The Duke's Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (100)

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

33 Great Naval War (3)

Finally, the naval war in the Eastern sea had begun.

The mermaids would never tolerate humans setting foot on their own turf so they were the first to make a move. Black fog covered the fortress built by the humans as the mermaids began to attack earnestly. Since the fortress was not built on a huge island, they had assumed that they could eliminate it quickly. After all, the sea was their home and their attacks would definitely be on a higher scale.

“Kraken!” 

The wizards on board the ship began to move at the appearance of the kraken that wanted to tie up the main fleet. The main fleet also began to move after the megalodon and the sea serpent appeared while Drake Unit and the Airship Unit, with plenty of commercial airships converted to military airships, moved to stop the Siren and the Sea Drakes. 

However, in just a blink of an eye, the Sea Army’s main troops had already gone near the rocky area. The crabmen and the sharkmen crawled up from the sea to occupy the fortress while the mermaids used their tridents to cast magic. 

At first glance, it looked like it was a battle where no one would be able to determine who was superior. However, when one of the mermaids created a tsunami with the sea, the wind blowing on the battlefield began to change. 

“It’s the guy who attacked the Command!” 

One of the soldiers shouted when he saw the blue-haired mermaid. 

It seemed like it was the mermaid who was on par with the Eastern Commander. He was the mermaid who knew how to cast a magic that was comparable to a magic master’s magic. 

But the huge tsunami suddenly began to freeze. 

“The Eastern Commander has joined us!”

The Eastern Army’s morale soared when the person known to be the best when it came to magic in the entire continent appeared. Seeing this, the head of the mermaid race stepped out with the black whale behind him. However, he was blocked by the Northeastern Commander Crimson’s storm sword.

The situation of the war began to tilt and turn into a long-term war. 

“Stop them! Don’t let them enter!”

“How dare you go to sea! You dirty human mongrels!”

While the battle between the mermaids and the knights raged on, a group was secretly moving on the other side. It was none other than the group of adventurers, mercenaries and other-worlders who came on the merchant ships. 

“Atlantis… We have to empty it to make up for our losses.”

The guild members of White Whale nodded at Kim Jungtae’s words. 

White Whale Guild was a guild that gathered the beta testers. And to make sure that they would gain profit, they had thoroughly prepared themselves before coming here. There were also several guilds with similar mindsets who moved according to their own plans. 

Kim Jungtae and the White Whale Guild haven’t achieved any of their goals in the East. At the very least, they wanted to secure the mermaids’ treasures and obtain some sort of title from this skirmish. 

“We need to reach the deepest part of Atlantis if we want to take over the East. To do that, we should use the mercenaries and adventurers as bait.”

Hearing Kim Jungtae’s words, the members of White Whale Guild immediately moved back to the second line of defense. They wanted to let the adventurers that were blinded by money move first.

On the other hand, the mercenaries stayed put and did not move recklessly. They were a bunch that valued their lives more than any treasure. They always made sure that their safety could be secured before moving forward.

And because of that, only the ship that carried the adventurers moved forward and pierced through the black fog fearlessly to get to Puerh Islands.

The mermaids, who were busy dealing with the Eastern Army and the main forces of the Northeastern Army, weren’t given any time to breathe and stop the adventurers from moving forward. After all, the Eastern Army now knew how to deal with them.

At first, the Eastern Army was at a loss on how to fight against them. The countless small naval wars against the mermaids had allowed them to learn about the mermaid’s behavior and attack pattern which helped them create a tactic to deal with them. Because of this, the battle between the two forces were on equal grounds.

This was one of the main reasons why the mermaids couldn’t stop the adventurers, mercenaries and other-worlders even if they wanted to. 

“Is that Atlantis?”

One of the countless adventurers on the ship couldn’t help but mumble blankly at the sight in front of him. 

The home of the mermaids. The place where numerous treasures lay slumbering. Utopia. The island of dreams. A place that had a lot of nicknames. Atlantis!

But what the adventurer saw was a place that felt extremely dirty. 

A huge dimensional gate was opened over a huge black sphere while a huge black island was floating in the air below them. The island was covered in black fog just like the Ghost Island. However, compared to Ghost Island which was only covered in black fog, Atlantis was also dripping a black sticky liquid that polluted and corroded the islands and reefs below. In addition, the dimensional fish and void insects were also roaming around and creating areas that were filled with contaminated mana while numerous mysterious creatures came over from the dimensional gate. 

The adventurer also saw something huge wriggling from a distance. 

“There will be treasures in that kind of place?”

The other adventurers also stared blankly at the sky after hearing this question. They finally understood why the mermaids did not stop them with all their might. 

“So, are you not going?”

Everyone turned to look at the adventurer that asked. 

“Did we come all the way here just to go back? Whether we die or become food, we have to go.”

“Yeah. We can’t go all the way here just to do nothing.”

“We’re not mercenaries. Besides, when did we ever care about our lives?”

The adventurers’ eyes regained their shine as they prepared to move forward to the island where Atlantis was floating on. 

They weren’t sure if it was purposely made like that or if it was for some other reason but there was a pathway created from the hardened black liquid that connected Atlantis and the center of the islands below. It was like they were saying that they needed to head there if they wanted to enter Atlantis.

Several airships also tried to enter through the sky but the void insects that came out of the dimensional gate blocked them with all their might. For the mercenaries and the adventurers, they had no choice but to enter Atlantis through the islands while being mindful of the attacks from the sky. 

As the adventurers’ ship entered Puerh Islands intact, the mercenaries also began to move forward. They sped up and headed towards one of the islands that was made of coral reefs. 

Perhaps it wanted to set fire to their greed…

“A treasure!”

“I found a treasure!”

When some of the adventurers shouted that they had found treasures, the other people began to flock to the islands like crazy. Even the other other-worlders, who watched the situation from afar, quickly led their ship to the islands. 

Meanwhile, the White Whale Guild just watched them before looking at Atlantis. 

“We’re going there.”

The members of White Whale Guild nodded their heads in agreement to Kim Jungtae’s words.

It was not the time for them to care about those. They believed that the real treasures must definitely be in Atlantis. Besides, these small treasures were most probably traps set up by the mermaids to bait them and their greed. 

―Kiyaaaaack!

“The Deep Sea Nymphs!”

The adventurers, mercenaries and other-worlders that were blinded by the treasures fell into confusion at the sudden appearance of the ancient deep sea nymphs.

No one expected that the deep sea nymphs, a race that had been known to be extinct since ancient times, would suddenly appear. The deep sea nymphs were huge creatures with hideous teeth and walked on two legs. Their appearance in and of itself was hideous especially when compared to the beautiful mermaids. 

However, what was more shocking was the fact that they weren’t the only ones to appear.

“What the hell is that?!”

“Was that the thing that the guys that did the reconnaissance saw?”

“Je… Jellyfish?”

It was extremely shocking to see jellyfish glowing purple and emitting purple lightning coming out of the water and walking around freely. 

To each their own. This was what they did once the giant jellyfish attacked them with their purple mana infused with lightning. They knew that they would immediately die if they got caught in that attack. 

Meanwhile, the ship carrying the White Whale Guild went straight and headed straight towards Atlantis. However, something also blocked their way.

“What… What the hell! A sunfish?!” 

“Why the hell is it so big?!” 

“Their numbers are too large!” 

The White Whale Guild struggled against the gigantic sunfishes that prevented their ship from moving forward. However, it was not easy for them to move forward with their large numbers. 

While the White Whale Guild, adventurers and mercenaries were all blocked, the converted war airships took advantage of the gap and moved diligently.

Thanks to the cannons and magic fired from the airships, a small number of drakes from the Drake Unit was able to break through the Siren and Sea Drake Units’ siege. 

“Is that it?” 

Gustav, who was riding behind the Drake Knight, looked at the huge sphere on top of Atlantis. 

The black sphere was placed on top of Atlantis while a huge dimensional gate was opened above it. It seemed like the sphere was connecting Atlantis and the dimensional gate. 

“Is that the Sea Orb?” 

Gustav looked at the Sea Orb, which was far larger than any mana core that he had ever seen, with a tired and exhausted look. 

“What do you think, Iron?” 

“It’s strange.” 

Iron tilted his head when Lintel asked him. He was wondering if it was truly the Sea Orb. However, strangely enough, he couldn’t feel anything. Compared to the incomplete mana core used in Ghost Island, the Sea Orb did not contain that much contaminated mana. It seemed like the priests and wizards also thought the same. 

“I think we should get closer first.” 

The Drake Knight flew towards the Sea Orb at the shout of one of the priests. 

Strange creatures immediately flew from the dimensional gate and tried to prevent the Drake Unit from getting closer to the Sea Orb. 

“Leave this to us!” 

Gustav led the Ghosts as they tried to stop the strange creatures with Drake Knights and drakes that they rode on. 

Creatures that were far smaller but looked extremely similar to Thulhupus extended their tentacles and tried to snatch the drakes from the skies while weird creatures that looked both like a shark and a snake flew into the air and attacked the drakes. 

While the Drake Knights and the Ghosts joined forces to block these strange creatures, the drakes that carried Iron, the priests and the wizards flew towards the Sea Orb.

When the sirens saw this, they stopped dealing with the airships and tried to fly towards them. However, the Drake Knights did not leave them alone.

“Stop them! Until the priests and Lieutenant Colonel Iron reach the Sea Orb, stop them!”

However, some of the creatures still reached them and some of the wizards and knights voluntarily fell back to stop them. Because of this, only a few priests, wizards and Iron reached the Sea Orb. 

“We’ll stop the enemies from approaching.” 

The Drake Knights drove the drake to stop their enemies after seeing Iron, the priests and the wizards landing on the huge Sea Orb. The people that stood on the huge Sea Orb immediately began their research and investigation. 

“It’s really empty.” 

“…Huh! What’s wrong with this…” 

“The problem was not the Sea Orb?” 

While the wizards and priests were all flustered at the unexpected situation, Iron was staring at the dimensional gate above them. 

He could see void insects coming out of the completed dimensional gate. However, they immediately exploded and died. It was as if their sole purpose was to spread the contaminated mana and maintain the gate. In other words, the dimensional gate was being maintained without the help of the Sea Orb anymore. In addition, it seemed like Atlantis was being maintained by the contaminated mana coming from the dimensional gate. 

So, what is the role of the Sea Orb?

“Is it working as a transmitter?” 

“However… is it even necessary? The dimensional gate is already completely opened, right?” 

While the wizards reasoned with him, Iron stayed still and stared intently at the Sea Orb. 

Then, he felt something deep inside.

Thump!

“Thunder?” 

When he felt the thump in his heart, he called out to Thunderbird. Fortunately, Thunderbird was able to give the answer to Iron’s question earlier.

“It’s working as an amplifier?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Literally what I said. It seems to be amplifying the contaminated mana and spreading it widely.” 

Iron looked at the black fog as he spoke.

“Then, do we have to break this?” 

“It won’t work. It wouldn’t break. The solution is… we need to clean it up as planned.” 

The wizards and priests nodded their heads. Since they couldn’t find any other solution, all they could do was proceed as planned. 

The wizards created a magic circle that covered the entire orb while the priests prepared their divine power to purify it. Meanwhile, Iron tried his best to detect whatever it was hiding inside the orb while synchronizing with Thunderbird.

Not long after, the priests spread their divine power using their holy items while the wizards began to amplify their purification with the magic circle. The Sea Orb was now being covered with a white light. 

As the contaminated mana inside the Sea Orb began to protest, all the mana in the surroundings began to gather. Just then, a presence that seemed to be slumbering deeply in the depths of the Sea Orb was caught in Iron’s senses.

“Caught you!” 

The thing that was hidden by the contaminated mana approached Iron.

―Me… Please kill me.

It was a poor being whose consciousness and spirit was worn out while its wish to disappear remained strongly. It conveyed its thoughts to Thunderbird who transmitted its words to Iron. 

Although it was weak, Iron could still clearly feel it. He could easily assume that this being was a noble and proud being in the past. However, it has now become infinitely weak and only wished for its own existence to disappear. 

The mysterious being eagerly stared at Iron as it spoke about its last desperate wish. Iron also wanted to grant the wish of this poor being. Knowing that he was the only hope of this noble being drowning in despair… he did not have the heart to deny it of its wishes. 

The only gift that he could grant to this poor being, who no longer had the will to live from all of the pain that it was being subjected to, was not purification or power. It was none other than ‘rest’.

“…Alright. I’ll make sure you disappear.” 

The weak being cried at Iron’s words before smiling brightly. 

At that moment, a contract was made between the poor and weak being with Thunderbird as the medium and Iron. 

―The heart of the sea and the mermaids’ God, I, Athergatis have signed a contract with you. I will grant your divine beast with the power of the sea in return for my extinction.

Are these God’s sacred words?

Something struck in Iron’s heart which awakened the slumbering Thunderbird within his subspace. At the same time, a weak force flowed in and began to amplify Iron’s divine power. 

―Please give me the gift of death.

God, who has passed on all of his power to Iron, appeared in the form of a child and looked at Iron. 

Iron reached out to this child sadly. He would give this child the gift called ‘rest’, the gift that this child desperately wanted…

***

TL’s corner

I’m not sad, you are.

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