BXBX NOVEL Chapter 121: | 121 | Anticipated Times
They were raided by the rebels of the Deerfolk Tribe and their unknown contemporaries.
"P-Please don\'t kill me!" Surrounded with the corpses of his guards was the foreign merchant. His expression of disbelief uttered horror from what had recently happened to his merchant ship.
"Don\'t worry, as long as you cooperate, you won\'t be killed." Mercedes expressed while she tilted her head with a smile following it. On her hand was a knife pointed at his throat, an obvious intimidation.
Hermona stood on the side while the young deerfolks took the supplies and gold stored in the brig. She looked at the merchant with a determined expression, though in her heart, she found it difficult to be now actually against humanity.
\'There\'s no going back. After what I had done and after choosing this path... I can only see the end of it.\' She shook her head and got rid of her merciful thoughts.
After all, they needed information from the merchant.
"W-What d-do you want from me!?" The merchant cried out as he was willing to give anything to the silver wolf beastfolk as long as she let him lived.
"It\'s nothing much compared to your life. I want to know more routes regarding your merchant friends. Especially those carrying armaments to the colony." The edges of Mercedes\'s lips rose while her eyes squinted.
"B-But, I c-can\'t do that... The merchant association would hunt me dow-" The merchant stammered before his ear was cut by Mercedes\'s knife, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Aarggh!!!"
"Let me remind you once again. Either you speak or you pay for your life." Mercedes coldly reminded the merchant as she wasn\'t interested in wasting her time playing with him.
"O-Oka -Okay! I\'ll speak! Please don\'t kill me, I don\'t want to die!" He begged for his tears as countless tears streamed out of his eyes, drenching his terrified face.
"Don\'t keep me waiting." She aloofly remarked, making the merchant\'s spine shiver.
"T-The merchant routes in this archipelago are in this map. Al-Although they would be useful for pirates as the navy would usually patrol these waters." The merchant took out a small yet detailed map from his pocket.
It was a treasure as his business heavily relied on routes. And mapping such routes required lots of resources that even money couldn\'t buy.
"Isn\'t it much better to be immediately compliant. You wouldn\'t have lost an ear." Mercedes took the little map and shook her head in disappointment. She stopped pointing her knife to the merchant\'s neck and stood up.
"Alright, treat him and make sure to imprison him tightly. He\'s a merchant from a nearby Colonial Dominion, so we can gain a lot of intelligence from his brain." Mercedes pointed at her head and glanced at her men behind her.
"Affirmative, First Lieutenant Mercedes." The Minokin saluted while the remaining personnel of the Special Response Unit looted the entirety of the medieval brig. They didn\'t leave anything useful behind.
Hermona took notice of this trait and wondered if they were secretly pirates all along. At any rate, she thought about the moment when Mercedes immediately took out several guards with ease.
Even she couldn\'t move that fast, making her impress of the amazing physique that Mercedes had
"Miss Hermona, we got the routes we need to continue our raids. Would you like to continue?" Mercedes inquired while playing with the little map between her fingers. Hermona gazed at the silver wolf beastfolk and promptly nodded.
"Let\'s continue. I need the weapons one of these ships contains to kickstart the rebellion." The rebellion needed all the armaments it could get. And the only way for them to get it without facing the entirety of the local colonial navy was through raiding merchant ships.
It wasn\'t a pretty way to acquire weapons, but it was enough and satisfactory for their current circumstance.
"Okay, since we\'re merely tagging along. We\'ll follow what ever plans you have in mind." Mercedes threw the little map to the young lady who caught it with ease.
On the other hand, the merchant finally noticed a human girl with these animals. He pointed at her in shocked and yelled out. "A-A traitor! How could yo-"
The merchant couldn\'t continue as he noticed Mercedes\'s sharp gaze pointed at him. It was as if she was warning him. The moment he spoke another word from his filthy mouth. His head would fly off from his body.
And this hidden warning was enough for the merchant.
He shut his mouth and didn\'t continue speaking despite his unremarkable opinion about Hermona helping the beastfolks in their rebellion.
"Don\'t bother much about what he\'s talking about. His opinion is as worthless as the monster you had burned. The only reason we are keeping him alive is because of the information inside his head. So, the words of a dead man mean nothing."
Mercedes remarked, causing Hermona to frown. Her shackled emotions were spilling as her anxiousness, fear, and lost was beginning to consume her.
"-I... I am alone." She muttered under her silent breath, but the silver wolf beastfolk merely smiled from her words. Mercedes shook her head and clarified to the wyvern rider.
"No, you\'re not. You aren\'t the only human fighting against the tyranny of humanity. There are many others like you, and they were the ones that saved me." The words of Mercedes caused the flickering light inside Hermona\'s heart to grow stronger.
"You mean, them?" Hermona asked as she understood what Mercedes\'s meant with her earlier words. Hearing the young girl\'s question, the silver wolf smirked and replied.
"That\'s right... The United Navy."
"The humans who we would fight to death for. The ones that saved us. The ones that liberated us. They are none other than the United Navy, and they will become the dominant force of the Ferus Sea."
"The Sovereigns, the Beastfolk Primal Deities, or other races for that matter, are insignificant to us compared to them. We will make sure of their continued existence, as the beastfolks who were saved and liberated, it is our duty to do so."
Mercedes\'s short speech echoed throughout the medieval brig. It was a declaration that made everyone stop moving a single muscle. The Minokins and beastfolks of the United Navy felt enlightened, while Espada chuckled.
"The First Lieutenant is correct. The United Navy will become strongest, and we the beastfolks will make sure of it!" He also followed suite and declared without any hesitation or delay.
Hermona felt amaze by the confident words of the beastfolks. The fact that they declared to lay their lives for humans made her feel strange. It was somewhat delighting to realize the path she had to take wasn\'t a road where she walked alone.
"So, don\'t worry about being alone, young lady. You\'re far from being alone." Mercedes grinned at Hermona as the breeze of wind ruffled her silver fur.
...
In the turbulent northern waters beyond the horizon of Crescere, Charlotte stood in the bridge while it trembled and shook from surrounding explosions.
*BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!*
The naval guns were firing its entire salvo towards the enemy fleet. Some were avoided, but most impacted their targets. The shielding of the enemy battleships cracked upon contact, while others immediately collapsed.
Those collapsed shields were immediately pummeled with missile strikes from surrounding frigates, who were also firing their respective naval guns towards the enemy battleships.
"Vice Admiral, two enemy vessels have been confirmed sunk! Three are heavily damage from bombardment! The remaining vessels are scattering themselves!" An intelligence officer reported to the commanding officer of the UNS Trinity of Solace.
"Don\'t hesitate! Keep up the bombardment. Don\'t give them time to breath!" She ordered to her naval personnel, who followed with haste. Another salvo from the 16-inch naval guns followed.
*BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!*
On the other hand, Fleet Commander Ignis was holding onto the railings as various explosions enveloped them. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as their adversary had too much firepower in their grasps.
"Inquisitors! When will you make a move?" He yelled at the dark-cloaked men, who were maintaining the shields of the Ignis\'s battleship. Otherwise, it would have been in the bottom of the abyssal depths with how much the UNS Trinity of Solace was bombarding it.
"Don\'t bother us, right now, old man! Your shields are only keeping up because of us. Avoid confrontation with their capital ship and give us a breather." The supposedly calm blonde Inquisitor was sweating from how much they had to repair the runic shielding array.
...
Meanwhile, as the north and archipelago fought for dominance over their island. In the south was a lone metallic warship sailing towards a southern colony rumored to be containing over tens of thousands of slaves.
The lone warship was the UNS Guardian of the High Seas, commandeered by Captain Howard.
With the UNS Guardian of the High Seas was the main force of the Special Response Unit, numbering over a thousand. These beastfolks and humans were trained by the dragoness herself, signifying their combat potency.
But it makes one wonder... Where was the dragoness?
Well, the answer to that question was fairly simple.
In the bow of the giant metallic warship was a figure standing against the wind. Her white-hair swayed behind her back as her dark horns glimmered with black luminescence.
Her black coat ruffled while her black tails stood frozen. She calmly gazed into the horizon, with golden irises gleaming in brilliance.
She was the Dragon of the United Navy, Laplace, the Liberator.