Five minutes before the Giant Bird crashed into the sea

'Master, we are in position,' Asmodeus reported. 'We can begin the operation anytime.'

'Good,' Lux replied. 'Orion, wait for my signal.'

'Yes, Master.'

The Jade Golem positioned itself on the side of the Skeleton Ship, preparing to jump off as soon as Lux gave it the signal.

From the start, the Half-Elf was worried that the members of Twilight Rain would use their flying mount to escape their pursuit if their ship was destroyed during the naval warfare.

This was why he still hadn't given Eiko the order to detonate the Bone Bombs that she had left on the Twilight Ship because they could still escape if they wanted to.

Now that the greatest threat had come willingly to him, the Half-Elf would be a fool to let this opportunity escape his grasp.

Seeing that the time was right, Lux gave the order to start the Operation Dead Bird, which would eliminate the Flying Mount once and for all.

"Duel [EX]!" Orion roared as he targeted the Giant Bird that was flying above the waters. After making sure that his skill had taken effect, the Jade Golem jumped off the Skeleton Ship and descended towards the sea floor.

The Skeleton Ship, on the other hand, immediately backed away, as soon as Orion had jumped off because they didn't want to be in the immediate area when the underwater battle began.

Over a hundred Skeleton Gangbangers stood at the deck of the ship, waiting to attack the prey that would soon serve itself on a silver platter.

Less than a minute later, a giant bird broke through the water's surface, and dove towards the bottom of the sea, following the Jade Golem whose role was to keep it under water and drown it.

Several wind blades pierced through the water in pursuit of the giant bird, hitting it from behind.

The Water Mage had also dove underwater and was having the time of his life as he sent countless water spears at his helpless targets, who were still sinking towards the bottom of the sea.

Above the waters, Lux had summoned Pazuzu and Diablo to his side.

"Go down and ensure that none of them escape alive!" Lux ordered.

The two acknowledged their Master's order and immediately jumped off the Pirate Ship to join their comrades, who were about to initiate the underwater battle against the two Rankers, as well as their Flying Mount, which was currently holding its breath for as long as it could.

Millie didn't hesitate to dive down into the sea as well, encapsulating herself in a bubble of air, allowing her to breathe underwater.

"Looks like our opponents made a grave mistake." Captain Spawow chuckled. "Boys, make sure to get those cannons at the ready. I like to hit people when they're down."

""Aye captain!""

The crew of the Black Pearl were all excited to join the fight. As Pirates they liked to be on the winning side, and judging at the current circumstances, they are indeed on the winning side.

Lux shared his connection with Asmodeus, as well as Orion, to pinpoint the exact location of their enemies.

"Captain, can you move the boat closer to that location?" Lux asked as he pointed in the distance.

Jack Spawow nodded and did as the Half-Elf requested. He didn't need to ask why the red-headed teenager wanted to move the ship closer since he believed that the boy had a plan.

Deep inside, he was also looking forward to what the Half-Elf was planning to do.

When they neared the location, Lux, and his two clones summoned a Rock Golem each, and ordered them to jump into the water.

They summoned five more each, making eighteen Rock Golems in total, that had descended into the sea.

Eiko had also done the same and summoned six Rock Golems to join in the fun. She didn't know what her Papa was thinking, but she decided to do it as well because her Papa knew best!

As the Twenty Four Rock Golems descended into the sea the first thing they saw was the backside of the Giant Bird, which had now almost reached the sea floor, where the Jade Golem, Orion, was waiting for it with its strongest attack.

Asmodeus, who was navigating the Skeleton Ship, deemed that it was now safe for them to approach their target, and summoned Rock Golems of his own.

"Go!" Asmodeus ordered. "Drown that bird!"

Asmodeus clones had also summoned their Rock Golems, totaling eighteen, that had all jumped off the Skeleton Ship as well.

Millie and the Water Mage, Favian, who saw these Rock Golems didn't understand what they were planning to do. However, they finally understood their purpose the moment a strong surge of water erupted at the bottom of the sea.

Orion and the Giant Bird had finally clashed, and the Jade Golem made sure to punch the Bird's Beak with his Gaia Smash, making it cry out in pain, which allowed seawater to enter its throat.

Khezmod slammed his fists together, creating several Earth Spikes to pierce the Jade Golem's body.

However, since Orion had the Guts ability, it didn't die right away, allowing it to summon his own Earth Spike which pierced through one of the Giant Bird's eyes before an angered Khezmod smashed him to pieces.

Blood started to spread into the sea as the bird struggled to go back up to the surface.

Unfortunately, at this moment, several Rock Golems crashed on its body from above, and clung to it, preventing it from moving upwards.

To make matters worse, hundreds of Skeleton Gang Bangers also arrived at the scene, and started hacking at the Giant Bird with their bony swords.

Malkhalm and Khezmod didn't remain idle and started blasting the Rock Golems, and the Skeleton Gang Bangers, off their Flying Mount's body.

However, Millie and Favian had also arrived at the scene, and attacked the two Rankers, forcing them to defend themselves.

The two Rankers from Twilight Rain knew that they had no chance of winning the Underwater Battle, so they immediately took two crystals from their storage rings and activated them.

A moment later, two flashes of light erupted on the seafloor.

The two Rankers had used their Teleportation Crystals that would send them to the Stronghold where they planned to take Princess Anastasia.

Everyone that was involved in the mission had been given one as a life saving item, in case they were overpowered by their enemies. These crystals were specially made to only activate if it was used by a member of Twilight Rain, to prevent outsiders from teleporting to their main headquarters, and attack them from within.

Truth be told, none of them expected that they would be using these crystals because their plan was perfect. They had predicted that it would take the Royal Family at least a day or two to discover that the Princess was gone before they tasked people to find her.

By then, they would have already arrived safely in their Stronghold, allowing their Master to negotiate with the King of Gweliven for his daughter's release.

The only mistake they made was to bring Cai and Keane with them. Since they were part of Lux's Guild, he was able to find their location on the map, using his Elysium Compendium.

This also allowed the Half-Elf to rally some people in the quickest time possible to help with the rescue operation.

After the two Rankers were done, the Giant Bird was as good as dead after its body was pinned to the sea floor by the golems, despite its struggling.

Pazuzu and Diablo had also arrived at the scene and didn't hesitate to start hacking at the Giant Bird's head, while the Rock Golems held it down to drown it.

Soon, the Giant Bird gave its last unwilling screech as it tried to draw in its last breath.

It was at this moment when several giant creatures, who had sensed the blood spilling out of the Giant Bird's body, arrived at the scene.

Diablo no longer tarried and used the Enchanted Beast Ring to store the Flying Mount's body before the other Sea Monsters took a bite out of it.

Millie and Favian hurriedly went up to the surface because there were several Sea Monsters whose Rank was at the peak of the Deimos Rank, making them as strong as E-Rankers.

They still needed to rescue the Princess, and the last thing they wanted was to entangle themselves with such beasts.

Seeing that their prey had disappeared, the Sea Monsters lost interest and swam away. They had no appetite for skeletons, much less Rock Golems. Although they could attack the two ships above them, they refrained from doing so because they sensed that three Rankers were guarding them.

Since that was the case, they would just find weaker prey elsewhere, and no longer trouble themselves with something that might endanger their lives.

'Master, the mission was a complete success,' Asmodeus reported.

'Good job, everyone,' Lux said to all of his subordinates who were still under the water. 'But, our true mission is still not done. We will resume the rescue operation, so make sure to position yourselves accordingly.'

"""Yes, Master!"""

Now that two of the enemy Rankers were gone, and their Flying Mount was out of the picture, Lux and his allies felt emboldened by their victory, and pursued the Twilight Ship in the distance with renewed vigor.

Millie, who was skeptical about their chances of winning, glanced at the red-headed teenager who was on the deck of the pirate ship, and finally understood why the King had deemed him worthy to be part of his Elite Unit, whose qualifications she still failed to reach.