Drift Of The Multiverse: [Marvel] [Resident Evil] [DC] [Bleach] [DB]

Warships lined up in battle formation were unleashing a torrent of firepower. In this world, there was no established concept of a battle line. Adventurers typically operated alone, and fleet-versus-fleet combat was nearly nonexistent. Naturally, no formal formations had ever developed.

However, experienced captains could still figure out how to maximize the firepower of multiple ships, so they quickly arranged themselves into a proper battle line, preventing the rapidly approaching creatures from getting any closer.

"Cease fire!"

Brent's new order came through the communicator. His ship, the Hope, was just ahead of Ethan's Goddess of Dawn. Ethan could see Brent, like himself, standing on the quarterdeck, observing the distant situation.

Almost all the captains were doing the same, but unlike them, Ethan was using detection devices to scan for creatures and energy signatures.

"Be careful, those monsters have gone underwater!"

The technology provided by Tony Stark proved useful once again. Ethan could clearly see countless pockets of negative energy hidden beneath the surface, closing in on their position at a speed not much slower than before.

Upon receiving Ethan's alert, Brent immediately issued a command to all the captains to activate their magic stone shields.

"Brace for impact!"

Shouts echoed in the distance. Although the Goddess of Dawn didn't have a magic stone shield installed, that didn't mean Ethan lacked a way to defend against the coming attack.

He had already taken out the Book of Inheritance, which came into play once again. A white magical barrier immediately enveloped the Goddess of Dawn.

Almost simultaneously, a layer of energy shields covered the surrounding warships. Though the shield colors varied, not a single ship lacked protection.

Boom! Bang!

This time, it wasn't the roar of magic stone cannons, but the sound of those shields being struck. Including the Goddess of Dawn, all the warships were attacked. One ship was even lifted clear out of the water by the sheer impact and then came crashing back down heavily. Who knew how much structural damage that caused to its hull?

The Goddess of Dawn was relatively lucky. Although it was hit, it remained stable on the surface, not moving an inch. To the other captains, it appeared Ethan had simply been fortunate and hadn't taken as many hits.

Only Ethan knew that he hadn't received fewer attacks than the others. According to the detector, the number of creatures attacking each ship was roughly the same, meaning all the vessels endured similar levels of assault.

At this point, one could assess each ship's condition. For instance, the ship that was lifted into the air clearly had a lower displacement than the others.

However, not a single shield had been broken. This showed how much importance the captains placed on this life-or-death equipment. No one had chosen a flimsy shield just to cut costs.

"Watch the water! Don't spread out too much, or you'll be picked off individually!"

As Brent's voice came through the communicator, the fleet's formation had already started shifting.

The creatures had closed in. At this point, maintaining a battle line was meaningless. The cannons were no longer effective, and each ship had to rely on its own capabilities.

Looking down from the quarterdeck, Ethan could see a dense concentration of negative energy beneath the Goddess of Dawn. He knew this energy was emanating from the creatures. From a distance, he couldn't be certain, but now that they were close, he was sure these shark-like beings were radiating death energy.

"Death energy again?"

Since becoming an adventurer and living on the ocean, he had clashed with death energy multiple times. It seemed like he couldn't avoid it.

He didn't think this was all coincidence. Considering that each event was more or less connected to the man named Beckford, Ethan suspected this sea zone anomaly was also related to him.

"If that's the case, I can use this opportunity to resolve the issue."

Ethan leaned against the railing and looked around. Logan was still steering the ship, while Loki stood on the side, clearly still in spectator mode. His posture made it clear he had no intention of joining the battle. He wasn't a warmonger, and his interest in combat was far less than in scheming and manipulation.

Back during the battle with Onyxia, the Black Dragon Princess, if Ethan hadn't used an illusion to lure Loki into action, that guy might have quietly watched the entire fight from the sidelines. Even if Onyxia had insulted him, Loki wouldn't have interfered. At most, he would have gone over to mock her before she died.

"You're going underwater?"

"Yeah."

"I remember that suit of yours was damaged. Has it already been repaired?"

Everyone on the ship knew Ethan's magic gear had been damaged. Logan also knew Ethan had relied on that gear to fly and dive before.

"Stop looking at me with yesterday's eyes. I can cast those simple spells on my own now."

"Will this protective magic vanish after you go underwater?"

Ethan gave Logan a reassuring look. "As soon as I go into the water, those creatures will definitely focus on me. I won't give them a chance to attack the ship."

Without waiting for Logan's response, Ethan jumped straight from the quarterdeck, casting an underwater breathing spell on himself as he fell.

He plunged directly into the sea. Due to the abnormal climate in the region, there still wasn't much sunlight that day. The moment he entered the water, visibility dropped sharply. He couldn't see even a few meters ahead.

Fortunately, he wore specialized goggles that not only detected threats but also marked the location of his ship, ensuring he wouldn't mistakenly strike his own vessel during combat.

Just as Ethan had predicted, the moment he entered the water, the sharks infused with death energy went berserk. They charged at him like real sharks that had caught the scent of blood.

After Ethan dispelled his magic shield, leaving no barrier between himself and the sharks, three of them reached him almost instantly.

Although he couldn't clearly see their forms, the goggles marked the exact location and distance of each energy body, allowing Ethan to "see" them. As the three sharks rushed him, he pulled out the Battle Cross and slashed at the nearest one.

"One."

Ethan's movements were fast and precise. Before the shark could react, it had already been cleaved in two.

"Doesn't seem very intelligent."

After killing one, Ethan didn't pause. He immediately thrust the weapon into the head of the second shark. However, unlike the first one, which stopped moving after being cut in half, this one showed no signs of dying even after being pierced through. It thrashed violently, its mouth full of sharp teeth, trying to bite Ethan.

"Undead creatures?"

Almost as soon as the thought occurred to him, the Holy Light cross on his chest erupted with radiant energy. Bathed in the Holy Light, not only did the still-thrashing shark in front of him disintegrate into ash, but even the one that had been cut in two was purified.

The third shark, which Ethan hadn't yet attacked, was also severely wounded by the burst of Holy Light. He could feel the death energy within it greatly weakened. Taking the opportunity, Ethan delivered a clean finishing blow, and the shark's remaining energy completely dissipated.

Having slain three sharks in a row, Ethan didn't stop. These three were only the beginning. Countless more surrounded him, encircling him completely.

These sharks completely ignored the fact that their "comrades" had been easily slaughtered. They continued to charge Ethan relentlessly.

Now that he had confirmed Holy Light was the natural enemy of these death-energy-infused sharks, Ethan put away the Battle Cross. Although it could still release energy blades with Holy Light properties, they were "outdated" and increasingly ineffective.

He brought his hands together, drawing the energy from the Holy Light cross on his chest. As he slowly separated his hands, a long energy blade made purely of Holy Light formed in his right hand.

This was essentially the same magic technique used in Kamar-Taj to transform energy into weapons. Previously, Ethan had done so using a magic item—the Battle Cross. Now, he was using pre-stored Holy Light as mana to personally condense the weapon.

With a Holy Light energy blade in his right hand, Ethan clenched his left hand into a fist and aimed it at an approaching shark.

Bang! Boom!

A ball of Holy Light energy shot from his fist and struck the target, instantly reducing the shark to dust. The resulting shockwave scattered Holy Light energy into the surrounding water, creating chaos among the death sharks.

While it wasn't powerful enough to annihilate them all instantly, the scattered Holy Light disrupted their formation, giving Ethan an opening to calmly swing his blade and cut them down one by one.

He could have released all the Holy Light energy at once to wipe out the entire swarm. However, suspecting that Beckford might be behind this, Ethan chose to conserve his energy.

At the moment, he had no way to replenish his Holy Light. Selene could "summon" it, but the Holy Light of Azeroth was not the same as the transformed magic-based Holy Light Ethan used. Until he fully understood and integrated the two, he couldn't rely on Selene to help replenish his supply.

So he needed to be more conservative. Using the Holy Light blade to dispatch the sharks only cost physical stamina, which wasn't a concern for him.

Besides, this gave him a chance to observe the performance of the other ships.

(To be continued.)

***

For every 200 PS = 1 extra chapter. Support me on P/treon to read 30+ advanced chapters: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves

(Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)