The legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Bardray recovered the sword from the body of the monster.

As soon as the sword was removed the monsters body turned grey.

"Finally today."

He had achieved level 465 with today's hunt.

Using shortcuts would provide relatively easy gains in levels, However Bardray didn't choose to use such methods but opted to battle with his own abilities.

The public posted level was not his true strength.

"The time has come for the Hermes Guild to open your eyes."

Bardray had created the Guild, it was time to show their power to the whole world.

A hegemonic power created from a combined force of 93 Guilds along with the prestigious Hermes Guild had already completed its preparations for war.

It was needless to point out that any guild, castle or city outside of the hegemonic alliance will have a sword pointed at them.

Of course the supremacy alliance was a temporary one.

The moment the coalition dissolves war will take place between them since each guild has boundless ambitions.

Bardray had been waiting for that day.

"There isn't room at the top for two."

In the fierce battle for control of the central mainland continent the other power groups have been waiting with bated breath to take down the prestigious guilds. They desire to claim the exclusive hunting areas with their equipment and rare items.

Now that the war was starting everyone will soon come to understand and know the true power of the Hermes Guild.

*****

Wellston Fortress, Haven Kingdom

The users of the Berisa Continent were watching the combat between Weed and the Haven Kingdom fleet at Jigolaths in real-time.

"Kill him!"

"It's no joke playing cat and mouse in that river. Another bottle of beer over here please."

Some of the pirates had signed contracts with the broadcasters and were transmitting images from them. Thanks to the media agency you could watch within game from a pub or restaurant.

KMC media had decided to air Weed's battle since they didn't want to fall behind. With the Pirates and the Haven Fleet users already on the scene there was no reason to delay the broadcast, especially since other users were also being broadcast

KMC Media was able to show Weed's point of view which allowed the viewers to enjoy the suspense of being chased. Of course in broadcasting the time difference of Royal Road vs real-time can be difficult to handle, the key to solving this problem is using advertising to fill in those gaps!

The consistent increase in viewers watching the game broadcast was more than enough to cause a profound effect in the growth of this market. In order to avoid the Royal Road TV viewers from getting bored music and other news about the continent were also shown.

Those parties that had been out hunting or doing quest couldn't get inside a pub ended up watching or listening from the street. Weed's battle was being broadcast to pubs that were as crowded as if a favorite football team was playing.

" kyaa! The taste of strawberry milk is to die for. "

"Drink it sparingly. It cost 30 coppers."

For beginners, there were drinks tailored for underage student available like special milk or juice only cocktails. Even in the loud hubbub atmosphere of shops the stories about Weed would be broadcast as customers continued to shop.

"Will Weed be able to get away safely? It's so hard to watch that it's giving me goose bumps."

"The way things are going right now I don't feel like he can."

The collapse of the canyon didn't outright sink more than a few warships of the Haven Kingdom Fleet. Those hit directly by a block of ice sank, others had their hulls crushed making navigation next to impossible.

Nevertheless Drinfeld continued advancing, closely chasing Weed despite the setbacks of the fleet.

Though it was a considerable distance from the canyon that collapsed the haven kingdom fleet was moving faster and had a better firing range, the chase was heating up.

*Rumble -rumble -rumble*

A thick misty fog enveloped the Unfreezing River, raindrops started falling.

Although no one else knew about it there was a reason why the rain started so suddenly, Weed was using the cloud sculpture technique to call the rain in order to help them escape.

"Will the rain give them enough of an edge to escape?"

"I'm not sure. Aren't we all going in the same direction anyway?"

"I think it will depend on how high the waves rise and the ship types, in general our sailing ship will run smoothly while the pirate galley type ships will be handicapped."

"It will also weaken the power of the cannons. At the same time they won't be able to use those bombs like they used before, our cannon range will also drop."

The raindrops became large drops, the large and medium ships crowded their sails. As the ships sailed through the mist on the Unfreezing River you could not help seeing their classical grace and dignity. After experiencing an intensely stressful battle a scenic view will become even more breathtaking in contrast.

KMC media which had been broadcasting scenes from the Jigolaths river warfare was interrupted and the screen cut to their studio.

Miss Hye-min Shin quickly spoke.

"We interrupt this program for this current breaking news. Fighting has simultaneously commenced in the central area of the Versailles Continent."

The users in the pubs were more interested in eating and drinking than this news story. In the Versailles continent combat could take place at any time with ongoing attempts to gain territory. This meant invasion from either Lords or monsters.

This was a every day occurrence here.

The adventures of Weed are well-known for it's various effects, the most important from the standpoint of the users was the scale of changes they brought to the Versailles Continent.

"More than 200 castles from the center of the continent are involved in these battles, affected areas include; Tullen Kingdom, Haven Kingdom, Madsen Kingdom, Thor Kingdom, Aidern Kingdom, Britten Alliance and others."

"What, over 200 castles?"

"What happened to create so many battles?"

The scope of the battles was so large that it left the users in the taverns confused. The size of the central continent is immense, yet there are many cities and castles that are not controlled by users.

Many of them were also without Lords.

"There is a battle between Guilds and Lords over the ownership of a mountain mine, a town and the surrounding fields.

So Mr. Oh Ju-wan, Didn't you say there was something very special about the battle?"

"That's right. So far the specific information is that only a single large group that has made an abrupt declaration of war."

"How large are they?"

"By the end of the siege it will be likely be over 10,000."

"That included the number of soldiers trained right?"

"Of course. This battle is over the control of the resources, hunting areas and dungeon ownership. What we know up to now is this, the fighting is spreading and becoming more violent in the combat zones. Users who are making travel plan will need to exercise caution when going and returning from these areas."

"The current areas experiencing battles are expected to widen and change over time, We'll keep you up to date on those changes as they occur."

In the wake of sudden war the central continent has been engulfed in chaos.

*****

"Everyone toss everything!"

"Dump the cannons into the river."

Heinteu, Fractal and Boardmir threw the cannons, cannonballs and any loose materials on the deck into the river. The plan was to speed up the ship by reducing the weight even if the gains were small.

"There's nothing the three of us can do in a fight like this, there's nothing else to do but run!"

The sculpture lifeforms followed this and helped them in dumping the cannons overboard.

The Haven Kingdom fleet and the Pirates were following right behind, with the tension to get away all mouths were left completely dry.

Weed continued to make clouds as he watched the Haven Kingdom fleet and Pirate ships. The Phoenix and the Fire Giant by flying through the air continuously turned water into vapor and the vapor added to the rain.

After a while the power of the Phoenix weakened and it climbed higher until it was above the clouds and then stopped.

"This rain is really big."

The sails were tightly straining from the winds that blew strongly. When the clouds suddenly took a turn for the worse even Weed had not expected it.

The climate near the Jigolaths area was subject to severe changes. This place experience a mixture of cold and warm winds, this mixture created severe storms. Yet for all that even if that level was a lighting and thunder-storm it was still possible to sail.

Weed then asked Heinteu.

"Will the rain help us get away?"

Sailing down the Unfreezing River Heinteu was turning the helm at key moments his sharp eyes measuring their slowly increasing speed.

"There are more chances to get away in bad weather but it depends on some variables. One thing is the cannon accuracy will decrease because of the wave motion, we might live if we could disappear from their view. However there's no real chance of that since there is no place to hide on a river."

Many years of doing bad things and getting away prompted these insightful comments. Heinteu and the trio had considerable experience sailing in bad weather. Each of the triad then spoke up one after the other.

"Somehow we need to get away from the glacier area. Otherwise we'll eventually be caught."

"Even though you avoided damage in Jigolaths, the nickname of Drinfeld's fleet is the Spanish Armada. When they attack there are no survivors."

"The nightmare of the sea is called being chased by pirates, they allow no possibility of escape."

A Pirate Galley, once in the sea, is weak in heavy seas and the sails don't have much power. Slaves are then used to row them. To resist pirates in a close chase is very tough to do.

-lets make a plan to get away.

-We can use those wooden planks.

-We'll need some rope.

They were going to tie themselves to the planks. Then after reaching the ocean the trio would then use the material and throw themselves overboard. Drifting while holding on to a wooden plank was something they were prepared to do.

Even if they only lived for a few more days in the waves, they would be happy if they could gain just that.

The mid-sized ship was sailing in a downpour filled with large raindrops. Due to the swollen river the more than 18-year-old ship rocked dangerously as it followed it's course downstream.

Due to the thick fog and rain they could barely tell that they had almost reached the sea. Narrowly avoiding rocks while sailing was a wonderful display of good seat of the pants navigation.

The moment they entered the sea the rain began to lighten, the fog also lessened giving them a much wider field of view.

Ting!

The ship is infested with rats.

There exist a high chance that it carries a plague.

Major increase in the probabilities of attacks from sea creatures.

The morale of the crew will drop to the lowest level.

If morale stays at the lowest level insanity or mutiny is highly likely to occur

There, spread out in the sea, was a colossal fleet of phantom ships that seemed to have no end in sight.

*****end chapter 8 part 1 of 3*****