Chapter 354: 186. Naglfar -2 (Part One)

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

The battleship of the dead, Naglfar.

It was now setting off on its maiden voyage, but not out on the ocean, but on land. More specifically, within the city of Chaves, currently submerged in holy water!

-Fuu-wuu… Fuu-wuu…-

Many skeletons below deck were rowing the oars as whitish breath gushed out from their bony jaws. The mummies clinging to the ropes connected to the sails cackled ominously as they were pulled up.

The worn-down, shabby fabric making up the sails flapped grandly in the air as the great ship forged ahead. All the buildings in its way were mercilessly destroyed and leveled to the ground.

-Now, sing! Sing the melodies exalting his greatness!- Mikael roared out, and at his command, the holy undead began howling and screeching out to ‘sing’ a bizarre tune that no one living could possibly understand.

It was at that moment that Allen set foot on the ship’s deck, now teeming with activity.

The cackling of the undead came to an abrupt halt. The grim reaper covered in the ice-white robe, Mikael, jumped up in surprise and looked behind him. He rejoiced after noticing Allen under the bird-beak mask.

-Oh, ohhh! My noble and great master!-

Mikael flew in the air to reach Allen’s position, and went down to his knees. He put the trademark scythe of a grim reaper down next to him, raised both of his hands high up, and cried out in reverence, -Oh, my master, who deigned to save this lost and wandering soul, please command me!-

The mummies all wrapped tightly in their bandages also knelt down and bowed their heads.

For a while there, a quiet stillness flowed across the ship’s deck, the only sound being the holy water tumbling down like a waterfall.

Torrential rain began falling from the heavens once more, raindrops pelting the surface of the ship with ferocious momentum.

Allen wished to sit down, prompting bones to rise up from the deck to create a bone throne for him to settle down on. Once seated, he spoke up, “Mikael.”

-Yes, master.-

The grim reaper Mikael bowed his head even deeper. He brought his hands together and began praying before Allen’s feet.

The Holy Emperor shifted his gaze and glared at the fortress in the distance. He spotted the face of Duke Agares in one of the top floor windows. That creature might have been a proud vampire once upon a time, but now, he was making the truly feeble face of a wane old man.

The vampire’s fighting spirit had been broken. The bloodsuckers were all filled to the brim with fear right now.

That’s why…

“The ones who lead false lives dared to insult me.”

…It was time to pass judgement on them!

Mikael flinched and carefully raised his head up. The mummies also raised their bowed heads in unison as if they shared one body and mind with him, their glowing eyes all focused on Allen.

“Not only did they dare to imprison my family member, they even physically harmed him. And although it’s another nation, they also dared to use innocent people’s lives as their playthings. Now…” Allen slammed the end of Avaldi’s Spear on the floor and commanded them, “…teach them an unforgettable lesson on who we really are!”

-We shall abide by Your Majesty the Holy Emperor’s holy decree, and…- Mikael slowly rose back to his feet while picking up his scythe. He swung the frightening weapon around and roared at the battleship’s crew members, -…begin the reign of looting and pillaging!-

The holy undead broke out in eerie, pirate-like cackles.

The ship of bone advanced towards its destination at its top speed.

The vampires in the fortress fell into a state of panic as the Naglfar rapidly drew closer.

“Your Lordship! Sir!” one of the vampires urgently called out to Duke Agares. “Please, sir! Give us your orders!”

Agares still had a stupefied expression on his face.

‘How did things end up in this manner?’

The vampires had caught a valuable hostage. They then arrived at the location of the negotiation. Since the negotiator from the human side looked scared, Agares thought that he was holding the advantage.

He began believing that he’d get to taste victory against the Theocratic Empire, and also against the one and only Holy Emperor, but now…

In the end, this was the end result.

“We… we wage a battle… of castle defence.” Agares wiped away all the sweat caking his forehead with his trembling hand. “The bastards only have a single battleship! Do not forget that we are on land. There’s no way that a ship like that can freely move about on land!”

“I-I see.” the vampire nodded away after realising that it had forgotten about where they were: on dry land.

“Use this fortress’s siege weapons! We shall…” Agares locked his glare on the bone ship filled with the holy undead and roared out, “…Sink that undead vessel!”

The rest of the vampires hurriedly got to work at Agares’s command.

“Prepare the siege weapons!”

“Bring in the ballistas and catapults! Now!”

Lycans dashed around while yelling out, commanding the zombies to shuffle towards the fortress’s siege weapons. Soon, the ballistas took aim at the ship of the dead in the distance.

Lycans took over the precise aiming from there, their murderous glares locked on that eerie vessel. As long as it entered their firing range, fifteen ballistas and ten catapults would surely sink the ship of the dead for good!

That’s what they thought, but…

-Turn towards starboard side!- Mikael roared out. Mummies grabbed onto the ship’s large helm and spun it to starboard.

The sails quickly changed angle, while the oars sticking out from the port side began rowing even faster.

The warship was changing its heading. The lycans were left flustered by this sudden manoeuvre.

“They changed their direction?!”

“Are they trying to escape after spotting our siege weapons?”

One of the vampires reacted quite differently from the undead beasts, his complexion paling instantly. “N-no, wait! They are getting ready to attack us!”

-Prepare to shell the enemy location!-

The cannons lined up on the sides of the warship now pointed at the fortress. Mummies split their mouths open wide at the cannons. Their withered skin stretched as they breathed into the weapons.

Through the power of the Aztal Rune, divinity flooded into the cannons.

-Fire!-

KA-BOOOOM–!

The ship of the dead shook from the recoil. Well over a dozen-plus cannons spat out ferocious flames at the same moment. In the blink of an eye, shells resembling shooting stars reached the fortress walls.

…And they exploded spectacularly.

“Uwaaaaahk!”

The wall blew apart and debris tumbled down. The undead who were directly struck by the shelling were vaporised in an instant. Meanwhile, those who were caught in the blast radius were flung back helplessly, only to be thrown down from the walls.

-Sing the melody!- Mikael roared out again, then began singing the hymn. Mummies matched him and also started screeching and howling out fervently.

The Ship of the Dead rode on the rippling waves and spread a pure white aura all around it. The cannons fired their shells relentlessly, smoke pouring out from their muzzles.

The incoming shells destroyed the fortress mercilessly, steadily chomping away at its defences. The ship circled around the fortress’s position and continued to fire its cannons.

“What are you doing?! Fire our weapons, too!”

Lycans hurriedly took aim with their ballistas and catapults. They were aimed frantically, and their projectiles fired into the air. Large boulders and ballista bolts rained down near the Naglfar.

One of the boulders struck the ship, utterly destroying the skeletons rowing the oars there. However, new skeletons showed up to fill up the gap and started rowing once more.

“What the hell? These bastards…”

“T-they are getting closer to us?”

Like a ship stuck in a whirlpool, the ship of the dead was gradually nearing the fortress, moving in a spiral pattern. It was right then that a loud gunshot rang out in the air, and the head of a zombie operating a siege weapon was blown apart.

The vampires flinched nastily and stared closely at the Naglfar. Mummies could be seen standing on its deck, taking aim with their muskets.

“T-they are within firing range now!”

“Fire back with our own weapons!”

Arrows and crossbow bolts were fired towards the ship.

“The distance has closed up sufficiently! Let’s board that ship!”

Lycans backed off before sprinting forward with all their might from the top of the fortress walls. They leapt powerfully up from the edge.

Even while flying through the air, the scared lycans couldn’t help but look below them. A sea of holy water could be seen crashing into the fortress walls like waves. If they fell in there, without a doubt their bodies would instantly melt down to nothingness.

They clenched their teeth and successfully landed on the ship’s deck, only to be greeted by mummies wielding scimitars.

“…These bastards, they aren’t slowing down at all? Are they planning to kill themselves along with us or something?!” Duke Agares, still standing on the highest floor of the fortress, watched the battle unfold with trembling eyes.

That huge warship showed no signs of slowing down while circling around the fortress, and was quickly closing the distance.

If the two collided, then it didn’t take a genius to figure out that neither of the two sides would emerge unscathed.

“We shall go down and join the battle!” Agares roared out, and hurriedly jumped down from the window. The moment his crocodile legs landed on the solid ground, he raised up his front two legs. “This is dry land!”

It didn’t matter whether or not the Holy Emperor summoned a stupid amount of holy water to artificially create an ocean. There was simply no way that he could win against Agares in this sort of terrain.

“This is my territory!!!” Agares roared out, and stomped his two front legs hard on the ground.

THUD–!