Water Magician-Chapter 665 : Nelson Touch

Chapter 0665 Nelson Touch

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

“Nelson touch.”

“Huh?”

Ryo’s words made Abel tilt his head.

Well, it was as usual.

“The lead ship that charges straight into an enemy line of battle receives the heaviest concentration of cannon fire.”

“I guess.”

“Once, Admiral Nelson himself boarded that lead ship and plunged into the enemy line.”

“...Ohh.”

Ryo was passionately recounting the Battle of Trafalgar, but Abel couldn’t understand it at all.

All he understood was that some admiral called Nelson sounded impressive.

Still, he listened because he thought it rude to interrupt Ryo when Ryo was fired up.

Abel was a good guy.

“You charge in, tear the enemy line apart, and split them. Once split, all our broadsides face the enemy, and the tide turns.”

“R-Right...”

“From there, you encircle and annihilate one of the split halves, then crush the other. That is the Nelson touch. That’s how we stopped the emperor’s landing!”

Ryo’s right fist thrusts up high.

Perhaps it was dedicated to Admiral Nelson, who risked his life to defend his country.

By the way, Admiral Nelson— called by some the greatest hero in British history— died in that Battle of Trafalgar.

What will happen this time...?

“<Ice Wall: 50-Layer Multi-Layered Ice>”

Ryo’s boast: the hardest wall of ice.

With this, the defense was perfect.

After that...

“Hey, Ryo, aren’t you going to attack?”

Abel’s question was directed at Ryo and Kabui Somar.

“If you used something like the <Icicle Lance Shower>, couldn’t you sink them?”

“That attack that sank the Go-War ship, right?”

Kabui Somar nodded at Abel’s words.

He nodded, but didn’t seem to think it would work.

“The enemy... Prince Kouri knows that Duke Rondo stands beside His Majesty the Emperor. I don’t know whether he’s on the land forces or in the fleet, though.”

“Yeah.”

“Even so, he challenged us to a fleet battle. Why is that?”

Kabui Somar paused once, then continued.

“I think it’s because they have something that can stand up to us.”

“Something that can oppose Ryo?”

Honestly, Abel didn’t think there was anyone who could oppose Ryo as a person.

“Every time I heard the name of Duke Rondo in the imperial capital, it was explained to me like this. It was as if...”

“—Lord Rowon.”

Ryo finished the sentence, and Kabui Somar nodded.

“I see. So that Lord Rowon is in that fleet.”

Abel nodded.

Still, in his heart, he didn’t think anyone could truly rival Ryo.

Because they were human, after all.

But Ryo himself added an explanatory note.

“I’ve fought many magicians and swordsmen, and those who blend both. But there is a type I haven’t fought.”

“Hm?”

“Alchemists.”

“Ah...”

“Alchemy is, one might say, a perfected human craft. Lord Rowon stands at its summit.”

“I understand.”

Abel had seen it before.

He’d seen Ryo counter opponents who surpassed him in magic or swordsmanship using alchemy.

This time, it might be an opponent who surpasses that alchemy.

A top-tier alchemist is also a top-tier magician.

“An opponent who can outmatch Ryo with water-attribute magic and alchemy?”

“That possibility exists, yes.”

At Abel’s words, Ryo nodded clearly.

He wasn’t flustered. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He wasn’t careless either.

“Still...”

Abel sighed and went on.

“We prepared a large army to avoid armed conflict, yet in the end it seems we’ll clash anyway.”

“It’s as if it symbolizes the foolishness of humankind.”

Ryo frowned and shook his head.

Even if people are foolish, war proceeds.

Perhaps because people are foolish, once a war begins, it’s not easily stopped.

“Duke Rondo, attack! ”

“Yes! <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’>”

A volley of extremely thick ice lances was fired, spreading out like a fan centered on Ryo and striking the Kouri fleet deployed ahead.

Their number: over four thousand.

But every one of them was mutually annihilated!

“What the—! ”

He had considered the possibility, but even Ryo himself was surprised to see the interception performed right before his eyes.

He could see the instant of impact.

“The ice discs collided one-on-one.”

“Ice discs? It’s said Lord Rowon favors those. Each disc moves as if it has a will of its own.”

“As if they have a will? That would be alchemy rather than magic, wouldn’t it...?”

At Captain La Wu’s words, Ryo gave a small nod.

In moments like this, one can sense the depth of alchemy.

“Cannon fire incoming!”

A lookout atop the mast shouted.

A simultaneous barrage from the two-hundred-ship Kouri fleet battle line.

But it was all repelled.

Not by mutual annihilation, but by Ryo’s ice wall that covered the entire allied fleet and deflected the shots.

“It wasn’t mutual annihilation! I showed them an overwhelming difference in power and knocked them aside!”

“Y-yeah... impressive.”

Ryo insisted to Abel at his side, and Abel praised him.

Praising Ryo to boost his spirits during battle... Abel was being mature.

Ryo thought for a moment, then nodded big.

“All right, I have pride too.”

He turned to fleet commander Kabui Somar and proposed.

“May I rapid-fire the <Icicle Lance Shower> from earlier?”

“Huh? That’s fine, but is your mana okay?”

“I don’t know. But challengers push themselves.”

“...I leave it to you.”

Ryo felt like a challenger.

“Bring it on! Full volley of ice lances!”

“Your words don’t sound very challenger-like.”

Abel’s remark, of course, didn’t reach Ryo’s ears.

“<Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’>”

Over four thousand extra-thick ice lances.

But again, all were mutually annihilated.

“As expected! <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’>.”

Ten consecutive shots of <Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’>.

In total, over forty thousand ice lances assaulted the Kouri fleet.

And there followed the light of mutual annihilation more than forty thousand times.

“Did they intercept all of those?”

Abel cried out in astonishment.

His expression said he had witnessed something truly unbelievable.

“Ryo...”

He called to his partner beside him with concern.

“Abel, interception was expected.”

“Even after firing that many?”

“Yes. Everything is ultimately a calculated move toward final victory.”

Abel looked worried, while Ryo’s face was filled with confidence and resolve.

“Right, let’s try one more thing.”

Ryo said that and began to chant.

“<Icicle Lance Shower ‘Penetrate’>.”

Where before the ice lances had spread from Ryo, this time they were launched toward a single target.

One after another.

Four thousand in total.

All of them vanished in flashes of mutual annihilation.

“This is amazing. No—rather than amazing, it’s bordering on absurd.”

Ryo gave a small nod.

Of course, in the meantime, the allied fleet continued to advance.

That meant the distance between the two fleets was steadily closing.

Eventually, they would collide.

“What happens when two shields that spears can’t pierce collide?”

“...They just push against each other?”

In response to Ryo’s question, Abel answered seriously.

In his head, he pictured shield-bearers pushing against each other with their shields.

“That may be inevitable.”

Ryo said this and looked at Kabui Somar.

Receiving that gaze, Kabui Somar nodded.

“All ships are prepared for close-quarters boarding combat.”

But both the one who answered and Ryo understood.

They would probably be unable to board the enemy’s ships.

Of course, the enemy would probably be unable to board theirs either.

And then the two fleets collided.

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