The third-level battleship, Steel Dragon, was the flagship and the vanguard.
Three large cargo ships carrying the combat personnel of Kungang Taita's direct subordinates were lined up behind him in a single column. They looked like four huge hills meandering across the vast Black Sea.
"Congratulations, General Kungang. You're going to make a great contribution to His Majesty and the kingdom this time."
There were only three people sitting in the captain's cabin. Two of them were the Steel Knight Kungang Taita and his adjutant. The last person's identity was a little surprising.
It was a clergyman of the Eternity Fire who was wearing a white robe with red edges!
He was the one who spoke.
Although it was customary for a second-level clergyman to serve as a priest on the third-level battleships of Shilius, the recent hostility between the church and the Royal Faction was almost on the surface.
The appearance of a clergyman in an operation that deliberately avoided Griffith, which was obviously a highly confidential operation, made the outsiders ponder deeply.
But for those who knew the inside story, this situation was actually not difficult to understand.
It was just like how the peak great Knight Griffith had completely surrendered to the Church of the Eternal Fire and believed that humans should selflessly contribute to God. People in the secular world were different, and the so-called servants of God were not much better.
The secular rulers had long seen the nature of the church. Mortals could not control God, but they could control other mortals. The church was not a monolithic block of iron.
By releasing the signal that he was about to be crowned emperor, Philip II, who had some tricks up his sleeve, could see clearly who was the enemy of the kingdom in the church and who could become his friend.
Currently, within the Church of the Eternal Fire, there were a few archbishops whose status was only second to the pope. Archbishop Wycliffe (who was also a fourth-level bishop and qualified to run for the position of pope) was one of them.
This was because the core idea advocated by him said, "What belongs to God belongs to God, and what belongs to the king belongs to the king." This immediately scratched Philip II's itch.
Moreover, most of the members of his faction were from Shilius, so they had a natural relationship with each other.
After the marriage between Philip II and the Hapsburg family, under the leadership of the archbishop, they had gradually begun to move closer to the Shilius led by Philip II.
Including the Church of the Eternal Fire, in the churches of the seven true gods and even the demigod churches, the clergymen worshiped the fundamental scripture that was so thick that it could kill people. It was obvious that God had not written it himself.
And it was normal for the churches formed by humans to have differences of opinion about God's teachings and want to use their own ideas to interpret God's will.
Archbishop Wycliffe was probably what was commonly known as the conservatives.
Even within the faction led by him, some people had already openly called out the name of the Church of Eternal Fire as a new denomination to distinguish it from the Church of Eternal Fire. It seemed that their intention to part ways was already clear.
Now that they had the support of Hirus, the most powerful country in the world, a new religious reform within the Church of Eternal Fire might really be realized by Philip II.
And this accompanying priest who was stationed on the Steel Dragon was obviously a member of the Church Church who was close to the royal family.
"It's too early to congratulate. Griffith being held back by the Faletis only gives us a chance. Only by safely sending the item back to the mainland can we be considered to have completed our mission.
Based on the monitoring of Tulip's Tier 3 strength, I'm confident that there won't be any accidents. However, I still know the limitations of a Knight. This mission can't be done without the support of Archbishop Clappenson. "
On the surface, he looked like a brute with only muscles, but to be able to be sent by the royal faction to supervise the battle of Griffith and to carry out a secret mission, this Steel Knight whose nickname carried an aura of toughness clearly had a hidden talent.
"Of course. I know the significance of the Sea Throne to the kingdom. Don't worry, General."
This clergyman who was also a Shilius and had a balance of faith and country in his heart nodded solemnly.
Even because of his faction, as one of the few insiders of the secret operation, he had a far better understanding of the cause, direction, timing, and target selection of this war than others.
At this time, the Tulip colony in the southern continent was chosen as the target. In addition to venting internal conflicts and the daily suppression of the eldest son, the most important reason was the Sea Throne!
It had a literal meaning, but it also represented something real.
At this time, the Treasured Tree raw materials obtained from the Treasured Tree Bay were enough to start the great plan. It didn't matter if they didn't get the 50% share in the short term.
In the past, after every delivery, the best part of it would be hidden on the spot, and the rest would be transported back to the kingdom with great fanfare. As the most powerful country, it was self-evident who was behind this.
Before this, Shilius did receive a large investment from the Church of the Eternal Fire, but a part of the property rights, including the legendary warship that was "blessed" by the gods, would definitely belong to the church.
And the former King Shilius had been seeking to change this situation since the beginning.
Until today, after years of secret accumulation, it was time to realize the royal ambition.
It was the most powerful battleship in human history, and it was also a legendary warship — the Sea Throne.
The design displacement was 5,826 tons, four cannon decks, and 170 different types of cannons. It abandoned the blessing of divine power and was built entirely with witchcraft.
It should be noted that the current mainstream first-level warships only had 110 cannons at most. If the Sea Throne could really be turned into a reality from the drawings, it would become a true overlord of the sea. No warship was qualified to be its opponent!
Of course, whether it was the ambition to completely obtain the Sea Throne or the legendary warship, they couldn't avoid the Tulip Alliance that believed in the "Sea Throne and the Sea Throne".
And their mission now was to go to the secret hiding place and safely return the Sea Throne, which was still a pile of raw materials.
After the treasure fleet left the headquarters of Luanda, they first headed west. When they reached the far sea border where the weather was bad, they immediately turned south.
Obviously, the hiding place was very secretive and far away from Shilius's colony.
Because the "treasure tree" was not only significant but also related to the power struggle of the upper echelons, of course, it was impossible to let the complex colony personnel in front of their home have the opportunity to steal it.
But the treasure fleet didn't know.
Under the surveillance of the seagulls' mental network, there was always a fourth-level warship that belonged to Faletis acting as a navigator for about half a day's journey ahead of them. Yes, a navigator with a soul summoning banner.
By the time the five warships had completely left the continent, the closest living person to them was at least two hundred nautical miles away.
After Elvin made sure that they were completely isolated, he ordered the May Wind to turn around and intercept the four large warships in the way they came.
At the same time.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Elvin, who didn't know the purpose of their trip, of course made the safest choice.
The seagulls, carrying powerful voodoo potions, cluster bombs, and laughing spores, had already launched an air attack.
He was ready to take the lead to clear out the troublesome soldiers in the fleet and deplete the power of the Transcendents.
Just like when Shilius entered the island base before the attack, he was ready to launch another attack beyond the horizon.
But this time, he didn't use the sprites that specialized in fire. The actual combat results showed that such weapons were not very effective against the priests of the Eternal Fire.
As expected.
The sensitive spiritual senses of the magic class allowed them to react when the crisis came.
"Red flames bright and shining, protect us from suffering!"
It was as if a prayer with warmth echoed above the fleet.
[Divine Spell — Divine Protection!]
A layer of a huge barrier that was faintly glowing red rapidly expanded with the Steel Dragon as the center. It was like a giant umbrella that blocked the top of the first transport ship.
Boom!
Elvin, who had already dealt with the regular army of Shilius in the New World, of course, knew the tricks of the priests and knew how to summarize and improve.
The distribution of the bombs was precise. In the first round, only two alchemy bombs fell, and the power of their explosion had directly blown the barrier apart.
Then, all kinds of deadly things fell like raindrops without any hindrance on the four warships, and they were immediately thrown off their feet.
"Hahahahaha …"
"Ah!"
Some of the crew members were melted into a pool of blood amidst their wild laughter, and some were torn apart by the explosion of the cluster bombs … except for the "Steel Dragon", which was protected by a Second Order Priest and a Third Order Grand Knight.
The other three transport ships clearly lacked the ability to deal with this kind of air attack.
What was worse was that this was not just one round of air attack, but several rounds!
Hundreds of seagulls took turns to bombard the transport ships. This time, with Kaka's [Shadow Vault — Modified], there was no need to worry about the lack of "ammunition," even though these "ammunition" represented hundreds of golden lions.
Of course, if he could directly use money to kill a Great Knight, Elvin would be more than happy to do so.
Under Elvin's continuous air attack tactics, the captain of the transport ships was forced to surrender.
He realized that he could not protect the entire transport fleet with his own strength. It was already very difficult for him to protect the Steel Dragon.
After using [Divine Spell — Flaming Arrow] to shoot down a few seagulls.
When they launched another air attack, they directly threw the ammunition from the sky.
Even if they lost a part of their hit rate, they did not care.
He realized that he had to catch the commander behind the seagulls, or else he would lose if he defended for too long. No amount of divine spells could compare to the number of strange alchemical creations.
"Eternal Fire! Burning fiercely!
Bonfire drives away the beasts;
Flames destroy the enemy;
Light illuminates the road ahead;
.....”
[Divine Spell — Lava Pupil!]
At the top of the warship's main mast, an eye bigger than a human's head opened.
Blinking the eyes that were like rolling lava, the bright yellow pupil shot out a clear divine light that swept across the sea, the sky, and the distant Sky Sea border.
However, although the divine spell was powerful, it was still defeated by the distant spatial scale of both sides.
When he realized that Clapenson's detection divine spell could not find the other party, the captain of the transport ship was very decisive.
As the commander, the Steel Knight was decisive enough. After the three transport ships could not be saved, he directly ordered the return of the ship. This kind of attack could not defeat the "Steel Dragon" that he was guarding!
Although his face was cold, the small loss and the miserable wailing of the crew could not shake the will of the great Knight.
Since the attacker ambushed them on the way to the target location, it meant that the attacker did not know the purpose of their trip. Otherwise, no one would be indifferent to the "Treasure Tree" that could create an entire large legendary warship.
Then, the attack would only happen after he returned.
Although he lost three transport ships and a large number of trusted soldiers, the Steel Knight felt a little lucky at this time. As long as he was prepared, there would be another chance.
However, under the protection of the priest and the great Knight, the Steel Dragon went back for half a day against the occasional air attack of the seagulls. It was almost exhausted.
But he found that a fourth-level warship with the flag of Faletis was already waiting in front of him like a wall.
A tall figure hidden in the fog floated in the air and roared.
"Steel Knight Kungang Taita, come out and die!"
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