The second naval battle

News that the Orcs Fleet was crossing the sea again sent the Allied Forces' leadership into an uproar.

During the first battle at sea, the Kul Tiras fleet had inflicted losses on the enemy, but had suffered grievous losses of its own.

Even Admiral Daelin's son had died in the devastating flames breathed by the Red Dragons.

Demoralized, Admiral Daelin and his fleet no longer dared to take the initiative and seek a decisive battle with the Orcs Fleet.

Looking at Southshore's empty harbor, Herad asked Alleria what had happened.

"Big sister, where's our fleet? Why are the Tank Landing Ship and the Ironclad both gone?"

The Tank Landing Ship was the advanced warship that had brought the Rangers over.

The Ironclad had arrived even earlier, escorting refugees from Stormwind City.

Afterward, it had been dedicated to delivering arms to the Allied Forces.

According to Herad's plan, these warships were supposed to stay here and join the fighting.

Now there was nothing in the harbor.

This left Herad thoroughly annoyed.

Seeing the anger on Herad's face, Alleria was at a loss for words over the Goblin captain's behavior.

That little green-skinned runt was really asking for trouble, making her normally even-tempered second brother this furious!

Alleria sold out the reckless Goblin captain without hesitation.

"Captain Hank took the fleet away a few days ago. He said he was going to bring over another shipment of arms."

Herad had already suspected Hank was behind this.

He was merely confirming it with Alleria.

Once he was certain it was Hank, Herad slapped the table in anger.

"Ugh, I knew it was that fellow who'd risk his life for a profit! I'm definitely going to teach him a lesson this time."

Captain Hank was a brilliant maritime merchant.

His business skills were so formidable that the great Goblin financial magnates had used every means to squeeze him out, eventually driving his company into bankruptcy.

In the less than two years since he had joined Herad, he had already earned him a vast fortune.

When such a money-spinner made a mistake, it was no big deal as long as the consequences were not too serious.

When he had brought the Rangers over earlier, the Goblin captain had made quite a profit buying and selling along the way.

Even the proud High Elves had been impressed by his extraordinary business acumen.

Of course, the main reason was that he had kept those demanding Rangers well supplied with good food and drink throughout the journey.

"Captain Hank planned everything out in detail. He should be able to make it back in time."

Hearing Alleria say this, Herad's expression softened a little.

"Let's hope so. If he misses the big battle, he'll definitely pay for it this time!"

Having the warships make their debut in this battle and demonstrate their formidable combat power was the most important part of Herad's plans for the war.

The most profitable part of the arms trade was, of course, selling warships.

Those were major deals worth at least hundreds of thousands of gold coins!

Hank, who was still at Sunsail Anchorage, also received word that the Orcs Fleet had set out.

With his plans now seriously off course, he hurriedly departed, leaving a great deal of cargo unloaded.

The Orcs Fleet moved relatively slowly.

But only a bay separated it from Southshore.

Hank's warships were faster, but they had several times the distance to cover.

Even sailing nonstop day and night, they would struggle to arrive before the enemy.

However, Hank soon thought of a solution.

He asked Jindi to lobby the Wildhammer Dwarves to send Gryphon Riders to test the Orcs Fleet's strength.

After a sufficient show of sincerity, Falstad agreed to his ally's request.

"Then it's settled. I'll lead the team myself and see how strong they are."

"Thank you very much! I'll have the ships and supplies ready."

Gryphons had limited stamina and could not fly hundreds or even thousands of kilometers to attack the Orcs Fleet.

Ships therefore had to be arranged to transport them.

Provided they did not have to join the fighting directly, the Kul Tiras fleet was quite willing to accept the commission.

Several warships made ready and set out that night, carrying two teams of Gryphon Riders toward the designated battle site.

Accustomed to flying through the skies, neither the Gryphons nor their riders felt particularly uncomfortable aboard the rocking ships.

Gryphons were formidable hunters and would even catch smaller sharks.

Of course, "smaller" was measured by Gryphon standards.

They only went after sharks weighing less than a thousand kilograms.

That put most sharks within the Gryphons' hunting range.

As the sharks eagerly swam after the warships, claws suddenly descended from above and pierced their heads, killing them before they even knew what had happened.

Watching these deadly aerial hunters, the sailors of the Kul Tiras fleet eagerly wondered whether they could take on the Red Dragons.

If the Gryphons could keep the Red Dragons occupied, they would give the Orcs Fleet a taste of their strength, even with only a handful of ships.

Both the Sailing Warships and the Orcs' Muscle-Powered Warships sailed at a frustratingly slow pace.

Nevertheless, after two days at sea, the two sides met near the middle of the bay.

The Gryphon Riders reacted swiftly, immediately riding their Gryphons into battle.

By the time the Dragonmaw Clan's handlers reacted and sent their Red Dragons aloft to intercept them, the enemy had already gained altitude and begun throwing Magic Hammers.

Charged with lightning energy, the Magic Hammers slammed into the Red Dragons.

Yet although the Magic Hammers struck their scales in dazzling showers of sparks, they did little damage.

Their massive bodies shuddered, then they quickly beat their wings and took flight.

Falstad caught his returning Magic Hammer and watched the ascending Red Dragons with a grave expression.

He threw his Magic Hammer several more times, but the results remained disappointing.

Although these Red Dragons had been forcibly grown through Dark Magic, they were still Red Dragons.

They still possessed formidable magical resistance.

The Magic Hammers' lightning damage had no effect on them.

The tough scales of these rapidly matured Red Dragons could negate at least ninety percent of physical damage.

After observing them for a while, Falstad quickly changed his approach.

He hurled the Magic Hammer in his hand once more.

This time, however, his target was not a Red Dragon.

Guided by a Wind Spell, the Magic Hammer struck the unsuspecting Orc handler with perfect accuracy.

The twenty-kilogram Magic Hammer came hurtling in and caved in the Orc handler's chest.

The blow alone had inflicted horrific blunt-force damage.

It killed the Orc handler on the spot.

The lightning that erupted afterward burned him into a charred corpse.

With its controller gone, the Red Dragon flew into a rage.

It chased Falstad madly, intent on tearing the enemy who had attacked it to pieces.

Although the scene looked fierce, the Red Dragon posed little threat without its controller.

Seeing their leader's attack succeed, the other Gryphon Riders quickly caught on.

"Attack the handlers controlling them!"

"That's right, kill those fellows first!"

Magic Hammers brimming with powerful lightning energy whistled toward the vulnerable Orc handlers.

The Orc handlers were skilled in Beast Taming and controlling flying mounts.

But their own combat ability was extremely poor, leaving them unable to withstand the Gryphon Riders' attacks.

Without their controllers, the Red Dragons were nothing more than a bunch of dim-witted, fire-breathing giant lizards.

Although these fire-breathing giant lizards retained their combat strength, the Gryphon Riders could lead them around by the nose, preventing them from putting that strength to use.

Watching the swirling battle overhead, the handful of warships from the Kul Tiras fleet decisively charged toward the Orcs Fleet.

Despite its enormous size, the Orcs Fleet could not respond effectively to the attacking warships.

The nimble warships circled around them, their broadside cannons firing almost without pause.

A single cannon shot could punch a hole through the crudely built wooden hulls.

Unfortunately, the old-fashioned cannons were far too inaccurate.

Otherwise, these few warships alone could have sunk the Orcs Fleet.