On the Dusk Sea, two giant vessels gradually approached each other, quickly entering the effective range of heavy artillery.
“Open fire. Give them a greeting,” Leon commanded, staring at the Sardine in his field of vision.
The naval soldiers of the Heron Empire below moved in response. A full row of twelve heavy cannons quickly adjusted their angles, all aiming at the Sardine.
Shells the size of washbasins were loaded into the breeches. Sailors lit the fuses, and the sound of sizzling combustion followed immediately.
As the fuses burned out, the alchemical black gunpowder, packed with immense energy, ignited instantly. It erupted with full thrust, launching the heavy shells with a violent roar.
Boom—!
Deafening blasts tore through the air. Twelve shells trailed blazing plumes of fire, screaming toward the Sardine like falling meteors.
The nobles aboard the Typhon were shaken by the sheer power of the salvo, their faces lighting up with excitement.
The destructive force of such a bombardment far exceeded their expectations!
If anyone were hit directly by this, they’d be blown to smithereens!
The nobles' original tension vanished, replaced by a sense of bravado after seeing the artillery's power. They began to think, “I can do this!” and “The Mad Shark King is nothing but trash in the face of such firepower.”
However, a moment later, just as the twelve shells were about to strike the Sardine, a brilliant magical radiance suddenly lit up the ship.
A pale blue, arc-shaped magic shield completely enveloped the Sardine. The shells fired by the heavy cannons struck the surface of the shield violently, only causing a few ripples to spread.
Then, using its force-dissipating magic, the shield efficiently absorbed the massive kinetic energy and impact of the shells. None of the projectiles managed to penetrate the defense, eventually falling straight into the sea below.
This scene caused the faces of the previously cheering nobles to stiffen. They couldn't believe that such a powerful salvo had failed to even breach the Sardine's shield.
But Leon didn't care. He watched the scene calmly, knowing that with the magic reserves of that shield, the Typhon's heavy cannons would have to fire continuously for a long time to break through.
Behind Leon, Baron Pierce, the Lord of Eldenborg, was following Leon’s instructions. He held a notebook and scanned the nobles below, recording their movements and expressions at every moment.
After the Typhon's strike, the Sardine returned fire.
As a vessel produced within the last thirty years, the Sardine’s cannon barrels were inscribed with anti-magic runes, giving them impressive lethality against magical barriers.
The only problem was that the Typhon had no magic barrier at all...
The Sardine’s shells rained down. Those heading for the deck or critical locations were intercepted by Silver mages on board using magic.
As for the shells hitting other areas, such as the sides of the ship... the Typhon simply tanked them. Built over a hundred years ago, it lacked magic barriers but was constructed with such solid materials that its physical resistance was maximized.
After all, over a hundred years ago, the Typhon didn't face small-caliber shells like those on the Sardine, but giant-caliber rounds identical to its own heavy cannons.
Back then, shipborne magic shield technology didn't exist. Faced with such heavy artillery, the Typhon relied entirely on its sturdy hull to endure.
The impact of the Sardine's “small” heavy cannons was, to the Typhon, no more than a mosquito bite.
Both sides had exchanged greetings and understood that heavy artillery could not decide the outcome. Thus, neither side wasted any more time. They steered their ships closer, preparing for a boarding battle.
The fight between high-end combatants would be the true key to determining the winner of this crusade.
As the Typhon and the Sardine drew closer, the nobles on board could see the fully armed merman pirates on the other side.
“Why are there so many of them?” Zachary, the Mayor of Jellyfish Town, sensed something was wrong.
Normally, aside from the Mad Shark King and a few trusted mermen, the other merman pirates would be dispatched to raid various ships passing through the Dusk Sea.
Why were there so many pirates on this ship today?
Even if the Mad Shark King had received news today, it would have been impossible to gather all his pirates in such a short time!
“There’s a mole!”
Following this line of thought, Zachary quickly realized that the Mad Shark King must have known about their crusade in advance and called back all his subordinates early!
And the reason the Mad Shark King knew was definitely because a noble had acted as a mole and secretly informed him!
“This isn't right. Something is wrong. I have to tell Leon...”
Zachary snapped out of it and hurried toward the second deck.
However, before he could find Leon to inform him, Baron Pierce, who had been standing by Leon's side, intercepted him.
“Is there a problem?”
Zachary said urgently, “Go and inform Master Leon quickly. There is a mole among the nobles. This crusade was leaked in advance...”
“I see. I will inform Master Leon,” Baron Pierce replied calmly.
Then, he simply returned to the second deck and continued writing in his notebook.
Seeing Baron Pierce’s nonchalant attitude, Zachary was initially furious, thinking Pierce wasn't taking the intelligence seriously.
But he quickly calmed down. Pierce couldn't possibly ignore something that concerned his own safety.
Either Baron Pierce had already been bought off by the Mad Shark King and wanted to hide the information...
But if he wanted to hide the information, he wouldn't have let Zachary leave.
Or, Leon had already prepared for this...
A flash of insight crossed Zachary’s mind. He suddenly remembered how Leon had forced all the nobles to board the ship this morning to participate in the crusade together...
Zachary thought in shock, “Could this also be part of his plan?!”
...
The Typhon and the Sardine sped toward each other in the Dusk Sea like two deep-sea demon whales lunging at one another, colliding violently.
Boom—!
A world-shaking roar erupted.
The Typhon slammed hard into the pale blue magic shield on the Sardine’s surface. Instantly, waves surged toward the sky, and the entire ship let out a terrifying, creaking vibration.
The nobles and mayors on the Typhon were thrown off balance, but Leon and his group on the upper deck were completely unaffected.
Looking at the boarding hooks being thrown from the Typhon onto the Sardine, Leon gave the order in a calm voice:
“Board the ship. Annihilate the merman pirates.”
At the command, the Falcon warriors, the Blue Fox warband warriors from Stormveil City, and the guards from various towns and villages—all of whom were already prepared—moved as one. Carrying fearless courage, they leaped toward the Sardine!
“Charge! For the glory of the Heron!”
“Vile mermen, grovel beneath the iron heels of humanity!”
“Exterminate the pirates! Protect the peace of the seas!”
The soldiers knew nothing of the schemes within the upper ranks. They held only one belief in their hearts: this journey was to suppress the mermen and defend the stability of the Heron Empire’s borders in the Dusk Sea.
Therefore, everyone gave their all, throwing themselves into the boarding battle without reservation and launching a fierce assault on the merman pirates aboard the Sardine.
“Let’s go.”
Leon spoke softly to Miles and Viscount Finn beside him, and the three of them also quickly boarded the Sardine.
Stepping onto the deck of the Sardine, the merman pirates' expressions changed drastically upon seeing the three of them, and they scrambled to clear a path.
It wasn't that they didn't want to stop them, but for these low-rank mermen, the strength of the Gold rank was an insurmountable chasm.
Charging blindly would be nothing but suicide.
In the transcendent world, only high-end combat power could deal with high-end combat power.
Leon and the other two completely ignored these mermen, walking straight toward the depths of the Sardine's deck.
There, a merman emitting the aura of a peak Gold rank had been waiting for a long time.
He was a shark merman, slender in build, with a dorsal fin on his head and a magic wand set with a B- rank magic crystal in his hand.
He stood up from his golden throne, opened his large mouth filled with triangular teeth, and gave a slight, mock-polite bow to Leon and the others:
“Welcome, three guests from afar. I am the captain of the Sardine, the Mad Shark King, Gareth O'Connell.”
However, faced with the Mad Shark King’s pretentious greeting, Leon didn't even acknowledge it.
He lit a Light Prayer Orb, letting the burning beam of light shine on the Mad Shark King, and then raised his priest's scepter, pointing it provocatively at him:
“A low-born mongrel merman putting on airs in front of me, Leon Douglas? Who do you think you are?”
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