Over the vast ocean, a large sailing ship with an unassuming exterior slowly sailed northward.
The deep brown hull bore no decorations, resembling an ordinary cargo vessel.
Only upon close inspection could one discern the rune engravings hidden beneath the wooden grain, and the faint silvery metallic sheen just below the waterline.
Defense matrices, anti-detection barriers, mana concealment, beast-repelling arrays, wave-sensing probes...
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this ship the pinnacle of the Church's magical array technology.
At the top of the towering mainmast, Sophia stood atop the pole, the sea breeze lifting her golden hair tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes, enhanced by skills, gazed intently at the distant horizon, the white square reticles in her pupils constantly zooming in and out, projecting scenes far beyond mortal sight onto her retinas.
"Still nothing?" A brisk voice called from below.
Bella nimbly climbed the mast and handed Sophia a fruit glowing with a soft green light. "Take a break. Your eyes must be dry from staring so long."
The ship wasn't short on scouting methods, especially under the command of Priest Samuel, a master of array magic. The detection arrays and counter-scouting barriers etched into the hull were more than enough for most maritime situations.
Yet all these advanced arrays and precise magical devices paled in comparison to Sophia's unique eyes.
Her superhuman long-range vision pierced through most illusions and barrier disguises, combined with brief foresight of trajectories seconds into the future.
Together, they made Sophia an irreplaceable "living radar" across this expansive sea.
Thus, since deciding to ambush demon vessels, Sophia spent most of her waking hours atop the mast.
Sophia took the fruit from Bella, the odd white square patterns in her pupils slowly expanding, then rippling away like fading waves into the whites of her eyes.
"So far, the only successful intercept we've made is that lone demon transport ship." She took a gentle bite of the sweet, juicy fruit, her tone tinged with disappointment. "Every other time, we've spotted organized demon fleets and had to steer clear. If only the islanders would lend a hand... we might actually stand a chance at cutting off the demons' sea routes."
"Don't count on those scum," Bella scoffed, her face full of disdain. "Thorough opportunists! Expecting them to stand up and face the demons head-on? I'd sooner hope the demons' main fleet gets swallowed whole by some ancient sea monster that pops out of nowhere—now that's more realistic!"
Of course, it was just venting.
The ocean teemed with powerful sea beasts, even terrifying individuals capable of sinking entire fleets, but most were dim-witted, acting on pure instinct for hunting and territory.
Like the beast-repelling array on this ship, which emitted specific magical pulses to drive away most sea creatures.
And this tech wasn't Church-exclusive—with the demons' capabilities, their warships surely had similar protections.
So Bella's wishful mishap was next to impossible.
Sophia was about to say more when her gaze inadvertently swept the northern horizon and froze. The white square in her pupil shrank to a pinpoint, her voice turning urgent: "Ships!"
Sophia's sighting immediately alerted the guard captain and Priest Samuel, who rushed to the upper deck. She relayed the details: "Northwest, three demon warships! One 'Siren-class,' two 'Bone-class'!"
"A Siren-class?!" Priest Samuel was mildly surprised. Their ship, by demon standards, was roughly Bone-class tonnage, while Siren-class were true behemoths in the demon navy. Such vessels always carried at least one Hall-rank powerhouse, let alone an entire combat formation.
A head-on clash might not be unwinnable, but with his duty to protect the Hero's growth, ambushing isolated weak targets for experience was one thing—facing a regular fleet with real risks meant evasion was the priority.
He decided instantly, as they had many times before: use Sophia's scouting edge to silently slip away from the fleet.
But Sophia suddenly raised a hand, adding urgently: "Wait, Priest Samuel! Something's off... Their hull runes are flickering nonstop. It looks like... they're under attack by sea beasts?"
Reporting this unexpected turn, Sophia instinctively turned, glancing at the still-clueless Bella beside her with a hint of disbelief—as if checking whether her companion's panel had suddenly activated some hidden talent called [Curse of the Mouth].
...
Meanwhile, the demon fleet was indeed under attack from the sea, but the assailants weren't ordinary sea beasts.
A half-demon with a bone-white blade embedded in the flesh of his right arm gripped the violently rocking rail with one hand, peering downward. The murky waves floated with scaled limbs and torsos—the remains of the snakefolk soldiers sent earlier to probe underwater.
"What kind of sea beast is this?" The half-demon turned to shout at the vampire viscount not far behind. "Captain! The first batch of snakefolk we sent down seems to be all gone! What's the plan? Should we have the mages freeze the whole area solid?"
The ship's defensive runes flickered ceaselessly, but tension was scarce in the half-demon's voice.
The vessel's defenses were top-notch; no sea beast could breach the hull in short order.
Besides, their true anchor, Lord Hess, hadn't even made a move yet—no need to panic.
Scraaape... scraaape...
A harsh scraping sound, like something hard dragging across the hull, echoed. The half-demon alertly scanned around but saw nothing.
"Fool! Get your head down!" The vampire viscount's sharp yell exploded from behind!
But the warning came too late. The half-demon felt a chill at his neck, and his vision spun wildly out of control. The last sight in his eyes was his own headless body, still standing, blood fountaining from the severed neck like a spring.
His head "plopped" into the sea, the spraying blood outlining a sinister silhouette clinging to the hull's outer side—six claws!
"Damn it!" The viscount cursed his subordinate's sluggishness and his own oversight, raising his staff embedded with a massive gem high.
The next instant, a kaleidoscopic orb of ever-shifting, multicolored light shot from the staff's tip, hovering in midair like a man-made mini aurora.
Under the orb's revealing glow, the [Refraction Shadow] on the six-claw beasts was dispelled one by one. Only then did the demon soldiers realize numerous monsters had already crawled onto the deck.
Without hesitation, bloody combat erupted!
The clash of unsheathed blades, the dull rips of claws tearing flesh, dying screams, and the beasts' hissing shrieks blended into chaos.
Though caught off-guard by the ambush, the demon soldiers aboard were no pushovers. After the initial scramble, they quickly stabilized with superior gear and individual prowess.
The six-claw beasts' stealth strikes failed to yield enough gains, and without that edge, they swiftly fell behind under the demons' ferocious counterattack.
Until a massive tentacle, lined with a toothy maw, burst from the sea and hauled itself onto the warship, tilting the vessel sharply!
At the same time, two enormous evil eyes, dripping seawater, surfaced above the waves.
(End of Chapter)
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