Almost Crushing Victory

SPLASH SPLASH- SPLASH~!

There was a strange occurrence that the member of the four major organizations was glad to come to know of, as their ships' protective barriers bent and dented before taking a slow time to recuperate. Whenever explosions from the pure energy shells crashing on the water went off, even as there were lots and lots of them, they didn't cause a gigantic and insane implosion of water as if the world decided to end itself and every life on it.

Still, there was a sudden outburst of pure energy shells from far away once more, and this time, it was even double from before. The sudden disadvantage in ‘their type of cannons’ left the members of the four major organizations completely speechless. They could only look at their protective barriers feeling afraid and silently.

When 48 pure energy shells came flying towards them, especially for those at the front in the center, even becoming thinner and shorter wouldn’t have helped. Each of them became bombarded more than 4 times in a row, and some even at the same time. The trajectory of those shiny, glowy things was too beautiful to elaborate on, they could tell that they were more beautiful when they were coming down at them than during or after exploding against their barriers.

The pure energy shells weren’t to be looked down upon even with his protective barriers, even as they were smaller than the one at the base. They were made for resisting both collision and heavy attacks everywhere. The amount of Powerful Stones needed for that wasn’t small, but also not too much. Besides that, the cannons that were yet not put into use were not as good in firing rate as the base’s cannons.

But they were still cannons, and their damage would be blatantly obvious as soon as they came into range, especially if they failed and hit the water, turning everything into a mess. But of course, with the base having Ciemnosc as its master, the protective array formations of his ships were just bound to be better in all general aspects than those from the four major organizations.

That’s why, Ciemnosc wasn’t going to let such obviously bad things for them - happen.

“Half a minute before the enemy’s ships can reach us!” The captain of Ciemnosc’s ship yelled, his body finding it slightly difficult to keep steady on the ship after only half an hour of rushing forwards. The other captains were more or less the same, while the rest of their crew was fine. It was only the captains that didn’t have both, the best battle prowess and experience in holding themselves.

To other students, they were worse than some sailors; and they only had a slightly better qualification in their Chief’s incredibly sharp eye. But in that, in the Chief’s head, these captains who needed more pushes had the best combination between Spirit Sense and cultivation talent. They only needed, as said before, that little push, and it would all be ‘well’. Even if that push must be exhausting and… or… cruel.

“Prepare the anti-projectile system,” Ciemnosc commanded, the captains nodded and once they had communicated with one cannon on each of their ships, they responded. “Ready, Chief!”

“Only aim to half their shells, detonate them right before they reach the water at the very least. The rest…” Ciemnosc gave a simple command, and all was well and done, but the finishing words he spoke were surprising, to say the least. “Tank the other half with our barriers.”

“!...” The captains became shocked. Right away, they gulped while mentally looking at each other, but likewise with their hearts growing thumper as they were to show what they were made of to their Chief and crew.

“Yes, Chief!” - “Yes, Chief!” - “Yes, Chief!”

As the captains shouted, in response, their crew shouted back out of instinct, not giving the impression that they were just following their captain’s orders, but also their very own damn hearts.

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH.

Lage bursts of water came about, rushing to the sides and up into the air as the canons continued to fire, the enemy’s barriers continued to dent, and this time even began to flicker in and out of existence. Some pure energy shells that were going to land on the barrier only and weren’t aimed well at the enemy ships went right through as they flickered out and landed on the water before the barrier flickered back in.

“Don’t let them fall on the water, or we will be trapped when we try coming back for a while!” Ciemnosc reminded everyone of the predicament should they allow more than a few enemy pure energy shells to hit the water directly, and so did the crew, their captains became more somber; and serious. Ciemnosc shouted again, this time followed by the ships’ crew and captains. “Fire! Kill them all! Don’t even try to keep their weaponry or structures safe for looting, destroy them!!”

“HUAA!!” - “Destroy them!” - “For the Rocaloi Academy and the west, let’s kill them all!!” - “HUA!”

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH- … …pum pum… Pum pum, pum pum, pum pum- whistle, boom- shank.

The ships came close to one another but were still more than 100 kilometers away from each other, but that was enough for the enemy side to be able to fire at them with their own canons. And so they did, as the 3 ships were traveling together and suddenly separated from each other at the utmost precision and speed, in complete sync and with each making moves of their own.

The ship Ciemnosc was on simply continued to lead on the front. The other 2 battleships were just a hundred meters behind the leading ship separated the farthest away, to a point where they stayed a few hundred meters away from the shores to the left and right, west and east.

They weren’t zigzagging or anything similar, directly and bluntly moving ahead with the momentum of a raging, roaring beast. Like a rhinoceros finding its mortal enemy in the middle of a plain, except with large amounts of water being pushed to the sides of each ship as their hulls sometimes flash with flamboyancy.

“The- the ships! Boss, those are the enemy ships?!” From the deck of the leading enemy ship, a member of the four major organizations yelled almost shrilly as he pointed at the massive things far away. They were clearly but barely visible, and though they looked small, their ships were noticeably smaller. It was like the ugly one from a couple where the other is a beautiful or handsome fella suddenly became conscious when in public.

“Shut up! Ready up the cannons!” The boss said, ragingly pointing at another disciple behind himself that was somewhat terror-stricken and immobile at the side. The disciple immediately feigned bravery and moved to the stern to communicate with the other near ships so they could also transmit the orders.

“Start aiming, and be ready to change the canons if the others are too slow! When I say so, you fucking shoot, am I fucking clear?!” While that was happening, the boss continued ordering his ship’s crew around. He looked at those in the center holding the 4 cannons already installed in the intricate contraptions as other tens of members held onto other canons freely and waited to see if the others were too slow once the fight started. So exciting!

The other believer who went to the stern of the ship was already calling out to the other ships nearby, who in turn asked questions because there was no actual leader and their actual boss might already be dead in the second port while the first port’s boss was still at the back and not following them close. He and the first port’s ships were either taking too long… or not even coming.

After repeated empty promises and acts of subservience, the believer convinced th either ships’ messenger to relay the boss’s order so that the other ships began t finally receive the news and the battle preparations were in order.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

On the other hand, the boss was now getting really anxious. There were no calls back from his Identification Token, specifically; from the first port. As he looked back over and over again, the boss finally let go of his hopes and looked far ahead, knowing this was a battle only for the second port to have. But his mind was, of course, not that calm, ‘Goddamit! If only they let us move faster by not taking our fucking resources! The second port might be done for all we know…’.

At the very least, the boss wasn’t actually equivocated. The second port was indeed hit by the few shelling of the cannons before, but that was only superficially, as little to no further movements were made against it. Other than that, the leading ship and the ship to the east, to the right, were the only ones who went through the second port’s structure and made a few gaping holes during the process.

Only the second port’s boss and this near crew were targeted, not leaving any behind to live but not truthfully caring about the relaying of their ‘ambush’. Since it wasn’t an ambush in the first place, and if anything, it was an invasion head on without any hint of trying to go sneakily… sailing tight into the enemy base.

“FIRE, FIRE, FIIIRE!!” The boss shouted as soon as he deemed it enough for the 3 ships to be attacked and gave the command to attack. The 9 ships’ cannons took some time to adjust, but their first 4 slow rounds of firing shells were done one after the other. Starting with the leading ship immediately along the 3 ships near it and then the other 3 around them.

Those cannons’ projectiles flew, and Ciemnosc’s entourage could only hear some whistles along with 1 of their canons becoming automatic and its team going to the other repair guys to help for the time being. When their cannons began shooting, the enemy’s pure energy shells couldn’t be seen except by Ciemnosc’s eyes or the surveillance system that only the captains allowed access from.

The 3 cannons in automatic fired nonstop, charging up their storage ammunition system on their own while the rest of the sailors stood by closer to the deck towards the stern of the ship. The captains remained in their position in front of the helm, watching the sky filled with their projectiles flying out and in their panels, watching them landing and exploding in the air, stopping from 1 to 2 enemy pure energy shells.

“!” It was a surprise, and they were about to congratulate the Chief for upgrading yet another already incredible ‘thing’. Yet, their brains were too good for being so naive, and when they looked much closer, they noticed what was up.

The enemy’s aiming was terrible, with some of their pure energy shells even flying far to the sides and landing on flat land or trees that, for some reason, weren’t cut down. It was to the point that even a few of the enemy’s pure energy shells clashed with each other, neutralizing themselves before even going past the 50 km mark.

It would be expected if ordinary people were using these unsophisticated and system-lacking weapons in the first place. But these were all cultivators, of at least the Spirit Gathering realm, so how could their awareness be this bad? It was also proper to say that these canons were new. Not ‘long range’ weapons per se in the cultivation world, but these canons were more like the actual ‘cultivator’s artillery’ that were new.

Even then, enemy pure energy shells still managed to reach the 3 ships’ structures. Some of their hulls were aimed and fired at as if leeches lunging onto fat, bloody prey. Of course, every single one of the enemy projectiles was sent into implosion as soon as they touched the protective barriers, which were looking to be of grander quality than those of the enemy ships.

The 3 ships were resisting every one of the incoming projectiles effortlessly, even as the enemy’s canons seemed to be really good… for aiming at really ‘close’ distances. On the other hand, the 3 ships never stopped firing once. Though they now had only 3 canons aggressively bombarding the enemy ships, they were enough to make those at the center afraid and start panicking.

The enemy thought that: once they also started shooting, the base’s ships would begin dodging around, and they could then employ the tactics they learned from their previous leader, now an undefeatable enemy leader. That way, they would teach them whenever they sailed back to their base after being crushed by how they used their leader’s tactics to defeat his troops.

Thinking positive was always a nice thing, but the thing about battles was that the future was always uncertain no matter the occasion and that weapons that were an actual threat to cultivators as those puny firearms are for ordinary people were just nothing these Spirit Gathering realm enemies could deal with after their protective barrier is gone.

Shank, ssh- shank, shank~.

The 3 ships continued to be attacked, their protective barriers at hard work while their light blue color blackened to an obscure blue whenever a bunch of enemy pure energy shells landed on the same spot over a short time over a few seconds. It was thoroughly acceptable, though, not getting any weaker or showing signs of starting to flicker.

On the other hand, the enemy ships nearing closer and closer to the 3 ships were now being bombed without a miss over and over again. The leading ship was especially hit on the sides, making it start tumbling left and right, somewhat drifting through the water from time to time, sometimes a lot but most of the time just a bit.

The 3 enemy ships behind and to its sides were getting the worst of it. Two of them already lost all protection since some minutes ago, before the direct confrontation of both sides firing at each other, they continued to be shelled once and again. One of them caught fire already, and a third of its whole structure started to burn down and collapse into the water as bits and chunks of its structured body plunged one after the other.

The other enemy ship without protection was being constantly bombarded subsequently, and in the places successive to the previous bombarded spot without error. The last ship that barely held on to its protective barrier array formation was being pushed back over and over again. It was a grand sight to behold as these monsters on the water were practically unstoppable by all.

Every time this enemy ship was shot right at its nose, or bow, it would be forced back for about 20 meters, even slightly jumping backwards. But immediately after, the ship would return to its previous speed without any hindrance and continue on speeding through the water that was becoming somewhat turbulent with the 2 sides’ incoming crash.

“Prepare for battle!” Ciemnosc shouted after quite a few rounds of shelling one another went on. The ships’ crew became invigorated as the captains turned to look at their crew while their crew looked at each other, and those who were in charge of the canons began to separate from the official repairmen and repairwomen. Their understanding of each other’s roles and objectives was easily seen through, but what was not seen by the crew was the importance their captains had over their lives, unbeknownst to their crew; of course.

Ciemnosc remained on his spot without moving, watching… as the enemy ships closed in by ever more contiguous. The teams of each ship prepared themselves, taking their weapons out and already holding some missile tools, Blue Quick Rollers, and even thruster tools.

“Prepared?!!” The team leaders of the respective teams in charge of crew-to-crew battles yelled as the 2 teams yelled back altogether. The team in charge of the other cannon wasn’t going to enter into the fray with the other 2 teams but they could very well use the tools and throw some more shit at the enemy before going back to the weapons to just go melee and destroy the enemy.

“READY, SIR!!” And the 2 teams of each ship yelled out so loud they could almost have made the water that is always surging upwards by the impenetrable hull parting it away below, but their cultivation base was still too low for that to happen.

“SET!” The team leaders shouted once more, and those holding the melee thruster tools began to take a position, each team at least holding 1 of those while the rest of their teammates each could carry a missile tool or several Blue Quick Rollers.

SPLASH SPLASH… SPLASH… SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH… SPLASH, SPLASH…

The team leaders of each ship, about to set out for battle, were then pretty nervous. They were all already the first ones to battle the enemy. And now, they were going to be the first ones to lead hand-to-hand combat with an enemy ship’s crew or several, which was going to put each of them under great pressure.

“Don’t die without killing most of them first.” Ciemnosc suddenly turned around and looked at the narrowed eyes of those team leaders more worried about doing their best to excel than in their own lives. His comment made the team leaders realize they could really die, but at the same time, invigoratingly encouraged them!

“Understood, Chief!” - “Heard, heard!” - “You heard the Chief. Go and kill!” - “KIILL!!”

These students, some even part of the newest 2nd batch of new students, clueless chickens waiting to be taught war and winning, always victory and never defeat some time ago. Had now become bloodlust warriors that were more than itchy to start destroying their unsuspecting enemies’ bodies and spirits.

They couldn’t wait to hook the enemy ships and start boarding left and right, massacring and making sure the big ‘ka boom booms’ were placed before leaving whoever was still alive but barely breathing to die along ‘their’ precious ships. It was never meant to be theirs anyway.

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASSSHH~.

The waters between the 2 sides finally became turbulent. The ships on the base’s side were making the most of it while the other 9 enemy ships, with some already starting to become fully destroyed but still moving, were not even making half the trouble as the 3 ships.

FWSSIP! FWSSIP! TUK TUK TUK~! Futomp, futomp, futomp.

Then an incredible, unbelievable sight unfolded, and at the same time, ‘continued’...

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