The most shameless alchemist in history

He and Messiah looked into the distance together. The combined fleet was going to attack tomorrow. Would that man really come back?

On the distant sea, warships were assembled in one place, a very unusual situation.

Meanwhile, on the flagship's deck, Halden was raising his binoculars to look into the distance.

He had recently slunk away from Riverbeam City, after a man named Dure warned him.

This annoyed him greatly, but he knew at the time that there was nothing he could do about Durei, and staying would only put his life in danger.

So Halden chose to return to the old port.

He originally returned to Old Port to discuss the next steps with his father.

But who could have imagined that his father would die?

This gave Halden a particularly big headache.

But at the same time, he also seized an opportunity, an opportunity for him to step into the spotlight.

Before this, people always labeled him as a spoiled brat, believing that he could only live in his father's shadow.

But his father was already dead, even though the official documents from the capital had not yet been approved.

But it was a foregone conclusion that he, Halden, would inherit his father's title and lands.

Furthermore, the assassination in Dohamma sparked a fervent desire for revenge within the Octopus family.

People shouted for the killer to be killed, which gave Halden his chance.

If he seizes this opportunity and takes over River Bend City in one fell swoop, he will prove that he is even more powerful than his father. He will become a legend of the Octopus family, leading the family to extraordinary achievements. How great that would be!

“River Bend City? I’m back, but this time with a fleet. Messiah, just you wait and see, there will be a time when you’ll be begging me for mercy!” Halden revealed his gleaming white teeth, put down his binoculars, and said fiercely.

vertex

871 Raging Fire

The three days that the combined fleet, consisting of the royal fleet of Zezhi City and the Octopus Fleet of the Octopus Family, had given to River Bay City as their ultimatum passed quickly. After three days, they did not receive a letter of surrender from River Bay City, which was actually expected.

After all, River Bay City is not an easy nut to crack. According to information from spies in River Bay City, several thousand troops have been gathered there in just a few days. Although River Bay City's fleet is weak and cannot compete with the Allied Fleet.

However, River Bend City's defenses are still top-notch. This is a city that the previous duke painstakingly built up over many years. If they continue to resist without considering the consequences, the combined fleet probably won't be able to take River Bend City in less than a month.

Of course, the most direct consequence of holding out for a month would be that the prosperous River Bend City would be riddled with holes under the bombardment, destroying the city's twenty years of development. This would be a major loss not only for the River Bend region but also for the entire Swamp Kingdom.

The capital city was willing to make the painful decision, as they did not want to see a powerful force in the region that threatened the capital. However, Halden had to consider the matter carefully, because if River Bend was destroyed, then even if the capital city fulfilled its promise and made him the Duke of River Bend, it would be forfeited.

However, he was the Duke of River Bend, a duke in ruins. He did not have the patience of his predecessor, who spent another twenty years building a prosperous city. Therefore, even on the day of war, he tried to avoid firing on River Bend.

He believed that as long as he sealed off River Bend City and caused its entire economy to collapse, he would not be afraid that River Bend City would not compromise.

However, his thoughts changed after only one day, because an accident happened at dusk the next day.

At this moment, smoke billowed from the top of River Bend City. After all, the war had already begun. At Halden's request, the fleet avoided firing at the core area of ​​River Bend City, but in order to threaten and deter, it still carried out a series of bombardments on the defenses of River Bend City.

Under the combined fleet's powerful firepower, a large area of ​​destruction occurred on the edge of River Bend City, causing great panic among the nearby residents. They all retreated to safe areas under the protection of guards. At sunset, the fleet ceased its bombardment.

River Bay City seized this opportunity and urgently built defensive fortifications in preparation for the next day's battle.

"Hurry up, faster! We need to fix this, and this one too. Damn it, those guys' firepower is even stronger than we thought!" Sandno directed his men to carry out emergency repairs. He had been deploying defenses nearby when the fleet bombarded them earlier that day.

Therefore, he was deeply impressed by the fleet's firepower, and it was the first time he had ever seen such a huge fleet consisting of more than a hundred warships.

"Sir, can we really hold out? I heard today that a lot of wealthy people in River Bend City have fled, leaving us cannon fodder behind. With our limited forces, are we really capable of fighting against both the capital and those guys in Old Port at the same time?"

A young soldier asked curiously as he worked, "This concerns our lives and our future!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean by cannon fodder? It's their business if they want to leave, we can't control that. But isn't Lady Messiah still fighting alongside us in the city? She even braved artillery fire to come to the front lines herself a while ago, don't you know that?"

Sandno raised his voice and reprimanded the young soldier, knowing that there were many bad rumors circulating recently.

However, for a man of his staunch resolve, those rumors were not enough to shake his confidence, and he remained steadfast in his position.

“That’s right. With Messiah here, we will definitely hold out to the end. Don’t be fooled by how powerful those warships are; they’re just bluffing.” Another soldier beside him agreed.

"But aren't there rumors that the capital has stripped Lord Messiah of his title? And that we are rebels..." The young soldier was still a little worried. After all, there were just too many rumors these days, and he couldn't tell which were true and which were false.

"Stop talking nonsense. The capital? Who exactly represents the capital? Is it William or Henry? Everyone knows the old king hasn't shown his face for a long time. Who knows who issued these orders? They're not kings, so what right do they have to strip Messiah of his title? Besides, we in the River Reach region only recognize the Duke of the River Reach, not any capital." Someone nearby chimed in dismissively.

“That’s right, we River Bend people are not to be trifled with. Let them come if they want. And those pirates from Old Harbor, they’re clearly a bunch of pirates, yet they dare to try and seize our River Bend territory. If we don’t teach them a lesson, wouldn’t that be taking us too lightly?”

The older veterans in the vicinity were all filled with righteous indignation, even though they were in a very unfavorable situation.

But they remained united and chose to persevere to the end.

"This is likely to be a long and arduous battle, everyone needs to be mentally prepared," Sandno reminded everyone.

He had been on the battlefield and had extensive combat experience, but he had never experienced a battle with such a disparity in strength.

Especially when faced with such a large fleet, they felt somewhat overwhelmed.

"Hey, sir, look over there, what's that?" Just then, someone pointed to the sky and exclaimed.

In an instant, everyone's attention was drawn to it.

They looked up in surprise and saw something flying towards the combined fleet in the distance under the setting sun!

At this moment, Halden was in a very good mood.

Because today's attack has demonstrated the immense combat capabilities of their combined fleet.

Moreover, he received quite a few letters today, all of which were delivered from River Bend City.

Many merchants in River Bend were willing to act as inside agents, and they all expressed their support for Halden to become the Duke of River Bend.

This is understandable, because as long as the blockade of River Bend City continues, these merchants' goods will be stuck there, meaning their losses will increase every day, which is something they really don't want to see.

This is a good sign for Halden, because it means that River Bend is not a monolithic entity.

If everyone worked together, it would indeed be no easy task to conquer River Bay City. However, River Bay City was too big, which meant that there were too many people and too many different kinds of people. The locals of River Bay City were, of course, a united front and impossible to reason with.

However, the profit-driven merchants were different. With just a little pressure, they would panic. They didn't want the losses to continue and only wanted to end the war as soon as possible. This gave Halden an opportunity. He had reason to believe that he could take River Bend City soon!

To celebrate this auspicious sign, he even opened a bottle of fine wine on the deck and slowly savored it.

Because in the near future, he will enter River Bend City and become the master of the city. He will also become one of the most powerful people in the Swamp Kingdom. This is a qualitative leap for him. No one will dare to say that he is Dohamma's son anymore.

We will no longer label him as a spoiled brat. He will prove with his actions that he is also very capable and shrewd!

However, just as he was envisioning a bright future, he noticed something flying over from the distant sky.

"What is that?" Halden frowned. At first, he thought it was a seagull, but he quickly realized that it was impossible for so many seagulls to gather, and the altitude they were flying at was too high. Moreover, their purpose was very clear: they were coming for him!

"Something's wrong, give me the binoculars!" Heldon sensed something was wrong, immediately put down his wine glass, took the binoculars handed to him by his subordinate, and quickly saw the scene in the distance through the binoculars. When he saw that it was a large flock of griffins flying in the sky, he was stunned.

"How is this possible? It's a griffin? How could a griffin appear in a place like this?" Halden was stunned, and he felt that something was very wrong.

A bad feeling formed in his heart, and at that moment the fleet also noticed the approaching griffins.

"Enemy attack detected! Enemy attack detected! Prepare for battle immediately! Prepare for battle immediately!"

The fleet's navigators quickly noticed the unusual situation and immediately relayed the instructions.

"Enemy attack? Where is there an enemy attack? Isn't everything calm ahead?"

"Yeah, those guys in River Bend City were beaten so badly they didn't dare to raise their heads. How could they dare to show their faces now?"

"They're all cowards, they don't dare to show their faces at all, do they?"

The guards on the ship were puzzled when they heard the alarm, because there was no response from the river bend city ahead.

"No, it's not River Bend City, look over there!" At this moment, an old soldier suddenly realized something and pointed to the sky.

"What's that over there... No way, what are those densely packed things flying over there?" Just as the young guards were all confused, someone looked up at the sky in the direction the old soldier was pointing, and soon saw a dark mass of things flying over.

They had never seen anything like this before and were completely stunned.

"Oh no, it's griffins! They're coming for us! Everyone, find a place to hide and get back to your posts to prepare for defense!" An officer recognized the scene and immediately gave the order, shouting loudly. He had personally witnessed the powerful destructive force of griffins on the battlefield.

Even a single griffin is difficult to deal with, let alone a legion of hundreds of griffins!

At the officer's shout, the guards who had been leisurely basking in the sun suddenly tensed up and hurriedly returned to their posts to prepare for defense.

However, the griffins were incredibly fast. Just a moment ago they were on the horizon, but in the short span of a few breaths, they had closed the distance. When the griffins flew over, they brought with them gusts of wind. Under the sweeping wind, deep blade marks appeared on the mast. Clearly, the griffins released wind blades when they got close, causing a wide-area attack.

"Everyone, prepare to attack!" In the air, a young female general clad in armor held a long spear.

At her command, all members of the Griffin Legion went into battle.

The distance closed in an instant. On the back of the griffins, the griffin riders, who had long been in perfect harmony with the griffins and were practically one with them, brandished javelins and hurled them at the warships below.

Ordinary javelins would be of no use, since warships are too large and too numerous to be considered.

Moreover, the soldiers could have easily taken cover in the ship's cabins, but these were not ordinary javelins.

Each javelin was pre-cast with a fireball spell, which detonated the moment it hit the ground.

The fireball that exploded in an instant began to burn fiercely along with the surrounding flammable materials.

Whether it's the sails of a warship or the wooden structure itself, they are all highly flammable.

Almost instantly, flames spread, turning the surrounding area into a sea of ​​fire.

Hundreds of griffins hurled hundreds of javelins at the same time, but the griffin riders had prepared more than one javelin.

They each prepared three sticks.

Moreover, each javelin was imbued with a fireball spell!

In a very short time, more than a thousand javelins were thrown down.

This left the entire fleet no time to react before it was engulfed in a raging inferno.

This came so suddenly; they were completely unprepared.

After all, they had prepared to deal with the River Bay Fleet, which was holed up in the port and dared not come out.

This is precisely when they are at their most triumphant.

Who would have thought that at such a time, a legion of griffins would suddenly descend from the sky and engulf them with fire?

Exclamations and screams erupted, and many young guards who had no time to react could only jump into the sea to save themselves.

As the fire raged, the wind magic the griffins carried also contributed significantly to the flames.

With the strong winds blowing, all the warships were burning fiercely, and none of them survived.