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Volume 5

Chapter 208: Arrogances in Collision

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The curvy mustache straightened and the indifferent but coldly gazing eyes began to glare at Thorn.

A pause of silence erupted between them and it was clear that Strike Commander Marshall D’Catch doesn’t take threats lightly.

“I will say it again, Commander,” Thorn said with an uncaring tone. “Relay His Majesty’s demands to your units in Alexandria. Stop the attack or His Majesty will chase you out of this planet with the wrath of heavenly punishment!”

[Hmmm…]

The mustached man looked like he was thinking as the way he looked at Thorn became serious and seemingly hostile. He crossed his arm and turned his head aside, his mustache moved, seeming to give orders.

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Inside the “Turquoise” Flagship, red and light yellow lights alternated into blinking as an alarm sound rung like a tsunami, shaking every strand of sanity on every soldier’s living soul.

“The Marshal has given the orders! Move it! Move it!”

“Make sure to check if your armors are in best form!”

“Give me more potions!”

“Remember your positions!”

“Prepare for battle!”

The captains of different platoons gave orders and the rushing soldiers —all NPCs, prepared their weapons and wore armors with shining intensities.

It was all because Marshall D’Catch had already given his command to prepare for the worst.

The straightened mustache on his face and the sharp glaring eyes looked at Thorn’s holographic rendering.

He waved his hand on his panel, the holo-panel of their conversation vanished and a [email protected] rendering of the two of them appeared on each other’s visions.

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Back in the platform on the grassland island behind Akhenaton, Thorn stood in front of a holographic [email protected] rendering of the full appearance of D’Catch.

Standing at the very front tip of the viewing deck of the “Turquoise”, Marshall D’Catch looked at the [email protected] rendering of the Right Minister, the now fully renowned Bishop White.

The two of them were just looking at each other with the silence of each party weighing the threat of each other’s words.

Breaking this stalemate, the assistant behind D’Catch saw a report on his vision and his eyes widened that his voice was shouting when he gave the report:

“Marshall…!! Three lock-on spells are being used at our Turquoise!”

Even though he had heard it, there was no change on the serious expression on the surface of the Marshal’s appearance. But it doesn’t mean that his mind wasn’t reeling and is weighing the consequences of the decisions he was planning to execute in his mind right now.

“Hmmm…” D’Catch could only grumble to himself.

Thorn continued, “I will give you five minutes to decide or not only we will obliterate you from the skies of our Akhenaton, we will also destroy the castle that you used to travel to Alexandria.”

Marshall D’Catch’s expression sunk even further as he looked at Thorn. And then, for the surprise of those listening on the broadcast in the nine islands, their eyes widened as D’Catch’s straight mustache revealed the outline of his lips for the first time when he spoke in a kind tone.

“Bishop White, I plead you to reconsider. The attack of our Legion to Alexandria is a part of a sacred mission we were tasked to accomplish. And not only the rulers of that city our longtime enemies, they also have stolen something that belonged to us.”

His voice was stern and solid, slightly hoarse and gruff.

A big man’s voice!

And yet, there was a tinge of restrained arrogance on his tone when he spoke. After all, the Blue Card Legion, as a whole, was really a strong organization even when compared to the behemoth of The Union, they can still hold their grounds.

Because they still have a large lifeline that half of the entire NPC merchant population of Terroa is a member of.

The Blue Card Merchant Group!

Only a stupid person wouldn’t think of this group as being not affiliated to the Blue Card Legion.

When he spoke about his request, there was no change on his demeanor and his pose. He was still cross-armed and now that he and Thorn is standing in front of each other, even though it was just a [email protected] rendering of their bodies, their height and their real appearances were clearly on display.

But Thorn didn’t budge.

“Two minutes.” He said with indifference.

Not only the already short five minutes shortened into two, this Bishop White was also a stubborn someone with the authority to look down upon him.

In fact, Thorn wasn’t even looking at him eye to eye.

Thorn… was looking slightly down, almost at the marshal’s knees. It’s not that he was not seeing him but he was really not looking at him and was literally looking down at the marshal.

“This guy…” When the marshal noticed this, a frown drew lines on his face. “It’s really such a pain dealing with NPCs with a stubborn personality algorithms.”

The marshal’s silence lasted for two moments before he cleared his throat and offered, “Can I invite you to a peaceful talk regarding some matters at least?”

Marshall D’Catch was actually worrying about the instance that he wouldn’t succeed his mission. His mission was to delay Donar’s party’s advance to the city… whether it was violently or peacefully, the reason why two division’s worth of forces was dispatched is because of the small possibility of a conflict arising.

The higher ups were hoping that this show of force will be enough to scare the Elder God’s forces into thinking twice before defiling the peaceful approach of The Legion into a violent battle.

With the stubborn stance of this Bishop White, that small possibility was slowly getting bigger and now that the Marshall’s demeanor had revealed their firm attitude to NOT issue the order to stop the attack in the city, the conflict they don’t want to happen is now gradually becoming a reality.

“Please, Bishop, there is no need to actually point your guns at us. We came bearing peace and only wants to talk about your visit. I hope that the Venerable Bishop will accommodate this lowly me’s request.”

“One minute.”

“Guh…!!”

At the sound of the indifferent tone of the Bishop and to the fact that the two minute margin became one, the mustache on the marshal’s face stiffened and his eyes flickered with disbelief.

No face was being given to him, to the flag of Turquoise, and to the flag of The Legion!

“I guess it’s the identity of the God, huh…” a hint of regret could be seen on the marshal’s eyes.

Strike Commander Marshal D’Catch could only shake his head as he look at the [email protected] rendering of the indifferent yet sternly arrogant Bishop White.

“I’m really sorry, Venerable Bishop, I…”

Contrary to the marshal’s expectations of a talk, Thorn’s voice rung before the mustached man could even finish his sentence.

“Burn them down the skies.”

It was a calm command and there was neither a tone of agitation nor even that of hesitation on the Bishop.

His eyes widened in surprise, the marshal’s heart skipped a beat as he was caught off guard.

“No, please wait!” before he could even speak further, his eyes looked up to see flashes of lights from the distance and this sight made him realize that the Church of Donar was really stern on their decision to burn them down the skies. “This is bad! Raise the shields!”

He turned his head back and roared, his mouth under his thick mustache opening wide in panic.

Alarm sound rung in the flagship and their five-warship formation quickly tried to raise their shields to at least defend the surprise attack of the three warships in the distance.

The Cyclones also began to move, scattering around and taking up positions, their artilleries pointing at the skies in front of them and started firing in a defensive sphere of dispersing fire.

Shield Mages positioned themselves in platoons atop their ships’ viewing decks.

They raised their hands and some raised their staves, some used wands, while there are others who used dolls or many kinds of unorthodox items as mediums to cast their Shield Magic spells.

But even before the shields were formed, the sounds of echoing cannon shots came into their ears, followed by the wind-piercing projectiles that flashed past the defensive fire of the Cyclone escorts of every warship.

B-B-BOOM—!!

Following that were the consecutive and simultaneous explosions of some unlucky Cyclones that floated like soldier bees around their queen.

In just one volley, over 13 scattered explosions rung and two in those were towards the leading flagship that carried the flags of the “Turquoise” and the flag of The Legion.

The marshal’s footing was rocked and he grabbed on the railing beside him to steady himself. His eyes then cast to the unmoving, indifferent, downwards looking Bishop White in front of him.

“What is the meaning of this?!” He growled. “You are attacking a peaceful vessel! We did not come here to cause any trouble to you. Why must you attack us?”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Following his words, a second volley of projectiles came unto them and after that were explosions that shot down eight Cyclones and rocked another warship on the left flank of their formation.

Reports after reports rung on his ears, black smokes came on the side of the warship on the left flank and the thick mustached Marshal D’Catch frowned with anger at the still indifferent person in front of him.

“Venerable Bishop!”

“His Majesty does not care about your reasons for attacking Alexandria but as long as you continue the attack, you are continuing to arouse His Majesty’s ire. I have given you enough time to relay a message but you, time and time again, insisted to delay all of the necessary actions. Every second you waste will be every second His Majesty’s anger towards you accumulates. As long as you do not relay our demand to your leader, you will continue to receive His Majesty’s wrath.”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

There was no stopping the sound of cannon fires and not even a moment passed after the last syllable of the words were spoken, the assistant behind D’Catch shouted a report that caused the marshal’s hairs to stand on end.

“Sir! Lock-on missiles are being launched against us!”

“What?!”

He casts his gaze at the three warships at the far distance and because he was standing at his warship, a zoomed image of a dense cluster of little white dots was released from the three warships of Akhenaton.

“Shet! Release anti-missile bogies! Prepare for anti-missile maneuvers! Give me HQ on the line now!” the marshal’s orders came one after another and he then turned his glare at the indifferent bishop. “Venerable Bishop, your attacks against us is a clear violation the Peaceful Approach War Negotiations Agreement of the Terran Inter-Continental Council. There were no warnings the negotiations are still in order! I request that you cease your attacks immediately or we will retaliate with violence against your forces.”

“Are you threatening His Majesty? Are you treating His Majesty, Elder God Donar’s, words as something that a lowly servant as yourself is able to decide upon whether it is important or not?”

“…”

“Are you implying… that because we attacked you, you can threaten His Majesty’s forces with your meager treaty? Let me ask you, who decided that His Majesty is part of your treaty?”

Thorn’s voice was calm but his tone was firm and very commanding. There was arrogance and authority on his words and not a sign of hesitation nor any sign of an emotion could be felt from his bearing.

“Are you really clear about the difference between our existences? Who gave you the right to question and threaten the decree of a God?”

Who gave me the authority to…

These words repeated itself on his mind over and over and upon realizing the implications of this question, he became clear about something that Kladis may have forgotten due to his fit of anger and fright.

“God damn it! There was no room for negotiations with this NPC in the first place! Unless it’s the absolute authority of the highest leader, there was no room for me to even speak anything to begin with!”

Marshal D’Catch could only clench his fists as the words he wanted to say were choked on his chest.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The subsequent explosions rocked his reeling mind as it all hit the already half-way forming shields of the Shield Mages.

One set of the missiles directly smashed at the shields on Flagship Turquoise and the people inside stumbled on their feet and were toppled over.

If D’Catch hasn’t been holding on the railings all these time, he would have fallen over. He looked up and saw another set of missiles being released from the three ships and he gritted his teeth as he issued an order.

“Retreat!” Right after that, he faced the indifferent Bishop White and then said with anger, “I apologize for the offense I have rendered at His Majesty, Elder God Donar, with my actions. We shall retreat here and will not linger anymore.”

The Turquoise Flagship emitted a rumbling sound as it slowly turned at its highest speed in response to his earlier retreat order.

But before it could even move twenty meters, the voice of the Venerable Bishop in front of him spoke with a threatening seriousness on his tone.

“Commander, it seems that you have not heard me the first time I have spoken.”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The missiles hit the side of the flagship and it was a focused volley of all of the missiles that even though there were the anti-missile bogies dispatched around the formation, the escaping missiles still hit the main warship of the armada and rocked them slightly off their position in the air.

Marshal D’Catch’s face paled and his chest rose and fell as he breathed air with astonishment.

“W-What do you…” he wondered clearly, what do you mean I didn’t hear you?

Didn’t you clearly want me to…

Right when his thoughts ventured on this direction, he recalled that one single demand earlier:

Stop the attack in Alexandria.

Along with that was the consequence of not following the demand, we will burn you all from the skies!

“Y-You won’t…”

He wanted to use the name of the Blue Card Legion to deter the NPC but he remembered that this NPC did not even care about the small treaty of the Terran Continents imposed by the NPCs of the continents, so why would it care about them, a small scourging group of people that doesn’t even hold real authority in the overall status quo of the countries in the continents?

Yes. After all, they’re only a Guild.

An entire country’s army is still stronger than their overall forces.

The Blue Card Legion can threaten other Guilds but that is only in the Guild Level of battlegrounds…

If it’s on the level of countries, perhaps only the Hydra Society who had a connection to Flowerion’s reigning Imperial Family can be considered to be capable of actually having the “right” to speak terms with Donar.

“Commander, His Majesty only has one demand on your Blue Card Legion: STOP. THE ATTACK.”

The last three words were uttered with the highest stress on every syllable. Thorn’s voice was like the grating of the will coated by anger and authority. It was the tone of a boss, something that the real Thorn in the real world uses on employees that doesn’t listen to his orders.

A moment past and the mustached marshal gritted his teeth and thought of things with bitterness.

Right after the last volley hit the shields of the Mages, a staggering assistant reported behind him, “Sir, I have HQ’s Deputy Commander on the line!”

Not waiting for anything else, another person appeared on the [email protected] connection between the two of them and on the shoulder of this man were four eye-catching stars that indicated his rank.

This man was a stern-looking officer and he looked at Thorn with a frown as he looked around him to see the bombardment that the Flagship Turquoise was enduring.

“What is the meaning of your attack?!” an angry scowl layered his face and he shouted at Thorn as if he was of a higher existence than him.

“Insolent fool.” Thorn replied calmly as if with regret.

Thorn immediately knew that this man doesn’t have the eyes to see clearly in between the situation. In short… a muddleheaded dog.

Following his words, the assistant behind D’Catch uttered a squeal as if he was choked and reported at his commander, “Sir, thirteen Bloody Mary Cannons are being charged from the three warships!”

Hearing the report, the face of Marshal D’Catch paled in fright as he spoke with respect at the indifferent NPC in front of him.

“I beg you, Venerable Bishop, please cease your attacks… my commander was clearly not aware of your status and your identity.”

Seeing the fear and the respectful tone of this respected mustached general of the Blue Card Legion, even the face of this Deputy Commander started to twitch and contort in an ugly manner.

He was clearly angry at the marshal when he was addressed as ‘not being aware of the NPC’s status and identity’.

“I have already given you His Majesty’s demand. If you delay further, you can be sure that his Majesty will destroy every single one of you and there will be no place in this small planet where you can run or hide.”

These words weren’t a threat or a request, nor were they a warning.

It was a demand.

Bloody Mary Cannons…

If spells have tiers and the highest known tier as of the moment is a Tier-5, and if warships are divided into tiers in terms of their overall combined attacking and defensive performance…

Then if this Flagship “Turquoise” has Tier-3 grade Hulls to serve as armor, then this Bloody Mary Cannon is a Tier-5 Offensive Armament.

Higher Tier beats a lower Tier. That’s a fact.

—and thirteen of them at the same time is…

This kind of damaging ability may be reduced when it passes through the Shields of the Shield Mages and even including the defensive hulls… they will still get at least Tier-2 damage without any restraint if it hits.

It was enough to render the inside of the ship into a floating burning piece of metal.

Lambda-Class warships aren’t made to endure attacks and if there is one thing that Bloody Mary Cannons are specializing about, it is its ability to have an incendiary effect when the ballistic rounds pierced through the hull armor.

Besides that, Bloody Mary Cannons are close-range ballistic weaponry.

In this range of 4km, in terms of warship-to-warship warfare, it is considered entry level mid-range attacking distance and exit level close-range attacking distance.

This is still the Bloody Mary Canons’ most effective range! Of course, considering that they were in the middle of their escape maneuver, all the more their asses are in display for these big guns to be burned.

“Deputy Commander!” Marshal D’Catch couldn’t help but to scream in panic at this Deputy. His arrogance was gained through his rank and he wasn’t used to be the one to bow his head in front of anyone except for Kladis, the Supreme Commander of the Blue Card Legion. “Please help me relay Venerable Bishop’s message to the Supreme Commander… they want us to stop the attack in Alexandria.”

“Stop the attack?!” the Deputy Commander looked at the Strike Commander with an incredulous gaze. Then he gazed at Thorn still wearing his scowl then back at the marshal then finally… at Thorn. “Who are you?”

Thorn remained not looking at him and only at the ground but he still turned his head and faced him.

“You are the Deputy Leader of the Blue Card Legion?”

“I am Deputy Commander Ravenous of the Blue Card Legion… I asked you a question earlier, who are you?”

“…”

Thorn did not reply and every moment that they waste in this clash of arrogance was every second that the marshal feels his ass being grilled.

Now that his flagship had almost completed turning around, all the more he fears the incoming attack.

This Deputy Commander’s arrogance from his military rank in The Legion was really something that makes the marshal’s heart stop beating.

Clearly —from Marshal D’Catch’s perspective— the Deputy wasn’t aware of their Legion’s standing in a world level.

He was in the presence of an Immortal but he thinks that he was only an ordinary Bishop of an ordinary NPC-related Church.

“Deputy… please… start minding your tone. This is the Venerable Bishop White of the Church of Donar, and His Majesty Elder God Donar demands us that we stop the attack at the Walled City of Alexandria. If we don’t stop the attack, they will chase us in every corner of the planet until we can’t even run or hide anymore.”

The Deputy only raised a brow at the marshal and then glanced at the looking down appearance of the Bishop.

After a moment, his lips curved upwards and shrugged as he chuckled, “Why must we stop the attack?”

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Arrogance to the bone!

How is the attack in Alexandria going stop now?

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