For our side, everything was heading toward the best case scenario. The Northern Alliance"s plan to ambush Dark Moon City had clearly ended in failure because they didn"t understand the sea weather at all. They had underestimated us and launched their a.s.sault unprepared believing that they could take out Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls with sheer numbers. However, we and our four allies were some of the strongest guilds in the entire China, and our defense was practically impenetrable when we were joined as one. Even if this battle had taken place on land, they wouldn"t have been able to take anything off our hands without considerable effort.
……
So far, our fleet was still stuck in the storm. Cold and starving, the Dragonlight Cavalry had no choice but to hug their mount"s neck for warmth.
Standing at the bow of the s.h.i.+p, I paid close attention to the patterns of the storm around us because the only realistic way to avoid the hurricanes was to predict their movement ahead of time. If I reacted after a hurricane had made a move, it would most likely be too late already.
"It feels like the storm is less intense than before…"
Chaos Moon panted heavily as she leaned against the mast and pressed a hand to her chest. This battle hadn"t been easy on her for sure. Not only did she lose her s.h.i.+p, more than 80% of her crew were killed in the storm. Worse, we still hadn"t escaped the storm, and the elements were putting great strain on her.
Our source of illumination came from the lightning storm that seemed like it would never end. We could see around 20 gigantic hurricanes towering over the sea and ravaging every s.h.i.+p that was unfortunate enough to be in his path. Our fleet had dwindled to less than a hundred s.h.i.+ps, and the number of casualties was innumerable by now. The Northern Alliance suffered even bigger losses as their fleet was right at the center of the storm when it happened. Their fleet was 10000 s.h.i.+ps strong, and they had already lost almost 3000 s.h.i.+ps during the battle. After the storm, their number had dwindled to less than 1000, and whoever funded the purchase of these s.h.i.+ps was probably going to cry a storm of their own when they heard about this. It was bad enough that the money spent to buy these wars.h.i.+ps was all for naught, but the levels, items and equipment they lost made things even worse. It was the kind of loss no guild leader could tolerate.
"It doesn"t look like there"s many of them left…" Lin Yixin said.
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"
Suddenly, He Yi pulled out her sword and said in an urgent tone, "Not good. I see about a hundred s.h.i.+ps approaching us from the front. The Northern Alliance still hasn"t given up on the a.s.sault!"
Just as she said, countless wars.h.i.+ps were sailing in our direction despite the looming darkness hanging over everyone"s heads. It was clear what they intended to do. They were going to launch a suicidal attack and do everything in their power to drag us into the grave with them!
"Prepare for battle!"
I unsheathed my sword as I barked the order. On every s.h.i.+p, the hundreds of survivors pulled out their weapons and stared at the enemy as one. The lack of light only made the gleam of our blades look sharper.
……
It was at this moment something unexpected happened yet again!
Bang bang bang...
The sea surface suddenly exploded as something, no, many gigantic things suddenly burst onto the surface. It was a strange-looking creature with an unbelievably long neck like that of a tanystropheus of the Jura.s.sic period. Its neck was dozens of meters long and covered in scaly armor. Its head was ugly, craggy and covered in thick armor. It was staring hungrily at the remnants of the Northern Alliance fleet with its dark green eyes.
Bang!
Something pierced a Korean wars.h.i.+p and shattered it to pieces. Many players fell into the sea while screaming.
The sea monster opened its mouth to reveal its scary fangs. Then, it pounced toward the falling players and devoured three or four of them in one gulp!
A hunt. This was a hunt where the ancient creature was the predator, and we, the players, were the prey!
Even more sea creatures started emerging from the bottom of the sea and attacking all the players in their range. There was nothing the players could do to stop the mad feast because the attack seemed to be some sort of devouring skill. Even full-health players were devoured without any resistance.
……
Drip drip...
Sea water suddenly splashed around us, and two sea creatures emerged right next to our Dragon G.o.d Wars.h.i.+ps and stared at us hungrily.
The sea monsters were finally close enough to reveal their stats—
Black Sea Dragon (Earth Rank Miniboss)
Level: 190
Attack: 4040~5980
Defense: 6800
HP: 15,000,000
Skills: Whale Swallow, Icicle Attack, Stormy Waves
Introduction: Black Sea Dragons are descendants of an ancient divine beast. They are fiercely protective of their homes. They possess strong bodies and thick armor that can"t be penetrated by normal weapons. Black Sea Dragons have lived in the deep sea free from the conflicts of the continent for millions of years.
……
"f.u.c.k! Not good! These things are Level 190 minibosses…"
I hurriedly shouted, "Stun it, Beiming! We can beat one with sheer numbers! Beauty Lin, I leave the other one to you!"
Lin Yixin was already darting toward the miniboss like lightning before I even finished speaking. Cling to its neck like a b.u.t.terfly, moonlight covered her eyes before she pierced her dagger into the Black Sea Dragon"s neck. Then, she switched to her sword and followed up with a devastating Barrier Break!
Thud!
Lotus petals danced around her feet as she activated Great Earth Transformation. After dealing a couple of devastating strikes to the miniboss, she kicked herself off and landed back on the deck like the gorgeous G.o.ddess she was. One Ice Flame Slash to the head later, she shouted, "Lock your sights on the boss!"
Lin Yixin was giving it her all, so of course I couldn"t stay idle either. I spurred my mount to the bow and waved my hand in front of me. G.o.d Binding Art!
Swhoos.h.!.+
Four divine weapons fell from the heavens and plummeted into the sea. Amazingly, they somehow managed to immobilize the sea dragon. Next, I used Sword Boomerang on the miniboss before catching my sword again and using Burning Blade Slash. Its aggro transferred to me after my blade tore its flesh apart.
"Roar roar…"
The Black Sea Dragon let out a furious roar before moving its mouth toward me. It was the devouring skill!
Thud thud thud!
The Armored Ice Qilin Horse trotted a couple steps to the right at top speed. A loud bang later, the miniboss missed and screeched in pain, but it still left behind a terrifying bite mark on the steel deck.
"Beiming, lower its Defense! Everyone, lock your sights on the b.a.s.t.a.r.d! We need to kill it as soon as possible, or a hurricane will catch up to us!"
Beiming Xue"s Corrosive Arrow lowered the miniboss"s Defense by as much as 50%, and an arrow volley later, its HP dropped drastically. While this was going on, I, He Yi and Chaos Moon acted as the main tanks and secured the boss"s aggro in the front.
The waves smashed into the s.h.i.+p, and several icicles suddenly pierced the deck. Caught off-guard, some archers were killed before they could react. The boss"s Attack was simply too high!
It was impossible to kill this boss without losses, so we went all out to bring it down as quickly as it could. Almost 5 minutes later, we smashed the Black Sea Dragon with brute force and got the 20% Encourage VII, a few Spirit-grade and Dark Gold–grade items, which I gave to Chaos Moon to distribute later.
Next to us, Snowy Cathaya"s battle against their Black Sea Dragon was approaching its end as well. A short time later, it let out a death scream and died!
……
"s.h.i.+t! Look at the ripples on the sea! Heaven knows how many Black Sea Dragons are beneath the sea surface!"
Stranger of Three Lifetimes shouted as she stared at the turbulent waters, "Lu Chen, Beauty Wind Fantasy, I suggest that we retreat! Considering how powerful the storm and the sea dragons are, it"s just unwise to stay any longer! Let"s leave and let the Northern Alliance"s last one thousand s.h.i.+ps die on their own!"
"Got it!"
I checked the time and noted that Li Chengfeng"s troops were almost at the harbor, so there was no point stalling the enemy any longer. Withdrawing now would save everyone"s level and equipment, and it was undoubtedly the wisest choice I could make here. I told Li Chengfeng not to get tied up in battle, and I should heed my own advice.
"Withdraw! Withdraw back to the Black Coast of Dark Moon City!" I ordered loudly.
Our remaining s.h.i.+ps turned around and escaped like the wind. Behind us, the Northern Alliance"s fleet tried to give chase, but they kept getting caught up by the hurricanes and suffered huge losses. Not only that, they were hara.s.sed by a legion of sea dragons when they pa.s.sed through the center. In the end, only dozens of wars.h.i.+ps were still on our tail by the time they finally shook off the mobs and natural disaster. They were powerless even if they managed to catch up with us.
We withdrew because the entire point of this battle was to protect our harbor and our city, not to invade the Northern Alliance. It would be foolish to attack the enemy"s base and forget our own.
……
In the guild channel—
Me: "Chengfeng, Little Gui, how was it?"
Li Chengfeng laughed loudly before replying, "We"re one thousand s.h.i.+ps versus an average-sized harbor! What do you think? Give me a sec, I"ll share the battle scene in the guild channel!"
The next moment, a livestream of the ongoing battle was shared in the guild channel. We saw a wooden harbor being bombarded to h.e.l.l and back, and the city itself was burning in flames. The s.h.i.+p factories, lumberyards, fis.h.i.+ng ports and more had all been destroyed. A lot of Korean players appeared on the sh.o.r.e and tried to fight back, but they were sent fleeing by the sheer amount of cannonb.a.l.l.s they were bombarded with.
Xu Yang couldn"t help but laugh at the sight. "Well done! Burning Harbor is dead, and only the system knows when it"ll refres.h.!.+ What else can the idiots from Northern Alliance possibly do to us? Hahahaha!"
……
I asked, "How goes the war on the other side, by the way?"
Li Chengfeng replied, "I heard that Wind City"s main army is facing ma.s.sive pushbacks on Eternal Love Plains right now. It looked like all this really was a trap by the Northern Alliance. Instead of aiding Wind City to attack Eternal Love City, Vienna"s Sorrow did the opposite and attacked Wind City from the flanks! We"re lucky we didn"t follow them."
I nodded. "Yeah, the battle of Eternal Love City is just a ruse. Their true aim was to ambush Dark Moon City, those sly b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"
……
Suddenly, a melodious ring entered our ears—
Ding~!
System Announcement: Player "Candlelight Shadow (Wind City)" has acc.u.mulated enough Kill Points to learn the Great Earth Transformation! After killing an enemy, they learned the Great Earth Transformation and became the fourth Divine General of China! They have gained Divine Energy: 200/200, Luck +2, Tactics +5, and an exclusive Divine General Skill, "Outer Flame"!
Outer Flame: Summon flames from the outside to attack all enemies within a certain area. The attack power depends on user"s stats. Skill exclusive to Candlelight Shadow.