Part 5 The Red Priests Chapter 137 Strife in Birkeland
Although the Sunia Sea was not as foggy as the Sea of Mists, the northern part of the sea was still covered with a not-so-thin fog in the early mornings of the fall and winter.
Alger Wilson’s “Blue Avenger” was sailing in such conditions, returning to the coast of Rouen along the border of the island of Sunia.
–He had been in the North Sunia Sea for too long, and had to go back for a debriefing.
The ghost ship traveled quietly in the pale white mist, appearing and disappearing as if it were a dream that left no trace.
Alger was entangled in the wind, hanging in front of the window, admiring the white world outside, letting his thoughts unfettered to spread to different places.
Suddenly, his gaze froze, something silver-white flashing in his pupils, and he saw a ship with sails and a huge size sailing silently by in the fog in the distance.
The vessel was not alone, it was followed by many of its kind, one, two, three …… they formed a long fleet.
”Fusak’s Sunia Sea fleet …… They’re all out …… Where is this going?” Alger’s feet plummeted to the deck.
His gaze whirled to the other side, which was where Sunia Island was located.
After the various exchanges at the Tarot meeting, Alger was already certain that the world was tense and that war was imminent, and at this moment, used this to create associations and certain guesses.
For the Forsak Empire and the Kingdom of Ruen, Sunia Island was a very important place, if it was occupied by Ruen, then Forsak’s eastern navy would be blocked in the cold north, unable to compete for the various colonial islands in the Sunia Sea, unable to go to East Byron, at the same time, after they started the war, in order to threaten the hinterland of Ruen, they had to go over the Amanda Mountain Range or spend the Intercounty Sea and pass through the defenses of several counties, which was very, very difficult.
And if the island of Sunia were to be captured by the Forsak Empire, from here all ports in northern and central Ruen would be in the range of attack, including but not limited to the ports of Enmart and Priz, and if the Forsak commanders were a bit more daring and reckless with their losses, they would even be able to directly target the capital city of Ruen, Bekrand, which isn’t far from the port.
It was for this reason that the Twenty Years’ War broke out between the two countries, with the Forsak Empire winning and gaining the crucial “southward passage”.
Afterwards, in the “Battle of the Oath of Reckoning”, Ruen won the war, but failed to recapture the territory, and the strategic purpose was only half achieved.
Alger stared for a while, and whispered with a serious expression:
”Is the war going to break out ……”
……
Bekrand, a large and neat force of Forsak airships cut through the northern district and came over the metropolis.
Just as they got close, the Holy Wind Cathedral and other places seemed to have already made certain preparations, and the sound of the oozing winds suddenly intensified, turning into one giant greenish-black blade after another, whistling towards their targets, just like artillery shells fired into the air.
Seeing that these giant blades were about to hit the air sacs of the airship formation, a layer of invisible defense came to the fore, blocking all the attacks from the outside.
The transparent “wall” became shaky from the violent blows, but eventually it was able to hold up.
At the same time, on the airship’s hull, gun ports, machine gun ports, and throwing ports were opened one after another, aiming downwards.
Bang!
As the hurricane around the Holy Wind Cathedral took shape, explosion-like sounds spread out in all directions.
In such a terrifying storm, that one airship was like a ship sailing in the sea, rising and falling in the mountainous waves, about to be thrown into the distance.
At that moment, on the airship at the head, a flash of light like blood and rust mingled, enveloping all the companions and connecting them one after the other.
Suddenly, Fusak’s fleet of airships smoothed out in the hurricane, no longer resembling tiny ships in a giant wave.
”The power of the Red Priests belongs to war, and war is the art of gathering people!
This is the authority of the Bishop of War!
The Fossacks blocked the wave of attacks, and before the rest of the counterattack came, they pushed one bomb after another out of the mouth, and let them fall down.
The trajectory of the bombs became unpredictable in the hurricane.
Rumble! Rumble!
Sparks flashed from the corresponding gun ports, flaunting the joy of the God of War to the fullest.
This fleet of airships did not attempt to cross Beckland, and after entering the northern district, it immediately turned towards the western district, which was the political center of the Kingdom of Ruen.
……
Northern District, Birkeland Technical University.
The yellowed leaves of the Intis sycamore tree fluttered in the wind as students, either holding books or carrying bags, came and went around the campus.
As a member of the institution of higher learning, as the first class of this newly formed university, these young people were full of vigor, full of aspirations for the future, and would gather every day to discuss their ideals, recite poetry, and study technology, simply and happily.
Melissa Moretti walked among them, glancing up at the wall clock at the top of the main academic building, and her steps couldn’t help but speed up a little.
She was going to help out at Principal Mormont’s today, preparing for that mechanical lab that was about to be declared.
It was one of the things that she enjoyed and was interested in, and it made her feel as pleasant as she did every day, thinking that campus life was so wonderful and her classmates so lovely.
Subconsciously, Melissa glanced again at the steam train locomotive placed in the center of the plaza, its huge and complicated body showing the endless charm of the mechanical field.
Many students liked to gather there, knocking around and studying the structure, which was neither encouraged nor prohibited by the school administration.
Melissa brought a few smiles to the corners of her mouth and was about to avert her eyes.
Suddenly, an iron-gray object fell from the sky and landed in the center of the square.
Boom!
The earth trembled violently, the glass of the main teaching building was all shattered, and Melissa might have been overturned by the air wave if she wasn’t far away.
Countless shrieks followed, and Melissa, like the other students, fled around in panic, not knowing what had happened.
She was only sixteen or seventeen after all, and had never really experienced such a scene.
The sputtering rolls of smoke and dust gradually descended, and Melissa, who had ducked behind a tree, subconsciously cast her line of sight back to the place where the explosion had just occurred.
Her expression instantly froze, and her gaze became dull for a moment.
That steam train head was already in pieces, with parts and debris scattered everywhere.
Some of the students who were around and passing by there were already physically mutilated on the ground without a single sound, while some were covered in blood, with many scorch marks, and were still moaning in pain.
Such a scene was like an oil painting, it was so not real enough that Melissa stared blankly, briefly unable to react.
Carter, she knew a very research spirit of male students, every time we discuss, always very confident to say that he wants to become a ship engineer, and now, only half of the body, intestines flowed all over the place;
Eudora, a classmate from one of her departments, obviously studying mechanics, but she loved poetry, quite talented in this area, loved by the people around her, there were times when Melissa would attend their gatherings, quietly listening to Eudora chanting, thinking that this was really a charming girl, and now, one of her legs was bloody, and the whole person moaned in a semi-comatose state;
……
In a matter of seconds, the future of these people was brutally altered.
It wasn’t until a number of teachers rushed out of the building and began rescuing the injured and organizing the evacuation of the students that Melissa awoke with a start and hastily leaned over to the teachers.
”Listen to me! You guys split into two groups, one going over to the labs and one going to the Tynesian church, they both have underground areas where you can hide.” One of the teachers, though panic was also written all over his face, composed himself and made the arrangements in an organized voice, as if he had been specially trained.
He looked around and saw that the students were still afraid to leave where the teacher was, and busily added:
”Don’t worry too much, the enemy airships have already turned and gone to the western district, there’s nothing dangerous over here.”
Accompanying his words was the sound of rumbling explosions, coming from the southwest.
The West District …… Kingdom’s upper and lower councils, departments, and city halls are all over there …… Melissa heard her teacher’s words and instantly associated them with a lot.
Between the flickering of her eyes, she suddenly pursed up her lips and turned her head to run toward the school gate, not bothering to pay attention to the shouts of the teacher in the back.
Along the covered area, Melissa quickly came to the street, she breathed heavily, looked around and discerned the direction.
At this time, she saw a nearby subway entrance, and although her mind was flustered, she still remembered the words her teacher had just said:
”…… There are underground areas to hide!”
Isn’t the subway subway? The bombing had just started, the subway shouldn’t have been out of service yet …… In the midst of her electric thoughts, Melissa rushed towards the entrance that bore the traces of the bombing.
Entering the underground, she realized that there weren’t as many people here as expected, and most untrained ordinary people couldn’t even think of hiding in here in the first place.
It was true that the subway hadn’t stopped running yet, but there was no one checking tickets anymore, and after a slight wait Melissa ran up, her mouth pursed tightly and anxiety written all over her face.
Three stops later, the subway stopped at the King’s Road, and Melissa pushed her way through the crowd and out of the car.
Her strength had returned, and she ran faster and faster up the stairs, quickly reaching the ground level.
As far as she could see, chaos reigned, with buildings collapsing and burning in crimson flames, broken limbs, the dead, and blood everywhere, shouts, screams, and orders.
Seeing this scene, Melissa became more and more anxious and tried to run to the four-story building where the Kingdom’s Ministry of Finance was located.
However, it was cordoned off, and much broken glass could be seen, the walls were densely populated with bullet holes, and there were traces of explosions still lingering in parts of the building.
Melissa circled around the blockade, trying to enter, but was blocked back by the soldiers maintaining order, she was getting more and more anxious, her eyes were already slightly red.
Just then, she saw a familiar figure, it was the hatless, black-haired, brown-pupiled Benson.
As soon as Benson saw Melissa, he immediately greeted her, his face eased with anxiety, his anger presented itself, and he roared:
”Why did you run over here? Why don’t you hide in the underground! I’m safe on my side!
”Quickly, go over there with me!”
You do not also did not go to the bottom of the earth …… Melissa who had never been yelled at like this by her brother would have liked to say so back, but her vision was already blurred.
”Hoo ……” After Benson yelled, he exhaled and eased his tone, “It’s good that it’s okay, come on, don’t hang around on the street.”
Hearing these words, the panic and worry in Melissa’s heart suddenly calmed down, marvelously calmed down, at this moment, she felt that even if she died, it wasn’t so scary, at least the family wouldn’t be left alone.
At this time, a bomb was blown by a hurricane in mid-air and fell towards this area.
Suddenly, this bomb abruptly changed direction and flew away horizontally.
Rumble!
It exploded in midair, only stirring up some wind and waves.