Chapter 764 - Crete Island 2 (1/2)

The sea to the east of Rhodesia continent.

A fleet of around 200 ships were moving in the high waves.

The fleet was based on the Symphonia and Holy Empire navy, and aboard the fleet were top knights, wizards, and the fairy warriors of the Continental Alliance.

Warriors and zen users of the Song Empire and Yemaek were also included in them.

They were all under the command of Luke, the strongest Rune Knight on the continent, and the King of Symphonia.

Having organized an expeditionary force at the end of the battle at Bless, he was on his way to Crete.

There was a high possibility of Arsene’s Life Vessel hidden in the island where the Advanced demon Bargosa was hiding.

“Belfair, is Crete still far?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. At this speed, we will have to move another half day to reach it.”

Belfair was the guide for the expedition.

Thanks to Luke’s help, he managed to recover enough to guide them.

However, his power wasn’t great enough, nor was he willing to fight against Bargosa.

Bargosa wasn’t just made up of power, but he was one of the great advisors of the Devildom.

He was a bright and strategic demon, which Belfair worried about in the upcoming battle.

‘With Your Majesty’s skill, defeating Bargosa might be possible. But considering Bargosa’s personality, he won’t fight without any preparation.’

It was very easy for Bargosa to defeat a low demon like Belfair and turn away, but if he knew that his opponent was a formidable one, he would respond a lot cautiously.

Maybe he would call for reinforcements from the Devildom, or dig traps all over the Crete island.

‘Or there could be no such thing. Maybe he thought I was dead and let his guard down…’

“Belfair, what are you thinking?”

At Luke’s question, Belfair was a little startled.

“Your Majesty, I was thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to gather more power?”

“We have already collected all the power we can.”

In the past battle of Bless alone, 1,000 people were killed.

Considering the Undead and the two nations that were annihilated, the amount of 1,000 could be considered as a small sacrifice.

The problem was that most of the dead ones were Sword Expert or higher knights, and wizards of over 6th magic circle or higher.

In addition to the unavoidable death, many people were unable to find it because of the serious injuries which had resulted in amputation or breaking down of the mana circle.

In such a situation, Luke tried to mobilize those he could.

As it wasn’t known what all Arsene had planned on Crete. Luke even took along Count Philip and Marquis Rogers—who had conquered Libiya Kingdom, and even Karen was accompanying him on the ship, despite the pressure from Reina.

And if brought in all knights and wizards available, the force would be a lot more.

But, that didn’t seem like a good option.

If the quality of the expedition turned poor, it would end up turning into a weakness.

‘The problem is that we are still lacking in high-end power…’

Fortunately, there weren’t many skilled people who were in the reinforcements of Song and Yemaek.

And those who followed the two princesses to Bless, and the second reinforcements were all aiding to provide security to the Baroque and Libiya Kingdom.

However, some of the nobles were concerned about it.

The Symphonia’s council too were concerned by it.

It was because the soldiers of Song and Yemaek seemed like they were trying to hold the conquered nation as Song Empire’s or Yemaek’s.

Moreover, the controversy grew even more as the Song Imperial family crest was a two-headed lion.

It turned into a rumor that the Song Imperial family was a mixed blood of the old Libiya royal lineage, and that Princess Jo Mimi had come over to reclaim her ancestor’s land.

The rumors strengthened when a couple more rumors came around about a former Libiya princess, who was taken down by the Baroque Empire that would return one day and punish the Baroque Imperial family.

‘Well, it was true that they wanted the land.’

Not just the Song Empire, but even Yemaek had made the request for land.

However, the lands the two nations had requested for was just a small estate with farmland and a port attached to or near it.

They only intended to have a trading base and even promised to pay the annual rent.

Of course, it could change in the future.

The trading base could be turned into a conquest base in the future.

Even so, Luke had no intention of keeping them away.

Rather than worrying about what would happen in the far future, the priority was to get rid of the curse which had been destroying the nation for hundreds of years.

Five hours later, the fleet of troops which was being led by Luke entered the mist.

Karen, who was in the cabin, went over to visit her father who was on the deck looking at a faintly visible island.

“Is that the island?”

“Yes, princess. That is Crete. We need to be careful from now on.”

Belfair, who was next to Luke, replied coldly.

Philip, who was Karen’s escort, smelled and frowned at the sight.

“This smells like sulfur?”

“I sense that the closer we get, the more it turns.”

The mist surrounding the island of Crete was mixed with sulfur.

The volcano which destroyed the island 300 years back didn’t die down yet.

Perhaps due to that, as time passed, people began to develop shortness of breath, headaches, and dizziness increased.

Especially, the symptoms of people who were sailors had the worst symptoms, to the extent where ships would collide.

Belfair was a little confused with what he saw.

“When I came here, it wasn’t this…”