After driving back the fleet of the kingdom, Glaucus's fleet not only did not continue to attack and pursue the advantage, but instead retreated to anchor outside the maximum range of the kingdom's coastal cannons from the previous battle and formed a defensive line.
A few minutes, even tens of minutes, or even half an hour was understandable, but after an hour had passed, Remington began to realize that something was amiss.
"What are those guys up to, anyway?" Remington stood in front of the lookout with a serious expression. He had a terrible feeling that he needed to do something, but guarding the port of Preitlin was a heavy responsibility. Making a rash move and falling into the enemy's trap would not be worth it. His fundamental task was to protect Preitlin, and in a sense, the enemy's inactivity was considered a good thing.
In the next ten minutes, on Remington's orders, the kingdom's third fleet heading back to the port dispatched three small fast boats for reconnaissance. However, shortly after leaving the port, they were hit by the concentrated fire from Glaucus's fleet, resulting in heavy damage to two reconnaissance boats after just one round of attacks, merely testing the firepower strength of Glaucus's fleet.
"Not worth it..." Remington frowned. "What about the reconnaissance spells of the mage? Not ready yet? I sent the ships out and recalled them for one round already."
"Prepared and ready to depart at any time," Leon relayed the response from the accompanying mage.
In a situation where magitech technology had not yet fully developed and spread to the military, powerful nations equipped their large armies with accompanying mages to gain sufficient advantage in large-scale battles by using reconnaissance spells to gather intelligence.
The so-called reconnaissance spell was actually a Magic creature, or a "temporary alchemical product," a puppet synthesized from pure magic or magic combined with metal.
The puppets came in various forms, but to gain a wide range of vision, the most common form was that of a flying bird. In this case, a bird-shaped reconnaissance puppet was indeed a very practical type.
One by one, Magic puppets the size of swallows flew out of the harbor. Controlled directly by the mage through a mental link, with an average level of the accompanying mage, one person could manage three to five puppets simultaneously.
Several formations of dozens of swallows flapped their wings from high above and headed towards Glaucus's fleet.
However, as the swallows entered the reconnaissance spell's range, a large number of magical missiles emitting brilliance were immediately launched from Glaucus's fleet, swarming towards the descending swarms of magic puppets in the sky.
Under the control of the mages, the swallows swiftly maneuvered in the air, evading in complex flight patterns. The anti-air firepower of Glaucus's fleet was even more intense than anticipated. Many swallows were destroyed by magical missiles in mid-air, and the images projected by the magitech devices in the command post changed almost every ten seconds.
Despite the alarming rate of destruction of the reconnaissance swallows, as long as one could transmit back a close-up reconnaissance image, it would be considered a success. And in reality, each successive image was getting closer to the enemy ships.
Almost everyone in the command post had their eyes fixed on the constantly changing images.
It wasn't until a certain swallow's perspective was broadcast that Remington's heart sank. The ominous premonition in his heart had become a reality.
The image showed a huge warship, and in the eyes of these naval officers, it was easy to recognize the purpose of this ship. The broad hull and the large number of small landing craft hanging from the sides of the ship, as well as the lack of cannons and various armaments on the warship... Clearly, it was a troop transport ship.
But the issue lay in the captured image frozen in the final moment before being destroyed. Except for the sailors operating the boat, the troop transport ship seemed to be... devoid of any people?
At the same time, several reports from the military mages confirmed that in the fleet before them, several transport ships intended for carrying landing soldiers were found to be empty.
The Graevius Fleet's cross-sea operation couldn't possibly be just to bring over a few warships to scare them. So the question arises, where did the full load of soldiers that should have been on board go?
"Communicator! Immediately contact Ikante and Beirgen military harbors!"
Grimmond gritted his teeth as he began to scan the map for the three military harbors on the west coast of the Milanía Kingdom. The direction of the main force defending Prætlin Harbor was a feint, so where would the main attack be?
What he was most worried about now was Ikante City, the current capital, and its affiliated Ikante military harbor. After all, that was where the king resided, and an attack there, not to mention the actual potential loss, would be a significant blow to the morale of the Milanía military.
"General! All clear at Ikante military harbor, no signs of enemy presence!"
The communicator in charge of the magitech communication equipment reported loudly.
Thankfully, at least it wasn't the worst-case scenario. Grimmond felt a slight relief in his heart, even anticipating that he might discover the enemy's plan to distract them before the attack was launched.
After all, the warships of the Graevius Fleet outside Prætlin Harbor were real. Without these fleets, it wouldn't be a simple task for Graevius to forcefully land and occupy a prepared military harbor.
But reality dealt him a heavy blow.
"Report, unable to contact Beirgen port, magical communication may be blocked... or the equipment destroyed."
...
"Ugh... headache, dizziness, and nausea... feel like vomiting... Aya, do you think I'm pregnant?"
".... Isn't it just seasickness? Stop it, Mimi's eyes could kill now!"
Suddenly feeling a chilling killing intent behind her and seeing the maid captain's eyes shifting from blue to crimson in the cabin, Aya quickly stopped the princess from venturing into dangerous territory with her words.
The princess was now on the deck outside the cabin, breathing in the fresh air. Although the speed of this ship was sufficient, the comfort was truly harrowing, even with most of the people on board... or should I say most of the non-humans, being strong and having excellent constitution. Living such roller-coaster-like days consecutively was still a bit unbearable.
The only one who remained spirited and unaffected was little Chirp, well, even though he was not exactly human.
If another had to be forced in, perhaps little Angel, who was unconscious in the cabin after the battle in Loken, could be counted?
Oh, yes, after the battle in Loken, Tyrone successfully recovered little Angel, who had been in a coma. According to Kongming, when he defeated the angel possessed by the Holy Spirit, he actually used the rule to forcibly solidify the "time" of the Holy Spirit inside her, allowing Ural's soul to temporarily free itself from Yuan's control over the Book of Original Sin in this game-like way.
But because little Angel's soul was suppressed and sleeping by Ural, she would remain unconscious until Ural woke up. As for the solution, theoretically, only a being stronger than Kongming could erase the effects of the time rule and then release the two by breaking the bind between Ural's soul and the Book of Original Sin.
Being able to do this, Kongming was almost making it clear to the goddess in the sky.
Even Tiran didn't know when he would be able to see her, so he could only reluctantly use little Angel as a vegetable before that.
"Ugh... Aya, I feel so dizzy..."
Tiran lamented as he leaned against the railing of the deck.
"How about we do it like before, I transform back to my original body and carry you for a stretch? Or you fly yourself?" Aya proposed, risking a whip from Mimi behind her.
A few days ago, Tiran had used a similar method to alleviate nausea, but this time after some thought, he gave up.
"Forget it, we're almost there anyway. It wouldn't be good to attract attention being so conspicuous."
Granzon's suggestion was still to keep their return temporary a secret, after all, Holy Rank wasn't unique to Milanía, and being able to see the situation in the dark before making a move was obviously better than revealing their cards at the beginning.
According to the nautical chart, their ship was now very close to their destination - the deepwater naval port of Bergen near the Beacon City.
The princess was impatient to meet the treasures she had booked several months ago from a certain artist.
Soon, the outline of the land appeared in sight, and the buildings of the Bergen naval port were right in front of the ship's course.
"Wait... Aya, am I seeing things wrong?" Tiran suddenly tugged at Aya's clothes, furrowing his eyebrows.
"No, it seems like something's wrong," Aya replied confidently.
"Your Highness?! Where are you going?" Mimi asked in surprise from behind.
With the soul contract of the Dragon Knight between them, they could even communicate without speaking, and immediately took action, releasing their dragon wings and ice crystal wings, jumping out onto the deck and speeding towards the direction of the Bergen naval port.
The closer they got to the Bergen naval port, the heavier Tiran's heart felt.
Bergen Port was near her territory, Beacon City, so she had visited twice before for formal reasons. Although she wasn't interested in this type of architecture, she had some general information about it.
The second fleet of the kingdom's navy was stationed here, and rumor had it that part of the elite of the central army were stationed here to guard against the impending attack of the Glerius Federation. Most importantly, unlike the open bays like Preluethrin or Ikante, the entrance of Bergen was surrounded by two long seawalls, leaving only a narrow opening for ships to come and go. The coast was filled with arrow towers and small catapults, and the ballistic trajectories had already been calibrated. Once launched, they could instantly block the entrance to the sea, an absolute nightmare for attackers.
But what Tiran and Aya saw was a scene of ruins.
The position of the entrance and seawalls was littered with shipwrecks, bearing flags from both the kingdom's navy and Glerius. The water near the edge of the bay was stained red with blood, and bodies floated everywhere.
