Chapter 262 – Eastern Conquest Plan 3 (1/2)
Something flew at a high speed across the sea and hit the ship.
The shock caused the admiral and Marcus to lose their footing roll around the floor of the Captain's room.
“Keuk…!” the admiral yelped in pain.
“What the hell happened!” Marcus yelled out once he regained his footing.
“I-I don’t know! Maybe we bumped into a blue whale…”
The admiral obscured his last words. Even he thought his conjecture was too fantastical.
A blue whale in the Strait of Isis…
However, considering the situation in front of them, no conjecture seemed to be out of the realm of possibility.
“Admiral! The ship has been damaged and we’re taking in seawater!” a deckhand shouted after opening the Captain’s room.
“In this state, we’ll sink in minutes!” another yelled out.
The sailors urgently poured into the Captain's room and relayed their reports.
The admiral stared out the window with a desperate expression.
‘What am I supposed to do in this situation?’
Jumping into the sea in this bad weather would be like suicide.
Therefore, it was probably best to change ships, but the other ships were being rapidly smashed at high speed by the pirate ships and Kraken.
“… It seems that this landing operation will be a failure,” Marcus commented with a calm expression.
The milk had already spilled.
He had to cut his losses and aim for the next opportunity.
“W-Wait, are you planning to use the return spell?” the admiral asked with an expression of abject terror.
“You’ve worked hard, admiral. I will not forget your sacrifice,” Marcus replied.
He was able to teleport back to the Imperial Palace of the Theresian Empire at any time through the return spell.
As he disappeared, the admiral fell to his knees with a desperate expression.
“Fuck…! Damn it…!”
The commander-in-chief of the operation had abandoned 100,000 soldiers! He only saved himself!
There was nothing left for the admiral, neither dream nor hope.
While the Admiral was cursing Marcus, the hull shook violently once again.
Kwang!
It was such a violent shock that the people gathered in the Captain’s room lost their footing, momentarily suspended in air, before rolling on the floor.
“W-What the hell was that?!” the admiral shouted.
“It seems to be a bomb!” a deckhand replied.
“What kind of bomb suddenly hits from under the sea?”
The admiral couldn’t even dream of knowing that the Nautilus was shooting torpedoes and detonating them under his ship.
As the Eastern Fleet gradually whittled down, Woohyuk made a satisfied expression.
“They’re really helpless,” he murmured.
The dark pirate ship glowed orange as it swerved to avoid the incoming cannonballs.
He was truly a skillful pirate.
Leifina and Woohyuk’s party expressed their appreciation.
“The Pirate King’s level of control is unparalleled.”
“I was initially concerned because our side only had two pirate ships, but my concerns were useless.”
This maritime war was conducted in strict secret.
It was difficult for Marcus to expect this sudden attack and take countermeasures.
Thanks to this, Woohyuk was able to easily defeat 100,000 enemies.
“The Theresia Empire will have suffered quite a bit from this battle,” Woohyuk commented.
“But I don’t see any ships running away. Wouldn’t Marcus be the commander-in-chief and retreat…” Leifina mentioned.
“He must have already run away. I believe there’s a teleportation device in the Imperial Palace of the Theresia Empire that he can use,” he replied.
Teleportation devices using magic engineering were useful, but they were so expensive that it was prohibitive for any organization to possess them unless they were large and wealthy, like the Imperial Palace or the Holy Pope’s Office.
And for security reasons, not everyone was allowed to use them, so only Marcus probably escaped using the device. The 100,000-manned troops were probably sacrificed.
Woohyuk had already sent out the two Homunculus to capture Marcus, but they couldn’t find him.
“I guess you’ll meet Marcus again. Not in the sea, but in the eastern region,” Leifina commented.
“I’m confident that I’ll beat him,” Woohyuk calmly replied.
Even before his return to this world, Lightlord Marcus was not his opponent.
However, he never did have the chance to eliminate Marcus because others, such as Alice the Queen of Thorns, Necromancer Logan, and Fire Dragon Lord Ivanov, had kept him in check.
Hearing the screams of the imperial army from afar, Woohyuk intently redoubled his resolve.
***
“Tremendous work, Hero King. I owe you in many ways,” Ophelia said appreciatively.
Upon arriving at the Croix Principality’s Royal Palace, Woohyuk and his companions were greeted by Elf Queen Ophelia.
Woohyuk gave his party a break and followed her into her reception room.
“The Eastern Conquest expedition begins now. Your elven race has to pay attention to defending the Croix Principality,” Woohyuk said, reiterating their plan.
“Regarding the epic dungeon, we’re thoroughly managing it. Emperor Tiberius is also dead, so no one will try to enter through our defenses,” she replied.
“You don’t seem to be interested in a Divine Throne seat. Your quite good at using pure magic, so I think it’ll suit you well if you become the Earth God,” Woohyuk stated.
“Our elven race lives in harmony with nature. To be sure, there are some amongst us who want to occupy some of the Divine Throne seats, but I’m reluctant.”
Ophelia was not very fond of her people fighting and killing each other over a Divine Throne seat.
Therefore, she readily accepted Woohyuk’s request to blockade the epic dungeon.
Woohyuk nodded his head because he knew her disposition.
“You’re not greedy and you like peace over war. I definitely like that about you,” he commented.
“A-Are you complimenting me right now? I’m embarrassed to hear such words from you…” she said shyly as she turned beet red.
Contrary to her usual noble and official manners, she was innocent and pure in heart.
Woohyuk decided to tame her a little more.
“Why are you so shy? There are only two of us here.”
“That’s why I’m so sensitive. Didn’t you give me lemon jelly last time? Will you be offering more this time around?”