Chapter 248 (1/2)

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Chapter 248 – Patricia's Report

「They appeared in the seas east of Dew Roke about two months ago.」Patricia, the Supreme Leader of Vireocean, started.「Their s.h.i.+ps were huge, twice as large as the ones that we own, and beautiful, of a kind never seen before.」

「They are that huge?」Kaglai frowned.

Patricia nodded.「This is information we received from a merchant s.h.i.+p that somehow managed to leave Dew Roke and made its way to Ville Zentra. Fortunately, it didn't have much cargo, so it could sail faster and managed to escape.」

According to her, all the other vessels were seized by the invaders. That proved just how fast the enemy's s.h.i.+ps were.

「For the first eight days, they simply surrounded the island. We sent s.h.i.+ps to scout but none returned.」

「So they were seized as well?」Kudyastoria asked.

「It would appear so.」Patricia answered matter-of-factly. Contrary to her tone, however, her fists on the table were shaking.「On the ninth day, they made their move. A black smoke lingered above the island and Dew Roke fell on the same day.」

A simple fortress was actually built in Dew Roke, but the island couldn't really withstand a siege. But still, Patricia didn't expect the island to fall in just one day. After that, she ordered the navy to take back Dew Roke.

「I thought the size of their s.h.i.+ps didn't matter. I believed our navy was stronger than them. But we lost. We suffered a crus.h.i.+ng defeat!」

Their s.h.i.+ps sank before they could even get close.

「They're that powerful?」Marquedo sounded genuinely surprised.

「I don't know… But they clearly possess weapons different than ours.」

「What kind?」

「Queen Kudyastoria might not know about this, so I'll explain it first. The Vireocean navy doesn't engage in close combat. We end things before our enemies even get close.」

Since Ponsonia didn't have access to the sea, it didn't have a navy.

「We fire Spirit magic at a distance. For that we need two kinds of Mages—」

「Lady Patricia, anything more you say is highly cla.s.sified information.」Patricia's aide warned.

「You idiot! It didn't work against them anyway. There's no need to keep it secret.」she said. 「I apologize, Queen Kudyastoria. When you're at sea, there's only the water and the sky. So we mix both air and water Spirit magic.」

「Mixing magic?!」

It was no secret that combining two types of magic was possible, but applying it was extremely difficult, for Spirits repelled each other most of the time. The perfect balance of mana was necessary to pull it off.

After studying it for a long time, Vireocean was able to compute the proper mix ratio. The Mages must've practiced countless times.

「Of all the armed forces in the continent, only the Vireocean navy can use this technique in the frontlines of battle.」

Peering through the skylight, Hikaru nodded, impressed.

That was interesting. Can my revolver use a mixture of magic too? I should write Professor Katy a letter.

Kudyastoria looked impressed, but the frown still remained on Kaglai's face.

「You lost even with such a technique, yes?」the Emperor asked.

「Exactly. It has a 300-meter range, while they attacked from more than twice that distance away.」

「What?!」

「A black smoke rose from their s.h.i.+p and we heard loud noises that seemed to tear the very air apart. Then a flying ball of fire destroyed our s.h.i.+p.」