Chapter 385: Section 172: Red Flame Tsunami
“Is this guy really daring to attack the Navy Headquarters!?”
“How dare he do this?!”
After the shock, Admiral Bi Tong was filled with raging fury.
If the top combat power was counted, the Imperial Navy of the Holy Bright Empire had four Legends, and there were three legendary pirate groups. However, the pirate groups acted independently of each other.
The Imperial Navy had not been vigorously hunting down pirates because the sea area was too vast. There were very few direct confrontations between the top powers of both sides.
Battles like the one at the Sky Pillar Sea Eye were extremely rare. It was only due to Mei Lan’s Divine Seat that there had been a conflict of legendary combatants.
The Imperial Navy had not massively dealt with pirates, and the pirates hadn’t troubled the Empire too much either. After all, the Holy Bright Empire was the strongest nation in the Main World, and although merchant ships had been attacked by pirates, pirates treated all continental ships equally.
There had never been a frontal attack on the Empire’s ports by any pirate group!
But now, Firebeard had done just that.
He not only attacked the imperial port but directly struck at the Holy Bright Empire’s Navy Headquarters!
“Madman!”
“Do you know what consequences your actions will bring?”
Bi Tong, gritting his teeth, roared at Firebeard.
Firebeard laughed heartily with flames rising fiercely, rushing towards the Big Military Port.
“Hmph!” Bi Tong’s face turned icy cold. He didn’t give any more orders. The Navy’s quality was high; they immediately initiated defensive measures.
A giant barrier swiftly formed, enveloping all the vital parts of the Big Military Port.
The flames, which had been extremely scorching, were suddenly repelled by the barrier, and almost instantly, the temperature stopped its wild rise.
“We’re safe!”
“This is a Legendary Level Magic Defense Array! The Navy Headquarters is heavily defended; even Firebeard will fail to breach it!”
“Wait a minute, why is the temperature rising again?!”
The Navy personnel became alarmed once more.
The barrier, like iron melting in fire, quickly turned a bright red.
The amount of Demon Crystals consumed by the Array skyrocketed, and there were signs of scorching and damage throughout it.
Naturally, the headquarters was equipped with many Alchemists, who now mobilized to repair the Array.
“The depth of Firebeard’s understanding of the fire domain is profound,” Bi Tong realized with growing heaviness in his heart and decisively ordered, “Deploy the Golem Legions!”
The Navy Headquarters was equipped with two fully configured Golem Legions.
Rumble, rumble…
The ground split open, and a squad of tall golem giants, fully armed, stepped into the sea.
The sea only reached their knees.
After exiting the barrier, they progressed towards the deep sea. The golems emitted strong waves of demon energy, driving the golems and, combined with buoyancy, the seawater reached at most up to their waists.
The golem giants marched towards Firebeard.
Compared with them, Firebeard’s towering body also seemed very small.
However, the flames rose higher again, endless tongues of fire easily engulfing the golem giants.
After a round of burning, Firebeard walked out of the flames again, while the golem giants had all vanished without a trace.
“These were all Holy Domain Level golems!”
“It can’t be, even if the opponent is of Legendary Level, they should at least be able to hold out for a while.”
“Firebeard… Is he a monster?!”
Seeing this scene, the morale of the Navy began to shake.
“Isn’t there still one golem legion?” demanded Bi Tong.
A Navy subordinate immediately reported, “Sir, when Earl Wei Sheng went out to fight, he took the troop with him.”
Bi Tong was stunned, punching his fist in anger, “Useless in critical moments!”
The two golem legions were similar in quality, but each had its own focus. One legion was made up of heavy and large golems, consuming massive amounts of magic energy, while the other was more of light and small golems, known for endurance and easy to carry and transfer.
The barrier was on the brink of collapse.
But soon, three Mage Towers stirred up surging waves of mana. The towers emitted dazzling light, shining upon the barrier.
Bolstered by the towers, the barrier once again stabilized.
Bi Tong’s expression grew even uglier as he asked, “What about the other six Mage Towers, why haven’t they been activated?”
His subordinates immediately answered, “It’s Earl Wei Sheng who nearly uprooted the majority of the mages when he moved out.”
“This guy…” Bi Tong clenched his teeth, “Are the clergy assembled yet? Why haven’t I seen the God of War’s bishop?”
“Sir, it’s just that…” A subordinate was about to speak when Bi Tong cut him off.
“I get it, it was Wei Sheng again, wasn’t it?”
“Sir, you have a keen insight! Not only did Earl Wei Sheng take away the Bishop of the God of War sect, but also a large number of elite Divine Officers.”
Bi Tong squeezed his fist. If Wei Sheng were in his hands at that moment, he would surely crush him to pieces.
The Navy Headquarters’ combat power had been drained by half by Wei Sheng, not as strong as Bi Tong had imagined.
The Big Military Port was a district of the God of War, therefore there was a Holy Temple of the God of War here. It was presided over by a powerful Divine Officer who held the rank of a bishop and was supported by a War Sect.
Believers were a precious resource, and there was an agreement between the Divine Entities of the Empire; each Divine Domain was independent.
It was unusual to see the holy temples of various deities conglomerated unless it was in a super-sized city.
After all, the number of advanced Divine Officers was limited, and they needed to be wisely allocated to maximize the benefit for their respective sects.
Since the Big Military Port was the district of the God of War, Divine Officers from other sects were present but in smaller numbers.
And the Divine Officers of the God of War sect, whom Bi Tong could normally rely on, were nearly all absent.
Whoosh, whoosh…
Just then, the terrifying flames finally burst through the giant defensive barrier.
“What happened?!” Bi Tong hurriedly inquired.
“Several cores have been burned out!” his subordinates quickly reported.
“The cores of the defense magic array are heavily protected, how could they be destroyed?” Bi Tong was furious.
“It’s not the most central part; the burned part of the array is related to the Mage Tower.” An Alchemist with soot-covered face came in front of Bi Tong, “The destruction of this part of the array means our support from the Mage Tower is now conflicting with the barrier. Under the assault from both inside and out, the barrier can’t hold!”
“Lord Bi Tong, you must make the first move to resist Firebeard. We need enough time to repair the array!”
Bi Tong blinked rapidly, his forehead beading with cold sweat.
Since the battle had started, how had it come to the point where he had to take action?
One piece of bad news after another, was the Naval Headquarters, once thought impregnable, now relying solely on Bi Tong?
“Damn it!”
“I have been continuously suppressing the Mei Lan Divine Office, exhausting myself greatly. And now I have to deal with Firebeard?”
Bi Tong had planned to rely on the defenses of the Navy Headquarters to buy some time for his condition to improve.
But Firebeard’s offensive was too fierce, and the headquarters began to falter immediately. As barriers dissolved piece by piece, flames fell from overhead, causing endless screams of pain among the navy.
Bi Tong swept his gaze around, his eyes flashing with a ruthless color as he coldly ordered, “Then abandon the defense magic array, concentrate all our power, mobilize all Mage Towers, and fire up the Hexagram Magic Cannon!”
“Admiral, sir?!” The surrounding navy members were astonished.
Bi Tong let out a cold snort: “Even if it can be repaired, how much longer can we hold solely with defense? We must counterattack. If we remain on the defensive while being attacked by a pirate, where is the glory of the Imperial Navy?!”
“Yes, sir!” The navy responded loudly.
Mana fluctuations from the Mage Towers surged rapidly.
The glory of six Mage Towers linked together, forming a gigantic, nearly flat Hexagram Magic Array in the air above the towers.
“If the Mage Corps had been complete, the power of the Magic Cannon would be even stronger, and it could be activated faster!” Bi Tong regretted in his heart.
The Big Military Harbor had constructed nine Mage Towers, but with too many Mages redeployed elsewhere, six Tower Masters had left, leaving only the three weakest. That they could activate six Mage Towers now was a result of an emergency redeployment with temporary permissions.
After brewing for about two minutes, a searing white beam shot out from the center of the array without warning.
It struck Firebeard almost instantaneously.
Boom!!
A huge explosion followed, and amidst deafening roars, a massive white sphere arose from the crimson sea of flames.
The sphere swelled to a radius of six meters, then burst open.
A terrifying white shockwave expanded in all directions, and for a moment, the sea of flames dissipated, returning to normal seawater.
Then in the next instant, the shockwave obliterated the seawater completely.
“We hit him!”
“Where is Firebeard?”
“Taking a direct hit from that, he’d be lucky to survive without being stripped of skin. That’s a Legendary Level cannon shot!”
Firebeard coughed twice, his form reappearing before the Imperial Navy’s eyes.
He was indeed injured. His pirate captain’s clothing was missing a part, revealing his intact left shoulder. The wound on his shoulder, in the heat of the flames, healed rapidly.
The Imperial Navy was speechless.
“It’s that legendary Divine Artifact!” someone suddenly cried out.
“Yes, the Fierce Tail Blade.”
“With that broken blade, Firebeard can wield the Phoenix Fire and rapidly heal his own wounds!”
“How can we fight this?”
The navy’s morale plummeted dramatically.
“A Legendary Level Hexagram Magic Cannon? Haha, not a bad sensation.” Firebeard, who had withstood the direct hit, laughed loudly, “Now, it’s my turn.”
For the first time since he appeared, he showed a serious expression.
Snap.
He pressed his hands together, then suddenly clapped them at his chest.
Combat Skill—Red Flame Tsunami!
Flames rose again on the sea surface, burning fiercely!
Flames spat out, growing larger and larger with intense combustion.
Not only that, under Firebeard’s feet, the sea bulged, forming waves like rising mounds of earth.
The waves grew larger and larger, heading for the Big Military Harbor.
The closer they got to the docks, the larger the crimson waves became.
Rumble…
Under the horrified gazes of the navy, the attacking red waves stood nine meters tall, an overwhelming force as they hit the docks!
The waves smashed down with a vengeance, shattering a great number of warships, some of which were thrust onto the land by their force.
After the first wave receded, the remaining crimson seawater ignited furiously, turning the swept-over area into a sea of flames.
The navy screamed and broke ranks in panic.
But then the second wave of huge waves came crashing down.
Boom boom boom!
Wave after wave of attacks rapidly destroyed the Big Military Harbor, smashing countless ships and buildings to pieces or burning them to the ground.
Thick smoke billowed, flames ran rampant, and the navy suffered heavy casualties—it was a scene of imminent apocalypse.
The navy’s morale was nearing a complete breakdown.
Firebeard hadn’t even landed yet, and already more than half of them were dead.
The disparity between them was too vast; at this rate, Firebeard alone could easily slaughter the entire Navy Headquarters.
Now, there was only one reason the navy hadn’t fully collapsed.
Bi Tong.
“Admiral Bi Tong hasn’t made his move yet!” This was their last hope.
“Firebeard…” Bi Tong’s sweat dripped with anxiety.