Zara's eyes narrowed. Why couldn't that damn kid not do something crazy for once? However, it didn't matter. This was likely her one and only chance to free the prisoners and deal a heavy blow to the enemy.
"You're right, Iris, get back here. I will likely need your assistance for this."
"Of course."
Zara closed her connection with her summon and turned on the pirate camp. Her vision enhanced more than anyone else could. She could see the minute details of the pirates running around in chaos. They had no idea what had just happened. Well, they probably had a guess.
The pirates' camp was massive. It encircled the central plateau of the island, and she could only see half of the camp from her position. That was fine. She had positioned herself so she could see the prisoners. The pirates were not in any position to expect an attack. She spotted a group disappear into the cave at the center of the camp.
"Good," She murmured. That was exactly what she needed to happen.
Her vision blurred, and the pirate's heat signatures suddenly illuminated before her. There were a total of twelve on this half of the camp. Zara guessed there would be about 20 in total. Scanning each of them in turn, she learned everything she could from this distance.
Of the twelve, three of them had advanced hearts. Whether they had multiple seas or just one, she didn't know. It wouldn't matter. With them taken care of, the others wouldn't be any threat at all.
Zara readied her sniper and let her vision fade to normal. The three were not near each other, which gave her a slight advantage. Patience was the key to being a sniper. Despite the urgency of the situation, she could not act rashly. These three needed to go down before she moved on to the camp itself.
One of the pirates began moving around the plateau. The ones here did not wear any of her fallen soldiers' uniforms. That was alright. They would bleed and die just the same. Each step of the pirate drew him closer to his death without the man even realizing. The man stepped out of view of the two stronger pirates. There were others around, but she didn't worry about them.
Zara fired.
Her gun whined and pulsed. A charge of super-powerful electrical energy shot across the distance in an instant. The bolt collided with the pirate. He crumpled instantly. The power within the blast would have been enough to fry the man's chest.
She couldn't help but smile at the grim sight. Her sniper was specially made for her. One could not find its like in all of the seven seas. Unlike Red's pistols, which exchanged some of their power for versatility, her sniper went all in on power. It didn't have an ability to recharge, but that didn't matter when you could end someone without ever getting close.
Zara smoothly whirled her sniper on the other pirates. The two of them turned at the chaos that had just started behind them. Zara deftly pulled the empty core from her sniper and dropped it in her satchel. In under two seconds, her gun fired again. Another pirate dropped dead.
The sole remaining pirate panicked and turned to run. His fellow had just mysteriously fallen dead. He had no intention of joining her. That was unfortunate for him, because Zara's sniper fired a third time, and he dropped as well. In a matter of seconds, three of the pirates' strongest fighters were dead.
Zara rose from her perch on the tree. She felt Iris drawing near and knew her time in the trees was about to reach its end. Exchanging another charged core for the dead one, Zara slung her sniper across her back just as Iris flew into view.
Their vision intertwined, and Iris moved without even being asked. She took off towards the pirates' camp, zipping through the air like a bird. Zara leaped from her tree branch. She would not waste cores on the pirate's fodder anymore. They would all die by her blade instead.
The pirates within the camp were in utter chaos. All three of their leaders were dead before they even realized what had happened. Zara watched all of this from Iris's eye as she raced through the treetops. They hadn't yet realized that they had only two options left. They could either use the prisoners as hostages or retreat into the caverns below. Zara hoped they chose the former.
Without needing to remain hidden, it took her only a few seconds to dash across the treetops and reach the pirates. The fallen leaders remained unmoving. That was a good thing; it meant none of them had been very strong. If this was all the pirates had to offer, she'd be able to clean the island up once there was no leverage.
Zara didn't bother to waste time above the ground. As soon as she reached the clearing, she pounced. A pair of pirates died before they even knew what hit them. Her purple blade had cleaved straight through both of them. Those who remained finally had a target to fight against.
"That's the…" the pirate never got a chance to finish his line before he dropped lifelessly to the moss-covered ground.
Zara took a moment to check on the prisoners. Not through her own eyes, of course; they were busy tracking the next pirate's movements as they died. She used Iris instead. The captured men and women were held in cages like animals. Those of them with stronger hearts had devices clamping their hands together.
She had seen plenty of them before. They prevented the person wearing them from accessing their mist. Zara was not certain how effective they were as one became stronger. However, they worked even on people as powerful as her.
Most of the people held captive here were not soldiers. They had been pulled from the wreckage of the sunken ship. Only two of the cages held the remains of her soldiers, her friends. She spotted Silas immediately and was glad to see him still alive. He was her second in command, and it was good to have someone strong left. The man rose immediately, recognizing the events taking place beyond the bars of his cage.
The other cage held two more of her soldiers. She didn't know their names. There had been too many of them on the island before the attack had taken place for her to know everyone. Now these were all that remained of her force. All the prisoners rose from their positions at her arrival. They clearly hadn't been expecting such a sudden appearance.
Zara blinked as she fought, directing Iris to enter the cave. If there were reinforcements coming, she wanted to be prepared. For the moment at least, the camp was silent. All of the pirates were dead.
There had only been 18 of them in total. The others must have either fled underground or gone for reinforcements. She didn't have confirmation. She arrived at Silas's cage first. With one swing of her sword, she cleaved the lock in half.
"Zara," he nodded at her arrival and proffered his manacled hands.
She didn't hesitate and cut them with her blade. They were very valuable, but there wasn't time to search for the keys. Silas pulled back and massaged his wrists.
"We don't have much time. Help me free the rest, and we need to get back to camp before the so-called Pirate King arrives."
Silas didn't argue. He was a trained soldier after all. It took them only a few minutes to free the remaining prisoners. The soldiers stood at attention, ready for orders, while the others practically fell on the ground in thankfulness. Zara waved them up. She didn't need nor did she want their thanks.
She took a moment to check Iris's vision. There were no more approaching pirates from below. That was good. She didn't think most of the people before her would be able to travel far quickly. Zara ordered Silas ahead. Everyone followed the soldiers who held the front.
Zara turned back to the pirate camp. A lone pirate came stumbling out of the underbrush. He clearly had heard the commotion, but his arrival was far too late. His eyes widened at the fallen men around him. The pirate turned and spotted her, his eyes nearly falling out of his head. Before the man could react, Zara was upon him.
Her hand closed around the man's neck, and she brought him up to eye level, "You got very lucky here today. I want you to send a message to your king."
The frantic eyes didn't respond.
"Do you hear me!" She slammed her fist into the man's abdomen right below his ribs..
He groaned and would have doubled over if not for the hand around his neck. Zara waited a moment for him to regain himself.
"Do you hear me?"
The pirate nodded frantically, his bloodshot eyes looking back at her.
"Good," Zara didn't hesitate and activated her powers. The man wouldn't notice anything. Her vision blurred slightly, and after a moment, she could see a third set of eyes in her mind. This set was looking at her.
She took a moment to study herself. Her hair was tied back, but much of it had flung loose during the combat. The look of rage she held on her face that didn't used to stay there. There was pain in those eyes, her own eyes, as well. After studying herself through the pirate's eyes, she took a long breath.
"Tell your master that his day of reckoning has arrived. Without his leverage, you are all going to pay."
Zara didn't pay the man another look and tossed him across the clearing like a ragdoll. He rolled to a stop near the cave entrance as she strolled back into the jungle. The party of rescued prisoners had already disappeared, and she hurried to catch up. Zara spared only a moment to push the man's sight into the back of her mind. After she left the clearing, she watched the man rise to his feet through his own eyes.
The Pirate King would be hiding no more.