Chapter 193 – Clash Over the Sea

*** Alzi ***

Shifty had promised better food, but all we had for lunch was the same mana garbage, and then we were off to the ship before we had a chance to eat dinner. Not that I would want any food for dinner. Stupid artificial fullness.

Inside the room, Elora just cuddles me in her stupid, strong arms. My head nestled between her soft giant tits.

Why couldn't that just be Mommy? Why do I have to be on this boat floating even farther away?

It took forever for us to start moving after we got in the boat. The sun was hanging low in the sky through the small window, dancing over the sea. The gentle rocking put the Princess to sleep while I dreamed of my Mother. Wishing for the family I wanted and the chance to be around the people I love as we raised the many kids we are blessed with.

But it seems some goddesses like watching a dragon get passed around by a bunch of nobles and royals.

A loud crack fills the air as a white light covers the sun.

My hands dart to my ears as I scream out and shut my eyes. The heavens looking to punish me finally for cursing the Goddesses.

"Please," I let out. "I didn't mean it."

"Shh, my baby," Elora says, and another crack moves the air. "Help is here. I've got you, my love. No harm will come when you are in my arms."

More and more booms join in. A chorus of anger from the Goddess that hates me.

"I won't fail you," Elora whispers around the anger. "In my arms, you'll be safe. Nothing can hurt you here."

"Just make it stop," I cry out.

"I can't do that, my love. Sorry, but that sound is what will free us," Elora says.

*** Duchess Fluvis ***

"Ready?" I ask my wife.

"You should be below," Lottie says.

"The captain can't hide in battle. Not when the father of their child is counting on them," I say. "Are you ready?"

"Which one?" Lottie asks.

It didn't take long for us to catch up with the silly ships. There are five in total, and multiple members of my crew confirmed the boat Alzi and Elora are on. Spotting them through a porthole made it difficult to prove it was them, but we did it.

Not that Esiyae tried to hide it. Her ship outclasses the others in the small fleet. Anyone could guess the ship they were all on.

The front two ships have started turning around now. Before, they were hoping they could outrun us, but my designs proved their worth. At our current speed, it wouldn't have been hard to sail right past the rear guard and follow them. The one-versus-three I was preparing to go into would've been difficult, but we could do it.

Instead we get the three-versus-five, much easier.

"Any but the one with the Princess and Alzi," I say.

Time to test what a newly made champion can do with her element. If my kids settle down.

"Little ones, I need my mana to save Daddy," I whisper. "Can you let me do that?"

The four little ones listen for once and let my mana move unrestricted. The sea below answers my calling eagerly. The water is eager to move on my command. And what is better than a whirlpool to keep my prey from running?

The first lightning strike comes down. Crashing through the barriers they put up around the rightmost ship, the main mast splitting into a thousand pieces.

They barely get another group of barriers in place in time to soften the next strike. My cannons join the fight. Forty in total. Yet they seem like background noise compared to my wife's booming strikes.

The first ship falls just minutes into first contact, the enemy still looking to make their first counterstrike.

My wife switches her attention as the enemy's first answer comes with a wave of cannon fire.

Barriers of water fill their path. My whirlpool is starting to take form, with the center dipping down as the water starts to rush around the little toys that thought they could escape me.

Where is that little girl's ice?

My cannons fire another volley. The other magic of my crew flying in behind. I have just three ships to take on the remaining four. But their first volley didn't even reach halfway between the groups with my barriers.

With the whirlpool pushing them around, I doubt they'll have many more chances to even try with the cannons again.

They'll have to prove their worth with magic.

Ah, there is that little girl. She never could beat Elora in a fair fight. Time to prove even with an advantage in numbers she's outclassed.

*** Esiyae, start of the fight ***

"Who is it?" I demand. The captain still refuses to turn and fight, saying that we'll be lucky to finish with a single ship intact.

"The Duchess," the damn little dwarf grunts. "Who else do you think I would run from? I've never seen that ship before. Likely her newest project. Our only hope is that she messed up in the design."

"The Duchess..."

"Is heavily pregnant and chasing," she interrupts. "Maybe she only has one wife with her. Now shut up and get ready for a fighting retreat. We won't be outrunning them."

"How?" I ask. "These are the fastest ships in the entire fleet and they are repaired."

"I told you the water moved against us. It still does. She knew we stopped in Migate and was waiting for us. Just hope we can run or you may be giving birth in the wrong Queendom. Now I have ships to handle. I don't have time to babysit."

"Fine, keep fucking running!" I yell at her, retreating back. How can everything be better in that Queendom? Better ships, better captains, better princesses, better queens, and better whores.

The captain basically admits we have to fight, so why are we even trying to run? I better get up there and prove ice is better than silly water.

Order will break through the tide and prove its strength.

On the deck, I find that bitch Azula De Vil already watching the three ships coming. Just a small frown as they approach. Slowly gaining on us.

"You guessed wrong, Princess," she says. "Fluvis is chasing. I asked you to wait, and here we are."

"All the wives were gone, and Fluvis is looking ready to pop!" I say. "Why the fuck would waiting make more sense?"

"Cause then we wouldn't have a champion chasing us down," the bitch says. "Her hair shines from all the way over there. New and weak, but only if you compare that to other champions. Good luck, Princess."

"Good luck? Going to run behind some man's jacket?" I taunt. Mother gave me some flaky bitch.

"If things get worse, yes, I'm running," the bitch laughs. "I have no reason to get caught in your failure."

The second mate starts relaying new orders. Flags rise up their pole. The lead ships turn to give us a chance to keep running.

Just fight, coward.

"You'd best hope Duchess Fluvis treats you better than you treated Princess Elora," she laughs. "That control is terrifying."

The lightning cuts off my question. A mast was destroyed with just a single strike. The next round of cannons and lightning evens the odds a little.

But the bitch wasn't talking about the lightning. No, the ships start to tilt as a whirlpool grabs all my ships. Destroying any chance we had of running.

Our first volley of cannons fails to pass the simple water barriers the fucking elemental put up. The pregnant woman standing there beside a single wife. The lightning fucker. She is just missing the wind for her full team.

A Duchess fighting against a royal. What a silly thought.

My mana surges forward, and half a dozen skills get used. Some freezing the silly whirlpool the rest aiming to put the pregnant woman at the bottom of the ocean she loves so much.

*** Duchess Fluvis ***

"Incoming!" I shout out. I won't be able to block all of these. Not when they are backed by skills.

The issue with rescue missions is the enemy doesn't have to worry about holding back.

The Princess sends the ice flying through the air. A few even crack the air before slamming into my walls of water, leaving the path free for the rest. More barriers cover the ships, taking all but the small icicles in the back.

"Let the holes be!" I call out. "Save the patches for things below the hull line! More damage is to come!"

My second mate spreads the message, and I get to enjoy the fact that the Princess isn't working with her captain. She should be Sighoda Ashfall, a good captain who just lacks the water affinity to truly shine on the water. She would make this a lot harder if she listened.

Another lightning strike, and they lose the other outside ship. There are just three more, two of which will be at the bottom of the sea. I may just capture the last and tow it back to my port. I wold love to make a monument of their failures.

The Princess starts to battle me for control over the whirlpool. Her cold mana trying to freeze the sea. Bring stillness and order to the crashing waves.

Trying to tame the sea in front of her champion is a thought. Not one I would advise; it sounds like a waste of mana unless the Goddess gives permission.

"Smog!" comes from the crow's nest.

"Azula De Vil!" I shout.

The most dangerous mercenary of the last war. She vanished the moment it was over, and it seemed she was playing around in a Queen's bed.

If Estrella were here, I wouldn't have to worry. At this distance, Estrella could just blow away any threat from the witch, her poison requiring the right winds to reach us.

I have a few wind mages still, but it'll limit our mobility.

"Wind, give up on the sails," I command. We slow down, and I have to weaken the whirlpool to better control our positioning. The poison thins out as the wind mages push it to the side.

"Careful falling in; she likely poisoned the water as well," I add. I doubt they care about picking the women back up right now. The royal ship will run the second it gets the chance with how cowardly this Princess is. The rest were tasked with suicide to keep me from continuing my chase.

Already, it sits in the back, the last two moving to cover it from any fire. All those guns were wasted behind her own ships.

I would love to send my flanks out wide, but with the poison around, I'll have to keep them close so the mages can cover them completely.

I'm sorry for being so slow, Alzi and Elora. Just give me a few hours to break through here.