The deafening music amazed me. Even more so amazed gray tigers, who were shaken. The flagship, like a New Year tree, lit up, as did the rest of the armada’s ships. They received an increase in speed and maneuverability. Above, flags proudly fluttered in the wind.
At this new speed, we overcame hundreds of meters much faster than we had planned. And turned out to be nose to nose with the enemy.
“Take care!” I screamed angrily, turning the steering wheel and trying my best not to squint.
The flagship entered between the two enemy ships, barely missing their “wings.”
“Fire from all sides! Fire!”
The flagship wailed. Everything shook under our feet.
“Grebehroks, shoot at the batteries! Snipers! Do not fail us now!”
We plunged into the melee.
B-bah!
One of the pedestals exploded like a small nuclear bomb from the accurate hit of a Nyusha, and a dirty gray-red fire burst from the holes made in the ship. The explosions followed one after another. They shot at everything and anything. When the Earl made it out of the fire, it left two broken enemy ships behind it, sinking slowly. Of the injuries we had — there were holes in our sails and flames here and there, which were immediately eliminated by a cohesive team.
I twisting the steering wheel and the ship turned with an incredible speed for such a vessel. We had passed right by the enemy ships. No one normal would have committed such a suicidal maneuver. But I did … and I did not feel guilty. I only squeezed my eyes, finding all the eyes on me uncomfortable.
“I rely on you!” Goldie stated proudly.
“Well, you and ...”
“Ros! I need your aura!”
“I got it!” I shouted to Malice. ”But I cannot move from here!”
“Do it! Not for long!”
“Got it!”
Activating the aura, I realized I had completely forgotten about Malice, who was once again about to take advantage of the terrible magic I had already seen in Dark Edge. But this time, the battle mage sent a terrible wave to the enemy’s deck, literally flooding it with death. They were running from side to side, and a strange fire was boiling between them.”
“Let us go in!” I shouted. I continued to record the video I started — no longer caring about the timing and panorama. Recording was mechanical. This was a real battle chronicle ….
“Where?! Where are we going?” Goldie cried nervously. “The ocean is empty all around!”
“Come in …” I gasped, involuntarily covering my eyes when the Earl’s nose flew at full speed into the yellow gorge.
“Oh-h-h-h-!”
This exclamation, and similar ones, escaped everyone around. As soon as we passed the invisible mysterious border, the amber wall was filled with an even brighter glow and then immediately became visible to everyone. And also the energy radiating from it. I did not expect this, but I was pleased that I had not been mistaken for a psycho. But the joyful thoughts flew out of my head, as soon as I realized that we were rushing along a narrow, sinuous channel — and were surrounded by the enemy.
“There is nowhere to turn!”
“There is!” I said, disagreeing with the howl of Malice. I twisted the ship’s wheel.
“They are aiming at the steering wheel! Cover his ass!” Anxious screams came from behind. A couple of moments later, the support mages stormed into the bridge, intending to place a shield around it.
“Not required yet!” I barked, turning the ship again.
Something flew away, something crunched, crashed … the masts on the deck snapped and three sails were broken. Then flopped Baroness uttering phrases you would not expect to hear from the girl.
“BB!” - called her Malice.
“I’m busy, strangling tiger” - was the answer.
She was monstrously strong. She and the watchman collided with each other on the deck like two cannonballs. Both remained intact, and continued the fight. The Baroness tried to tear off the tiger’s head — not to strangle him, as she had said. Numbers flashed over her head, manifesting and disappearing again. It seemed I saw the last two digits — six and seven. I could not see the first few. Was that her level?
“Report from the rear! The passage stabilized! In forty minutes, the last ship will pass through! At the latest — in an hour fifteen. This is a strange zone affecting objects — wear is increased tenfold! Armor rusts before your eyes, and plaques are rotting!”
“Got it! Do not pay attention and continue to increase speed in all possible ways! Rear magicians— stir up a hurricane!” After finishing the enemy, the Baroness jumped on the bridge and continued to give orders. “Wait for me on Holy Brunhilde! Prepare for CLOUD activation! Brunhilde, slow down! Hold at the entrance to the pass found by Ros! We are already inside the barrier! We have already done the impossible! The victory is almost ours!”
“Y-e-e-eah!”
“To victory! Tear the enemies into rags! Fire! Fire!”
“Ye-e-e-a-a-ah!”
“Sleepless — onward!”
“Done! Brunhilde is waiting! Her condition is satisfactory — as well as all other ships built at the shipyards of the Ancients. But wear continues!”
“The deck has failed,” I gasped as I watched as a part of the deck literally crumble into chips.
“Take us out, Ros! Take us out!”
“I am starting to jump soon,” I did not agree.
“What do you mean?!”
“They’re aiming at the flagship! At me!”
“So what?!”
“I will arrange a game for them! I will go on all the ships.”
“Are you crazy?!”
“Act!” The Baroness snapped, grasping the essence at once. ”This would give us a breather! Intercept the steering wheel! Mages! Did not let the speed decrease after the Navigator’s departure!”
“Well, here I go ...”
Leaving the helm, I flew into the foggy lens of the local teleport, having managed to choose the name of a ship. It turned out to be the Ucle Dockless, a beautiful five-master.
Ahoy! Raise the sails!
Navigator on board!
Ship Ucle Dockless was declared the flagship! …
I was thrown onto the deck and then I felt someone’s hands on me.
“Now you are one of us!” Solemnly declared the elf Uhumusechka, shyly lowering his huge eyes.
“No no no!” I shook my head. “Time to go!”
Having freed myself, I repeated the jump and found myself on a ship of racists. And how else could I call a brigantine completely populated by severe, bearded gnomes?
Ahoy! Raise the sails!
Navigator on board! …
“Navigator! I cannot give you the wheel,” growled a black-bearded muscular gnome with a huge blue nose. “Youare too high for it!”
“Bye!”
And I again disappeared. In the next five minutes, I made jumps to several dozen ships. And my insane tactics of the “demoniac monkey” bore its fruits — the gray tigers were confused. Their ships stopped hitting the miserable flagship and dispersed, trying to track down my whereabouts. And I continued to jump and jump. Then I decided to take a break and chose the Earl. Flopping on the bridge, I rushed to the wheel and pushed Goldie aside.
- That is amazing what you are doing! The entire trip you sat and read the newspaper, and now exploded!
- Blame you – I muttered – not coping.
- What?!
- What is this bowel?! What the hell is this passage for?
- Analysts put forward a theory that we made it through the weak point of the spell.
“What do you mean?”
“Its weak point! Like a crack, a vulnerable point. We penetrated through it.”
“Hmm… I will get dressed,” I decided, returning the wheel and hurrying to the lonely box in the corner. “It is soon time. Daughter!”
“Yes, Dad?! Thousand devils! I killed a gray tiger! And Tyrant snatched one of their hands with
the swords! Was It cool?”
“Oh, yes, my dear! You were coolest of all!”
“Right! Exactly! Almost like fishing!”
“Papa will wear some strange things now, but do not worry — I have to. Nothing will happen.”
“Got it! I am going to go to pull the hair out of the tigers!”
“You be careful there!” I shouted, looking at the face of my daughter, sitting on the railing and swinging her feet — ignoring the explosions and fire all around.
“Okay! Well, I am off! Good luck!”
I dressed quickly in the cursed equipment, which turned me into a very gloomy character — I literally exuded a black aura. Pull on the pants and I would be nearly indistinguishable from Anrull!
“The stars are above us! And they help us!”
I threw back my head, and was stunned by what I saw — a dozen or so ancient star-shaped guards appeared not only in the visual plan, but also in our combat power. A punishing fire came from the heavens, the rays of death wiping out the gray tigers, destroying their ships. And part of the rays easily cut the writhing, umbilical energy cord, after which the ships lost control, and the tigers froze in a thoughtful fossil.
“What a surprising gift!” shouted Malice in joy.
“It is not a gift,” I said.
“Yes, I understand. They come here on their own business. And they push you forward to open the veil. But what will happen next ...”
“Exactly…”
“Fuck them, Ros! We need to get to the shore and dig in! At least with our teeth! Oh… wow, you look scary, like you were touched by the plague.”
“Do not say it,” I snapped, and a thick black smoke burst from my mouth.
The divine curse did not work for me, but its visual effects were completely preserved. I was all wrapped in smoke, my eyes were red, and my feet left dark footprints, some of which began to smolder. I was on fire! What a hot guy!
After dressing, I arranged a hasty meal for myself, and then quenched my thirst. Without checking the effects, I uncorked the bottles one by one, and drank a few sips of their contents. I pumped myself with bonuses for mana, which were not especially necessary — but they gave me an extra guarantee of success.
“I am ready!” I said to everyone and no one, wiping my smoking lips. No one noticed.
Makes sense.
Seeing how three large ships were aiming their guns directly at us, I hastily jumped into the teleporter and again began my jumping from deck to deck. I would return to the Count at the very end. I did not want to endanger my friends and family unnecessarily.
The fleet of the Sleepless endured terrible losses. This manifested itself, first of all, in the ships not reinforced in the shipyard of the Ancients. Some of these ships simply fell apart into a cloud of chips! The masts fell inward, the decks collapsed! After each short skirmish, armor and weapons were rendered unusable. This was where the surplus guns would have been most necessary.
“Trouble ahead!”
As soon as they saw me, the other ship’s team understood that I was not on board their ship in vain. I was throwing them to the lions — in all senses of the expression. What a terrible feeling — deciding someone else’s destiny.
“All for the clan!” I breathed, and looked at the grim half-orc captain standing next to me. “Yes?”
“Yes! Goodbye!
“Goodbye…”
And I jumped again. And returned to the Earl, who immediately picked up speed – and with one jump, burst into the opening ahead! It was like a curtain was pulled up before us! Everything remained, behind us. The battle, the agony of the ships fighting for life. Only our ship had managed to pass — the one with me on board. And the rest remained there — unable to overcome the fray. Captains and sailors were shouting at full volume, warriors and beasts were roaring. Tens and hundreds of ships began to collide on the water and under the water. And between them, the enemy ships.
And I had thrown them there — into the worst of the ruthless gray tigers. We left them to die. The Baroness remained somewhere among them. On the other side.
The terribly shabby Earl floated along the perfectly calm, very transparent ocean. A light wind filled the sails, but it did not affect the water. The crystal silence was not disturbed by anything. Not even by breathing. And the noise of footsteps. We all froze. All turned into statues with gaping mouths and eyes wide open.
We saw it …
It was right in front of us. Here it was, like in the palm of your hand, just a little hidden by translucent amber haze. Ancient, and just like in the legends.
Here it was … Zar’Graad …
Chapter Thirty-One.
And a veil of a new era pre us…
When you wait so long to see “THAT”, the imagination always draws up something somewhat unreal, filled with too many bright colors, something fantastic and unique.
But the reality — albeit virtual — puts everything in its place.
Through the translucent amber haze, I could see mountains darken over the green blanket of a coastal forest. And huge trees crushed the young shoots with their ruthless shade. We could see the mouth of a shallow rivulet flowing into the ocean. And there were hundreds, hundreds of birds — so far, the only living beings visible to us. They were swirling over the water, and the forest and the valley, the expanses of which were visible to us.
The water beneath us contained a solid amber glow. In it were bright flashes of white and yellow. There were shadows inside, but it was just some frightened fish. How did I know that?
My daughter, Orbit behind her, and then Kirea, had stolen the first and second catches of Zar’Graad from the Sleepless. And ridiculously enough — even before the veil was down, before the spell was removed, the achievement was given to them. If this was a bug not foreseen by the Amreetas, then nothing could be done about it — the Sleepless would not be able to get it. But I think hardly anyone could had expected that, aboard a fighting ship that had just escaped from the heat of a furious massacre, someone would begin to fish! But this trio could! Hardly having finished pulling out the whiskers of the gray tigers, they immediately flopped onto the deck and threw their fishing rods into the glowing water. And Roska pulled out of the water a huge, fat fish with red fins and sparkling silver scales almost instantly. This was not the bonus … Roska did not get an achievement. She was a goddess, after all. But she was the first — and I did not know if it would play a role in the future. But Kira was the first! Orbit — the second! One of the Sleepless was the third. Only the third. It was funny and sad at the same time…
And before us — not a single piece of land aside from the continent. And the ray beating from my chest simply disappeared. The guiding compass had broken.
“How much longer? Lord!” Goldie was clearly starting to panic. “And if the point for casting the spell was a couple of kilometers from here? And if you needed to swim for another hundred kilometers?! And beneath us, the fucking boat falls apart!”
“Hey!” This bellow was not the voice of Captain Graf and none of his team. It was that of my father. “It is not a boat! It is a battle ship! Which dragged us all through all the adversities of nature and through all the enemy ranks! Show some respect!”
“Yes, sir! That is… Admiral! Admiral! I-I ...”
“Come on! Set aside your panic! We will cope. I manage the team. Everyone should do only their own business! Son!”
“Yes!”
“Finish this mess! Take this nonsense veil off of the new earth and open the passage to those who are dying behind us!”
“Yes sir!” I had nothing else left to say.
“Wo-o-ow …” Kaylen muttered, appearing out of nowhere. “I wrote it all down! Cool!”
Looking forward, I was convinced that we were almost at the transparent barrier. And it looked solid. Turning back, I glanced at the ships, and then made my way down to the deck.
“Ros?!”
“I am going to take down the veil.”
“But there is not even a hint of it anywhere! Only water!”
“I am the Navigator,” I reminded her.
“And?!”
“I can breathe under water,” I answered. “Drop the anchors. We have arrived. I go forward myself. Is there connection?”
“Yes!”
“Tell BB — I have gone to remove the barrier. This is my job. But whoever is the first to step on the new land — I do not care anymore. Orbit, take this,” without stopping, I walked past the fishermen’s trio and slipped a piece of paper into the elf’s palm. “Read it.”
“What kind of a note is this ?!” Asked Goldie.
“Secret business! Do not worry about it! Roska, Dad would be back soon. Kirea! Officially I declare — I love you!” The last phrase tumbled from me automatically, just at the moment when I stepped over the side of the ship.
The water swallowed me awkwardly. And I was far from swallowed — rather, I entered the water like a cake of cow dung. I slapped down into it so hard that it was a surprise that I did not splatter over the surface.
I saw flashes of amber light before my eyes. The fish had freaked out from my appearance. It was understandable — I looked terrible. A monster, smoking even in the water, gurgling, with red eyes, spewing black smoke ….
And so the bottom met me cheerfully — there were a whole bunch of skulls. Old and yellow, overgrown with algae. Too many skulls! I was already shaking when I saw a whole pile of “blind” skulls without eye sockets, very fanged and large. These skulls look exactly like Anrull’s. And beside the skulls there were many bones. I had fallen into the underwater burial ground filled with remains. And immediately it became clear that I had guessed right— the missing amber ray reappeared, and hit a very large object. To get to it, I would have to make my way through the bones of unknown creatures.
Taking the first step, I looked up— directly above me was the Earl. Or rather, the part of the ship that was underwater. And there I saw an elf dangling on a rope and yelling something right under the water. He had with him a jar of fireflies and a telescope. What a bullshit sentinel … but apparently other methods of observation in this place did not work. I wondered if he had agreed to such a job? Look at the predatory fish sniffing at his heels… I could see, but he could not — which is why he needed the fireflies. Still, it was such a small depth… twenty to twenty-five meters…
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