Volume 9 Chapter 1 Part 9

With each passing minute, they were getting closer and closer to being totally defeated.

「If we don’t order a retreat, then we’re as good as done for. 」

Erik grumbled to himself, but the warriors who received the power of the 「Berserk’s」 Banner were turned into mad warriors who didn’t fear death and thought only of slaughtering the enemies in front of them, so they’d never heed an order to retreat.

「If this continues, we will be wiped out… 」

One of Eric’s aides whispered. Eric was well aware of that as well, but there was nothing he could do to stop it now.

The Nord warriors charged the enemy ship and attempt to board it. However, a swarm of small boats got in their way, and while they were distracted by the small boats, arrows would rain down on them from the sailing ship, and cannonballs with frightening destructive power would be fired from the ironclad ships ballistas behind them.

Nord ships were destroyed one after another, and the sea surface was filled with dead warriors.

「I… Impossible… 」

Eric said while intense shock of what he was witnessing right now was shaking his entire body.

「Are you saying that I, Eric the Ocean King, will be defeated by the weak Lords of the Fantasia Union?! 」

「My Lord, if we don’t want to get annihilated, we should step back and retreat. 」

One of his close aides gave Eric advice in a weak voice.

「We will return to our homeland and make a comeback… With the help of our allies form the Factory Alliance, we will definitely make a comeback. 」
「But if we retreat now, then how would we ever be able to wash away the shame of such a crushing defeat off of us?! 」

「… No, if we back away now, I’ll lose all my pride as a Nordic warrior, and my people won’t recognize me as their king anymore! If that is the only thing left for us to do, then so be it, I’ll continue to fight until my very soul burns itself up! Gods of Valhalla, behold! I offer my soul to you as it ascends to the heavens, where I’ll become a warrior of the gods and wait for the last epic battle at the twilight of the world! 」

Screaming to the heavens, Eric activated his 「Berserk’s」 Banner’s power on himself.

「We have no choice. Let’s accompany the king until the end as well. 」

His aides smiled bitterly and received the power of Eric’s Banner themselves. With that, all the warriors on Erik’s ship also become berserkers. Seeing this, the three Mages who had contracted with Eric looked at each other and secretly let out a sigh. Ever since they signed a contract with Eric, they have been treated poorly by him, being delegated only to doing the worst possible chores. They were never allowed to be present at important discussions, nor were they asked to actually advise the kind with anything he was ever doing.

So, since they were never trusted by Eric, they had no intention of being loyal to him as well. If the three of them manage to survive this battle, they planned to surrender themselves to the Fantasia Union. The relationship between the Fantasia Union and the Mages Association is quite good, so Alexis would definitely agree to take them under his protective wings.

However, the three Mages’ hopes never came true. This is because Eric secretly considered the Mages Association to be his enemy all along. There was no way that he, who had become a berserker now, would miss the opportunity to dispose of the three enemies who’ve boarded his own ship.

As a result, all three of them soon lost their lives to Eric’s greataxe.

* * *

Alexis still had her eyes closed. However, he didn’t need to keep them open, because the situation on the battlefield could be determined just from the sounds that could be heard all around him.
Everything was unfolding just as he had envisioned it to unfold.

The soldiers of the Fantasia Union were winning the battle. Just like the battle with Marquis Dawson, it was a perfect victory. Enthusiastic shouts of the Union’s soldiers could now be heard in various places on the battlefield.

However, Alexis’ mood didn’t improve at all because of that. His heart still aches for the dead Lords and their soldiers, both on the side of his allies, as well as on the side of their enemies. But he has to endure this until his dream comes true. The dream that was given to him by his friend Theo Cornero, the Earl of Sistina.

The Earl of Sistina became the leader of the Artuk Treaty and left the Fantasia Union, since his own plans required his new faction to be independent, but Alexis never held it against him, since he did that with the aim of finally bringing peace between the Fantasia Union and the Factory Alliance.

In order to help him achieve this, the Union must be able to fight on equal terms with the Alliance, but Alexis also had his own personal target in this: he wanted to show Marine that it is impossible to unite all the Crests into a Grancrest with the use of the military might alone and make her forget The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral. And then, just like he promised her before the Great War broke out and the tragedy occurred, Alexis will finally take her as his wife.

Alexis had previously resigned himself to the fact that such a day would never come. However, he was scolded by Theo about the stupidity of such claims, and thanks to that scolding, his eyes have once again been opened to wahat was truly important for him.

The sun will set soon. This battle will end soon.

The north wind was supposed to blow soon. Riding that wind, the fleet was supposed to return to the continent…

… but that’s when they heard a beastly roar from far away.

After killing his contracted Mages in what could only be described as an absolute bloodbath, Eric the Ocean King roared like a giant bear while the rowers run their longboats at full speed.

Floating in the sea were the remains of a Norse ships and the corpses of the people who have been summoned to the world of Valhalla to serve as the warriors of the Gods. Moving forward and pushing them all aside, Eric’s ship approached the fleet of the Fantasia Union.

Eric used all the power of his Crest I order to strengthen himself.

The long ship crashes into one of the sails sticking out of the water. The statue of Odin on the bow of the ship is shattered, and a hole was left in the side of the sailing ship. One of his aides tried to run a ladder over to him, but Erik pushed it away and leapt onto the deck of the sailing ship with terrifying leaping power.

He then begins to swing his greataxe that he still had in his hand.

* * *

「The enemy managed to board the ship, you say? 」

Miguel Suavi was leading the battle from a lookout on the mast.

Just then, a longboat crashed into them at a tremendous speed, almost causing him to fall from his post. When he managed to regain his balance and looked on the deck, he saw a warrior who looked like a giant, swinging a greataxe at everyone who was unfortunate enough to be near him at the moment.

Miguel is the greatest Lord of the small continent of Estrella, located at the western tip of the continent, and lead 20 sailing ships in this battle. That fleet was second only to Halusia and Ismeia, and they formed a ring formation around the ironed ships and engaged in a fierce battle with the Norse ships.

Some ships managed to get close enough, allowing the berserkers to board the ironed ships, but sailors quickly gathered around the spots where they were supposed to climb up, and then they surrounded them and impaled them with their spears. The ships were connected by gangplanks, and reinforcements could arrive quickly, which only made it easier for the Union’s soldiers to carry out their tasks.

However, most of the berserkers died before they can even board the enemy ships.
The Norse ships lost their rowers, there were a large holes in them and the ships sank in a matter of seconds due to there being no one to take care of the leaks and flooding. Although the berserkers were certainly brave, they lacked calm judgment, and they were unable to deal with unexpected situations as they occurred.

Naval battles eventually turned into pure close-quarters brawls, with one-on-one battles taking place here and there, but once again the battles were won or lost before they could even reach any serious stage.