Death Shark

The warships lined up in battle formation unleashed their firepower like mad. This world had no concept of a battle line, because adventurers usually acted alone. Fleet-versus-fleet battles were virtually nonexistent, so naturally no such formation had ever emerged.

However, experienced captains could still figure out how to maximize the firepower of multiple ships. They formed a perfect battle line and blasted the rapidly approaching creatures in the distance, leaving them unable to get any closer.

"Cease fire!"

Brent’s new order came through the communicator. Brent’s Hope was positioned ahead of the Goddess of Dawn. From the poop deck, Yinsen could see that Brent, like himself, was standing by the railing and observing the distant situation.

Nearly every captain was doing something similar, but unlike the others, Yinsen was using a Detection Device to search for creatures and energy.

"Careful, those monsters have dived underwater!"

The technological products Tony Stark provided were useful in many situations. Yinsen could clearly see countless clusters of Negative Energy hiding beneath the surface, approaching them at barely any slower a speed than before.

After receiving Yinsen’s warning, Brent immediately notified every captain to activate their magic stone shields.

"Watch out for impacts!"

Shouts rang out one after another from the distance. The Goddess of Dawn had not been fitted with a magic stone shield, but that did not mean Yinsen lacked a suitable way to handle this situation.

The Book of Inheritance, which he had been holding all along, came into play once more. A white Magic Barrier immediately protected the Goddess of Dawn.

At almost the same time, layers of energy shields enveloped the surrounding warships. Though they came in different colors, not a single ship lacked a Protective Shield.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang! Bang!

This time, the sounds were no longer the furious roars of Magic Stone Cannons, but the impacts striking those Protective Shields. Every warship, including the Goddess of Dawn, came under attack. One vessel was even rammed clear out of the water by the tremendous impact before crashing heavily back down. No one knew how much damage that had done to its hull.

The Goddess of Dawn was comparatively much luckier. Although it had been struck, it remained perfectly steady on the surface. To the other captains, it seemed that Yinsen had simply been fortunate enough not to suffer too many attacks.

Only Yinsen himself knew that he had not suffered any fewer attacks than the others. The detector showed that roughly the same number of creatures had attacked each ship, which meant every vessel had endured about the same level of assault.

At this point, they could judge certain things about each ship. The vessel that had been knocked out of the water clearly had a lower displacement than the others.

Still, not a single ship’s Protective Shield had been broken. It was clear that these captains took equipment tied to their survival very seriously. No one had chosen some flimsy shield just to cut corners.

"Watch beneath the water! Don’t spread out too much, or they’ll pick us off one by one!"

As Brent’s voice came through the communicator, the fleet formation had already begun to change.

Those creatures had reached them. Continuing to maintain a battle line was meaningless now; their cannons could hardly be effective anymore. They could only rely on each ship’s own capabilities.

Looking down from the poop deck, Yinsen could see a large amount of Negative Energy gathered beneath the Goddess of Dawn. He knew that energy was emanating from those creatures. They had been too far away to judge accurately before, but now that they were so close, he was certain that the shark-like creatures were giving off the fluctuations of death.

Death Energy again?

Ever since becoming an adventurer and beginning to live at sea, he seemed to have been at odds with the power of death. He had encountered Death Energy more than once.

He did not believe there could be so many coincidences. Considering that these incidents were all connected, more or less, to a man named Beckford, he suspected that the abnormal events in these waters were related to him as well.

If that’s the case, I can use this opportunity to settle the matter.

Yinsen leaned against the railing and looked around. Logan was still controlling the ship, while Loki continued to act like a spectator. His posture made his stance clear: he would not participate in this battle. He was no warmonger; his interest in fighting was far lower than his interest in scheming.

During the previous battle with the Black Dragon Princess Onyxia, if Yinsen had not tricked her with an illusion, Loki might have remained a quiet spectator from start to finish. Even though Onyxia had humiliated her, he would not have forcibly intervened. At most, he would have run over to mock her before she died.

"You’re going underwater?"

"Yeah."

"I remember your equipment was damaged. Has it been repaired already?"

Everyone aboard knew that Yinsen’s Magic Suit had been damaged. Logan also knew that Yinsen had relied on that suit to fly and dive before.

"Don’t always judge me by what I used to be. I can cast these simple spells freely now."

"Will your Protective Magic be dispelled after you go underwater?"

Yinsen gave Logan a reassuring look. "Once I go underwater, those creatures will definitely prioritize attacking me. Besides, I won’t give them the chance to attack the ship."

Without waiting for Logan to react, he jumped straight off the poop deck. As he fell, he casually cast Underwater Breathing on himself.

He plunged straight into the sea. The climate in these waters had always been abnormal, and there was still not enough sunlight today. The moment he entered the water, visibility dropped several levels, to the point that he could not even see a few meters away.

Fortunately, he wore Specialized Glasses. In addition to detecting things, they could mark his ship’s location, ensuring that he would not accidentally damage it during battle.

Just as Yinsen had expected, the moment he entered the water, the sharks carrying Death Energy rushed at him like real sharks smelling blood.

Especially after Yinsen dismissed his Magic Shield, leaving no barrier between himself and the sharks, three of them had already reached him in the blink of an eye.

Though he could not see the exact situation clearly, the glasses marked the locations and distances of the energy forms, allowing Yinsen to "see" his enemies. As the nearest three sharks charged before him, he drew the Combat Cross in his hand and slashed at the closest one.

"One!"

Yinsen’s movement was fast and precise. Before the shark could understand what was happening, Yinsen had already split it in two.

It doesn’t seem very intelligent.

After killing one, Yinsen did not pause in the slightest. He followed through and stabbed the second shark in the head. Unlike the first shark, which had stopped moving after being cut in half, this one showed no sign of dying despite being pierced clean through. It continued thrashing wildly, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth as it tried to take a vicious bite out of Yinsen.

Undead Creatures?

The Holy Light Cross on Yinsen’s chest erupted with brilliant radiance almost the instant the thought arose. Beneath the Holy Light, not only did the twitching shark before him slowly turn to ash, but even the shark that had been cut in half earlier was purified.

The third shark, which Yinsen had not yet attacked, was also severely wounded by the eruption of Holy Light. Yinsen could feel the Death Energy within it weakening drastically. He merely took the opportunity to add another slash, killing the shark and completely dispersing the energy within it.

After killing three sharks in one go, Yinsen did not stop moving. Those three were only the beginning. More sharks surrounded him from every direction.

The sharks completely ignored the fact that their own kind had been slaughtered so easily and continued attacking Yinsen with unwavering persistence.

After confirming that Holy Light was the bane of these sharks carrying Death Energy, Yinsen put away the Combat Cross. It could also release Energy Sword blades imbued with Holy Light, but it was an "outdated version," and its usefulness was becoming increasingly limited.

He brought his hands together. The energy within the Holy Light Cross on his chest slowly gathered in his hands. Then, as he gradually separated them, an Energy Longsword made entirely of condensed Holy Light appeared in his grasp.

This was actually the kind of magic Kamar-Taj used to turn energy into weapons. In the past, Yinsen had accomplished it through a Magic Item—the Combat Cross. Now, however, he used pre-stored Holy Light as magical power and personally condensed it into a weapon.

Holding an Energy Longsword condensed from Holy Light in his right hand, Yinsen clenched his left hand into a fist and aimed it at a shark charging straight toward him.

Bang! Boom!

As a sphere of Holy Light condensed around his fist and shot forth, the struck shark was blasted directly into powder. At the same time, the Holy Light Energy scattered by the explosion caused enormous trouble for the Death Sharks.

The energy was not enough to Instant Kill every shark in the area, but it threw them into chaos, allowing Yinsen to calmly wield his Holy Light blade and cut them down one by one.

He could have unleashed all the Holy Light Energy at once and cleared out these sharks directly. However, after realizing that this incident might be related to Beckford, he became much more cautious in using it.

For the moment, he had nowhere to replenish that energy. Selene could "summon" Holy Light, but the Holy Light of Azeroth differed from the Holy Light he obtained through magical conversion. Until he thoroughly studied it and integrated it into his own Holy Light, Yinsen could not have Selene replenish his losses.

So he needed to conserve it. Cutting down these sharks with the Holy Light blade only consumed some stamina, which was no big deal.

Besides, he could take the opportunity to observe how the other ships performed.