Everyone was confused upon hearing John's command. Weren't they supposed to hurry up and destroy the wall?

"Boss, you know what that fog is?

" Will asked via message.

"I have a guess,

" John replied.

"That fog spells trouble. Prepare for battle!

"

John left half of the fleet to continue bombardment on the wall while the others sailed back and took positions with their cannons facing the mysterious fog.

When the fog entered their cannon range, John sent the command to fire. Many were confused as to why they were shooting at the fog but they obeyed the command. All the ships facing the fog opened fire at almost the same time.

"Ready your defensive spells…!

" John shouted. He then sent a message to Water Lily,

"Get ready to summon your guild navy!

"

While the crews were puzzled about what they were supposed to defend against. They heard explosion sounds from inside the fog. Their cannon shells hit something. As soon as that happened, they heard a series of different explosions from inside the fog. They were the sounds of cannon fires.

They only had a brief time to see shells rushing out of the fog and hitting their ships. Some, who were alert enough due to John's warnings, managed to use their defensive skills in time. The ships with such crews suffered less damage.

"Continue firing! Don't stop!!

" John ordered.

Now that they were sure there were enemies within the fog, they acted faster. Their cannons fired again.

The back-and-forth of cannon firing continued a few times between them and their concealed enemies, but the enemies didn't conceal themselves for long. Between the exchange of cannon fires, the allied navies saw shadows from within the fog. They were getting larger. Something was coming out of the fog, and they were doing it at high speed.

"Brace for impact! Soldiers, prepare to be boarded…!

" John sent another warning.

The shadows from the fog showed themselves. They were weird-looking ships. Their shapes were more oval than standard ships, close to a circular shape. Their hulls were also filled with sharp horns. Even their naval rams had horns. Their sizes were smaller than most ships in the Allied navies, but they were faster.

The allied ships fired at these incoming ships. Most of the shells hit but these ships shook the assault off. The mysterious ships were sturdier than they looked.

Those ships rammed into the allied ships at the outermost positions. As they did, the crews from the mysterious ships jumped onto the Allied ships. The allied crews had a good look at their mysterious assailant then. They weren't ethereal. They were unlike any major races they had encountered. The enemies that boarded them had a large head of a toad and webbed limbs. Most of them wore light armor and carried spears or scabbards for weapons.

Those who used Inspect on these enemies found that they were Frogman Soldiers.

John gritted his teeth. His guess had been correct. Master had somehow secured cooperation with a minor race that lived in the northwestern archipelagos of the Liguritudum Realm. These frogmen were normally pirates. They attacked anyone who entered their territory and sometimes went to pillage nearby Liguritudum's coastal settlements. How Master turned them into an ally, he wasn't sure.

"Lily! Call your guild navy!

" John informed.

"There are more enemies inside the fog. It is their flagship that produces the fog. We have to destroy it to have a clear view of the enemies.

"

After sending his instruction, John used his companion badge and summoned Nogg. He told his guild members on the fleet who had merfolk companions to do the same.

Nogg appeared and his attention was immediately drawn to the frogman soldiers fighting on the boarded ships.

"You have a run-in with those stinking creatures?

" Nogg said with disgust.

Merfolk was the natural enemy of the frogmen. In the ancient era, they used to live near one another. Their differences grew to a constant warfare and both decided to move their homes to opposite sides of the continent. They had fewer encounters now that they were far away, but their hatred of one another was already ingrained in their blood.

John saw Cipher Flight's guild navy appear and head toward the fog.

"Nogg, take your fellow merfolk and guide that navy through the fog. Target the frogmen's flagship!

" John instructed. He then sent a message to Will,

"Will, follow my companion!

"

Nogg preferred to jump onto the boarded ships and take a more personal approach to those frogmen while Will preferred to remain on Grey Jewel. Though they were reluctant, they both obeyed John's command. The two jumped into the water. Will used the water propeller magic scroll. Nogg's two legs turned back into a fishtail as soon as he touched the water. They swam at high speed to where Cipher Flight's guild navy was. The other merfolk companions did the same and followed Nogg.

John sent a message to Water Lily to have their guild navy follow the merfolk.

In the meantime, the allied ships continued to fire into the fog while the boarded ships struggled to repel the frogmen. These frogmen had crazy jumping abilities. When they were finished with one ship, they didn't go back to their ship. They simply jumped onto a nearby enemy ship. John instructed smaller ships to stay away from the boarded ships. He only sent ships with enough soldiers to reinforce the boarded ships.

John called all his summons, including the sea bastion. The Dire Alligator, Seaspawn, and Water Serpent jumped into the water to fight the frogmen's ships. His other land-based summons jumped onto the sea bastion's back. The sea bastion carried these summons as reinforcement for the boarded ships. The sea bastion then bravely went into the fog to fight the enemies who were still hiding inside.

*

Inside the fog, there were indeed many frogman ships. However, their number was fewer than the Allied fleet. They were pirates, after all. Not a real navy of an established country. They relied on the fog to cause the enemies difficulty in hitting them.

They themselves were not inhibited by this fog. They could see clearly through the fog. This fog was created by the magical device on their flagship. This fog had also been the reason for their superiority during their piracy act.

On this frogmen's flagship, Linda stood beside a frogman larger than the other frogmen around. He wore a pirate vest and hat. His left hand was a huge pincer instead of a webbed hand like the other frogmen. This frogman was the chief of frogmen, Vodyan.

"You didn't tell me the enemies have merfolk with them,

" Vodyan said to Linda.

"Is that a problem?

" Linda asked.

"It bloody hell is,

" Vodyan uttered. This fog didn't cover the water underneath. The merfolk had no problem finding their way underwater.

"

"Then I suggest you send your warriors to stop them,

" Linda returned.

Vodyan grunted. He croaked commands to his crews and many frogmen jumped into the lake.