Chapter 1350
Over a month later, Leon led the fleet of Arcane Battleships, with the USS Dauntless at its head, advancing toward the predetermined spatial coordinates.
The USS Dauntless and three Arcane Battleships, after ten days of acceleration, looked out from their decks to see only streaks of light—the result of their incredible speed. With a carefully plotted course and energy shields on all ships, they had no fear of colliding with asteroids along the way.
After half a month of travel, they finally neared a desolate stretch of starry sky. But as soon as they emerged from the darkness where the light could not reach, five ironclads—each over a thousand meters long—suddenly appeared ahead.
The five ironclads floated in the void, at least a thousand kilometers from Leon—barely within their attack range.
Seeing these five ironclads and the markings on their hulls, Leon’s brow furrowed.
It was a crown made of thorns—simple in design. The sight of it soured Leon’s expression.
Thorned Crown—a mysterious research faction. Their composition was complex; official members were few, but each possessed formidable abilities in their own field. Unlike typical mage organizations, they resembled loose collectives like the Starry Sky Academy.
Shadow Tower and Rose Circle were both subsidiaries of Thorned Crown. After meeting Amy, Leon understood that the 'Headquarters' they spoke of was none other than Thorned Crown. Leon had never cared much, since Thorned Crown disliked conflict and strife; their pursuit was the true essence of magic.
Even if Thorned Crown learned of Amy summoning the demon lord’s true form, they would only punish the Rose Circle members. Any act that brought trouble to Thorned Crown or exposed them to the public was strictly forbidden.
That’s why Leon didn’t care about the Rose Circle’s affairs. After all, this era marked the early days of Thorned Crown’s development. Their members included all sorts—like the Rose Circle’s bloodline transplant warlocks, who gained special abilities by grafting powerful creature bloodlines.
Then there were the shadow mages in Shadow Tower, using shadow powers for assassinations…
In short, they were a bunch of outcasts—hunted so many times that no one could keep count. Everyone thought they’d been wiped out, yet every few years, they’d crawl back from the ashes.
They would never risk exposing themselves just for revenge. Leon was certain of that.
He hadn’t expected to see Thorned Crown’s ironclads here, guarding the safest entrance to this stretch of starry sky. Recalling the intel Lord Shaun had uncovered last time, Leon suddenly understood.
No wonder Thorned Crown would come into the open a thousand years later—by then, their power, wealth, and alchemical technology had grown strong enough to walk in the sunlight.
This strange plane, according to records, was first discovered in this era. It was just unexpected that Thorned Crown were the ones who found it first.
Their most important business here was probably discovering this plane…
But if it took them a thousand years to step into the light, their development of this plane must have been brutal…
As Leon pondered these things, no one on the battleship dared attack without his order. Yet while Leon held back, Thorned Crown’s five ironclads began to turn, weapon systems locking onto Leon’s fleet…
Clusters of energy cannons fired, crossing over a thousand kilometers toward the USS Dauntless. Dense orbs of light drifted closer, as if slowly floating through space.
Lord Shaun saw this and burst out laughing.
“My gods, look at this! Do they really think this attack will destroy the USS Dauntless? Tossing energy balls one after another—are they planning to drown us in these things?”
It’ll take at least ten minutes for those things to reach us, won’t it? Ten minutes, right?”
Lord Shaun tilted his head, glancing at Percival, who was grinning at his side. Percival nodded.
“At the speed those Mana Crystal Cannons are firing, it’ll take fifteen minutes to hit our battleship.”
Archmage Merlin, should we dodge?”
Leon couldn’t help but laugh. Did these people really think fighting in the Endless Void was the same as fighting in Northend World? Using Mana Crystal Cannons for fortress defense out here…
Honestly, it was impressive those energy shells could cross a thousand kilometers without dissipating. But this sort of attack—forget the USS Dauntless, even the newly built Arcane Battleships would barely feel a tickle.
On this journey, they’d been traveling at incredible speed. Any random asteroid they hit along the way would pack hundreds or thousands of times more force than these energy balls—yet even that couldn’t shake the Arcane Battleships’ energy shields.