“Put the damn fire out!” The Demon sailors shouted as they tried to salvage the situation as best they could. No one was dumb enough to jump overboard the ship after going through many hardships together as a group, a team or to some, as a family.
“Get close to Ship Iceman, the damage done to their ship should hopefully not be as severe. We might be able to get some help from the mages on their ship!”
“Sir, the cargo hold is burning way too much! Many have died, and several are injured from the explosive attack. They are unable to move by themselves!”
“The Ship is tipping!”
“C’mon man, you got to survive! We can make those bastards pay twice the pain!”
Every single ship had their very own commotion, and things were not looking too good for the entire fleet. Things only worsened for the unlucky souls as the Deep Ones started climbing on the ships looking for more tributes to gather for their lord.
Most of the Demon Sailors were too preoccupied with the damages to their ships and did not notice the new visitors onboard taking the opportunity to sneak up on them when they were least prepared.
Only one or two ships out of the many had been able to ring the alarm to alert the whole crew, but most noticed them when it was already too late. As bloodthirsty as the Deep Ones were, they were also predators by nature. They wouldn’t confront their prey head on, not if there was a need to.
Firstly, they would quietly climb up the edges of the ship and grab anyone that happened to be too close to the railings. Else, they would try to fit into the cannon portholes or stab their spears into the portholes to ensure the death of their victims.
The Deep One Mages who accompanied the melee fighters were also instrumental in the ambushes. They cast silence spells as soon as they had eye contact with any of the sailors. Oh, the fear in their eyes as they saw their fellow comrades grinning with jagged teeth to drag them into the sea.
‘The sea consumes all’ had never been more appropriate until now.
“What are those?! INTRUDERS! INTRU-” The sailor who had noticed something amiss managed to alert the rest, but a harpoon went through his throat, and the inhuman tug that pulled him to the Deep Ones made sure he died before he hit the ground. The Deep Ones, now equipped with ranged weapons like harpoon guns, became even deadlier on their path towards the upper deck to encroach on the rest of the crew.
After being discovered, the Deep Ones did not hesitate to change their tactics to a full-on assault. They hastily pounced towards any sailors in sight and slaughtered them before they could pull out their weapons. The side effects of the Fog that Steals ability may have made the demon sailors less vulnerable to pain, yet it did not mean that it could cheat death.
Some managed to retaliate with their primitive matchlocks powered with specks of magic dust, but in the grand scheme of things, the loss of a couple of Deep Ones did not help them as they had severely underestimated the fight they picked with Stalingrad.
These fish-men had been constantly trained by the finest cultivators that Jin had in his store. The Pandarens’ relentless determination to clear the Escape City Dungeon only improved the intellect of the Deep Ones as well as their combat awareness. For them, it was a mark of pride that their dungeon instance remained unconquered even now.
Behind the scenes, Shadow Dagen had also been giving out blessings of the Fish Lord for all the tributes they delivered. All things considered, some of the Fish Men were as capable as Grade 4 to Grade 5 cultivators. So what if the sailors had improved tolerance to pain? Could they truly handle the Terrors of the Deep?
With the Fog that Steals ability, it was as if everyone inside was in a separate dimension. While it seemed like a double edged sword, the demon troops had years of training and plundering under their belt, unlike their enemies. They even regarded it as a sort of competition.
The fog would aid in isolating the noises which the entrapped enemies made, and the Demon Fleet coordinated to burn and plunder their enemies ships. Focalor’s hearing was further boosted as the one to control this ability. Incidentally, Captain Edward and Kenway had earned the trust from Focalor as they had lasted against him for a very long time, proving themselves as overly competent pirates.
However, right now, from the shouts and cries from afar, Lord Focalor understood that it was actually his fleet that was in trouble, not the enemy. Regrettably, he was unable to give any aid to them since this was how their team worked. They might be working under the same team, but the plundered riches would only go to the strongest. Whoever needed to be resurrected would lose most of their share to cover the costs. It was not really an issue since the sailors knew the risks of the tricky sea when they signed up.
Focalor did not shed a single tear for the suffering crew member and instead adjusted his ship’s starboard to face the Stalingrad’s port and stern. The previous attack on his Leviathan Mothership might not have been devastating, but it was concerning. He had already seen how those cannons worked and how deadly their firepower was before going into battle. The last attack merely proved their ferocity and prowess that made Focalor yearn for the ship further.
Casualties were to be expected and his ship had gotten off lightly because of a quick decision to steer the hull when Focalor’s astute hearing and senses believed there was an incoming attack. He was initially surprised by how fast Stalingrad’s cannon could shoot after seeing it in action. But Focalor completely did not expect such a quick reload time as another shot of the cannons came forth towards it.
The shields that the Leviathan mothership had put up was insufficient to stop the second wave of attacks as it broke instantly upon impact, allowing two other shots to go through. However, the almighty Focalor of the Seas was not going to let another devastating blow like this hurt them. Thus, he used his sword imbued with magical inscriptions, to summon a spiritual serpent to serve as his ship’s guardian.
The pirates always regarded this particular magical summon as the Leviathan herself in spirit to protect the ship when the magical serpent graced her majestic form, wrapping her serpentine body around the sea vessel.
The spiritual sea serpent attempted to block the remaining two shots, and yet it suffered the same fate as the energy shield. Not even a minute out in the open and the spiritual serpent faded away upon impact. At least its sacrifice was not in vain as it absorbed a shot while the remaining one hit the stern of the Mothership. The sailors who saw it were in a state of disbelief that Focalor’s ship guardian could be down that easily just from a cannon shot, causing them to be fearful of Stalingrad’s might.
“Quickly isolate the damage, and the rest of you get moving! Aim your cannons into the fog! You all saw where the shot came from, so shoot indiscriminately!” Focalor shouted to wake his men up and the sailors complied to the order without any hesitation.
Every single available cannon porthole that was open was aimed towards the direction of the Stalingrad and shot simultaneously as soon as the sailors recovered. The cannons moved to position as if the mothership was conducting a mass execution by cannon fire with hundreds of cannonballs flying towards the location of Stalingrad.
Yet Lord Wolte only grinned internally at this!
