15)Path to Divinity

The words spread from the Minister of Navy and the Admiral of the Royal Navy to all the soldiers and officials on the deck. They all clamored in unison, "The Pritz!"

The Monarch decreed the Pritz to set sail for a trial in the midst of the gun salutes and the celebratory atmosphere.

Thick fume spewed out from the ducts. The noise from the machinery could be heard faintly beneath the sound of the ship horn.

The juggernaut departed from the anchorage. Everyone was stunned when the two main batteries at the ship's bow fired at an unoccupied island in its path.

Boom!!!Boom!!!Boom!!!

The earth shook as dust shot up into the sky. Shock waves spread out, generating ripples in the sea.

Contented, Aguesid turned back to the mob and declared openly, "From this day on, doomsday will fall on the seven pirates who call themselves Admirals and the four who call themselves Kings. They can only shiver in fear! It is the end of their era. Only the ironclad warship will roam the seas no matter whether the pirates have the powers of the Beyonders, ghost ships, or cursed ships."

Aguesid's chief secretary purposely inquired, "Can't they build their own ironclad warships?"

Some of the aristocrats and Fellows of Parliament nodded, thinking that such a possibility could not be excluded.

Aguesid immediately chuckled and shook his head unhurriedly as he retorted, "Impossible! It will never be possible! Building our ironclad warship required three big coal and steel amalgamators, a scale of more than twenty steel factories, 60 scientists and senior engineers from the Backlund Cannon Academy and Pritz Nautical Academy, two royal shipyards, almost hundred factories for spare parts, an Admiralty, a ship-building committee, a Cabinet, a determined king with excellent foresight, and a great country with an annual steel production of 12 million tonnes!

"The pirates will never achieve it."

Having announced that, he halted and lifted up his arms before yelling in agitation, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the era of cannons and warships has dawned upon us!!!"

***

As the royal family receded from the public view, George turned towards his youngest son and said, "You nearly digested your paladin potion huh? So are gonna stay in this path or switch to the black emperor? The ritual for Sequence 4 Imperative Mage is quite complicated you know?".

Edessak answered his father with a smile, " I'm aware of that father, to promote I'd have to be in a region of absolute chaos and evil and then utilize 'Verdict' to establish a law that prevails in that locality suppressing chaos" as he thought of the future descent of True Creator's spawn in Tingen.

"Umu, I believe that you should be able to promote yourself to demigod within this year and gain some degree of divinity. Visit Sodela Palace tonight and exchange demigod characteristics from the treasury, we don't keep high sequence characteristics belonging to the Augustus Clan in organisation headquaters." the monarch speculated.To which the third prince bobbed his head.

While the king and prince discussed beyonder matters, Crown Prince Jevington felt sickened by their path, as he believed the extraordinary were greedy and demonic beings who had thrown a way their purity as human beings for unnatural powers. Although he wanted to speak his mind, he ultimately decided against it.

***

As Edessak entered his office cabin in Red Rose Manor, Madam Lily came in to report.

"Sir we have finally located the temporary base of Elemental Dawn in West Borough, I believe the Queen Mystic will come to Backlund in a few months." Lily reported.

Edessak thought for a while before he answered, "Leave them be for now" even though the Elemental Dawn had no deal with the MI9, and raiding an unorthodox organisation was the most natural route. He decided against it as he really didn't wan't Bernadette as an enemy and maybe she could help him with her enormous mystic knowledge as even though Edessak knew a lot of secrets from the books, he wasn't omniscient.

As madam Lily waited for her new command, her superior took out a file from the drawer of the bureau and handed it over to her and said,

"Give this file to Captain Adrain, tell him to recruit this Xio Derecha girl as an informant. However, don't restrict her freedom too much and if she amasses enough contribution, let her exchange it for potions."

Lily asked the Prince in a confused manner, "Is there anything special about this girl Sir?"

"Indeed there is something very special dear." he mumbled as the prince speculated that even if the members of the tarot club were vulnerable now. They would all grow stronger in the near future as would the Tarot club itself become a high-level organisation directly under a Half Great Old One.