...and looked hatefully upon the thing it thought had taken its prey—Baldr.
Creating waves with every movement of its legs, Abyss Shellder followed Mu’s particles and charged at Shu’s ship.
“Old-timer,” Riella said, her voice cold as ice. “Prepare the JotA.”
Some would think that this indicated a mind that remained calm despite her predicament, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The excessive rage invoked by the sight of her mark had left the body’s natural reactions far behind.
Still, her order was the correct one.
The Javelin of the Atmos was the ace up their sleeve they’d prepared specifically to fell the Abyss Shellder. There was no better time to use it than now.
The two Superiors also flew into action.
“Baldr! Intercept! Armor-piercing and incendiary shells! Mixed barrage!”
“Affirmative.” Shu and Baldr began repeatedly firing the main gun.
“All ships! Combat formation!” Satomi, meanwhile, remotely controlled his five ships.
Their movements were more basic than New Yamato’s, but they all automatically fixed their sights on Abyss Shellder and fired.
The many projectiles heading toward the UBM included shells that were quite powerful despite being smaller than New Yamato’s, shots from magic cannons crafted by a Magicannon Smith, and missiles that seemed inexhaustible in number.
The intensity of the onslaught was more than enough to prove that Satomi wasn’t lying when he said he had plenty of firepower even without New Yamato.
With Baldr included, the overwhelming force of six ships descended wholesale upon Abyss Shellder.
No living being could withstand something like this.
However, neither Shu nor Satomi said, “Did we get it?” or anything like that.
Not because they didn’t want to jinx it, though.
They just knew that they hadn’t gotten it.
“Damn monster...!” Despite weathering intense bombardment, Abyss Shellder’s silver shell didn’t have a single scratch on it. It continued its advance toward Baldr as if it couldn’t care less about the onslaught.
Paying no mind to Satomi’s ships even as they continued attacking or the Adventure II as it prepared the JotA, it maintained a direct charge.
“...I see.” The sight filled Shu with understanding—it was more than worthy of the “Stronghold” name.
This was a creature whose shell rivaled the strongest fortress, a creature that remained unshaken even by some of the greatest firepower in the sea.
An entity that surpassed Mythical and was more than a match for SUBMs.
The Irregularity that stood above countless corpses.
The most fiendish marine creature of all—Corpse Stronghold, Abyss Shellder.
The only firepower I got that could work against it are Strength Cannon and Unmatched God of War—Baldr, Shu thought. But the former’s still on cooldown, and...I can’t use the latter.
He’d just used his ult against New Yamato, but the environment wasn’t right for it now.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t jump on Abyss Shellder like he had on New Yamato without dying. It was simply the fact that if he had to fight without a platform, he would have to take it to the seabed, and it wasn’t clear how well Baldr could fight in that environment as a robot.
Considering the opponent was an aquatic Irregularity, it seemed unlikely that Baldr would emerge victorious.
And the fact that it didn’t take any damage from that firepower tells me that it’s got some gimmick. Shu observed the seemingly invincible Abyss Shellder and pondered how it could be defeated.
And that was when the situation changed drastically.
“Commander! It’s ready!” As the two Superiors attacked, Adventure II finished its preparations.
Its deck had split open, and a massive gun was now aimed straight ahead.
This was the destructive weapon they’d excavated from a Seabed Excavation Fort—the all-ending tactical plasma cannon—Javelin of the Atmos.
One of the three remaining shots—or rather, energy packs—had its magic emptied to completely fill the gun, creating countless magic circles around its body.
“Good.” Riella showed no hesitation. She replied to Asam with a strong will that said—no, screamed—that this creature couldn’t be allowed to exist for even a second longer.
From her side, she took out a device shaped like a gun—JotA’s remote firing trigger.
She was determined to claim vengeance herself and prepared this for that purpose.
All of it had been for this moment.
“Commander! It’s locked on! There are no ships in the trajectory!” The moment it was confirmed that neither Baldr nor any of Satomi’s ships were in the way...
“Firing.”
...Riella pulled the trigger.
Suddenly, there was a burst of light that made it seem as though the sun had fallen from the sky, followed by a single projectile blasted out of JotA.
Evaporating the water below it, this light pushed toward its target—the defenseless Abyss Shellder—and landed a direct hit.
A moment later, an intense heat and explosive wind flooded the surrounding area. The heat released at the moment of impact instantly evaporated the surrounding water, creating an enormous steam explosion.
The plasma continued releasing heat for a long moment after, not even allowing the water to flow back.
Baldr, Satomi’s ships, and the Adventure II responsible for this had to distance themselves to not be pulled off the edge—a precarious cliff of water that looked like nothing so much as the edge of the world envisioned by those who believed the Earth was flat.
“The pre-ancients and their toys...” Shu couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.
How many such dangers had that civilization left behind in this Infinite Dendrogram?
Though, however numerous and dangerous they were, one could say that they had a purpose if they were able to put an end to a calamity like this.
Key word: if.
The effect wore off, the plasma vanished, and the sea rushed back, even though the lingering heat kept it boiling.
But despite this hellish environment...
“Khee... Khaaa.”
...the calamity remained alive.
It was completely unharmed, and its silver shell showed no signs of melting.
In fact, the heat hadn’t even affected its color.
There were no signs of pain or damage on Abyss Shellder.
No one said a thing, but the heaviest silence was Riella’s.
The sound of the remote trigger falling from her hand and onto the floor echoed throughout Baldr’s bridge.
Riella and the adventure fleet had brought the JotA as the card that would surely let them enact their revenge...
...and this moment had showed it was meaningless and proven they stood no chance.
However, there was another change in the situation at that moment.
Abyss Shellder, which had been charging toward Baldr, had stopped in place. It floated on the water like an island, completely immobile.
The sight made some in the adventure fleet hope that maybe JotA did actually do some damage.
However...
“Khee khee khee.”
...the silver shell changed shape.
As if pushing something from within, it became like liquid metal and reshaped its surface.
Eventually, it created countless jaws—many heads of seadragons.
Shock overcame Shu as he instantly realized that these were what had become of seadragons just like the one consumed by last night’s Mock.
“KHEKHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
A moment later, the seadragon maws released their breath weapons. Some were ice, some lightning, some sonic blasts, some poison.
This created a wide-scale storm of destruction that quickly sank two of Satomi’s five ships.
These were Abyss Shellder’s weapons. True to its title as Corpse Stronghold, it was armed with the bodies of the dead.
“It learns powers through consumption... Just like last night’s Mock and a certain slime I know.”
Where’s its limit, though? Shu wondered.
He himself had fought someone with such powers. However, he believed it impossible for a single being to be able to gain every power possible without any end in sight—there had to be a limit somewhere.
Otherwise...
“Hey, bear,” Satomi called out, ending Shu’s train of thought. “I brought one of my ships close. I’m getting on it.”
“That so?”
“You and the Adventure II get out of this area.”
“...What?” These unexpected words made Shu turn to look at him.
“Using JotA clearly reduced the Adventure II’s performance, and your Embryo must’ve suffered damage in the fight against New Yamato.” Shu listened as he continued. “Actually, it’d be pretty embarrassing for me if it didn’t.” Satomi chuckled in what seemed like self-derision. “That’s why you should leave this to me. The three ships I still have are in perfect condition. I can fight at one hundred percent.”
He then glared at the Abyss Shellder, still spewing its breath in the distance.
“If that’s not enough to beat it, it’ll just mean that we haven’t fulfilled the conditions for that.” Silence. “You know what I mean, right? There’s gotta be a reason it’s invincible. Until we find out what it is, Granvaloa... No, mankind won’t have a chance against it.”
“...Yeah.” Shu knew that better than most. The SUBM he’d fought—Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria—was said to be the strongest monster in history and was completely impervious to damage unless certain conditions were met.
The same could be said of Biframe White Whale, Twin Moby Dick. If the environment allowed it, the SUBM that had attacked Granvaloa could regenerate without end.
If the Abyss Shellder was a creature on the same level as these, then its invincibility must’ve come with some limitations.
If it didn’t, then it would be the end of the South Sea, if not Granvaloa as a whole.
In fact, it might be the end of much, much more than that.
“I’ll hold it back and gather data,” Satomi continued. “If I get the death penalty, I’ll upload the info I get to my clan’s homepage. Keep an eye on it.”
“Military nerd...”
“Don’t worry. I’m not the type to talk big like that and then just lose without getting any results. I promise I’ll at least get a lead that’ll help beat it,” Satomi said with a chuckle before leaving Baldr’s bridge and jumping over to the ship he’d brought close.
“Old-timer. Ya hear all that?”
“...Yes.”