Chapter 70: Let’s See How They Handle This

For twenty-one days, the twin corvettes carved a relentless path across the endless expanse of the western ocean.

To the imperial crew, the voyage was nothing short of miraculous. The wind mages worked in grueling eight-hour rotations, funneling mana into the deck runes to conjure a continuous, howling gale behind the crimson sails. Spray hissed violently against the pitch-coated hulls as they maintained their blistering pace, shaving months off a traditional transit. Yet, even with the elements bent to their will, the sea was vast beyond comprehension. The navigators estimated at least another three weeks remained before the jagged cliffs of the Cragspine coast would breach the horizon.

And throughout every league of that journey, deep beneath the churning swells, the USS Montana shadowed them like an invisible phantom. Floating beneath the thermocline, the nuclear predator matched their speed knot for knot, its passive sonar feeding real-time telemetry back to John’s command network. The Solarians sailed completely oblivious to the fact that their every move had already been cataloged, mapped, and predicted.

Above deck, midnight settled over the open sea.

The wind mages on duty maintained a steady, low hum of pressurized air, keeping the sails full, but the frantic activity of the day had finally quieted into a dull, monotonous routine. Most of the sailors had retreated beneath deck to escape the biting sea spray, leaving only the watchmen pacing the bow and an inquisitorial guard stationed near the quarterdeck.

At the starboard railing, Miyuki leaned forward with her chin resting in the palms of her hands, her wooden staff tucked under her arm. The sea breeze tugged at loose strands of her dark hair.

"It feels like we’ve been on this ship forever," she said, letting out a soft sigh that vanished into the ocean wind. "Three weeks of nothing but salt water and wooden planks... and we’re only halfway there."

Beside her, Ayanokoji stood with his elbows resting against the damp railing, gazing upward into the sky. "A standard merchant vessel would take nearly six months to cross this distance. Cutting that down to six weeks is an efficient use of their resources. Boredom is just an inevitable side effect of routine travel."

"Trust you to describe spending weeks trapped on a boat as ’efficient,’" Miyuki murmured, though there was no real bite to her words.

She tilted her head back, looking toward the heavens.

Out here, thousands of miles from the glow of any imperial cities, the night sky was stunning. A sprawling, luminous river of starlight stretched from one edge of the horizon to the other, glittering with brilliant violet, emerald, and silver hues unique to this world’s twin moons. The reflection danced across the dark, undulating swells like scattered glass.

"It really is pretty, though," Miyuki whispered, her gentle eyes softening as she traced the constellations. "Back home, you could never see stars like this. The city lights always washed everything out."

"Light pollution," Ayanokoji replied evenly, his face illuminated only by the faint celestial glow. "Though an undisturbed sky also means an absence of civilization. The prettier it looks, the farther away we are from any infrastructure that could help us if things go wrong."

Miyuki turned her head to look at his indifferent profile, offering a faint, tired smile. "Can’t you just enjoy a nice view for once without calculating survival margins?"

"Enjoying the scenery doesn’t increase our odds of completing the mission," he said, blinking slowly as he tracked a faint, steady light drifting far across the high atmosphere—unaware that tens of thousands of feet above them, a synthetic aperture radar was painting their ship’s coordinates onto an American monitor. "Looking at the stars is harmless, but don’t forget why we’re out here. In three weeks, the quiet ends."

"I know," Miyuki murmured softly, wrapping her cloak tighter against the midnight chill. She looked back up at the vast canopy of stars. "I just hope... whatever is waiting for us out there... we can all make it back home."

Ayanokoji didn’t answer. He simply kept his dull eyes fixed on the empty horizon.

Then—. He noticed something beneath the surface of the water.

The ocean water beneath them suddenly shifted, swelling up in an unnatural bulge.

Ayanokoji stood up straight, his dull eyes locking onto the dark patch of sea just two hundred meters away. "Miyuki. Step back."

"Huh? What’s wrong?" she asked, turning to look over the railing.

Right then, the bright moonlight cut through the thin clouds, lighting up the water.

A massive black shape surfaced from the deep.

Thick, fleshy tentacles covered in barbed suckers broke through the waves, spraying white foam everywhere. A massive, rubbery head rose into the open air, revealing two huge, glowing yellow eyes that stared straight at the lead corvette.

It was a Kraken. An S-rank sea monster.

"Kraken! Starboard side!" the lookout screamed from the crow’s nest, desperately slamming the alarm bell.

Panicked shouts broke out across the deck. Sailors ran for the harpoons while the wind mages struggled to chant a new spell, trying to force the ship to turn.

Four hundred feet directly below them, inside the USS Montana, the calm atmosphere vanished.

"Captain! Massive biological contact detected!" Miller yelled into his mic, adjusting his headset. "Target just punched through the thermal layer, rising fast at twenty-five knots! Water displacement is huge!"

Gallagher walked quickly to the console. "Give me bearing and depth."

"Bearing zero-eight-two, depth fifty feet and breaching!" Miller replied, eyes wide at the display. "It’s right next to Sierra-One. The contact is engaging the lead Solarian ship!"

"Holy shit," Brooks muttered from behind them. "What kind of sea creature moves like that?"

"Possibly similar to the sea creature that the navy encountered back then, a Kraken or something worse," Gallagher said coolly, looking at the tactical screen. "Keep passive track on both targets. Let’s see how the Solarian handle this."

Back on the surface, a giant tentacle slammed down toward the deck, blocking out the moonlight and heading straight for Miyuki and Ayanokoji.