Aboard the Pritz, rapid-fire cannons, six-pounders, and machine guns roared in unison.
All of them aimed at the same target: Prince Grove in the sky!
"Hmph!"
Grove had been prepared. He raised his right hand, and invisible rules rapidly took shape.
But before he could fully construct the order, several of the countless incoming shells suddenly underwent a strange transformation.
Crimson flames enveloped them, causing their speed to skyrocket. They kept accelerating, and in an instant, they even produced sonic booms!
Originally, Prince Grove had been "slowing" the shells according to their expected velocity.
At that moment, a flash of light suddenly appeared before his eyes. The crimson firelight was already right in front of him!
"Boom!"
These shells truly hit their mark, creating a magnificently blooming display of brilliant flames in midair.
"Hurray!"
The soldiers cheered.
But soon, the ball of fire was forcibly dispersed by an invisible wind.
Prince Grove's entire outfit was stained with smoke and dust as he materialized in midair.
He appeared largely unharmed, though the fury on his face was unmistakable.
Due to a moment's carelessness, he had actually been successfully ambushed by his opponent!
To think they would mix [Weaponized] shells among ordinary ones! Such a cunning tactic had something of a "Hunter's" shadow to it.
Not only that, but he could sense the [War] aura now emanating from the ship's hull.
Its rank was extremely high, even high enough to resist his Sequence 3-level "decree"!
How could a mere Sequence 5 Shepherd possibly shepherd such a high-level "Hunter"?
Shocked and enraged, Prince Grove decided he would no longer hold back.
He was going to use his most powerful ability to truly destroy this fellow!
Prince Grove's figure suddenly became incomparably tall and majestic, like a giant standing between heaven and earth.
The soldiers looked up and saw him raise his right hand high, pronouncing judgment upon them:
"The rebels are guilty!"
"The guilty shall be punished!"
A thunderous voice resounded across the river. The entire area was enveloped by powerful rules.
Prince Grove's right hand condensed the power of judgment, flickering with silvery-white radiance.
That light was as dazzling as the sun, and like the sun, it made people dare not look directly at it. They could only lower their heads.
The next instant, Prince Grove swung down his right hand with tremendous force, carrying out a spectacular "execution"!
The target of execution: the entire Pritz!
"Boom!"
Like a blade as massive as a mountain slicing down horizontally, the Pritz was instantly cleaved in half from the middle!
"Creak..."
The thick iron armor seemed pitifully fragile under a Sequence 3's full output.
Both ends of the giant ship rose simultaneously into a V-shape, and the surrounding river water surged violently.
Not only that, but since the ironclad was now fused with Silas, countless streams of blood immediately gushed from the terrible cross-section, instantly dyeing the entire river surface red!
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The soldiers were affected by the aftershock of the execution.
The fanaticism had not yet faded from their faces before they exploded into masses of flesh and blood in the tremors.
The deck of the Pritz, the weapons hold, every gun position was immediately stained red.
At this point, the giant ship completely ceased all movement.
"It's over."
Prince Grove floated in the air, looking down at the wreckage of the giant ship.
Both ends of the vessel rose high, gradually sinking.
But because the Tasok River channel wasn't deep enough, it only sank halfway before running aground.
The ammunition magazine in the ship's midsection had already detonated in sympathy, igniting thick smoke and fire.
"Splash, splash..."
Because of his "execution," a large amount of river water had been thrown high into the air.
Now it transformed into a sudden downpour, pouring onto the ship.
The "rainwater" washed away the gunsmoke and bloodstains from the hull, causing the ironclad to once again reveal its metallic luster.
This warship, the pride of the kingdom, had been destroyed by one of their own.
"Huh."
Due to the drain on his spirituality, Prince Grove's fist trembled slightly.
Looking at the wreckage of the giant ship below, a trace of doubt arose in his heart: Should he really have done that just now?
But the deed was done. No amount of second-guessing would help now.
Grove slowly lowered his body, descending toward the giant ship.
At the same time, his eyes flickered with light as he searched around the hull, seemingly trying to confirm where Silas's corpse was located.
"!"
At that moment, he suddenly jerked his neck around, looking toward the highly elevated front section of the giant ship.
"Creak..."
There, the only intact 305mm naval gun suddenly began moving again.
Several blood-soaked artillerymen, operating almost on instinct alone, adjusted the barrel and once again aimed it at the position of Sodrak Palace!
"Stop!"
Grove's pupils constricted, and he issued a stern prohibition from his mouth.
His decree was immediately executed.
The blood-soaked soldiers were lashed by invisible whips, producing wounds so deep that bone was visible on their bodies. But even so, they did not stop what they were doing.
Instead, with the last of their strength, they pulled the firing mechanism!
"Boom!"
The Pritz fired its final shell at the royal palace.
A shell of deepest crimson, of utmost density.
***
"The cannon fire seems to have stopped..."
In the hall where the banquet was being held, someone spoke.
The dignitaries and nobles poked their heads out from behind walls, support columns, and cabinets, cautiously peering out.
The Queen had already been escorted away from the scene by her guard detail, while the remaining people lacked the courage to escape on their own amid the dense gunfire and cannon blasts.
Although these artillery shells hadn't fallen here, they still didn't dare act rashly.
"It's probably the royal family's high-Sequence Beyonders taking action."
Audrey Hall, gripping her mother's hand, thought to herself, "I wonder who it could be.
To be so bold as to hijack the kingdom's warship and bombard the palace..."
This was undoubtedly an act of complete suicide.
But such an act would definitely make the perpetrator's name spread throughout the entire Northern Continent immediately.
"Boom!"
Just as she grew curious about the person who initiated this incident, cannon fire sounded again in the distance.
From the sound, it was the Pritz's main gun firing once more!
"More bombardment is coming!"
"Hide quickly!"
The atmosphere, which had relaxed slightly, became tense again. Many people shrank back into their hiding places.
"Audrey!"
Countess Hall pulled Audrey's hand, forcing her to retreat as well.
Although Audrey pulled back, her eyes still watched outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
She noticed something unusual. After the main gun's roar this time, the sound of the fired shell wasn't as sharp as before. It seemed to be something softer...
Then she saw a streak of red flying from the distance, landing on the collapsed bell tower.
That patch of blood-red began to transform after landing, as if slowly pulling a complete human form from a swamp of flesh and blood.
This person wore a crimson robe, with madness in his eyes and brows.
"George Augustus!"
He spoke, directly calling the King by his given name!
After using the giant ship to assault the palace, it was now his turn to break in personally!