Chapter 286

(286)

Swoosh—

The midnight sea was calm, cool, and mysterious.

The distant boundary where the darkness of the sky merged with the horizon rippled, stirring the observer’s mind.

If it weren’t for me, the chaotic mind would have been contaminated, or the existence beyond the boundary would have come seeking.

This is probably why sailors believe in so many superstitions.

Swoosh—

The flagship Tempesta advanced alone without escort ships or fast boats.

The dragon knights who roamed the skies were nowhere to be seen, and neither was the fleet following behind.

Cariosa commanded only to advance with a sinister smile.

I asked, filled with suspicion.

“Duke, why aren’t we bringing the fleet? Numbers are power in naval battles too, aren’t they?”

She licked her lower lip lightly and savored the taste.

“Duke, do you know when is the best time to catch carnivorous prey?”

“When they believe they are hunting… is that it?”

“It’s the same as mixing deception between attacks in a one-on-one fight and creating fake openings in troops during open field rotations. The difference is… we can endure much longer.”

In the distance, small and large lights began to appear.

The sight of over 170 ships approaching in unison was truly magnificent.

Voices speaking in the language of the Eastern Continent drifted faintly.

“Female to be killed, male to be robbed—.”

Thanks to the study I did before my return, I could understand a few phrases, but they certainly were not phrases that sparked a wish to spare them.

Cariosa commanded coldly.

“Fold the sails. And lower the flag. There’s no need to tell the fish who I am when I’m fishing.”

This was not war; it was a purge.

Swoosh!

One battleship advanced towards hundreds of pirate ships.

Chak, chak, chak, chak.

A loud noise came from behind as 20 knights and 80 trainee sword users gathered on the signboard.

They wore armor made of scales and carried more than two shortswords, bearing a sinister smile equal to Cariosa’s.

They were the sea men of the East, known for robbing treasures from pirates and feasting on the Undersea People— the cruelest warriors of the sea.

“Ready.”

Cariosa chuckled as she watched the lead pirate ship.

It was a rather large vessel, but it looked like a cat before a tiger in front of Tempesta.

It seemed to occupy either the glory or the burden of the vanguard.

“…! …!”

A man who looked like the captain stood at the bow, shouting something.

When the distance between the two ships was about 300m, she silently held up two fingers.

I expected that the battle mages would fire their spells.

However, the ones who moved were not the mages but the knights and elite troops gathered on the signboard.

“‘Hammer Shark’ Gareon. I heed the command of the White Shark.”

“‘Blind Spear’ Kelsey. I heed the command of the White Shark.”

The two knights, each leading four trainees, leaped into the water.

Splash!

Lady Trentia and I gasped and looked at Cariosa.

“Duke! What kind of human sacrifice spell are you using—?”

Cariosa shook her head and pointed at the surface.

“Don’t be a country bumpkin from the land. Valenciaunos.”

Lady Trentia gasped.

“…Oh my.”

The two knights and eight trainees were crossing the surface faster than fish.

Splash, splash!

Each piece of armor made of steel scales twisted in turn, creating thrust.

With spells like weight reduction, buoyancy increase, and vibration amplification, these sea men literally roamed the ocean like it was their home.

As they reached the front of the pirate ship, the crew of the pirate ship became frantic.

“They’re coming!”

“We have to cross too! Bring the grappling hooks!”

“We need to disrupt their grappling. Everyone, get ready!”

Just then, Cariosa gestured to the battle mages.

“Lightning Rain Arrow.”

One battle mage brought a huge silver arrow that looked expensive and mounted it onto the large ballista attached to the flagship.

Crackle!

He bestowed the silver arrow with a lightning spell, and the arrow glowed with a blue hue.

“Fire.”

Whoosh!

The ballista arrow left the ballista, shimmering with blue flames as it traveled 300m.

Its appearance illuminated the darkness, resembling a blue shark seeking its prey.

However, I thought that the arrow would not hit the pirate ship.

From the angle, it seemed it would glide low, just skimming the deck.

Swoosh!

As expected, the arrow only narrowly crossed above the deck.

Crackle!

It unleashed dozens of lightning currents, electrocuting everyone on the deck.

Without Sererassie’s ‘Disperse’ spell, lightning was not effective against area attacks.

Thus, none of the pirates died from the shock.

“AAAH!”

“What the hell!”

“We’re screwed….”

However, it was enough to freeze their bodies for a moment, and at that time, ten grappling hooks caught onto the deck.

Splash!

Two knights and eight trainees boarded the ship without shedding a single drop of blood.

The pirate captain and navigator anxiously armed even the oarsmen, but it was already too late.

“Die, all of you.”

“Anyone who surrenders will have their heads cut off, and those who fight to the end will be thrown into the sea!”

Saying something that made it hard to tell who the pirates were, the two knights drew their swords.

* * *

It took longer to sweep away the remaining pirates and throw the dead and wounded into the sea than to capture the pirate ship.

Cariosa returned to the flagship and praised the two knights who had brought her the captain’s head, smiling at me.

“This is how a naval battle is fought, Duke.”

I nodded, seeing that the remaining pirates were reluctant to come forward.

“So first, we break their momentum and chase down the retreating enemies for slaughter, right?”

“Exactly. In broad terms, it’s the same as on land. Now, let’s see who will step up next. Perhaps a brave one or a weak one will come forward. This time, there will probably be about six to eight more of them.”

“Why don’t they all come out together… Ah. That was a stupid question.”

Lady Trentia looked puzzled, and I whispered softly.

“To engage in melee, they have to be close, but no matter how large the battleship is, there’s a limit to how many can engage at once. They also lack means to attack from a distance.”

“It’s different from a single knight fighting multiple soldiers.”

As Cariosa said, this time seven ships came forth.

They approached, shooting large ballista bolts from a distance, casting fireball-like spells, as if there were mercenary mages among them.

One soldier was pierced and killed by a stray ballista bolt, but there were no other casualties.

As soon as the mercenary mages cast their first spells, their positions were pinpointed, and they fell to the dispel of Asenorta’s battle mages, bleeding as they collapsed.

“Since our ship is much larger, they need to fire their ballista upwards. It looks like it will be hard to aim at all. Is this the might of the flagship?”

Cariosa elegantly brushed her flaxen hair back and smiled brightly.

“If we were to put it in terms of land, it’s like trying to take down a 6m giant with six soldiers. Now, the crazies will start appearing. They will charge and try to ram us.”

She spoke as if she were a prophet, and indeed, the prophecy was fulfilled.

“Broadside!”

“Burn it all down.”

Then she commanded the battle mages to shoot fire arrows, burning all the sails and sending knights to turn them into ghost ships.

The ghost ship passed by us.

“Aren’t you going to sink them?”

“I can easily sink them if I want. I deal with cheap ships like that. But a properly made large galleon with engraved magic circuits costs thousands of gold coins per ship. Maintaining seven fleets would cost a ridiculous amount. That’s why my personality has ended up like this.”

I dispersed the fire spear I was preparing, feeling gloomy.

Cariosa was kicking the heads of the pirate captains that the knights had brought.

I also had a rough understanding of how much it costs to maintain an army, so I could readily empathize.

Holding up one head she had just brought in, Cariosa smiled as if it were the most adorable thing.

The magical lantern hanging behind her illuminated her flaxen hair with a celestial glow.

The White Shark of the East held up the pirate captain’s head like a trophy from a tournament.

“Hehe.”

Blood dripped from the severed head.

I wasn’t sure if I would understand that.

Suddenly, a question popped into my mind.

“…Do you want to cut off my head too?”

Cariosa smiled wickedly.

“No. There are many more beautiful things when alive.”

Thud.

She dropped the head she was holding and pushed me against a pillar.

“And… what if I had said that?”

“Oh.”

“You royals are too defenseless. And too perfect. It makes me want to challenge you. You know? High mountains invite climbing, beautiful flowers beg to be picked. It’s like that.”

I recalled the things I had done to the princesses and princes of various nations before my return.

It felt like the instinct of a powerful mixed-blood noble and a dragon-blooded royal.

“…You’re intoxicated by the smell of blood. Get a grip, Duke. You’re the highest commander.”

“Yeah. I know. I’m watching closely even now.”

Cariosa removed her hands from the pillar and turned her body towards the enemies.

From this distance, I could sense that the pirates were growing uneasy.

From the looks of it, they hadn’t initially come prepared to fight to the death.

“Why is Cariosa here?”

“Weren’t you heading south to plunder us?”

“That bastard Tarti!”

Curses mixed with the Eastern Continent language and the Empire’s common tongue endlessly flowed through the air.

There were already over thirty ghost ships floating lazily behind Tempesta.

Even if they had come prepared for battle, it was enough to dampen their morale.

Suddenly curious, I asked a nearby Knight Officer, and he said that those ships would seek out the crew after the fight and send them back to the port via wyvern.

“Lady Trentia, it seems we have nothing to do.”

“I think so too, Your Highness.”

I even considered retreating to the cabin.

Just then, twenty pirate ships approached us all at once.

Among them, three carried flags with a red background and white writing.

* * *

Cariosa waited until they got sufficiently close before sending ten Eastern knights and forty trainees while preparing the lightning ballista.

Swish!

The armor scales rotated, creating waves as the knights and trainees cut through the water like dolphins.

“Your Highness Valenciaunos?”

Lady Trentia, who had been opening the cabin door, called out to me.

I looked at the pirates aboard the red-flagged ships.

“They’re not pirates.”

They were dressed in ornate armor of Eastern design, wearing iron masks resembling ogres.

Such masks were only worn by sword users in the East.

Feeling uneasy, I unconsciously clenched my fists.

Of course, Cariosa knew what I knew.

Moreover, the Eastern knights were sword experts, and this ship was filled with powerful battle mages, and if it came to that, either I or Cariosa could simply roast them with magic.

And the moment over 90 Eastern warriors leaped from those three ships, the relief faded altogether.

“Crazy.”

I reflexively let out an expletive.

Splash! Splash!

The warriors in Eastern-style armor ran atop the water.

Some were submerged up to their knees, some to their ankles, but in any case, they were walking on the surface.

It was a magic tool I had never seen before, even before my return.

I could not even guess what kind of magic circuits had been engraved there.

Clang! Clang!

They drew two curved swords and began to sprint on the waves.

Splash! Splash!

The other pirate ships that passed by them fell far behind.

Cariosa wore an expression reflecting a shark bitten by a seal, a cat bitten by a mouse.

A Knight Officer blew a horn, urgently giving the order to retreat, and the Eastern warriors turned against them.

Splash!

However, since both sides were using magic tools, swimming could not outrun running speed.

“Gahahaha!”

“Cough!”

Splash!

One by one, the Eastern trainees were stabbed and sank into the water.

Even the sword expert knights found it hard to create mana blades underwater.

Splash!

Twenty pirate ships approached towards Tempesta.

“How dare these sea trash!”

Cariosa spat curses and brandished her enchanted sword.

“I’ll unleash the calamity I’ve summoned!”

Whoooosh!

The dark blue blade amassed wind, glowing white, like an aura blade.

She slashed down toward one of the pirate ships.

Swoosh—

The white wind blade shot forth, extending and bulging, and the leading pirate ship was cut in half.

Crack!

It looked like watching a boar charge toward a blade left standing on the ground.

Planks shattered, and a pirate ship nearly 50m long sank as if it were a lie.

As if that had been the signal she sent, hundreds of previously still pirate ships began to move.