Chapter 468: Slaughter in Shizclar Bay (1)
The Ultras had never been a people one could reason with using words. That was a well-established fact .. a fact that had been proven beyond any doubt today.
After luring the Empire’s forces into their territory, the Ultras managed to trap them in a carefully prepared ambush.
The waters of the Shezcelar Gulf erupted in a terrifying explosion, revealing the horrors that had been lurking in its depths.
A massive swarm of sea-dwelling Nightmare Creatures launched a synchronized assault, unleashing devastating destruction upon the Empire’s fleet.
The scene was terrifying .. a perfect painting of death unfolding upon the ocean.
Tentacles and feelers wrapped tightly around ships, dragging them down one after another, along with everyone on board.
These maritime disasters were mostly of rank S and even beyond that...
And the worst part was that there were hundreds of them ..flooding the sea like a swarm of monsters.
"How the hell did the Ultras manage to control so many of them?!"
One of the imperial officers screamed, wiping the blood from his face as he tried to cut away the tendrils threatening to sink his ship.
The Ultras had long used Nightmare Creatures in war, but never before had the Empire seen them control such a vast number.
Especially sea-type Nightmare Creatures ..
the kind that dwelled in the deep, rarely surfacing...
Beasts that resembled Krakens from another world, some mutated oceanic horrors akin to giant sharks.
These monsters had hidden far below the surface, completely out of the Empire’s detection. That was why Snow and the others hadn’t sensed their presence at all.
At the exact moment the Nightmare Creatures struck, the Ultras seized the opportunity .. bombarding the fleet with magical cannons, arrows, and destructive spells.
The attacks rained from above like a torrential storm.
From below and from above ..
The Empire’s vanguard was completely surrounded.
And yet, despite the desperate situation,
this was not a one-sided battle.
The members of the Special Unit quickly scattered, rushing to aid the other ships under siege.
Phoenix was like a moving volcano ..
a volcano that poured its fire into the sea,
vaporizing it along with every Nightmare Creature swimming within.
On the other side, Snow Lionheart unleashed his full arsenal of elemental powers, blasting everything in his path.
Saintess Yurasha and Uriel both channeled waves of divine energy across vast distances, forming shields around the imperial soldiers ..
Shields that not only blocked the Ultras’ attacks, but also healed the wounded.
Meanwhile, Bloodmader’s flagship forced its way through the monstrous tide,
desperately trying to reach Frey.
"We have to hurry! Frey Starlight is fighting their commanders alone out there!!"
Snow Lionheart shouted, his voice heavy with urgency.
"I know that, damn it!!"
Bloodmader growled, gritting his teeth.
Gathering his radiant aura, he punched forward ..
unleashing a wave of destruction that tore the sea apart in front of him.
"What the hell is that kid thinking?!"
To stay there alone ..
surrounded by three SS ranked monsters or higher, plus the Nightmare Creatures...
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a suicide mission.
He had been completely fooled by the enemy .. never expecting them to prepare a trap of this scale.
And to make matters worse,
he still didn’t understand how Frey had managed to send him and Snow back to the ship with just a single touch.
"There’s no need to worry. Frey is holding his ground just fine."
Standing atop the ship’s mast,
at the highest point with a panoramic view of the battlefield, Sansa bombarded the surrounding sea monsters with her deadly Shadow Blades.
At the same time, she summoned her shadow tendrils to fight off any creature that dared approach the ship.
Her demonic eyes were locked far into the distance...
deep among the swarm of sea beasts.
From time to time, she tracked the violent aura bursts from Frey’s attacks ..
each one leaving a wave of destruction in its wake.
Even though he looked like nothing more than a speck from that distance,
she could tell almost exactly how he was doing.
"Holding his ground? Did you not see who his enemies are?!"
Snow shouted from afar, still manipulating the elements one after another.
Meanwhile, Uriel Platini tried to support Frey with her divine powers,
but the distance was simply too great ..
leaving her unable to contribute much.
"I’ll go help him.
I’m confident I can reach him quickly using Void Step."
Snow made up his mind ..
determined to rush in and aid Frey, who was fighting alone.
But a dense wave of shadows suddenly coiled around him, blocking his path.
It was Sansa.
"What you should be focusing on right now is the enemy around you.
If you leave, the Empire’s fleet won’t survive."
As she spoke, Sansa continued to conjure more and more shadow blades,
raining them down from the sky and tearing the Nightmare Creatures apart.
"Frey is strong.
He won’t fall that easily.
Trust that if he were truly in danger right now, I would have gone to him myself ..
instead of staying here with all of you."
Between the lives of a hundred thousand men and Frey’s life ..
Sansa wouldn’t have hesitated for even a single second.
The fact that she hadn’t moved yet
was the clearest proof that Lord Starlight was still holding on.
"The war has officially begun ..
and it started with a disaster on our side.
Frey is out there fighting alone to turn the tide in our favor.
So don’t you dare throw his efforts away with a reckless intervention that’s not even needed."
The Special Vanguard Unit’s top priority right now was to get the fleet out of the nightmare tide with as little damage as possible ..preparing for the battle that would immediately follow against the Ultras’ main forces.
According to Frey, the Ultras’ fleet numbered thirty-five thousand soldiers.
In other words, they already outnumbered them .. without even accounting for the nightmare creatures.
In situations like this, the burden of turning the tables fell squarely on their shoulders.
That’s what Sansa wanted people like Snow and Uriel to understand.
Bloodmader could only acknowledge how right the princess was—she had spoken the very words he himself should’ve said.
"Everyone! Focus on the enemies around us! The nightmare creatures are our top priority right now!"
There was no room for error. Not in this situation.
And so, under Bloodmader’s command, the Special Unit took the burden of the entire war upon themselves.
"Let’s clean up this side quickly. I don’t like seeing one of my students fighting alone."
Using his full power, Phoenix Sunlight was the most effective warrior on the battlefield .. his flames the natural enemy of sea-dwelling nightmare beasts.
Racing against time, the Empire’s forces tried to break out of the encirclement as fast as possible .. for what was to come...
And for Frey.
The latter had gone far ahead, taking on the strongest of the Ultras by himself.
Even though Sansa expressed confidence in him, it didn’t reflect the growing worry festering within her with every passing second.
Her demonic eyes never stopped tracking him, which made it nearly impossible for her to fight at full power against the nightmare creatures.
Her body was here with the others .. but her mind was already elsewhere.
The moment she sensed he was in even the slightest danger, she was ready to go to him immediately .. even if it meant abandoning everyone else.
You could say that Frey Starlight had significantly reduced the damage suffered by the fleet.
His slaughter of so many nightmare creatures in the frontlines was the main reason the ambush had ended up weaker than what the enemy had planned.
Without him, the attack would have been far more devastating.
That alone changed everything ..not to mention the fact he held off the enemy commanders on his own.
Wherever he went, whatever battlefield he walked upon, Frey always seemed to be fated for the same thing ..
To fight more than anyone else, to bleed more than anyone else, and to kill more than anyone else.
It was a cycle he had repeated many times lately.
But unlike before, this time... he welcomed it. He wanted it. He craved it.
Which explained that damned smile carved across his face since the start of the battle .. a bloody grin that said more than words ever could.