Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 469 - 459: Chaos on the High Seas

On the vast ocean, a large, unadorned sailing ship was slowly heading north.

The deep brown hull was without decoration, making it look like an ordinary cargo ship.

Only when looking closely could one find runes engraved beneath the wood grain, and the faint silvery metallic sheen just below the waterline.

Defense Matrix, Anti-Detection Barrier, Hidden Magic Power, Beast-Repelling Array, Wave Detection...

It’s not an exaggeration to say this ship is a masterpiece of Church’s magic array technology.

At the top of the tall main mast, Sofia stood on the mast, the sea breeze lifting her golden hair tied at the back of her head. Her eyes, enhanced by skills, gazed at the distant horizon, white square lines in her pupils zooming in and out, projecting the distant scenes beyond normal vision onto her retinas.

"Still haven’t found anything?" A crisp voice called from below.

Bella deftly climbed the mast, handing Sofia a fruit glowing with a soft green light. "Take a break, or you’ll stare your eyes dry after so long."

The ship didn’t actually lack reconnaissance means, especially under the control of Priest Samuel, who was proficient in magic arrays. The detection arrays engraved on the ship and the anti-reconnaissance barriers were sufficient to handle most situations at sea.

However, all these advanced magic arrays and intricate magical devices appeared dim in front of Sofia’s unique eyes.

The super long-range insight beyond human limits, capable of penetrating most invisibility spells and barrier disguises, combined with the short-term foreknowledge ability to glimpse future trajectories a few seconds ahead.

The combination of these made Sofia an irreplaceable "living radar" on this vast sea.

Therefore, since deciding to attack Demon Race ships, Sofia had spent most of her waking hours on the mast.

Sofia took the fruit Bella handed over, the peculiar white square pattern in her pupils slowly dispersing, eventually dissolving into ripples in the whites of her eyes.

"So far, the only time we’ve successfully intercepted was that one solitary Demon Race transport ship," she said, taking a gentle bite of the sweet, juicy fruit, her tone carrying a hint of disappointment. "The other times we discovered entire Demon Race fleets, we could only avoid their edge. It would be great if those people from the Archipelago could help... then we might really have a chance to cut off the Demon Race’s sea route."

"Don’t count on that bunch of scum," Bella spat into the sea with disdain, "complete fence-sitters! Counting on them to come forward and confront the Demon Race head-on? I’d sooner expect the Demon Race’s main fleet to be swallowed whole by some ancient sea monster that appeared from nowhere!"

Of course, this was just a snipe.

The sea indeed had its share of powerful sea beasts, even terrifying individuals capable of overturning entire fleets, but most were low in intelligence, acting purely on instincts of predation and territory.

Like the beast-repelling array on this ship, capable of emitting specific magic waves to drive most sea beasts away voluntarily.

And this technology was not exclusive to the Church. With the Demon Race’s technological prowess, their warships would inevitably be equipped with similar protective measures.

So, the unexpected outcome Bella hoped for was nearly impossible.

Sofia was about to say something more when her gaze inadvertently swept across the northern horizon and suddenly halted. The white square deep in her pupils contracted into a pinpoint of light, her voice slightly urgent: "A ship!"

Sofia’s discovery immediately alarmed the Captain of the Guard and Priest Samuel, and they quickly arrived at the high deck. Sofia relayed the details she saw: "To the northwest, three Demon Race warships spotted! One ’Sea Demon class,’ two ’Skeleton class’!"

"Sea Demon class?" Priest Samuel was slightly surprised. This ship, compared to the Demon Race’s standards, roughly equated to a ’Skeleton class’ tonnage, while ’Sea Demon class’ was truly a behemoth in the Demon Race Navy. Such a class of warship must have at least one Palace Level powerhouse on board, let alone an entire complete battle formation.

If engaged head-on, it might not be unwinnable, but Samuel was tasked with protecting the Hero’s growth. Attacking isolated, weak targets to gain experience was fine, but facing such a regular fleet with considerable risk, evasion was the best strategy.

He immediately decided, as he had done many times before, to use Sofia’s reconnaissance advantage to quietly steer away from this fleet.

However, Sofia suddenly raised her hand and urgently added: "Wait, Priest Samuel! Something’s wrong... the protective runes on their ship bodies are flashing continuously; it looks like... they’re under attack from sea beasts?"

After reporting this unexpected situation, Sofia instinctively turned her head, with a somewhat incredulous expression, glancing at the unaware Bella beside her, as if wanting to confirm if this companion truly had a hidden talent called [Cursed Mouth] suddenly taking effect on her panel.

...

On the other side, the Demon Race fleet was indeed under attack from the sea, but the attackers were not ordinary sea beasts.

A half-demon, with a fragment of a bone-white blade embedded in his bloodied right arm, held onto the wildly shaking ship railing with one hand, craning his head to look down. The murky sea surface was littered with the remnants of scaly limbs, the remains of Snake-man soldiers ordered to investigate earlier.

"What kind of sea beast is it?" The half-demon turned and shouted towards the Blood Race Viscount not far behind him, "Sir! It seems like the first batch of Snake-men who went into the water are all done for! What’s next? Should we have the Mage freeze this entire sea surface into an ice block?"

The defense runes on the ship flashed continuously, yet the half-demon’s tone showed little tension.

The ship’s defense was quite excellent; it was impossible for sea beasts to smash through the hull in a short time.

Moreover, the real anchor, Lord Hess, had yet to intervene, so there was no need to panic.

Scrape... scrape...

A strange noise, like some hard object scraping against the hull, alerted the half-demon to look around once more but found nothing.

"Fools! Duck!" The Blood Race Viscount’s stern shout exploded from behind!

But the warning came too late. The half-demon only felt a chill on his neck, and then his vision spun uncontrollably, the last thing he saw was his own headless body still standing, blood gushing in torrents from the severed neck like a fountain.

His head plummeted into the sea with a splash, the spurted blood outlining a hideous silhouette clinging to the side of the ship - Six Claw!

"Damn!" The Viscount cursed under his breath at the ineptitude of his subordinates and his own oversight, raising a magic staff with a large gemstone embedded in it.

The next moment, a multi-colored, continuously swirling and changing orb of light shot from the tip of the staff, floating in mid-air like a miniature artificial aurora.

Under the glow of the changing light orb, the "Refractive Shadow" on the Six Claw were dispelled, and the Demon Race soldiers were startled to realize that quite a few monsters had already climbed onto the deck.

Without any hesitation, bloody combat erupted instantly!

The clashing of drawn swords, the dull thud of claws tearing into flesh, the dying screams, and the hissing cries of the creatures mixed together.

Although caught off guard by the surprise attack, the Demon Race soldiers on this ship were not weak. After the initial chaos, they quickly stabilized their footing with superior equipment and individually stronger prowess.

The Six Claw monsters’ stealthy attack failed to create enough results, and without this advantage, they soon fell to the Demon Race soldiers’ fierce counterattack.

Until a massive tentacle with a mouthpart full of sharp teeth emerged from the sea, grappling onto the warship above, causing the ship to tilt sharply!

Simultaneously, two enormous Evil Eyes surfaced on the water, water cascading off them continuously.