Chapter 27: Misty Naval Battle
“Is it foggy?”
Prince Hans stood on the deck, looking around and said solemnly, “Why is there fog in such weather? Lord Kenlord! Please disperse this fog!”
Beside Prince Hans stood an elderly man in a robe, who nodded in response, “Alright. This fog is indeed a bit strange.”
A spell’s light appeared.
As the elderly man cast a spell, a strong wind rose around them, dispersing the fog over the sea, but soon new fog rolled in, obscuring their vision again, though it didn’t seem as dense as before. The old man next to Prince Hans furrowed his brows clearly and raised his hand to cast another spell. It seemed he was a high-level sorcerer, which allowed him to cast spells without prior memorization. Generally speaking, wizards also seldom memorize such spells.
“This fog isn’t natural!”
The high-level sorcerer named Kenlord said with a grave expression, “It seems something is summoning the fog. Your Highness! We may have encountered some ocean monster!”
Normal fog wouldn’t appear so mysteriously on the sea, particularly in this area.
There were also no geographical conditions nearby that would create fog, so based on the high-level sorcerer’s deduction, the most likely scenario was that a giant ocean beast capable of summoning fog was present here.
“d*mn it!”
Prince Hans slammed the deck of the ship, slowly saying, “How did a deep-sea monster pop up here? Does that mean the missing warship from yesterday and the Orion from today were all taken by it?”
The high-level sorcerer nodded slightly and said, “It’s very possible. If it really was an ocean monster attacking them, they might be in grave danger.”
Prince Hans nodded grimly and said, “Can we k*ll it?”
The high-level sorcerer pondered for a moment and then turned to a nearby navy officer. After asking a few questions, he stated, “Yes! The Víkings have some whaling cannons on their ships, and we also have some equipment specifically for dealing with large marine creatures. We should be able to k*ll it if we can locate it.”
A hint of a smile appeared on Prince Hans’s face as he replied, “But how do we find it?”
“We are out at sea. If it hides on the seabed, we might have no means to locate it. Lord Kenlord! Please make sure to resolve this ocean monster issue, or else our warships might be attacked, which would be a severe blow to our morale!”
The high-level sorcerer hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’ll give it a try.”
A faint spell light emerged.
Soon, an eye-like object appeared before him, and the situation around the fog gradually became clearer.
“Found it!”
An excited look suddenly appeared on the high-level sorcerer’s face as he said, “Ahead! It’s indeed a deep-sea monster!”
A massive shadow loomed.
Through the spell’s generated light, those present also caught sight of some traces. It was an enormous shadow drifting along the bottom of the sea, its size likely larger than that of the largest blue whale, confirming it was a deep-sea monster. Upon seeing this giant shadow, Prince Hans couldn’t help but smile for a moment. However, his expression quickly grew serious again because such a monster wasn’t easy to deal with.
“Prepare for battle!”
The nearby naval commander quickly issued the order, shouting, “Load the whaling cannons, and everyone get ready for battle!”
The fog ahead grew a bit thinner.
Following the naval commander’s orders, the fleet dispersed significantly to avoid being affected during combat. The fleet sailed forward in a fan-like formation. To effectively deal with such a giant sea monster, space needed to be created to inflict tons of damage. This world, due to some unknown energy mutation that might be related to the Arcane Empire’s energy radiation, often has mutated creatures appearing in ocean areas. Among them, giant octopuses are the most common. Therefore, the navies of the Southern Islands are experienced in dealing with ocean monsters.
The calm sea seemed to be brewing a terrible storm.
The enormous shadow was locked on by the sorcerer’s spell, even making Prince Hans, standing on the deck, feel a bit anxious because dealing with such monsters at sea was no easy task.
“Alarm!”
Suddenly, the scattered warships ahead let out a cry, followed by someone shouting, “Enemy sighted! It’s the Arendelle Navy! Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!”
What?!
Prince Hans looked up in surprise and then saw a fleet flying the Arendelle flag ahead. The opposing numbers were clearly fewer than theirs, and it seemed they didn’t realize each other until they got closer due to the fog in this sea area. Seeing so many Southern Islands warships, the Arendelle fleet also appeared somewhat flustered, seemingly planning to turn around and retreat.
“Destroy them!”
Prince Hans’s expression grew clearly excited as he said, “Don’t worry about the ocean monster for now! As long as we don’t provoke it, it shouldn’t dare to attack so many people.”
“Order the warships to go full speed! We will eliminate this Arendelle fleet!”
On the other side,
A big-bearded general stood atop a large warship. After the nearby fog gradually grew thinner, his expression suddenly changed, and he said solemnly, “Not good! It’s the Southern Islands fleet!”
“d*mn it.”
“We’ve fallen into their trap.”
The signal flares that were launched today were far too obvious.
Even he, far away in Arendelle, saw them. Though he suspected it might be a trap, he ultimately decided to lead the fleet over to check the situation. To avoid being intercepted by the enemy, all the ships he brought this time were fast vessels. If it weren’t for this strange fog, he should have seen the enemy far ahead. However, because the fog obstructed visibility, they only realized each other’s presence after getting closer. Therefore, his first thought was that they had fallen into the enemy’s trap.
Rumbling!
The booming sound of cannons erupted.
The warships that entered range first fired continuously, and the Viking dragon head warship quickly charged forward, wanting to board the enemy’s deck. Only the pirates’ fast ships could catch up with them; many of the Southern Islands’ fleets were heavily armed medium warships. However, the Arendelle fleet reacted extremely quickly, immediately turning to retreat at the general’s command, seemingly having no intention of engaging them.
In fact, they didn’t even have the capability to engage.
For warships to increase their speed, they must sacrifice firepower, and most fast ships don’t even hit half of a medium warship. Large ships like the dragon head battleship can be equipped with over a hundred cannons, and it could be said that a frontal naval battle could even damage the Requiem. The strongest ship in the Arendelle fleet only had twenty-four cannons, meaning they were utterly overpowered. However, Arendelle also had their advantages, namely a group of ice witches.
The fog intensified again.
The ice witches seemed to have cast spells to reinforce the fog on the sea surface, turning even fifty meters away into a gray haze.
Many cannonballs struck the sea surface; the Arendelle fleet could only see hazy silhouettes, while the Víkings shrieked and rushed into the fog. Once the distance widened to a hundred meters, the Southern Islands navy couldn’t even see their own pirate ships.
“Don’t fire!”
A naval officer stopped the gunners from loading ammunition, looking grim as he said, “Those idiots have charged in! Firing now would easily injure them!”
The visible range in front had already become very small.
Blindly firing would pose a high risk of friendly fire, and it would be difficult to aim at the enemy unless the distance closed to a certain degree.
Meanwhile,
As the navy of the Southern Islands prepared to wipe out this Arendelle fleet, a massive shadow slowly rose from the dark seabed. Nearby this enormous shadow was a ghost ship gradually surfacing. The undead aboard, wearing twisted smiles, swam up inch by inch beneath the cover of the fog.
The battle had just begun!
The unexpected appearance of the Arendelle fleet did not interfere with Soren’s plan.
………………
(PS: Three updates today, mwah!) (To be continued ~^~)
