Chapter 634: Escort
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Upon the endless ocean, there was only the sound of the distant tide.
In the thick cloud of fog, all was quiet.
A vast and mighty fleet was hidden in the mist, moving silently forward. They had cut off all contact with the outside world, entering a state of total silence. They kept a minimum distance between s.h.i.+ps in the fog, only communicating with each other through primitive lamp signals.
The thick fog covered everything. The s.h.i.+ps’ engines were set as low as possible, and the slight sounds that they produced were covered up by the chaotic noise of the black zone. They advanced towards the Ultimate as silently as ghosts.
Sylvaine sat in the command seat on the bridge of the Royal Navy’s flags.h.i.+p, silently staring at the nautical charts.
“We’ve already pa.s.sed beyond our nation’s borders, Commander,” the navigator reported. “In ten minutes we’ll be leaving the black zone and coming into the range of the Ultimate.”
Sylvaine nodded. “Prepare to exit stealth mode.”
A crisp voice came on the receiver, “Commander, we’ve received a message from the Anglo Kingdom. It has the Privy Council’s ID.”
Soon, the Secretary of the Navy’s voice came through, “Viscount Sylvaine, the fate of the nation rests on this mission. This battle will decide which of the nations will achieve naval supremacy in the future. You absolutely cannot let down your guard.”
“I understand.” Sylvaine saluted. “I will not let Her Majesty down.”
“Excellent,” the Secretary of the Navy said. “Four hours ago, His Highness the Prince and the Royal Musician Division left the harbor with the second wave of wars.h.i.+ps. They will rendezvous with you soon. All military affairs are still under your command, His Highness will abide by your decisions.”
The Secretary of the Navy’s spoke very tacitly. Military affairs were under Sylvaine’s control, but any big decisions would have to receive the Prince of Avalon’s approval. Sylvaine had no objections to this. After all, he was one of the Prince’s most ardent supporters. Moreover, the Prince of Avalon was coming as a representative of the royal family. As the crown prince of the Anglo Kingdom, it made sense for him to come and supervise the fleet in place of the Queen.
And what was more, presently, the Royal Navy lacked any heavy wars.h.i.+ps like the Mountain of Nomadism, leaving Sylvaine a little nervous.
The Royal Navy had of course performed admirably in the aftermath of the Leviathan War, but the glorious sacrifices that they had made could not be taken lightly.
Most of the wars.h.i.+ps had been damaged in the process of defending the homeland and purging the demons afterward. Many more s.h.i.+ps were unable to leave port because they had not been properly maintained. He estimated that it would take two years to refit them all. And even more s.h.i.+ps had been retired. After performing a cost a.n.a.lysis, the Kingdom had decided to build new s.h.i.+ps to replace them.
Although the core of the fleet, twelve legendary wars.h.i.+ps, had not sustained much damage, this was not enough to const.i.tute an entire fleet. They also needed longs.h.i.+ps, clippers, and even armored merchant s.h.i.+ps to sh.o.r.e up their numbers.
Creating a fleet in such a short time had already exhausted the Department of the Navy. They had sc.r.a.ped what they had together to form this fleet. But they had no actual combat experience, which did not inspire much confidence in their warfare capabilities.
Sylvaine had set out earlier with six of the legendary wars.h.i.+ps and a few light clippers in order to seize the initiative. The rest of the fleet had been divided into two waves that were to come in succession.
Since he had to wait for the Mountain of Nomadism to be refitted and temporarily aid the court with additional matters, Ye Qingxuan had come with the second wave. By then, many of the merchant s.h.i.+ps had been fitted for war and were shoring up the weak points in the fleet, giving the Royal Navy the ability to fight any foe.
When he heard the Ye Qingxuan was coming, Sylvaine breathed a silent sigh of relief. After reporting all the routine military affairs, he ended the transmission. He looked at the sea chart again but soon realized that something was wrong. “Navigator, how long ago did we leave the black zone?”
“15 minutes ago,” the navigator answered. “We’re still six hours of sailing away from being in the range of the Ultimate.”
Sylvaine raised his eyebrows. “If we’ve already left the black zone, why is the fog still so thick? Transmit these orders to the musicians on the s.h.i.+p: find out what’s going on around us. I hope we haven’t run into a problem.”
Fog was a common sight on the ocean, especially around the edges of the black zone. Sylvaine’s family had been in the Royal Navy for generations, and there was nothing unusual about this. But, just to be safe, it would be best to have a few musicians and a clipper check it out.
To be honest, he’d had enough of this fog.
The musician sitting on the iron chair beside the navigator quickly opened his eyes and stared into a chaotic ball of aether. “Commander, there’s still too much noise from the red zone, I can’t find anything. It might be because whatever happened is still going on, and it’s causing changes in the red zone. The call to recover Leviathan didn’t end too long ago, maybe there are a few sea monsters that still haven’t gone dormant.
“Tell the fleet, all wars.h.i.+ps are to be on high alert and to prepare for combat.”
Soon, the sound of wars.h.i.+p engines firing up at Sylvaine’s orders filled the red zone, rippling out in all directions. Amid the hurried movement, each member of the crew…
It was at this point that the distant wave of aether suddenly disappeared. The Revelation Musicians who had lifted off the deck to investigate entered the silence with a slight feeling of unease. Suddenly, a shrill noise burst forth. In the deepest part of the fog, the musicians’ sound of heart burst forth, giving off a terrifying flame and aetheric turbulence.
The turbulence swept through the fog, throwing it into chaos.
The flame disappeared quickly, but it threw faint shadows all around.
Sylvaine shot up out of his chair. Before he could say anything, the navigator had already pressed the warning b.u.t.ton and an ear-splitting noise rose out from the s.h.i.+p. Red warning lights flashed all around the fleet. Then, huge waves appeared one after another in the s.h.i.+p’s observational ball of aether. They were s.h.i.+p aether engines.
One by one, the hazy outlines of ferocious shadows emerged from the fog. They were wars.h.i.+ps, several dozen wars.h.i.+ps that had been hidden in the fog, almost like they were melded into it. The faint traces of more could be seen behind them through the thinning fog.
At some point, the Royal Navy had been surrounded!
On the Sovereign, silence reigned.
“Is that the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy?” Sylvaine was livid. “How did they know we were here?”
In order to hide all trace of themselves, they had sailed in full silence. Even the government in Avalon didn’t know their exact location, especially while they were in the red zone. It was like they were hidden in a dark forest without so much as a torch to give away their position. How had the d*mned Burgundians managed to surround them? Had they already prepared for war?
Two red flames suddenly lit up under the first mate’s skin. He rushed at Sylvaine as his body started to quickly swell. “The Anglos have left the path of righteousness. They will be cast into h.e.l.l to suffer the consequences of their actions!”
Bang! An ice-cold sword flashed out of the cabin. It slashed vertically and horizontally, cutting the swelling attacker into pieces. In the next instant, a formless wind gathered from all around, forming a cage that blocked the flames from his explosion, completely snuffing them out. All that was left was a pile of ashes that fell silently to the floor.
Sylvaine’s face was white as a ghost.
“Alright, now I know how the enemy found us.” He turned and saw the suit of cold iron armor that had appeared in the air beside him. “Thank you, Sir Geraint,” he said. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“Just doing my duty.” The knight of the Round Table sheathed his sword. “Watch out next time.”
Soon, damage reports came in from the other s.h.i.+ps. It was not only the Sovereign that had had double agents hidden on it, but the same thing had happened on two other s.h.i.+ps. Fortunately, the fires had been swiftly extinguished, and the captains had only suffered light wounds.
The Burgundians must have been planning this for a long time. Otherwise, they would not have been able to achieve such shocking results in such a short time.
But the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy did not launch an offensive, but instead stayed in their original places, trapping the Royal Navy between them. All of their main guns were aimed at them, but they did not fire.
Instead, a message came from them.
The operator looked at Sylvaine, who nodded. “Answer it.”
A stranger’s cold voice filled the bridge. “This is the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “In a moment we will begin escorting your fleet, in order to improve relations with your honorable country, and for our mutual safety. Please do not take any actions that might cause a misunderstanding.”
The message ended.
Sylvaine’s face was ashen. He made a fist.
Escort? How was this an escort? This was a capture!
“Tell the fleet…” Sylvaine’s eyes flared with anger. He raised his fist and was about to give the order to attack, but an ear-piercing alarm sounded again. Soon, it was a cacophony of overlapping noises. It was the sound of cold iron rubbing together. It was like the roaring of the sea.
The fog parted. The chill that rushed into the sky came from the bottom of the ocean. Countless broken icicles rose up from the waves, looking like tree branches. It seemed like the ice crystals were being poured out of some storehouse. They froze and expanded, stretching out in all directions. The crisp sounds all joined together causing a loud roar.
In an instant, the sea was completely frozen. The surface of the water had become a flat sheet of ice with numerous sharp ice crystals sticking out of it. The fleet was like an insect trapped in amber, frozen in place.
Looking all around they could only see countless ice-crystals that were as sharp as knives pointing towards the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the mighty movement hidden in the vast roar ended. A tremendous wave of aether rose up from the flags.h.i.+p, no longer concealed, but plain for all to see. It was hard to imagine that a musician could have frozen an entire ocean in an instant, not to mention to do so in the red zone.
It was like the G.o.ds had taken fire away from the world, leaving only eternal cold and bone-chilling north wind.
“The fifth… the fifth symphony.” On the bridge of the Sovereign, a crack had appeared in the musician’s ball of aether. His face went pale. “Commander, it’s a saint!” he stammered. “St. Schubert!”
Suddenly, the entire Royal Navy was plunged into a deathly silence.
A saint? Why had a saint appeared on a Burgundian wars.h.i.+p?