At night, the outskirts of the Port of Prilz. The people who perished in the earlier artillery bombardment have been brought here. Bishops and priests from the three major churches are busy comforting the souls, striving to prevent any further anomalies. In just one single day, many wives have lost their husbands, many children have lost their mothers, and countless families now remain with only one member—wandering through the cemetery, some silent, others weeping, some collapsing from repeated sobs. Standing among them, with an ordinary face, Caine remains silent, observing all this, as though recalling past funeral services he has attended. Just after dark, he had used his "Life Staff" to treat the injured at several hospitals in Beckland and the Port of Prilz, and in the process, had also planted eerie, unsettling urban legends, further refining his understanding of the "Sorcerer's" potion. And he knew that once such strange tales spread widely, the one in Bekkanland, Chalatu, would immediately grasp what was happening and dispatch spectral agents to monitor the relevant sites. So, while the news had not yet gone out, Kline relied on "transmission," visiting every hospital in Bekkanland and the Port of Priz, leaving behind a series of terrifying stories while treating critically ill patients. When these events became known, he was confident he would receive abundant feedback, taking a solid and significant step toward fully absorbing the magic potion. Yet Kline did not stop there. The potential conspiracy of the "Red Angel" spirit and the fact that Chalatu was stationed in Bekkanland hung like a sharp sword above him, urging him to keep seeking opportunities. Thus, he came here to witness the sorrow of ordinary people. After a moment of silence, Kline withdrew his gaze and turned to leave the cemetery. After reaching a quiet spot, the color of his left-hand glove rapidly deepened to a deep blue, sprouting smooth, slippery scales like fish scales. A gust of wind surged, lifting Kline into the air and carrying him toward the harbor area. Beyond the harbor, the Sunya Sea Fleet of the Fursac Empire remained quietly stationed, seemingly prepared to launch another wave of bombardment at dawn to destroy the remaining shipyards. Soon, Kline arrived above the ruins of the harbor, gazing at the faint glimmers of fire emerging from the deep night. At the same time, his two secret duplicates used the "Flame Leap" ability to swiftly arrive from the ground, now positioned at separate hidden locations. Though the events he had just witnessed had removed any hesitation or reluctance from Kline regarding what came next, he still felt deeply uncertain. It was entirely justifiable to retaliate against the invaders; yet, if the Fursac fleet suffered a major blow as a result, the one person most likely to rejoice would be King George III of Roon—the true mastermind behind the war, one of the war's principal architects! There are so many principles in the world, yet only when you truly experience them do you realize that sometimes no matter what you do, you end up feeling deeply conflicted. Klein exhaled, shifting his focus to the intelligence he had gathered from the "Emperor of the Inverted Cross": The commander of the Sunya Sea Fleet of the Vosak Empire is Admiral Yegor Einhorn, a half-divine born into the royal family, currently a Sequence 4 "Iron Knight" of the "Red Priest" path. With this information, Klein combined it with the content of the "Red Priest" card, and several key insights began to emerge in his mind: "The 'Iron Knight' can transform women into men, possesses courage as strong as steel, masters various flames in this domain, and can even solidify their own flames or bodies into steel..." Vosak Empire, Sunya Sea Fleet, aboard the flagship, "Nebos." Yegor Ainhofen, tall and robust—over two meters in height, with a dense beard—sat behind a desk cluttered with maps, sipping a cup of Sunya's blood wine, contemplating his next moves: "Once dawn breaks, Roon's airship fleet will definitely launch an assault. Their ironclad warship *Priz* and accompanying fleet will arrive shortly as well. Staying here would leave us in a passive position. Though I am the 'Iron Knight,' capable of channeling the full strength of the fleet and distributing the damage across myself, the commander of that ironclad fleet is likely a half-divine figure from the 'Arbiter' path—or possesses a corresponding Level 1 seal. That would make him more difficult to handle. A single misstep, and they'll exploit their speed and firepower advantages. Retreat is the best course of action. After that, while Roon's navy suffers wounds and is temporarily understaffed, we'll continue striking coastal ports. Hmm—this war will certainly provide excellent opportunities to consume the magic potions." "Alas, I didn't become a War Bishop before now—otherwise, perhaps I could have advanced to an angelic rank after the war. After all, only a War Bishop can truly harness the strength of an army, rather than merely concentrating power upon oneself..." As Yegor Ainhorn's thoughts flowed, he was about to leverage the hidden connections between the Ironblood Knights and his troops to summon his deputy and issue orders for a night retreat. Suddenly, he looked up toward the door. A knock echoed—clear and resonant—filling the quiet room. His mind instantly flashed to the anticipated assault. His spirit tightened instantly, heightening to a state of alert. In battles between half-gods and half-men, pre-arranging the environment, launching sudden attacks, and striking with unexpected force are all effective ways to gain the upper hand and decisively defeat or even kill opponents of comparable strength—without these, success is difficult to achieve. Thus, such an action that issues a prior warning either serves as a mere alert with no further development, or signifies that the incoming force is vastly superior in level, status, and power. As a seasoned "Iron-Courage Knight," Yegor instinctively assumed the worst-case scenario and immediately awakened all the connections he had forged with every sailor and soldier aboard the *Nebos*. At that moment, the voice rang out once again: "Thud!" This time, the knocking resonated with the power of a massive cannon's blast, giving Yegor the sensation that a colossal bomb had exploded right beside him. Under his highly alert and attentive mental state, this was no less powerful than the roar of the "Champion of Disaster." For a moment, Egor's ears rang with a buzzing sound, and his head spun. He quickly distributed the impact, causing each member of the "Nebos" to experience a mild ringing in their ears. Then, Egor grabbed the steel pen from the table and threw it toward the door. The deep red pen left a trailing silhouette as it flew, like a cannonball launched into motion. To a "Knight of Iron Resolve," even the most ordinary objects could transform into terrifying weapons under the power of his unique abilities! *Thud!* The door struck by the pen shattered instantly, revealing the knockers on the corridor. One of them was a man dressed in a black coat, so thin he seemed as if made of paper, with a face devoid of any features. At that moment, the pen itself exploded, sending fine fragments swirling like a storm from a machine gun barrage, tearing the knockers into separate crimson chunks. Egor did not relax—he rose to his feet and scanned the surroundings with alert vigilance. He was clearly aware that the true visitor had not yet "appeared!" At that moment, the adjutant living directly across from him opened the door and rushed out, gazing at the scattered flesh on the ground, then gasped, "Sir, what has happened?" "There has been an infiltration..." Yegor's words trailed off as his gaze suddenly fixed on the adjutant. The adjutant shifted his eyes from the blood and flesh, slowly lifting his head. On his face—there were no eyebrows, no eyes, no nose, no mouth—just as the visitor had been, completely bare and hollow. Yegor's heart skipped a beat; his entire body ignited, blazing into a cascade of flames shooting out in every direction. These crimson-to-amber flames dispersed and then suddenly converged again, encircling the adjutant. The light soon spread, revealing the adjutant now entirely blackened with ash. A breeze generated by the convection of cold and heat swept through, and the adjutant instantly dissolved into ashes. The flames did not cease; they surged forth from the room, reassembling in the air into a sturdy, towering figure—Yegor. At that moment, he noticed seagulls flying in from all around, each bearing a human-like head, yet devoid of facial features—bare, featureless heads! Yegor murmured under his breath, sending out a circle of scorching flames that propelled the seagulls swiftly toward the eerie birds. Just then, he heard a sound of metal grinding against metal, and immediately turned to look, guided by the soldiers' gaze. The sight sent a sudden chill through his body, and a wave of profound fear surged within him. On another wind-powered warship of the Sunya Sea Fleet, several cannons seemed to have come to life, endowing themselves with a distinct sense of life! They turned and aligned themselves toward the sky on their own. One after another, cannonballs actively and eagerly entered the barrels. Boom! Boom! Boom! The projectiles, barely launched, were each struck by fiery spheres tracing different arcs, exploding prematurely mid-flight. Seizing this opportunity, Yegor swiftly recited the revered title of the "Supreme Commander" of the Sunya Battle Zone—a royal "Weather Mage": "Master of battlefield mist, symbol of meteorological change, totem of gales and lightning, the great Ahmatova Einhorn..." This is precisely why it is so difficult to kill half-gods of the same level—because they always find a way to summon aid. Of course, the primary objective of the attackers, Kline, was to create an eerie scene that would startle a half-god and help himself digest his magic potion; he had no firm intention of securing a successful hunt. Observing this situation, Kline, who had already achieved his main purpose and was now concealed beneath the waters, immediately exchanged the positions of the two secret figures, Chonas and Enyuni, and then transported them away with them. Meanwhile, Yegor remained vigilant, maintaining a highly alert mental state, ever on the watch for potential attacks. Only when the angel responded did he truly exhale in relief. Thereafter, Yegor did not halt the fleet, abandoning the wind-powered battleship that had become a strange legend, and departed the region. A short while later, on the now quiet wind-powered battleship, a seabird flew in and landed upon the mast.