“And that’s why I’m gonna kill the damn thing myself,” said Riella. Before his death, Jonathan had begun construction on the Adventure II, and she had taken the recently completed craft on its maiden voyage to the South Sea.
Her only goal was to avenge her father.
Many were against this, and they told her to reconsider—that it was reckless, and that her father wouldn’t have wanted her to do it.
These had been the words of the other three commanders, as well as other captains, tian and Master alike. They came from a place of genuine concern, and yet Riella had brushed them aside and made the journey regardless.
A black flame of vengeance raged in her heart, and she would direct all of it toward Abyss Shellder.
Those who shared her intention—others who wished to avenge their fallen friends or families—had joined her on this ship, and they had arrived here.
That was why Riella now stared at the sea with a piercing look that belied her young age.
Somewhere beyond that horizon was the monster that had killed her father.
“Mm-hmm.” The bear hummed in understanding.
“So yeah, I got no time to take ya anywhere,” Riella concluded, making the bear fall silent. He might’ve been pondering something, but the costume made it hard to tell for certain.
But then, he finally spoke up.
“Young lady...”
“It’s Riella. Call me ‘young lady’ again and you’re goin’ right back in the water.”
“That so? Riella, then,” the bear said as he stood up, moving so casually that he hardly seemed chained up at all...
“I’ll pay for the ride by absolutely breakin’ that Abyss Shellder thing.”
...and made an offer as though it were nothing at all.
This time, the ones to fall silent were Riella and Asam.
Though, it didn’t take long for her to speak up...
“Hey, old man. Dump him back in the drink.”
“Right away.”
...and she declared that the bear ought to be discarded after all.
“But whyyy?!”
“Shut up! Not gonna lie, we could really use a hand, but I ain’t desperate enough to take a bear claw instead!”
“A claw is a top-tier ingredient, though! I’d be a beary big help! And you can’t just toss me in the ocean—that’s littering!”
“Ya beat a Tenchi godbeast and escaped the Technical Apex? Yeah, right! Man, you really wasted my time”
“T-Truth Discernment! Use that and you’ll know I’m totally fur real!”
“Not if you’re a high level Swindler! Reveal doesn’t work on ya either! That’s just shady!”
“I get what you’re saying, but the only thing shady about me is the color of my fur! Well, I mean, my costume’s fur!” As this exchange continued, the bear found himself dragged toward the edge of the ship. It seemed that despite his pleas, he would be thrown in the sea again.
But then, the ship’s siren split the air.
The bear snapped to attention as Riella took out a comms device and called out, “What happened?!”
She instantly received a response from the spotter on the bridge. “There’s a large object in the water! It’s a monster!”
Because of the vast amounts of water hindering visibility, finding underwater enemies was a difficult task even for those with skills from jobs like Scout. Since the dawn of Granvaloa, far too many ships had been sunk by surprise attacks from below.
However, Granvaloa’s state-of-the-art warships had equipment solely for detecting underwater threats, so their ships could anticipate these attacks using technology similar to sonar and radar.
“Ah! Is it the one?!”
“Not sure! But it’s bigger than the Adventure II! And it’s quickly rising toward us!”
Riella’s eyes widened.
A massive monster was approaching from the waters beneath—a manifestation of the nightmarish time before Granvaloa was established, when the sea was universally feared.
If the creature hit them, then even if the ship withstood the blow, it would most likely capsize.
“Helm room! Ahead ultra! We got a rapid ascent! Dodge it!”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” By Riella’s order, the Adventure II instantly switched from cruising mode to combat mode and began moving ahead at a near sonic speed.
“Ultra” was a navigation technique that employed magic for acceleration. Relying essentially on brute force, it used water magic to create a high-speed current on the surface beneath the ship and wind magic to generate air pressure that pushed the sails and stern.
While it dated back to the age of sailing ships, the Adventure II had a modern propulsion system that made this technique even more effective.
This allowed it to achieve a speed impossible for any ships on Earth, and these state-of-the-art magic warships of Granvaloa had no trouble keeping their crews safe while operating at such a speed.
In the blink of an eye, the Adventure II covered a kilometel of distance...
...and just in time, as the place it had just been in was engulfed by a massive maw.
The crew watched in shock as a giant whale surfaced from the water—a creature so massive it could easily consume a ship in a single bite.
And above it, there was a name: “Gargantuan Shipgulper, Whalunder.”
“A UBM...!”
“We have the approximate details! It’s...Ancient Legendary!” It wasn’t Riella’s target, but UBMs were powerful by nature, and this one was strong even by those standards.
Had Riella been even a bit slower with her order, the Adventure II would’ve been consumed.
Whalunder hadn’t given up on its prey yet, though, and it still faced the ship.
Riella gasped before calling out, “Ready the JotA!”
“But Commander! We have limited ammo...” JotA was a powerful weapon installed in the Adventure II. Short for “Javelin of the Atmos,” it had been discovered in some pre-ancient ruins and claimed by Granvaloa, becoming one of the strongest cards the country held.
Taken from a ship salvaged from these ruins, it was basically a plasma cannon that combined the elements of fire, wind, and lightning. Its power surpassed even the Fixed Star spell—the pinnacle of fire magic—and it was said that it could melt Mythical metal in the blink of an eye.
However, its shots were powered by pre-ancient cartridges that couldn’t be reproduced in the current age—and there were only three of them left.
This rarity, and the fact that it had never been thoroughly tested, had made Jonathan decide against bringing it to his venture against Abyss Shellder...and that was exactly why Riella had taken it on hers, gambling on the idea that this weapon had been exactly what was missing.