A journey to another world starting from a sword

"Understood." Putting down the mast, Dante sat down to the right of Kizmel.

Kizmel was sandwiched between him and Asuna, the ship gently rocking on the sea, as if playing a beautiful melody, and in a daze all the fatigue of the day disappeared.

“Dante, Asuna, thank you for naming that beautiful ship after my sister,” Kizmel suddenly said.

This was probably what she had been thinking about all day.

She spoke as if reminiscing about the past: "My sister loved playing in the water since she was little. In a city on the ninth floor, she and I often took small boats for sightseeing. And seeing the Tiernell brings back these forgotten memories."

"..." At this moment, Asuna gently pulled her left arm, and the two of them shone with their hair in the glow of the setting sun on the left.

“No, I’m fine.” Kizmel smiled at Asuna. “Sometimes when I’m with you guys, I always feel as relaxed as if I were with my closest people.”

“Me too.” Asuna put her hand on Kizmel’s arm and laughed happily. “It’s so great to have met Kizmel.”

"..." Dante hadn't intended to speak, but Kizmel reached out and embraced him and Asuna tightly.

"Mmm!" The next second, she revealed the most beautiful smile she had ever shown. "Dante, Asuna, I love you both the most."

Chapter 108: Castle Siege

The following day, sixteen warships, laden with forest elves, appeared on the lake where Yofer was located at noon.

The fleet was twice the size of the Dark Elves' side, which consisted of only eight warships.

The Dark Elves had repeatedly thwarted the Forest Elves' attacks with their small fleet, but with the help of the Fallen Elves, the Forest Elves now possessed a much larger fleet, and the advantage had been reversed.

Considering that this is likely the only opportunity in Aincrad to participate in naval battles, since the most important thing in naval battles is actually the ships, and it has little to do with the player's strength, the game design team will not put the cart before the horse by adding more naval battle content.

Especially in the ancient Greek style of naval warfare, although ancient Greek naval warfare included boarding and hand-to-hand combat tactics, most naval battles were based on ramming.

So all members of the "Eternal Garden" guild joined the fight.

There seems to be a saying that going to war together can make a relationship closer, but Dante treated this battle as a team-building activity.

"I say, isn't the difference in strength a bit too great?" Lisbeth hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"Hey, hey, undermining morale before the battle even starts? In ancient times, that would be punishable by beheading under military law," Dante complained as he steered his ship along the flank of the fleet.

"Huh?" Lisbeth realized that she seemed to have made a mistake, and looked flustered.

“It’s alright, it’s true.” Kismer, who was standing at the bow of the ship with Asuna, turned to comfort her.

"Well, Dante and Asuna probably don't want to lose either," Mito said calmly from his seat. This was a somewhat subtle way of putting it, since Kizmel was there; to be precise, it meant they didn't want the mission to fail.

"..." Asuna, looking somewhat belatedly at Dante with a "yes" expression, turned her head and looked at him to confirm.

"Well, but we definitely can't win a naval battle," Dante said casually.

"Hey!!!" the girls shouted in unison.

What do you mean by saying we definitely can't win a naval battle?!

“That’s true too,” Dante replied with amusement, quoting Kizmel. “The forest elves consider it a success if they can just storm the castle, while we are completely outnumbered and unable to stop them.”

After all, they need to make up for the disadvantage of having eight ships. Even if they include their own Tirniel, the Dark Elves are still seven ships behind the Forest Elves, which is a situation that makes them look inferior.

"However... we also have our advantages."

"What advantage?" Kizmel blinked, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

“Terrain and people.” Dante gestured with his chin toward the people behind him. “The forest elves have no siege equipment. With us guarding the city gate, relying on the narrow terrain and our strength, we can completely repel the invaders.”

The city gate could accommodate six people standing side by side, which was roughly the size of their squad.

Perhaps Lingyin and Liz are still somewhat lacking in combat skills, and Silica is also a little worrying, but Dante, Asuna, and Mito are more than capable of handling one-on-one battles.

It's fair to say that if it weren't for the fact that there were too many soldiers surrounding the Fallen Elf general when he discovered the Fallen Elf, Dante would have dared to engage in an impromptu duel with him.

The forest elf warriors are at most elite monsters, but they also have the help of the elite knight Kizmel.

"Oh, wow!" Lingyin exclaimed in amazement. "Amazing! Dante, you had this planned out all along?"

"Hmm," Dante said calmly, "so all we have to do now is reduce the number of enemies as much as possible."

"Are you all wearing your swimsuits?" he reminded her, explaining that if someone accidentally falls into the water, wearing swimsuits wouldn't allow them to float properly.

"Of course!" Asuna glared at him, as if to say, "What kind of question is that?!"

Dante shrugged, carefully observing the forest elves adjusting their lined-up formation.

However, he was not interested in the battle because the dark elf commander had been arrogantly saying things like "I don't expect you to provide any fighting power" and "Don't get in the way of the regular soldiers" during the preparations.

This left Kizmel extremely embarrassed. If Asuna hadn't pulled Kizmel away, she might have argued with this commander from a different command system.

If Dante were in command, he certainly wouldn't deploy his forces in the lake; instead, he would choose to block the other side directly at the waterway entrance, forcing them into boarding action.

This is the drawback of not having command authority.

The war began with the sound of the forest elves' horns. At the same time, Dante seized the opportunity to row the ship, steer the Tirnier to flank the battlefield.

Because it was a small ship, the Tirneel's maneuverability was unmatched by those of larger warships.

Thus, the Tiernier arrived smoothly at the flank and rear of the forest elf fleet.

"We're going to crash! Hold on tight!"

After saying this, the six men who had crouched down firmly gripped the side of the gunwale, and Dante confidently charged forward with all his might.

The forest elves were not unaware of this, but they were firmly held at the stern. Naval battles are all about seizing advantageous positions.

The next instant, the ram of the Tierniel pierced the rear right side of the enemy ship, and the forest elf soldiers, who were thrown into the air, watched in despair as the lake water poured in through the large hole that had appeared.

"Next!" Asuna shouted excitedly.

"OK!" Dante immediately maneuvered the Tirnier and selected the next target.

Taking advantage of the enemy's underestimation of their "small boat" just as much as their allies, the Tiernell rammed and capsized two more ships.

"Twelve to six!" Asuna's tone was somewhat jubilant. To be precise, it should be twelve to seven, as she hadn't even included their own ship in the count.

After the forest elves' fleet lost three ships to the ramming and exchanged two with the dark elves, their numerical advantage was no longer so significant.

Although the enemy flagship seemed to have noticed them, the forest elf commander showed no sign of stopping his advance on the fortress, making it difficult for the dark elves to wage guerrilla warfare, forcing them to confront them head-on.

The next ship to sink belonged to the Dark Elves, and the soldiers who fell into the water could only drift helplessly in the lake, waiting for the naval battle to end. The victorious side would then have the right to completely clean up the battlefield.

"Dante, the enemy is coming this way!" Kizmel shouted back, leaning on the bow of the ship.

"Mite! Shoot out their rowers!" This was another of Dante's strategies; if a sneak attack failed, then launch a full-scale assault.

"Understood!" Gripping his kusarigama, Mito decisively unleashed his sword technique as the distance between the ships closed to a suitable level.

The oarsman was startled by the unexpected attack, but with only the oar in his hand, he was unable to block it and was knocked into the water.

"Asuna, let's go!" Kizmel and Asuna quickly exchanged a glance and jumped onto the enemy ship on the other side.

The ship's space was only enough for two people to stand side by side, which just so happened that Asuna and Kismer were far stronger than their enemies.

After shooting down the soldiers on the spaceship, the last remaining oarsman stood there dumbfounded, looking innocent and helpless.

Before his expression turned ferocious, Asuna's straight-line attack sent him flying off the ship.

"We're heading back!" Kismer said to Asuna as he watched the Tirneel, which had finished off another ship during the ramming and sinking, return.

"Alright." Asuna sheathed her rapier, stepped onto the gunwale, and nimbly jumped back onto her own ship.

"Ah, over there!" Silica tugged at Dante's trouser leg, pointing to the other side of the battlefield.

"Damn it!" came the scream of a villain, but unfortunately, it was from an ally.

At this moment, the Dark Elf's flagship had already been rammed and sunk by the Forest Elf's flagship. That arrogant commander was most likely already submerged, and even contributed the atmosphere of mournful cries before falling into the water.

"..." Dante calmly adjusted the ship's direction. It was only ten to six, but the enemy's flagship had already broken through the Dark Elf fleet's blockade.

"Ship One, Ship Two, advance! Soldiers on both ships, prepare to land!"

The ship's commander seemed eager to gain the credit for being the first to scale the enemy lines, leaving the enemy ships behind to his men and charging toward the pier of Yofer.

"Dante, let's go back!" Kizmel commanded from the bow.

"learn."

The Tiernell passed through the center of the battlefield, smashing a ship along the way before heading towards the pier.

Twenty soldiers disembarked, and the majority of them, marked as "Forest Elves - Light Warriors," headed towards the city gate.

However, because they did not choose a landing location, Dante was able to overtake them from the side by piloting the Tirnier.

The six spearmen left behind by the dark elves in the castle lined up horizontally in front of the city gate, intending to make a final "resistance".

The White Knight, the commander among the forest elves, also directed his soldiers to form a three-row formation of six men each, while on the side of the formation was an elven swordsman wearing a cloak, who appeared to be his adjutant.

"We must get ahead of the forest spirits." Dante quickly stopped the ship, without even having time to throw down the anchor and ropes.

"Okay!" Asuna was the first to step onto the ground and rushed towards the city gate at top speed, with the others following suit.

They finally caught up. At the same time, Kizmel, relying on his rank, said to the few remaining soldiers, "I will take command from now on. You retreat to the inside of the city gate."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Seeing the soldiers take a few steps back as instructed, Kizil finally looked straight ahead and gripped his saber tightly with his right hand, which was covered by a purple gauntlet.

"Dante, are you ready?" She took a deep breath and slowly spoke to Dante, who was closest to her.

"Of course." Dante, sword in hand, stood ready. "Don't worry, we can win."

Compared to the forest elves' formation, their ranks were slightly more disorganized, but that wasn't a problem, because he and Kizmel were standing right in the middle of the formation.

The forest spirit approaching from the opposite direction is slowly closing the distance between them, while gradually accelerating.

As they approached the city gate, Dante's gaze was fixed on the White Knight charging towards him, while the enemy lieutenant, who was also charging forward, was dealt with by Kizmel.

"Hit it!" He licked his lips, shouted, and then accelerated his sprint.

A piercing metallic clang rang out, and sparks flew as the two longswords clashed.

Chapter 109: A Duel? State Your Name First!

"Forest Elf Light Warrior" Lingyin looked at the color of the enemy buoy facing her; it was even redder than the color of the swordsmen and spearmen she had just fought on the lake.

It seems that the forest elves on the flagship are elite soldiers, stronger than the enemies on other ships.

"Aaaaaah!!!" came the angry roar from the other side.

Lingyin used her +7 "Tough Sword" to block the longsword that came crashing down with a furious shout. After the intense impact, she immediately felt a numbness in her wrist.

"Hey!" She immediately launched a counterattack, but it was blocked by the opponent's shield.

Humanoid enemies are much more troublesome than non-human monsters!

They can parry and use sword techniques.

When the opponent adopted the stance of "planar slash", Lingyin quickly raised her beloved sword and launched a "vertical slash" to block the approaching attack.

"Are you okay?"

Asuna's voice reached her ears. Lingyin glanced to the side and noticed that the soldier in front of Asuna's HP had turned yellow.

"Aaaaaah!" The next second, Asuna's sword skill precisely pierced the gap in the armor on the opponent's neck. As the enemy in front of her died, she took a small step back to avoid being surrounded on three sides.

"N-nothing," Lingyin replied hastily, then focused intently on the enemy before her, not daring to relax for a moment.

“I’ll break through their defenses,” Asuna said briefly.

"Huh?" Lingyin exclaimed in surprise, then saw the sword in Miss Asuna's hand emitting a green effect light. She had heard Miss Mito say before that this should be the three-hit sword technique of the rapier, "Triangle Attack".

The targets were aimed at the forest elf's head, left shoulder, and right shoulder. While the forest elf frantically raised its shield to block the attacks on its head and left shoulder, its right shoulder was pierced in time, causing it to lose its balance and lose about one-sixth of its HP. A considerable portion of this damage was likely mitigated by its armor.

"Switch!" Asuna shouted immediately.

"Hmm!" Ling Yin seized the opportunity and unleashed her one-handed sword technique, "Diagonal Slash," slashing into the enemy's right collarbone near his neck.

"Ah..." The forest elf let out a painful wail the next second, and the opponent's HP bar plummeted to only one-third of its original value.

The solid feel of the blade and the resistance transmitted through its heavy body made Lingyin feel a little unreal.

She didn't even have a chance to think about whether killing a forest spirit was a matter of principle like "murder," after all, the other party was so real, just like a spirit from a fantasy world.

"Well done." Asuna praised him in a light tone as she faced the next forest elf swordsman who took her place.

"Hmm." Lingyin suppressed the smile that couldn't help but rise on her face; she almost got carried away with her pride.

Subsequently, she gradually gained a sense of rhythm in the back-and-forth attacks and defenses with the forest elf swordsman, and successfully finished off the enemy with low health.