On this August day, fear and unease lingered over the entire retreating fleet. The warships carrying the nobles up ahead had been attacked by the Bloodsail Pirates. This news spread throughout the fleet, thanks to the Gryphon Riders' messages.
Kul Tiras' experienced Admiral Cook, who had originally decided to have the fleet return to port, was persuaded by a messenger from Lordaeron that Anduin and Duke could handle the enemy fleet, and that the Naga-led Murloc forces were already on their way.
Hesitantly, Cook decided to maintain three-quarters sail, deliberately splitting the fleet in two. The front was led by the Kul Tiras fleet with some combat capabilities, while the transport ships in the rear had a chance to escape if things went awry.
Three days later, a vast expanse of Bloodsails appeared on the horizon.
The peculiar crimson color made the lookout almost instinctively sound the alarm. In fact, a young lookout did just that. But the experienced Admiral Cook, foreseeing the danger, arranged for double the lookouts, and a more seasoned lookout stopped the young man.
"Wait and see the flags on the ships!"
Upon closer inspection, all the lookouts were dumbfounded.
"Captain, I suggest you come and take a look at this."
Indeed, they were Bloodsail Pirate warships.
The distinct Kul Tiras design could be recognized even in ashes: a single square sail and three triangular sails for maximum agility in various wind conditions; the heightened hull designed for boarding combat; and the detachable wooden outer decks for cannon battles. Everything told Kul Tiras' admirals that these were indeed their old adversaries.
However, the Stormwind Kingdom's golden lion flag, hanging from the mainmast, announced to the world that these ships now belonged to Stormwind.
The Kul Tiras admirals could barely contain their excitement.
Before becoming Bloodsail Pirates, the pirate leader, Duke Fairweather, had the best warships in all of Kul Tiras. In terms of quality, they were even superior to the main fleet led by Admiral Daelin Proudmoore. The only difference was that Duke Fairweather had taken a smaller number of ships – 12 large merchant ships and 24 warships, which had been upgraded and transformed into a total of 36 vessels, the core strength of the Bloodsail Pirates.
Now, 12 of those ships had been captured by Stormwind, and the Kul Tiras couldn't help but feel envious. If they didn't know that Stormwind was on the verge of collapse, they would have suspected the kingdom of threatening their maritime supremacy.
Moreover, the newly-built warships were of impressive quality.
In addition to the ships taken by the nobles, the Kul Tiras fleet now faced a massive fleet consisting of 70 warships.
Had they not seen the Naga and Murlocs capturing Bloodsail Pirates through their spyglasses, the Kul Tiras fleet might have been consumed by jealousy.
Admiral Cook lowered his spyglass and muttered to himself, "Damn it, if we didn't have more powerful greenskins to deal with, I'd definitely suggest suppressing Stormwind upon my return."
On the Sea God, Edwin VanCleef leaned on the window, staring intently at the strange fleet sailing in the opposite direction from the south side of their fleet. They were so close that he could even see the desperate and despondent expressions on the faces of the nobles' private soldiers.
This was far from the joyous expressions of those who survived a disaster.
If there was one word to describe them, it would be – homeless dogs!
VanCleef felt his blood pumping with excitement, igniting every cell in his body. The nobles were finished! Those arrogant and tyrannical nobles were done for!
The voice was so clear and distinct, that VanCleef could hardly control himself.
No matter how Duke managed to do it, from this point on, when the rotting flesh was cut away, even if Stormwind fell, the kingdom of Stormwind would be reborn!
Unconsciously, the light of the Duke filled Edwin VanCleef's heart. It was a fervor that made him want to offer everything he had, including his loyalty, his life, his soul, and even his beloved daughter Vanessa, without hesitation.
Late into the night, VanCleef remained restless.
Of course, he was not the only one who could not find peace.
King Llane read the report three times, and after finishing it, he was stunned for a full minute without saying a word.
The report was too shocking.
Not only for him, but also for all the high-ranking nobles who remained in Stormwind City.
Out of the nobles who retreated, one-tenth were demons! When the Bloodsail Buccaneers attacked, the demons revealed their true forms, causing the largest death event among nobles since the founding of Stormwind Kingdom.
Out of 387 nobles with titles, only a mere 32 survived, all injured. A total of seven families were wiped out forever, while the remaining 13 families had few members left. Half of the surviving nobles were minors.
Most of them were severely traumatized.
This was not a report fabricated by someone or some faction. The testimonies of over 800 survivors were almost identical. These survivors included several devout priests.
Not only them, but the testimonies of the captured Bloodsail Buccaneers were also largely similar.
King Llane closed his eyes in pain, "Do I have to tell my people that one-tenth of the nobles they trusted, the leaders they followed, the nobles of the Stormwind Kingdom who inherited the legacy of King Llane Wrynn, were demons?"
Llane's voice was not loud, but it clearly spread to every corner of the council hall.
Everyone looked at each other.
If they did this, the blow to morale would be too great.
At this moment, Count Kardon, who was once an ally of the Brand family, gently raised his hand and requested to speak, "Why can't we think positively? At least we have acquired twice the number of ships. We have enough fishermen to serve as sailors. We can evacuate our people at twice the rate."
King Llane shuddered, suddenly feeling a warmth in his chest: Yes, the loss of the people would be reduced.
But
Count Kardon spoke again, "Those who died in this battle were local lords. I think we should respect their opinions before announcing the results to the public. After all, they are the cornerstone of the kingdom."
The words of the count were like music to their ears.
Indeed, a large part of the nobles had evacuated, but not every noble was able to do so. For example, those who held important military positions within the kingdom.
How could they announce such a disgraceful incident as their own kin turning into demons and killing their family members? In fact, they had already thought of a reason, but they did not dare to propose it.
Now that Count Kardon had spoken up and given them this excuse, they were so delighted that they almost wanted to kiss the count on the spot: Ah, indeed, in critical moments, one must rely on their own people. (To be continued.)
I'm up late so today's release is a little early.
If you're in the mood for some One Piece feel free to check out my latest translation- Voyage: Unveiling Monkey D. Luffy, Astounding the World. I just dropped a fresh batch of chapters for it. Currently sitting at 15.
Enjoy your weekend everyone.
They didn't know who was the mastermind behind this incident. For now, seeking vengeance could wait; the urgent matter at hand was to clear their names from this disgrace. After all, what was the death of a few people? At most, it was just a redistribution of power. As long as their honor was preserved, even if the ship named after King Llane Wrynn sank, they could find an excuse to seek refuge in the other human kingdoms of the North.
After a brief discussion, Viscount Damanan reluctantly stepped forward and bowed to King Llane, saying, "If Your Majesty permits, we propose the following version of events: 'In order to cover the retreat of our citizens, the noble army led by Duke Farence bravely fought against the Bloodsail Buccaneers. When victory was within reach, the nobles who had secretly turned into demons attacked their own, leading to the collapse of our fleet. At that moment, the fearless Sir Lothar and Count Marcus arrived on their gryphons, joining forces with the remnants of the noble army to annihilate the Zank division of the Bloodsail Buccaneers.'"
Despicable!
Shameless!
In that instant, Lothar was furious to the point of exploding. It was these very nobles who had seized the Stormwind navy's ship to transport their filthy wealth, accumulated from the blood and sweat of the people, only to suffer a double strike from pirates and demons. And even now, they had the audacity to glorify themselves in their own twisted version of events!?
If it weren't for King Llane's restraint, Lothar would have already taken action upon receiving the news of the ship's capture.
With Lothar's anger reaching a boiling point, he was about to draw his sword and strike down the shameless Viscount the very next second.
However, at that moment, Count Damanan was suddenly sent flying by a slap.
The slightly obese Count Kardon spun twice in midair before crashing heavily to the ground.
"Shameless!" A thunderous roar echoed through the council chamber.
The few nobles present stared in disbelief at the one who struck the blow. It was none other than the rising star among the new generation of nobility, the recently prominent Duke Marcus!
This young Duke possessed an even stronger aura than Lothar.
With a sudden wave of his hand, Duke Marcus pointed at the now swollen-faced Count Damanan and cursed, "While common folk risked their lives to dig moats for a single ship's passage, you nobles shamelessly threw Stormwind's navy officers off their ships just to load a chest of gold. And you have the gall to call yourselves heroes fighting against pirates? To claim you are descendants of the great Emperor Saladin? I spit on that notion! I refuse to be associated with the likes of you!"
With that, Duke Marcus spat directly onto Viscount Damanan's face.
While Duke Marcus had insulted only Viscount Damanan, every noble present felt as if the spit had landed on their own faces. King Llane was trembling uncontrollably from head to toe.
At that moment, King Llane questioned himself in his heart: Was I wrong? Was I truly wrong?
Since childhood, the late king had always taught him that the nobility was the foundation of the kingdom, and that the nobles should never be undermined. Varian had always revered this teaching as sacred law. But as he grew older, he found himself increasingly unable to accept the actions of the nobles, yet he continued to remember the late king's blessing and never dealt with the nobles harshly.
Now, faced with the present situation, King Llane was shaken to his core. He couldn't help but question himself: Was I wrong? Have I truly been mistaken all this time?
Since childhood, the late king had always taught him that nobles were the cornerstone of the kingdom, and nothing should ever undermine them. Varian had always upheld this principle as sacred. But as he grew older, he found it harder and harder to accept the deeds of the nobles. Despite this, he always kept the late king's teachings in mind and never took harsh actions against them.
The current scene relentlessly assaulted Varian's conscience and sense of justice, causing his entire body to tremble uncontrollably.
However, seeing Duke Marcus, the hope of the kingdom, clash directly with the old nobles was not what he wanted either.
For a moment, Varian was utterly lost.
On the other hand, the nobles were in an uproar.
Why did Duke Marcus, this impulsive youth, have to act out at a time like this? Shouldn't nobles discuss matters in private first, only resorting to open confrontation when negotiations fail?
The nobles, being shrewd, knew better than to get entangled with Duke Marcus in a matter already deemed a lost cause.
"Apologizing is a disgraceful act that damages the dignity of all nobles!"
"Right! Apologize! Apologize to Count Damanan immediately!"
"Otherwise, we won't recognize your noble status!"
A group of nobles clamored, insisting that Duke Marcus had violated the etiquette of the nobility.
"Hmph!" Duke Marcus let out an icy snort imbued with the chill of arcane magic, causing the temperature in the hall to plummet by more than five degrees: "Fine, if you want to talk about noble etiquette and standards, then I'll act according to your noble customs."
The nobles breathed a sigh of relief when Duke Marcus seemed to comply, thinking that the impulsive youth had finally given in. But the next moment, Duke Marcus flung a white glove, smacking it right into Count Damanan's face.
Indeed, for the sake of etiquette, nobles would always carry a white glove. Throwing a white glove into an opponent's face meant only one thing— a duel!
When the conflict between two nobles could no longer be resolved, they could settle their differences through a duel in the presence of a suitable witness. The one who refused the duel would be deemed the greatest disgrace among the nobility, shunned by their peers for life.
"Go ahead and duel me! If you think I've insulted you, then fight me to wash away your shame!" Duke Marcus stared coldly into Count Damanan's eyes, his disdain for life and death chilling the count to the bone.
In the next moment, Duke Marcus drew his sword.
It was not an ordinary sword, but a fiery blade conjured from the elemental plane of fire, a replica of the standard-issue longsword of Stormwind. The ferocious and blazing fire elemental, which should have been extremely volatile, became as docile as a puppy in Duke Marcus's hands. If it weren't for the scorching aura that could be sensed from more than a dozen meters away, no one would have thought it to be a real flame.
"No, no, I didn't think you insulted me!" Count Damanan actually backed down.
Of course, it made sense; those who kill often possess a powerful aura of death.
Ever since his debut, Duke Marcus had slain gnolls, murlocs, naga, and orcs. Recently, he even turned thousands of orcs into charred corpses.
Recently, he had even roasted thousands of orcs to charcoal. He exuded an absolute aura of killing intent that was hard to ignore.
In addition, he had killed Sargeras, the legendary demon lord, and had a terrifying reputation for being able to enter and leave the Horde's camp at will. Even if Duke claimed to use a sword, which aristocrat in their right mind would dare to duel with him?
"You're too scared? You're just a useless coward!" Duke mercilessly spat out his venomous tongue.
Just when everyone thought it was over, three dozen white gloves suddenly flew through the air and landed on the disgusting faces of those aristocrats who had instigated the palace coup. Not one of them was spared. (To be continued.)
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