“Remember. If you kill any of them before I come back, you will be treated differently.”

“We will remember, Your Excellency!”

Raven spoke while pointing to the Winter Storm Pirates, and the rowers bowed their heads. It was Red Skull and Zagielka who had taken them captive anyways, and the two culprits had been annihilated. The Winter Storm Pirates had little to do with it.

Moreover, the Duke of Pendragon was their benefactor. They had to obey his words without fail. Most of all, they didn’t dare disobey when they thought of ‘those creatures’.

“Kieak!”

“Kyaruuu…!”

The rowers shuddered.

Only a couple of hours had gone by since the griffons had ripped apart the pirates with their talons. Just thinking about it caused a chill to run down their backs.

“Do not worry. The Pendragon family’s griffons do not harm humans without orders.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Leaving five griffons and a rider behind, Raven left the island with the 7th regiment.

***

Fwoosh!

Five ships broke through the waves.

“Hm…”

After observing the wind vane, the captain of the ship observed the sea in front of them.

Woooooh!

Ominous dark clouds filled one side of the horizon and the winds were strong.

But the captain did not look anxious or worried. Rather, his eyes were filled with trust as he looked at the back of the man who was staring out into the sea.

“Is the duke truly blessed by the goddess of the sea? How did he accurately predict that the storm would sidestep our course?”

“That is true. If we had left Isu Island four days earlier, we would not have been safe either.”

The young navigator shuddered at the captain’s murmurings. All sailors knew the dangers of a storm. If they could see dark clouds swirling slowly from such a long distance, the affected sea would have already been in chaos.

“The wind is a bit rough here, but it is warm. It is proof that the storm is receding. If we keep up the current pace, we should be able to reach the strait’s exit soon.”

“Yes, captain.”

The crew nodded vigorously at the captain’s words.

It was still dangerous, but without the threat of the pirate ships, they would be able to exit the Latuan Strait without much difficulty. The south would be right around the corner once they exited.

Of course, there were bound to be dangers ahead, but the captain’s expression was hopeful.

As he had done so far, ‘he’ would lead them safely to the south.

“Your Excellency! The 7th regiment has signaled that they are ready for battle!”

“I see.”

Raven’s expression became cautious. A much stronger opponent than the three pirates were waiting at the end of the sea. Although the storm would have destroyed more than half of its forces, the pressure brought by the name “Arangis was still considerable.

‘But…’

Nevertheless, he was not afraid.

The opponent was not the true Arangis fleet. Toleo Arangis had united the orc tribes with his tactics, but it had not been through ‘true’ naval battles.

He subdued the various tribes by mobilizing the sailboats and large-scale galleys owned by the Arangis Duchy to occupy the islands one by one. No matter how strong orcs were, they could not deal with the combined forces of thousands of troops and sea griffons.

Furthermore, the island orcs were composed of many tribes. Each island contained several tribes, and each tribe contained a smaller number of orcs. Even the most powerful island orcs, the Latuan Orcs, numbered barely over 500, and they had already formed a cozy relationship with the Arangis Duchy.

In the end, the 100 or so orcs of each island were unable to retaliate, and they were forced to resign themselves in front of Toleo Arangis and the Latuan Orcs.

‘If we fight in the sea… Our victory is guaranteed.’

Raven was certain.

Toleo Arangis had never battled against a 7th regiment battle ship. There would have been no reason for the second son of an imperial duke to engage in a life-or-death naval battle with the 7th imperial regiment.

But today, Toleo Arangis would experience a true naval battle.

Flap!

Raven turned away, his cape fluttering in the strong wind.

“Send a signal to Sir Moraine. From here on out, it is the battlefield of the 7th regiment!”

***

“Oh, shit!”

Toleo grinded his teeth and turned around at the sight of the looming dark clouds. His expression distorted when he saw the exhausted soldiers lying on the deck. The men had not been able to sleep a wink while fighting the storm for two days, but flames surged in his heart at the sight.

“Everyone up! We are leaving! What the fuck are you bastards doing!?”

“Ye, yes!”

Toleo roared, and the startled servants busily ran between the tired soldiers.

“Ugh…”

“Pwah!”

The soldiers raised themselves one by one, inhaling the strung rum in the leather pockets handed to them by the servants.

“Send a message to Vazalio and the orcs! The sea griffons should be prepared to fly over here within an hour, and the orcs are to gather on the coast!”

“Yes, captain!”

Soon, two seabirds spread their wings and flapped away with messages tied to their legs.

“Dammit! To think two sailboats and four galley ships would be destroyed. What am I supposed to tell my brother…?”

Most of the wrecked ships had been washed towards nearby islands, so they could sail again if they were repaired. Only around 200 troops had been lost. However, it was all in all a painful loss. They had lost half of the ships that were capable of combat and troop transportation.

“Even so, this won’t change your destiny, little dragon…”

Toleo muttered with bloodthirsty eyes. He still had around 500 orc warriors, including the Latuan Orcs, and around 20 ships.

He would be able to deploy around 30 griffons as well.

If the pirates had acted according to plan, the 7th regiment and Duke Pendragon would arrive after suffering considerable damage.

The pirates’ sailboats and their intact battleship would hold back the 7th regiment battle ships, and the Blue Dragon and the Latun Orcs’ sailboat would attack the Pendragon merchant ships along with several galleys.

“Hehe, I heard that you brought along three bitches? I will personally ‘take care’ of the two older ones and give the young one as a tribute to the Nameless Necromancer. Hhuhu… Huhahahahaha!”

Toleo burst into laughter. But he did not recognize that his laughter contained the bluff of denying his own anxiety that he felt since departure.

***

“Enemy ships spotted! One big sailboat! Two battle ships! Ten galley boats are moving along the coast!”

The barrelman raised his voice.

But unlike the time he spotted the pirates, his voice contained no fear. The victory in the first battle had bolstered his confidence slightly.

“Griffons standby.”

Raven spoke while examining the ships with his telescope. His words were echoed by Isla. The griffons spread their wings and hovered over the deck.

“Captain, as I said, as soon as the 7th regiment opens the way for us, the three merchant ships will head forward at full speed. Keep in mind that our opponents are the Blue Dragon and the galley boats.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

The captain nodded vigorously and grabbed the helm.

“We have stabilized the trim1!”

“Good! We will run1 with the downwind! We will be alternating between tagging and jiving, so keep a lookout!”

“Aye, captain!”

The exit of the strait was narrow. As such, it was considered one of the most dangerous areas in the sea. Coral reefs were randomly situated, and the current was fast due to the influence of whirlpools. It required quick, agile navigation of the vessel, so the crew prepared themselves.

In addition, the enemy possessed Blue Dragon and ten galley boats rowed by the island orcs, who were famous for their incredible strength.

If they slowed at any point, there was a high possibility of being surrounded by the galleys, and if such a situation occurred, everything would be over.

However, due to their nervousness, the captain and the crew of the Irene had forgotten the others that were aboard their ship.

“Keheung! Why is it so loud? Is there something going on?”

Having finally gotten over their seasickness, Karuta and the Ancona Orc warriors walked out from their cabins while showing their fangs with eyes full of anticipation.

***

“They are coming! T, two 7th regiment ships! They have two battle ships!”

“What?”

At the barrelman’s cry, Toleo brought his eye closer to the telescope. Just as the barrelman had shouted, two combat ships of the 7th regiment could be seen striding through the waters. Behind them, three merchant ships could be seen following at an interval.

“What about the pirates? Where are their ships!?”

Feeling that something was wrong, Toleo let out a roar.

“W, well… I can’t see them! I don’t see the pirates’ ships!”

“W, what…!”

The barrelman reported in an urgent voice, and Toleo involuntarily tightened his grasp.

Crack!

The precious telescope made of whale bones shattered.

“No way… Did those rat bastards betray us…?”

Toleo gritted his teeth at the unbelievable situation. Another scenario flashed by in his mind, but he did not dare utter it.

Because it was an absolutely ridiculous thought that could never have come true.

“Those sons of bitches…”

Fwoosh!

Orc Fear soared from Toleo’s body.

The three pirates had betrayed him.

Otherwise, there was no way that both of the 7th regiment ships and the three merchant ships would be sailing towards them without a scratch on their hull.

“I will kill you all… Dragon cub, pirate fuckers, all of you!”

Toleo gritted his teeth even harder as he desperately tried to clear his mind of the word ‘annihilation’.

It was then.

“Gah! S, something! Something is rising up!”

“What the fuck are you talking about? What’s rising up!?”

Toleo hurriedly looked up. He regretted smashing the telescope in anger.

“Something is behind the 7th regiment ships… Gah! Griffon! It’s griffons!”

The barrelman shouted as loud as he could muster. The shock of his words were delivered to everyone that was aboard the Blue Dragon, including Toleo.

“T, that…?”

Dozens of black dots were reflected in the gazes of the hundreds of people.

“Griffon…!”

A groan escaped through Toleo’s thick lips. He was already well aware that the Pendragon Duchy possessed griffons. But he had never imagined in his wildest of dreams that he would see their griffons in the inland sea.

Griffons hardly left their habitat.

Even with long periods of taming and training, it was impossible to keep griffons locked up in a narrow cabin for days on end.

In addition, griffons were known to be voracious. Bringing dozens of griffons meant one had to bring additional food that was equivalent to hundreds of human portions.

It did not make sense that they would be able to load dozens of griffons and the required food on one boat. But now, that very impossible event was occurring in front of them.

At a glance, around fifty griffons could be spotted flying across the sea breeze, throwing up cries filled with killing intent.

“Kiyaaaaahk!”

“Keuk!”

Toleo was awakened by the griffons’ cries.

“The sea griffons! Where are the sea griffons? Barrelman! Report!”

“T, they are coming! But the distance…”

The barrelman could not recite the conclusion to the desperate situation.

The Pendragon family’s griffons were in distance to arrive at the Blue Dragon at any moment, but 30 of the Arangis family’s proud sea griffons were more than 10 nautical miles away, just beginning to take flight.

“Fuck…!”

Toleo uttered desperately.

Each group of griffons would arrive within a short interval, around the time it took to drink a cup of tea. But Toleo felt intuitively that the small difference would bring tremendous consequences in the upcoming battle. Toleo felt as if he was standing on a cliff.

Trim – balance of the ship. Running – sailing more than about 160 degrees away from the wind. Luff- the edge of a sail.