LKS Hemhark, Lourian Navy 11th Fleet, Rodenius Sea, 8:25 AM

In a world full of magic, almost every person believed in deities or gods, and one reason would be signs from the heavens. Sailor Bair Nuom was part of the very small minority who didn't believe in gods, simply because he was unlucky to have his prayers and offerings to be left unanswered.

Though that didn't mean he wasn't knowledgeable with gods, along with their signs. Bair eyed the sky of the Rodenius Sea as they started to darken from the clouds. Whether it was in their favour or not wasn't something he thought of, he simply believed it was just the weather.

But trouble seemed to have brewed from home. Their fleet was tasked to patrol the waters of Qua-Toyne to make sure their transport ships would arrive while also to find any enemy ships to sink, even civilian ones.

Bair thought that was a big waste of arrows to even sink civilian ships but his less than intelligent fellow conscript sailors think otherwise. But alas their fun had to be cut off as they were now ordered to return to Jin-Hark immediately.

Even so that wasn't Bair's call and right now all he's useful for is being the Hemhark's errand boy. In his arms was a crate of arrows that he brought to the ship archers. Compared to his scrawny figure, the archers utterly terrified him. Their patriotism overshadowed by sadism that gave them an image of fear with their built bodies.

Bair perked up as he heard a voice, "Hey Nuom! Get up here!" He then looked back to see Captain Himloft as he beckoned for him.

Bair dropped the crate of arrows as he rushed to the captain, "Aye, captain?"

Himloft eyed Bair for a moment before he looked down to the deck to see that everyone was now about fully loaded with arrows. Soon he spoke, "I see you're finished, right on time. Send a message to our main mana communicator that we're fifty kilometres east of Jin-Hark. Expect our fleet to arrive soon,"

With that Bair nodded, "Aye sir," He then rushed down the ship. As he passed the rower's deck and then cargo deck, he then reached the communicator's quarters as he knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A gruff man's voice called out. Bair entered inside as he huffed.

"Captain said to send a message to the capital. We're 50 kilometres east of Jin-Hark and to expect our arrival soon," Bair said. The man nodded as he started to speak into the mana communicator.

With that Bair started to head upstairs back to the deck as he sighed in relief when he felt the sea breeze on his face again. He didn't have the valor of a captain or the strength of a warrior, but the sight of the seas was enough to calm him down.

However he then looked ahead and narrowed his eyes. What on Elysia is that? In the distance was a strange looking grey ship that was sailing towards them. What is that?

...

ITS Andrea Doria

"... enemy vessels spotted, captain. What are your orders?"

Captain Angelo Leonetti of the ITS Andrea Doria. Such a name of the ship was only reserved to famous and historic vessels of the Italian Navy. From the ironclad to the battleship, Leonetti only realised now that he was about to make history with the latest Andrea Doria ship.

He can see it now, when time passes by enough, the story of Italy's first war in Elysia and how the Andrea Doria took part in the pacification of Louria.

So why was he hesitating? He eyed the ships in the distance as he and his ship traveled parallel to them. They were just wooden ships, but he knew they were the enemy. And with that, he spoke.

"Engage the enemy fleet, make sure we get every single one of them," Angelo said as he watched his men carefully. For the first time in who knows how long, the Andrea Doria's guns will fire upon and destroy the enemy.

...

Bair eyed the ships before he looked to the captain, "Captain! Unknown vessel!"

The captain looked to Bair before he looked to his right only to see a single grey ship, except it had no sails and it looked huge. He then pulled out his nautical as he looked through it. There were two, no, three cannons. Suddenly a cannon started moving and slowly...

Sooner than he realised, Bair looked to the side only to see their fellow ship blow up. The errand boy nearly fell to the floor as he went wide eyed. The entire ship started to panic as the captain above yelled, "Orders from the fleet admiral! Full speed towards that ship! Men, ready your arrows!"

Bair didn't know what to do. He simply gripped the pole of the ship as he watched everyone else start to prepare for the battle. But even so, more and more ships around them started to explode.

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...

"... About seven enemy vessels approaching, sir. It seems like there's a second fleet coming as back up."

"Hm, alright. Call in some back up. If I'm right, the enemy might attempt to board our ship. That's how medieval warfare is. There are a lot of men so we may need additional ships for rescue," Angelo said with a firm look as he watched the Lourians start to row and row closer.

...

One by one the ships of their fleet exploded as if they were ants being crushed by the thumb of a little boy. The Garin, the Jame, the Royalty, all now history as they sank to the ocean floor.

The captain watched this in fear. And yet he could hear the admiral's orders to continue on. They were getting close, their arrows were finally hitting the metal vessel. Maybe they can board and raid it! Maybe—

Then the captain heard the pained yell of the fleet admiral through the mana communicator and soon enough, his own ship exploded in half.

Bair screamed in fear as he nearly fell into the ocean. He grasped the pole as their sails crashed into the water. He looked back to see his fellow sailors, some bloodied and gored as they fell into the endless sea.

He should've seen the signs. That was the sign of the gods.

"Captain!!" Bair spotted Himloft as the man had a bloodied head under his hat. He managed to catch him only to fall into the water alongside him.

...

Angelo watched the sight. This up close he could see the damage sustained before he eyed through the monitor their fellow vessels doing the rest of the work. And just like that, fourteen ships of the Lourian Navy were now defeated.

"Cease firing," Angelo ordered. He watched the scene beyond them, desperate sailors that tried to keep afloat on whatever rubble they could find. "Alright, get ready for the rescue operation. Take caution however, we do not want anymore needless death and violence."

...

The seawater stung Bair's lungs as he desperately tried to keep himself and Himloft afloat. And yet with his captain's armour too heavy, his desperate movements started to be overpowered by the water.

Bair's vision blurred up as he tried to swim back to surface and yet in his dizziness he couldn't even tell which way was up any more. His body desperately tried to keep afloat but his mind soon started to blur slowly.

Suddenly he felt a grip and quickly Bair felt the air on his skin as he gasped deeply and coughed out the seawater out of his lungs. He took deep breaths as an unknown voice behind him started to assist Bair, who shook uncontrollably while he tried to regain his senses.

Soon enough he looked to the side to see his captain be aided by strangely looking dressed men. Bair tried to speak only to be handed some sort of strange blanket. There he realised how cold he was as he held it close.

Bair looked around. They were quickly approaching the same ship that destroyed theirs. He looked back to the fleet or what remained of it. Nothing more than wood and corpses floating around.

Bair shuddered. They were surely to be taken as prisoners now. And yet, he realised that he preferred such a fate now.

The sea now utterly terrified him, and he'd rather stay in a damp cell than ever board a ship ever again.

——————————————————

Port of Jin-Hark, 9:03 AM

The smoke still hadn't dissipated from the air raid earlier today but explosions shook the capital once more as a second round of jets flew through the air.

"Oh shit!! Not again!" Patagene run up the castle towers as he looked out at the distance before he spotted their new target.

In the Lourian Navy HQ, Admiral Sharkun, a man with a thick beard and grandeur uniform along with Vice Admiral Hoyle who wore a thick hat and sported a moustache rushed to a window as they saw what happened.

"Oh crap! The metal beasts are attacking our ships!" Sharkun said before he rushed to a mana communicator, "We need aerial support! The metal beasts are decimating our fleet!"

"... Request denied, admiral! All wyvern stables have been decimated! Reserve wyvern forces are expected to arrive in three hours!" The reply said. Sharkun stood there dumbfounded.

Meanwhile Hoyle watched in shock as he eyed something else in the distance as he used his nautical. Multiple metal ships. One of them... was the source of the metal beasts! "Admiral! I've spotted some sort of floating wyvern fortress!" He said.

Sharkun looked back and rushed as he swiped the nautical from Hoyle and looked through it. It was far but he could see the metal beasts taking off and landing. "So that's their dirty trick, those bastards! Shit... our fleet, it's useless. They've sunk our ships before we even realised it!"

Hoyle looked out the window as his heart dropped, "I-I can confirm five iron vessels along with the floating wyvern fortress. Admiral..."

Sharkun then looked up. A metal beast was fast approaching. And sooner than he realised, something fell off the metal beast and just like that, he was gone in a flash of light.

...

Hark was really getting paranoid now. Once more deep in the castle, he could really use a bath if it weren't for the fact literal death was just outside. He held his fancy golden chalice as he drank more of the wine contained inside it which didn't help to calm down his nerves.

Patagene shakily spoke as he sat in his seat while he let off cold sweat as he gulped, "I've received reports that our fleets meant to subjugate the Qua-Toynian Navy has been destroyed... I've heard of survivors communicating through the mana communicator but it has been a while since then... As you've seen or heard outside, the Port of Jin-Hark has been decimated. It is also safe to say that Admiral Sharkun and Vice Admiral Hoyle have been killed in action. The HQ is nothing but rubble right now... We have at most about sixteen vessels left in hiding."

Hark gripped the chalice in his hand before he yelled as he tossed it onto the ground. The wine spilled onto the stone floor as he looked back, "WHAT IN THE GODS' NAMES IS HAPPENING!?" He yelled in anger as his subordinates sat quietly, "Just yesterday we were THIS close to taking the capital of Qua-Toyne and now you're telling me we couldn't even defend our own backyard!? Someone give me an explanation before I drive a stake down your mouths!"

Patagene gulped, "The surprise attack has left us dazed, y-your majesty. We did not expect such quick attacks from what we can only assume was Italy..."

Maus then shakily spoke afterwards, "Y-your majesty we have recalled a few forces from Gim to defend the capital. Majority of our troops are still besieging Qua-Toyne. Along with reserve forces from the corners of the kingdom we can expect an extra 10,000 men to defend Jin-Hark and 50 wyverns for support..."

Patagene nodded, "If we take Qua-Toyne sooner, we can use it as a bargaining chip to end the war. As far as I'm concerned, it seems the Italians can only dominate the air and seas..."

Maus nodded, "There are no enemy land forces that have been reported approaching the Eastern Subjugation Army. We... we might survive this."

"... We just might."