Gunner was not having a good day. Another tentacle came over the side of the boat and tried to smack him. He rolled underneath the strike and shot it with his pistol. The electric based attack did its work well against the sea creature and it retracted it immediately. He huffed. The creature had been trying to grab or spear him for the last couple of minutes. He was agitated but at least it wasn't ramming the boat in that timeframe. He knew it was only a matter of time before it did and he had no means of stopping it if it tried. Being a person with electrical powers had its ups and downs. This was one of the downs.

"Be careful, Gunner." A small, feminine voice spoke. It was a small, blonde fairy flying over his shoulder. She was his companion in many sorts of ways and one of those was helping him in battle. Her name was Joule, "It's keeping its head in the water so you can't get a good shot at it yet."

"I know," he grunted and dodged another strike. After telling the masters of the monster, he had been ordered to keep it in line while the other two masters got ready. This was a burden for him. Since his attacks were electric based, fighting a creature underwater was rather hard for him to do. He could just throw a ton of electricity into the water but that could drain too much from his master and he wasn't sure that would be enough to slay this beast.

After he had gone to tell the others of this monster, he was ordered to keep it at bay until the others had a plan. That was easier said than done since he couldn't outright stop it. It could attack anywhere and he couldn't follow it into the depths. So far it hadn't tried to capsize the boat. No doubt it was a mixture of trying to find the right spot to puncture it and growing frustrated with the morsels on the boat being so hard to reach. Some creatures let a challenge get to them and sway them from rational thoughts. Good. He'd use that weakness as much as he could.

"Gunner," Gray, his master ran up to him. Her little cage on her side was acting up again with its occupant asking her to slow down. She stopped before him, "Are you alright?"

Gunner nodded, "Yeah, it hasn't got a hit on me yet but I haven't been able to really damage it."

"Do you need a command spell to do it?" Gray asked.

Gunner shook his head, "It'd be a waste of time. Besides, Lancer and Rider should be enough to take this thing out."

"Indeed," Lancer's voice rang out. He looked up to see her sitting upon her flying horse. A pegasus if he recalled the name of the creature. Her lance held tightly in one hand, "It is time to vanquish this foe once and for all."

"Yeah!" Rider spoke up with cheer. She was wearing a good number of metallic ww2 ship guns around her person, "No monster is going to get away with threatening my admiral. I will show them what my Burning Love really means."

"About time you showed up," Joule pouted as she flew over Gunner's head, "This creature was giving Gunner a run for his money."

"I'm not sure if it was that dire," Gunner jumped back as a tentacle almost speared him. A couple of shots caused the tentacle to retract. "For the most part."

"Then leave the rest to us," Lancer glanced over at Rider, "Keep the creature distracted as you move through the water. When it rises to strike, I'll cut it down."

"Got it," Rider gave a little salute and let out a little cheer as she jumped onto the water. Somehow she was able to keep herself above the waves and easily skate over the sea's surface. She was a ship girl after all but it was still strange to see. "I was worried I'd never get to fight on the sea in this war."

"Just don't let overconfidence blind you," Lancer called out as she soared overhead, "You may be a master of the waves but this monster lives underneath them. It could strike anywhere."

"Which is why I'm primed and ready to blow," Rider fist bumped. She yelped as she jumped back, missing a spear tentacle nearly hitting her before fading back into the depths. "Oooh, those look sharp."

"You've got to keep it above water for longer, Rider." Lancer said. "I can't get a clear hit if it's underwater."

Rider eeped as she dodged two more strikes, "That's easy for you to say. You're flying." She noticed another strike and moved to the side. As the tentacle rose up from the water, she shot it point blank. She could see the water churn as the monster drew back in pain, withdrawing the tentacle.

Suddenly two more tentacles shot out of the water right at Rider. She fired her shells, hitting one of them directly. The other made it through and almost hit her, glancing off her weaponry. Just as she shifted to keep it away, the beast threw its head up out of the water for a bite. Lancer was waiting for this moment. She yelled and charged on her steed. Her lance gained a hit on the creature. Unfortunately, it was only a glancing blow as it tilted its head and ducked back into the water.

Lancer scowled as she flew up, "I don't think I can reliably hit its brain like that. We'll have to bring it out of the water. Rider, do you think you can do that?"

Rider gave her a wink and a thumb's up, "Oh yeah, throwing monsters about is no problem." She narrowed her eyes as she concentrated, hoping to catch the monster before it got her instead.

Rider was almost thrown off her feet when a tentacle came slashing up, hitting her left foot. It was sent up into the air but she stopped herself from falling. She pivoted her foot and twirled, shooting another tentacle away as she did so. She knew the monster would get tired of such tactics and switch it up. It wouldn't run away. Abyssals never did so why should this monster?

She was right. This time the creature shot up two tentacles in front of her, causing her to jump back. That wasn't the only thing it tried. It thrust its large, tooth filled maw up over the water's surface. It wanted nothing more then to chomp down on the shipgirl. Rider wouldn't have any of that. She ducked underneath the tentacle to her left and grabbed the beast's jaw. Using her immense strength, she hefted it out of the water and threw it.

"Now, Lancer!" She cried out.

Lancer wasted no time. While that had been going on, she had been pumping energy into her javelin. It sparked with magic. Now was her time to use it. She took aimed and threw her javelin straight and true. The attack struck the beast's skull, piercing it deep. Magical electricity sparked over its form and in the moment it kept flying, it gave one horrible cry of pain before hitting the waves. The body floated up to the surface right after. The beast was dead.

Lancer smiled as she flew down to retrieve her spear, "Well fought, Rider."

Rider gave her a thumb's up, "Thanks. I do this for a living. Though my monsters aren't this big." She watched the body dissipate until there was nothing left, "I guess it really was a magical beast."

"Indeed," Lancer said, "But who could have created it and why send it out now?"

"Well done, Rider." El-Melloi called out, "I would expect nothing better than that from my servant."

"Ehehehe," Rider blushed and clutched her cheeks, "Ooooh, you're too much, admiral. I should hug you for that. In fact, I will!" She raced forward.

El-Melloi reeled back and jumped to the side as Rider jumped onto the ship. He chuckled nervously, "I don't think that's-"

Gunner pushed him into the waiting arms of Rider, who clutched and kissed his cheeks multiple times. He chuckled at the sight, "Oh just give her the reward, you cranky old man."

Lancer landed on the deck and unsummoned her steed. She walked up to her master, "The beast has been slain, master."

Bazett nodded, "Good work, Lancer. I want you to remain on look out in case of another monster attack."

Lancer nodded, "Yes master, but I don't think they will try that again."

Bazett quirked an eyebrow, "Explain."

"They were testing us," Lancer said, "Or they were overconfident in their own beast's strength. Either way, they know now that we won't go down so easily. They'll pull back to hit us harder sometime after we get to the shore."

Bazett nodded, "Understood. That makes sense actually. We'll have to double the defense of our base once we arrive then."

"It would seem that our beast has failed."

Kirei Kotomone could hear his servant's words play through his mind. If he didn't know better, he'd have detected agitation. He simply chuckled, "You underestimated the capabilities of servants. You merely thought of them as humans and acted accordingly."

"Servants. Humans. You are all the same to me." Foreigner spoke again. Even without their bond, this would have been how they communicated. His servant spoke through his telekinetic powers rather than his vocal cords. Rather interesting.

Right now they were not face to face. Rather Kirei was in his study, drinking a bit of wine and relaxing. He had gotten the chance to witness more births of new chimera. Lovely creatures they were. Full of carnage and rage, yet absurdly loyal to them. He would just need to make sure he stayed on his servant's good side. He didn't want to end up a pawn himself. Of course he doubted that would need to happen. They were content with each other. Why would he abandon a servant that suited his needs just fine? He even got to throw screaming children and homeless people to their fates in the cocoons. What a marvelous experience.

"Next time we'll hit them harder," Kirei said, twirling his glass a bit. "However, I think we should give them a bit of space. Let them bask in their victory before pulling the rug out from underneath them."

"I believe action should be taken now to kill them." Foreigner spoke, "The longer they live, the higher chance of failure."

"Perhaps," Kirei nodded, "But that would be a hasty decision. It's already apparent that we need to be more careful in the future with how we attack them. Sending a mere beast to slay a servant won't work. We'll need to play it smart. I think it would be best for us to lay low until the other servants are all summoned. That way we can pick them off or kill them all in one broad stroke, depending on the situation."

"True. Acting without all the players in motion would leave us confused on where to go. The rest of the servants would go into hiding and hit us in the back."

Kirei smiled, "Now you are seeing it my way. Yes, I shall play the part as mediator. It will throw them off our scent. For the most part anyways." A slight bit of agitation hit him as he looked down at the letter in his hands.

"A new player?"

"...My daughter," Kirei narrowed his eyes.

There were a number of emotions travelling through him at this moment. None of them were pleasant. Was it sorrow at knowing he would have to fight her? Elation at the chance to see her? Glee at the prospect of killing his own child? He did not know and that frustrated him. It also showcased the fact that the church didn't one hundred percent trust him on this matter. This was concerning. If this was the case, then his plan may be in jeopardy.

"Shall we kill her when she arrives?" Foreigner asked.

"No," Kirei spoke with conviction, "Let her believe she is in charge of her station and play with the others. If she's anything like me, it will be interesting to watch her tear apart the competition."

"If she's anything like you, I want her dead even more. You are a deadly opponent. For a human. Nothing to us, really."

Kirei chuckled, "Oh I know of how great the Chimera are. Soon the whole world will as it lays broken and bear. You truly are a blessing, Foreigner."

Yes, he could just imagine it. The Chimera sweeping over the world just like they did on theirs. This time, there would be no pesky super soldier to stop them. No Nathan Hale. No Joseph Capelli. Just their drive to consume everything in their path. He had seen visions of this world. The terror and anguish the populace went through was glorious. Yes, it was divinely perfect he had been given such a servant. For only Foreigner could wash away the filth of humanity in the most glorious way possible. Kirei would get to watch each and every second of it.

How wonderful.