Elemental Cats

The Starsling Kingdom's navy's ships slowed down because the mana crystals powering the enchantments that drive and protect the ships were running out of mana. Unless the soldiers stop and swap the mana crystals, they'll end up having to withstand the Void's pressure without the ship's help.

Due to the automatic mana-absorbing enchantments, they rarely have to swap out the mana crystals. Usually, that is only a good thing, but when they put in new crystals, the soldiers have to put the ship on standby so that it doesn't burn through all the mana before the new crystals are in place.

While several of the ships began dropping out of the race, the two ships in the lead, Dristel's and his captain's, remained unbothered as they kept chasing Toz.

Toz looked on in satisfaction as the Starsling Kingdom's navy's arrival had made their contingency plan a booming success.

Since the Blue Lounge League of Pirates had steadily shown they had more resources than anyone previously thought, Toz and the Bunglehoppers came up with a plan to deal with eventual reinforcements that would show up during the Pirate Meet. They had expected something along the lines of a bunch of more pirates that Stris had hidden away somewhere.

But the entire navy showing up, especially one led by Stris' brother, made their plan a lot more effective.

Ordinary pirates might not have chased after the kidnapped Stris with the same zeal that Dristel did. Half the fleet stayed behind at Dristel's orders, and such organization wouldn't have happened with a bunch of unruly pirates, so the goal to lure as many enemies with them as possible failed.

Not as many enemies followed after Toz and Stris, but instead, the enemies chased after Toz with incredible ardor.

However, Dristel wasn't foolish enough to abandon his own fleet just to try and catch up to his brother and his brother's kidnapper, especially when he was already suspicious regarding the kidnapping and the chase. Dristel had a feeling that he had missed something, but he couldn't figure out what. He looked back and forth between his brother and the ships, which were gradually falling so far behind he could barely see them.

Dristel could choose to continue chasing the kidnapper, who somehow managed to narrowly outrun his ship. Dristel's hunch was telling him it was a trap, but he was unwilling to give up on his brother just like that. If he did, his only hope of saving his brother would be if the kidnapper came with demands he could fulfill.

However, Dristel didn't have to make a decision. Toz did it for him.

After he noticed how spread out the fleet was and how the ships still on his tail were gradually losing speed, Toz decided it was time to execute the rest of the plan and pull out the ultimate trump card.

Toz signaled the cats using his inclination. The cats relayed Toz's message to Taienra, and she began moving toward Toz's location.

Taienra didn't have to move at top speed since she was already pretty close, and she arrived before Dristel had time to choose whether to continue chasing or not.

Dristel realized what he had forgotten. Stris had sent him reports regarding the situation leading up to the Pirate Meet. Several of those reports mentioned the Bunglehoppers, their new ally, as well as the arrival of a large tree-covered whale.

However, when he arrived at Pirate Haven with his fleet, the whale was nowhere to be seen.

The whale wasn't quite as big as one of the islands around Pirate Haven, but it was mountainous compared to the ship Dristel was on.

The whale took up most of Dristel's attention, but he still noticed two smaller ships depart from the whale's back. The smaller sailboats quickly left the whale before circling around and bypassing the fleet.

Dristel looked at the two ships flying past on either side with confusion. They were too far away for him to see the faces of the pirates on the ships, but he had a feeling that they were going to target the ships that had lagged behind due to having run out of mana.

Dristel was about to order his ships to turn around and support the comrades who couldn't defend themselves. He assumed that the whale had come to support the kidnapper and help him escape with his brother. Dristel chose to save his fleet before waiting to hear the kidnapper's commands. The whale's speedy arrival showed that the Starsling Kingdom's ships were no match for it.

However, Dristel assumed wrongly. Though, it wouldn't have mattered what Dristel chose to do. If he had kept chasing Toz and Stris, he would have simply gotten closer to Taienra.

Dristel had just finished ordering his men about when he sensed an abnormality from behind.

After turning around and looking in the direction of the whale, the first thing Dristel noticed was how the starlight had weakened. Since the dim stars and the darkness reminded him of the spell cast on him back at the Pirate Meet, Dristel's first thought was that the same mage had attacked him again. However, the whale in front of him and the ship below his feet told him otherwise.

Dristel sharpened his senses in order to try and figure out where his feeling of danger came from, and he noticed the incredible amount of mana amassed in front of the whale.

The amount of mana sent chills down Dristel's spine, and he immediately ordered his men to raise the ships' barriers to maximum output.

Dristel took out his spear and covered it in wind attribute martial energy at the same time as the whale opened its mouth, and radiant starlight spilled out like a flood wave.

Dristel barely had time to manifest a large wind spear the size of the boat's mast before the beam of starlight eclipsed the ship.

The beam of starlight was big enough to entirely envelop the biggest ship of the Starsling Kingdom's navy. And it didn't stop there. The power of the beam spread out to the neighboring vessels while the beam itself continued piercing through the Void.