged forward.
Draugr, seeing this, waved his hand, ordering his army to advance as well.
Seeing the man in a red trench coat, wielding a large white pistol, charging towards him, Cahill's expression hardened. He knew that this man was likely the foreign aid the Harald Kingdom had brought in to deal with him. But in that case, he absolutely couldn't avoid fighting him.
He fiercely swung the greatsword behind him, each swing threatening to cleave mountains and split the earth.
BANG!
Alucard deliberately used his arm as a bladed hand to clash with the opponent's sword. He found his arm tingling from the impact, and a slight smirk curved his lips.
Indeed, such swordsmanship, combined with that troublesome armor, certainly put him on the level of a "hundred million" Berry pirate.
"What kind of monster is this?!"
Cahill's surprise grew even stronger.
First, a bullet nearly penetrated this armor, and now he was blocking a sword strike with his bare hand, and that hand hadn't even been severed!
Where did King Cnut of the Harald Kingdom find such a monster?!
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