Chapter 294: Setting Sail

Upon hearing such insider information known only to royal families and the divine churches, Donald was filled with myriad thoughts. Many things that had previously been unclear now became evident.
Even Ferdinand, standing nearby, only had a partial understanding of these secrets and was greatly surprised. Perhaps his father, Vincent, knew more—after all, it was an ancient family with a history of thousands of years, often exchanging knowledge with other ancient families on the continent and maintaining basic connections.
“I see, now I’m relieved. With such restrictions in place, within a certain range, I can probably act freely with my strength. Whoever is behind Andrew—better they leave me alone. If they really try to bully me, I won’t hold back. Surely the increasingly arrogant Glory of the Three Gods Church has angered many forces, who must be delighted to see them fail!”
The various forces on the continent kept each other in check, so a newly emerging force like Dalaran, which had appeared suddenly, might not face full-scale retaliation for its rash actions.
“Time is pressing. I won’t stay here any longer. Organizing so many people to set sail is troublesome too. If we delay a few more days, who knows how long it will take to reach Theron!”
Donald’s support had solved a major problem for Duri, lifting a heavy burden from his shoulders. Overjoyed, he briefed Donald before rushing back to make preparations.
“You don’t need to worry about the sea ship, Duri. I have one that can carry 300 people and is far more sturdy than ordinary ships!”
Duri’s face lit up with joy.
“That’s great! Donald, you’ve solved another problem for me! I won’t say much in thanks—everything is remembered in my heart.”
After seeing off the second prince’s airship, Donald looked toward the military camp outside the town.
“The army of Dalaran has been established for half a year. Though strong, they’ve never been to battle. This is a good chance for them to hone their skills by joining us.”
Ferdinand said jokingly,
“They’re trying so hard to win, yet you still plan to use this as an opportunity to train!”
After laughing, he changed the subject.
“The situation in Theron must be terrible. How many people do you plan to take?”
Donald had already thought through the list of participants.

“There’s a Golden Paladin from Uther guarding this territory, so security should be perfectly fine. The elves will also take good care of it, as they plan to relocate some of their people here soon. The construction of Emerald Dream has just begun, and with Nod’zdom in charge and Augusta managing things, I decided to bring everyone I could. My teacher has just been promoted to Golden rank and needs some experience!”
Ferdinand laughed upon hearing this: “Hehe. Those demons are in for trouble!”
After three days of preparation, Donald led his men to meet Prince Duri and the others at Port Leyton.
It was said that the troops led by Prince Andrew had set off a day earlier.
Port Leyton was the only major port leading to the central and southern parts of the continent. So although neither prince wanted to cater to the other, they had no choice but to set off from the same place. Fortunately, Andrew’s group was already fully assembled. To reach Siren earlier and gain an advantage to complete their mission, Andrew ordered an immediate departure, which meant they would miss Duri and the others and avoid any potential conflicts.
Arriving at Port Leyton was like being on Donald’s home turf. He had asked Count Leyton to prepare all the necessary supplies for sea travel in advance. He simply needed to retrieve them from the storage space in the warehouse.
Since Prince Andrew and his group had already set off, Donald didn’t intend to delay further in Port Leyton. After thanking Count Leyton for offering a banquet, he went to the port area to prepare their ship for the journey.
Although Duri had heard from Donald that he had a very sturdy sea ship, he had assumed it to be a ship made of high-quality materials, finely crafted, perhaps slightly better than the kingdom’s fleet.
But when he saw this magic ship, both Prince Duri and his companions were stunned.
What kind of sturdy sea ship was this? It was nothing short of a mobile fortress at sea.
The large black ship was 150 feet long and 60 feet wide. With such a size, it could easily accommodate not only 300 people but even 500 if packed tightly.
Though the ship was large, the kingdom’s fleet did have ships of similar size, which was why the Celt Sea Fleet wasn’t particularly strong among the continent’s nations. It was said that the large ships of the Tholos Merchant Alliance and Gadril’s dragon warships could reach 300 feet in length, twice as big as this black ship.

However, Durai and the others could see that the entire hull of this ship was made of black iron pine, a material worth a fortune. The deck, masts, and other parts were even made of rare magical woods, some of which even Prince Durai couldn’t recognize. It was clear that every inch of this ship’s structure was extremely valuable, crafted from magical materials, with magical energy fluctuations visible on its surface—undoubtedly, this was an alchemical magic ship entirely built from magical materials.
“Donald, this…”
Durai didn’t know what to say.
“Well? Isn’t my ship great?”
“Not just great! I see you’ve used arcane arrays to combine the entire ship into one unit—its strength must be such that even Silver-ranked warriors can’t destroy it! With this ship, I’d even dare to venture into the Storm Sea!”
Donald said proudly, “Haha! Everyone, get on board! There are even more amazing features inside!”
Donald brought over 150 people on this trip, including the legendary Sword Saint Carlisle and his four brothers, as well as his teachers Maelthor and the three Silver mages Chris, Malf, and Hentia. Two of his heroes, Uther, were assigned to guard their territory, while this time he brought Kaelthas, who had reached the peak of the Silver rank. Donald planned to use this training to help this high elf reach the Gold rank as well. That way, when elves moved to Dalaran under the Elven Council, with Kaelthas around—having both his status and matching strength—he would be able to keep those proud elves in check.
Additionally, Merlin, the only disciple of a high-level Black Iron mage, was also brought along by Donald, who wanted him to see the world. Mages can’t become strong by working in isolation; to grow stronger, they need to experience many battles.
Along with Merlin, William’s two sons, Eric and Eli, as well as the heir of the Kotah family—Frege, the grandson of the Gold Mage Raphael—also came on this journey. They had been traveling in the North for quite some time. Though reluctant to part with his friend Augusta, Frege agreed to return to his family’s estate temporarily at her urging. With the magical disasters sweeping across the continent, this passionate young man, with a fighting spirit deep in his bones, naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity. So he planned to join Donald’s group to fight demons and satisfy his desire for battle before returning home. After all, Theron was near Gardrel, not far from their family’s territory.

In addition to these strong fighters, Donald also assembled a elite unit of 100 members from the Holy Shield Infantry Regiment, along with 20 druids. These were the core forces Donald intended to train for external battles in Dalaran, especially after this fight against demons. Even these inexperienced novices could become competent elite warriors.

Besides Donald’s group of over 150 people, the second prince also brought a force of just over 100 members, most of whom were skilled swordsmen borrowed from the Holy Sword Legion, all at the Bronze level or above, along with 8 Silver Swordmasters in total.

For ordinary noble forces, this group was already extremely powerful, but it was clearly insufficient to deal with an invasion by demons like those of the Plague. Therefore, Dray tried every means to recruit over a dozen powerful professionals, most of whom were at the upper Bronze level, along with the warriors he had trained over the years—17 Silver-level experts and nearly 100 Bronze-level fighters.

The newly recruited professionals initially looked down on Donald’s soldiers, who were generally below the Bronze level. They accepted the second prince’s offer to fight against the Plague and gain sufficient merit.

According to the agreements reached between the nations of the continent and the Church of the Gods, killing a sufficient number of Abyssal Demons would earn rewards such as money, equipment, even titles and territories.

As for minor demons, success relied on quantity; killing a Silver Demon would surely earn one a knightly title, which posed a significant challenge even for those at the peak of Bronze or Silver levels!

Thus, Donald’s soldiers, who seemingly lacked strength, became a burden to the group. Although the professional recruits were dissatisfied, none were foolish enough to complain openly—after all, their leaders were all Silver-level experts, and there were even two Gold Mages, any one of whom could suppress them all.

The magic ship was designed to be extremely comfortable, perfectly combining the features of a commercial cruise ship with those of a warship—offering cozy cabin rooms as well as structures suitable for ramming and naval battles.

Departing from Leyton Port and after a journey through Starfall Bay, they would enter the waters under Gadré’s jurisdiction.

This part of the sea under Gadré’s control still fell within the scope of Starfall Sea, but once they reached the Kingdom of Polin in the eastern part of the continent, they would enter the inner seas of Storm Sea.

Interestingly, the boundary between the Storm Sea and the Falling Star Sea happened to be exactly at the border between Polin and Gadré. It’s unclear whether this was a coincidence or if it was planned from the start to be that way. Within the waters of the Falling Star Bay, thanks to the protection of the maritime lord Nozdorm, the seas remained calm, with not even a single heavy rainstorm occurring. However, once outside the bay, it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the legendary dragons, so a moderate sea storm struck the next day. Yet such storms and heavy rains posed little threat to the magically reinforced ships made of black iron-like stone. Thanks to the magic arrays and sturdy hulls, those inside the cabins felt only a slight rocking, barely noticeable at all. Even the soldiers from the Holy Shield Infantry Regiment, who were sailing for the first time, few of them experienced seasickness. As for the sea beasts encountered during the voyage, the larger ones generally stayed in the deep seas and did not come to these land-adjacent waters. The smaller sea beasts, upon encountering these giant magical ships, would usually avoid them altogether—colliding with them meant certain death, as they wouldn’t even have time to escape. Why would they risk their lives?