Chapter 566. Battle
"Just what the hell is going on? Are they under the control of an entity here?" Charles flapped his wings forcefully, propelling himself to around three hundred meters in just a few seconds.
Then, he approached the amphibious steamships in the distance.
Charles soon got a clear view of the people on the steamships, and the questions in Charles' mind were instantly resolved the moment he saw the octopus tattoo on their faces.
The ambush was made by the Fhtagn Covenant to avenge themselves. To think that they had already planted so many moles among the ranks of the surface world exploration teams.
Just then, Charles spotted the deck cannons of the steamships turning toward him. In response, Charles flapped his wings to gain altitude and get out of their attack range, but a bone flute appeared out of nowhere and pierced Charles' abdomen.
Charles' invisible tentacles burst out of his back and attempted to pull out the bone flute. However, Charles only saw the bone flute swiftly retracting with an afterimage and thrusting toward his chest.
A gray shadow manifested slowly behind the bone flute. Charles was familiar with the gray shadow, as it was one of 134's companions.
Charles had managed to avoid sustaining a fatal wound by dodging in time, but the attack had punctured one of his lungs, making him feel like his chest was being squeezed forcefully.
White electric arcs danced across Charles' skin, but the lightning arcs simply passed through the gray shadow, and the attack failed to inflict even the slightest damage to the latter.
"Captain! I've come here to help!" Dipp's voice echoed, and a blue mist floated over from Charles' side before lunging at the gray shadow. A cloud of dark blue smoke was made as Dipp and the gray shadow fought each other.
Dipp's assistance allowed Charles to take a breather, and the two stood with their backs against each other, ready to fend off any attackers.
Charles took a moment to reorient himself. He prepared to fly toward the oncoming amphibious steamships when he saw a plume of smoke speeding toward the Narwhale like a train. The plume of smoke was coming from an amphibious steamship that resembled a white maggot.
A bloated man, who seemed affixed to the steamship's prow, roared incessantly as the steamship charged at the Narwhale, and the insectoid limbs that protruded from both sides of the hulls like oars told Charles that the other party was the "King" of Sottom.
The two cannons on the deck, which were under the control of Lily's mice, bombarded "King," but despite suffering many wounds and being covered in blood, "King" did not slow down in the slightest.
"No! 134 must also be on that ship as well! We're in big trouble if she makes contact with the Narwhale!" Charles flew as fast as he could, but he was too slow compared to the oncoming steamship.
The bloated maggot-like amphibious steamship collided heavily with the right side of the Narwhale, and the two ships moved diagonally against each other.
"King" roared, and his pallid flesh opened up, revealing a dense swarm of strange insects that made a beeline for the Narwhale.
Margaret possessed mighty strength despite her frail look and had withstood a collision against Charles.
Before Charles could fall to the ground, Margaret let out a low growl and raised both of her daggers before thrusting them fiercely into Charles' torso. Then, she used all her strength and slammed him to the ground.
The grotesque cracking noise told Charles that the impact had fractured a few of his ribs.
However, Margaret wasn't done just yet, and she raised her daggers once again, getting ready to strike.
Charles saw that and stood up before wrapping more than a dozen tentacles around Margaret's arms to stop her attack. However, Margaret was extremely powerful, and even more than a dozen tentacles couldn't keep her at bay as her daggers slowly but surely advanced toward Charles.
For the first time ever, Charles glared murderously at the woman before him. "Do you even know what you're doing?!"
"What I'm doing? Of course, I'm doing what my predecessors have done themselves! I'm here to claim glory on the battlefield!!"
A dull thud echoed as Charles' back hit a wall. He had nowhere to retreat, but Margaret's dagger was steadily approaching his heart.
Just then, two bats flew toward Margaret. One of the bats bit Margaret's carotid artery, but unfortunately, even their sharp vampire fangs couldn't pierce Margaret's skin.
Margaret's grip on the dagger in her right hand loosened, and the dagger fell to the ground. Unfortunately, Margaret hadn't chosen to give up. Instead, she raised her bare hand and thrust it into Charles' chest. Margaret had become so strong that Charles' flesh and blood was like tofu for her.
Her hand pierced Charles' skin, muscles, and fractured ribs. When Margaret's sharp nails met Charles' beating heart, a ruthless smile blossomed on her scarred and flushed face.
Just as Margaret was about to squeeze Charles' heart, the latter's right eye bulged out of its socket and landed squarely on Margaret's face. Then, it bit fiercely on Margaret's eye.
Even those with the toughest defense would always have their eyes as weaknesses. Margaret reflexively closed her eyes, and Charles did not let go of that opportunity; his figure contracted as he transformed from a bat monster to a human being before slipping out of Margaret's grasp.
By the time Margaret had crushed the spider with a palm strike, Charles' figure had already vanished into thin air.
"I'm the captain, and I must be responsible for my crew. I'll bring your corpse back with me and give you a solemn burial."
Margaret's ears twitched slightly. She flicked her left hand, sending a dagger flying toward where the sound had come from. Margaret had used all of her might to throw the dagger, and it even left afterimages in mid-air.
Unfortunately, it pierced nothing but air.
