Transcendence?

***Great Sea, Ocean of God***

“Great Sky-General! Our scouting group has spotted the Phenex-fleet just a few miles ahead. They have a huge ship in the centre of their formation.” One of my officers informs me of the situation while pointing out a spot on the map.

We were in a state of cold-war with the Phenex Empire for the last decade. They tried to gain the upper hand in naval combat multiple times by now.

But every time our fleet utterly destroyed them. It's thanks to that weapons-trader that we didn't have to fear for our naval superiority within the recent years.

I would never admit that openly. The naval force of the Phenex-Empire is on par with the Nation of Mist. If it weren't for the new spells we would have to fight with them on equal terms.

And I don't rule out the possibility that we could lose such a fight.

“What's with the big ship in the centre of their formation? They usually don't rely on size....” I start mumbling to myself and the officer starts to interrogate someone from the scouting party with long range communication magic.

Then I turn to one of my other assistants. “Give orders to our fleet. We disperse and attack them with long range spells. Don't take any risk and stay well away from them.”

I turn back to the previous officer who immediately starts to give me his report. “There are no obvious abnormalities with the big ship. It has about the same size as our flag-ship... maybe a little bigger. It is showing the Imperial-banner with golden and black colours unlike the normal white and black phoenix.”

“That means there is someone very high ranking on that ship.” I close my eyes to think. We already faced very high ranking generals from the Empire. None of them had the importance to fly different colours.

So someone from the imperial family? But the Empress is a single ruler. To our knowledge she has no family and no heirs. Did she come out of her palace to lead the fleet herself?

But why should she take matters into her own hands after so many years? Is she really as strong as the rumours say?

Back then when she unified her continent it was said that she took out her biggest opponent with a single spell. Not only that but a sizeable part of the opposing army was wiped out too. The survivors were so terrified that they simply surrendered on the spot.

Well. From her lifetime alone I can tell that she has to be a monster. The lifetime of any being is determined by it's affinity to mana. If a totally untalented mainlander has a lifetime of about seventy years, someone with average magical power should life for about a hundred to a hundred and twenty years.

An exceptional mage from the main continent may even manage to scratch two to three hundred years.

Luckily we people from the Nation of Mist aren't really bound to that rule because everyone of our population has a strong affinity to mana even if they aren't good with magic.

But the Immortal Empress has already lived for more than six hundred years! We aren't sure if it was always the same Immortal Empress or if someone simply took over her position.

Though if it's really true, then she has to be a genuine monster. Someone with so much magical power could be a real danger.

I start to walk up and down on the bridge of my command-ship. Should I call for a temporary retreat? But how can we determine if she is really on that ship? Isn't a battle the only possibility to force her to take action?

My questions are answered by a bright light on the horizon. The officer who held the communication line with the scouting party drops to his knees and starts panting. Pearls of sweat appear on his forehead and his expression is one of pure pain.

Magical backlash. I go to one knee beside him and grab his shoulder. “What happened?”

“The scouting party had just started to use their long range spells when..... There was just a bright flash of light. And then everything was gone.....” The officer pulls a grimace.

“Sit down and rest for the time being. You have done well.” I stand up and take another look at the map in front of me.

I can't believe it. Eight ships. Gone in a split second!

“Give orders to the whole fleet. They have to attack them from as many directions at once as possible. Everyone has to focus on the big vessel in the centre of their formation. If we can take out the Immortal Empress they will loose their only means of attack! See to it that all ships are splitting up far enough. Don't give her a nice target like the scouting group!” I signal to one of my assistants.

Then I watch the battle unfolding with a grim expression. It's infuriating but as the commander of a whole fleet you don't have much to do after you decided on a strategy and announced the start of the operation.

My assistants keep updating the map in front of me as the informations come in. Our ships are represented by small blue stones and the enemy vessels by red ones.

It's in the hands of the ship captains to fight the battle and carry out my orders to the best of their abilities. I am just here to observe the action and decide if it is necessary to change the strategy or to call for a retreat.

I watch grimly as the symbols for our ships are taken off the map. From time to time my assistants can announce that an enemy vessel has been sunk. But it happens just in rare cases.

Those strange flashes of light brighten the horizon even during the entire night as I keep track of the battle action. If my guess is true and the Empress is casting those spells all by herself ….. she is beyond a monster. Maybe a demi-god would be more accurate.

A naval battle between fleets is usually slow and can take hours or days. But not this time. Our superior magical scouting techniques and the good weather are to our advantage. The imperial fleet is sailing against the wind while our ships are attacking with the wind in our backs.

That makes it impossible for the imperial fleet to run. Unless they decide to retreat and sail back the way they came.

On the other hand I have a problem, should I decide to call for a retreat myself. We could sail against the wind ourselves or decide for a breakthrough. There is also the possibility of evading to the sides.

But that would lead us into strong oceanic currents. The ocean of god is a certain part of the great sea and has its name for a reason. It has very calm waters and it stretches roughly between the two bigger continents.

If we should decide to sail to the sides, the imperial fleet could follow us to force us into the strong currents which are circulating to both sides of the ocean of god.

It would take us two months to get back to our islands..... and our blockade on the smaller continent would be broken.

We aren't protecting the main continent because we are the nice guys. It's just because the mainland wouldn't stand a chance against the Phenex Empire. They are too concerned with fighting their own little wars.

And who would be the next on the list after the mainland? It would be us of course. And the Nation of Mist wouldn't stand a chance if the Empress had the resources of both continents in her hands.

The time flies by and slowly the sun appears on the horizon. Unfortunately I can no longer close my eyes before the situation as the morning dawns. The engagement started with one hundred and ninety four ships in the imperial fleet.

Our fleet accounted to two hundred and eleven ships. During the night we lost seventy four ships. The imperial fleet is down by about thirty ships.

Their fleet has taken some losses but it's just a dent compared to ours. Maybe we have stalled their plans for the main continent but I don't believe it.

Fifty two of our losses can be counted on those white flashes. So the Immortal Empress alone is responsible for the most kills in this conflict. If we keep this up we will face a complete defeat.

I have to decide on a route of action. Unfortunately I don't feel confident in breaking through the empires fleet. Even if the last white flashes were smaller I can't count on the exhaustion of the Empress.

Probably she simply decided that it isn't worth to use a blow at full power to deal with a single vessel.

I am not confident to run from them against the wind either. The imperial ships are a little slower than ours because they are build more bulky. But not by much.

While clenching my teeth I look at the map. If we are unlucky and hit a slow current the imperial ships could catch up to us. And our blockade has been broken in any case. The mainland is on its own from now on.

Even if we start running now we will probably still loose quite a few more ships. From what I see there are at least twenty to thirty ships which aren't in a good position to run and disengage.

“Tell the fleet to turn south. We are retreating.” I continue to stare at the map while I speak those words. I can't remember a time when the proud Nation of Mist had to retreat from a naval battle?

What a shame! I am the first general who calls for a retreat! My assistants around me have disturbed expressions but they can judge the situation for themselves. They are old enough and experienced like me.

“Tell those who are in impossible positions to fight and cover our retreat. We have to save as many ships as possible. We will need them after we had proper time to investigate the situation and found an answer to that new imperial spell.” I turn and leave for my cabin. We need to find a way to protect our ships against that white flash! Or at least a possibility to get close enough to deal some damage of our own.

.