"Wow... this is really miserable." Standing on the long seawall, Aya lifted a small piece of broken wood and couldn't help but sigh. He had seen human wars in Luo Jing City before, but in terms of sheer visual impact, the back-and-forth between the army on the pure walls of the imperial city still looked slightly better compared to the fallen military port below.
"Gosh, how many people must have died here." Already within the tens of meters extending left and right from under his feet, nearly twenty bodies lay scattered. The strong scent of blood mixed with the salty sea air made Tiran feel a bit uncomfortable. The once beautiful circular inland sea within the seawall was now dotted with damaged and half-sunken ships, evoking a sense of pity.
Witnessing this extremely gruesome scene, Tiran couldn't help but speculate on what had happened.
Shuma had provided information on three deepwater military ports. Among them, the outer area of Pratlin Port directly opened into a wide bay, with terrain that was considerably different from the fortified Ikante and Berengar, where the kingdom had stationed heavily defended points.
However, the fleet from Glaucius had strategically exploited this difference, concentrating their main landing forces on the other two ports with slightly weaker defensive measures. Since the city of Ikante behind Ikante Port was now the capital of Milania, they chose to first take over Berengar for safety's sake.
From the current scene, it seemed that their plan had probably succeeded. Despite the resolute resistance of Berengar's defenders and the continuous firing from the shore's arrow towers and stone throwers towards the only entrance and exit on the seawall, they were unable to resist the enemy's landing craft due to overwhelming numerical advantage...
Wait a minute.
"This doesn't make sense, does it?" Tiran rubbed his chin, unable to comprehend it no matter how hard he tried.
The land forces of Glaucius amounted to only around two legions, approximately forty thousand soldiers. Even if they fully committed without holding anything back, according to the information provided, this number should not have been able to break through the coastal defenses directly.
It's worth noting that the coastal defenses were not limited to just conventional weapons; cannons and magitech guns capable of crippling a warship with a single shot were also deployed. Under a well-adjusted defense system, they could effectively block the only entrance on the seawall.
Even resorting to sacrificing lives, it would be futile under the concentrated suppression of barrages and sword rain.
"Hey hey, Miss Tiran, over here." Suddenly, Aya waved to Tiran. "I think I've found something incredible."
"Incredible?" Tiran saw Aya pull out another piece from a pile of wrecked warships. Judging by its cylindrical shape, it seemed to be a mast or something similar, and the size indicated it belonged to a medium-sized warship...
"No, Aya, have you become addicted to picking up trash?" The princess looked at Aya with a teasing expression.
Aya had a wry smile on his face. "So, is it true that falling in love lowers your IQ?"
"N-No way!" Tiran was taken aback by this remark, then blushed and glared at him, carefully examining the object in his hands.
Upon closer inspection, it did seem like Aya had a point, as just a slightly more careful examination of the wreckage in Aya's hands revealed that something was amiss.
The breakage.
Since this was a piece of a mast, under normal circumstances in naval battles or landing warfare, the breakage should have been irregular due to damage from cannonballs or giant crossbow-like projectiles. The fractured area should have been extremely irregular.
Yet, the surface of the broken mast in Aya's hand was unusually smooth and flat, feeling like it had been gradually sawed off by those saws in a woodworking factory... no, even smoother than that.
"This is like..."
"Chopped out with a sharp weapon, and cleanly cut in one stroke," Tiran stated his judgment, but it seemed a little off, so he also drew his sword and took another swipe at the broken mast.
Although the sword was just a regular steel sword, with Tiran's swordsmanship and enhanced strength from forming a Dragon Knight contract with Aya, one strike felt as effortless as cutting through tofu.
"Oh dear... Aya, that's quite something," Tiran exclaimed with a wooden tone of voice.
"Can you be more serious?" Aya sighed, covering her face, "We're in a battle here!"
"Well, I've always wanted to try out this kind of character, a peerless swordswoman with no equal, don't you think it's cool?"
"You're not peerless, you're more like a wooden chicken, and your original personality was much cuter... So what did you find?"
"Even if you praise me, I won't be too happy, you know..." Tiran slightly pulled back his hands behind him, but couldn't hide the smile creeping on his lips, "It's still about the cutting edge."
"Look at this cross-section I cut out. Although it was a simple one-cut slice, the edge is much rougher compared to the side that was cut off during the landing battle."
"If it were a pure sword strike, I believe even knights of the same caliber wouldn't be able to do better. The only ones who could probably do it better are those sword saints from the Divine Land."
"And because the edge doesn't exhibit any frost, burning, corrosion, or other Chi attribute effects, it's not a result of Chi enhancement."
"So..."
Aya felt like she might have found the right answer.
"Among the attackers who raided the Belferken naval port, there's likely a Holy Rank individual. This cut was probably caused by a tear in the space laws."
...
Approximately fifty nautical miles from the port of Prewetlin, a massive building floated lightly on the surface of the azure sea.
Naval Fortress · Invincible King
This was the pinnacle of the Gloreus Federation's magitech technology, utilizing a similar magic gathering array as the Fareast Star, but unlike the smaller devices that could be set up in the engine rooms on the Fareast Star, the entire gigantic base of the Invincible King served as its power source.
The Invincible King, unlike the profit-oriented design of the Far East Star, had enhanced military functions. It served as a frontline command platform and also as a maritime warehouse, storing a large quantity of military supplies.
The outer appearance of the Naval Fortress resembled a pyramid, with a dock on each side to accommodate medium-sized warships for rest and replenishment. However, after the Gloreus fleet had set sail in full force, one floating platform seemed somewhat deserted.
Suddenly, the gates of the dock facing the western coast of Milania rose amidst alarm bells, revealing a wide waterway inside.
But what slowly sailed into the dock was not a majestic battleship, but a small boat that required some attention to spot amidst the waves.
The boat, which looked like it could capsize at any moment in the surging waves, maintained a steady course towards the entrance of the dock. Standing at the bow was a figure cloaked in a hooded cloak, their face completely hidden in the shadow of the hood.
After the boat entered the dock, the gates and water passages of the dock closed one after the other. The small boat seemed to be propelled by some unknown force, quickly approaching one side of the dock. The cloaked figure disembarked from the boat, and the guards waiting on shore led them with reverence, guiding them through a labyrinthine passage all the way to the top of the pyramid-shaped naval fortress by the sea.
The top-level command room inside the outer wall, made of high-strength crystal, had already been cleared out, with only two people waiting there for quite some time. Although both individuals were dressed in military uniforms, there were noticeable differences in the cut, color, and decorations of their attire, and their epaulets and military emblems indicated their identities.
Admiral Teriman Scott of the Greaus Navy, and Major General Raymond Lewis of the Maston Army.
"Hehe, welcome, our great heroes," Raymond opened his arms to welcome the cloaked figure entering the door, but the cloaked figure easily sidestepped him, not showing any sign of annoyance, just smiling as he glanced back at Teriman, "You see, General Scott, Maston soldiers never lie."
Teriman nodded in agreement, showing a look of respect in his eyes towards the cloaked figure.
The frontline battle reports had already been sent back through the magitech communication device a long time ago. Within less than an hour, Beorgen Naval Port had been completely occupied, with the inventory of the warehouses and the assessment of prisoners of war all finished. This speed was equivalent to sailing the warships over and then landing the troops. The coastal defense line that Milanía had operated for many years had been breached in a short period of time, and the capture of the nearby Beacon City was almost a foreseeable future.
Placing the main fleet at the Preteren Harbor and using transport ships and landing barges with extremely weak naval combat capabilities to attack Beorgen. Although part of the reason was to distract the enemy, the confidence of Greaus to do so mainly came from the cloaked figure brought by Raymond.
"Holy Rank." That was Raymond's term for it.
As a fledgling island nation like Sainz that had established itself with magitech technology, the Greaus Federation had not produced experts reaching the Holy Rank through cultivation and training, so there was still some confusion about this concept.
It wasn't until after this battle that he finally had a clear understanding of the Holy Rank concept.
As long as it could be used effectively, a Holy Rank was an unparalleled weapon on the battlefield, especially when the enemy had no equivalent power to counter it, putting one's side in an absolute advantage.
The look in Raymond's eyes towards the cloaked figure had become somewhat different. To be honest, the decision to participate in the war was not initiated by Greaus, but requested by Maston, mainly to balance the substantial magitech weapons support provided by Milanía – especially Sainz's anti-aircraft guns for airships.
Also, because the Greaus Federation was invited to join the war, Teriman had always maintained a sense of superiority in his heart and would subtly demonstrate it in the cooperation between the two sides. However, the performance of this cloaked figure in the siege of Beorgen really challenged Teriman's perception.
Maston... with two powerful individuals like these, were they still concerned about not being able to defeat Milanía?
"Raymond."
At that moment, the cloaked figure suddenly spoke.
"This is the first time I have intervened. Don't forget your promise."
"Of course, Your Excellency. After the third time, you will receive the information you desire." At the same time, as a soldier and a noble, Raymond placed his right hand on his chest and bowed in a noble gesture, smiling in response.
