Chapter 182: Mist and Dragon Breath

“It is actually a round ship!” a voice came from the watchtower.

“Did you see that wrong? How could there be a round ship acting alone in a situation like this?” asked a Guard on the watchtower who was looking in a different direction, with his back turned.

The previous Guard adjusted his helmet and said in annoyance, “Is it necessary to lie to you? If you don’t believe it, look for yourself.”

The Guard who turned his head looked and spoke with a hint of surprise, “This ship owner is really bold enough! In these years when pirates run rampant, he actually dares to use this kind of slow ship for trade. But he was lucky and won the bet; it looks like he should make a lot of money on this trip!”

Not long after, the “Beauty of Mephis” successfully entered the port with the help of the pilot. It docked at the fourth pier on the south side.

The sky gradually darkened, but the prosperous Morbihan Port was still brightly lit, and the scent of wine and roast meat floated in the air. It was a full moon night, and the surging tide was much more obvious than usual.

It was already around ten o’clock at night, and the entire Morbihan Port was immersed in darkness and silence; everything seemed no different from usual.

However, suddenly a thin mist quietly descended upon the port, blocking the watery moonlight. The wind also gradually picked up; this wind seemed to ignore the obstruction of buildings, carrying a kind of recklessness, and very neatly extinguished the lights that were still burning in those few windows.

A thin black dog, revealing its rugged ribs, walked slowly across the empty street wagging its tail. Its soul-summoning bark highlighted the surrounding silence even more at this time.

Under the curtain of night, the sea was turbulent, the wind whistled, rolling up waves. In the depths of the sea, more than ten ships were hovering back and forth. The models and flags of these ships were all different, but the atmosphere on the ships was exactly the same.

The decks of these ten or so ships were full of people. They were all wearing short shirts in the freezing cold, holding spears in their hands, with Battle Axes tucked at their waists. A large shield leaned against the ship’s side; these were large shields specifically for warships. The front of the shield was covered with a layer of iron sheet, the back was thick and dense oak planks, and underneath was an inch-wide asterisk-shaped iron strip frame.

The Mage standing at the bow began to cast a spell. He waved the Magic Wand in his hand and chanted incantations. After a moment, he inserted the Magic Wand into the sea. The Magic Wand was very long; as soon as it was inserted into the sea, the seawater around the wand immediately boiled, followed by a rising mist. At first, the mist was quite thin, but gradually it became thicker and thicker.

When the mist wrapped the entire ship inside, a Spellcaster on another ship, hidden in a cloak and hood, activated the Scroll in his hand. After the same spellcasting process, the second ship was also shrouded in the summoned mist, and then the third, the fourth…

When more than ten ships were all shrouded in mist, the boatswain on the ship shouted loudly: “Rowers, take your positions.”

A noisy sound immediately rang out in the cabin, followed by oars more than nine meters long extending out, rowing neatly, pushing the ships forward slowly. Not long after starting, with the combined effect of the sea wind and the tide, the speed of the fleet increased significantly.

In the darkness of Morbihan Port, a line of fire suddenly ignited! It inexplicably reminded people of spraying champagne. Immediately, the firelight spread, surging and majestic, extending like a flood attack, which was jaw-dropping. In an instant, it swallowed up many nearby houses. Obviously, the arsonists had made very thorough arrangements beforehand.

The soaring fire in the port was the best reference point. The mist shrouding the surroundings moved with the ships; they not only blocked sight but could also shield against the detection of low-level alarm barriers.

In the port, the streets were full of people. The top floors of many houses also lit up. Everyone looked blankly toward the pier, watching the fire soaring into the sky.

The sound of the alarm bell that rang immediately made everyone dizzy, because this bell had not rang since the port was established. Many people had even forgotten its existence, let alone what it meant.

But those on the ships immediately became alert. This abnormal situation hid quite a few possibilities. However, having made a living at sea for so long, they were prepared for the worst. The Guards at the port also quickly prepared for battle. They sheathed their Longswords, picked up Crossbows, and pressed the Crossbow Bolts into the firing grooves. At the same time, they prepared their armor and shields.

The sound of footsteps got closer and closer to the fire point. A long string of torches rushed straight here, but the people running at the front didn’t carry torches. This was the Security Squad in the port, and they were all fully armed too. Unfortunately, tasked with maintaining order, they were at most light infantry in terms of equipment. Sadly, just like the police in TV shows who are always late, when they arrived, they could no longer find the traces of the arsonists.

After more than a quarter of an hour, a soldier on the fortress on one side of the port accidentally glanced at the sea and shouted for everyone: “What is that?”

All the other soldiers turned their heads. In the night, they could vaguely see some unusual shimmering waves. The mist created by Magic could only cover the hull, but it could not hide the wake dragged by the ships when sailing.

“It’s an enemy attack, someone is attacking the port. Guys, move, give them a hard hit!” a junior officer shouted without panic, and from his eyes, it seemed that excited flames could be seen ignited.

He strode quickly to the side of the heavy Ballista, kicked open the wooden lock locking the Ballista with one foot, and wanted to turn the direction of the heavy Ballista. Unfortunately, with his strength alone, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree; this thing required four people to turn the winch at the same time to move it.

“Help quickly,” he roared loudly: “Others don’t just stand there stupidly, go sound the alarm.”

“Understood!” one of the soldiers left quickly.

Watching the blurry shadows getting closer and closer, the officer immediately began to give orders. Soon, arrows with shafts as thick as carrots were placed in the firing groove of the heavy Ballista. After being lit with torches, they all burned rapidly.

The alarm bell representing the enemy attack had just sounded when two fortresses near the pier simultaneously lit torches. In the firelight, four huge Ballistas were reflected, and at this moment, the Ballistas were already aimed at that patch of mist.

Unfortunately, the first round of attack from the fortress was like a stone sinking into the sea, sinking into the mist without any sound.

The officer gritted his teeth, stomped his right foot, and used the key in his hand to open a sealed box beside him. Inside the velvet cloth in this box, there were actually giant arrows placed as well. The officer turned his head and said: “Notify them all to use Red Dragon’s Breath.”

Red Dragon’s Breath referred to these Crossbow Bolts in the box. They were not ordinary goods; there were two types of Magic on them in total. One was “Guidance”. This kind of Crossbow Bolt was one less when fired; without adding this, if it missed, it would be too much of a pity.

The other was “Burning”. The wool on those Crossbow Bolts was all wrapped with thick burning agents. If burned at a normal speed, it could burn for at least half an hour, but after adding Magic, it would burn clean in a few seconds. The intensity of the burning was jaw-dropping. Where the Crossbow Bolt hit, wood turned directly into ash, metal completely melted, and even stone was burned into glass.

As beacon smoke rose from one of the fortresses, four giant Crossbow Bolts shot out rapidly. They tore through the mist protecting the ships, and three giant Crossbow Bolts hit the same ship. They pierced through the deck and nailed directly into the cabin. Only one Crossbow Bolt was slightly off, but under the effect of Magic, it pinned the mast of another ship.

Each of these Crossbow Bolts weighed fifty kilograms. The deck was pierced at once, and the Crossbow Bolts shot into the cabin. Wool was tied to them, and the wool was soaked in kerosene, like three huge torches thrown into the cabin.

One of them hit the storeroom for food, and under the effect of Magic, the entire storeroom and the flatbread inside were ignited. In addition, the other two Crossbow Bolts ignited the sailor’s cabin and the cargo hold storing repair wood respectively. For a time, the whole ship was ablaze. The pirates had to start busy fighting the fire, and at the same time, the rowers were scattered by the ignited side of the ship. Some had to jump into the freezing seawater to survive.

And the mast of the other ship snapped and fell from the burning point before the sailors could put out the fire. The falling mast not only smashed a lot of facilities on the ship and injured some crew members, but the ship’s speed also suddenly decreased. It immediately opened a distance from the ships in the same echelon.

Unfortunately, each time the giant crossbow was cocked required quite a long time. Two consecutive shots were enough for those pirate ships to close the distance. “Bang! Bang! Bang!” The sounds were the collisions of ships with the pier. Although it would more or less cause damage to the hull, if controlled well, the impact was not significant.

Suddenly, with a “twang”, a Crossbow Bolt more than one meter long shot out from the Ballista at the bow of the ship. The powerful Crossbow Bolt instantly pierced through the shield, and then passed through five people in a row. Two people died on the spot, and the other three couldn’t die for a while, so they could only cover the gushing blood with their hands, screaming and howling. These port Guards who came to support suffered a baptism of blood at the first moment. They had to retreat and look for cover. However, the leader of the Guards made a prompt decision to set fire on the pier.

The pier of Morbihan Port had been very busy recently. A layer of wooden planks was paved on the pier to prevent the hull from being damaged by hitting hard rocks when the ship docked. Slightly more particular piers were all like this. Moreover, there were cables, cranes, and large and small wooden boxes by the pier. Now these things were all burning, and the fire was so big that people could not put it out. It successfully thwarted the pirates’ attempt to invade the port.

The first alarm bell was struck, and Knight Baptiste, who stayed at the port for the night watch, jumped up from the bed at once. He had just gone to bed not long ago, so he was still awake. He walked quickly to the window, pulled open the curtains and took a look at the pier. As soon as he saw the place with the fire soaring into the sky, he immediately understood what was going on.