CHAPTER 536: CHAPTER 484: BURNING SEA

The horn of counterattack was silently sounded by this dense fog.

Under the command of the deputy commander, who had already mastered the new tactics, the battle line quietly disengaged from its original position and, driven by the sea wind, moved to the other side of the wingspan.

Without worrying about Hilus’ sporadic counterattacks, they calmly switched to the artillerymen’s favorite—Scorching Bullet.

Relying on the experienced fire control officer to uniformly calibrate the shooting elements, they launched a fleet salvo with the momentum to shatter the sea.

"Fire!"

The commander’s order echoed.

Boom——!!!

The entire battle line collectively retreated, and the powerful recoil of the shipborne artillery sent a wave surging through the sea.

Like a volcanic eruption, nearly a thousand shipborne cannons on one side of the battle line spewed out scorching fire lines, merging into a destructive lava fire cloud, pouring into the thick fog.

Amidst it was also a not-so-prominent rose-red trail.

In the fog.

Realizing the Crescent Array was useless, the right wing of the Invincible Fleet, which began to contract and change formation, was directly stunned by the sudden heavenly justice.

Then, two muffled thunders pierced through the fog and exploded loudly in the ears of the alliance soldiers.

"Ah! Is this... a detonation? We can win!"

"The Goddess protects us!"

A cheer erupted within the Alliance Fleet.

The power of a fleet salvo, this calm and unhurried full-force strike, truly unleashed the strongest power of the muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon; perhaps only a Tier 4 Crowned Wizard standing at the pinnacle of the extraordinary could rival it.

Continuing the effort.

The commander’s orders reached the officers’ ears:

"Prepare for a second salvo."

Now, the situation between the two sides is like a strong bull with its eyes covered by a red cloth; no matter how angry it is, it has no way to deal with the seemingly weak bullfighter.

Then, it will only be bled to death one spear at a time by the bullfighter.

And on the "Storm Horn".

Olivia, quietly awaiting the electromagnetic cannon’s recharge, curled her lips into a charming smile:

"First blood!"

The barrel of the electromagnetic cannon automatically rotated, delivering another enchanted aluminum bullet to the firing position.

Only a very few in the Alliance Fleet noticed the source of one of the recent detonations.

....

Bang——

In the thick fog, the "May Wind" fired a signal cannon.

At the same time, Gel’s voice transmitted through the Mind Network to the other two battleships jointly besieging the "San Juan".

"Albatross, Oak, engage in a boarding battle, let’s approach."

Gel was well aware of the traits of the Mist Silver Lamp. Now, with fog spreading, the isolated and unsupported Army Commander Ricard and his "San Juan" had become utterly isolated.

Currently, not being in the battle line, no one was calibrating their shooting elements for them, firing would just be a waste.

However, because the three Level 4 battleships were besieging the "San Juan", they were not far from the target.

Even if the line of sight was obstructed and the sense of direction was confused, it was still entirely possible to engage in a boarding battle with some effort, relying on others’ vision.

Now, comparing the number of crew members on both sides, the Level 3 battleship was manned by 680 people, while the three Level 4 battleships combined had a total of 1,000 people.

Among the combat strength core of the Extraordinary, Gel, as a newly promoted Tier 3, was undoubtedly superior, and with two Tier 2 Peak Official Knights, they were enough to suppress the opponent.

For the long-lived Great Knights, they could maintain their peak state for a long time, only to experience rapid aging and a cliff-like drop in power in the final years of their life.

Although Ricard’s eyes remained sharp, his aged appearance couldn’t fool anyone; now was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill this Hilus Fleet’s supreme commander.

Tremendous merit awaited them!

"Kill!"

Without any doubt, the other two captains turned their ships and charged forward.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The three "small" ships approached a larger ship.

In the charging torrent, Elante, dressed in a common soldier’s uniform and looking inconspicuous, quietly activated the "Black Panther Talisman" at his waist.

With his Master-level in White Sail Swordsmanship, he instantly pierced a Hilus soldier standing in his way.

Then, with a loud shout, he plunged into the enemy ranks.

In his pocket were first-rate escape "Shadow Talisman", must-have arsonist’s "Little Elf", clearing divine artifact "Voodoo Potion", laughter-inducing "Laughing Spores"—all of them unconditional gifts from his brother.

With better cultivation conditions and after Gel and Aiven’s "dedicated" training, Elante had been at the Royal Navy Academy for two years. Now at fifteen, he stood at the peak of Tier 1, on the verge of completing an Extraordinary Transformation.

Furthermore, after hearing the news of Gel’s misfortune during this critical period, he seemed to mature overnight. He believed that his will was now strong enough to resist the savage changes in his body during the Extraordinary Transformation.

He only awaited a suitable Extraordinary Trait.

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

On Hilus’ side, the mood was the complete opposite of the Alliance Navy; under these circumstances, the lure tactic turned out to be the greatest blunder.

At this point, no matter how many Tulip battleships the "San Juan" managed to entrap, it no longer mattered. Facing the fierce Tulip soldiers, they could only rely on themselves.

...

In a world that contains the Extraordinary, what counts as true victory in war?

Sinking a large number of enemy ships? Beheading commanders? Killing the strongly-backed Great Knights? Enemies in full retreat?...

Now the Alliance’s answer was, of course... all of them.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

As the fleet launched a long-range hunt, two senior-level Grand Knights from the fleet responded to the call: Major General Phaletis Marshall, originally stationed at "Treasure Tree Bay," and Major General Hamilton from the Tyrone Colony.

After meeting with Vice Admiral Elvis, they immediately and without hesitation dove towards the "Red Maple," which had to slow down due to the dense fog.

Their target was the strongest warrior in the Hilus fleet—Peak Grand Knight Griffith.

In the end, powerful extraordinaries are the greatest variables on the battlefield. Due to an unexpected surprise brought by Aiven, as long as Griffith can be eliminated, the victory of this war would almost certainly be assured for them.

Only two people came, not because more couldn’t be drawn, but because, besides Major General Seric, captain of the "Five-Mast Peak" still facing off against the "Firebird,"

these two senior Grand Knights were the only qualified ones to participate in the peak battle and aid Vice Admiral Elvis.

Aiven also joined the three of them, but the target assigned to him was not the Peak Grand Knight, but the former Quasi-Legendary captain Marz, who had just fled to the "Red Maple."

Moments later.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

A group of Grand Knights, comparable to demons, stirred up terrifying storms and giant waves over the sea, powerful enough to clear the fog that hovered above the battlefield.

Accompanied by the massive booming sound of clashing swords, the intensity was almost equivalent to the naval battle on the other side.

At this moment.

Selecting the battlefield on the "Red Maple," Aiven also experienced being besieged by a Tier 2 Bishop Level Priest and a Tier 3 Grand Knight, while other crewmen were mere weeds that posed no threat to him.

After a prolonged battle, the aftermath nearly emptied the warship, which had once ambushed Aiven, of all its ordinary crew.

Clang! Clang! Clang!...

The extraordinary longsword in Marz’s hand, under Aiven’s relentless and fiercely sharp sword qi attacks, had almost become a jagged saw blade.

After blocking Aiven’s "Lifting Light as Heavy" blow, akin to a siege hammer, the Grand Knight at his limit was directly slammed into the lower deck.

Boom—

At this moment, the deck of the "Red Maple," as if rampaged by two war elephants, was in shambles, corpses strewn about, rivers of blood flowing, and even the supposedly Angel-blessed red sails had two completely fallen masts.

In the lull of battle, Aiven glanced over at the thin-fogged battlefield of the Peak Grand Knight.

"Pah! Griffith is such a cunning bastard!"

Just like that day, he had activated the [Divine Skill: Flame Holy Emblem], wielded the [Dragon Breath Torch] transformed into a flame longsword, single-handedly fighting off three at least senior-level Grand Knights.

Although appearing extremely beleaguered, as long as the commander and his men didn’t want to pay the price of their lives, they weren’t going to take him down anytime soon.

From Aiven’s current perspective, he could, of course, see that Griffith had already returned to his full strength, and the half-dead state on the way back was clearly an act.

The intention to trap someone was self-evident.

"Hmm? Quite decisive!"

In just a brief moment of distraction, Aiven noticed Marz, who knew the game was up and had been severely injured, actually broke through the hull of the "Red Maple" and fled underwater with a cannonball.

Meanwhile, another primary adversary on the "Red Maple," embedded Military Priest Webster, made the opposite choice. Instead of escaping, he resolutely activated [Divine Skill: Sacrifice], transforming into a "Hellfire Demon" with horns on his head and flames covering his body, charging at Aiven in a desperate assault.

With every step, fierce fiery footprints were left behind.

"Heretic, you should belong to the True God!"

As Aiven spread his wings and flew into the sky to evade,

this already foreseen "Eternal Flame" priest didn’t mind, bursting like an extremely bright sun.

Boom!

Waves of shock spread far and wide, tearing a massive hole in the dense fog!

As if receiving some kind of enlightenment.

"Eternal Flame, I pray to You;

....."

Soon, amidst increasingly loud prayers, one blinding little sun after another descended into the dense fog.

Currently.

The chaotic combat on several fronts had been ongoing for nearly half an hour, with the first to falter being the Invincible Fleet, which could neither hit nor escape.

The Alliance Fleet, with its minute-long cycle of fleet volleys, unleashed a total of 26,000 rounds on the Hilus fleet, with a combined weight of nearly 500,000 pounds of ammunition, practically turning the fortress-like Invincible Fleet into a sieve.

Amazingly, during the first twelve volleys, each shot caused at least one ship to blow up, and only after did the explosions become sporadic and normal. The overloaded electromagnetic cannon knew the reason for this.

And just as Vice Admiral Elvis initially surmised, without a specific Ocean Treasure, the opponent’s rule-like absoluteness could not be countered.

Inspired by Webster’s [Sacrifice], the military priests discovered that the absoluteness of the fog was to obscure vision and the sense of direction, not the presence of the fog itself.

Thus, enduring the roaring artillery fire, one brazier after another was lit on the remaining Level 3 battleship decks in the fleet.

One by one, "Eternal Flame" priests, with a sacred glow on their faces, cut their wrists with gold-inlaid ivory dagger handles. Their devout blood flowed softly into the braziers, with flames that were already shining white amidst the bright yellow soaring high.

"Eternal Flame, I pray to You;

Eternal Flame, I place my faith in You;

.....

Eternal Flame, in my eyes, there is no other god."

[Divine Skill: Sacrifice!]

Boom, boom, boom...

Blinding little suns descended one after another into the sea, with searing spirit storms arising, swiftly dispersing the extensive white fog that had spanned tens of kilometers.

Now, the spectacle on the sea unfolded before everyone’s eyes.

It was as if the burning sea only had seventeen warships left flying the flame banner, each still capable of movement but all wounded!

Whiz—

A figure shrouded in flames darted into the remnant fleet, roaring like a suppressed volcano:

"Invincible Fleet, retreat!"

For some reason, the name drifting away with the wind was so grating, regardless of which side of the battlefield one was on...