Outside Pritz Harbor, the ocean that was free from industrial pollution was silent. Only the crimson moon hung high in the sky, mysterious and dreamy.
Suddenly, a ghastly and terrifying sailboat sailed over from the sea not far away. It was fast and silent.
It was a large, three-masted, wide-body ship. It was extremely large and nearly a hundred meters long. Its color was mainly black and suffused with a gloomy green color.
On its pale sail was a blooming black tulip.
It was none other than Admiral Hell Ludwell's flagship, Black Tulip!
He wondered where Jane had hidden the spirit that had been used for reconnaissance. Through the "mirror" that stood on the table, Ebner could clearly see a man dressed as a captain standing on the deck at the head of the ship.
He wore an exaggerated triangular hat embroidered with white skeletons and feathers. He wore a white shirt with floral borders and a complicated and gorgeous brown short coat. A thin rapier hung from the leather belt that secured his white tights.
The man's face was covered in a silver mask. His facial features and contours were hidden inside. The cold lines around the holes that represented his eyes, nose, and mouth made one feel intimidated.
This image matched perfectly with the rumored Admiral Hell Ludwell!
At this moment, the man suspected to be Ludwell turned his head and looked in the direction of the "mirror" as though he had discovered Jane's spying.
However, before he could react, some ripples suddenly appeared on the originally empty sea surface.
Those ripples rippled in the air like water and spread out at an unimaginable speed, revealing the five military warships hidden behind them.
…
Ocean Songster's Water Screen? But the effects are just too good. It even managed to fool Admiral Hell… Hmm, there should be other pathway powers mixed in. At the very least, it weakened or concealed the aura of a living person. Otherwise, Admiral Hell would've long discovered that something was amiss.
Ebner took a few leftover carrot cakes and cream muffins from the party and placed some drinks on the coffee table in front of the bed. He took a bite of the cake and commented.
These were all Hazel's works. After all, the other normal desserts were basically finished by the customers.
Xio nodded and silently grabbed a piece of cake as well. Then, she stared at the military flagship that was much larger than the Black Tulip and said with sparkling eyes, "This is the first time I've seen an ironclad… It's said that it has more than ten thousand tons of weight, and its armor is nearly half a meter thick…"
You even know this?
Ebner looked sideways but didn't respond, because he really hadn't noticed the specific parameters of the ironclad warship. It was part of his knowledge blindness.
To hide it, he had no choice but to pick up another muffin and put it in his mouth.
Above the gray fog, in the ancient palace, sitting on the high-back chair belonging to The Fool, Klein, who had watched the entire scene through the crimson star representing Xio, suddenly felt hungry again.
…
In the outer sea of Pritz Harbor, when Admiral Hell Ludwell saw the ambush that had suddenly appeared, he looked at the towering ship that was shimmering with metallic light from afar. Two pale-white flames burned silently in the eye sockets of his silver mask.
Right on the heels of that, he raised his left hand without any hesitation. The black, square-shaped ring on his index finger emitted a faint glow.
In an instant, with Ludwell at the center, illusory light suddenly erupted. It quickly spun and collapsed inward, forming a blurry bronze door.
The bronze door was covered in all sorts of mysterious patterns. It had an indescribable deepness and silence.
With a creak, the door swung open a crack.
Behind the gap was unfathomable darkness, like the deepest and heaviest night sky.
Ludwell raised his hand to his face and removed the silver mask.
A deep, pale-white light suddenly spewed out from behind the mask, causing the black, heavy ring on Ludwell's left index finger to instantly emit endless deathly silence.
The deathly silence surged into the bronze door, pushing it off the deck and into midair.
The door, which was covered in mysterious patterns, fused with an infinite deathly silence and rapidly expanded to more than thirty meters tall.
It stood there with the sea as its base as if it was connected to another world, different from the current world.
Since the Loen military had ambushed him, they must have made ample preparations… Therefore, he couldn't place his hopes on luck. Decisively retreating was the best choice.
With this in mind, Ludwell planned on pulling the Black Tulip into the bronze door and into another world.
But at that moment, a deep and dignified voice echoed across the sea.
"Wandering is prohibited here!
"Teleportation is prohibited here!
"The Spiritual Realm is forbidden here!"
Accompanied by this voice, the bronze door that was about to open completely closed and gradually dissipated into the sea.
Upon seeing this, the pale flames in Ludwell's eyes clearly wavered before shrinking to an extreme. He spat out a word,
"Law Enforcer!"
Such a level of "restrictions" could only be completed by a demigod.
…
"Isn't this a little bullying? Ludwell is only a pirate admiral, but the military actually dispatched a demigod to deal with him… Even if he wins, it won't be glorious… The navy is really well-prepared to ensure the victory of the Pritz." Ebner sighed and took a sip of sweet iced tea.
"Were those 'restrictions' made by a demigod?" Xio asked casually as she focused on the scene in the mirror.
"The spirit world door Ludwell constructed has the augmentation of that ring. How can ordinary judges be prohibited? It must've been a demigod who personally took action." When Ebner said this, he saw that the Black Tulip had no choice but to turn its body when it failed to escape. It seized the "T" to engage in battle and added,
"Without any other hidden means, Admiral Hell is in danger!"
Above the gray fog, Klein muttered to himself in thought, "So this is how Beyonders of the Arbiter pathway fight when they fight… Is it a "restrictions" to begin with?"
…
On the surface of the sea outside Pritz Harbor, the Black Tulip did not head straight for the ironclad warships that were obviously not to be trifled with. Instead, it headed for a steam-powered sail double-powered warship that was coming from the north, planning to break out of the siege from here.
As the cannon windows were pushed open one by one, the dozens of cannons on the right side of the Black Tulip fired in unison, producing a series of rumbling sounds.
Cannonballs flew towards the dual-powered warship. Before they could approach, they fell into the sea and exploded into waves. They either leaped over or fell further away.
This was a calibrated shot!
But soon, the second round of cannon fire sounded again.
And at that moment, on the warship that had been bombarded, a thin middle-aged man dressed in the Church of Storms bishop's attire suddenly soared into the sky. His hair stood up at the same time as lightning coiled around him.
Right on the heels of that, the silver bolts of lightning wrapped around his hair shot out like arrows, accurately intercepting every cannonball!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amidst the lightning and fire, the silver and crimson colors shone, and then shrapnel flew everywhere as if dozens of fireworks had been set off.
…
Ludwell is very unlucky. He actually chose to break out of the encirclement with an Ocean Songster of the same level as him… I have to say that the Church of Storms is very professional when it comes to naval warfare. Not only do they have an advantage in terms of attack and movement, but they also have a way to defend against artillery fire… Admiral Hell is probably doomed this time.
Ebner stared intently at the scene, his expression turning solemn. He didn't care about anything else but the final destination of Ludwell's ring. After all, it concerned the place where Death had fallen.
…
Under Ebner's gaze, the Black Tulip continued its bombardment while opening the bronze door in its body again, causing translucent, illusory, and hideous creatures to appear in the sea of artillery!
Pale corpses stretched out their rotten palms as crimson or cold flames appeared, forming pairs of eyes.
Suddenly, this place seemed to become the entrance to hell. All kinds of undead creatures crowded the surface of the sea and charged at the warship like a tide.
When the Ocean Songster on the ship saw this, she immediately started singing and constantly used her "terrifying" voice to intimidate all the undead who dared to approach.
However, due to his distraction, it was inevitable that he would be hit by the Black Tulip. The ship immediately burst into flames.
Thankfully, at this moment, the Pritz rushed to the battlefield with steam power.
…
Above the gray fog, in an ancient palace.
Klein looked at the gradually dissipating golden sunlight as the corners of his mouth twitched. Finally, he said helplessly,
"I wonder if I can get the 'Tower' to use 'Holy Light' to renew the fees'? At least let me finish watching it. It's so uncomfortable to be cut off here…"