Chapter 203 – The Ocean is … (3)

It looked like the migration of seasonal birds.
The approximately three hundred ships cutting through the water were moving in a triangle formation.

This fleet of ships had started from the Indomitable Alliance's Norland Naval Base.

At the center of the formation was the largest of the icebreaker ships that broke through the frozen northern shores. The helmeted knight was currently being healed at the highest cabin on this ship.

"How pitiful."

The Dragon Slayer started to frown after hearing the healer's comment, however, he could not speak properly right now. The healer sighed before casting a healing spell onto the Dragon Catcher's heart. ( Interesting how the author uses Dragon Slayer and then changes to Dragon Catcher in the next sentence. )

Approximately ⅔ of the heart was destroyed.
It would take at least a week to restore this damage. Even after that, it would take at least another month for it to heal back to normal.

He also came back without an arm.
However, the arm should be easy to restore once they informed the organization. The healer scoffed at the Dragon Slayer and started to speak in a mocking tone.

"Looks like you need to be locked up for a while like old man tamer."
"Shut, ugh!"

The Dragon Catcher could not finish speaking. The magic claw that had clenched his heart at the end of the fight was still causing him a lot of pain.

A third person who had been watching the helmeted knight and the healer started to speak.
The aged mage's voice was cold.

"A sword master just below your level, a necromancer, and someone with an ancient power that can block your sword once all exist in that small territory?"
"Yes."

The helmeted knight's attitude was slightly rude, however, the mage did not care as he continued on.

"And there is also a mage who is stronger than you?"

The helmeted knight flinched internally, but did not let it show on his face.

"Yes, it is a mage who was able to imitate my Sword of Disasters and almost destroy my heart."

The helmeted knight had seen a Dragon's eyes.
However, he did not mention that.

'I need to take that for myself.'

These bastards would take the Dragon for themselves if he mentioned it. They'll give him the Dragon's snood while taking the rest of the Dragon. ( The raws said snood, so I stuck with it. But…it is more like a neck vein when literally translated. ) That was the original deal that fell through when the Dragon they had in mind suddenly disappeared.
The helmeted knight recalled the pair of Dragon eyes that had looked at him.

'It wasn't an ancient Dragon based on the size of the eyes.'

He was certain that it was a young Dragon that had not even had its first growth phase yet.
The helmeted knight suppressed his heart that was beating wildly.

It was not that the Dragon didn't use Dragon's Breath, it was that it could not use it.

That fact brought the helmeted knight some bliss. If he worked this properly, he might get the opportunity to get stronger without the head of this organization, that crazy bastard, knowing about it.

'I will eat the second Dragon.'

The helmeted knight was thinking about this beautiful future. He heard the mage's voice once again as he did that.

"The sword master that is not at your level. How is his plate?"

Plate referred to a body that could hold ancient powers.
Ancient powers were known to be weak, however, that was just something that the stupid people who did not know anything had determined.

Ancient powers that were created in nature and have natural affinities that came directly from nature and not from humans. How could these powers be weak?
They just thought that they were weak because they did not know how to use them. Of course, the human-generated ancient powers were weaker than the ones with natural affinities.

The helmeted knight flinched at the mage's question, but answered with a calm expression.

"Not much. He didn't have a big plate."

The helmeted knight lied without any issues.
The sword master with the black aura actually had a plate that was about the same as his own.
That was why he could not tell them the truth.
If he did, they wouldn't have a reason to heal him. They would just go find another person with a similar plate instead.

"Hmm."

The old mage started to frown as if he was contemplating things.

"We will need to head for the Henituse territory as soon as we conquer the Roan Kingdom's shores. We need to get rid of them."

The helmeted knight clenched his hurting body as he urgently added on.

"That damn noble! I will kill that red-haired bastard!"

'He's the one with the Dragon's protection. I can take the Dragon if I get rid of him.'

It was possible to take that noble down with just one arm. He was someone who only had a shield and human regeneration powers.

The mage answered back to the Dragon Catcher who seemed to be getting angry at the person who had multiple ancient powers, just like he did.

"Whatever. It shouldn't be difficult if you, the healer, and I go together."

The Dragon Catcher did not disagree. The old mage and the healer were both useful, even though they were both also weaker than him.

The mage looked at the healer and Dragon Catcher for a moment before opening the cabin door. There was someone bowing to greet him outside.

"Sir, we are almost at the Roan Kingdom's northeastern shoreline."

It was the magic spearman, the same enemy that Cale's group had faced the most in the past. This was also the person who had used magic and spear arts together in order to betray the sword master and fake Holy Maiden, Hannah.

He bowed while looking at the three people inside the cabin. They all held a rank higher than him. These three were pretty much part of the organization's core.
That was easily visible through the red star on the mage's robe.
Unlike the white star and five red stars on the magic spearman's outfit, they all only had a single red star on their outfits.

Only five people had these outfits with just a red star.
These were the five that served the white star.

"We'll head out soon. I'll be heading to the front ship."
"Yes sir, I will escort you there."

The mage bowed his head at the old mage as the healer started to grumble.

"Didn't you say that the Roan Kingdom's naval base was shabby? Why do we need so many ships when they barely have any?"
"We're trying to conquer the Whipper Kingdom's shores at the same time. Plus, it's good that we did since the Roan Kingdom was stronger than we expected."

The old man casually brushed it off as he headed toward the door.

"More importantly, shouldn't we get them back since they landed the first hit?"

The healer smiled in a twisted manner as he nodded his head.

"I suppose so. The Roan Kingdom is probably only expecting the Indomitable Alliance. They probably have no idea that we are on the ship. This should be fun."

They were all used to the healer licking his lips as if this was extremely exciting. None of them argued against the young child's words.

However, there was actually someone else who was having the most fun right now.

Deep in the waters underneath the three hundred ships.
A Humpback Whale was swimming very deep in the ocean.

This Humpback Whale with an X shaped scar on her back, Witira, the future Whale Queen, looked toward the south.

'They are almost at the fourth boundary.'

The Humpback Whale started to smile.
She recalled what Cale had said last night.

'WItira, please take the Whales and destroy the Paerun Kingdom's shores.'

He then continued to speak.

'In return, we will obliterate the enemy fleet.'

'This is going to be fun.'

Witira became certain after seeing Cale's confident expression.
He was someone who kept his word. That was why she didn't need to see it with her own eyes to know what was going to happen.
Her large tail moved in order to change her direction.

Toward the north.
The Humpback Whale turned away from the fleet of ships and started swimming in the opposite direction.
Many Whales and whales started to move toward the north along with her.

These forgotten creatures quietly moved up to the north.

* * *

At that same time, a very quiet noise reached Cale's ear.

Click.

It was a signal sent by a mage.
It was the signal that the enemy had arrived.

Cale started to smile.

The fog covered the enemy's sight, but it had done the same for their allies.
Cale had no reason to hide any of his cards anymore.

The rest of the Roan Kingdom's people other than Cale's group all thought that Cale only had the shield.

Cale did not try very hard to correct that mistake. It was easier that way. You did not need to show your strength in order to live a peaceful life.
However, there was no need to hide it within the fog.

Wind started to blow over the ocean that was quiet once more.

Shhhhhh-

The fog started to spread farther as Cale started to move.

* * *

The fog stealthily spread like a cat's footsteps.

"Huh? Fog?"

The old mage who had left the ship with the cabin and moved onto the deck of the ship at the front of the fleet started to frown.

The white fog was almost covering the entire ocean.

'Did the Roan Kingdom's shores usually get foggy?'

The magic spearman next to the old man started to get an ominous feeling.

The mage started to speak at that moment.

"It is not magic."
"Ah, is that so, sir?"
"Yes, this fog was not made with magic."

Since the fog was not magic, it must be a natural occurrence.
What else other than magic could create such a fog?
The magic spearman was relieved and gave the order as the ships started to enter the fog.

"The waters are calm, but we are entering a foggy region, so raise the warning level to 1 to be cautious."
"Yes sir!"

A Norland soldier bowed and followed the magic spearman's command.
This ship mainly had Arm's people, while the two ships behind this one had people from the Indomitable Alliance.

The Norland soldier picked up a horn flute and took a breath in order to announce the magic spearman's orders to the rest of the fleet.
Yes, he took a breath.

He saw the fog in front of his face as he took this breath.

'I thought it was farther away, but are we already in the foggy region?'

That was his thought as he put his mouth on the horn flute. All he needed to do now was to blow.
It was at that moment.

Shhhhhh-

The wind made the fog start to spread. The mage started to speak loudly in order to be heard over the wind.

"This wind is made by magic!"

They heard a different noise on the deck at the same time.

Clang!

The horn flute fell.
The magic spearman urgently turned his head.

"Argh, ugh!"

The soldier who had taken the breath was bleeding from his mouth. The magic spearman who was still breathing in the fog as he watched this suddenly flinched as his body started to shake.

'Poison. Enemies.'

He quickly covered his mouth with his hand. However, the wind was already roaring around them.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

The wind rushed the fog toward them. Their surroundings were covered by the white fog in an instant. The magic spearman subconsciously opened his eyes wide as he started to shout.

"…What the...!"

Red fog. The fog was starting to turn red.
It gave off an ominous feeling.
This fog that was the color of blood slowly covered the ocean.

Raon, On, and Hong.
The red fog that was the combination of the three of them working together started to seep into everywhere that air was present.

"…Kek!"
"What kind of fog … ugh!"

Unfortunately, the fog hit the weakest people first.
The soldiers of Norland and the Paerun Kingdom all had their hands at their necks. All they could see out of their eyes was the color red.

The magic spearman quickly created a magic shield and picked up the horn flute.

Boooooooooooo- Booooooooooooooo-

War.
The noise that signaled for war instead of a warning echoed across the ocean.
That noise reached the middle of the fleet.

"What the hell?"

The healer, the young child who was at the central ship, jumped up and looked out the window.
He could see the red fog, as well as Arm's foot soldiers falling down while coughing blood.

"…Poison?"

The child's eyes changed. This was the healer's forte.

"I'm heading out for a bit."

The healer reached for the cabin door, but the Dragon Catcher grabbed the child's wrist.

"Stay here."
"What?"
"Here, ugh, stay here because I'm not healed yet!"

The healer was in disbelief.

The emergency healing was completed and all he needed to do now was rest. How could someone be so selfish? The people coughing up blood outside and dying were all a part of the same organization.
However, the Dragon Catcher's condition was a bit different.

"… I have a bad feeling about this."

The Dragon Slayer had an ominous feeling.

He had rested a bit, but his body was still not back to normal. It was still injured and he still did not have his other arm back.

That was why he felt better having the healer next to him, even if this healer was the weakest fighter.

"Haaa, I'll be back after taking a look at the situation outside."

The healer sighed and pushed the Dragon Catcher's hand away.

"Come back in 1 minute!"

The healer nodded his head at the shouting person as he turned the doorknob.

Click.
The door opened and the healer immediately left the room.

The Dragon Catcher peeked out the window once the door closed.

It was his intuition.
His intuition after being defeated at the Roan Kingdom's Henituse territory once already was telling him something.

The kingdom that had hidden a sword master, necromancer, and a Dragon probably had something else up their sleeves.

He tried to focus in order to be able to fight even though his body was not healed yet.
It was at that moment.

Click.

He heard the sound of the door, as well as the healer's hair.
The Dragon Catcher started to smile.
This middle-aged healer who looked like a child was sly but listened well.

"Hey, hurry back in!"

It didn't matter to him if the foot soldiers died.
He urged the healer who could be of some assistance during battles to hurry back in.

Screeeeeech-
The door opened.

Plop.

The healer who looked like a child fell to the ground.
The Dragon Catcher could see something red.

'Fog?'

The healer was covered by red fog. It then registered in his head.

"Shit!"

The Dragon Catcher immediately stood up from the bed.

Bang!

However, his body was soon stabbed into the wall by a black aura.

"Ugh!"

The Dragon Catcher let out a groan.

He heard a very quiet noise at that moment. He then saw a white glove. The Dragon Catcher had no choice but to take out the Sword of Disasters once again.

'This is the last time I can use it right now!'

It was difficult to maintain the Sword of Disasters for a long duration with his current injuries. A loud noise boomed in front of helmeted knight again.

Boom!

The black aura. The sword master who had challenged him at the Henituse territory.

He had appeared again.

Choi Han was quietly launching his black aura at the Dragon Catcher.

The Dragon Catcher barely managed to dodge it. However, he needed to step back once more after barely managing to dodge the first one.
Something suddenly appeared at his back as he did that.

A white glove.
The white glove that the person next to the sword master had put on had appeared behind him.
This person had the stealthiness of an assassin and skills at the level of a sword master.

Choi Han was in front and the assassin was in the back.

The moment the Dragon Catcher started to frown, the white glove immediately grabbed his neck.

"Ugh!"

A dagger was stabbed and twisted into the stub that was left by his shoulder. It was an extremely painful attack. Choi Han stabbed the Dragon Catcher in the stomach with his black aura before jumping up into the air.

Baaaaang!

The ceiling of the cabin was destroyed and the sky that was covered by red fog became visible.

"Ugh!"

The Dragon Catcher was dragged up above the ceiling while still being held by the neck. His mind was currently in a mess.

'How did they suddenly appear like this?! How did they also know that I was here if they appeared just now?'

Although Cale knew this thanks to the Whale tribe's information and Raon's magic, the Dragon Catcher and the old mage who were not at Raon's level of magic had no way of knowing this.

"Ugh, ugh!"

He glared at the man who was slowly choking him tighter and tighter.

It was an old man in his sixties.
Ron smiled back at the Dragon Catcher.
He, who had borrowed his son's white gloves, stood in front of his young master.

They were currently at the top of the ship at the center of the enemy fleet.
Cale looked toward Choi Han and Ron, who had dragged the Dragon Catcher here, and started to speak. This was the first time the Dragon Catcher heard any of them say something.

"Let's get started."

Oooooooooo-

The silence was broken by what sounded like the cries of a ghost.
Something that sounded like hundreds of souls crying started to rise up from the ocean.

The Dragon Catcher had no choice but to see everything because he was at the highest spot. No, he could feel it.

Tap.

The Dragon Catcher turned his head after feeling someone tapping on his cheek.

Cale Henituse was smiling brightly at him. The helmeted knight started to speak.

"…Y, you had another ancient power?"

Tap, tap.

Cale tapped on the Dragon Catcher's cheek and started to speak.

"Take a good look."

Ooooooooo-

The noise that sounded like ghosts crying was coming up from the bottom of the ocean.
Cale whispered to the Dragon Catcher.

"The cries of the ghosts are scary."

The bottom of the ocean started to roar.

Ooooooooo-

The noise stopped and a tornado shot up.

Baaaaang!
Baaaaang!

Cale's ancient power and Raon's magic worked together in order to create this tornado in the middle of the red fog.

Cale's eyes that were no longer smiling were focused on the Dragon Slayer.

He remembered his promise to everyone.

Obliterate the enemy.

Cale Henituse, no, Kim Rok Soo, was someone who kept his word.
Now he just needed to keep that promise.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]