I Created Scientific Magic

Chapter 381: Chapter 369: Can’t catch up, can’t hit, can’t outrun… Is this also called combat?

The Kingdom of Hadlata lay to the west, upon the endless Mist Sea, and amidst it, a powerful divine light surged forth, the thick fog around it visibly dissipating at a rapid pace…

Flags fluttered into view among the mist, followed by the sight of massive masts and hulls, and then the entire fleet appeared!

This was none other than the imperial ocean-going fleet, each sailing warship the latest model, over seventy meters in length, cutting through the waves like terrifying behemoths.

Despite its grandeur, the fleet sped on in utter disarray, some of the rear vessels grievously damaged, their sails even aflame.

The next moment, with the thundering of cannon fire, hundreds of cannonballs, each the size of a human head, shot out from the fog, aimed straight for the fleet!

Although the artillery seemed to lack precision, with most cannonballs striking the sea or falling hundreds of meters from their targets, creating columns of water, they were meaningless beyond that.

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But there were simply too many shots, and even if only one in thirty struck its mark, it was a significant threat…

Amid the faint chanting of hymns over the sea, an invisible Divine Protection wrapped around each sailing warship, shielding them from the barrage of cannonballs.

Executing such wide-range Divine Arts posed a substantial challenge for the Priests and bishops involved.

More importantly, attacks similar to this one arrived every ten minutes or so, allowing them no chance to rest or recover.

One vessel at the back of the fleet was hit by five consecutive cannon shots, its Divine Protection shattering in an instant. Priests aboard were forced to vomit blood from the fierce backlash and could only watch helplessly as giant cannonballs struck the hull, blasting holes through the deck and body of the ship.

One devious cannonball, augmented with explosive magic, hit the hull and immediately detonated, sending flames and smoke shooting skyward. The enormous vessel quaked and shook, capsizing and sinking into the depths… Shrill screams filled the air non-stop as soldiers and Priests aboard were left with no choice but to leap into the sea and swim desperately towards the nearest ships.

“These damned devil worshippers, minions of the Evil God, deserve to be thrown into hell, to have their souls extinguished in the endless inferno!”

In the center of the fleet, aboard a massive warship, Cardinal Sirid cursed furiously, with the faces of the surrounding bishops turning exceedingly grim.

Half a month ago, they were commanded to lead the empire’s First Fleet, setting sail to directly assault the main base of those Wizards, an illegal wizard organization that had plagued the church for years, hiding in the Mist Sea like rats and occasionally appearing to wreak havoc.

But to their surprise, en route, the fleet coincidentally encountered a fleet of Wizards.

From the direction the enemy was headed, it seemed they were reinforcing the Kingdom of Hadlata… and their numbers were less than a third of that of the bishops’ fleet!

It was an unexpected windfall, causing joy among the bishops, who eagerly engaged, intending to eliminate this Wizard fleet and alleviate the pressure on the kingdom’s battlefield.

Only when they actually commenced battle did they realize that the enemy was not as weak as they had imagined; the Wizards were indeed a tough nut to crack.

As soon as the fighting started, the sharp artillery left a profound impression on Sirid and the others, both in number and in power, far surpassing the oil throwers loaded on their ships.

This thing is said to be a new weapon developed by the Wizards, and since specific intelligence is still being collected, they were caught by surprise.

What irked Sirid the most was, just as the First Fleet decided to withstand the barrage and forcefully approach for boarding combat, these Wizards’ fleet turned tail and fled, without any intention of engaging them, even while attacking with their cannons on the run.

After a rough estimation, the cannons have a range of over one kilometer; by contrast, the oil throwers equipped on the fleet, even with the Divine Arts’ blessing, could only reach about five hundred meters.

The remaining distance of five hundred meters seemed like an insurmountable chasm. The First Fleet pursued for several hours, losing over thirty warships before they awoke to the realization that they would never be able to cross that gap.

The speed displayed by the opponent was actually far from their limit; they were merely creating the illusion that with just a bit more speed the First Fleet could catch up, incessantly depleting the number of warships.

Upon realizing this, the fleet abandoned the pursuit under the Judgement Chief’s command and turned around to continue their journey toward the Wizard Land.

However, the Wizards’ vessels, like a group of cunning and shameless hyenas, turned back again, following closely behind, maintaining a safe distance. They exploited their speed and range advantages to continuously harass the fleet, destroying dozens of warships…

It was then that Sirid and the others realized they had fallen into an awkward predicament where they could neither catch the enemy nor escape nor fight back. They were like a living target set up at sea, passively taking round after round of cannon fire…

An immense sense of frustration overwhelmed them!

Some of the more temperamental bishops even fainted from anger!

Sirid had also tried to use the flight abilities of the Cardinal Bishop to directly attack those ships, but the problem was that their flying speed was not faster than those ironclad behemoths. Moreover, once they came within two hundred meters, they had to face the attack of dozens of Magic Crystal Cannons. A Cardinal Bishop was nearly killed on the spot, and in the end, they could only return defeated and dejected.

The sound of gunfire was unceasing; in this round of shooting alone, two more warships caught fire and sank into the depths, and the Wizards’ fleet finally emerged from the Mist Sea.

Roughly looking over, there appeared to be more than a hundred ships, all of which, without exception, had no sails but could move rapidly on the sea surface, running several times faster than their sail warships!

What drew the most attention were the four massive warships at the fore!

Each one was over a hundred meters long and more than thirty meters high, with an exterior made entirely of metal. They probably weighed hundreds or even thousands of tons, resembling a mobile fortress at sea…

Sirid could not imagine what mighty witchcraft the Wizards had used to enable such iron behemoths to sail rapidly through the ocean!

Seeing the ferocious cannons on the ironclad warships starting to adjust their aim, and knowing that the next barrage was imminent, Sirid hurriedly turned to the Judgement Chief and eagerly spoke.

“Judgment Chief Joshua, isn’t it time to take action now?”

If this continues, the Empire’s fleet will be decimated under the continual barrages, and they won’t even be able to touch the shadow of the enemy!