The crew was clearly hesitant to use something so precious in a fight that didn’t involve their mark, though.
“None of that will mean shit if we sink here!” Riella argued. “And its MVP reward would be worth it!”
“A-Aye, aye, Captain!”
The crew began preparing the weapon.
“Keep a distance from the UBM! Fire as soon as it’s ready!”
“Aye, aye! Sixty-three seconds until charged!” Still accelerating, the Adventure II gradually changed the direction of its hull.
The whale chased after it, maw open wide, but it could not keep up.
The crew increased the ship’s speed to ensure the UBM didn’t catch them, yet also made subtle adjustments to its movement to make sure the monster didn’t give up. It was like a deadly game of tag.
In short, they were doing all they could to deal with the situation.
Within this chaos, the bound bear was silently comparing the speed of the ship and that of the whale that trailed behind it.
“...It’s caught on, you know.”
No one in the crew heard his words.
That was when the sixty-three seconds were finally up.
“It’s charged!”
“Swing turn and fire!”
“Aye, aye!” In response to Riella’s order, the ship simultaneously accelerated and decelerated—a jet of wind magic from the rear flank made it speed up, while a corresponding jet from above the front pinned the ship in place.
The back of the ship rose, while the front was pushed against the water, enabling a speedy 180-degree turn.
It was a maneuver reminiscent of the bike trick known as an endo 180, and it enabled the JotA installed on the bow to fix its sights on the whale.
“Firing the Javelin of the Atmos!” The gunner called out and readied the weapon...
“Wait! Hold!”
...but the second Riella ordered him to stop, the whale vanished.
A moment later, a wave—clearly caused by something—crashed into the deck.
“T-Target lost...!”
“It dove down—fast!” The words of the gunner and spotter threw the crew into a panic.
“It’s ascending again!”
“Ngh! Flank ahead!” Riella commanded, responding to the warning even though she was unsure who it had come from.
The ship accelerated once more, and the whale burst out of the water, grazing the hull ever so slightly.
But then, it disappeared into the depths once more.
“That little...!”
This behavior was difficult for JotA to handle. It was a plasma weapon, so if it were to hit the surface of the ocean, it would cause a steam explosion. That would perhaps add to its destructive potential, but if it was fired from too close, the Adventure II would be caught up in it as well.
The UBM spent most of its time submerged, never creating much distance between it and its prey. It was unlikely that it was aware of the weapon’s drawback, but its method of hunting effectively made it impossible for the Adventure II to fire the JotA.
Speedy diving and surfacing just as fast—most creatures would be unable to bear the intense changes in pressure, which meant that this was likely one of its core traits as a UBM.
“Release the depth charges!”
“Aye, aye!”
Riella quickly changed her approach.
If JotA wasn’t an option, they would simply use their anti-submarine weapons.
The dispenser at the stern released dozens, perhaps hundreds of depth charges.
They created violent explosions that threw up massive pillars of water.
However, despite all this destruction, it didn’t look like the UBM was receiving any damage.
“Why?!” A voice of slight panic escaped Riella’s lips as the whale’s maw surfaced, grazing the stern again.
This was its third rapid ascent.
Riella gritted her teeth. They were still evading the whale’s attacks, but they couldn’t keep this up forever. The crewmen who enabled this feat had limited MP too.
If this continued, the whale would inevitably engulf them.
“No...” Riella said. This was a creature that could kill them, and it wasn’t even their sworn enemy. They hadn’t even anticipated fighting it.
Perhaps, though, this was a glimpse into the sea as it had been in the distant past—a place that kept you from your goal with unknown and unforeseen threats that brought about your untimely end.
Was Riella also fated to die without ever meeting her quarry?
“No... No way I’ll sink.” Tears of rage and frustration—and a little bit of fear—began to pool in the corners of Riella’s eyes.
“Tag me in.”
But then, a soft hand touched her head.
“Huh...?” It didn’t feel anything like a human hand, though. Indeed, it was actually the plush paw of a bear costume.
Turning around, she saw the bear, who had been all but forgotten because of Whalunder’s attack.
He was now completely free.
“Huh? The chains...”
“Tore them up. I’ll compensate ya fur that later.”
The words filled Riella with surprise.
He’d been bound by spare anchor chains. Built to withstand sea monsters trying to rip them apart, they were far too tough for even someone with the STR of a high-rank job, and perhaps were even impervious to Dragon-tier creatures.
And yet, the bear claimed that he “tore them up.”
“As far as UBMs go, that one’s got a pretty huge advantage against this ship... Hell, most ships, actually. I was watchin’ the sea, and it looks like it can control the currents around it. That’s probably why the depth charges aren’t doin’ a thing. Also, it actually waited for the ship to stop and turn the gun on it. It’s pretty smart.”
The bear gave his analysis of the UBM, which told Riella that he’d spent all this time observing it.
“Anyway, gettin’ too close would just get you carried away by the current, while sittin’ right on it would be pretty bad if it decides to dive deep again. That leaves just one option... Man, first I end up in the same position as him, and now I’m usin’ his methods too,” said the bear, a certain Sechs rising to the forefront of his mind.
Discarding his bear puns, his tone was now much more serious.
“H-Hey...” The sudden change in atmosphere around the bear made Riella call out to him.
“Riella.” He looked her right in the eyes. Through his costume, he fixed his gaze on hers. “I’ll prove to you I ain’t a Swindler by takin’ care of that thing,” he said, waving his hand as he walked to the stern.