An hour later, enormous fragments of wooden planking drifted across the sea roughly fifty kilometers northwest of Black Rice Port.
Several large ships that had not yet sunk completely were slowly slipping beneath the surface, creating enormous whirlpools that dragged the surrounding wreckage and the soldiers of the Sark Kingdom First Fleet who were still alive but had failed to escape into the bottomless depths.
The once-blue seawater had been stained a gruesome mixture of blood red and charred black, marking the fate of one of the Sark Kingdom First Fleet's finest squadrons. Only moments earlier, it had sailed majestically through these waters. Now it had vanished without a trace, consigned to history.
Several Advanced Mages from the Sark Kingdom Military Department who had accompanied the First Fleet hovered in the sky. They stared incredulously at the sea below and at the mountain-sized Wingspan floating on its surface, their faces filled with shock.
When the Wingspan had first appeared before them, they had merely marveled at its enormous size and been astonished that the entire ship was made of metal.
Once they recognized it as the enormous mana-powered ship belonging to the Xinfei Merchant Guild mentioned in their intelligence reports, they immediately prepared to attack.
But they had never imagined that, while the Wingspan was still a full two or three kilometers from the foremost ship, a huge burst of flame would suddenly erupt aboard it. An instant later, magic rockets trailing brilliant mana streaks filled the sky as they flew toward them.
Under such a dense barrage of magic rockets, not a single ship could escape unscathed.
All these ships of the Sark Kingdom First Fleet were made of wood. Although they had been reinforced against fire and impact compared with ordinary fishing vessels, they suffered devastating damage the