Var Agus had not expected that when encountering their two other allies it would be during battle! The least expected part however was that they seemed to be having a tough time as well!
A who was observing couldn't help but doubt Ed's conclusion about the gauntlet.
'That guy is still holding strong' The gauntlet did not devour Loask in the end.
The battle appeared to already be in its climax but it also showed no signs of ending. There was a ship being bombarded by a fierce torrent of flames. A knew they had to interfere immediately!
"Aaargh!" The friendly lizardmen let out shouts of agony or fright as the fire threatened to consume them. The materials Ed used for the ship were quite durable however, as long as they all dropped on the deck the flames would fly overhead.
"Continue attacking! Throw your spears!" Crini's voice managed to reach the ear of those on the boat, they heard her still roaring orders from amidst the flames!
Per Crini's orders, spears cut through the ceiling of fire and started darting towards the single enemy boat. Loask however didn't even bat an eye. The spears fell into the water or hit absolutely nothing on their deck.
Being blinded by the flames, most of the spears missed. Some didn't even get enough distance! How awkward was it to throw a spear while laying down? The lizardmen that did get it near the enemy ship were amazing!
Var Agus had seen enough and also acknowledged the need for interference.
"Fire! Support fire come on!" Var roared as he turned the ship to have the cannons face the right position.
"Which ammunition?" Someone asked.
"Does it matter?! Contact the other ships!" Var Agus said responding with another order. The other ships had followed his instruction to maintain a reasonable distance, they would see the battle but an emergency meeting might be in order!
"Understood!" The lizardmen said before jumping overboard. There were no lifeboats or something of that sort so they had no choice but to have someone swim over to communicate.
The chosen field of battle was rather open and while the water was deep enough to drown a lizardman it wasn't by much. The worst that could happen was getting stuck in the mud.
The flagship was at the center so while that lizardman jumped off on the port side, someone else jumped overboard from the starboard to also relay a message.
Quickly, the sound of cannon fire echoed across the open water.
"Reinforcements!" Crini shouted with some excitement.
Loask's face faltered and his flames relented after seeing the cannonballs enter within range of his ship.
"Quick! Flee!" Loask commanded. The small ship couldn't face six ships! There was even an additional ship they lost sight of. They couldn't take the risk of loitering around!
"Can you help me out pal?" Crini then said seemingly talking to herself. There was no verbal response but Crini's presence grew thin as she sprinted off the ship. To the inattentive, she disappeared without a trace. This was definitely a doing of the shadow snake blood clot!
Impressive, but Crini's crew were left stunned. Where did their captain disappear to!?!
Back on the flagship, A was very confused.
'Is that lizardman really so incompetent?' A was having a hard time believing they attacked their allies just to remain in a stalemate. If they stayed to fight they should have had the confidence to win quickly or at least that's what A believed.
There was always the chance that the battle had just started but to him at least it seemed like the battle had to have been ongoing for at least a good couple of minutes before their appearance.
'If they are this incompetent they shouldn't have anyone following them' It sounded rather condescending but there were only so many reasons to follow a leader. The main two reasons were charisma or power.
'The key must be the gauntlet' As long as there was no one scheming behind the scenes, the hydra gauntlet had to be the key to dissolving the small enemy army. Of course, annihilating them in a straightforward confrontation was possible but it would always result in casualties.
A wanted to convey these thoughts to Var but that was obviously impossible. He could only hope that Var Agus was able to come up with this simple conjecture just as well. Attacking the leader was already a common way to dissolve an army, attacking the gauntlet was not too far off a thought.
Loask was naturally unaware of A's thoughts. There were two reasons for this. First Loask could not read minds, especially not from such a great distance. The second was the gauntlet.
"Urgh…" After the extensive use, Loask could feel that the gauntlet was starting to trickle away at his blood supply, he was growing pale.
"It's about time to feed you…" As soon as they retreated, Loask would find the lizardman with the worst performance and use him as a snack for the gauntlet.
His tribal chief dreams could only be accomplished with the lives of others but that was expected. Who got to the top without any sacrifices? He simply had to sacrifice others was all.
"Huh?" Loask's wicked thoughts were interrupted suddenly when he heard the sound of someone jumping aboard.
At the rear of the ship was a lizardwoman with a frightening scowl. Her entire aura appeared domineering and bloodthirsty, she was impossible to miss! ...So how did they miss her?
It didn't matter.
Loask who was planning on removing the hydra gauntlet had a change of heart. It might be fine to use it a bit longer even if he ended up a little lethargic.
Crini's glaring eyes were focused steadily on Loask as she took heavy steps towards him.
"You are my prey today!" Crini shouted. She seemed like an apex predator at this moment.
"Hehehe, you've made a mistake!" But Loask was not intimidated by her performance. As she walked closer he recognized her as the captain of the enemy ship. Wasn't she frightened by his flames just a little while ago?
"I'm not out of juice yet!" Loask shouted before aiming the gauntlet and…!
"Urgh… What…" Loask was flabbergasted. Why was there a spear through his heart? No… why was this lizardwoman so close to him?
Loask fell to the ground without a hint of decorum. He was without a doubt gone for good. He underestimated Crini far too much. The ship was small enough for her to reach him with a sudden and speedy lunge.
While the gauntlet might be powerful, Loask was not. He was much better than the regular lizardmen but who was Crini? A divine blood warrior! She was a divine blood warrior!
"Scum like you don't even enter my eyes" Crini said with detest. But she still stared intently at Loask. His well-built body was not impressive nor enchanting, Crini was looking at the gauntlet.
Loask's crew did not know what to do at this moment. They could only shoot each other glances while wondering what exactly they were to do.
There was then the sound of something dropping to the ground. Crini was brought out of her reverie by this sound.
As she looked up, this sound was repeated a couple more times by others.
"You surrender?" The lizardmen on the ship had dropped their spears to show they were no threat.
"We… We surrender…" The small ship didn't have that many people and was narrow. No one was confident in winning against Crini in a direct confrontation or even in a small group. While some might think it is possible, no one was willing to give up their lives to test the theory.
Var Agus and the other 5 ships which were coming together noticed that the enemy ship had stopped. They were running away with great determination mere moments ago, why the change of heart?
A was also confused but he simply held onto the mushroom cage tightly. Things felt like they were coming to an end but he was still a bit uneasy. Whatever, they were now passing by Crini's ship
"Hey!" Kouzzo shouted from within the flagship.
"Crini!" He added.
There was no response though.
"She jumped off the ship earlier" A lizard crew member informed Kouzzo.
"Oh, that should explain everything" Var Agus exclaimed with a bit of glee. He was really proud of the divine blood warriors he chose. They were his choices so they already had his trust to an extent, the fact that they were proving his choice and trust correct was still gratifying, however.
"Let's quickly catch up to her then!" Var Agus said with a smile. The other 4 ships had continued without them when they stopped for Crini so they also had to catch up to them.
The flagship sped off, they could see that the other four ships just reached the enemy ship.
"It's a good thing everything worked out" Var Agus was now confident the mushroom god would not be disappointed in him.
Suddenly, the enemy ship they were looking at had a change. A swirling ominous ball of blood appeared on their deck. There was also an ear-piercing scream which A couldn't hear.
"Nooo!" Either way, the unease made sense now, A was certain something bad was happening.
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