At that mont, the cannons that had been firing relentlessly, the gunshots filling the air, the soldiers' shouts, and even their screams all ceased. Everyone stared at the filthy sea where blood and pus, monsters and human corpses floated.
Neither the long hair nor the giant scythe could be seen.
"......Is she dead?"
At soone's thoughtless remark, Cider handed over the monster he was fighting to Lieutenant Elfain and rushed to the railing.
Below the murky surface, he could see moving shadows. Whether it was combat or the monster's predation, he couldn't tell imdiately. Cider gripped the blood-stained railing and caught his breath. His eyelids trembled.
He knew it couldn't be true. Esperanza knew her own abilities well, and she wasn't the type who had no attachnt to life like Cider. If she had thought it was dangerous, she wouldn't have made such a plan from the beginning. However, the emotions beneath his firmly built rational judgnt were shaking as if torn by claws. No matter how much his reason insisted it couldn't be true, the clinging anxiety refused to fall away.
He should have called out when he first spotted Esperanza. At least he should have run to her when Esperanza was talking with Commodore Rustin. If Esperanza couldn't co out of the water like this....... No, that couldn't be.
Cider fired his gun at a turtle-shaped monster that had climbed onto the deck. Two shots missed, but the third hit the vital spot precisely.
His accuracy had dropped drastically. Crude curses he had never uttered before swirled in his throat. A hollow laugh escaped.
How arrogant to believe everything was under control.
Esperanza had been underwater for over ten minutes now, and at this rate, this battle had no chance of victory. Damn it....... he couldn't die like this.
I can't end it this way. I can't lose her without properly seeing her face even once.
He exhaled roughly and leaned his back against the wall. No, it was more like he had been pushed against it. His vision blurred.
"Get it together, Avondale!"
Right in front of his eyes was a crab claw. Motionless. Like a stopped machine resuming operation, the gears in his head began to turn again.
Commodore Rustin, who had thrown himself in front of Cider, grabbed his tattered arm and shouted. Blood stains endlessly seeped through the white uniform sleeves. Lieutenant Elfain quickly blocked the two n's front and fired wildly to drive away the monster.
"Getting distracted during battle, are you, ugh, in your right mind?"
Commodore Rustin collapsed, unable to bear the pain. Cider caught and supported him. His confused mind seed to return sowhat.
"......Let's go to the infirmary."
"Unless you're going to hand over your gun, stay put!"
The Commodore who had raised his voice collapsed again. He wanted to take him to the infirmary, but since the Commodore vehently refused, he pushed the Commodore's body into the nearest indoor space.
"Stay here. I'll tell them to bring the ship's doctor."
"Forget it. I can handle this much myself. Just bring so bandages. I've endured, huff...... much worse wounds."
The wound was terrible. Cider, who brought bandages from the shelf, frowned at the sight of the torn flesh and the body that was almost completely pierced through. He couldn't understand why the Commodore, who had obviously disliked him, had thrown himself to save him. As if noticing that look, the Commodore let out a thick laugh despite his pain.
"You're a civilian! I can't let a single civilian die on my ship."
Cider looked down at the Commodore silently, then pushed the last remaining magic stone into his gun. After closing the door and coming out, he found the ship's doctor, told him where the Commodore was, and returned to his original position. Esperanza still hadn't erged from the sea.
Even trying not to be conscious of it, one inevitably calculates the ti a person can generally survive underwater. That a ti far exceeding the average had passed. The worst-case scenario flickered like black smoke.
'That can't be.'
There's no way she couldn't handle just one monster. If that were the case, she wouldn't have made such a dangerous operation from the start. But was it really such an impossible thing?
Esperanza had already faced both Daria and Cyrus, and there were many monsters. There were plenty of ships to protect front and back, with cannons flying from them as well. The difficulty was higher than any battle she had fought before.
Regardless of trust, he couldn't stop the black anxiety that colored his mind. Cider continued to stare at the sea, which still showed only murky shadows and movent, with no sign of anything erging. His eyes, which had been lightly tinged with blue, darkened.
"That person from earlier...... do you think she's dead?"
The lieutenant who was removing his leg from the gun barrel asked. Without even looking back at him, Cider snapped.
"You'd better hope not."
The magic bullet fired imdiately after those words was particularly strong and sharp. The lieutenant seed to have sothing to say, but missed the timing while dealing with the kraken that appeared the next mont.
Though smaller than the one Esperanza had been fighting, the monster was powerful and solid. The magic cannons could only inflict minor scratches at best. He gradually felt like the ship was being pushed back. The number of monsters had clearly decreased from before, but so had the soldiers. Magic power was almost running low. It was chaotic. His vision narrowed to the point where he could only see the single monster he was currently facing.
"Count, be careful!"
Lieutenant Elfain shouted loudly. Cider's gun expelled magic power a beat too late. One magic cannon and dozens of guns blocked its movent, and after several bursts of gunfire, they cut off the tentacle.
The mont tension was released, his vision shook. The ship had tilted. He pulled the trigger toward the approaching monster. Click, click, powerless sounds erged. His spine grew cold.
Magic power was depleted.
That magic stone from earlier had been the last one. The mont he took his eyes off the monster to check his gun, the kraken's tentacle pierced through his body. Lieutenant Elfain's shrill voice painfully struck his ears.
He felt dull pain in his back that had hit the wall. The blood soaking his clothes and the realization, along with the pain that rushed in simultaneously, turning his mind white. He gritted his teeth to avoid losing consciousness.
'Ah, my arm is crushed too.'
Should he be grateful it was his left arm? Reality seed to drift far away. His consciousness flickered slowly.
In his blurred vision, he saw long hair erging from the deep sea. Esperanza, who had cut off the tentacle with her large scythe, stood atop the monster's head, stepping on the falling tentacle. Monster flesh falling away in pieces under the scythe's graceful trajectory, and wet hair scattering clear water droplets. A pair of highly saturated eyes.
So vivid and blindingly otherworldly.
Perhaps it wasn't real. Perhaps he was seeing hallucinations, pickled in pain. However, even in his confused state, he could feel a smile spreading across his lips.
My dizzyingly beautiful love.
Even in the pain that felt like his wounds were tearing, a hollow laugh escaped. Rather, his mind seed to clear.
He couldn't hold onto her. Postponing it or pretending not to know was useless. The fact he had avoided while fleeing all the way to distant Dunbarton—only now could he finally admit it. Whenever it would be, Esperanza would eventually return. Then sending Esperanza back should be his responsibility.
That much he couldn't compromise on.
??????°??☆????°??????
Dust rose thickly. Alastair stared blankly at the debris of the broken wall. Even while raising his gun, it didn't feel real. The monster that had burst through the door by ramming it with its head resembled a turtle. The thick spines embedded in its shell had ruthlessly smashed the door fra. Crack, crack—the sound of the wall being torn apart.
"We, we have to run......."
A man holding a crude axe said, trembling. When he dropped the axe while shaking his limbs, the monster's head slowly turned toward the sound.
The monster was quiet. It neither showed its teeth threateningly nor hastily initiated an attack. However, with each step it took forward, the surrounding ground shook like paper.
'At this rate, the floor will collapse.'
Underground, there were many elderly people, won, and children. Realizing this fact, quick glances were exchanged between Alastair, the veterans, and the sailors. Soon, one of them fired at the turtle.
However, the bullet rely bounced off with a thud. The turtle twisted its body as if tickled. The centuries-old stained glass shattered, and colorful glass fell into the chapel.
"Take cover!"
The n quickly took shelter under chairs pushed against the wall, but finely shattered glass fragnts flew and scratched their cheeks and limbs.
Having already fought a defensive battle against crab-clawed monsters once, they were drained of strength throughout their bodies. Alastair, who struggled to get up, fired his gun at the monster's head.
Every ti the monster twisted its body, the large spines on its shell smashed the stone walls. Stone fragnts poured down.
"Aaah!"
"Take cover by the organ!"
Alastair also fired his gun while backing away. Every ti the turtle moved, the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred, making it difficult to maintain balance. Moreover, the monster had completely smashed the door, breaking through the first floor. The cathedral could no longer serve as a shelter, and monsters began to swarm in.
"Those crab monsters from before appeared again!"
"Count! Quickly finish off that turtle!"
As if it's that easy!
However, every ti the turtle moved, the floor caved in and sank. At this rate, the people underground would really be in danger. Alastair fired repeatedly at the turtle's neck until he had completely emptied one magic stone, his face contorted.
The monster, large enough to fill the chapel, began ramming its head against the ceiling. It scread as if boiling and writhed.
The struggling monster's head turned toward Alastair. As he slowly backed away facing the slowly approaching turtle, he suddenly felt chills.
"Count, dodge!"
It was divine luck that he instinctively lowered his body at that mont. Another monster's tail swept past where Alastair had been standing.
"Kugh! These bastards, there's no end to them......!"
Compared to the situation the naval warships were experiencing, the number of monsters was fewer, but the only magical weapon they had was Alastair's single gun.
The tide of defeat grew thicker. Seeing a sailor caught in a monster's claw, Alastair quickly aid his gun. It wasn't easy to precisely snipe the flesh under the wildly swinging claw. Alastair gritted his teeth and rose from between the cover.
Behind Alastair, who was concentrating on the claw reflected in his scope, the turtle monster with its neck mangled raised its foot. With a crushing sound, the ceiling completely collapsed. When Alastair turned his head, a massive foot was coming down toward his head.
Then, the first verse of a hymn echoed through the ruined cathedral. At the pipe organ's resonance that perfectly erased the noise of battle, the turtle's gaze also turned. Alastair, who had barely pulled his body out from under the turtle's foot, turned his head toward the source of the sound.
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