Chapter 949: Act 120 – Shadows of the Fleet (Part 2)
A shadow swept across the plains, resembling a massive sickle passing over the grasslands, causing the grass to ripple, while the burrowing folk scattered in cries of panic. A dragon beast soared low overhead, followed by a second and a third, their enormous wings blotting out the sky, a horde of dragons billowing forth. The wind whipped through Modest’s long black hair, the strands brushing against her face as she tilted her head, a hint of amusement in her gaze. From her near to distant sight, the vast horizon seemed to form a flat arc at the edge of the sky, where, at the furthest point beyond sight, the city walls and spires of towering human structures glimmered brightly.
That was where Lune Harbor lay—
At this moment, the clangor of warning bells rang loudly within Lune Harbor, with steeds racing back and forth carrying messages from the harbor’s guard. The sound of hooves echoed on the cobblestones like a storm falling upon anxious hearts. The dock area was shrouded in ominous clouds; numerous port officials exchanged grim looks with the fleeing Cruz nobles led by Brendel, casting glances toward the bay—as if seeing even a single plank floating on the surface might provide them with some minor reassurance. Unfortunately, the waters between the straight piers extending into the bay were completely devoid of anything, not even a stray wave.
The burrowing folk were gathering on the plains.
The griffon knights flying back from the plains had also detected signs of the dragon beasts’ mobilization.
It was evident that the Jotungrund army behind them had discovered their trace and was preparing to launch an attack on the city. Bad news followed one after another, while good news seemed nonexistent. At this moment, even Rogers and the others in the crowd did not appear any better than the others; although they had some confidence in the young Earl from Erluin, as time trickled away, that confidence seemed increasingly uncertain.
“The smell of sulfur in the air is getting stronger,” Trevor sniffed, frowning as he murmured, “The wind is blowing in from the sea. If we can smell the sulfur here, the dragon beasts must be very close.”
“Perhaps that lord is close too…” Rogers spoke in a low voice to reassure him.
“Is he really?” Trevor gazed out to sea; from the dock’s direction, there were no ships in sight, not even a guard visible. This looked nothing like a fleet would suddenly appear.
“Trevor, that lord has no need to deceive us,” Nia replied weakly from the stretcher. “Even if the dragon beasts really arrived, the city defenses could still hold for a moment. Lune Harbor still has the flying horse knights…” She seemed to want to instill some confidence in her companions, yet her own complexion was hardly better; after all, if the flying horse knights were truly effective, the ships in Lune Harbor wouldn’t have been burned to ashes in the first place. Everyone understood the logic. She faltered, lowering her voice to ask, “Kew, what do you think…?”
Rogers and Trevor turned to look at the young man with black hair, the youngest member of their group, who rarely spoke but was always composed and calm. In times like these, his judgment was often more trustworthy.
Kew looked up and replied calmly, “I’ve been thinking about what he said before; I’m not sure if I misheard.”
“What did you mishear?”
“I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but now that I think back, that lord requested Earl Orkans to prepare a berth for him—it seemed to be a special berth…” The young man with black hair furrowed his brow slightly.
“What do you mean!?”
Suddenly, the wind direction on the plains seemed to shift, and dark clouds began forming above the sea.
More than ten minutes passed in a tense atmosphere, yet there was still no sign of activity on the surface of the sea. Unease spread amongst the crowd, especially among the Cruz nobility, who could not help but start whispering among themselves, though many still harbored a fragile hope—hoping that Brendel could perform a miracle at the last moment. However, time ticked on, and that hope grew increasingly bleak.
After disappointment came the voice of doubt—after all, how could a fleet just appear out of nowhere? They felt foolish for believing it in the first place.
The faces of the Cruz nobles turned somewhat grim, with some even suspecting that Brendel and his company had secretly abandoned them. Fortunately, before such rumors could spread further, Eynid and Princess Margadale arrived with the Erluin embassy to dispel the unrest. But soon after, another rumor started circulating among the crowd; although not everyone witnessed the earlier handover between Earl Orkans and the others, some nobles who had observed the situation recalled that Brendel had asked Viscount Wolas to prepare for them special berths in the harbor.
Aerial fleet?
Everyone subconsciously looked skyward, where rows of white ivory towers uniformly arranged in the air over the harbor seemed like comb teeth, yet between each tower, the sky remained empty, merely dotted with faintly glowing rings rotating.
“Could it be that lord really can summon a floating fleet here?” The Cruz nobles present couldn’t help but feel more suspicious.
“Don’t be ridiculous, where would the Erluin people get a floating fleet?” The one who shattered this illusion was a harbor official from Lune; most of these officials were local gentry, distinctly separate from the other fleeing nobles at the docks. They had previously been unwilling to cede the harbor to anyone—especially not to a group of Erluin people—yet were forced out by Charles authorized by Earl Orkans, resulting in a humiliating loss in front of everyone. Hence even though they were well aware those Erluin people were here to maintain special berths in the harbor, they had deliberately turned a blind eye.
In truth, deep down, these people did not believe the Erluins could summon a floating fleet either; moreover, they had not witnessed Brendel’s capabilities, and as Cruz people, they would never believe some country bumpkins could outperform them. That mindset had been held by all the fleeing nobles present, but after experiencing the night of battle at Blackstone Town, it had been somewhat revised.
“… That can’t be said, as far as I know, the Erluin royal family does have a floating fleet.” A voice from the crowd retorted, not willing to give the local noble any face. In fact, the fleeing nobles were not well acquainted with these local nobles; from a status standpoint, they were even more noble, after all, most of these port officials were mere vassals of Earl Orkans, while others present held statuses not much lesser than Earl Orkans himself.
Hearing this retort, the harbor official’s expression instantly soured; he knew full well that the Erluin royal family had a fleet, but in the eyes of the proud Cruz imperial navy, that navy, aided by wind spirits, was inferior to even local fleets and hardly qualified as a true fleet—merely a child’s plaything. As harbor officers of the empire, they were somewhat influenced by this sentiment and had completely dismissed that insignificance.
“Is that really called a fleet? A group of ignorant landlubbers!” He cursed inwardly but knew better than to voice it aloud, instead only coldly remarking, “Since you all know it is the royal fleet of Erluin, then whether that lord can mobilize it is still very much uncertain. If I remember correctly, that lord is neither a member of the royal family nor an extraordinary minister; just an envoy. Even if he can mobilize this fleet, contrary to what most people imagine, in fact floating warships do not possess teleportation capabilities. The fleet’s teleportation relies on the wizards within and a large pre-established teleportation portal; this aspect is uniquely supported by the temple in the empire, but I do not believe the Erluins have that sort of capital.”
Although these local officials were not on par with the majority of fleeing nobles present, they were nonetheless familiar with port and maritime operations, exceeding the understanding of many in the crowd. As the harbor official spoke, the gathered nobles found themselves momentarily at a loss for how to retort. Indeed, although the Erluins had a fleet, that was the only fleet of their small kingdom; setting aside whether Brendel could even mobilize it, the distance between Erluin and Lune was far from just a few thousand miles. Could the Erluins muster the ability to transport a fleet that far?
At least in the minds of most Cruz people, the Erluins surely had no such capacity.
Although they had to acknowledge that the young Earl from Erluin was superior to themselves, that was still an exception—after all, a kingdom might produce one or two geniuses, which was not surprising. Moreover, with the swordmaster Darus as an example, it was something that these imperial nobles could accept. But a fleet was different; the comparison of naval power between two countries showcased the disparity of their comprehensive strength, which clearly could not be altered simply by having one or two geniuses. The gap between the Erluin kingdom and the empire was obvious and could not be simply quantified.
Even if the empire were to establish a local fleet to teleport it to such a faraway place as Erluin, it would require prior arrangement of magic circles and even the activation of the Gate of Flames, consuming vast amounts of resources and energy. How could a mere envoy group possibly carry these out in a large public setting, unless they had initially intended to attack the capital of the empire?
However, to the nobles present, this was evidently impossible.
The harbor official realized the faces of others had grown worse and could not help but feel pleased—although if Brendel truly could not conjure a fleet out of thin air, he himself would likely not escape this harbor either. Yet unlike everyone else’s initial high hopes, he had never believed those Erluin people were capable, merely considering them boastful fraudsters. So taking the opportunity to stomp on them now was a delight for him. He continued, “This might leave everyone here disappointed; to summon a fleet to any location unprepared, even the empire would struggle to do so, let alone those Erluin folks.”
As he said this, the spirits of the nobles present sank further; no matter how the Cruz people believed in Brendel’s abilities, deep inside they could never admit that what the empire could not achieve, the Erluins could accomplish. This was ultimately not a contest between a few individuals, but a comparison of national strengths. Even among those who had the deepest faith in Erluin, no one dared say something as absurd as that Erluin was stronger than the Cruz Empire.
And this harbor official held the same belief; he evidently thought his statement was the final verdict, no miracle could happen again. Yet in the midst of such circumstances, a calm voice rose from the crowd and questioned, “Are you suggesting it is indeed possible, but just that the empire cannot do it?”
Hearing this question, the harbor official’s eyelids twitched; he turned toward that direction, furious to see who was foolish enough to claim that the empire could not do it but Erluins could. This was simply nonsense! However, upon raising his head, he first noticed Kew in his knightly uniform, followed by glancing down at the simple badge on the chest of the young man with black hair—”Royal Knight?” He nearly thought he was mistaken, rubbing his eyes involuntarily before realizing that the one questioning him was indeed a genuine Royal Knight. He may have been proud, but not foolish; he understood that many of these Royal Knights operating locally were likely of the inner court variety, and after his expression shifted between various emotions, he dare not say anything brash, replying cautiously, “That is merely a theoretical possibility, unless countless wizards are providing energy for this fleet, casting teleportation spells… The number of wizards required, I fear, even if all of Erluin’s wizards were gathered, it would still be far from enough.”
His words essentially delivered a death sentence for Brendel’s confident guarantees. The hearts of everyone assembled sank deeply once more, and they all instinctively raised their heads, watching the dark, unchanging sky where no movement could be seen between the towers. Whether that lord was a fraud or capable of creating a miracle seemed about to be revealed at any moment.
…
“Did you see that?”
Wolas fixed an intense gaze upon the horizon from the tower’s peak at the air harbor. He could already see a dark mass approaching from the plains—that was the dragon beasts. “The flying horse knights are ready to take off, but… I’m afraid it will be of little use unless it’s the griffon knights from the border sentinel corps; otherwise, they likely won’t delay anything…” He spoke somewhat stiffly to Marjory, having just dispatched the young officer to negotiate with him.
After finishing, Wolas cast another glance at the horizontal bridge. As the head of the harbor, unlike those shortsighted officials below, he could see what those wizards from Erluin were doing; these wizards and wizard apprentices were genuinely maintaining the harbor—rather than merely putting on an act. For a moment, even he almost believed that perhaps this lord truly could conjure a fleet, or else it would be impossible to explain why they were engaged in such futile labor.
However, the problem was even he could not imagine how Brendel would bring the Erluin royal fleet here.
“Mr. Marjory,” he could not help but ask, “Do you really believe your commander can summon the Erluin royal fleet here… I mean, our time is running short?”
Marjory pulled his gaze back from the horizon, looking curiously at the older man. “When did I ever tell you the Erluin royal fleet would come here? As a fleet officer, I can clearly tell you that the lord does not have the authority to mobilize the royal fleet.”
“Ah?” Wolas was nearly stunned, dumbfounded he stared at the other, stammering, “Then what are you doing here!?”
Calmly shaking his head, Marjory answered, “I don’t know, but the lord has his intentions; as a soldier, I only need to follow orders.”
Upon hearing this, Wolas felt a wave of dizziness; their only hope rested on Brendel managing to summon the Erluin royal fleet here. To him, such an occurrence seemed miraculous. Yet now, the young officer appeared oddly calm in suggesting that perhaps their lord intended to conjure a fleet from thin air for them. The problem was with Martha here; could such a thing even exist?
Wolas could only think that even if the sun rose from the west, such a thing would still unlikely happen.
Staring in disbelief at Marjory, he suddenly remembered something amidst his dizziness and hurriedly turned to run towards Brendel, shouting angrily, “Mr. Brendel, you need to give me an explanation!”
Yet he had barely taken two steps before a figure blocked his way—it was Charles, who smiled slightly and said, “My lord, no need to panic. The lord is in contact with the Erluin side. We’ve encountered some trouble, but trust me, the lord will not let you down.”
“You all…” Wolas replied, his face flushed with impatience, unable to refrain from blurting, “Fine, I’ll just watch how you conjure a fleet. Damn Erluins!”
Upon hearing this, Charles simply shrugged.
But he was not lying; Brendel was indeed facing some trouble at this moment.
The trouble came from the Bud people—
…
“Lady Tania, I don’t quite understand what you mean.” Brendel stared at the shadow of his palm with a stern face, responding irritably, “What exactly are you trying to convey?”
“My meaning is quite simple, little fellow. You know, those guys at the Silver Academy’s upper echelon never like to play by the rules. I just wanted to remind you not to be too surprised,” Tania replied in a calm, almost bland tone.
“I don’t care how you play, just fulfill our agreement as promised.”
“Is that so?”
After Tania spoke, she could not help but instinctively glance back, her expression oddly focused on something outside the window.
There, beyond the air harbor’s horizontal bridge and throughout the entire Cold Fir Territory, all the citizens could see shimmering silver light in the eastern sky, one floating ship after another flashing into view, docking in mid-air and quickly occupying most of the sky. Following this, more dense points of light began to flicker, and with each point disappearing, a wizard clad in silver robes emerged; within just a few minutes, the space above Valhalla was filled with countless such wizards.
