I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 525 The Buddhist Temple Collapsed

The unusual changes in the five magic towers were immediately noticed by the new lookout on the Storm. Before he could report it, the other players on the stern deck below, including Little Knife Stabs Buttocks and others, also saw the situation with the help of binoculars.

As the fleet drew closer to the port, the light emanating from the five magic towers in the port grew ever brighter.

"Damn it, these long-eared guys are trying to play a nuclear deterrence game with us!"

The moment you see the knife stabbing its butt, you know what the enemy elf is up to.

Although in this world, Little Knife Stabs Butt and the other players are just magic Muggles, they've played more than one game. In other game worlds, many of them are characters similar to great magicians.

Therefore, when they noticed the anomaly at the port, the players almost immediately guessed the intentions of these long-eared people.

"How to do?"

The henchman, who was in charge of the gunnery, asked nervously.

After stabbing himself in the buttocks and putting down the binoculars, Xiao Dao showed no fear on his face, but instead revealed the smile typical of a desperado.

"Of course we'll take them down. Those long-eared guys are gambling with our lives. As the saying goes, when two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave one wins. This is a 'narrow path' situation."

Xiao Dao spat on the ground after stabbing his buttocks with a knife, then roared angrily.

"We don't have time for any democratic voting. Tell everyone that the Storm is to continue forward and close the distance to within 500 meters. The other ships in the Revenge Fleet should retreat and maintain a distance of at least 200 meters from the Storm."

Even if the magic of the long-eared creature is incredibly powerful, it can only take down the Stormship at most!

The almost insane order to advance alone, like stabbing someone in the buttocks with a knife, did not cause panic. Instead, it triggered a burst of excited cheers and howls on the communication channel.

"Holy crap, boss is awesome! This is the kind of thrill game you play!"

"A single ship carrying out a decapitation strike, I love this plot!"

"Hahaha, let Long Ears see what it means that truth only exists within the range of cannons!"

"Storm, charge! For the long-eared beauty and the spoils!"

Instead of being afraid, players viewed it as an exciting ultimate challenge.

For those who can be resurrected, this high-stakes gamble, risking their lives, brings only the exhilarating feeling of an adrenaline rush.

"Henchman!"

Ignoring the commotion below deck, Xiao Dao stabbed his buttocks and went straight to the gunner.

"It's up to you. Five hundred meters away, I want to see that largest magic tower launched into the sky by a single volley of fire!"

"Understood, boss!"

The henchman's face instantly filled with extreme focus. He grabbed the charcoal pencil and waterproof paper next to him, and his brain started working like an overclocked CPU.

As he stared at the main magic tower in the telescope, which was getting closer and closer and whose energy fluctuations were becoming increasingly terrifying, he wrote down a series of rapidly changing numbers and formulas on a piece of paper while muttering to himself.

"Distance rapidly approaching... Currently approximately 600 meters, wind speed level 3, crosswind... Ship speed 8 knots, roll period approximately 8 seconds... 500 meters distance, estimated ballistic drop... Artillery dispersion ellipse major axis approximately..."

He wasn't just calculating static firing parameters; he was making predictions.

Predict the optimal firing window the moment the Storm crosses the 500-meter boundary.

"All artillery crews, listen to my command!"

The henchman's voice carried through the copper pipes across the three gun decks, carrying an undeniable urgency.

"All artillery should now be loaded with double the propellant charges and switched to heavy solid shot!"

The order from the henchmen startled even some seasoned player gunners, as doubling the propellant charge would greatly increase the risk of barrel explosion. However, once they realized what was happening, they understood that, in the eyes of the players, this was simply a necessary tactic to risk their lives.

"Set the elevation angle to XX, preset the yaw to left XX, listen to my countdown, after entering 500 meters, make fine adjustments according to my final command, we need to hit that turret with at least forty shells at the moment the ship rolls to its highest point!"

He had to unleash a textbook "T-shaped" salvo under extreme pressure, taking advantage of the brief period of stability caused by the ship's rolling to release the full power of all the guns on one side in an instant.

Under the command of "Stab the buttocks with a knife," the Storm, like Don Quixote rushing towards a windmill or a moth drawn to a flame, resolutely crashed into the death line constructed by elven magic.

550 meters... 520 meters... 510 meters...

The distance shrank meter by meter in the silent, suffocating atmosphere.

At this moment, time seemed to stretch out.

Inside the main magic tower in Moonstone Harbor, Aularion felt his palms, which were gripping his staff tightly, were covered in cold sweat.

He stared intently at the massive steel ship that was relentlessly pressing down on him like a destiny within the crystal ball, as if he could see through its thick hull the enemy commander engaged in this deadly battle with him.

What kind of man is he?

"For the glory of the kingdom... for the people of Moonstone..."

Olarian silently chanted in his heart, trying to dispel the fear that was gnawing at his reason like a venomous snake with responsibility and faith.

He could sense that the terrifying energy gathering beneath the tower's base, powerful enough to tear the ocean apart, was like a fully drawn bowstring, ready to burst forth at any moment.

All the elven mages waited, waiting for the moment when that colossal warship would enter their limited magical range, and then unleash all their pent-up anger and despair as a destructive torrent.

505 meters... 502 meters...

On the bridge of the Storm, however, the feeling of being stabbed in the buttocks with a knife is completely different.

He felt his blood boiling, enveloped in a strange state of mixed extreme excitement and absolute calm.

The knife was stabbing his buttocks, and he could no longer hear his own heartbeat. The whole world seemed to have only two focuses: the blindingly bright magic tower in front of him, like a volcano about to erupt, and the final command from the cannon captain and his henchmen that would decide the outcome of the battle coming from the copper pipe beside him.

The real show is about to begin.

The man stabbed himself in the buttocks and unconsciously revealed a sinister smile.

500 meters!!!
Just as the bow of the Storm cut through that invisible boundary...

"Now! Helmsman, turn the rudder to starboard and steer the ship horizontally!"

With a roar, Xiao Daozai issued the final maneuvering order, demanding that the Storm face the target with perfect broadside positioning!
At the same time, the henchmen's desperate shouts echoed across the gun deck.

"Target number one main tower, increase elevation by one degree, adjust yaw by three degrees to the right, hold steady... hold steady... wait for roll... three, two, one... all starboard, fire sequentially from left to right!!!"

Boom!Boom!thump...

This time, the cannon fire was unprecedentedly synchronized and ferocious. Fifty-two heavy cannons, each weighing twenty pounds and equipped with double the propellant, roared with destruction almost simultaneously at the moment when the ship was almost still, having rolled to its highest point.

Fifty-two heavy solid shot bullets, with an almost straight trajectory, tore through the air, carrying all the players' madness and bets, like a destructive torrent made of metal, across a mere five hundred meters.

This time, the Storm's shelling accuracy was frighteningly high!

More than forty cannonballs, as if they had eyes, struck the main magic tower of Moonstone Harbor and its lower-middle base with great force and precision.

However, at the very same instant that the Storm's more than forty heavy cannon shells, like destructive iron fists, slammed into the main magic tower and its base at Moonstone Harbor.

Aurian's roar, filled with endless resolve and last hope, pierced through the rumble of the magic tower, completing the final spellcasting.

"The lament of the goddess of the abyss... Descend!!!"

Rumble, rumble...

Two completely different, yet equally devastating, roars erupted almost simultaneously from two different locations.

……

For some reason, Cole McDougall felt somewhat fearless. While the mysterious giant ship bombarded the harbor with dwarven cannons, he stood on the harbor with a bow and arrow in hand and wearing leather armor.

Cole McDougall did not hide at home because he felt that in this devastating, indiscriminate bombing, the chances of survival were the same whether he was on the front lines of the port or hiding at home.

Therefore, he was present when the two sides clashed, and the lumber merchant was fortunate enough to witness the destruction of his own magic tower from just a few hundred meters away.

The towering structure first emitted a soul-chilling, twisting, and cracking groan, drawing Cole's attention. When he turned his head, his pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints. He clearly saw the dozen or so dark figures, exuding an aura of death, slam into the main magic tower's already dim and thin, pale blue shield—like a candle flickering in the wind—with a speed beyond his comprehension, almost simultaneously.

A deafening, destructive roar erupted suddenly—not from a single impact, but from more than a dozen heavy blows stacked together!
The magical shield that was struggling to hold on couldn't even last a second longer.

At the point where the first shell hit, spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread out. Then, under the impact of more shells that followed, a heartbreaking, crisp, mournful sound was heard, like thousands of crystals shattering at the same time.

The pale blue shield shattered completely, turning into countless flying, rapidly dissipating magical fragments, like a brief, mournful rain of light falling on the tower.

The magic tower itself, having lost its last barrier, was now completely exposed to the ensuing metal storm!

A series of dull, terrifying impacts emanated from the tower, the sound of solid iron balls tearing through the enchanted stone and wooden structure with unstoppable force.

Cole saw that in the area of ​​the lower middle part of the tower that was hit, several huge, radially torn holes instantly appeared. Broken stones and wood chips, like a honeycomb that had been blown open, mixed with bookshelves, instruments, and even... human remains that might have been inside the tower, sprayed violently out of the holes.

One of the shells appeared to have precisely hit a critical load-bearing structure of the tower, or an unstable energy node.

A more violent and deeper cracking sound came from the base of the tower, as if the giant's bones were being broken.

The towering structure shuddered violently and began to tilt in a desperate, slow, and irreversible manner.

The still-pulsating, azure crystal at the top of the tower, attempting to complete its final spellcasting, emitted a final, resentful, piercing shriek of uncontrolled energy. Then, its light completely malfunctioned, exploded, and transformed into a chaotic turbulent flow of elements.

The tower tilted faster and faster, and a huge shadow began to loom over the burning streets and buildings below.

"Do not!!!"

Cole seemed to hear, coming from the direction of the tower, a final, silent cry from an elven archmage, a cry filled with despair and resentment.

Then, in Cole's view, under the stunned gazes of all the survivors in the port, against the backdrop of the still-lingering smoke from that giant ship...

The main magic tower of Moonstone Harbor, a building that symbolizes elven wisdom, power, and glory and stands over twenty meters tall, collapsed with a deafening roar, heading towards the inner part of the harbor.

A massive cloud of smoke, mixed with out-of-control magical flashes, roared into the sky like a giant gray dragon, engulfing the tower's remains and everything around it.

Cole McDougall stood frozen in place, the bow and arrow in his hand falling to the ground with a thud. The dust kicked up hit his face, but he was oblivious. The timber merchant just stared blankly at the rising column of smoke and dust that buried hope and pride.

Moonstone Harbor has lost its most powerful guardian and its last strength to fight back.

……

At the same time that the Storm unleashed its devastating metallic storm upon the Moonstone main magic tower, the sea area in front of the harbor, guided by Aurian with the last of his life's strength, also descended into utter chaos.

"The Lament of the Abyss Goddess," a strategic-level spell that combined the power of five magic towers and the spiritual energy of more than a dozen elven mages, had already taken shape and unleashed its terrifying power before the main magic tower collapsed.

Just as the Storm completed its spectacular salvo and the ship shifted slightly to the side due to the immense recoil, the seawater beneath it seemed to be violently churned by an invisible, giant hand from the deep sea.

A massive, dark blue vortex, nearly a hundred meters in diameter, rapidly formed, its center generating a terrifying suction force that gripped the Storm's enormous hull like countless slippery, icy giant hands.

The giant ship, made of century-old wood, emitted a tooth-grinding groan. The ship, which had begun to turn due to full rudder, was forcibly stopped and even dragged towards the center of the whirlpool!

"Holy crap, where did this vortex come from?!"

"Never mind where it came from, hold on tight, we're being sucked in!"

"The servo has malfunctioned! The servo has malfunctioned! We're out of control!"

"The ship is listing at more than 15 degrees! The port gun ports are about to flood..."

The communication channel was instantly filled with shouts from players, a mixture of astonishment and excitement.

For the first time, the Storm, this behemoth of the sea, revealed its helpless predicament in the face of physical forces created by magic.

This is just the beginning.

Dozens of translucent, high-pressure water blades shot out silently from the boiling sea surface and whirlpools. They were incredibly sharp, like invisible cutting machines, and swept wildly across the superstructure of the Storm.

The square sails and triangular sails hanging on the mainmast and foremast were cut into countless holes within seconds, resembling tattered rags.

The cable, as thick as a child's arm, snapped instantly, flailing helplessly in the air like a severed snake before falling.

Even more terrifying, some water blades precisely located the ventilation openings and partially closed gun ports on the gun deck, crawled inside, and immediately came screams from the players and muffled thuds of cannons being hit.

At the same time, a bone-chilling cold accompanied by a thick, salty sea fog spread out and quickly enveloped the entire Storm.

White frost condensed at a visible speed on the deck, the ropes, and the gun barrels. This chill did not only affect the surface; it stubbornly penetrated into the interior of the ship like a living thing.

On the lower gun deck, water droplets began to condense on the surface of the wooden barrels storing the propellant charges, and the fuses also became damp.

The slide rails and steering mechanisms of some artillery pieces made a creaking, freezing sound, making operation extremely difficult.

Players exposed on the deck felt their blood freeze, their movements became sluggish, and their health points began to drop steadily and slowly.

The Storm, the victor who had just dealt a devastating blow to the enemy, was suddenly plunged into the greatest crisis since its birth. It was forcibly trapped in a raging magical vortex, its power was almost completely lost, its hull structure was under tremendous pressure, its weapon systems were greatly reduced in efficiency due to freezing and shaking, and its crew was suffering continuous injuries.

"The entire damage control team is mobilized to prioritize clearing ice and repairing sails and cables!"

"The artillery crew must find a way to protect the gunpowder; cover it with tarpaulin!"

The ship, with its dagger stabbing its buttocks, was shaking violently, and ice shards and water blade fragments were flying all over the bridge as it roared hoarsely.

He gripped the railing tightly, looking at the apocalyptic sea around him. Instead of fear, his face became even more excited and ferocious because of this extreme challenge.

"Damn it, Long Ears really put up a fierce last stand, but he's a hundred years too early to sink my ship like that!"

"Little Knife Stabs Buttocks!" he roared, struggling to straighten his back and turning to shout at the players on his left and right.

"Don't just stand there, keep firing! Even if we die, we'll drag the enemy down to hell with us... Artillery crew, listen up, target unchanged, blast those four remaining glowing towers to smithereens!"
"Helmsman, find a way to stabilize the ship, even if it means spinning in circles, just to create an angle for me to fire!"

This crazy order instantly ignited the players' fighting spirit.

In such a desperate situation, offense is the best defense!

The Storm was violently shaking and spinning in a vortex nearly 100 meters in diameter, like a spinning top being whipped. Precise aiming was no longer possible, but the players immediately changed tactics.

"Abandon salvo firing, all gun crews fire freely!"

The voice of the gunner and his henchman came through the brass pipe, a hoarse, cracking roar.

"Use rate of fire to compensate for accuracy! Open fire as soon as you see a tower flash across your field of vision. If you can't hit the tower, shoot the houses in the harbor. Smash everything you can see!"

"understand!"

Inside the gun deck, a chaotic and frantic scene unfolded. Player gunners were thrown about as the ship tilted and rotated, clinging tightly to the ropes attached to the cannons to secure themselves, and almost by feel, they crammed the shells into the breech.

The loader struggled to pass ammunition across the slippery, icy deck, each violent rocking of the ship accompanied by curses and gasps.

The cannons on both sides of the Storm began to roar intermittently. As the ship was constantly rotating and undulating, the firing became completely erratic. The shells that kept flying up flew crookedly toward the harbor, with their landing points scattered widely.

Some shells landed in the already deserted dock area, further destroying the remaining piers and warehouses.

Some hurtled across the city and crashed into buildings further away, causing further collapses and chaos.

Occasionally, however, one or two extremely lucky cannonballs would strike the shields of the remaining four magic towers—which had also become unstable due to the collapse of the main tower—like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, creating a violent ripple that caused the towers to tremble slightly.

Inside the port, the guards and survivors, who had already fallen into despair due to the collapse of the main tower, were now even more terrified.

They not only had to dodge the shells falling from the sky, but also had to face a terrifying enemy that was still spewing flames in the vortex of destruction!
"They...they're still firing!"

A half-elf guard watched as a solid bullet grazed the shield of the second magic tower and blasted down a clock tower behind it, his voice filled with unbelievable fear.

"Monsters, are they unkillable monsters!?"

Another elven archer fired an arrow in vain at the distant Stormship, but the arrow fell limply into the sea before it even reached halfway.

Cole McDougall lay crouching behind some ruins, watching the colossal ship struggling in the blue vortex, stubbornly showering death and flames upon the harbor. He stood there, stunned, his mind blank, unable to think of anything.

Because this was beyond his understanding of war... Why were the enemies so crazy? Did they have no fear of death?

(End of this chapter)