Chapter 791: End of the Naval Battle

The city of Rubble fell quickly.

With the dragon knight and Archmage leading the charge themselves, the looting proceeded at an astonishing speed. Anthony split off part of the knight order to continue advancing inland along the Scorching River, attempting to plunder all the surrounding towns—Rubble’s outskirts were pure shipbuilding towns.

Liszt stayed out of the remaining mop-up operations. He loaded the family fleet with captured shipwrights and a small number of knight prisoners before swiftly sailing toward the next port.

Intel suggested the Kingdom of the Eagle had constructed three major port cities along the coast: Rubble, Seaguard, and Soarhaven. The shipyards were primarily distributed around these three cities, though there were also numerous smaller port towns for docking ships.

On the first day, Rubble was cleared.

On the second day, they continued southward, clearing the surrounding port towns.

On the third day, Seaguard was cleared.

On the fourth day, they continued southward, clearing the surrounding port towns.

On the fifth day, it was Soarhaven’s turn to be cleared.

For five straight days, under Liszt’s protection, the fleet of the Sapphire sailed from the Scorching River all the way to the Savage Plains. Further south, though technically Eagle Kingdom territory, vast stretches of land remained uninhabited, with no ports along the coastline.

"So, Father, what’s our haul from this naval campaign?" Liszt descended onto the flagship of the Tulip family, riding his landstrider Loki.

Marquis Niuwei poured two goblets of Crescent Moon wine, handing one to Liszt and the other to Mexiro, and said, "We’ve bagged nearly all the shipwrights—over ten thousand workers, mostly young and strong. No old-timers among them... The Bull family never showed themselves. Every shipyard was in Alonso’s name."

There was no doubt that the Kingdom of the Eagle’s shipbuilding industry originated from the Bull family. Only they could have brought such technology to the kingdom.

Liszt had previously suspected that any elderly shipbuilders would likely be remnants of the Bull family. However, most of the captured workers were young and middle-aged, speaking only the Windtongue and not a word of serpent tongue, making it impossible to link them to the Bull family.

The Bull family seemed to have gone to ground.

"Liszt, why the obsession with rooting out Bull family stragglers?" Mexiro took a sip of wine and asked. For a mid-tier sky knight like him, he’d been riding high lately.

Back in the day, he’d been dead weight in past campaigns, relying on the family’s sword saints for combat and lacking authority. But now, he could lounge on deck sipping wine while his followers fought fiercely without needing orders.

This was not due to the influence of Princess Angela but rather his nephew Liszt.

Liszt swirled the wine in his cup. "Call it professional curiosity. I just wanted to see if Marquis Bull’s grandson lived up to the hype."

André Sapphire, the grandson of Marquis Bull, became an iron knight at twelve and forged mithril armor. Making sky knight would be child’s play for him. If he participated in the dragon knight selection program, his rise would be guaranteed. By now, he should be seventeen.

"Talent or not, he’s no match for you," Mexiro guffawed.

Marquis Niuwei joined in the laughter.

Liszt hit dragon knight at eighteen and was now only nineteen, already preparing to establish his own kingdom. Even if André possessed extraordinary talent, how could he compare to Liszt? Moreover, the Bull family had betrayed their liege, a stain on their reputation that could never be washed away.

The Eagle Kingdom’s royals wouldn’t let someone like him within a mile of a dragon.

Liszt smiled faintly.

Thanks to his smoke missions, his talent seemed downright supernatural.

"Father, Uncle, these shipwrights are gold. I hope to take their families with us as well. So, in the coming days, I’ll need your assistance... You can assure them that in my territory, they’ll receive houses and land. Once I establish my kingdom, they’ll all be freed as commoners."

"With such generous treatment, these serfs will surely follow you overseas gladly."

"Ensure the ships transporting the serfs take good care of the shipbuilders and their families. Keep casualties to a minimum—treat them like POWs, not dirt-farmers." Liszt’s mood was not particularly high. Under the guise of crippling the Eagle Kingdom’s sea power, he had seized these craftsmen.

But in essence, it was still the act of capturing serfs, no better than mercenary work.

For a dignified dragon knight to engage in such deeds left a bitter taste, so he decided not to appear in the subsequent raids unless a high-ranking noble lord participated in the battle. Only then would he intervene to minimize casualties and make arrests. Unfortunately, perhaps due to leaked information, they barely encountered any sky knights along the way.

Over the course of several days, he had only captured eleven sky knights, including two sword saints. Among them, just four were earls, while the rest were viscounts. These men had ventured to the sea seeking glory, while the local great lords were likely unwilling to take such risks.

After the failed dragon-slaying war, the great nobles of the Kingdom of the Eagle realized that the sea was not a domain they could dominate.

Only those minor nobles with strength and ambition but lacking status were willing to brave the seas, gambling for battlefield glory.

...

As the war continued, Liszt remained leisurely aboard the *Flame*.

The families of the shipbuilders were taken care of by Lee William and Mexiro. Among the captured sky knights, seven had written letters to be delivered to their families after the war, demanding a ransom—one spirit bug (must be grain or magical herbs) for an ordinary sky knight, and two for a sword saint (also grain or magical herbs).

The remaining four sky knights, unable or unwilling to pay, just swore loyalty to Liszt, choosing to serve under the dragon knight.

Their choice made sense.

"Swearing loyalty is acceptable, but you must prove your worth. Go, join my knights in battle, conquer the surrounding castles, and I will keep track of your deeds," Liszt told the four sky knights. He needed to see their sincerity.

Derrick Ironarm, Joyce Dandelion, Spark, and Funnel Ink.

Thus, they personally participated in sieges, clashing with the knights of the Kingdom of the Eagle—a blatant act of betrayal, meaning they could no longer remain in the kingdom and had to follow Liszt with no turning back.

Accepting their surrender, Liszt gave them time to gather their belongings and bring their families aboard the fleet.

He continued to protect the Sapphire fleet, patrolling the coastline relentlessly to eliminate the remnants of the Kingdom of the Eagle's naval forces.

After half a month of relentless campaigning,

there was still no sign of any dragon knights from the Kingdom of the Eagle joining the fight. The Sapphire fleet had cleanly cut off the kingdom’s first foray to stretch its reach into the sea.

*Woo woo woo!*

The horns blared, signaling the end of the Great Sea War. The victorious Sapphire knights, loaded with plunder and herding scores of captive knights, craftsmen, and serfs, began boarding their ships to depart the coast. Any vessels of the Kingdom of the Eagle they could sail off, they took, while the rest got sunk at sea.

And so ended the lopsided war.