Chapter 764: 764

The sea to the east of Rhodesia continent .

A fleet of around 200 ships were moving in the high waves .

The fleet was based on the Symphonia and Holy Empire navy, and aboard the fleet were top knights, wizards, and the fairy warriors of the Continental Alliance .

Warriors and zen users of the Song Empire and Yemaek were also included in them .

They were all under the command of Luke, the strongest Rune Knight on the continent, and the King of Symphonia .

Having organized an expeditionary force at the end of the battle at Bless, he was on his way to Crete .

There was a high possibility of Arsene’s Life Vessel hidden in the island where the Advanced demon Bargosa was hiding .

“Belfair, is Crete still far?”

“Yes, Your Majesty . At this speed, we will have to move another half day to reach it . ”

Belfair was the guide for the expedition .

Thanks to Luke’s help, he managed to recover enough to guide them .

However, his power wasn’t great enough, nor was he willing to fight against Bargosa .

Bargosa wasn’t just made up of power, but he was one of the great advisors of the Devildom .

He was a bright and strategic demon, which Belfair worried about in the upcoming battle .

‘With Your Majesty’s skill, defeating Bargosa might be possible . But considering Bargosa’s personality, he won’t fight without any preparation . ’

It was very easy for Bargosa to defeat a low demon like Belfair and turn away, but if he knew that his opponent was a formidable one, he would respond a lot cautiously .

Maybe he would call for reinforcements from the Devildom, or dig traps all over the Crete island .

‘Or there could be no such thing . Maybe he thought I was dead and let his guard down…’

“Belfair, what are you thinking?”

At Luke’s question, Belfair was a little startled .

“Your Majesty, I was thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to gather more power?”

“We have already collected all the power we can . ”

In the past battle of Bless alone, 1,000 people were killed .

Considering the Undead and the two nations that were annihilated, the amount of 1,000 could be considered as a small sacrifice .

The problem was that most of the dead ones were Sword Expert or higher knights, and wizards of over 6th magic circle or higher .

In addition to the unavoidable death, many people were unable to find it because of the serious injuries which had resulted in amputation or breaking down of the mana circle .

In such a situation, Luke tried to mobilize those he could .

As it wasn’t known what all Arsene had planned on Crete . Luke even took along Count Philip and Marquis Rogers—who had conquered Libiya Kingdom, and even Karen was accompanying him on the ship, despite the pressure from Reina .

And if brought in all knights and wizards available, the force would be a lot more .

But, that didn’t seem like a good option .

If the quality of the expedition turned poor, it would end up turning into a weakness .

‘The problem is that we are still lacking in high-end power…’

Fortunately, there weren’t many skilled people who were in the reinforcements of Song and Yemaek .

And those who followed the two princesses to Bless, and the second reinforcements were all aiding to provide security to the Baroque and Libiya Kingdom .

However, some of the nobles were concerned about it .

The Symphonia’s council too were concerned by it .

It was because the soldiers of Song and Yemaek seemed like they were trying to hold the conquered nation as Song Empire’s or Yemaek’s .

Moreover, the controversy grew even more as the Song Imperial family crest was a two-headed lion .

It turned into a rumor that the Song Imperial family was a mixed blood of the old Libiya royal lineage, and that Princess Jo Mimi had come over to reclaim her ancestor’s land .

The rumors strengthened when a couple more rumors came around about a former Libiya princess, who was taken down by the Baroque Empire that would return one day and punish the Baroque Imperial family .

‘Well, it was true that they wanted the land . ’

Not just the Song Empire, but even Yemaek had made the request for land .

However, the lands the two nations had requested for was just a small estate with farmland and a port attached to or near it .

They only intended to have a trading base and even promised to pay the annual rent .

Of course, it could change in the future .

The trading base could be turned into a conquest base in the future .

Even so, Luke had no intention of keeping them away .

Rather than worrying about what would happen in the far future, the priority was to get rid of the curse which had been destroying the nation for hundreds of years .

Five hours later, the fleet of troops which was being led by Luke entered the mist .

Karen, who was in the cabin, went over to visit her father who was on the deck looking at a faintly visible island .

“Is that the island?”

“Yes, princess . That is Crete . We need to be careful from now on . ”

Belfair, who was next to Luke, replied coldly .

Philip, who was Karen’s escort, smelled and frowned at the sight .

“This smells like sulfur?”

“I sense that the closer we get, the more it turns . ”

The mist surrounding the island of Crete was mixed with sulfur .

The volcano which destroyed the island 300 years back didn’t die down yet .

Perhaps due to that, as time passed, people began to develop shortness of breath, headaches, and dizziness increased .

Especially, the symptoms of people who were sailors had the worst symptoms, to the extent where ships would collide .

Belfair was a little confused with what he saw .

“When I came here, it wasn’t this…”

“It seems like he was up to something, might have guessed we would come here . ”

Luke immediately used purification magic .

At the same time, the wizards and priests on the other ships too began to use spells to clear out the mist .

Thanks to that, the condition of the sailors recovered .

‘But this isn’t the end . ’

If it was based on a plan, it meant that a lot more were ready to welcome them .

Just as Luke predicted, a second attack began .

Kung-!

“Ugh!”

With a sudden vibration, Auster shook .

Luke and the others who were taken aback due to the sudden sound and tremor, held the ship to balance themselves . A few of them, who couldn’t react, fell to the ship floor .

“What? Did we get stuck because of a reef?”

When Luke was asking, Hwang Bo-sung, pointed to the side and answered .

“Your Majesty, it is no reef! Look over there!”

Looking at the place Hwang Bo-sung had pointed to were huge animals across the current who were approaching the ships and hitting it .

Thud! Thud! Thump!

“Whale?”

“Ugh, these beasts are interfering!”

Scarlet drew an arrow to the whale due to the anger of stumbling on the deck .

Her arrow with aura hit the whale .

However, even after being hit, the whale showed no reaction .

He neither struggled in pain nor moved away, like a machine the whale came back to hit the ship .

“Are they being manipulated by magic?”

“No, it is like an undead whale . ”

Luke could jump to that judgment by looking at the whale which was attacking the Song Empire ship of Jo Mimi, which was 20 meters away from Auster . The whales displayed the characteristics of an undead .

The Song Empire battleships fired the cannons to hit the whales .

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The whales which got hit lost their dorsal fins, yet they continued to rush towards the ship as if nothing happened .

Even Auster wasn’t safe . A large whale swam in the sea ready to hit the ship .

However, its lower body was rotten with bones and internal organs hanging out .

“How dare they!”

Just before the huge whale hit the ship, Hwang Bo-sung used Trinity Punch .

The Undead whale was hit and shattered .

Patter!

“Tch, even using the whales to create undead…”

“He really does weird things!”

Philips and the other knights frowned as they saw the rotten flesh and bones fall on the deck .

“But one thing is clear . Arsene is right here . ”

At Karen’s words, Luke smiled

“When I hear that, my strength rises . ”

Having said that, Luke pulled out the Holy Sword Valiant .

After turning his Aether Globe to Divine power, he struck the sword towards the sea .

Swoosh!

The gold aura which had been condensed at the tip of the sword caused a wave .

As the column of water soared high, golden waves splashed in all directions with Divine power .

Keeek!

Kuak!

The golden waves made the whales that were close to it screech in pain .

The ones in the water melted right away, and those who were in the distance scattered .

“This is it! Destroy all of them!”

Pop! Pop!

At Luke’s command, the battleships of the fleet opened fire at once . The wizards attacked the undead whales .

Soon, the undead whales which threatened the fleet disappeared like a lie .

They were either destroyed or ran away .

Luke sighed as he found out the damage .

“Fortunately for us, there was no human loss of injury since the attack was mainly on the hull of the ship . However, more than 20 ships were damaged and there is water seeping in, so restoration work is under process . ”

At the report of Marquis Volant, who served as the captain of Auster, Luke nodded .

The sinking ships were alright, and the transport ships holding the Gigants were safe .

“Hurry up and repair . And don’t neglect the boundaries . We don’t know how the next attack would come . ”

“Yes, Your Majesty . ”

Hearing Luke’s command, the wizards carefully examined the sky and sea .

However, there were no more raids from the sea, and the fleet managed to arrive safely on Crete island .