"Ah?" Danitz was stunned for a moment, then, like his captain, looked up at the sky. As a Pyromaniac, he couldn't detect anything different in the sky, whether with his naked eye or spiritual perception.
Orpheus and Daniels also saw nothing unusual, while only the higher Sequence Anderson could vaguely sense a faint, heavy feeling permeating the air.
The next second, the sea breeze above suddenly swirled, rapidly pulling together and converging in mid-air, forming a pitch-black wind vortex.
The surrounding spirituality suddenly became active, and shadows abruptly covered the dock below. To the astonished gaze of Ethan and others, a massive three-masted sailboat covered in pure black flew out from the wind vortex in mid-air.
It had lanterns hanging on both sides, was nearly a hundred meters long, and had three pitch-black sails. There were no obvious emblems on the ship, only a huge stone high-backed chair on the deck, near the cabin.
Anderson looked up at the huge sailboat passing overhead, his eyes wide. Before receiving the message and coming here, he had thought of many possible developments, but he never imagined that a Pirate King would appear, and as an ally at that.
Beside him, Danitz had already exclaimed:
"The Black Emperor! Is this the real main force? Who managed to invite even the King of the Five Seas?"
"We also publicized the bounty issued to pirates."
Edwina was equally surprised by the appearance of the King of the Five Seas, but her tone remained calm.
Hearing his captain's words, Danitz immediately explained:
"Of course, I know, I also spread the news, but I thought it was just for show. I didn't expect even an existence like the King of the Five Seas to appear. How many gold pounds, no, how many patterned gold coins would that cost?!"
"Heh, foolish. Can an existence of the Pirate King level be invited with money?"
"That guy must have promised a Lawyer Pathway angel-level potion formula, or clues to certain materials."
Anderson mocked Danitz a few times, and the scene from Mr. Fool's Divine Kingdom subconsciously surfaced in his mind... Perhaps one of the two Cards of Blasphemy face down on the table was the Black Emperor card.
On the Black Emperor, Nast, the King of the Five Seas, wearing a scaled-down spire crown and a black robe with silver trim, stood calmly at the bow. Dark red light flowed in his deep black eyes, giving him an extremely oppressive presence.
To his left, Mr. Pulak Eggers wore a dark overcoat and a semi-tall silk top hat, calmly gazing at the distant sea, with faint pale flames burning in his eyes.
To his right, a young woman with silver-white hair and an exceptionally beautiful face, wearing a dark purple classical Warlock robe, leaned against the ship's rail, holding a brass helmet stained with mottled bloodstains in her hands. She was Parsa, one of the ten pillars of the Moses Ascetic Order responsible for this port's affairs, a Mysticologist who wielded a holy artifact.
Around the Black Emperor, transparent Wraiths swam regularly in mid-air, stirring up waves and lifting the Black Emperor, making it float steadily in mid-air.
Parsa gazed at the distant sea, her eyes instantly becoming profound, and a faint, almost imperceptible purplish glow slowly floated in her eyes.
A moment later, she withdrew her gaze, embracing the blood-stained brass helmet in one arm, and with her other hand, reached into her robe and pulled out a playing card-sized paper card, handing it to Nast, the King of the Five Seas, who stood steadily at the bow, saying at the same time:
"The Black Emperor card, one of the 22 Cards of Blasphemy created by Emperor Roselle. His Highness the Familiar has made some arrangements for it. You can temporarily borrow some power through it and exert the power of the Duke of Entropy."
"This is a one-time use; it must be returned to His Highness to replenish its power after use."
Nast nodded lightly, saying nothing, and directly took the Black Emperor card into his hand. This was Leyton's advance payment to him, a reward for helping him strike at the Intis naval fleet.
Besides this, there was also a promise, a promise from Emperor Roselle: when he no longer needed more characteristics to maintain his Sequence, a Prince of Abolition characteristic would be bestowed upon him.
Under what circumstances would a true god not need three complete Sequence 1 characteristics to maintain their Sequence and switch Pathways? Or are there some secrets hidden in the Sequence Pathway? I hope my choice was not wrong.
The dark red flowing in Nast's eyes intensified by a fraction. The frequent actions of the gods made him smell a hint of crisis; the future, once visible, seemed to be shrouded in a layer of dark clouds, which was why he agreed to Roselle's invitation to help them directly confront the armies of Intis and Feysac.
The cannons on both sides of the Black Emperor were turned by the undead, all aiming at the Steel fleet on the distant sea.
Parsa leaned against the ship's rail, her right hand gently stroking the helmet she held, as if reminiscing about the past through it.
After a long while, she suddenly chuckled and murmured:
"The Church of the God of Steam and Machinery's efficiency is truly surprising. In such a short time, they dispatched so many fleets and airships to simultaneously attack all ports along the Northern State and Paz River Valley."
"I'm even a little worried if His Highness the Familiar and His Highness the Dark Angel can withstand the pressure from the various forces in the Southern Continent itself."
"You should worry if the various forces in the Southern Continent can withstand their pressure. They are the spokespersons of their respective gods, the will and majesty of the gods. Except for that Abomination of the Rose School of Thought, it's difficult for other angels to contend with them under the gaze of a true god."
Nast looked down at the sea ahead, responding with a calm tone.
No sooner had he finished speaking than crimson firelight erupted one after another on the Steel fleet on the distant sea. Projectiles trailing faint gold, silver-white, or crimson tails were fired, rapidly approaching and covering the entire Oleston Port.
"As always."
As she spoke, faint blue starlight scattered from the pads of her right fingers resting on the brass helmet, and a silver-white light, like dawn, lit up on the brass helmet.
This light rapidly spread outwards, completely enveloping the Black Emperor and the nearby area, creating an invisible yet sturdy defensive wall around them.
Nast extended his right hand, making a pushing motion forward, and the surrounding silver-white light surged again, directly covering the entire Oleston Port.
The power of protection materialized into a solid, magnificent, yet weightless silver barrier, connected to the earth, becoming unshakeable.
Bright flashes of fire exploded on the protective barrier, creating fleeting fireworks of flame. The sound of cannon fire and air being torn only followed a beat later, along with the explosions.
Dense firelight, whether silver-white, crimson, or brilliant gold, completely submerged the silver-white protective barrier.
As time passed, the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery's long-range strike showed no signs of stopping. The silver-white barrier, connected to the earth and unshakeable, began to shake, developing dense cracks, nearing its breaking point and potentially collapsing at any moment.
Nast calmly watched ahead, his gaze seemingly observing the fleet on the sea through the silver-white barrier and the brilliant firelight.
A moment later, he spoke in a deep, majestic voice: "That's enough."
Mr. Pulak Eggers nodded lightly and turned to walk towards the dock behind him. Beneath his feet, bone-filled arms, eye-covered vines, and slippery, scaly tentacles intertwined, forming a gloomy and terrifying spiraling staircase-bridge leading downwards.
A chilling, whimpering wind suddenly erupted, and the surrounding light rapidly dimmed. A thin layer of pale white mist permeated the air, and the summer heat, usually present at this moment, rapidly dropped. A layer of white frost had already quietly covered the ground.
In an instant, a bronze Door covered with mysterious patterns, impossible to describe precisely, appeared out of thin air in the center of the spiraling staircase-bridge, swaying, creaking, and slowly opening a gap.
On the dock below, Phoenix, who had been paying attention to the movements in mid-air, took a deep breath, extended his palms, and pushed forward with force, as if pushing open a non-existent Door.
A chilling wind howled around, and a bronze Door, also covered with mysterious patterns, rapidly appeared in front of him.
Inside the Door was an endless darkness, where countless indescribable eyes densely stared outwards, and a large number of strange, still unclear, wriggling things were frantically surging closer.
In one or two seconds, a bronze Door covered with mysterious patterns appeared on every street of Oleston Port, swaying, creaking, and slowly opening.
Countless Wraith shadows emerged from within, swirling in mid-air, merging into the bricks, soil, street trees, and gas lamp posts on the ground. At this moment, the underworld seemed to overlap with reality to some extent; the aura of death instantly permeated, rendering the entire port like a hell.
The overly intense aura of death made the living people lingering in the port instinctively uncomfortable, as if their bodies were slowly dying.
Anderson sniffed, saying with some discomfort:
"Hiss... so cold. This is colder than the winters in the Arctic Sea and the North Sea. I feel like my soul is freezing."
Beside him, Danitz and Ethan and others were huddled together, shivering, finding it difficult to even speak.
Orpheus had intended to summon a Holy Light to clear the surrounding death and coldness, and adjust the state of himself and others, but he was stopped by Edwina:
"Do not use the power of the Sun domain. That will disrupt the harmony here, causing the surrounding soul bodies, undead, and Natural Spirits to resist, which is not conducive to the subsequent actions."