Chapter 1186: Stalemate
The thick fog rolled and surged as though attempting to form a barrier to stop the strong ambush. But in the blink of an eye, the two floating magic wars.h.i.+ps slashed through their defense like slicing a soft cake. The floating magic wars.h.i.+ps charged at the ghost fleet ahead relentlessly. The ghost wars.h.i.+p couldn’t evade in time and in a loud bang, it was crushed squarely in the middle, scattering debris everywhere. The ghost wars.h.i.+p that was already heavily damaged over the span of time couldn’t withstand the impact at all. In a piercing squeak, it inclined and deformed. But in just a few seconds, the seemingly flattened ghost wars.h.i.+p twisted and restored its original shape like a strong spring. At that moment, a new round of battle began along with the collision of wars.h.i.+ps.
“For the glory of the holy light!”
Along with this crisp war cry, dazzling radiances erupted from the deck of the floating magic wars.h.i.+ps, one after another. The battle angels enfolded in holy brilliance raised their swords, expanded their wings, and soared toward the ghost wars.h.i.+p ahead. Meanwhile, along with the ice-cold, rolling death fog, banshees appeared on the deck, one by one. They had pale skin and translucent bodies and were clad in tattered long dresses that fluttered in the strong winds. These banshees used to be the most beautiful elves in the world, but fear of death and hatred distorted their spirits, turning them into completely different, terrifying beings. Their only purpose living in this world now was to kill the enemies here and shred their spirits into bits. Gazing at the battle angels illuminated by the holy light, the banshees weren’t as afraid as the other undead creatures. On the contrary, they took a few steps back and snapped their jaws open.
“————!”
Ear-piercing screams erupted from their mouths. The biting-cold and sinister breath of curse metamorphosed into a deadly weapon that enveloped the battle angels ahead. Facing their howls of malice, the battle angels gripped their swords and a bright, holy brilliance burst from their blades, turning into a s.h.i.+eld that resisted the threats of death. But even so, the battle angels couldn’t help but stagnate, crumbling heavily to the deck. The instant they fell on the deck, the banshees brandished their sharp claws and pounced on their prey.
“Attack!”
Even though the battle angels were dazed by the bawls, they gnashed their teeth and flourished their swords at the banshees. The dazzling, sacred glow from their blades swept across the sky, slas.h.i.+ng the banshees in a critical hit. If it were any other weapon, this attack would be meaningless against almost-transparent spirits like the banshees. However, the battle angels’ blades were blessed by holy power, which ensured that they were able to deal damage to the banshees’ essence.
“———”
The instant the banshees were struck by the blades, the sound of evaporation when drops of water hit soldering iron sounded. White steam spurted from the point of collision between the blade and the banshees. The sacred radiance surged along the blade and erupted, penetrating the banshees entirely.
“Ah———!”
The banshees let out blood-curdling wails, brandis.h.i.+ng their razor-sharp claws and grabbing at the battle angels’ widely-expanded wings. Their pitch-black eyes burned in murderous intent and wrath as though they were eager to shred the battle angels into bits. Facing this retaliation from the banshees, the battle angels flicked their wrists around and pierced their blades straight into the enemies’ bodies.
The chaotic battle on the deck continued. On the other side, the roaring artillery barrage didn’t seem to be diminis.h.i.+ng anytime soon. At Gaya’s command, the floating magic wars.h.i.+ps of the Munn Kingdom gave up on chasing the main ghost wars.h.i.+p, but focused their attention on bombarding the seventh ghost wars.h.i.+p instead. The seventh ghost wars.h.i.+p that intercepted from the side to disrupt the situation had now become entirely powerless. This situation was as though a group of cavalrymen who tried to catch the enemy off guard from the side, only to realize that the enemy was already antic.i.p.ating this move and was waiting for them to take the bait. But even if it was a mountain of daggers or sea of flames ahead, their only option was to rush forward now.
But it was a pity that the seventh ghost wars.h.i.+p had fallen so deep into trouble that it could no longer rescue itself. The crisscrossed, blinding magical beams left spheres of flames blazing on the ghost wars.h.i.+ps. As though in the howls of bruised monsters, the ghost wars.h.i.+ps shattered and descended from the sky one after another.
“d.a.m.n it!”
Gazing through the binoculars with a panoramic view, Rolan clutched the smoking pipe and swung his fist fumingly. Rolan had been dubious about the battle situation earlier, but was completely aware of the enemy’s strategy now. Rolan thought the Void Territory and Munn Kingdom would definitely deploy a blitzkrieg strategy since they had joined forces, which was why he was confident and brave enough to sacrifice three ghost wars.h.i.+ps as bait to lure the enemies in. However, he didn’t expect the enemies to be preparing for a raid. Apart from the ambush at the start of the war, the enemies went steadily and struck hard for the rest of the time. This was also why the floating magic wars.h.i.+ps of the Munn Kingdom failed to take his bait.
It didn’t matter even if the other ghost wars.h.i.+ps escaped in succession because to the Munn Kingdom, they still had several chances to eliminate the Country of Darkness’s ghost fleet in the future. Due to that reason, not only was the Munn Kingdom not fl.u.s.tered at all, but they also seemed exceedingly calm. This, in turn, made Rolan’s action seem as though he were sacrificing his ghost wars.h.i.+ps for nothing. If Rolan had chosen to retreat entirely back then, perhaps the Munn Kingdom would have pursued him closely. But due to his foolish decision, the Munn Kingdom now had a target to annihilate and wouldn’t care less about the so-called ‘main ghost wars.h.i.+p’ that was fleeing.
Perhaps there isn’t enough time to turn back and gather reinforcements now.
At this thought, Rolan couldn’t help but sweep a glance ahead. Through the dense fog, he vaguely saw ridiculously ma.s.sive magic wars.h.i.+ps and the holy rays of light they emanated. The rays were so pure that even Rolan felt his head aching. Even though Rolan learned from the reports that the Void Territory owned powerful magic wars.h.i.+ps, where they only deployed three magic wars.h.i.+ps to raze Casabianca to the ground, he finally realized how terrifying they were after experiencing it for himself. Right now, he was only relying on the special characteristics of the ghost fleet to deal with the Munn Kingdom. If he were to take the initiative to attack the Munn Kingdom’s wars.h.i.+ps now, perhaps he wouldn’t be able to get away from them at all.
“Everyone, retreat immediately!”
At that moment, apart from confirming his mistake and failure, there was no other choice.
“Reporting, Your Majesty. We’ve confirmed that the ghost fleet is retreating!”
The fog dissipated gradually. Along with the disappearance of the ghost fleet, the omnipresent soul griffins also vanished from sight.
“Seems like the enemy figured out our strategy.”
Looking at this scene, Rhode shrugged and turned to the young lady beside him. Upon sensing his gaze, the younger sister smiled and nodded.
“If it is possible, I hope to take this further. But I’m surprised they reacted so quickly.”
Just as Rolan expected, the reason why Rhode deployed an ambush wasn’t because he had decided to copy the Country of Darkness in breaking through defenses and swooping down. Instead, it was indeed a genuine ambush. In addition to being able to gain an advantage in the early stages of the war, it also gave the enemy the illusion that Rhode was determined to win by speed. If the Country of Darkness was fooled, they would gather a huge army as quickly as possible to stop Rhode’s ambush in order to prevent their defensive line from being penetrated. This way, Rhode could take on the enemy easily and consume the many forces of the Country of Darkness.
But it was a pity that the Country of Darkness didn’t seem to be as foolish as Rhode had expected. Not only did they not gather troops to form a blockade, but they also retreated decisively. Judging from this point, it was apparent that they also realized something wasn’t right with the situation, which also meant that…
“We may need to storm them next.”
“That’s right. This is exactly what we want.”
Upon hearing his younger sister’s answer, the corners of Rhode’s lips perked up into a proud smile. If the Country of Darkness were to defend themselves to the death, it would be the best for Rhode. Because this way, he could ensure that he wiped out all undead creatures stained by Chaos at once and didn’t need to worry about fish that slipped the net. Rhode was initially concerned that the enemies wouldn’t act according to his expectations. But as the ghost fleet retreated, the heavy burden in his mind was finally put down, leaving another problem deep down in his mind.
Is Ion really gonna use this strategy against me?
This was the only thing that Rhode couldn’t predict.
“Reporting, Your Majesty!”
At that moment, some hurried footsteps disrupted Rhode’s thoughts. He turned around and gazed at the soldier.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“We received news from the northern defensive line. The Country of Darkness has dispatched their undead army and launched an all-out attack on the Country of Law!”
Rhode’s heart sank immediately.
Seems like the inevitable has arrived.