"Stay in formation!" the squadron captain shouted.
A squadron of fifty soldiers soared through the air with their gliders. They were tasked with confirming the presence and safety of the Alzar camp before the main fleet arrived. The arrowhead formation neared the continent when the captain's eyes widened in astonishment, as did the others. In front of them were two enormous birds!
"Evade! Evade!" the man shouted as the formation split up.
"Simple tricks," Crus muttered and spread her wings, clad in a beautiful set of armor.
Since Vogels had wings and not hands, their wings became their greatest weapons! Channeling Martial Energy into her armor caused the etched runes to glow white, enhancing her wings' durability and destructive capability to another level. She then scoffed and instantly accelerated, moving so fast that she turned invisible. The air audibly screeched at her speeds and left no time to react. By using Martial Energy, Crus flew through the formation with full control over her speed and direction. Sometimes below, sometimes above, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, she could zip her way through the skies like a dance. This was someone who fully understood Martial Energy and mastered it! This was a true Grand Rank 2 Lord!
Despite splitting up and panicking, Crus systematically annihilated the fifty soldiers in one minute. That was killing a person almost every second! On paper, that might seem insignificant, considering the soldiers were weak and their opponent was a former Grand Rank 2 Lord, except they were in the air. It was an entirely different world when comparing aerial to land-based combat, especially with fifty people individually maneuvering and escaping in random directions. And yet, Crus could still achieve the unthinkable and killed everyone. As their bodies fell into the ocean, she flicked the blood off her wings. Compared to fighting the grand armies of the Luminous Central Origin, this was child's play!
The two then continued onward until they hovered above the enormous fleet. This was twenty thousand soldiers with hundreds of warships, ready to invade the empire's shores! Crus and Ludin nodded to each other, and then with synchronized actions, the two's auras exploded to an unthinkable level! The world seemed to tremble from their presence! Bloodline activation! Crus's aura began dyeing the skies in a blinding white and Ludin's aura began condensing Magic Energy around him, while their energies rampaged through the heavens. Their bodies swelled to almost twice their size and their wings glowed with a transcendental light. Their strength broke through to Grand Rank 2 Lord, and maybe even Half-Rank 3 King! It was so monstrous that, were it not for Ludin's perception-blocking barrier, then the entire fleet would have felt their auras! Once the strongest in the Featherwind Sect, they were making their grand debut here in the human world!
"Once our scouts return, we'll figure out how to proceed," Admiral Aura explained to Elizabeth on the main flagship. "The fact that we have a camp established is a double-edged sword."
"Because the Xingyuu Empire knows where we're headed?" Elizabeth reasoned. "Then wouldn't they try their hardest to prevent us from reaching there? Yet, we haven't had much resistance on the way."
"It is indeed outside of our expectations, Your Highness," General Dennis said. "According to our informants… they should have enough manpower to defend the Maelstrom Gulf."
"I didn't see that old sea dog, Admiral Kang Bao-Zhi, either. This smells like a trap," the admiral pointed out. "But where are they hiding?"
While the three were ruminating, Rena spoke telepathically, (They're here.)
(Here? Who's here?)
Before Elizabeth had a chance to ask more, Ludin tossed out seven talismans and they shot across the sky like shooting stars. Five of them hovered in a pentagonal arrangement around the fleet, while one dove underwater, and one hovered above. The bird then extended his Magic Energy to the talismans, as bright lines linked them together in an elaborate cage. He grunted, unfurled his wings, and strained his body, mind, and Core. Using his Bloodline Ability, a vast Magic Circle materialized around him. Finally, with a monstrous injection of Magic Energy, the spell activated! Boom! With the seven talismans as focal points, seven gigantic barriers appeared, severing the fleet from the outside world. They were trapped!
Elizabeth charged outside with Admiral Aura and General Dennis right behind. They rendezvoused with Sir Winstin, her friends, the Ten Dawns, and the other officers. They were dumbstruck into silence, and looking around, it was easy to sympathize. Elizabeth looked at the seven gigantic barriers surrounding them and widened her eyes. How big was the fleet? Just the hundreds of warships alone spanned a massive area of the ocean's surface. It was equivalent to a small floating town! Yet, for the seven-point barrier to encapsulate this large of a space hinted how unbelievably strong the source was!
"What's going on?" Admiral Aura shouted. "Is it an enemy attack?"
"We… we don't know! It appeared too suddenly!"
Meanwhile, the four Ten Dawns were frozen in shock. They were the only ones in the fleet who reached Condensed Drop Core Level, meaning that their Magic Perception extended beyond their bodies. Consequently, they could sense that this was above the level of the Ten Dawns!
"Blue Depth Core Level?" Ten Dawn Rosemary was stunned.
"What?"
"No…" Ten Dawn Yvonne grimly sensed. "This isn't on the scale of Blue Depth like the heavenly phenomenon. This feels like Peak Condensed Drop… or even Half-Blue Depth!"
"Regardless!" Admiral Aura shouted. "All ships enter battle positions! Man the weapons and enter defensive formation two! Arcanists prepare the defensive spells! Whatever happens, we'll fight them off and break through their blockade!"
Upon hearing her orders, the soldiers swiftly calmed down and rushed to prepare their weapons and armor. A loud bell tolled across the ocean, signalling to the rest of the warships. In no time at all, the hundreds of ships worked to unfurl their sails and raise anchor. Like poking a hornet's nest, the twenty thousand soldiers buzzed into activity! Likewise, Elizabeth wielded her bow, Benedict his sword, Shirley her halberd, and Freon his wand. The four of them were ready for any scenario! Sir Winstin gripped his glaive tightly and kept a close eye on Elizabeth. He was about to usher her inside when everyone's attention was drawn to the sky. They were stunned again!
Crus placed her wings together and closed her eyes, manifesting the bulk of her Martial Energy. Her eyes then glimmered with an otherworldly light. Bloodline Ability! Her Martial Energy left her body and took the form of a towering white crane, a thousand times larger than herself. It was an exact copy of her! Too big to hide, the whole fleet simultaneously noticed the doppelganger's appearance. As the doppelganger opened its eyes, its aura exploded to a ridiculously suffocating level and the sky was bathed in white light, like the arrival of a god! Looking down upon the mortal world with disdain, like an elephant to ants, this was Crus's martial technique, Demon Wind Resurrection! Coupled with Ludin's Seven Encloses Heaven barrier array, its killing potential was nearly unrivaled!
"Sorry for this, humans. I don't have a grudge against your species, but we have our own orders," Crus said. "Have a taste of my pinnacle art, Demon Wind Resurrection!"
She flapped her wings, and the doppelganger dove down with unstoppable momentum! Its target was one of the warships! The soldiers and officers onboard immediately panicked. This was completely beyond their understanding! Some quicker fellows tried to retaliate and launched arrows or spells at the martial technique, but to no avail. When those attacks landed on the doppelganger, they disintegrated without effect! It was too fast and there was no time to properly react. Despite the large distance between Crus and the fleet, the doppelganger moved at incredible speeds! Ten seconds was enough to close the gap. After all, it was the embodiment of a crane, its speed had to be its second strongest aspect! But its strongest aspect was…
The doppelganger was so 'sharp' that even before it reached the warship, it shredded everything and everyone nearby. The masts and sails were being torn to pieces, while the soldiers felt their armor and skin being ripped apart. Even the air seemed to cry in agony, as if they were being attacked by a thousand swords simultaneously! Many died before the doppelganger straightforwardly smashed through the ship right to the bottom! It bisected the building-sized warship right into two! Boom! The water surface exploded from the tremendous force behind the impact as millions of pieces of shrapnel and limbs flew everywhere. That single attack was potent enough to destroy the warship and massacre the hundreds of soldiers!