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Chapter 50
Holy Mirishial Empire, skies above the strait south of port town Cartalpas
Central World superpower Eimor Kingdom, Order of Wind Dragon Knights
They tore through the sky, riding creatures far larger than wyverns or wyvern lords. They could withstand speeds as fast as 500 km/h, far beyond what anyone could imagine possible for a living thing. Much too fast for a human knight to bear. They had streamlined bodies, as though they had been designed to be slim, with shining wings that they used to tame the wind in order to fly in the sky. Different from lizards, they were highly intelligent and had tamed the wind dragons. The kingdom made up solely of dragonfolk, Eimor, threw their elite order of dragon knights into the battle.
“Guh!!! Those impudent little—!” cursed the knight-captain, Oojy, as he watched another one of his subordinates go down. Because Eimor’s population was so low, they valued quality over quantity, particularly with regards to compatibility with wind dragons. This was how their dragon knights earned their reputation as each being worth a thousand men; Oojy believed in that as well.
And it was largely true; in mock air battles with other countries, they were never outdone, even handling Mu’s elite fighter planes as though they were nothing more than children. He truly believed that dragons could not possibly be beaten by machines that were incapable of using magic. The mission this time was against some country outside the civilized areas, a newly emerging one, made up of humanfolk who had a low capacity for magic. Surely they would take control of the skies as easily as snapping his fingers.
However, the enemy’s banking and ascending ability was superior, their top speed surpassed the wind dragons’, and there were giant swarms of them. If the numbers had been even, the dragon knights would have easily defeated them. But they weren’t even; because of their overwhelming numbers, the mere uncivilized barbarians managed a 1:1 kill ratio against the wind dragons.
“Here they come again!!!”
He evaded the enemy iron dragon’s bullets of light by ascending, then, killing his speed, he tried to take it from behind.
“Take this!!!”
A ball of fire coalesced inside the wind dragon’s mouth. Similar to wyvern lords, dragons could form their breath into a sphere and use magic power to fire that sphere, at faster speeds than wyverns could. He took aim and was about ready to fire when…
“Watch out, above and behind!!!”
At the shout from one of his comrades, he abandoned his firing position and moved to evade. A split second later, a stream of bullets passed through his previous location.
“Aaaargh! These irritating gnats!!!”
The frustration of this battle was getting to Oojy as his actions were constantly being suppressed due to the enemy’s numbers. Facing this unprecedented, powerful enemy, Eimor’s order of dragon knights had a very hard time.
In the same aerial battle, another fierce exchange was taking place. Squadron Leader Sart of Gra Valkas’s second stage attack wing was engaging the Mirishial fighters and Eimor wind dragons in his Antares fighter plane. Mirishial’s planes were laughably inferior in acceleration and banking, so in a dog fight they should be easy to outmaneuver and shoot down. However…
“Fuck! It’s back again! Watch out for that dragon there!!!” Sart ordered.
Sart’s men aimed at the wind dragon in front of them and fired their 20mm machine guns. The dragon, in a display of incredible mobility, flew up vertically on a dime, a feat that a living creature shouldn’t be able to accomplish, causing the tracer bullets to miss by a wide margin.
“Tch!!!”
Planes chased after the dragon, climbing after it into the air.
“Wait—!!!”
They kept pursuing it, not hearing Sart’s order. The Antares fighters couldn’t catch up to the dragon, though, and, after it had gotten too far away, they all turned around and descended. The dragon then also made an about face and shot balls of fire at them, scoring multiple hits.
“Shit! It got us again!!!”
Their kill ratio was 1:1, but, since they had such an overwhelming numerical advantage, in reality, being unable to do any better than 1:1 meant that they were losing in the air. For some stupid animals to be shooting down the glorious empire’s main air superiority fighters was a huge blow to Sart’s pride.
Coast guard patrol ship Shikishima
Updates about the battle kept streaming through the magical communicator that the Shikishima had set up on board.
<<Enemy aircraft have begun to dive!>>
Threading through the mayhem of the battle in the sky, the dive bombers aimed for the relatively grouped up ships belonging to the combined fleet.
<<Agarta’s magic convoy has rearranged to a hexagram formation. They appear to be preparing to cast large scale anti-fleet light magic.>>
Someone had just said something incomprehensible.
“What the heck is ‘large scale anti-fleet light magic’? Do we have any information on that?” Seto asked his XO.
“Nope; no clue.”
While they had that exchange, the six Agartan boats sailing in front of them in the shape of a hexagram began to shine. Seconds later, a beam of light surged into the air from the center of the hexagram. Any Japanese person who saw it would no doubt have described it as an enormous laser. The Agartan magic convoy’s light magic traveled in a straight line, but by manipulating the magic particles, they could quickly change its direction. The light bent, resembling a giant tongue licking the sky, and immolated two dive bombers.
“Whoa! That was crazy! It kind of reminded me of a phased array radar.”
Seto and his crew felt a glimmer of hope grow after seeing that attack.
<<The magic convoy has depleted its magic power, 368 seconds until recharging complete.>>
…And that hope was instantly squashed.
The Gra Valkan dive bombers sprayed their machine guns as they dived, causing widespread damage. The combined fleet’s anti-air measures were the Holy Mirishial Empire’s magic light cannons and Mu’s cannons. Along with all the tracer ammunition, a devastating amount of projectiles were being shot up into the air, making for quite a fantastical sight.
“Dive bombers are headed for us, sir!”
“Enact self-defense protocols! Shoot them down!”
Patrol ship Shikishima’s forward Oerlikon 35mm cannon pointed up into the sky. It locked onto the enemy planes with optical sighting, then fired. The mix of shells and tracer ammo accurately peppered the Gra Valkan dive bombers, blowing holes in them and causing them to explode.
On the battlefield, some ships were also igniting from all the machine gun fire. Some of the Holy Mirishial Empire’s magic cruisers fell prey to dropped bombs.
<<The Agartan magic convoy has taken heavy damage!!!>>
<<Mirishial light cruiser Neekre was bombed!>>
The amount of damage the fleet was taking was high, but the enemy forces also lost six planes, two from Agarta’s magic convoy, two shot down by Mirishial, and finally two shot down by the Japan Coast Guard.
While the fleet took damage from the air, they continued heading to the strait located south of Cartalpas. Even though their sailing speed was originally quite slow, evading attacks and losing formation did not help their progress either.
On the bridge of the Armis, flagship of the Holy Mirishial Empire’s local southern forces, Fleet Commander Pattes looked anguished as he spoke to the ship’s captain beside him.
“Captain Nium, what do you make of the state of battle?”
“Yes sir. Truthfully, I never would have imagined that the enemy’s aerial strength could be this formidable. Our newest air superiority fighters have been dropping like flies, and it’s unthinkable for even Eimor to lose this many wind dragon knights… However, we have been able to shoot down some of the enemy’s dive bombers; the Nation of Agarta downed two planes as well, and then Japan’s cruiser also took care of two themselves. I can scarcely believe that Japan’s anti-air capabilities are this strong. As far as I can tell, they’ve barely wasted any ammunition at all. In any case, unless we can sink or drive off the enemy’s super dreadnought Grade Atlastar, to prevent it from blockading the strait, there is no doubt that Cartalpas will most likely be razed, so we have no choice but to use up everything and everyone here to the last man.”
“Yes indeed. In any case, it is still hard to believe that we are the final wall protecting Cartalpas… Truly a series of misfortunate events.”
All while they conversed, reports continued to pour in through the magic comms.
<<Nigrato Union’s dragon carriers Sraguht and Hedogle have been sunk! Ship-of-the-line Paragle has taken heavy damage!!!>>
<<Mu’s armored cruiser La Shirumu has taken moderate damage!>>
<<Enemy aircraft approaching from the west at low altitude! Twenty-four units!!!>>
From above the strait’s western mountain range, 24 torpedo bombers came into view.
“Low altitude! They’re coming in at low altitude?! What the hell are they playing at?!”
The aircraft steadily closed in on the fleet.
<<Mu ships, fire at will!!!>>
Anti-air artillery were aimed horizontally. The many fired shells crashed against the surface of the ocean, creating an equal number of smaller splashes of water.
<<Japan’s cruiser, fire at will!!!>>
The patrol ship Shikishima showed off the might of its weaponry: two Oerlikon 35mm twin cannons and two JM61 20mm guns. After it fired, three enemy planes turned into balls of fire and fell into the sea. Those planes’ torpedoes ended up exploding as well, expelling large amounts of water up into the air. The Holy Mirishial Empire’s magic cruisers also began to fire into the sky.
“Starboard anti-air magic cannon magic power charging is complete! Automatic spellchant commencing, ten seconds until preparations complete, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one—automatic spellchant complete. Anti-air magic cannon firing procedures complete!!!”
The barrel of the cannon glowed a faint red as it appeared to be sucking in particles. A second later, numerous magic shells were fired one after another at the enemy planes.
The Gra Valkan torpedo bombers fired back with their machine guns as they continued to approach the torpedo drop point. The disorganized fleet was still packed relatively closely together. Although many of the empire’s torpedo bombers were shot down, they were still able to drop their torpedoes. After doing so, the remaining planes beat a hasty retreat.
“Something in the water is coming at us!!!”
“Evasive maneuvers!!!”
Nium didn’t know what those objects were, but he could tell they were dangerous in some way and ordered his crew to avoid them. The Japanese ship sailing behind them and to the right also made to avoid the white lines darting through the ocean. The trail of the torpedoes grazed the front of the Armis, then passed it. Behind them came the sound of explosions.
“The Sooze has been hit!!!”
Two giant pillars of water surged up on the starboard side of the magic cruiser Sooze. As they watched, it also visibly lost speed. Water flooded into the holes in its keel, and the Sooze began to sink. It was pulled under the ocean in a frighteningly short period of time.
“The Sooze has sunk! The Aein has been hit, propulsion is down!!!”
The cruisers were sinking quickly to the torpedo bombers’ excessively powerful strike; the people on the bridge were stunned silent.
<<Mu’s La Shirumu has been sunk!!!>>
<<Nigrato’s Paragle has been sunk!!!”>>
<<A ship has been detected near the entrance to the strait! Confirming its identity… It’s the Grade Atlastar !!!>>
Every country’s fleet looked to the end of the fourteen-kilometer-long strait to lay eyes on the super dreadnought; despite all the damage they had taken, their spirits were now on the rise.
“Prepare for ship-to-ship combat! All ships, forward at top speed!!! The enemy may be a gigantic battleship, but let’s show it how stubborn the world’s strongest countries are!!!”
“Understood!”
The Holy Mirishial Empire’s local southern forces only had six ships remaining, and they accelerated to reach their maximum speed of 30 knots. The rest of the empire’s fleet, along with Mu’s fleet and Japan’s patrol ship, quickly left the rest of the countries behind as they headed straight for the enemy ship.
Coast guard patrol ship Shikishima
“Mirishial’s fleet is accelerating! They’re heading right for the Grade Atlastar at thirty knots,” came the report.
“What’s the enemy’s position?”
“They’re about seven kilometers south of the entrance to the strait.”
“Seven kilometers from the strait… They’re probably moving as well, but that means we’ll pass within at least eight-point-three kilometers of them…” Captain Seto trailed off as he considered how close it would be.
“Mu’s fleet is speeding up too, they’re now sailing at eighteen knots!”
All the other countries’ fleets followed course, increasing speed as well. Seto stopped to think for a bit.
“All right! Let’s follow right behind Mu! Once we get to the strait, increase speed to twenty-five knots and attempt to withdraw while avoiding cannon fire!!!”
“Yes, sir!!!”
The Shikishima’s engine revved loudly as the ship sped up.
Holy Mirishial Empire, flagship of the local southern forces, magic cruiser Armis
“Distance to enemy ship, approximately fifteen kilometers!”
“Mu’s fleet is about six kilometers behind us.”
The six ships in the fleet roared noisily on the ocean. They had closed the distance from the Grade Atlastar to 15 km. Fleet Commander Pattes kept his eyes peeled as he gave orders. “Begin preparations for anti-ship warfare! Once they’re complete, everyone can fire at will! Let’s sink that ship!!!”
While they were already within their cannons’ max range, in a ploy to raise accuracy, he didn’t order them to begin preparing until they were within 15 km.
“Activating the shell’s magic circuit. Beginning injection of magic power into the main cannon shells! Composition twenty-three percent explosive, forty-three percent fire, forty-four percent air… Magic power injection complete, continuing on to charge the main cannon’s percussive circuit with magic power… Seventy percent, eighty percent, ninety percent, one hundred percent, magic power injection complete. Calculating enemy ship’s relative speed… port four degrees, angle of elevation thirty-six degrees.”
The mounted cannon tower in the front of the magic cruiser lazily turned and began taking aim.
“Main cannon firing preparations complete!”
“FIRE———!!!”
At Captain Nium’s barked order, the main cannon blasted out a shell with a thunderous boom. Moments later, smoke began to rise from the enemy ship.
“Did we hit them?!”
“No, it’s too soon! That smoke’s from the enemy’s cannon fire!!!”
“Hard to port!!!”
In order to dodge the enemy’s shot, the fleet desperately took evasive action.
“Our shots will land in four, three, two, one, now!!!”
All the shells hit the water a bit away from the enemy ship, giving rise to numerous columns of water.
“Shit! We missed!!!”
An instant later, six huge bursts of water splashed up all around the flagship Armis.
“Whoooooaaaaa!!!”
The ship rocked violently side to side. The amount of water they saw up in the air wasn’t normal at all; they’d never experienced this much water displaced by a cannon shell.
“They got this close to us with their first shot?!”
A huge amount of smoke puffed up from the giant enemy ship.
“Enemy has fired again! Probably their secondary cannons!!!”
“Damn it! They can reload so fast!!!”
All the other cruisers had already begun firing at the enemy battleship. Suddenly, the ship emitted a different kind of black smoke.
“We landed a direct hit!!!”
Cheers went up on the bridge. They had scored a hit first. Now, the enemy’s offensive efficiency should decrease a bit.
“The enemy has fired again!!!”
However, their rate of attack didn’t seem to have slowed down at all. Even after being hit by one of the cruisers’ large caliber cannons, it didn’t appear to have affected them at all seeing how they continued to fire their own cannons. Captain Nium was floored. A Mirishial shell landed directly on a vital part of the Grade Atlastar’s superstructure and exploded. However, the battleship’s thick armor had completely warded off the blow.
“There’s no way, there’s no fucking way, there was absolutely no effect?!”
It was incomprehensible for an attack from one of Mirishial’s cruisers to be shrugged off in this manner. Everyone froze in shock.
“No, that’s impossible. Keep attacking like— Nuoh!!!”
The ship tilted heavily to one side. There was a sudden flash of light at the front of the ship, followed by an explosion, causing the flagship Armis to rock violently, and the fleet commander smashed his head against a wall.
“Wha… What happened?!” Pattes asked while blood flowed down his head.
“Cough… the bow took damage! The front of the ship… was demolished!!!”
Clouds of smoke streamed into the air at the front of the ship. Pattes could only stare, speechless, after his eyes confirmed that mind-boggling report. The front portion of the Armis had been completely blown away by the Grade Atlastar’s 46cm cannon, and not a trace of its original shape remained. A massive amount of seawater was surging into the ship’s compartments.
“All hands, abandon ship!!!”
Sailors jumped into the ocean. The cruiser, along with anyone unable to escape in time, sunk into the depths of the sea.
The flagship of the Holy Mirishial Empire’s local southern forces, the magic cruiser Armis, suffered a direct hit from the Gra Valkas Empire’s Imperial Judgment Force super dreadnought Grade Atlastar’s 46cm main cannon. It took on water and swiftly sank.
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