“According to our information, the Black islands are very quiet. Two’s group is waiting for our attack… and we will give it to them.” - Horwann said at the meeting of all the leaders who would take part in the raid on the Black islands.

  The raid on the Black islands. The task is clear: eliminate the entirety of Two’s group and retrieve the three stolen legendary weapons. The raid will take place on Brown month, night 27.

  On day 4 of the Brown month, a great meeting of all rulers and their representatives who intended to take part in this attack was held. Most of the strategy was planned by Horwann and Raven, then adjusted if anyone present objected.

  After half a day locked in the great hall and planning, everyone began to leave. Everything was planned. Now it was only necessary to prepare and wait for the last reinforcements to arrive. The battle that would decide the future of the entire Middleworld was knocking on the door.

  Brown month, night 27.

  North, south, east, west. From each of these directions, five ships were approaching the Black islands. Each ship carried 30 members of the united army. Which meant that 600 warriors were sailing toward the islands.

  It was decided that the attack on the islands would take place at night. The reason was clear: it would take Two’s group longer to realize that a threat was coming.

  Northern fleet.

  “The islands are about 500 meters away from us. So there’s a chance we’ll be spotted any moment now. Prepare yourselves, leader Raven… the show will begin soon.”

  Raven stood right at the front of the middle ship. The northern fleet was led by Raven. This was Raven’s first big mission… in fact, for most of the people participating in the raid, this was their first big mission. The last time Middleworld united like this was forty years ago during the Crystal Hunt. Everyone was nervous… no one had ever felt this feeling before. Excitement, fear, goosebumps… everything was crashing down on them.

  Southern fleet.

  This fleet was led by Wind. Wind had a great advantage… her Crystal. Thanks to the power to control and use air, Wind could float above the ships.

  Wind kept a distance of about 100 meters ahead of the ships. If a threat appeared, Wind would see it first.

  Eastern fleet.

  The fleet attacking the islands from the back, led by Force.

  Force was sharpening his battle axe while the ships were approaching the islands. In his head, Force was reminding himself of his tasks.

  Brown Month, day 24.

  Force was sitting in a tent in front of the gates to the Main city. One of his group members arrived at Force’s tent. - “He’s back! He made it in time.”

  Force climbed out of the tent. Outside, another member of his group was sitting on a horse. This was the member Force had sent twenty days ago to Ash… to find out if she would consider the offer Sand had given them. - “Get off that horse. I’m not going to tilt my head up when I talk to you.”

  The man got off the horse and handed Force a scroll… a scroll from Ash. Force began to read. After a while, he gathered all the members of his group. - “Ash accepted the offer… so people, another task has grown close to our hearts. We must not disappoint the queen.”

  Brown Month, night 27. - Western fleet.

  The western fleet was led by Grin III. Horwann did not want to send such a young boy into the western fleet… that is, into the most endangered one, because the west of the islands was the most fortified, but Grin insisted.

  “We are about 450 meters from the islands, Grin.” - “Great. Send the signal to the cliff.”

  One of the crew members drew a bow and fired a flaming arrow toward Middleworld. This member was named Coral. A citizen of the kingdom of the blue Crystal. One of… possibly the best archer in all of Middleworld.

  The Black islands and Middleworld have a distance of about 3000 meters between them. If someone can shoot an arrow that flies at least half of that distance so that people on the cliff can see it, that person is Coral.

  The moment Coral fired the arrow, a purple portal opened above the ship. Those who had taken part in the Dark celebration felt a chill run down their spines. Two… Two and his group.

  Grin jumped and drew his sword. - THERE’S NO WAY THEY COULD HAVE NOTICED US THIS FAST?? - The moment these words left Grin’s mouth, Nine jumped out of the portal.

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  Before anyone could react, Nine was already touching the structure of the ship with her hands.

  Everyone started running toward Nine… they wanted to eliminate her. But it was already too late. While the crew was running toward Nine, the floor of the ship began to crack beneath their feet.

  Before anyone could even blink, the ship fell apart. Grin and his crew began to fall into the water. The same fate awaited Nine, but another portal appeared beneath her. Nine disappeared… she disappeared onto the neighboring ship.

  Nine’s attack on the western fleet was very tragic for Middleworld, because the western fleet was the only one that had armored ships with cannons. The only kingdoms that have ships with cannons are the kingdoms of the yellow and black Crystal. These ships were, of course, sent by the kingdom of the black Crystal because the western fleet was the most endangered.

  In less time than it takes to blink ten times, four out of five ships were destroyed by Nine. Only one remained. But this ship noticed what was happening around it. The crew managed to react.

  One of the crew members on the last ship of the fleet was Sapphire. Sapphire came from the kingdom of the blue Crystal.

  An interesting fact about the kingdom of the blue Crystal is that most of its inhabitants, around the age of twelve, cut off all their hair and apply a special ointment made from sea products to their heads so that their hair will never grow again. This procedure is done because the kingdom specializes in the sea. They have the largest number of ships, the largest export of sea products, and so on. Without hair, it is easier to swim in the water.

  However, there is a small group… about 1-3% of the population, who refuse this procedure and keep their hair. Their dark blue hair. One person from this group is Sapphire… the successor to the leadership of the kingdom of the blue Crystal.

  Seaway is the only kingdom that does not care about bloodlines. The current leader chooses a successor based on combat skills. The successor of the legendary trident should, according to Seaway’s traditions, be the one who can use the trident to its full potential. Which is a bit ironic considering what happened last month…

  Aqua chose Sapphire as his successor. Sapphire intends to get the trident back no matter the cost.

  The moment the purple portal opened above the last ship, Sapphire threw his weapon… a double sided trident, toward the portal. Nine jumped out of the portal and the trident was just inches from her head.

  Nine stretched out her hand and caught the trident just before impact. The moment she touched it, the trident began to fall apart. Nine landed on the ground unharmed. The trident was destroyed… or at least half of it, the other half fell away from the shattered part.

  The crew ran toward Nine. The first crew member who reached her tried to eliminate her with a single sword strike to the head. Nine crouched and dodged the strike, then stretched out her hand and grabbed the man… the man fell apart.

  Suddenly, five crew members were standing around Nine, ready to end her life. Fortunately for Nine, a portal opened beneath her and took her away from the place.

  Everyone from the crew stopped in front of the portal… everyone except Sapphire, who picked up his trident and jumped into the portal.

  The northern and southern fleets reached the Black islands without any problems. Everyone began to disembark and was ready to find Two. However, this could not be said about the eastern fleet… the eastern fleet was also attacked.

  In front of the ship Force was on, a purple portal opened.

  You’ve got to be kidding me… we’re sailing around these damn islands for such a long distance just so we have the best chance to get onto the islands unnoticed… and they still find us. BUT FINE… SHOW YOURSELVES, YOU BASTARDS!!! - Force thought as five brown lines flew out of the portal.

  Force dodged one of the lines and split it with his axe. As for the four people on the deck that the lines flew at… they met a different end. They didn’t manage to react and were pierced straight through.

  Thirty three came out of the portal. Her ability is to harden her hair and grow it so she can pierce through others.

  On Force’s ship, there were twenty members of the army of the kingdom of the red Crystal and ten members of other armies. The others did not know about Force’s secret mission… but the red army did.

  This is my chance! That portal must lead to Two… and if I take out this girl with me… it will be killing two birds with one stone! - Force pulled a pouch out of his pocket and opened it. Inside the pouch was a strange red powder.

  Force threw part of the powder into the air and the rest toward Thirty three. The people of the red army on deck saw red explosions and ran toward Force. The people in the lower deck heard it and remembered Force’s clear instructions. - “So we know when to unite, I will have two pouches of explosive ash with me. As you know, when it comes into contact with air, the ash explodes instantly, so I can open each pouch only once. When you hear an explosion or see red dust in the air… run to it!”

  Thirty three was hit by the ash straight in her face, which damaged her vision and covered her whole face in blood… she did not expect this. Before she could recover, several members of the red army were already approaching her. At their head was Force, who was already very close to Thirty three.

  Thirty three aimed her hair at the attackers and began shooting it at them. Most of the army members were covering Force, who was destroying the remaining hair with his axe. The red army was falling like flies, but on the other hand, Force was already in the air, jumping toward Thirty three, ready to deliver the final blow.

  Thirty three aimed all her hair at Force. But before the hair could hit him, Thirty three was struck in the body by an arrow fired by one of the few survivors. The hit threw Thirty three off balance, which gave Force the chance to jump into the purple portal.

  Thirty three fell to the ground on the deck of the ship. Four survivors on the ship surrounded her… but one of the survivors was not a member of the red army. This man tried to kill her… he got a knife in the back.

  “No one must know that we’re taking this person with us… I think I didn’t hit any vital organs. Prepare a boat… we’re leaving.” - The trio knocked Thirty three out and they began to sail away. Trio gave a signal to the surrounding ships that they couldn’t steer the ship with the low numbers they have and were therefore leaving in a boat… of course, they hid the fact that Thirty three was alive and that they were taking her with them.

  Force appeared on the other side of the portal. The portal led to the cliff. Force looked around, he heard that about a hundred attackers had attacked the Dark celebration. Force subtracted from that number the attackers he had heard were defeated, and one thing became clear to him.

  It looked like all the attackers who were not stopped at the Dark celebration were here… But that would mean that there was no one on the Black islands.