The roar of artillery echoes across the wasteland, and a fleet battle begins.
With a thunderous roar, the enemy fleet unleashed a salvo from their main guns.
The sight below, visible from the bridge, was obscured by dust, making my heart churn.
“Loading sound for the main cannon confirmed! They’re firing again!”
Nozomi, an operator by trade, looked up at me from her chair, reporting with a voice that sounded like a scream.
“Don’t panic. We’re not within the effective range of the electromagnetic induction cannon (Limit Cannon) yet. It’s just a show of force.”
Marika-san, lounging back in her command seat, calmly lit a cigarette.
“Cruisers, fall back! Samidare, Sagittarius, secure the flanks of Shiranui! Tarasque, advance!”
Curtis-san appeared on the screen. He was combing his signature pompadour—how much余裕 did he have?
“My turn, Marika.”
“Right. Teach those Mechanist Army fools that Tarasque is a dragon that devours human flesh!”
“You got it! Electromagnetic induction cannon ready! Move out as soon as you’re in position!”
Move out? … In its original world, Tarasque was a dragon with six legs and a turtle’s shell…
Curtis-san’s ship, Tarasque, danced forward and stopped in front of Shiranui. Then, six outriggers extended from the ship’s flanks and gripped the ground.
Is Tarasque really a six-legged dragon?!
And then, Tarasque’s massive main cannon roared. The barrage hit a cruiser in the enemy fleet’s middle row, sending up black smoke.
“Hit on enemy cruiser! Assumed to be heavily damaged.”
Marika-san nodded with satisfaction at Nozomi’s report.
“Curtis! Don’t hold back! Turn them all into scrap!”
“Leave it to me! Challenging me to a gunnery battle is a million light-years too early!”
“Um, Curtis, a light-year is…”
I silenced Lilith, who was standing next to me, by tossing a caramel into her mouth.
Curtis-san was hyped. Now wasn’t the time for a pedantic correction about light-years being a unit of distance.
The enemy fleet, having received a painful blow in return for their threatening barrage, was in disarray.
Right. They’re probably panicking from a counterattack at an impossible range.
“Tarasque is equipped with an ultra-long-range main cannon, isn’t it? It must need six outriggers for that.”
“That’s right. This is the first time we’re showing off Tarasque’s maximum range. Look at them, they’re flustered.”
Before the panicked enemy fleet could form ranks, two more cruisers became Tarasque’s prey.
Curtis-san, who excelled at heavy fire support, was also a master of gunnery battles.
“Well, even an idiot should know that you can’t win by staying too far away.”
As Marika-san said, the enemy fleet sent their cruisers to close the distance.
“Their target is Tarasque, right?! Its legs are stuck in place!”
“That’s likely. Full speed ahead! Get in front of Tarasque! Samidare, Sagittarius, provide cover for this ship!”
“Samidare, understood.” “Sagittarius, understood. We’ll guard the slow turtle, shall we?”
“Shut up! Just be Tarasque’s wall, you fake blond!”
“Who are you calling a fake blond, you punk! I’ll expose your pompadour as a wig!”
“Whose pompadour is a wig, you twig! I’ll dye that fake blond hair red with your blood!”
“Stop fighting, you idiots! We’re in the middle of battle! Tarasque, continue firing! Samidare and Sagittarius, attack after this ship’s barrage! Main cannon, prepare to fire!”
“Main cannon, prepare to fire! Enemy fleet, 1300 meters until effective range!”
Marika-san, scolding the two who would have undoubtedly been locked in a hair-color fight had they been closer, formed the battle line.
“Not yet, not yet… Fire!”
Shiranui’s electromagnetic induction cannon unleashed its fury, destroying the treads of the lead cruiser.
Leaving the stranded cruiser on the plain, the enemy fleet pressed in.
“Ships 1 through 8, split into groups of four and deploy to the left and right! The remaining two ships will be Tarasque’s shield! Tarasque, switch to supporting fire!”
The cruisers, which had been waiting in the rear, moved according to Marika-san’s orders.
Thus, a gunnery battle at optimal range began, and our side held the advantage. We outmatched them in the accuracy of our ship’s cannons.
After about ten minutes of exchanged fire, we had one lightly damaged ship, while they had two heavily damaged ones. Things were going well.
“Kanata, what’s the standard procedure when you have the advantage?”
“Maintaining the current situation is basic.”
“That’s right, but I’m a bit twisted. I choose to act proactively.”
“You’re abandoning a favorable situation?”
“Precisely because it’s favorable. Anyone can react when they’re cornered. That’s why they’re predictable. In battle, if you can make the opponent think ‘impossible,’ you’ve already won half the battle. Sometimes, it’s better to employ unexpected tactics precisely because you have the advantage. That’s what tactical flexibility is. Remember it.”
“Yes!”
“Samidare, Sagittarius, we’re going pirate style! Full speed ahead! Break through the enemy fleet’s line!”
Pirate style? What’s that?
“Kanata, Rasen-, Gen-san, bring your subordinates and move to the pile tube area on the starboard side!”
“Let’s go, Kanata!”
I followed Rasen-san and moved to the starboard side.
Pile tube… Ah! Could pirate style mean…!
In the protruding space from the starboard corridor, Rasen’s team and the Comma One and Two squads were waiting.
“Pirate style is to fire the pile tube, dock with the enemy ship, and take control of it, right?”
“That’s right. Kanata and I will secure the bridge. Gen-san, who will follow, will take the engine room.”
So this is our chance to shine, with my innate abilities for mass slaughter and Rasen-san’s.
Rick, who had swapped his polearm for a battle axe suitable for close-quarters combat, happily clapped me on the shoulder.
“My arms are itching, Older Brother! War should be like this!”
Unfortunately, I can’t enjoy war as much as you do.
“Captain, we’ll leave Beecham on standby on the ship. Is that alright?”
“Yeah, it’s too much for Nozomi and Beecham. We’ll handle it ourselves.”
Shiranui vibrated violently, and Shion stumbled towards me, so I quickly caught her.
The volume of her chest against my chest, the faint scent of shampoo from her real blonde hair—different from Todd-san… Shiranui must have taken a hit, but my desires were stronger than my concern…
And then, the pain in my instep, canceling out my desires!
“Natsume, you stepped on me hard!”
“Kanata, it’s your fault! And Shion, how long are you going to cling to Kanata!”
“Ah, thank you, Captain.”
“You’re welcome.”
… I actually wanted to be in contact with the curvaceous beauty a little longer…
“Kanata, stop flirting and get moving.”
“Vice-Captain Rasen, that was an accident! We’re not flirting…”
“Ho ho ho. Ms. Shion, why don’t you help an old man too, instead of only paying attention to the young ones? There’s a long corridor to the engine room, and there are clear lines of fire. We need sniper support.”
“Captain, may I?”
“Yes, Shion, provide sniper support. Natsume, assist Gen-san and the others in securing the engine room.”
“I’m going with Kanata!”
“Rasen and I are enough for this. I’m counting on you.”
“Ugh, okay.”
“Natsume, we from Comma Two are also by his side. Don’t worry.”
Rick declared, tapping his chest, but Natsume replied curtly.
“That’s precisely why I’m worried!”
The Comma Two squad looked as if to say, “You can’t be serious!” Their ruthlessness remained unchanged, even when they tried to regain their smiles.
“Pile tube, here we go!”
Gen-san fired a pile tube at a crack in the shutters lowered over the enemy ship’s window.
The pile tube, fired at high speed, struck the crack perfectly, piercing the shutters and reinforced glass, opening a passage into the enemy ship.
“I’m first, followed by Kanata. Kanata, I’m leaving the right side to you.”
With that, Rasen-san leaped into the tube.
I followed Rasen-san into the pile tube and slid down the round tube.
Immediately after exiting the tube, I formed a Psyche-Barrier on my right, while Rasen-san should be covering the left.
Bullet holes appeared in the Psyche-Barrier, and I saw multiple gun muzzles aimed at us.
The enemy is desperately trying to prevent our entry into the ship… It’s a futile effort, though.
I unleashed my most powerful Wolf Eye at the enemy soldiers firing wildly, silencing them.
I felt a blast of hot air on my nape—Rasen-san must have silenced them with his fire arts as well.
“The enemy level is not that high, Kanata.”
“It seems so.”
Following us, the spiders slid down the pile tubes one after another, infiltrating the ship.
Without waiting for everyone to assemble, Rasen-san signaled me with hand gestures to follow him.
“Let’s hurry and secure the bridge.”
“Understood. Everyone, let’s go!”
Led by Rasen-san, we sprinted towards the bridge.
The enemy soldiers bravely stood their ground, trying to stop the advance of the fire demon, but they couldn’t stop a ruthless killer who had shed his usual jocularity.
… Pity, but they were essentially standing there to be incinerated.
Ignoring the charred bodies, indistinguishable by age, or even gender, I made a suggestion to Rasen-san.
“Rasen-san, I’ll take point. Please conserve your energy.”
I thought my Wolf Eye, unlike Rasen-san’s fire arts, might be able to incapacitate some enemy soldiers without killing them…
“I’m taking point to conserve Kanata’s Wolf Eye. I don’t want to use fire arts in the bridge.”
“Using fire arts in the bridge would ruin the instruments and the helm. You want to capture it in navigatable condition, is that it?”
“You understand perfectly. I see it, the bridge entrance!”
In the corridor before the bridge, the enemy soldiers had built a barricade with iron shields and Psyche-Barriers, but Rasen-san didn’t falter.
The spiral vortex of flames, generated by intersecting his flame-wreathed hands, turned the enemy soldiers desperately defending the final line of defense into ashes.
The man boasting the highest kill count in the First Unit (Crystal Widow) had once again added to his record.
“My part ends here. Go, Kanata!”
Stepping over the charred corpses, I leaped into the bridge!
Prepare yourselves. Although I am not usually a lucky man, today, you are the ones who are unlucky!!
