Chapter 324 - 319: Battle of the Full Moon (Part 1)

Chapter 324: Chapter 319: Battle of the Full Moon (Part 1)

Unas tread water at the surface, his eyes fixed on the south.

A thin, grayish-white line stretching between the sea and the sky blocked the bay’s exit.

"Chieftain..." A Centurion swam to his side, his tentacles coiling anxiously. "We... we can’t get out."

The nearly one thousand Warriors surrounding him also stared at the distant barrier. Unrest spread through their ranks, and their whispers merged into a low hum.

’We’re surrounded.’

The thought flashed through Unas’s mind as he rapidly weighed the situation.

He glanced at the mine pit behind him.

’To continue digging, force a tunnel through, and claim the vein of ore’—the temptation was immense. It also aligned with his creed of always forging ahead in battle.

However, the risk of having their escape route cut off and being trapped here to die was just as great.

’Should I go all in, or play it safe and open up an escape route first?’

He snorted. ’So what if we’re surrounded!’

’There’s no way those land-dwellers can win a direct confrontation with me on the seabed.’

"What’s there to panic about!"

Unas forcibly quelled the unrest in his army.

"It’s just a pile of worthless rocks stacked by land-dwellers."

He raised his main tentacle and pointed at the gray line to the south. "All forces, listen to my command! Our target is the southern barrier. Crush it."

’Nothing can stop the advance of the Bonebreak Clan!’

The army moved out.

Nearly a thousand Warriors of the Multi-Armed Race and dozens of Sea Beasts formed ranks, casting vast shadows across the seabed.

They crossed the underwater plain, advancing toward the bay’s exit.

As they drew closer, the "gray line" gradually revealed its true form.

It wasn’t a dike made of worthless rocks at all.

It rose ten meters above the sea’s surface, towering like a mountain and making any attempt to climb over it impossible.

Its base was as wide as a mountain range.

Thick tree trunks, tangled and twisted together, formed its skeleton. Covering this framework was a thick layer of a white substance.

It was coral.

Countless tiny, living crystal polyps, spurred by Magic Power, had propagated wildly, encasing the entire dike.

Moonlight shone down through the water’s surface, causing the entire wall to shimmer with a light like diamond dust.

Only when Unas arrived at the foot of the wall with his army did he truly grasp the magnificence of the structure.

"Attack!"

Unas gave his subordinates no time for fear.

A dozen Rock-Breaking Giant Crabs, driven by their Beast Tamers, charged at the forefront.

They raised their house-sized giant claws and smashed them heavily against the coral wall.

"THUD!"

A muffled boom echoed through the water.

The blow, powerful enough to shatter granite, merely carved a few shallow pits into the thick layer of crystal coral, sending a spray of white fragments flying.

Several shamans swam forward and began chanting spells.

Streams of dark green, highly acidic water shot out, splashing against the wall.

"HISS—"

A great number of bubbles rose to the surface.

The acid corroded the coral layer. The white crystals quickly blackened and softened, revealing the dark red trunks of the Red Leaf Trees within.

’It’s working!’

The Warriors let out a series of excited hisses.

But in the next moment, countless tiny points of light began to converge where the gaps had been corroded.

The coral polyps swarmed in from the surrounding area at a visible speed, filling the wounds.

Their secretions rapidly hardened and crystallized.

In just a few breaths’ time.

The scorched black marks were once again covered by new, pristine white crystal coral.

A sense of despair began to spread through the ranks.

’How can we fight this?’

’This wall... it’s like it’s alive!’

"Keep attacking! Don’t stop!" Unas roared.

He could see it clearly: that kind of regeneration consumed energy. As long as the intensity of their attacks surpassed the speed of its repair, it would eventually collapse.

Just as the Multi-Armed Race’s army was pinned down by this wall of despair, a commotion arose from their rear.

An undercurrent, mixed with the stench of blood and the scent of Alchemy Potions, surged toward them from behind.

"Bonebreak scum! Turn around and see who your grandpa is!"

A coarse roar came from the north.

Ola, clad in heavy plate armor and wielding a battle axe, crashed into the rear guard of the Multi-Armed Race like a cannonball fired from its barrel.

"SQUELCH!"

The battle axe drew a crescent of cold light through the water. A Warrior of the Multi-Armed Race, who hadn’t even had time to react, was sliced in half at the waist, his dark green blood instantly clouding the seawater.

Behind him, Sir Finley led the elite Warriors of Dawn Territory, following close behind to plunge into the enemy formation.

"For the Dawn!"

The Knights’ swords stabbed through the water, creating a dense web of afterimages.

The magical glow on their bodies pushed aside the water’s resistance, making their movements swift and deadly.

At the same time, behind the reefs on either side of the seabed, the banners of Grey Marsh Territory and Dawn Territory were raised—two more squads charged out from the flanks.

The three squads advanced in unison, surrounding the Bonebreak Clan from three sides and throwing their formation into chaos.

A formidable wall before them, pursuers behind them.

"Split the forces! First and Second Centuries, turn and face the enemy!"

Unas made a swift decision. He had to stabilize his rear before he could focus on breaking through the wall.

In the deep sea outside the bay, the Sea Serpent bobbed on the waves.

On deck, Barbossa and his trusted captains were gathered around a faintly glowing Crystal Ball.

A gaunt man in gray Mage robes held his hand over the sphere, which displayed a real-time, bird’s-eye view of the bay’s interior.

Under the moonlight, the waters of the bay churned violently. The battle had clearly devolved into a chaotic mess.

"Boss, they’re completely blocked by that wall." The first mate stared at the image in the Crystal Ball, his fleshy face scrunching up. "Looks like that Pioneer Baron wants to wipe them out in one fell swoop. That wall... is damn hard."

"Hard it may be, but who the hell are they fighting?" another captain asked, pointing at the Crystal Ball in confusion. "I can’t make out the banners. All I see is a bunch of... monsters. They look like a mix between octopuses and crabs."

"They’re the Sea Race," the first mate said with certainty. He was well-traveled and had clearly recognized the creatures. "They haunt a few of the shipping lanes in the North Sea. In a way, you could say they’re in the same line of work as us."

The first mate turned to Barbossa. "Boss, what’s our move? Do we wait for them to finish?"

Barbossa gave a cold laugh, a plan brewing in his single eye.

"Finish? And what would we eat then?"

He gazed at the white wall that stood firm amidst the tremors, his fingers tapping lightly on the ship’s railing.

"If the fisherman catches all the fish, won’t we cormorants, waiting to pick up the scraps, go hungry?"

"Pass down the order," Barbossa said, turning abruptly.

"All warships, aim your main cannons at the middle of that dike. Let’s open a door for our ’friends’."

"But Captain, won’t they just escape then?"

"Escape? Why would they escape when a path is cleared?" Barbossa grinned. "With their retreat secured, they’ll just turn back and fight the port’s forces even more ferociously. The murkier the water, the easier it is for us to fish."

"Fire!"

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

Dozens of dazzling flashes of light bloomed over the sea’s surface.

Magic cannonballs tore through the night sky with piercing whistles and slammed viciously into the indestructible coral wall.

Several shells struck the same area. The magic-propelled steel cannonballs carried immense kinetic energy, tearing through the coral layer. The trunks of the Red Leaf Trees groaned as they broke under the strain.

After just a few volleys, a gap several meters wide appeared in the dike.

Although the coral polyps were still frantically repairing the damage, the gap was slowly widening under the relentless bombardment.

Seeing a glimmer of hope, the Warriors of the Multi-Armed Race had no time to wonder who their reinforcements were.

They let out a deafening cheer and charged the gap with even greater frenzy.

Just then, the cry of an eagle echoed from the sky above.

Rudolph led the Dragon Eagle Knight Order in a dive from the direction of the port.

"These damn pirates! Drop the bombs!"

One after another, Alchemy Bombs fell from the sky, landing on the decks of the pirate fleet.

But these pirates, who had spent their lives walking on the razor’s edge, were clearly prepared.

Layers of translucent magical shields rose from the warships. The bombs detonated against the shields, turning into harmless bursts of fireworks.

The battle reached a stalemate.

The dike teetered on the verge of collapse under the cannon fire, and the Multi-Armed Race saw the dawn of their breakout, but the human army behind them clung to them like a cancer gnawing at the bone.

Unas brandished his bone spear, running through a human Knight who had charged at him.

’Almost there.’

’As long as I break through this wall and return to the deep sea, it will be my domain!’

Just then, a strange sensation spread through his entire body.

It wasn’t just him; every creature in the water felt it.

The buoyancy... was weakening.

The once-dim seabed was gradually growing brighter.

’It’s like... the sea level is dropping?’

Unas looked up in astonishment.

Above him was a bright, full moon.

And all around him, the sea that had once granted them shelter was now abandoning them.

’This... is the real trap.’