Upon the endless ocean, there was only the sound of the distant tide .
In the thick cloud of fog, all was quiet .
A vast and mighty fleet was hidden in the mist, moving silently forward . They had cut off all contact with the outside world, entering a state of total silence . They kept a minimum distance between ships in the fog, only communicating with each other through primitive lamp signals .
The thick fog covered everything . The ships' engines were set as low as possible, and the slight sounds that they produced were covered up by the chaotic noise of the black zone . They advanced towards the Ultimate as silently as ghosts .
Sylvaine sat in the command seat on the bridge of the Royal Navy's flagship, silently staring at the nautical charts .
"We've already passed beyond our nation's borders, Commander," the navigator reported . "In ten minutes we'll be leaving the black zone and coming into the range of the Ultimate . "
Sylvaine nodded . "Prepare to exit stealth mode . "
A crisp voice came on the receiver, "Commander, we've received a message from the Anglo Kingdom . It has the Privy Council's ID . "
Soon, the Secretary of the Navy's voice came through, "Viscount Sylvaine, the fate of the nation rests on this mission . This battle will decide which of the nations will achieve naval supremacy in the future . You absolutely cannot let down your guard . "
"I understand . " Sylvaine saluted . "I will not let Her Majesty down . "
"Excellent," the Secretary of the Navy said . "Four hours ago, His Highness the Prince and the Royal Musician Division left the harbor with the second wave of warships . They will rendezvous with you soon . All military affairs are still under your command, His Highness will abide by your decisions . "
The Secretary of the Navy's spoke very tacitly . Military affairs were under Sylvaine's control, but any big decisions would have to receive the Prince of Avalon's approval . Sylvaine had no objections to this . After all, he was one of the Prince's most ardent supporters . Moreover, the Prince of Avalon was coming as a representative of the royal family . As the crown prince of the Anglo Kingdom, it made sense for him to come and supervise the fleet in place of the Queen .
And what was more, presently, the Royal Navy lacked any heavy warships like the Mountain of Nomadism, leaving Sylvaine a little nervous .
The Royal Navy had of course performed admirably in the aftermath of the Leviathan War, but the glorious sacrifices that they had made could not be taken lightly .
Most of the warships had been damaged in the process of defending the homeland and purging the demons afterward . Many more ships were unable to leave port because they had not been properly maintained . He estimated that it would take two years to refit them all . And even more ships had been retired . After performing a cost analysis, the Kingdom had decided to build new ships to replace them .
Although the core of the fleet, twelve legendary warships, had not sustained much damage, this was not enough to constitute an entire fleet . They also needed longships, clippers, and even armored merchant ships to shore up their numbers .
Creating a fleet in such a short time had already exhausted the Department of the Navy . They had scraped what they had together to form this fleet . But they had no actual combat experience, which did not inspire much confidence in their warfare capabilities .
Sylvaine had set out earlier with six of the legendary warships and a few light clippers in order to seize the initiative . The rest of the fleet had been divided into two waves that were to come in succession .
Since he had to wait for the Mountain of Nomadism to be refitted and temporarily aid the court with additional matters, Ye Qingxuan had come with the second wave . By then, many of the merchant ships had been fitted for war and were shoring up the weak points in the fleet, giving the Royal Navy the ability to fight any foe .
When he heard the Ye Qingxuan was coming, Sylvaine breathed a silent sigh of relief . After reporting all the routine military affairs, he ended the transmission . He looked at the sea chart again but soon realized that something was wrong . "Navigator, how long ago did we leave the black zone?"
"15 minutes ago," the navigator answered . "We're still six hours of sailing away from being in the range of the Ultimate . "
Sylvaine raised his eyebrows . "If we've already left the black zone, why is the fog still so thick? Transmit these orders to the musicians on the ship: find out what's going on around us . I hope we haven't run into a problem . "
Fog was a common sight on the ocean, especially around the edges of the black zone . Sylvaine's family had been in the Royal Navy for generations, and there was nothing unusual about this . But, just to be safe, it would be best to have a few musicians and a clipper check it out .
To be honest, he'd had enough of this fog .
The musician sitting on the iron chair beside the navigator quickly opened his eyes and stared into a chaotic ball of aether . "Commander, there's still too much noise from the red zone, I can't find anything . It might be because whatever happened is still going on, and it's causing changes in the red zone . The call to recover Leviathan didn't end too long ago, maybe there are a few sea monsters that still haven't gone dormant .
"Tell the fleet, all warships are to be on high alert and to prepare for combat . "
Soon, the sound of warship engines firing up at Sylvaine's orders filled the red zone, rippling out in all directions . Amid the hurried movement, each member of the crew . . .
It was at this point that the distant wave of aether suddenly disappeared . The Revelation Musicians who had lifted off the deck to investigate entered the silence with a slight feeling of unease . Suddenly, a shrill noise burst forth . In the deepest part of the fog, the musicians' sound of heart burst forth, giving off a terrifying flame and aetheric turbulence .
The turbulence swept through the fog, throwing it into chaos .
The flame disappeared quickly, but it threw faint shadows all around .
Sylvaine shot up out of his chair . Before he could say anything, the navigator had already pressed the warning button and an ear-splitting noise rose out from the ship . Red warning lights flashed all around the fleet . Then, huge waves appeared one after another in the ship's observational ball of aether . They were ship aether engines .
One by one, the hazy outlines of ferocious shadows emerged from the fog . They were warships, several dozen warships that had been hidden in the fog, almost like they were melded into it . The faint traces of more could be seen behind them through the thinning fog .
At some point, the Royal Navy had been surrounded!
On the Sovereign, silence reigned .
"Is that the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy?" Sylvaine was livid . "How did they know we were here?"
In order to hide all trace of themselves, they had sailed in full silence . Even the government in Avalon didn't know their exact location, especially while they were in the red zone . It was like they were hidden in a dark forest without so much as a torch to give away their position . How had the d*mned Burgundians managed to surround them? Had they already prepared for war?
Two red flames suddenly lit up under the first mate's skin . He rushed at Sylvaine as his body started to quickly swell . "The Anglos have left the path of righteousness . They will be cast into hell to suffer the consequences of their actions!"
Bang! An ice-cold sword flashed out of the cabin . It slashed vertically and horizontally, cutting the swelling attacker into pieces . In the next instant, a formless wind gathered from all around, forming a cage that blocked the flames from his explosion, completely snuffing them out . All that was left was a pile of ashes that fell silently to the floor .
Sylvaine's face was white as a ghost .
"Alright, now I know how the enemy found us . " He turned and saw the suit of cold iron armor that had appeared in the air beside him . "Thank you, Sir Geraint," he said . "Thank you for saving my life . "
"Just doing my duty . " The knight of the Round Table sheathed his sword . "Watch out next time . "
Soon, damage reports came in from the other ships . It was not only the Sovereign that had had double agents hidden on it, but the same thing had happened on two other ships . Fortunately, the fires had been swiftly extinguished, and the captains had only suffered light wounds .
The Burgundians must have been planning this for a long time . Otherwise, they would not have been able to achieve such shocking results in such a short time .
But the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy did not launch an offensive, but instead stayed in their original places, trapping the Royal Navy between them . All of their main guns were aimed at them, but they did not fire .
Instead, a message came from them .
The operator looked at Sylvaine, who nodded . "Answer it . "
A stranger's cold voice filled the bridge . "This is the Phantom Fleet of Burgundy . " He paused for a moment, then continued, "In a moment we will begin escorting your fleet, in order to improve relations with your honorable country, and for our mutual safety . Please do not take any actions that might cause a misunderstanding . "
The message ended .
Sylvaine's face was ashen . He made a fist .
Escort? How was this an escort? This was a capture!
"Tell the fleet . . . " Sylvaine's eyes flared with anger . He raised his fist and was about to give the order to attack, but an ear-piercing alarm sounded again . Soon, it was a cacophony of overlapping noises . It was the sound of cold iron rubbing together . It was like the roaring of the sea .
The fog parted . The chill that rushed into the sky came from the bottom of the ocean . Countless broken icicles rose up from the waves, looking like tree branches . It seemed like the ice crystals were being poured out of some storehouse . They froze and expanded, stretching out in all directions . The crisp sounds all joined together causing a loud roar .
In an instant, the sea was completely frozen . The surface of the water had become a flat sheet of ice with numerous sharp ice crystals sticking out of it . The fleet was like an insect trapped in amber, frozen in place .
Looking all around they could only see countless ice-crystals that were as sharp as knives pointing towards the sky .
In the blink of an eye, the mighty movement hidden in the vast roar ended . A tremendous wave of aether rose up from the flagship, no longer concealed, but plain for all to see . It was hard to imagine that a musician could have frozen an entire ocean in an instant, not to mention to do so in the red zone .
It was like the gods had taken fire away from the world, leaving only eternal cold and bone-chilling north wind .
"The fifth… the fifth symphony . " On the bridge of the Sovereign, a crack had appeared in the musician's ball of aether . His face went pale . "Commander, it's a saint!" he stammered . "St . Schubert!"
Suddenly, the entire Royal Navy was plunged into a deathly silence .
A saint? Why had a saint appeared on a Burgundian warship?
Chapter end
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