The next day.
The Demon King Express spewed smoke from its chimney as it crossed the Dark Firmament. A giant castle filled our entire field of view. Technically speaking, it wasn’t a castle—it was a lump of stone, boulders, and hard dirt. A rock world in the shape of a castle. It was Second Balandias, the stage for the Silverwater Ranking Skirmish.
The Demon King Express slowly descended to the gate of Second Balandias and went inside. A vast underground space eventually came into view. It was similar to the underground world in Militia’s World. There seemed to be some kind of order at work, as it was faintly illuminated. There were very few trees, lakes, or plants. It was a world of rock, through and through.
It was no wonder art and culture didn’t exist in such a bleak landscape. And while there were many fort cities across the rugged land, they seemed formed only to defend from enemy attack, and nothing more.
“Ruler Anos, please lead the Demon King Academy here.”
A light rose from the land to show us where Ottolulu wanted us to go. Under Eldmed’s command, the Demon King Express descended to the specified spot and stopped.
“Wait there,” Ottolulu said. She was standing on a large magic circle drawn on the ground. She then inserted a large windup key into the keyhole of the magic circle and turned it with both hands. “Silhale.”
The key turned three times. A section of the magic circle opened like a door, and silverwater started flowing out of it. Once a silver pool had formed over the magic circle, the large mouth of a whale appeared just below the surface of the water. The whale was blue, and of a species I had never seen before.
“Hmm. What’s that?” I stuck my head out of the train window and asked Ottolulu.
“It’s called a silverwater whale. A rare magic creature that swims through the silver seas,” she replied.
The whale’s body tilted, sinking back into the silverwater. Vivid blue firefly-like lights spouted out of the hole on its back—firedew.
“This is the firedew used for the Silverwater Ranking Skirmish.”
Once the whale had spouted all the firedew it would spew, it leaped out of the pool and began swimming through the skies of Second Balandias. Ottolulu turned the windup key once again, and the silverwater covering the magic circle was sucked back into the hole. The magic circle then faded.
“You may manage your firedew freely, but only the firedew in your ship is considered yours. Any firedew not on your ship will be retrieved by the silverwater whale in three minutes. Be careful not to get eaten by it,” she explained in a businesslike tone.
“Store it in the cargo hold,” I said.
The Fan Union girls in the turret carriage immediately piped up.
“Cog cannon ready!”
“Alignment complete!”
The cannon with a cog set inside it was pointed at the firedew.
“Firing absorption cog! Neos!”
A chained cog was fired from the cannon, releasing an absorptive power that pulled the firedew towards it like a magnet.
“Suck it in! Suuuck!” the fan union girls cheered as they pulled the Neos back into the cannon by the chain. The attached firedew light was released in the cargo hold. The girls repeated this until the first, second, and third cargo holds were full of firedew.
“Offensive magic power detected. Presumed magic canon,” Misha said.
The next moment, a loud booming sound rattled the train. Several shells were fired around the Demon King Express, causing the nearby ground to explode.
The students raised their voices in protest at the shaking ground.
“Kyaaah!”
“What?! It hasn’t even started yet!”
“Sneaky bastards!”
“Wah ha ha ha ha ha!” Kaltinas’s voice echoed through Leaks.
“Sky fortresses approaching from above. Twenty-five ships total,” Misha said.
I turned my Magic Eyes to the sky to see roughly twenty-five castle ships flying our way.
“So much screaming over a simple greeting. A shell that doesn’t hit its target is just a puff of air. What are you so afraid of? Cowards,” Kaltinas said mockingly. He stopped the Tigrisfort Academy’s sky fortresses in formation above us. “Well, considering your forces, that’s no surprise. You think you can face us with all of you squeezed onto a single shoddy ship? How pitiful. We could cry.”
“Oh? Those faulty eyes of yours can still shed tears?” I asked.
His confident ramblings came to a sudden halt. I could imagine him trembling with anger already.
“Say that again.”
“Of course, your Eyes aren’t the only thing that’s faulty about you. The Royal Tiger Maytilen is the same. Neither of you know who you’ve made an enemy out of.”
I sent a Limnet over to Kaltinas to show him my face.
“A single Demon King Express is enough to face your fleet. Now save the small talk and come at me.” I leaned back on the throne and rested my chin on my hand, the picture of ease. “No matter how many ships you bring, I’ll knock every last one of them down.”
“Say what you want. You’ll learn your place soon enough!”
I silently showed him the magic crystal in front of me using Limnet. His hair stood on end in rage.
“And to think we considered going easy on you in the event you begged us for mercy. It seems there’s no need for that anymore! Our castle will crush that measly ship of yours to dust. Ottolulu! Give the signal!”
Ottolulu rose up into the sky of Second Balandias and sent a Leaks out to both sides.
“The Silverwater Ranking Skirmish between the Demon King Academy of Militia’s World and the Tigrisfort Academy of Silvercastle World Balandias will now begin. Any damage to the stage of Second Balandias will be allowed. By the principles of Pablohetra and the order of the silver seas, let us reach the deepest of depths.”