Chapter 134: One Volley
"What do we do now?" a Lord asked in a small voice.
Cassian remained silent. Kiku’s invitation had thoroughly disgusted him, but he also wanted to see what the others would choose.
Mercer spoke first.
"Our chances are poor. If you have Battle Essence left, spend it on your ships. Then form a wedge. We break out to the south."
His voice hardened.
"I failed to see this coming. My ship will take the point and buy you time."
Cassian gave a slight nod. At least the colonel was willing to take responsibility.
"You don’t need to blame yourself," Lydia said. "Who could have expected so many Mirage Ships?"
She turned to the other Lords.
"And don’t waste time thinking about surrender. Even if they kept their word and let us live, how would we face anyone afterward?"
The uncertainty left their faces.
Upgrade light rose from the Crown warships as their Lords spent the Battle Essence they had been holding back. Darian raised Resolute all the way to Level 7, bringing its size close to Ghost One’s.
Mercer gave the order.
Dozens of warships formed a sharp wedge and drove toward the Black Banner encirclement.
Kiku’s laughter rang across the water.
"If you’re so eager to die, then kill them! All of them! Don’t leave one alive—except my darling Cassian!"
Cassian gagged.
"My Lord? Are you all right?" Rhea asked.
The laughter in her eyes betrayed her concern.
Cassian shot her a look.
"Laughing at your Lord?"
Most of Fellwater’s ships were low Quality. There were simply too many of them.
At Kiku’s command, the smaller vessels charged straight at the Crown formation. They showed no sign of slowing, even as they entered main-gun range.
Cannons thundered.
Black Banner ships broke apart and sank, but no one aboard the Crown vessels looked pleased.
"They’re using these ships to drain our Energy and Aether!" Darian snapped. "Damn them!"
"And if we don’t shoot," Corin said, "they’ll ram us."
There was no easy choice.
Cassian alone was untroubled.
Cloudstride carried him several hundred meters above the fleet. There were more enemies than he had expected, but he still had plenty of confidence.
Even if the battle somehow went against him, he could withdraw aboard a Carrier and leave through the deep sea.
For now, he waited for the fleets to draw closer.
A minute later, he judged the distance and sent a streak of green light toward an enemy Hero within range.
"Disarming Toast."
[Disarming Toast activated.]
[Enemy Hero Miwa: Hero Command effect reduced by 100%.]
[Select an allied Hero to receive the increase.]
"Liora."
[Liora: Hero Command effect increased by 40%.]
Cassian smiled at the notification.
What a useful skill.
Liora’s Warships Command was Grade B. With its effect increased by forty percent, it surpassed an ordinary Grade-A Command. Across the fleet, the Ghost Carriers’ attributes climbed again.
Cassian considered the Mirage Ships’ defenses.
"Liora. Three Carriers to a target. Concentrate fire on the four Mirage Ships directly ahead."
Their concealment was too troublesome to leave intact.
He was done hiding his fleet. Everyone already knew he had a fleet they called Epic.
"Yes, my Lord."
"Wait."
From this height, Cassian had a clear view across the enemy decks. Unfortunately, that included something he had no desire to see.
He pointed toward the enemy flagship.
"Take that one first. I can’t stand another second of her."
Kiku’s profile portrait had certainly been altered to flatter her.
Liora did not know what had suddenly angered him, but she answered at once.
"Yes, my Lord."
Beneath the sea, eleven enormous ships began to rise in silence.
The closer they fired, the harder their guns would hit.
——
Aboard Fellwater, Kiku Muto was laughing.
The heavyset woman lounged on the flagship’s deck, her fleshy face shining with pleasure.
"They’ve delivered themselves right to us! Two days waiting here, and it was worth every moment."
She spread her arms.
"Twelve Mirage Ships. That’s what our superiors assigned to Fellwater to wipe out these Crown elites. You should have seen Daigo’s face when he heard. He was green with envy."
Beside her, a pale young man in a neatly tied bow tie hurried to agree. He was handsome, though he looked exhausted.
"Darling, they’ve finally recognized your potential. Perhaps they’ll nominate you as Tidecrown’s Governor next."
Everyone knew why Fellwater had received the opportunity. Its position was closest to the Temple, allowing a large fleet to move into ambush without attracting attention.
But Kiku liked what her companion said.
"Come here, darling."
She pulled him close. His legs were already unsteady, but he kept smiling and indulged her.
That was the sight Cassian had just caught from above.
A sudden commotion interrupted them.
Kiku’s face twisted with anger.
"What are you shouting about?"
"My Lord!" A Hero rushed to warn her. "A massive Energy signature, directly beneath—"
The whole ship shook.
[Under attack. Shield remaining: 82%... 53%... 28%...]
[Shield destroyed. Hull under attack.]
[Bottom hull breached. Internal compartments breached. Deck breached.]
Alarms shrieked.
"No—!"
A beam of Energy ten meters wide punched through the deck, swallowed Kiku and the people beside her, and shot into the sky.
Two more beams followed beside it.
Seventy-two secondary guns raked the flagship from below. The Epic vessel burst apart under the concentrated fire, its hull riddled with holes, splinters flying in every direction.
[Your Ghost Carrier has killed Lord Kiku Muto.]
[Battle Essence +60,000]
[Your Ghost Carrier has destroyed the warship Fellwater.]
[Battle Essence +6,000,000]
[Adamantwood ×200 | Frostiron ×200 | Additional materials recovered.]
Cassian burst out laughing.
Getting rid of Kiku was satisfying enough. The Battle Essence made it much better.
One warship could yield nearly ten times as much as a Hero of the same Quality.
Fellwater was not alone. Three Mirage Ships had met the same fate. Counting the troops and Heroes aboard them, that single volley had brought him thirty million Battle Essence.
The destroyed ships also returned a small portion of their construction materials.
Epic materials.
"Recharge immediately," he ordered. "Once the main guns are ready, take out the four Mirage Ships to the west."
Once he destroyed all the Mirage Ships, this Black Banner fleet could forget about escaping.
"Yes, my Lord!" Liora answered.
The Ghost Carriers’ concealment had made the strike possible. It hid them from more than sight; most detection skills could not find them either.
Seawater weakened Energy cannon fire, but the three Carriers that had fired on Fellwater were only a hundred meters beneath it. For warships hundreds of meters long, that was point-blank range.
Fellwater’s wreckage was already sinking before their eyes.
Enemy and ally alike stared at the sudden destruction. The Crown Lords, who had been bracing themselves for a desperate fight to the death, were the most stunned of all.