Chapter 359: Chapter 343: The Pinnacle Duel
In the "Tulip Alliance".
Although the Goddess Church also views the Wizard Community as adversarial.
However, actions and creations that benefit navigation seem to garner a unique leniency from them, such as the blatantly witchcraft creations like the "Siren’s Song," "Ship’s Figurehead," and "Alchemy Bomb."
In the Hilus Kingdom, however, various witchcraft creations are strictly controlled.
Even military "Alchemy Bombs" and civilian "Steam Engines," which are already quite common in other countries, are very rare, to the point where every piece of witchcraft in the military needs to be reported to the church.
Even the several "Legendary Battleships" that Hilus currently uses to dominate the seas rely on the Divine Art of the "Eternal Flame" rather than the witchcraft of alchemists or other Wizard Schools for their overall Extraordinary Transformation.
Of course.
The "Legendary Battleships" blessed by a Divine Spirit must have a portion of their ownership belonging to the church of the deity; this is indisputable!
Despite being the most noble king of the known world, Philip II, even under his internal absolute authority governance, cannot act entirely on his own whims as long as the church exists.
However.
Even such a strict church has no reason to limit the kingdom’s use of naturally occurring "Ocean Treasures," and since the start of the Great Navigation, many churches have unanimously declared these as treasures bestowed upon humanity by the gods.
[Ocean Treasure: Ocean Current Horn]
Though it doesn’t possess the divine power to control ocean currents, its effects are equally practical.
Ability: manipulate the direction of ocean currents and freely control their intensity (within limits).
Use on oneself can increase ship speed, achieving acceleration with the current and braking against the current.
Effect on other ships can even negate the effect of their sails, causing them to move backwards.
At this moment.
The "Storm Horn," under the combined effects of slowed currents and sail damage, was finally drawn into a boarding combat by the "Stendeburg."
Before the Hilus soldiers fired the first shot.
flo——
In a green magic spiritual light.
A dozen thick "Giant Transformation Vines" rapidly expanded and extended like pythons from the side of the "Storm Horn," rushing from below to the deck of the "Stendeburg."
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
The eight 9-pound cannons on one side of the main deck were violently overturned by them; the rolling barrels crashed onto the deck, causing the soldiers who had been standing in strict formation beside the cannons to be thrown into chaos.
"Watch out, it’s witchcraft, get out of the way!"
This was, of course, Aiven’s handiwork.
If they were allowed to use their high vantage point from the Level 3 Battleship to fire upon the "Storm Horn," just a few grape bombs could easily wipe out the ordinary soldiers on the entire deck.
Even if they finally managed to board the Level 3 Battleship, it would inevitably come at the cost of enormous casualties!
Bam——
Then Aiven pulled out his "Thorned Gold Rose" and fired the first shot of the boarding combat.
Though he did not target the personnel on the "Stendeburg," his aim was the last cruiser coming around from the other side.
Despite the interference from the "Endeavor," the faster Level 5 Cruiser entered the battlefield even later than the Level 3 Battleship.
It only stopped after its steering wheel was shattered.
With boarding combat, in which Hilus excels greatly, already disadvantageous for them, being outflanked by another warship could make it truly dangerous.
After all, with just 350 crew against 680, they were already at an absolute disadvantage, let alone being on the offensive side.
"Catch this!"
He tossed his Thorned Gold Rose to Milan beside him.
"Stay on our battleship, and use ’Deceitful Fate’ if things look bad."
Then Aiven drew his Sword Staff and led the charge!
"Follow me on the assault."
Upon realizing that boarding combat was inevitable, the sailors on board were already assembled and ready.
"Attack——"
"Roar! Attack!"
Gary, clad in heavy armor, shouted, swinging his wheel battleaxe and following closely behind.
In this "siege warfare" at sea, don’t expect the opponent to abandon their height advantage and come down to fight you.
Though the Hilus Marine Corps is reputedly invincible, it doesn’t mean they have to engage in close combat; constantly firing from above alone can cause significant casualties to the Phaletis Navy.
Times have changed.
The main weapons of the Marine Corps are no longer limited to swords and other cold weapons.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!...
With dozens of bridges formed from the Giant Transformation Vines, the crew managed to charge directly onto the Level 3 Battleship from the "Storm Horn," and the height difference between the railings did not create the imagined advantage for Hilus.
After escorting a wave of lead bullets with long and short guns, amid the rising blue smoke, the two sides collided without any frills.
Clang——
"Attack!"
Crash!
Screams, shouts, and the sound of limb fractures blended together.
The naval battle quickly reached its most fierce and unavoidable phase, marking the most perilous combat for the "Storm Horn" soldiers since they set sail!
The Hilus side had the numerical advantage, a fierce combat style, and proficient swordsmanship, boasting an invincible reputation in boarding combat which was not without reason.
At the moment of engagement, it was clear that the ordinary soldiers of the "Storm Horn" were at a disadvantage by comparison.
However... Aiven had a trump card up his sleeve.
That is the result of his efforts over the past month, creating sixty sheets of "Activated Beast Hide" at a rate of two per day!
They were prioritized to equip the marines with the strongest individual combat capabilities, forming a powerful blades unit with an average strength at the Late-Stage Apprentice level.
Behind Gary, who was wielding a giant axe.
A group of soldiers with fish-colored skins of various shades wrapped around their waists shouted in unison:
"Roar! Invincible in battle!"
The "fish skins" on their bodies came to life immediately, extending and wrapping around them until they transformed into a group of strong alien warriors, whose average height was noticeably taller than others.
Their muscles bulged high, their skin was covered with shield-like scales, their dorsal fins stood erect, and their fish snouts fit perfectly with their heads. Although they retained many fish traits, at least they wouldn’t be mistaken for Fish Monsters this time.
The original owners of the fish skins could be identified from their exterior colors.
There were all kinds of shades: cyan, black, brown, deep blue, stripes... all the varieties, mostly various types of sharks, with some being fierce Tiger Fish.
The creations made later in the process appeared more humanoid, vastly superior compared to the original forms like Baldwin’s "Shark Monster."
Then.
In their first real combat, the team fully demonstrated its power.
"Charge with me!"
Under Gary’s leadership, the Fish Monster warriors boarded the "Stendeburg" like an unstoppable drill, breaking through Hilus’s military formation with ease, throwing them into chaos.
Immediately followed by the Phaletis soldiers, who maintained neat formations behind the Fish Monster warriors, surrounding and splitting the enemy formations, creating situations where they could fight outnumbered factions.
Even in the Hilus army, where the proportion of Apprentice Knights was high, the ratio of Late-Stage Apprentice Knights could hardly reach one-tenth.
Therefore, the Fish Monster team led personally by Gary achieved remarkable results in a short time, until...
They encountered a powerful Hilus Extraordinary: Colonel Stanley, the captain and a Tier 2 Senior Knight!
Amid the chaotic and crowded battle.
Sss—
Stanley quietly approached, with his Swift Sword lunging like a dark venomous snake from an unimaginable angle, directly targeting the tiny gap left between Gary’s helmet and breastplate for mobility purposes.
Although there was a special protective design even here, with a layer of chain mail made of steel rings inside, Stanley was confident that, with his swordsmanship skills, he could pierce through his neck with one thrust.
At this moment, Gary was still unaware of the threat.
Blood seemed imminent.
Bang!
A shadow came crashing towards Stanley.
At the critical moment, it was Aiven, with his vigilant eyes for every direction, swinging a captured Hilus soldier beside him as if launching a cannonball.
Though this large "hidden weapon" failed to harm Stanley, it disrupted his so-very-close sneak attack.
"Gary! Hold your ground, don’t charge too fast!"
After this, Aiven couldn’t provide much further support.
Because the strongest on this battleship, the army commander, and the fleet commander Colonel Reynolds Ban had already sought him out.
In wars involving Extraordinary individuals, neither side’s experts rely on sensing the opponent’s power to identify them because there’s a more straightforward method—by observing the military uniform on the opponent.
Especially among Martial Arts Faction officers, rank, position, and strength are directly correlated; a lower rank doesn’t necessarily mean a weaker individual, but a higher rank undoubtedly means a stronger one!
Moreover, in the previous battle, at just a distance of two to three hundred meters, Reynolds Ban could clearly see who was stirring up trouble on the "Storm Horn."
"Hah, I’ll have you die!"
Clang—
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their figures simultaneously voided.
The Swift Sword in their hands turned into a cold light, exchanging blows like lightning. Stomping on the sturdy thick deck of the Level 3 Battleship, it sounded almost like two multi-ton war elephants charging.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
The sturdy hull of the Level 3 Battleship emitted a spine-chilling creaking noise.
Wherever they passed, soldiers from both sides of the melee scattered, with nobody daring to stand in the battleground of two Peak Knights.
One misstep and one might be shredded into a pile of minced meat by the sharp sword winds.
Even the basic stats were already five times that of a normal person, and with swordsmanship techniques and Physical Liberation, the two were almost no longer the same species.
After some gentle probing.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
To avoid accidentally injuring their own soldiers, the two commanders swiftly leaped between the rigging and sail booms.
Sparks flew as they maneuvered swiftly and nimbly, like bolts of lightning.
A few breaths later.
They had simultaneously landed on the tall masts of the Level 3 Battleship, one standing on the left side of the mainmast’s top sail boom, and one on the right, facing each other across nearly 60 meters of altitude.
Whoosh—
The biting winter sea wind blew, yet their feet didn’t move a thread, their upright postures gently swaying with the mast’s swaying.
Both were experts with keen eyesight, fully aware that this was a direct manifestation of a high degree of physical balance, and both had an agility attribute inclination.
Envisioning the opponent simply falling off was quite unrealistic.
Moreover, with their current physical fitness, dropping down wouldn’t be fatal either.
Standing atop the mast, Reynolds Ban seemed slightly surprised at Aiven’s level of swordsmanship.
His gaze lingered on Aiven’s excessively young face for a moment before shifting to the Swift Sword in his hand, which seemed like a thin line of snowy light.
"You... also use a Swift Sword?"