Waking up with the sun shining in his face and loud yells outside. Marino quickly and carelessly pushed the Elven women aside as he got up to a sitting position. The women groaned in annoyance as Marino rubbed his eyes.
" Return fire! Return fire! Sink those pointy ears! " Came the voice of his cultist vice-captain from up above. Hmm, what was his name again, Marino wondered as he had never bothered to learn it.
Climbing over Anna's sexy body that lay on his side he fell to the floor weakly. What the fuck Marino thought to himself as he lay on the floor. His entire body was sore and felt weak as if he had not slept at all.
During the past days, he had constantly woken up in this tired and drained state, despite not having sex with his women.
Hearing cannon fire and shouts coming from the deck, Marino quickly picked himself up off the floor.
Looking towards the two partially sleeping beauties Marino wondered. Are they using some kind of energy-draining spells on me while I sleep? Hmm, yes that must be it for what else could it be? No matter such spell's are meaningless to me since I regain my energy at an extremely rapid pace.
Then he heard knocking on the door as a voice yelled. " My Lord, I apologize for the disturbance but the enemy is approaching us! Please wake up my Lord! "
" Yeah yeah, yeah I'm coming! " Yelled Marino back to the distressed voice on the other side.
Putting on a loincloth and pants, he proceeded to walk outside barefoot. Only snickering and giggles could be heard as the women pointed at him mockingly.
Frowning and annoyed Marino opened the creaking wood door and said to the man outside. " What's going on! "
Startled by his tone of voice but relieved by his arrival the black armoured cultist saluted him, with his right fist on his heart and his other arm behind. " My Lord. 3 ships stand between the two islands blocking our path to the open sea and 9 sips are approaching us from the north. We have already engaged the 3 enemy ships in front and we are trying to break through before the 9 other ships arrive. Also sir, the dark clouds still haunt our trail. They are covering the entire sea in gray ash as they move. But luckily they are moving way too slow to catch up to us. "
Hearing this Marino felt adrenaline kick in as his senses sharpened and energy returned. Quickly wanting to see what was happening he pushed the talking cultist aside and said. " Get out of my way worm! "
Watching his lord march past him in haste the cultist looked at him in wonder and said. " Worm? " Then his expression brightened as if realizing something and he said quietly to himself. " My Lord has granted me with a name! Thank you, my Lord. I will be sure to Charis it for all of eternity. Today the old me has died and a worm has been born. All will bow before worm, yes yes. "
Behind their navy, the ash-covered clouds still followed as they spewed out occasionally lightning strikes. It created a scary image for all who saw their fleet approaching. It was as if they were the ones who brought the ash clouds with themselves.
As the clouds followed behind them and the crazy man crazily rambled some shit to himself, Marino stood next to the wheel assessing the situation. As Marino's vice-captain steered the ship next to him asking. " So what are your orders, Lord? "
Looking at the situation he could see 3 big smooth and white colored war galley class ships In front of them. They were firing massive javelins at them with their balistas. One of them was already damaged and sinking after being hit by a Cannonball. " Just get in close and sink those pointy ears! Ram them with our ships if we have to! " He yelled to the crew.
Despite every ship firing their single frontal cannon constantly they only managed to hit the enemy once. The distance was only 5 hundred meters yet the accuracy of their ships was so shit that they couldn't hit shit.
Shit, I didn't realize how bad firing with only your eyes and no targeting instrument's would be, Marino thought.
Meanwhile, the Elven ships were managing to hit their ships constantly with their javelins. Although they seemed to be quite ineffective. Small holes were being poked in their decks as the javelins seemed to be trying to take out their crews, instead of sinking the ships.
Seeing a javelin coming his way Marino laughed and said. " Oh, Yeah bring it on! "
Reaching out his right hand he could see the javelin coming straight towards him. It flew over the deck just a bit under the sails and straight into Marino's open palm. Pang came the sound of it hitting his black hardened hand and to Marino's surprise, he was tossed backwards to the wooden deck. The javelin smashed his open palm against the wood and then bounced off and fell next to him.
" Aa fuck, that stings! " Marino yelled as he held his cracked and bleeding hand as the surrounding men ran to his aid.
" My Lord, are you alright? " They asked in concern as they lifted him to his feet.
Feeling them treating him with such care and affection made Marino feel sick and annoyed. With annoyance on his face, he pushed them away from him and yelled. " Don't touch me. I'm fine! It's but a flesh wound! "
Hearing his words the men quickly backed away and returned to their duties, leaving Marino to bleed alone.
His black hand was cracked in many places and thick slimy blood was coming out of the crack's. The pain caused him to sweat precisely but to his relief and surprise the cracks had already started to heal. Apparently, his new evolution included minor regeneration abilities.
As he admired his regeneration abilities a shout of joy could be heard. " We got a hit! "
Coming out of his self-admiring state of mind. Marino could see the central ships white deck stained with blood and body parts of elves. Apparently, the cannonball had bounced across the deck of the ship straight into what he assumed was the captains quarters.
The Elves looked shaken as they ran around the ship, tending to their wounded. Seeing them panic was no surprise to Marino since this was probably their first time facing cannons.
So far it appeared that things were going their way. No men were lost on their side and the 9 elven reinforcing ships were still far away to their left side.
But as their ships entered into the 500 meter range the situation changed. Their cannons became more accurate, but at the same time, hundreds of elves on each ship took out bow's and started to shoot.
" Incoming arrows! Take cover! " Came the shout of the vice-captain whose name he could not remember. Not taking any chances Marino ran behind the vice captains shield and took cover.
Wielding their shields and wearing their black armour the cultists took cover and managed to block most arrows, but some unlucky ones were killed or wounded. A few mutated cultists aboard his ship were too stupid to take cover and were quickly filled with arrows.
Some time ago he had noticed it but now It truly looked like the mutated chosen had exchanged their wisdom for strength.
After the first arrow volley the chosen ran inside the ships storage and armed themselves with muskets held there. Now as another volley hit the ships tearing holes into the sail's the muskets and cannons returned fire.
Though inaccurate, some musket and cannon balls managed to hit the elven ships. Standing on the deck in a tight formation shooting their arrows the elves were easily hit and torn to shreds. While at the same time, holes were blasted into their ships.
As the two navies came ever closer, more and more bodies formed on both sides. Despite never facing cannons or muskets before the elves held firm. They also had an incredibly fast firing speed with their bows and incredible accuracy.
While the chosen had deadly weapons that easily smashed through armour, they didn't have great accuracy or firing speed.
But then as the battle raged on a group of Elven archers changed their target's and fired at the demonic dolphins under the water.
Immediately after being hit the dolphins eyes turned dark red with rage. Then they stopped pushing the ships along and charged straight toward the elven ships. With their powerful fins, the dolphins leaped into the sky and dived straight into the Elves onboard the ships.
Like heavy boulder's they crashed against the Elves on board. Some managed to doge while others were crushed under their weight.
Using their muscular dark tails the dolphins threw themselves back towards the water. And as they did so they managed to use their beastly mouths to grab a few unsuspecting elves along the way.
All this happened so fast that the Elves were constantly caught off guard and they weren't able to retaliate.
Now with dolphins, cannons and muskets all attacking them at the same time, the battle turned into a slaughter. Elves were hit with musket balls causing significant injuries or death. While others were torn to shreds by cannonballs and the wooden splinters that followed their impacts. Other elves were crushed under the dolphins and dragged underwater where they were torn to shreds.
Only a few skilled Elves managed to resist. With great skill, they dodged all incoming attacks and retaliated. With bows, they tried to shoot the chosen warriors, but thanks to the ships railings and their helmets it was not easy. Some unlucky chosen were hit in their exposed shoulders and other nonessential body parts only managing to wound them. While some really unlucky ones were hit in their helmets. The force of the Elven bow's was so great that if hit right in the head, it could knock a person out cold for days or cause brain damage that could lead to death. But overall only a few casualties were sustained as the elves managed to hit the chosen straight in their helmet gaps.
As more and more holes were blown into the 3 ships, they quickly started to sink. This appeared to cause lots of panic in the elves as they stopped firing at the ships. Instead, now they turned their focus on the dolphins and attempts to repair the ships.
Now as the dolphins jumped on the ships the skilled elves turned to attack them with bows and spears.
As the spear and arrows hit the dolphins they screamed in anger. Their skin was tough and able to mostly stop the arrows and apparently, they went berserk when damaged.
The dolphins eyes glowed bright red, like a burning fire as they started to madly jump around onboard the ships. Using their tails they threw themselves at the elves in rage.
Dodging out of the way from a jumping dolphin the skilled elf felt something pinch his back, then it was followed by him losing all strength in his hand. Looking behind him he saw a chosen loading his musket. Then another chosen stood up from behind the ships railing with a musket in hand and then came another shot and then darkness. The skillful elf fell to the ground lifeless.
Marino watched the elves being fired upon from all the 6 human ships that were now only 50 meters away. Seeing them now so up close Marino grabbed the javelin that had hit his right hand just a while ago. And now javelin in right hand, he threw it straight into an unsuspecting elf's back. The force of the javelin was so great that it pulled the elf along as it went straight through the elf's back. A massive fist-sized hole was created into the elves back as he was tossed hard to the ground and died. Delighted by the sight, Marino went to grab other javelins that were embedded into his ship and then he repeated the process. One by one the elves were taken down until only a handful were left.
But since their speed had significantly decreased when the dolphins had gone to fight. The other 9 Elven ships and the ash-filled clouds had almost caught up to them.
600 meters away the 9 ships came from behind them spewing out javelins as they did so. Targeting the closest ships to them they had started to hit the two stolen elf ships.
On board the ships demon dogs, undead and demon bats were mercilessly skewered by the javelins. Enraged by this the bats went berserk and took off straight into the air and flew towards the elven ships.
Seeing this Marino huffed in disdain as the bats were almost instantly shot down once they reached the 500-meter range of the ships. Valleys of arrows created net-like patterns that easily caught the bats in the air.
And then a massive fireball formed on one of the ships. Oh shit, Marino thought as the fireball was shot with great speed straight into one of the stolen ships. On impact it blew up, engulfing everything in a 20-meter radius in its flames. Everybody on the deck was instantly melted into a meaty paste or turned into fireballs. The elves held inside screamed in terror as the fire spread inside the ship and burned them alive.
Then came a long flash of light followed by a massive boom sound, as lightning struck the other stolen ship. It went straight through the ship and out the other side creating a massive hole and electrocuting everything on board.
Then quickly after both ships started to sink and everything on board was lost to the sea. Seeing this scene Marino felt a sting in his heart and tears of sadness form in his eyes.
With the loss of the two ships, he had just possibly lost over ten thousand gold coins worth of cargo. The boats weren't big but the value in modern terms would have been over ten million dollars.
But then again he didn't really know if the former fishing boats could have even made it over the ocean. Thinking of this brought comfort to his greedy heart.
Wiping away his tier's of greed, he could see another fireball forming on the enemy ship. Focusing his eyes past the fireball he looked at the source of it. There he could see a young-looking extremely busty elven mage, dressed in white, channeling her magic into a phoenix staff made of gold.
That fucking bitch, I will make her pay for what she had done. And not only that, I will make her pay it with interest. Thought Marino in his mind as he started to laugh greedily to himself.
As Marino laughed his unnamed vice-captain had already taken over command. After finishing off the Elves on the 3 ships he had managed to get the dolphins back to pushing their ship's past the islands and into the open sea.
But then like a rocket the fireball launched high up into the sky. As Marino watched this he heard the familiar boom sound from his left and saw a flash of light in the corner of his eyes. Turning to look he could see that the lighting had struck again. This time hitting Prides ship. But unlike before, now the lighting had immediately disintegrated on contact with the ship.
Smoke came from the impact point where he could see a small black honeycomb-shaped magic shield flashing before disappearing.
The magic shield might not have been big but if it was able to stop a lighting strike like that, then it had to be quite strong. Thought Marino.
But then his attention was taken by a shout from his crew. " Incoming! Get out of the way! " Came the shout from one of his soldiers.
Up above them, Marino could see the massive fireball like a meteor falling straight towards his ship. Seeing this his danger senses started to go off warning him of the danger and advising him to get out of the way.
But Marino's pride would not allow it. And he knew that the fireball would burst into pieces immediately after contact. So with that in mind, he strengthened his body with the force. Then with great force that shook and cracked the wood below his feet, he jumped up into the crows nest.
Then right Before the fireball was about to hit the ship. Marino gulped hard and leaped straight towards the incoming fireball with his right arm extended forward.
" I ain't no bitch! I'm a man! " Marino yelled in mid-air.
Being close to the fire Marino could feel the heat of the fire sucking the moisture and air out of its surroundings, as his body started to boil. His stone-like right arm glowed bright red as his surrounding skin caught fire and burned.
" Aaaaaaaa, fuck that's hot! " Marino thought to himself painfully.
Then as his arm sank into the fireball it bursted like a balloon sending fire raining down all-around as Marino was tossed back towards the ship.
Hitting the deck of his ship hard like a burning piece of flesh he was. The last thing Marino saw before passing out from shock was the two Elven beauties standing next to him in shock.
How did they get out of their bindings? Was his last thought as darkness overtook him.