*Shlak*Shlak*Shlak*2000 rats dived below the dragon of war and started a massacre. After staying for so long near the ocean, they had learned to swim while holding their breath.
Hundreds of spears rained down at the same time, courtesy of his knights. Defensive formations, [Fear], and assassinations by specter scorpions made any organized attack on the ship impossible.
*Squeeak*
*Skeek*
The three rat kings coordinated from the deck and used team tactics similar to the players. Three scavenger rats acted like tanks and dealt with the fish’s offense. At the same time, four sawtooth rats attacked the same target from all sides.
*Swiiish*
Burrow rats were like torpedoes as they made good use of their mobility and penetrative tails. Their hit-and-run tactics left no room for the fish to mount a proper charge.
*ROOOOOAR*
“Damn, here comes a big one,” Franken turned the helm at 180 degrees and pointed hundreds of frost cannons towards the front.
A monster that looked like a baleen whale was charging straight towards the dragon of war. Worse, the 100-meter-long creature was leading a pack of dozens of smaller whales. The scene of these gigantic creatures swimming with their open maws was frightening to say the least. It felt like they were fighting against the entire horizon.
“Don’t just aim straight ahead. Disperse it.” Zyrus pointed at the coming monsters.
“What’s the point? A few random attacks from frost cannons wouldn’t even freeze their skins,” Franken retorted but did as Zyrus told nonetheless. He was sure that if he asked another question, he’d be met with a disdainful look from his companion.
*Splash*
White globes brimming with cold mana froze the ocean, but in the next instant, the frozen patches were broken once again by the whales’ momentum.
*Roooar*
“Heh, looks like they’re mocking us.” Franken scoffed and launched another volley.
“No wonder they’re trapped here despite their natural advantage,” Zyrus muttered but didn’t add anything further.
The frost cannons were lackluster in the ocean because salted water had higher resistance against freezing.
Forget about the whales, even the majority of players didn’t know how to take advantage of that. 5km…4km…2km…the distance between two sides kept getting smaller. For a creature of that size, a kilometer was the same as being a dozen steps away.
“Launch the torpedoes, all of them.”
*TaTaTaTat*
The entire ocean was lit up as hundreds of torpedoes pierced through the blue waters and exploded upon contact. Before the glare of their launch vanished, a much brighter explosion of electric arcs illuminated the ocean.
“What the-” Franken lost his hoof on the helm as he stared at the hellscape ahead. All of the whales were shredded into mincemeat. The process was so fast that they didn’t even have the chance to let out a dying scream.
The blood-red ocean was dead quiet. All that remained were chunks of flesh and crystalline spikes gleaming under the indifferent sunlight.
“Surprised?” Zyrus asked his companion with a smile.
“Just spill it will ya?”
“Saltwater can remain as liquid below 0 degrees as long as it remains undisturbed. Since the drop in temperature is caused by mana, it’s more stable than natural causes and therefore, more resistant to disruption. This allows us to use the timeframe of a few seconds to launch torpedoes when the temperature is just about to reach the limit.”
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“…I see. Are all arcanists like that?”
“Of course.” Zyrus replied as a matter of fact.
What made one an arcanist wasn’t just their knowledge. The application of said knowledge was just as crucial. For example, an outdated lab experiment from Earth could cause devastating damage when combined with mana.
Electric torpedoes didn’t just ‘disturb’ the saltwater below zero degrees. The explosion caused by it was filled with thunder attribute mana, and it hastened the speed and improved the piercing power of the ice crystals. What took the whales' lives was a combination of saltwater, low temperature, and high pressure; fueled by the reaction of two mana attributes.
“Why didn’t you tell the others then?” Franken couldn’t help but ask.
“They’re too inexperienced to use it. It’d take thousands of trials and errors before they get a success rate of over 50%.”
Zyrus knew better than anyone that the process he mentioned wasn’t as easy as he made it out to be. What's the concentration of salt in the water? What's the area-wise temperature change caused by each cannon shot? These were just the first questions that needed to be answered. Only after doing dozens of micro calculations based on the environmental data could one successfully replicate the present hellscape.
*Wuuuuuuuu*
A deep wail resounded across the entire area. Just when the players caught a sigh of relief thanks to Zyrus, they were surrounded by whales from all sides.
The dragon of war was under the most pressure as it sailed at the forefront. Nonetheless, Zyrus didn’t make a move. He simply observed the confrontation and gave a few pointers whenever he felt like it.
This was bound to be a dragged-out fight as the one leading the fish didn’t want to be encircled by Zyrus’s fleet. They sent out just enough forces to batter the frontline and launched waves of seawater from afar. Under the circumstances, the players had no choice but to keep marching ahead.
…
5 days passed by without much of a change. The fearsomeness of the sea monsters was apparent as they were able to maintain the same intensity of attacks despite losing so many of their kind.
“Our supplies might run out at this rate,” Ria pointed at the figure drawn on the scroll. Since she didn’t have a way to get out of the present situation, she had called Zyrus and the others to a roundtable meeting.
“What about the materials we collected?” Shi kun scratched his head as he thought of a possible solution. It was reasonable to think that the whales’ remains were useful considering their high levels and large bodies.
“Based on what we’ve learned, the war is in fact beneficial even after we factor in the cost of ammunition. But it’s useless for now since there are no production class players.”
“Tch…too bad then.”
“Can’t we just get the supplies from the base?” Jacob asked Zyrus who was silent throughout the meeting.
“We can, but I advise against it.”
“What about summoning some production class players from the first ring?”
“Haha…take a guess,” Zyrus curved his lips and leaned back on the chair. From the moment the preparation for the final assault began, he had been using his crown’s authority to summon combat-type players. They wouldn’t make a big change with their lack of experience and small numbers, but what about a year later?
His smile led the others to the same conclusion. Why was he hoarding ammunition even when they were in the middle of a troublesome fight? The answer was clear once they thought about it.
“Just…how long will we fight for?”
“Two years at the latest. Add a couple more if you perform below my expectations.”
His words sent a bucket of cold water above their heads. Just less than a week of nonstop fighting was getting on their nerves, then what about years?
“I know it's too soon, but since I’ve appointed you as Marshals, act like one.”
Zyrus’s words had a much deeper meaning which was hard to convey through words. “Leaving that aside, it’s about time we move on. Watch and learn,” he left the players to ponder on their actions and left the command center.
The past few days were for them to experience the essence of war. And today, they would learn another lesson.
Can’t solve the enemy’s strategy? The environment is unfavorable? Can’t play the mind games? Just flip the chessboard then. The biggest rule was that there are no rules.
“Disengage from the formation. Activate all speed and defensive formations and sail in random directions.” Zyrus’s orders dumbfounded all the captains, but they carried it out all the same. They had total faith in their leader’s ability to emerge victorious.
The fish had a reaction similar to the players. It was obvious that scattered players were easy to surround and get rid of, but was it that simple? If the fish had the capacity to overpower the players then there was no reason to employ the kiting tactics.
“The whales don’t consider the common fish to be of their kind. That’s the reason why they’re indifferent towards their death. The key here is this: The fish can’t sink our ships in a short time, and with the increase in area, the whales can’t cause tsunami-like waves either.”
Zyrus’s plan was pretty straightforward. Face cruelty with even more cruelty. The 1000 scattered ships were bait to lure the true enemy.
“Can’t they just use guerrilla tactics at the edges?” Ria asked with scrunched brows as she observed the scattering ships. She had to admit that she lacked the courage to use a bold move like this.
“You overestimate their intelligence and underestimate their greed.”
And Zyrus’s words were proven correct right after. More than a hundred whales surfaced on the ocean from all sides. 8 of them were as big as the one he had killed with glass shards, but what caught everyone’s breath was the gigantic creature leading them.
The whale longer than 200 feet didn’t just emerge from the depths; it swallowed the entire stretch of ocean above it. The maw big enough to swallow whole galleons terrified them all.
[You have encountered the Roaming Boss monster: Ketos]
Chapter 184: Ketos
8 min read