episode_0281

The Alevol-class armored gunboat was a warship built for coastal navigation and blockade. To possess a warship equipped with even a single large-caliber naval gun, the kingdom’s engineers at the time installed a massive turret disproportionate to the existing vessel’s size and added more armor. Anyone with a slight knowledge of history before the Great War would say this top-heavy battleship was proof of the fierce arms race between kingdoms and empires before the Great War.

According to records in the authoritative Federal Navy Military Archives, this ship was recorded as having gone missing during marine beast suppression activities along the Cascadia coast during the Great War.

Of course, this was information the Violets neither knew nor needed to know.

“Their ship is approaching!”

The bizarre warship advanced, fully revealing its red and black hull above the water. From its hull, two elongated pillars, barely identifiable as smokestacks and covered in barnacles and carapace, continuously belched red smoke.

The Violet on the fishing boat closest to it suddenly felt that the ship’s bridge and small portholes were watching them. On the gunboat’s bridge, something wriggled and gleamed ominously in the shadows.

The sea-worn turret slowly began to rotate.

-Creak!

The two squat, black gun muzzles, like empty eye sockets, turned their ‘heads’ like living creatures. Towards their prey. Towards where threatening magical energy gathered. Their target was a ship boasting a clean, white appearance. Perhaps it was jealous of a sight that contrasted with its own fate, swallowed by the sea. In the distance, figures on the ship could be seen screaming and swaying uneasily.

-Boom!

“Aah! Shells!”

Despite being encrusted with salt, scales, and flesh, the gunboat moved smoothly, like a ship fresh from the shipyard, like a living creature. As it spat out destruction, two columns of water shot up. A flash followed, and the warship listed, charging fiercely towards the research vessel.

The research vessel, momentarily stunned by the unexpected attack, attempted a counterattack. Its close-in weapon system rotated.

“3, 2, 1. Fire!”

The research vessel’s crew didn’t believe this would work on a rusty hunk of metal. Instead of a non-functioning radar, guided by magical tracking and visual aiming, the autocannon spat beams of light, attempting to intercept the shells. Cascading flashes, impact. The magic-imbued shells deflected the bullets.

“That cannon is too powerful!” “It’s dangerous! The clients’ ship will get hit at this rate!”

Humanoid figures, seemingly ghouls, were seen even firing guns. Seeing bullets with an ominous glow raining down around the hull, there was no time.

Amidst the urgent situation, the Violets quickly devised a strategy. The accuracy of the incoming shells was gradually improving. It was clear they were adjusting the point of impact by some means. Even now, the shell impact zone around the research vessel carrying the students was becoming increasingly concentrated. They had to divert its attention.

Command activated the strategic map. In the vast, open sea, thirteen ships appeared between the islands. The largest, red ship was speeding across the map. On the opposite side, a single white ship, indicating an ally, was visible. Around it were blue armed fishing boats, scattered for patrol.

“Damn it… Of all times…”

To think that scattering for patrol would turn out to be poison in this situation.

Command maneuvered to gather the ships to intercept the mutated vessel.

“Form ranks! Form a formation!”

Perhaps due to the magical influence, a transmission from the academy came through amidst the crackling static.

-Security team! Buy as much time as… Air support is…

“When? What’s coming? Speak quickly!”

-…Strike team escort… Armed helicopters… nearby… Attack aircraft support… requested! 5 minutes!…

The Violets’ collective intelligence began to churn furiously. Right, if they could just buy 5 minutes, help would arrive.

Unexpectedly, the warship was very fast. While the scattered fishing boats gathered, the warship charged at high speed towards the research vessel, cutting through the white foam.

The escort fleet desperately tried to divert the enemy’s attention.

“No! Too fast!” “Number 3! Number 4! Stop it at once!”

Ships Number 3 and 4, being closest, fired first. With a sharp, cloth-tearing sound, an anti-tank missile launched, trailing smoke. An explosion occurred, and one of the appendages attached to the hull broke off.

“Prepare the mortars!”

After just two shots, a shell exploded on the upper deck. The tentacles and appendages around the warship convulsed more violently, and the ship, which had been approaching the research vessel, changed course.

“We succeeded! It’s coming this way!”

They had succeeded in drawing its attention, but the next moment, the Violets realized something was wrong.

“But guys. How are we going to break that? It’s kind of…” “Too big, isn’t it?”

Naturally, the gunboat, which had looked massive from afar, displayed an even more formidable presence up close. Moreover, its speed seemed even greater than theirs. A perceived speed nearly double that of a fishing boat.

“I thought it would be big and slow…”

It was clear that the power of that half-relic ship was extraordinary. The undeniable fact was that they had no way to deal with that warship using their conventional weapons. If a marine beast’s magical energy and steel armor plates had merged, its resistance to physical and magical attacks would be higher than the original warship’s.

“The answer is magic and close-quarters combat!” “Let’s intercept with magic! If we fire melting rays and electric sphere attacks…”

Sadly, the Violets, accustomed only to close-range firefights, ground combat, and hand-to-hand combat, failed to properly grasp the vast scope and range of naval warfare. Although they thought the warship was close because it had suddenly emerged from the sea, the actual distance between the two sides at sea was typically in kilometers. To enter magic’s effective range, they would have to drive their ships madly through enemy fire.

“There are too many cannons! They’re packed together! Not just one or two!”

Furthermore, the armored gunboat possessed a considerable number of secondary cannons, though not comparable to its main guns. Many of them moved like parts of a living organism, raining down shells.

-Thump! Thump-thump-thump!

Though less powerful than the two main guns, the secondary cannons fired relentlessly. Water columns shot up everywhere, making observation difficult.

“No! Evade! Evade! Turn left! Right!”

Ships Number 3 and 4 performed evasive maneuvers, swaying back and forth.

Ultimately, tragedy struck. Ship Number 4, which had been circling and firing mortars, was hit by secondary cannon fire and capsized. The next moment, the main gun, having finished aiming as if to cut off its breath, emitted an ominous flash.

“Aaaargh!”

With the flash, two massive columns of water shot into the sky.

“Number 4 is down! This is humiliating!”

The first sinking in naval history. The Violets swallowed their rage.

“I’m so angry! Our ship!”

Their salty comrade, who had shared the seas with them, had thus vanished into the water.

“Everyone calm down! We can’t let Ship Number 4’s sacrifice be in vain! We must keep going!” “Right! We must win!”

Fortunately, the ship’s sacrifice was not in vain. The remaining armed fishing fleet had now fully formed their formation.

“Fire! Fire!”

The fishing boats unleashed all their firepower. Magic, bullets, and bolts flew, creating flashes. The warship now seemed to perceive the shabby-looking boats before it as even more threatening enemies, tightening its rein on the attack.

An unequal exchange of gunfire, with continuous cannon roars echoing. To compare it to a terrestrial ecosystem, it was a battle between an elephant and a pack of wolves. The displacement alone was vastly different. If the gunboat possessed emotions, it would surely have scoffed at the Violets for their foolishness.

However, they had bought time for reinforcements to be deployed.

“Air wing deployment!”

The ship’s senses suddenly turned towards the sky. Compared to its entire body, these things were less than mosquitoes, yet the marine beast’s animalistic instinct detected a threat. What are those buzzing things? Why do I have this uneasy feeling?

Powered hang gliders agilely approached above the ship. No matter how vast the sea, the sky was the Violets’ domain.

“Bombing commenced!”

From the high-soaring hang gliders, girls in wingsuits began to appear one by one. A Violet squadron began to descend from the sky. What they carried were bombs and burning vengeance.

“Let’s get revenge!”

The warship frantically tried to raise its gun barrels, but it was impossible. Pre-Great War naval guns could not achieve high firing angles. The marine beast, gripped by unease, mobilized its symbiotic lesser beasts. The ghoul sailors aimed their guns at the wingsuit swarm descending from the sky, but that was all. Amidst the sporadic firing of old rifles imbued with Aether, the Violets swooped in like a whirlwind.

“Revenge!”

-Boom! Boom-boom!

Soon came a barrage of guided bombs, one by one plunging down. The old armored gunboat, unprepared for anti-air defense, unilaterally faced the catastrophe of future generations’ manned drone suicide tactics and precision aerial bombardment.

“Excellent! Destroy it all!”

Of course, Command did not expect to destroy the massive hunk of metal with just the bomb packages the wingsuited Violets carried to their limit. The important thing was neutralization. As flames erupted, the secondary cannons, which had been flailing their barrels like they were searching for prey, one by one fell silent and drooped.

The reinforcements didn’t stop there.

-…Support…smoke or signal flare…

Along with the faintly heard radio transmission once more, a welcome sound tickled their ears.

“Attack aircraft! The attack aircraft are coming!”

A tremor like the buzzing wings of a bee. It was the sound of propellers.

Beyond the horizon, three attack aircraft appeared among the clouds. The hang gliders swiftly moved out of the way. As the Violets fired signal flares around the ship, the attack aircraft responded by shaking their wings left and right once, then turned their noses down.

-Thwump!

Rockets and bombs rained down. Consecutive shockwaves rippling the water’s surface, soaring flames. A firepower incomparable to the Violets’ guided bombs engulfed the warship in flames. Ghoul sailors shattered and fell into the sea, and the protruding tentacles were roasted in agony, emitting a horrible stench.

-…Ammo…returning to base…

The squadron of attack aircraft, having unleashed everything they carried, circled once overhead and departed. Seeing the mutated warship engulfed in flames, the Violets cheered.

“We did it!”

The Violets, intoxicated by victory, inadvertently chanted a magic spell. A sacred, omnipotent spell said to hold the legend of echoing from Golgotha hill.

“Wait, if you say that spell…”

As soon as the chant ended, the gunboat’s outer structure collapsed, revealing what was inside.

“Huh, what’s that?”

Only then did the Violets realize why they had felt an unpleasant gaze from the ship’s portholes and bridge. Like wrapping paper being peeled away, as the deck armor and hull structures fell off, another thick body and multiple bundles of tentacles hidden inside were revealed. Eyeballs packed tightly into the body, glaring wide open.

“Aaaargh! That thing looked at me!” “It’s scary! Let’s kill it quickly!”

Grotesque forms filling the ship’s interior. The Violets realized that their previous attacks had merely been the process of stripping away the outer layer of armor. They hadn’t inflicted a decisive blow.

“Where should we hit it?” “Should we cut off all the tentacles?”

The roughly 4,000 Violets held a democratic strategy meeting for one minute while the mutated warship staggered. Though slightly late, they also commenced information gathering through external Violets.

“That’s a type of marine beast called a ‘fusion’!”

The opponent was a colossal marine beast, often called a ‘hybrid,’ formed by the fusion of machinery, internal humans, and a giant marine beast. Its composition varied, ranging from tanks to trains, passenger ships, or even buildings. If one had to find a commonality.

“The power source! We need to destroy its core!”

The core was clearly deep inside the hull. After one minute of deliberation, the collective intelligence quickly reached a conclusion.

“First, let’s try shooting it with magic, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll go inside and blow it up!” “Prepare for onboard close-quarters combat!”

Already, around the fishing boats and whaling ships, black boats were scattered like drifting leaves amidst the splashing waves. Fifty rubber boats were deployed. Each boat carried five heavily armed Violets, meaning a total of 250 awakened boarding troops were ready.

-Security team! ….Where did all those troops come from….?

A transmission from the research vessel, which had kept its distance, was heard. The transmission, clear for a moment, conveyed bewilderment.

“Reserves!”

The moment that single word was dropped, the gunboat’s eyeballs pulsed and turned towards the Violets. The emotion it held was clear. Rage.

“Whaling ships, stand by at a distance! Allocate high-firepower intermediate magic spell memory chips and bombs to each squad!”

Hiding their trump card, they chose and distributed the optimal means.

“The ship’s engine room would be roughly there!”

The target was the enemy’s core. According to hastily acquired information, the fusion’s core looked like a power reactor, so there shouldn’t be much difficulty.

“All fleet, full engine power!”

More tentacles shot up from the fusion gunboat, whose upper structure remained awkwardly. Not only that, but the location where the bridge had been crumpled, revealing a hideous head reminiscent of an anglerfish. Dozens of eyeballs packed tightly spun around, turning towards the approaching enemies, and then the marine beast opened its mouth wide in rage. A fierce roar echoed, carried by the waves.

-ROOOOAAAR!

“It looks angry! Isn’t that a berserker pattern?”

The main and secondary cannons that had barely survived spat fire as if in retaliation.

“Good! Because we’re pissed off too!”

Taking advantage of the hang gliders deploying smoke bombs along the path, all ships charged, breaking through the gunfire.