This was a magnificent warship, forged from tightly packed steel plates.
On the deck, rugged gun emplacements could be seen arrayed.
A gear representing the Church of the Holy Machine, with an eye at its center, was imprinted on the side of the ship.
Soldiers in light chainmail could also be seen patrolling the deck, wielding powerful-looking rock-shaking spears.
The three iron warships from the Church of the Holy Machine slowed down and circled the area where the two demon warships had sunk. One, seemingly the lead ship, slowly docked next to Alka and his crew, about ten meters away.
An ordinary-looking man with somewhat tanned skin glanced at the flag on Alka's sail.
It was the symbol of Alka and his team.
Against the backdrop of an ocean island, a precisely scaled compass rose and a horizontal eye appeared within it.
"Are you the Compass Eye?" he asked, perplexed, looking at Alka and the others beside the ship.
Though he wasn't sure if the flag pattern was what he imagined.
Hearing this, Alka and the others were slightly surprised. While they had some fame in the Twin Islands, they knew it was limited to that area.
Though puzzled, Alka nodded, "Indeed."
Hearing this, the captain-like figure nodded and looked at Simon beside him.
He nodded at him, a polite greeting, since they were supposedly members of the same church.
"So you're heading to World Scar, right? We've received similar news."
It seemed the Archbishop had relayed this information first. Alka nodded.
Then a metal wheat ear ornament appeared in his hand.
Seeing the metal wheat ear ornament and the aura it emanated, along with Simon beside Alka, the captain seemed to confirm Alka and the others' identities.
"Alright, we'll leave one ship behind to guide you."
With that, without waiting for Alka and the others to respond, the ship sailed to where their companions were staying. After the three ships converged, one remained where it was, while the other two sailed off into the distance.
The ironclad ship that had been stationed approached.
The captain of this ship was a square-faced man with a crew cut.
"We will now lead you to the World Scar. Please follow us and don't fall behind."
After exchanging words, the ironclad ship started back, with the Voice of Dawn following behind them.
Following the ironclad ship, they soon spotted a shift in the current ahead.
As the ironclad ship passed, its speed increased. Alka and his companions followed closely behind, the Dawn's Voice, propelled by the current, quickly accelerating to catch up.
Following the current, the two ships gradually gained speed, faster and faster. As they sailed, they could see other ships sailing not far from the current.
Aka could even see a demon warship, similar to one he had seen before, being pursued and attacked by three ships that appeared to be made of vines and branches.
Soon, this demon warship, like the two Aka and his companions had encountered, sank to the bottom of the sea.
The various patrol vessels and the ongoing naval battles all demonstrated to them that war was raging everywhere in this place.
"Is this some kind of swift current?" Jason asked, standing on the deck, feeling the rapid movement.
He didn't know much about this.
"Such a current shouldn't exist in a place like this. It must be man-made," Lucelia said, observing the surrounding sea conditions.
Matlisa, standing beside them, nodded. "I can sense the presence of the Sea God in this current. I even spotted his followers just below.
It must be operated and maintained by the Sea God's Church."
With that, everyone understood.
The current's passage was incredibly fast. A journey that would normally take two or three days took them only about half a day, and they were already glimpsing the island in the distance, almost completely obscuring their view.
Perhaps, for a land area this large, it couldn't even be called an island.
Following the current, Alka and his companions soon discovered a port city on the shore.
Ship after ship, densely packed, surged toward that area.
When they arrived, the warship leading them simply broke away from the current and departed without any communication.
At this point, Alka and his companions understood the situation and sailed directly towards the port. As they got closer, they could see the city was built against a mountain.
It was a high peak on the shore, and the city, layered and stacked, spread from the mountain's midsection to the seashore.
On either side of the city, towering walls and protruding peaks formed two curved protective surfaces, encircling the entire city in the center.
Alka and the others could see at least six or seven airships flying in the sky.
"What the hell is that?" Jason asked in surprise.
Simon's eyes sparkled as he stared at the structure on the shore, resembling a lighthouse. But from its top protruded an extremely thick barrel, like a massive cannon.
As they drew closer, they gradually realized how outrageously enormous the lighthouse was.
It was no longer just a lighthouse; it was a towering, circular fortress.
Besides the long, thick gun barrel they'd spotted in the distance, the circular stone wall was dotted with numerous firing holes and protruding gun barrels.
Here, the atmosphere no longer resembled fantasy, but more like that of Iron Wars.
As Alka and his crew's ship approached the harbor, they felt something clearly aimed at them.
It wasn't clear if it was because they were unfamiliar vessels or a warning.
Following the chaotic flow of ships, Alka and his crew moored their sailboat at one of the harbor's berths.
As they stopped, something scanned their vessel. No port personnel came to collect the fee, so they were left to dock.
"Want to go down and take a look?" Alka asked, turning to the others.
Everyone nodded, a sense of curiosity growing within them.
"Then let's explore the city and get a feel for the situation."
With that, Alka jumped off the boat. Everyone jumped down one by one.
Sofia and Lusilia followed Alka toward the port.
The port was bustling with people, looking a bit noisy. But among those coming and going, whether civilians or laborers, there was a fierce aura.
They all looked very capable in combat.
Alka looked at the humans here; they all had some degree of abnormality.
Some had orange-red eyes, some had slightly pointed ears, and some had tiny bone spurs growing on their bodies.
You could even see subhumans of a race never seen before.
"You're blind, aren't you?"
There seemed to be a collision not far away, and a box of goods fell to the ground.
The cargo on the ground was actually all sorts of materials stripped from demons, but it seemed mostly the heads and tails of imps.
As the noise faded.
A team of soldiers made their way through the crowd. "What's all the fussing about? What happened?"
Alka and the others looked over. The soldiers were wearing heavy armor, pure black. It didn't look like metal, but rather like some kind of solid black stone.
In their hands were long spears with tips exaggerated like sword blades.
Alka blinked. There were five soldiers in this group, all at various stages of the three stages.
Something like markings could be seen on the armor.
An axe struck the demon's stick figure.
After observing for a moment, the three of them headed towards the city.
"Did you notice? The cargo going out seems to be all demonic materials, while the cargo coming in is all various supplies."
Sofia, who had been observing the cargo, said.
Alka nodded. He also saw that many of the goods bore the insignia of the Church of the Four Gods.
Across the harbor, the largest building he saw was a tavern-like structure.
Small groups of people, dressed simply and armed, carrying various weapons and bearing bloody scars, could be seen walking back and forth on the streets.
Some even wore materials that looked like trophies, all from various demonic creatures.
Looking closely, Alka discovered not only demons but also completely unfamiliar creatures, the materials stripped from whom he could not tell.
The buildings here were all low, constructed of heavy stone.
They were constructed entirely of hard, grayish-white, and brown stone, and Alka had never seen a building taller than three stories.
They looked remarkably solid and substantial.
A cacophony of voices filled his ears, and he could hear a variety of languages, but the most prevalent was the language of the Four Gods Sea.
Alka blinked slightly.
He looked at the people moving about on the street.
Amidst the crowds of people coming and going, Alka spotted four beings with the aura of treasure.
Even the ordinary residents, the women dressed in linen, were at the second level.
"Our Lady's Church?" As Alka and his companions passed by, they saw a building similar to Our Lady's Church. The reason they called it similar was because it looked a bit like a war fortress.
They also saw a statue of Our Lady and her holy emblem at the entrance.
Looking inside, both the priests and guards wore armor.
A man at the entrance, wearing heavy armor, held a steel-wrapped book and appeared to be chanting some kind of healing spell.
In front of him was a row of wounded soldiers: mercenaries, civilians, and the soldier in black stone armor they had just seen at the port.
The priest's armor was no mere formality; it bore subtle scratches and dents.
A flail hung from his waist, its hammer stained with dried blood.
Beneath his armor, the priest wore a priest's robe. He didn't look strong, about the size of an average adult.
A nearby Holy Mother Church guard saw Alka and the others approaching.
He clasped his hands together and saluted.
Alka and the others returned the salute.
Clearly, the guard had sensed the Holy Mother's aura within them.
"Saints, is this your first time here?"
It seemed that for members of the Holy Mother Church, identifying Saints was surprisingly easy.
Looking at the man before him, wearing a helmet and visor that barely revealed his eyes and lips, Alka nodded.
"Indeed, we've only just arrived here and don't know much about this place yet."
At this moment, the priest behind them seemed to have finished his treatment and was walking towards them. He patted the soldier's shoulder as he approached, then stood before Alka and the others.
"I'm Purvis, a marching chaplain of the Church of Our Lady."
"Alka, captain of the Compass Eye." Alka looked at him, shook his hand, and said.
The chaplain before him was around the middle of the fourth stage and didn't possess any treasures, but the book appeared to be a sacred artifact.
For a follower of the Our Lady, it was a treasure.
"Alka? Compass Eye... I seem to have heard that name somewhere before." The chaplain before him, upon hearing Alka's introduction, couldn't help but ponder.
Then, as if remembering something, he said, "I remember. A few months ago, I received word that a saint and his team would be arriving here. Could that be you?"
"If there's no one else named Alka, then it must be me," Alka said with a smile.
"Excuse me, please follow me."
Purvis said as he led Akka and the others into the fortress-like church. They were still greeted by the prayer hall.
The somewhat cramped prayer hall seemed empty, so Purvis and Akka found a random seat.
"This is Giant Mountain Harbor, the gateway between the World Scar and the outside world. It's relatively safe."
A map appeared in his hand.
"I don't have many maps to give you, but you can take a look at this one," he said, handing it over.
Akka took the map.
This map was drawn quite clearly and straightforwardly.
The entire World Scar was shaped like a very irregular rhombus. In the center of the rhombus, there was a long gap that connected all the way to the sea.
Akka examined the divisions on the map.
The demons were located in the gap in the center of the diamond and the direction it extended from.
With Order occupying all three sides, the sea outlet at the gap was the demons' only connection to the outside world.
There was also a sea channel outside, likely the fast-moving current they had just passed through.
These currents spread across the sea like blood vessels, but it could be seen that the channel almost circled around the demon's sea outlet.
This was clearly intended to prevent demonic ships from carrying demons out of the area. Combined with the extreme weather Alka and his companions had encountered, it was certain that this was also a factor in restricting the demons' escape.
Looking at the map, Alka couldn't help but blink.
I wonder if this map is a world map or a regional map?
Thinking this, Alka blinked and looked at the map.
It wasn't a world map, but a regional map.
Dots of light appeared before Alka one after another.
They were densely packed, almost completely covering the entire continent. This was primarily due to the continent's immense size, and the scale of the map in Alka's hand was too small.
So it looked as if the entire map was covered in treasure.
Hundreds of golden lights were scattered across the land.
Alka even spotted a dozen orange beams.
And above these, Alka discovered six red beams.
Four of these were within the demonic realm.
As previously known, the destruction of this once world-leading empire by the demons left behind a vast legacy throughout the region.
The reason it hadn't been completely plundered over the years was entirely because of this
This place is truly too dangerous.
"This map isn't the latest version; it's from ten years ago. Some areas have changed, but the terrain hasn't changed much, so just bear with it."
Purvis explained briefly.
Overall, demons occupy about one-third of the continent's territory.
However, the alliance of the Four Gods Church doesn't seem to control the other two-thirds, and some areas are occupied by other, unknown forces.
Alka looked at the demonic circle of defense. The surrounding area was densely packed with names of various fortresses.
The humans had practically built a fortress wall there, firmly blocking the demons in the gap and preventing them from escaping and endangering the entire world.
After gaining an understanding of the area, Alka folded the map and handed it to Purvis.
"Thank you."