In the western shores of the island of Terra, the surging tides and vicious waves became still. The air calmed down, and silence permeated through the heavens and the seas below it. With just a single moment, and a single punch, the world listened to the fleet admiral of the United Navy.
A golden light flashed over Abraham's face. It gleamed with unparalleled radiance, and it originated from none other than the jaw of the gargantuan serpentine dragon. In a breadth of a second, a beamed of light illuminated with the luster rivalling a thousand suns soon descended to the earth.
However, despite the spectacular sight before him, the fleet admiral maintained his gaze towards the sinking battleships of the fleet of Terra. His attention was entirely concentrated at a lone and cloaked figure with injuries scattered throughout their body.
The edges of his lips rose as he remarked with a smirk plastered on his face. "It looks like you survive. Impressive, to say the least." The words that escaped his mouth weren't lies. He was thoroughly impress from the survival of the Archmagus.
After all, the punch he had thrown towards the old man wasn't to be underestimated. It could probably destroy a mountain if he had been on land. Since the Archmagus managed to survive the attack even though he had sustained grievous injuries, it was something to be slightly astonish.
"However, would you like to continue fighting, Magus? I'm sure you're already aware. Your so-called Apostles have lost against my lover. The Colonial Dominion stand no chances, even your Sovereign is already aware of it."
"So, let me ask again, as the representative of the Magus Tower, would you keep fighting to the death?" Abraham questioned Gunther with an arrogant smile on his face. The reason why he was asking for their surrender was fairly simple.
It would be easier for the United Navy.
If the Colonial Dominion and the Magus Tower fought to the death against the United Navy, while Abraham was confident that his organization would win in the end, they would probably sustain casualties. Resources would also be consumed, along with precious time wasted.
"Surrender is a dishonor that us, Magus, would rather entertain death than be inscribed with it." Gunther replied with a determined expression. He was trying hard to cast a regeneration spell, but his body was too battered. It would take weeks for him to completely recover.
And he didn't have weeks to wait with the enemy before him.
Not only that, the three Apostles of Terra Firma had also lost. The Dragon of Liberation would be setting her sights to the capital city of the Colonial Dominion and the Magus Tower situated inside of it. There was no doubt, in front of her supreme power, no Magus in the island stands a chance.
They would be massacred like the ones before them.
However, Gunther was hesitant in even thinking about surrendering. It would stain his honor as an Archmagus and make him a laughing stock. History would look at him as a coward who caved in and surrendered the lives under his authority to his enemies.
"Honor doesn't matter in the face of death, Magus. No matter what you do, your fate remains the same. You will lose against the United Navy, against the Dragon of Liberation, and against me. It is simply your destiny to be defeated. Why not accept it and continue to live?"
"You are a Magus, after all, does honor really matter much in the pursuit of magicraft? I thought you didn't care about the opinion of those lower than you? Why would you care about how others think of you the moment you surrender?" Abraham uttered with calm.
Each of his words echoed throughout the ears of the Archmagus. It made sense. If he was arrogant as he says, why would he care about the so-called honor? The more Gunther thought about it, the more he became scared for his life.
Like the others before him, he didn't want to die. Why should he die while those in Europa live? The Sovereign had already abandoned the Colonial Dominion of Terra. There was no used in fighting for an abandoned territory. They would become nameless warriors in the annals of history.
Gunther felt his throat tightened as he swallowed his saliva. Pain resounded throughout his body, reminding him of the state he was in. He would die if he didn't give up, so the Archmagus could only grit his teeth.
He then noticed the gaze of the Magus under him. Their eyes brimmed with hope, and he knew that they wanted to surrender. He didn't know if he should be angry by their cowardice, or be happy that they had the same thoughts as him.
"I... I surrender to the United Navy and the Dragon of Liberation." After a short while, Gunther landed on a floating raft of wood and uttered his surrender. It was heard by every Magus, who were still alive. His words were a sign of confirmation, so with that, they knelt to the ground and surrendered.
The surrender was like an unending tide as the crew of the medieval battleships followed suit, giving away their weapons and kneeling onto the ground. With that, the naval warfare in the western shores of the island of Terra had reached its conclusion.
The shockwave brought about by the beam of golden radiance that escaped the jaw of the gargantuan serpentine dragon then reached them. Its deafening roar resounded, some even covered their ears from how loud it was.
*BOOM!!!!!*
"So, this is the infamous breath of Laplace, huh?" Abraham smirked, looking at the golden light emanating from the island of Terra. It was as though the second sun had risen from the very island itself. A quite marvelous sight indeed.
The fleet admiral turned his attention to the surrendering Archmagus and quickly took out his radio. "Charlotte, take out the recent creation of the R&D Department." He ordered his vice admiral. After all, with a large quantity of Magus in front of him, there was only one thing he could do.
*Affirmative, Fleet Admiral. Where shall I meet you?* In the other side of the radio, Charlotte asked with a smile plastered on her face. The supposed-death of the problem dragon had also brought her some unwanted and unexpected troubles.
She hadn't noticed herself commandeering the UNS Trinity of Solace to blast open dozens of medieval battleships near them.
"The bow should be a good location. I'm becoming proficient in terms of my landing in that area of Solace." Abraham responded with a grin as he thought about the places where he would make his landing. There would always be some problems in the floor afterward.
The bow was the only part of the capital ship where he could land with remarkable ease.
*Understood, Fleet Admiral.* With that, the communication between the two ended. Abraham returned his radio to his pocket and gazed at the bow of the nearby UNS Trinity of Solace. Without any hesitation or delay, Abraham leaped towards it and flew through the air.
Jumping from ship to ship was becoming a great talent of his.
It didn't take long for him to arrive in the bow of the capital battleship. There, Vice Admiral Charlotte stood with shackles, neck braces, and handcuffs. All of these were especially made to imprison a Magus.
The metal of the following equipment were forged from mana-dispersing mana that the R&D Department had recently discovered, Adamantium. It was something that they had tested with Laplace. Although it broke under her ocean-like mana, it should be capable in handling the Magi.
"Thank you for getting this out, Charlotte. I'm glad that we brought this with us. It would make things easier when handling this peculiar Magus." Abraham smiled at Charlotte, who simply nodded and lightly bowed. "I'm glad to be of help, Fleet Admiral."
"I believe you should take your leave, we don't want our prisoners to continue waiting, right?" Charlotte smirked, placing her hands on her promising child-bearing hips. Though, Abraham quickly took himself out of such ridiculous thoughts and nodded in agreement.
"I'll have to go. After all, I believe he is the one leading the Magus Tower. I wouldn't want him teleporting away." Abraham couldn't help but chuckle as he leaped away from the bow of the capital battleship.
Gunther maintained his position and the fleet admiral quickly arrived beside him. In his hands were shackles, a handcuff, and a neck brace. Becoming a prisoner was something he never thought he would become, but it was the fate of the loser.
As Abraham stood in front of him, he calmly asked the Archmagus. "I thought you would run away after being given a chance. After all, you Magus are quite skilled in teleporting away once your situation becomes too much for you to handle."
The Archmagus furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes before replying to the fleet admiral. "You have done something to the surrounding space, freezing the area so that no spatial disturbance could be done into it." He wasn't dumb, and quickly understood why he couldn't teleport.
"I guess you're a smart one. Perhaps, that's the reason why you accept your surrender. At any rate, I'll have you wear these things for the situation to move on." Abraham threw the handcuff and neck brace to the old man.
Gunther merely clicked his tongue, but didn't hesitate to wear it. After wearing the neck brace and the handcuff, he immediately realized that the United Navy had unlocked the ability to imprison Magus. Quite a dangerous capability to have, especially for an organization of manaless humans.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. At the very least you're alive, unlike the three of your colleagues." Abraham waved his hands, mentioning the three Apostles skewered by Laplace. It made the Archmagus wonder if the man before him was a devil disguising as a human.