Chapter 301

The elves were a race persecuted throughout the world.

Only the noble lords of Solletarass showed a relatively favorable response towards the elves and other heterogeneous races.

“After all, we have gained beauty and strength from that blood.”

“We cannot deny that origin, can we?”

“Still, it’s true that they were our enemies.”

If even such nobles thought this way, then the citizens’ perception of the heterogeneous races was literally in the abyss.

“Chase them! Chase them! Chase the ear boy!”

If you trace back through local festivals or holidays, there were many references to the hunting of heterogeneous races.

Even now, there were talks about having to burn down the great forests where the elves once lived.

“We need to establish watchposts around the great forest! We don’t know when those ear boys will return with their spirits.”

“No. Can’t we just cut them all down?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. No matter how much we hate them, does it make sense to cut down all that expensive resource? What will we use to build ships without the great trees?”

Among the forest caretakers, being a caretaker of the great forest was a highly avoided post.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to work as a caretaker there. I’m sorry, my lord.”

Considering how those beings treated humans up until a thousand years ago, it was natural for the citizens to react this way.

Thus, the surviving elves lived very secretly deep in the forests.

Even in the north, where mystery lived and the followers of God Amon fought alongside the followers of the God of Light, sightings of elves had ceased decades ago.

Once every few decades, they would interact with nearby lords or encounter lost woodcutters or hunting children, planting romance in the boys’ hearts, but that was about it.

Even I, who was at the core of power, had no reason to concern myself with them.

They lived innocuously and quietly for centuries.

That was until the rebellious prince Justianus involved the elven warriors in the revolt.

So now,

the very existence of elves in the world was truly absurd.

“What are you?”

Dozens of possibilities flashed through my mind.

The possibility that Justianus had already met with the heterogeneous races.

The heterogeneous races preparing their own revolt.

With no civil war occurring, the population of the noble lords increased, leading to more slash-and-burn farmers and causing the displaced elves to move in groups.

The possibility that some crazy elf, disregarding the entire race, had run away and joined a pirate fleet.

The possibility that elves disguised as pirates dreamed of taking revenge on the empire.

I furrowed my brow and glared at Arins.

Long braided blonde hair, deep green eyes, pointed ears, and the sweet aftertaste of mana.

No matter how many times I saw him, he was indeed a real elf.

He begged with a pale face.

“Please, please spare me.”

My head throbbed.

For now, exterminating the pirates was the priority.

“Alright. I’ll spare you, so just sleep for now.”

Thud!

I struck Arins’ nape forcefully with the edge of my hand, knocking him out, and pulled out his jaw, both shoulders and elbows, both knees and ankles, and threw all the bow, arrows, and dagger he had over the cliff.

Even after all this, he might regain his senses at some point and attempt to stab me with a knife hidden somewhere on my back.

“For now, the port comes first.”

… I wish I could only do one thing at a time.

“Ah.”

I lifted my head and looked at the sea, the port, and the city wall.

The landing ships of the storm fleet had entered into the islands corresponding to the ‘anchoring wings.’

Whoosh! Whoosh!

It was where the sea, previously dark blue, became blue as it shallowed.

I seemed to be nearing the allied pirates’ port soon.

The allied port was enormous; it looked like more than three hundred ships could enter at once.

“Hold them here!”

“We’ll first hold them inside the port, and bombard with the ballistae from the defense towers!”

“Prepare for impact!”

Even now, over a hundred ships remained to obstruct the entry of the storm fleet’s landing ships.

Beyond that were the wide docks paved with slabs and the city wall.

Pirates swarmed atop the docks and walls, and the ballistae set along the city wall looked ready to shoot their giant arrows at any moment, while the massive stone walls appeared stout enough to withstand a hundred of the ‘lance of might.’

However, I could read the fear on their faces.

From the island I stood on, it was only two more islands across to that port.

In other words,

a firestorm with a diameter of several hundred meters was raging in the sky less than 2 kilometers away from them.

I looked up at the firestorm staining the dark clouds red.

Whoosh!

The fire spirits were chortling and spinning around, while the humid, hot winds blew my hair.

The sight was as if an incredibly gigantic snake was coiling up.

“Let’s give it a try.”

I changed my pupils to a vertical shape and drew up the power of incantation.

Whirr—.

The rotation speed of the storm slowed down a beat, and the fiery snake began to stretch out.

A massive hot wind surged forward, and my back began to heat up.

Whoosh—!

As the storm dissipated, it transformed into a gigantic spear, an explosion of fire.

The spear of flames, created by gathering all the heat, targeted diagonally down.

I gazed at the horrified pirates in the distance.

Without realizing it, a smile formed on my lips.

Flames split the atmosphere, and soon a pillar of fire soared up.

Boom—!

Everything before me turned red, the hot wind blew my hair, and ash soared into the sky.

The left side of the triple city walls was long breached.

Like three lines drawn horizontally on paper, with one line ruggedly drawn long on the left end.

I stepped towards the port and muttered as if singing.

“Only shattered stone piles and wooden scraps remain.”

“With such garbage, where could you build a hut?”

“The master of this land, recognized by my emperor, has arrived.”

“Kneel and bow your heads.”

* * *

Pollek was the pirate admiral and ground commander Ou Ngula’s aide.

He was a tall, strong sword user who enjoyed wearing a green coat.

His main duty was to capture prisoners, and his hobby involved doing unspeakable things with noble blood mixed women and handsome boys that children shouldn’t see.

Once, he was a glorious warrior himself.

Training day and night, he rose to the rank of sword user, and studied day and night to become the captain of a ship.

“My lord! Please reconsider just once!”

“Entrusting the defense of the territory to another lord is practically the same as surrendering.”

“Shut up! Don’t show up from tomorrow!”

“Now those money-sucking sailors will be gone.”

“That’s good. They were unruly and had too much pride.”

“Let’s throw a party with that money. Hahaha.”

His lord chose to pay protection tax to the eastern white sharks instead of maintaining the costly navy.

This happened the year after Pollek became captain.

“Captain, are we going to go down like this?”

“The nobles are making a fuss, saying the captain shows suspicious behavior.”

“They’re accusing the captain of embezzling funds. I don’t know how he’s supposed to save that measly amount of money!”

Thus, Pollek became a pirate.

“Well… I can’t just sit here and drown.”

After that, he continued his pirate life as if taking revenge.

He plundered the city he once protected, capturing the daughters and wives of city officials as prisoners.

“Why are you doing this? Did you not say a navy was just full of money and of no use?”

“P-Pollek! How could you do this to us!”

“Shut up.”

Revenge was sweet.

“… Why am I suddenly thinking of the past?”

Suddenly, Pollek pondered why he was thinking of old times.

Beeeeep—.

A ringing in his ears rang, his eyelids felt heavy, and someone was shaking his body.

“Get a grip! Captain!”

“Captain! You need to wake up!”

“Uh, huh?”

Pollek slowly lifted his head.

Dust from rocks fell from his head.

When he wiped his forehead, something was trickling down, and bright red blood pooled in his palm.

“What is this…!”

He recalled that he had fainted and remembered the last sight he saw.

The firestorm staining the sky red transformed into a massive spear, rushing as if a snake was angrily opening its jaw.

“Ha.”

Pollek staggered to stand and looked around at the sky, the docks, and the city walls one by one.

The firestorm that had once stained the sky red could no longer be found.

Plop, plop!

Raindrops began to fall from the dark clouds, one by one.

The allied port’s dock was about 1.5 km long, and the first city wall was approximately the same length.

His responsibility was in the center, but even there rocks and corpses were rolling about.

Where he had been hit directly by the massive spell was about a third down from the right when viewed from the sea, where the city wall and anything else had been entirely flattened.

“Re-establish the defensive line!”

“The third city wall is also gone. Ten horses could pass side by side!”

“Hey, hey! Catch those bastards! They’re escaping!”

“Someone please give me a drug! Or at least some alcohol!”

By listening to their voices, it seemed everything inside had collapsed.

He mentally pictured the rough structure of the city wall.

“There are the first, second, and third walls, getting taller and thicker. The third city wall was 20m thick. All three walls being breached at once means that’s where the attack focused.”

“Captain!”

A subordinate called out to him, and he replied with a semblance of calmness.

“I hear you. We’re completely screwed.”

“Look ahead!”

Pollek had to once again suppress a groan.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The landing ships of the storm fleet had approached right to the harbor.

The white shark flag of Asenorta waved ominously.

“Yeah. We’re completely screwed.”

* * *

Pollek’s superior, Ou Ngula, was a rough-looking man over 2m tall with a hook on one hand.

He was an expert in all forms of thievery: banditry, robbery, and piracy.

His voice boomed across the entire port.

“Everyone prepare for battle! If their landing ships get stuck with our pirate ships, we’ll bombard them with ballistae. Burn the sails to prevent retreat!”

“All crossbowmen, archers, catapults, and mercenary mages focus on the entrance! As soon as they come out, strike with as much damage as possible.”

“Mercenary mages target soldiers and knights, not combat mages! The crossbow snipers will deal with enemy combat mages!”

“If we survive this, Aquila will become the true king, and you will become his knights! The disgrace of being pirates ends here! Fight with your lives and seize your rights!”

At that moment, surprisingly, the pirates calmed down.

They instinctively realized.

All they could do now was fight with their lives.

Whoosh!

The landing ships of the storm fleet rushed in.

Clank!

The chains stretched across the harbor rang out as they snapped and sunk.

The landing ships, thick and broad, with dimensions of 60m in length and a maximum width of 20m, boasted incredible bulk.

Twenty of these landing ships charged toward the dock.

It felt just like a massive herd of unicorns crashing in.

“They’re coming!”

“It’s hand-to-hand combat!”

“We’ll hold them here!”

“Turn them all into fish food!”

Right in front of the dock, over a hundred old pirate ships were tied up, and fierce pirates swarmed aboard every ship.

It was a strategy to hinder proper landing and wait for the inevitable vulnerability of the landing moment.

However, they didn’t know how much Cariosa had sharpened her fangs for this.

“We bring the waves!”

“The wind I loved!”

The combat mages on the landing ships began to chant incantations.

Waves over 8m high rose, and the fierce wind filled the sails of the landing ships.

“What, what?”

“They’re not reducing speed!”

“Those crazy shark bastards—!”

Boom!

The landing ships, riding the winds and waves, slammed into the pirate ships like rampaging bulls.

The landing ships, reinforced with brass plates and engraved with strengthening magical circles, literally crushed the pirate ships with their sheer mass.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The bulwark of the leading landing ship crashed into the dock and broke, while ships were either pushed up onto the dock or turned sideways.

However, they ultimately succeeded in docking at the harbor.

Pollek let out a growl as he turned to look back.

The crossbowmen wore urgent expressions, and the soldiers on the ballista were busy aiming.

‘They were a beat ahead.’

Boom—!

A trumpet sounded, and a door beneath one of the landing ships opened wide.

“Fire!”

Pollek shouted, and bolts, stones, arrows, and curses poured forth.

Screeetch! Screeetch! Screeetch!

However, although the door opened, it had not truly opened.

Twelve sea warriors holding a gigantic rectangular shield completely covered the entrance.

Thud! Tink! Thud!

Every time bolts and arrows struck the shield, luminous blue light flashed from it.

Clank, clank, clank!

They calmly stepped forward, leading with their shield wall, and from within emerged two figures.

One was a knight clad in white plate armor and a red cloak.

The other was a swordsman in shiny armor and a mantled coat made of manta skin.

Pollek gazed at her in breathless awe.

Her scales shimmered like glittering jewels, with sharp teeth, vertically slit pupils, and gray irises.

With barbaric beauty and an incomprehensible majesty combined, she was the greatest noble of the eastern land.

“—… The white shark.”

Cariosa looked up towards the sky and shouted.

“Kill all those sea maggots! Leave no one behind!”

Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!

At that moment, doors flew open on all the landing ships, and the sea warriors of the eastern waters rushed out.