Chapter 1 The Start

The deep, majestic sound of a steam whistle echoed across the sea. Sacred steam surged from the ship's core, vibrating the Sea Fog's towering funnels and the intricate network of pipes within. In this horn-like wail, reminiscent of a call to war, all the sailors sprang into action.

Hoists creaked and whirred, delivering powder charges and heavy shells to the ammunition depot beneath the turrets. Steam pipes roared incessantly, conveying the sacred gas to crucial mechanisms and blessed areas. Sailors hurried through the decks and corridors, each taking their battle stations.

As the whistle sounded a second time, the small chapel at the stern of the Sea Fog chimed its bronze bell, its peal a symbol of the Storm Goddess's blessing. This allowed the grace of Gormona to descend upon the dreadnought that the world regarded as "cursed."

On the other main warships of the Sea Fog Fleet, similar bells and whistles sounded in unison—the chimes of shipboard chapels echoing in the mist. These blended into a mystical resonance. The sounds even began to affect reality, causing the thick sea fog to dissipate slightly.

Simultaneously, as the Sea Fog Fleet mobilized, the Frost Navy patrolling nearby responded. Flags were raised, lights flashed, and the sounds of whistles and chapel bells echoed in the fog in chorus!

At that moment, the half-century of entanglement and animosity between the two fleets finally yielded to the phenomenon looming over them all. In the face of the strange, dangerous fog, the living's navy and the undead's fleet had become the only forces capable of relying on each other.

No one knew when the enemy would appear, or in what form, but everyone knew that any unfamiliar ship appearing on the sea from now on was the enemy.

Even any "friendly ship" that refused to respond to communications was the enemy.

The enemy was the sea itself.

Everyone's nerves were stretched taut, awaiting changes in the fog, new messages from Frost Island, or any other possible intelligence and instructions. This oppressive wait lasted who knew how long, until Tirian, commanding the Sea Fog, suddenly felt a strange sensation.

He felt a gaze, but it didn't come from any specific direction—it was as if a gaze had crossed time rather than space, cast from the distant past, and was now resting quietly on him.

He looked up in astonishment, instinctively scanning the Sea Fog's bridge.

First Mate Aiden was conferring with the boatswain, the communications officer was coordinating ship positions with the Frost Navy, and the old, black-robed priest had come from the chapel and was now praying silently next to the gunnery chief—with the fog obscuring visibility, the priest's spiritual guidance would be the warship's greatest asset in engaging the enemy.

And farther away, a figure stood quietly by the porthole.

In a daze, Tirian recalled a scene from half a century ago—in that faded memory, Her Majesty the Queen had personally boarded this warship. The Sea Fog had not yet undergone its fifty years of growth; it was still an older, more weathered vessel. The Queen had stood in that very spot, gazing out at the distant sea.

From that position, she had issued the order for the Sea Fog Fleet to stay away from Frost in three days.

Now, that figure slowly turned her head and issued another order.

"Tirian, protect Frost."

Half a century later, the second order had finally arrived.

Tirian woke with a start, his heart pounding. His eyes felt scorched and stung, as if he had gazed directly at a truth, and a roar echoed in his mind. Before he could ponder whether what he had just seen was a hallucination or something else, the shrill alarm bells suddenly rang out on the bridge, shattering all his thoughts.

Even as the bells blared, the edge of his vision caught a sight on the sea—a massive silhouette emerging from the fog, as if the sea itself was rising up, shaping a ghost of the past.

The "ghost's" masts towered high, its old-fashioned funnels like coral sprouting on the back of a sea beast. It was slowly adjusting its heading, moving towards the flank of the Sea Fog Fleet.

It was so close that the priest's spiritual guidance wasn't even needed.

"Visual contact! Silhouette identified, third-party vessel!" the lookout shouted.

"Open fire," Tirian said as he stepped back to his captain's chair, his voice as cold and commanding as an iceberg. "Anything that appears on this sea that isn't already on the identification list is the enemy."

In an instant, cannons roared and thunder exploded!

The Sea Fog's three main turrets, now in the best firing position, unleashed their barrage. Heavy armor-piercing shells, long since primed and ready, flew from the gun barrels with a deafening roar, becoming streaks of fiery meteors in the mist as they slammed towards the distant silhouette!

Almost as the Sea Fog launched its attack, a series of cannon blasts came from within the fog—sounding like distant thunder. Amid a series of flashes, fiery trails tore through the fog, plummeting towards the Sea Fog's position.

Tirian sat quietly in his captain's chair, squinting slightly, listening to the distant roars, and calculating the shells' trajectories.

Old-fashioned 356mm main guns, four triple turrets… Which old friend was this?

The Rune Duke, which had once escorted the Queen? Or the Knight, which had fought valiantly against the deep-sea spawn in the storm before being sunk? Or perhaps… the Warrior?

The whistling sound was like the wail of a banshee, and the thunder falling from the sky shattered what little calm remained on the sea. Huge explosions sent columns of water dozens of stories high, and even the fog swirling on the surface was torn to shreds by the shockwaves, turning into countless pale eddies.

None of the shells fired from the fog hit the Sea Fog, and the Sea Fog's initial volley was equally unsuccessful.

"It's the Knight. Watch out for its broadside rapid-fire guns," Tirian said, opening his eyes. His voice was quiet, but it reached every soldier clearly. "That range is close enough for the rapid-fire guns to be effective. Pressurize the steam core, increase the distance."

"Aye! Pressurizing the steam core! Increase the distance!"

The Sea Fog's heart roared from deep within, and the entire ship began to accelerate and turn slowly. On the nearby sea, large swaths of ice began to emerge quickly, spreading in all directions like some kind of living thing, building a battlefield favorable to the Sea Fog.

As his ship began to maneuver, Tirian noticed more flashes of light outside the porthole on the other side, accompanied by a distant shadow.

First Mate Aiden immediately shouted, "Second ship sighted, no radio response, not on the identification list!"

Even as Aiden spoke, another deep rumble came from the distance.

"Third ship! Not on the identification list!"

"The Sea Raven is reporting that they have engaged multiple enemies!"

"The Frost Navy is reporting that a battle has broken out near the city-state!"

"The first and second main guns will prioritize the Knight. The third main gun and long-range secondary guns will deal with any other enemies that come within range," Tirian said, his voice unchanged despite the appearance of multiple enemies. He simply continued to watch the shadow in the depths of the fog, which was still firing and approaching, shielded by floating ice. "Don't worry about how many enemies there are. Everything that appears on the sea that isn't recognized is the enemy. This is just the beginning."

First Mate Aiden shouted, "Listen to the captain! Fire at whatever appears on the sea. Even if these old geezers have come back to life, they're no match for the Sea Fog Fleet! Keep firing!"

With the orders from the bridge, all the Sea Fog's main and secondary guns began a barrage of fire, the searing light repeatedly igniting the dark, chaotic fog.

Amid the cannon fire, more and more unidentified ships began to appear on the vast sea!

Just as Tirian had said—this was just the beginning.

Mirror Frost was rising, the borders of reality were blurring in the fog, and the things that had sunk into this sea were entering reality on a massive scale in the form of replicas!

Everything that appeared on this sea from now on was the enemy!

"Let's make a scene!" Aiden's booming voice blared across the bridge. The bald giant grinned, a touch of ferocity on his face. It was clear that he hadn't had such a satisfying battle in a long time. "Let's vent all this pent-up energy from the last fifty years, brothers! Let's show those namby-pamby navy boys what the Sea Fog Fleet is…"

Suddenly, the first mate's boisterous voice stopped abruptly. He was as if he had been choked by an invisible hand, his eyes widened as he stared fixedly in a certain direction. The next second, Tirian knew why he had reacted that way.

Another ship appeared with incredible suddenness in the nearby fog, and then charged into the battlefield at almost breakneck speed. But that ship was unlike any of the enemies that had appeared so far, unlike any known ship in Tirian's memory—

It was a solid black mist, a tangible shadow, a mass of nothingness vaguely shaped like a ship! It was as if some strange shadow reversed from a mirror, breaking through the fog and rushing towards them. But even more terrifying than this "shadow ship's" bizarre form was the "shadow" of the ship reflected on the sea.

It was another ship, wreathed in ghostly green flames, more eerie and terrifying than any phantom in the eyes of the Sea Fog Fleet!

This "twin ship," using the sea as a mirror, had emerged so abruptly, roaring across the sea. One ship was spewing black smoke on the surface, and the other was emitting a faint green fire beneath the surface. It sped past the Sea Fog, almost grazing its side, and reached the other end of the battlefield in the blink of an eye.

Tirian would swear on his father's grave that he had never seen a large ship moving so impossibly fast in his life!

(End of Chapter)