The expedition set out once more with three more ships to their fleet, obtained from the pirates. Guns and munitions were plenty. However, without enough men to crew those ships, the vessels were more dead weight than anything.

  “Keep an eye out. We're vulnerable towing those ships, so if Drake’s going to attack us, now’s her best shot,” Amber had warned confidently. “The moment something strange comes up, cut the tow lines and prepare for battle.”

  The expedition was tense all morning. When nothing happened, their nervous anticipation only grew as they sailed through the afternoon.

  The day dragged on; the perception of time strained as everyone maintained on tense attention. Eventually, the sun set and evening came, yet no signs of danger were seen anywhere.

  “Slow our speed and have the ships stay close,” Amber had grunted, clearly dissatisfied. “The darkness’s going to be a bitch to fight in, but Drake’s probably counting on it. Tell the crew to remain on high alert all night. I don’t want anyone sleeping.”

  The night was long, but the crew on all three active ships diligently remained on highest alert for even the slightest hint of danger. Artillery crew remained ready to fire at a moment’s command, while patrols tirelessly scanned the pitch-black waters and horizon with magical scopes.

  Yet nothing happened. The hours passed, and the vessels all sailed on smoothly. With dawn’s arrival, the only notable incident reported through the night was when someone accidentally shot at the crystal parrot, mistaking its glimmer in the dark for a magical attack on the fleet. Aside from much angry squawking, no one was hurt.

  “Okay, so she’s probably counting on us being exhausted from staying up,” Amber insisted, eyes bloodshot from staring intently at the ocean all night without a minute’s rest. “She’s definitely coming now! But we are pretty close to the next imperial outpost. I want us going at full speed, but the moment her dreadnought comes — and it will — we’ll ram into her and board it to prevent a prolonged fight! Everyone is to keep their eyes peeled! No one blinks until we reach the outpost!”

  All vessels extended their sails, catching the winds and moving at top speeds. Runic enhancement and overclocked mana conduits gave artificial thrusts to the ships, allowing them to move far faster than their size should allow.

  By mid-afternoon, the ships arrived at the next outpost unmolested. Aside from blurry eyes and signs of fatigue, everyone was well and unharmed.

  Even better, the imperial outpost this time was occupied by imperial soldiers, who enthusiastically greeted their commander.

  “Thank the Goddess! The Hero of the 24th Crusade is here to meet us!” One of the officers who came to greet their landing party cheered. “We’re saved, men! We— Arrk!”

  Amber grabbed the officer by his uniform. “Did you see a ghost ship pass by here earlier?”

  “Um… No? Though… Perhaps our eyes aren’t skilled enough to spot a ghost ship like yours are, great hero!” The officer enthusiastically answered. “I can have the men prepared for combat at a moment’s notice! Just give the order, Commander!”

  Amber’s tired eyes twitched. She let the officer go.

  “What the hell! Why aren’t we attacked?!” She turned to yell at Eri. “This makes no sense! How did we get here safely?!”

  “You’re asking me?” Eri said, exasperated. “You’re the one who’s been hunting her for four years.”

  “This isn’t like her at all,” Amber hissed, biting her nails. “Something’s wrong. We are missing something.”

  “Regardless, the men are exhausted. They need rest,” Kain informed. “Drake’s flagship has never once attacked an imperial outpost outright. We should be safe scheduling a few hours of rest for everyone while maintaining moderate combat readiness.”

  Sleep was allocated, and many gratefully went to bed immediately. Those in command took to the task of looking over the remaining men and supplies left on the imperial outpost.

  Overall, the outpost was in surprisingly excellent shape — compared to all previous outposts, anyway. Over fifty soldiers were currently garrisoned, with a lot more due to return from their patrol vessels the next morning. The dockyard even had a combat-ready brigantine stationed.

  Sure enough, when morning came the next day, two corvettes and an enormous galleon — all waving imperial flags — arrived at the island.

  “I can’t believe the Indomitable Spirit is still intact,” Kain said in disbelief as he stared at the docked galleon. “This must be one of the last few galleons to the Coalition’s name.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The ship was more a moving city than anything. Up close, it encompassed Eri’s entire vision — a massive slab of reinforced wood and run-etched iron plates that could not possibly float, with hundreds of cannons poking from its sides. But impressive as its size was, the ship appeared heavily damaged.

  “Had a few close calls,” the admiral of the ship reported. “Used to sail with a larger fleet, but damn pirates sunk too many of us over the last year. Battered this girl up good, too. Hull’s worn to hell, and our guns are failing. We have the materials, but lack the expertise to fix this.”

  “I can have the dwarven engineers look over the ship later, if you will allow it,” Eri offered.

  “Dwarves?! Gladly! A nice spar day for the Indomitable, then. The old girl deserves nothing less than the best!” the admiral laughed. He excitedly turned to Amber. “You came with some great help, Commander! We're finally taking the fight to these pirate scum, eh?”

  “Something like that,” Amber grimaced. “I want a report on our manpower and guns. Kain, get it done. Afterwards, start moving all supplies from the fort to our ships.”

  In the end, three hundred more imperial troops were added to their expedition, bringing their numbers up to over five hundred. The expedition fleet now consisted of the mighty galleon, Drake’s private frigate, the biovore corvette, and finally, three additional corvettes, two brigantines, and two schooners.

  It was now an actual war fleet. While their strength was a fair sight to behold, it gave rise to another problem.

  “No way Drake is going to attack us now,” Amber grumbled. “We’re too big a target.”

  “Perhaps we should see this as a good thing,” Dulcina suggested. “We can now move to the Church’s aid, perhaps even defeat Pirate Lord Oleander when we link up with them. Once we secure whatever military asset is left of the Holy Order, we can move to assist the Allied Independents in seizing control of the shipyard capital. Pirate Lord Drake would be a secondary concern past that point.”

  “Yes, but the thing is, Drake must be aware of this, too,” Amber stressed. “So why didn’t she move to stop us at all?”

  “Maybe… Maybe she’s not even here anymore?” Cedric suggested hesitantly. When everyone turned to him, he hastily elaborated: “We are working on the assumption she’s still haunting these waters, but nothing’s stopping her from just leaving, right? Maybe she went off to help her other Pirate Lord pals.”

  “You think Drake has taken all her forces into the heart of the Slaver Isles to reinforce her allies?” Joarris blinked. “That’s…”

  “I mean, you guys are all always on about regrouping then attacking, so why couldn’t she do that too?” Cedric waved his lone remaining hand. “If I were her, I would link up with Lord Oleander and take out the Church before then working with him to take everyone else out.”

  “Except Pirate Lords won’t do that,” Amber insisted. “They are selfish, backstabbing bastards who only care for themselves. No way any of them would risk their hides for one another.”

  “But the Kaldreach invasion still managed to force all of them to work together in the end, anyway,” Dulcina noted. “It’s clear that while they compete with each other for territory and clout, they are willing to form a tenuous alliance against a common threat.”

  “Pirate Lord Drake has never shown any active cooperation with the other pirate factions in all the time I hunted her,” Amber countered. “The behaviour you speak of might exist with other Pirate Lords, but not her.”

  “You haven’t even met her in person before. No one here can be certain of what her character is like,” Joarris pointed out. “Besides, a significant development had just occurred in the inner seas recently. With Lord Baroque’s death tipping the balance of power, it might have prompted her to take drastic actions.”

  Amber grimaced. For a moment, she didn’t retort.

  “So where does that leave us?” Lauren asked carefully. “If Drake has truly gone to Oleander’s aid, then the Church is done. There’s no way they can survive the combine onslaught of two Pirate Lords plus the reinforcing fleet from Lord Augustus. We should move to search for the Noble Houses or reinforce the Allied Independents.”

  “There might still be a chance the Church is holding out. We don’t know the exact numbers and the situation over there yet,” Joarris said. “How long before our fleet is ready to move out?”

  “Chief Kaz reports it will take nearly two weeks to get the galleon up to full repairs,” Eri said.

  “That’s about the same amount of time we will need to train the men on the new ships and allocate our resources evenly,” Lieutenant Kain nodded. “Two weeks, then we will have our war fleet ready.”

  “We wait that long, the Church is definitely screwed, though,” Julie said uneasily.

  Eri grimaced. He didn’t disagree.

  But rationality came first. “We can’t save them if we go now, either. We’ll be facing two Pirate Lords and three corsair fleets. The Church wouldn’t have the ships to help us in that battle — if they are even still alive when we get there.”

  At this point in the war, it was better for them to ready themselves than to risk a suicidal attempt to save others. It was cruel, but Eri saw no other choice.

  If they ignored the galleon and simply took all their naval-ready warships to the Church’s aid now, it wouldn’t be enough, even if Eri employed all the tricks he had. Heck, even with their whole war fleet, it might not be enough against the massive opposing pirate forces.

  “Heading to the Allied Independents is a better choice. Or we could even attempt a search for the Nobles,” Kain agreed. “But facing Lord Drake and Oleander head-on by ourselves is a bad idea. We risk utter defeat.”

  “So that’s it, then?” Alvine said quietly. “We are choosing to leave the Church forces to die?”

  “There’s no choice here,” Amber grunted. “Either we let the warriors of the Holy Order die and we stand a chance to avenge them, or we sail now just to die with them. There’s no saving the Church either way.”

  There was a certain relief in that, knowing there was no other path. It made their guilt lighter.

  Or so Eri had thought.

  The next day, unexpected news from the inner seas would arrive.

  Eri would learn that the Church had received reinforcement in recent months — a re-conscription of all available Chosens in the Holy Order stationed in the North. It was what emboldened them to face the enemy head-on.

  Among those reinforcements, Matron Elen was with them.

  And Lord Oleander, the vile necromancer of the West, had captured them.

  AN: