It had been around twenty or thirty minutes ever since Virt and Pattu Island went silent, the fleet at Harlow was the only one left that could be reasonably used to try and push back the invaders. Currently overlooking the harbor of Harlow, with several large towers and walls with mighty ramparts was the gigantic Fort Adamson, with the newer Mega Javelin Launchers at the ready to counter anything that was to come their way. The harbor itself stretched in one singular line was the main port of the facility from east to west, with it segmented into several large wet dockyards housing War Galleons getting loaded and ready to make sail and numbered around 70 or so ships. Looking out at the bay in a pristine white suit with gold accents, with his black and bushy beard being stroked with one hand while his other was holding a lit cigar and standing behind the window from his personal office in the fort was Vice Admiral Marath, the last of the high-ranking command staff of the Royal Navy. Once he was informed of the situation, he understood only two things, the first was that something must have happened on the capital island to have elicited such a dangerous reprisal against his nation. Marath was a politically savvy man and knew the current political situation that plagued the kingdom, but felt that was none of his business and was content with just sitting on the fence and allow whatever regime to come and go. The second thing he understood was that the enemy navy was leagues above the Royal Navy as they were able to inflict severe blows on their mighty armadas in minutes, the reports didn't describe much but with no more reports coming from Virt and Pattu and no words from the capital, it was safe to say things were dire and they were on the backfoot. 

"Fucking hell...to think things would get this bad" Marath cursed as he squashed out the lit head of his cigar on the ashtray next to him

He looked out to the harbor and saw the 4th and 5th Fleet getting ready to sail, for the 5th Fleet, he promoted a tested officer who had hunted pirates by the name of Birke wwhile he had promoted a promising but untested officer by the name of Lipnwich to the rank of Commodore to command the 4th Fleet while he would stay put in the fortress and monitor the movements of the 4th Fleet with demonkin spotters flying above them. 

"With luck, I will be able to turn this fiasco around and save us all" He muttered to himself before exiting his personal office

Entering the main command room in the fortress, Marath was greeted by several other naval officers surrounding a large table in the center which had a map depicting the whole island chain. With small stands that had a red 'X' on them above Pattu and Virt while there was a '?' above the capital island. 

"Any updates?" He asked as he walked over to the table and looked down at it, an uncertain and disgruntled expression appearing on his face 

"None so far Vice Admiral, none of our scouts have detected any enemy forces approaching us, and our scouts we sent to Virt have not yet returned, with all of us fearing they may have been killed" One of the young officers answered him 

"Shit. That will most likely be the case. But we still have to keep trying. What about our messengers back to the main island?" He asked as he raised his head to an officer on the opposite end of the table 

The officer merely shook his head which caused the admiral to click his tongue and smack the table, shaking it. 

"Hayss. Fuck" Marath cursed as he gripped his hand and inspected if there was any damage 

"Are we sure of who is attacking us sir?" One of the officers asked with an unsure expression 

"I told you before, it has to be pirates" Another officer answered 

"It can't be the fucking pirates, I told you, it is the leviathans" Another officer added 

"Silence, all of you. Your assumptions are all wrong" Marath stated with a slight anger in his tone 

The officers in the room straightened up and looked at the admiral, all of them clearly waiting for this explanation as they hoped it would be much better than whatever the fuck they were thinking. 

"It can't be the pirates from Consellos Island, that island is far, far too south for them to make the trip and they would have been spotted by our patrols. Plus, it would surprise me more if it were the pirates in all honesty, considering their track record of bickering and arguing over the slightest thing, so them actually putting that all aside and joining hands for one strike against us is pretty much an unreasonable assumption. No, this was probably done by the forces brought on by the foreign delegation meeting us this week" Marath stated as he looked down at the table and then at the officers 

"Think about it, we knew they were coming but we know nothing of their ships or even their navy. To clearly bypass our defenses and attack all of our installations in minutes, they are leagues above us. If we are to even stand a chance of winning, we must know who the hell we are fighting. That is why I have organized the 5th Fleet under Commodore Birke to begin leaving right now, he will be our sacrificial lamb to gather intelligence on what the hell we are fighting and plan accordingly" Marath added as he took a ship token and placed it on the map 

"Once we know, the 4th Fleet under Commodore Lipnwich will set sail to sink the enemy in battle and slowly turn the initiative back into our favor" 

Back in the harbor, the 5th Fleet comprising 35 War Galleons began setting sail, leaving the port slots and slipping from their moorings and slowly forming into several lines, their mission was to act as bait and defeat the enemy fleet, with the sailors aboard the ships steadfast and ready to fight and die for their cause, but unaware that the enemy they were hunting, was already nearby and watching them with fangs bared and ready to pounce on them. 

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Anchored about 4 miles off the island base of Harlow was the HNS Ophelia, with sails furled but mag-cannons at the ready and the crew waiting for the order to let fly. They had arrived ten minutes ago and had already received the orders from the HNS Amelia and Admiral Ushana and the dual monarchs, Captain Austin was busy flying above the ship while also right below the point where the cloaking field ended. As a harpy, she had no usable arms when she was flying and instead restored to using her talons, with the left one clutching a spyglass raised up to her face as she monitored the last naval base on the list to be destroyed. 

Unlike the rest of the ships of the fleet, the Empress Class of warships were equipped with their own stealth capabilities provided by the SS-Class monster crystal embedded into the ship, giving it the ability to cast powerful defensive magic and cloaking was one of them. The HNS Ophelia was still as fast as the Emerald Class sloops but was sturdier and had the largest guns of the fleet, the 42-pounder magi-cannon which could erase anything from existence with one hit as the guns themselves were powered by high-end and refined S-Class monster crystals. 

Austin hadn't attacked yet as she was still analyzing the enemy fortifications and the composition of the fleet before her. While they were still War Galleons, these sported much larger armaments, with the same type of armaments being seen on the ramparts of the naval fortress. If she was to attack, she needed to know the capabilities of these massive Javelin Launchers and if they posed a danger to her ship, after all, she was commanding a ship with the name of her monarch and she was determined to not let its loss be a permanent stain on her honor and career. 

"Damn, this will be a bit tricky all things considered" Austin mumbled as she put the spyglass away from her face and floated back down

Perching on the crow's nest, she handed the spyglass to her first officer, First Officer Rackos who was a good friend since their childhood as fisherfolk. 

"So analysis?" Rackos asked as he held onto the spyglass 

"Will be a hard fight. I count more than 70 warships with larger Javelin Launchers, the same caliber as the ones on the ramparts of the naval fortress" Austin replied as she kept her gaze on the island base in the distance

"So what will we do?" 

"Continue observing, once we see them split their forces, we will crush them hard and fast" Austin answered 

"Then we don't need to wait that long, some of them are leaving" Rackos said as he pointed and handed over the spyglass 

Austin looked through the spyglass and saw half of the War Galleons leave their moorings and then the harbor and slowly form into three battle lines sailing out and into the open sea before switching into a larger circular formation, a smile on her face as she put down the spyglass and keyed the intercom to broadcast across the ship

"All hands! LET FLY!" 

The crew down below quickly began running around and doing their jobs, such as quickly climbing up the riggings to unfurl the sails, tying down other loose riggings, and running out the magi-cannons already loaded and waiting or preparing the magic crystal and ensuring that they were functional, while others were also ensuring that the defensive crystal was active and still holding. In the rear of the ship, the naval flag of the empire was raised and the sight of it made the crew cry out "Huzzah!" like a battle cry as the ship was about to go underway. A few moments later, with the sails unfurled and wind magic crystals primed, the ship lurched forward with a small skip as they began picking up speed and quickly reaching 16 knots in no time. 

A/N: A map for convenience, I am no artist lol

The HNS Ophelia ploweed through the water with speed as she was making a break to get in front of the demonkin ships leaving the port. The cloaking field was still up and Austin planned for the ship to appear out of nowhere right in front of them, using the massive ram fitted on the bow to plow into the middle of the formation and fire both broadsides and chaser guns to great effect. The crew readied themselves as the Ophelia was closing in on the nearest War Galleon unaware of their presence. Austin herself took direct command of the helm and was smiling as she steered the ship into a direct collision course with the first War Galleon she could see, and then, when the ship was mere inches away from ramming the enemy ship, 

"DROP THE CLOAK! LET THEM SEE THEIR DEMISE!" Austin bellowed as the smile grew larger

{!}

On her orders, the Ophelia appeared out of nowhere as her cloaking field dropped, and the War Galleon that was closest to it ceased to exist as the larger ship rammed it at full speed, crushing the entire thing and killing a lot of the demonkin sailors who were frozen in surprise when the massive ship suddenly materialized. 

"OPEN FIRE!" Austin quickly followed up as the demonkin fleet was still in a state of shock 

{!} 

The opening salvo from both broadsides and the chaser guns filled the air with the rumbling BOOMs of the 42-pounder guns, with shells erasing War Galleons from existence as when the shell impacted the War Galleon, the explosion was enough to destroy most of the hull above the waterline and send demonkin who were not erased by the explosion into the sea, dying to the severe burns and internal damage from the shockwave from the explosion. On both sides of the ship, the 42-pounder guns gave loud roars that was from the ships at port, with many sailors stunned into doing nothing as the 5th Fleet was being utterly annihilated. 

Aboard the ANS Virtuous, the rear most ship of the formation and flagship for the fleet, Commodore Birke was paralyzed with fear as he saw the ships of the fleet get one shot into oblivion, with the large explosions and roar of the magi-cannons insitlling more and more fear that kept him from doing anything. His eyes shifted from the destruction unfolding to the deck of his own ship and he saw one of the Mega Javelin Launchers fire off its payload, with the massive fire lance dissipating on an invisible barrier surrounding the enemy ship.

"That's...not fair" He muttered before one of the chaser guns aboard the Ophelia reduced the Virtuous into nothing but a flaming hulk and killing everyone aboard 

Once the first salvo was finished, there was nothing left of the 5th Fleet above the water. With all 35 ships annihilated in one massive barrage from the 140 42-pounder guns of the Ophelia. 

Meanwhile, on a rampart of the fort with a spyglass in his hand that he had been using to watch the carnage unfold, Vice Admiral Marath was speechless as the spyglass slipped from his grasp and fell over the rampart. His lips trembled as he lost all balance and fell forward, the rampart wall and his aides catching him before he too fell over. 

"Monster" He muttered, his body feeling weak and his red face going pale 

Back on the Ophelia, with the enemy fleet in ruins around them, the crew began reloading everything and as they did so, a loud "Huzzah!" came from the gun crews as they were pleased with their progress, with the Ophelia still plowing forward through the wreckage of the enemy. 

"Alright everyone! Prepare both batteries again and get ready to unleash hell!" Austin shouted as she began turning the helm to the starboard side 

The HNS Ophelia swiftly turned to starboard as they continued forward and when they got into 2 miles of  Port Harlow, the larboard battery was ready for the bombardment. 

"Larboard battery! Fire at will! Sink their ships and blow that damnable fort away!" Austin bellowed to her gun crews 

{!} 

The gun crews of the portside battery did as they were told when the order was given, with a storm of 42-pounder shells erupting across Harlow harbor, with shells striking and sinking ships still in their port slots or striking the harbor buildings and bringing them down in single massive explosions that rocked the surroundings. Some shells landed in the walkways between ships and the shockwaves from the explosions were enough to lift ships from the water and lightly tossing them onto other ships not yet struck. Demonkin sailors caught in the explosions were either vaporized on the spot or sent flying with immense burns and damaged internals, with many sailors dying from crashing into things or succumbing to their burns. Commodore Lipnwich was not spared the carnage as his flagship the ANS Master was blown apart by a single 42-pounder shot that struck the bow, vaporizing the ship in a massive explosion and sending him falling into the sea with heavy internal injuries, burns and was unconscious. 

In the fortress above the port, it was the same story as 42-pounder shells ripped through the thick stone walls and destroyed many of the Mega Javelin Launchers that couldn't fire past 2 miles, with the launchers being vaporized as they were hit with the shells that detonated on impact. The bombardment from the larboard battery did not stop with one salvo, the magi-cannons kept firing for as long as their crews allowed them to, sending shell after shell hurtling through the air, with the whistle of the thing signaling death to those within its range, the deep rumble and roar of the 42-pounders also sparked fear as the demonkin sailors found themselves running in multiple directions to escape only to die horribly, it was a gruesome sight as some were left vaporized from the waist down or waist up, with the corridors and halls of Fort Adamson being turned into rubble and ruin as they took the beating from the magi-cannons. 

Even Vice Admiral Marath was not spared the horrible barrage as when he retreated from the ramparts to grab his personal effects in his quarters, a 42-pounder shell found him and vaporized the room and himself, turning it into nothing but a smoking piece in the ruble. With their commander dead and the entire situation out of hand, the demonkin sailors who were not killed by the barrage, did their best to get their mates out of fire and somewhere safe as they noticed that the medical wing of the fort had not been shelled in the slightest but was instead ignored by the fire, something that spoke to them about the conduct of their enemy despite their ruthlessness on display. 

With most of the fort in ruins and the 4th Fleet sunk in the harbor, Austin smiled as she turned to her gun crews

"Cease fire! They had enough" She ordered as she let go of the helm and walked down the stairs to the main deck, 

A moment of silence followed as all of them stopped and looked at the carnage they had wrought, the sight of burning ships and facilities and the smoldering ruins of a coastal fort were plain to see, the sailors lowered their heads and prayed to the Goddess Histy for the souls of the fallen on the enemy side as per tradition from their tribal lives, but once the moment had passed, Austin was ready to give her next set of orders

"Get the Black Guard ready. We are securing what's left" She added as she turned to Rackos, the smile glowing even more 

"Understood Admiral. We got them boys! Huzzah!" Rackos replied 

"Huzzah!" the crew roared as they cheered in reply, with the naval flag of the empire being raised even higher 

A/N: And this is it! The final naval battle chapter then we go back to our protags facing down Alfonsis and Viktor. I had so much fun writing these naval battle chapters and I hope you guys had fun reading them! If you have any reactions let me see down below in the comments and if they are questions I will answer them, as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!