The alliance ship cruised peacefully along the edges of the Mist Sea, its inhabitants enjoying the sight of the fleeting scene.
While planning their attack on Kynburgh, the alliance had decided to use the northern wall, through the Mist Sea, to deal considerable damage to Kynburgh's forces and inhabitants.
They didn't want to use direct means to deal with Kynburgh so as not to attract back the King's children who had adventured into Archon.
So they came up with a simple plan—eliminate Kynburgh slowly, not giving the disrupted royal family the chance to unite as one.
Goerge Louis Albert's illness was no big secret to the alliance forces, that was one of the reasons they brazenly sent their forces to Kynburgh.
Coming back to the main topic, the ship was a united work from the three communities—the Xadora kingdom provided the technology, the Locuria dynasty provided the resources, while the Bura civilization provided the manpower—a strong alliance, indeed.
Marcus Fedore, prince of Xadora kingdom, is a male who wished to achieve experience through his adventure. After all, he wished to make his mother proud—the best way was to become Xadora kingdom's next King, which was a difficult task, considering the competition.
Due to the navigation system of the ship, Marcus could tell they were close to Kynburgh's part of the Mist Sea. It was something that made his heart palpitate in anticipation of the coming event.
'Here I come, Kynburgh… bearing your doom with me…' Marcus thought, realizing how devious the alliance plans were.
It was a simple yet effective plan. He and the forces under him just had to evade the northern defense of Kynburgh, gaining access to its inners. Then they were to plant a virus created by the alliance, one that targeted Rankers, defecting their Abilities. That way, Kynburgh forces would slowly wither, leaving them to come in and reap without any struggle.
There was also a plan to unseal the dungeons inside the fortress. But that would depend on how many sealed dungeons were in the northern region of Kynburgh.
'Anyway, this is just a spice to the main dish, so it doesn't matter if I accomplish it… as long as I capture the main bag…'
Slowly, Marcus noticed a sudden change in the qualitative components of the atmosphere—It was becoming foggy.
'What is this…?!'
His head went in jitters as he came to a conjecture.
'It can't be, we are far off from the Misty region of the sea… there has never been an account of the mist extending to the coast…'
"Prince Marcus! It seems we are under attack!" The Level 8 Ranker, Alastros, raised an alarm.
As someone from the Bura civilization that shared the boundaries of the Mist Sea, he knew that this phenomenon was in no way natural. There was certainly an external force involved in this ploy.
"Turn the ship! We head back for Bura, fast!" Alastros commanded his subordinates, uncaring about the prince of Xadora kingdom opinion.
'Is this how it ends…?! me running with a tail in-between my legs…'
Marcus could not digest the fact that his first external mission would be a flop, especially the fact that it involved the alliance—a union that might keep on existing after the downfall of Kynburgh.
"Wait, Alastros. I don't think we should be haste in our decisions," Marcus suggested in a calm tone.
He had built the reputation of a calm and knowledgeable young master, there was no way in hell he would destroy that image!
"As you know, my Ability has a relationship to the water domain," Marcus pointed out, drawing a perplexed expression from Alastros.
Sharing one's Ability was akin to foolishness in Archon. So Alastros found it bizarre that a prince of Xadora would willingly give out such information.
"There's no need to act surprised. We both know that this was not much of a secret," Marcus shrugged, his deep, ocean-blue eyes gaining a profound glint.
"But still, why would you confirm it in public?" Alastros could not hold his curiosity anymore, directly inquiring from the source.
"My kingdom and I, wish to have a long-lasting relationship with your civilization. Can't you see it?"
Alastros finally understood Marcus' reason; he wished for their alliance to keep on growing, even after Kynburgh's demise.
'I don't have the authority to accept or reject his words… I can only support his agenda. After all, I would also want to return victorious…'
Though the Burians were known for their recklessness, they still had good intuition. After all, in the jungle, every ability was a weapon; whether brains or brawn.
"How long?" Alastros inquired in a solemn tone.
"10 minutes… at most."
After a while of serious contemplation, Alastros nodded, drifting away from Marcus.
"Stay on your guard, soldiers! We will anchor here for a while!" Returning his gaze to Marcus. "Be fast, we can't risk it all."
"Don't worry."
As Marcus said those words, he clasped his palms together, his deep ocean-blue eyes becoming cloudy.
Slowly but surely, every molecule of water in the region became visible to his eyes, his main focus being on those that hovered about, some going upwards while the others moving downwards.
'It's not natural…' Marcus thought, straining his eyes to view the molecules clearly.
'No…!'
"We need to leave!"
Now he could clearly see the severity of the situation—it was a trap.
Alastros, who had taken over the controls of the ship, tried to turn around but failed as he noticed a red light, beeping on the system interface.
'The propeller has been damaged…' His facial expression contorted, his palm tightening in a fist.
'Why did I listen to that damned Prince idea…' He could not help but blame his short-sightedness.
"Prepare for battle," Alastros ordered, pressing the alarm button to indicate the beginning of a dire battle.
'I just have to hope that the useless prince can fix the propeller—if not, we are doomed…'
Alastros picked up his battle ax from the corner of the control room, turning to look at the helmsman, who had a terrified expression, his legs quivering as if to break any moment.
Unlike the soldiers, his work was just to steer the ship, so he lacked the necessary mentality to handle the pressure.
"Stay here and move the ship immediately the propeller starts functioning. You fail, you die."
Alastros was blunt, and uncaring about the degrading mental health of the helmsman.
"Y-yes, sir!"
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