Kancolle Alt

by MasterBaiter4.0

A new destroyer joins the Yokosuka Naval Base, befriending old and new allies alike to fight their sworn enemies, the mysterious Abyssals. Little do they know, the first act of the war is drawing to a close...

48. Chapter 48 - Everything On The Edge

Twenty minutes before the end of the Battle of Twelve Navies

Yamato sailed across the chaotic battlefield, understanding that there had to be a flagship for them to sink in order to stop this battle.

To either heavily damage or sink an enemy flagship was to cut off the snake at the head, because while another ship could take over command, it was normally be deemed too risky to continue a sortie if the flagship, who was in charge of decision-making and leadership, was to be compromised in battle, and a heavily damaged ship girl could no longer do battle without placing her at a significantly higher risk of sinking.

In addition, sensitive information (possibly pertaining to some grand, overarching strategy) given as instructions to the flagship prior to the sortie might be leaked should they continue and cause the flagship to sink, allowing the Abyssals to capture, revive and interrogate them for information.

All the Princesses were engaged in battle with several fleets, and Yamato clenched her Anti-Abyssal umbrella even tighter as she considered the enemy bosses present.

She could feel the Northern Water Princess engaging in battle with Yokosuka's 1st and 8th Fleet, and she could detect several battleships heading towards the Battleship Water Demon and a Southern War Princess.

The Air Defense Princess and the Armored Carrier Princess were taking on entire fleets solo, and the remaining Battleship Princess was tag-teaming several fleets along with the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon.

That was all her reconnaissance planes and radar could pick up, and she surmised that either the Battleship Water Demon, Battleship Princess or Aircraft Carrier Water Demon could be the flagships.

They wouldn't allow the volatile Princesses like Southern War and Armored Carrier Princesses to take command of an invasion as important as this.

The Air Defense and Northern Water Princess were fighting entire fleets solo, and unless they had an insane amount of faith in their flagship to survive alone even after the explosive fiasco before this, it was unlikely for them to be the flagship.

She trusted her battleship comrades to take on the Battleship Water Demon as she sailed towards the Battleship Symbiotic Princess and Aircraft Carrier Water Demon, circumventing a red circle on her HUD as a warning blared,

'MISSILES INBOUND'

Yamato still shielded herself against the fireball which landed right where the reconnaissance Fairies predicted, but the missiles served as a form of crowd control to force ship girls that were gathered in formations to disperse before they could dole out any serious damage.

Enemy dive bombers droned as they battled with Fairy-piloted fighter planes, and Yamato had to struggle to suppress her tremors upon thinking back to her sinking at the hands of dive bombers and fighter planes, and while she had made her peace with the American carriers who carried out the deed, the trauma and abject fear of planes was still present in her heart and mind.

But still she persisted.

Perhaps it was being given a chance to make a difference between victory and defeat, or the fact that she wanted to make up for past failures, but she powered on as her rigging's Anti-Air turrets were all blazing, aggressively firing at any and every Abyssal plane who dared to make a pass in their direction.

She saw two Junyous, one unremodeled and the other possessing Kai Ni, passing an alcohol flask about, baseline Junyou finishing one while Kai Ni Junyou unbuttoned her coat to pull out another two flasks from her generous cleavage, passing one to baseline Junyou who was already devouring the empty metallic flask.

At a distance, she could see that Battleship Symbiotic Princess and Aircraft Carrier Water Demon were engaged in battle, two Junyou mentally controlling their planes along with Kaga, Hiryu, Chitose and Saratoga while the ship girls on their side were Hatsushimo, Shimakaze, Yuudachi, Kirishima, Inazuma and Yahagi as well as a Kai Ni Sendai, Ashigara, Myoukou, Tone, Shigure, Kako and Kawakaze, several of whom were from other bases.

The enemy side consisted of four Ri-Class and two Elite Ne-Class heavy cruisers, four Wo-Class carriers, five Ho-Class light cruisers, two Chi-Class torpedo cruisers, five I-Class destroyers and two Yo-Class submarines.

Leading them was the Battleship Symbiotic Princess whose damage status tethered on medium damage with the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon providing aerial support by taking on several carriers at once.

Yamato inhaled sharply, unsheathing her katana as she fired a warning shell into the ocean, instantly killing one I-Class destroyer and silencing everyone.

All her troubles and woes were then purged from her mind as she focused her attention on the enemy before her, speaking regally and confidently.

"Yamato, beginning combat!"

The Aircraft Carrier Water Demon chuckled darkly as she leered at Yamato, speaking up about how much simpler this made things.

[Hehehe…

Well, this saves us the trouble of having to find a capital ship to sink in order to recoup our losses!

Dyson, get Izanami to fire your cannons; I'll dole out death from above!]

Yamato could hear the Battleship Symbiotic Princess, named Dyson, respond darkly,

[Yes.

Let's.]

Before Izanami, Dyson's Beast, opened fire on them, and Yamato could hear ship girls shouting as they scattered, the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon holding her hand out as she ordered,

[Get them, Cetus!]

Her Beast roared as it charged up a beam attack as part of a pincer attack as Yamato detected dive bombers and fighter planes headed down towards her.

If she strafed to evade the beam, the enemy planes would swoop down to destroy her, and if she focused on taking down the planes, she would leave herself vulnerable to the beam attack.

But she wasn't entirely helpless.

Shifting on the spot to evade a large-caliber shell, she placed her umbrella in the holder which was part of the rigging, firing all her Anti-Air turrets to ward off the dive bombers and fighter planes as she tuned out the stinging prick of fighter planes which got past her defenses or the Hail-Mary payload drops which missed and threw seawater on her.

She squinted just as the insides of Cetus's mouth became as bright as a miniature nova before firing, having estimated the distance between her and the Beast and the speed at which the beam would cross said distance as she unsheathed her katana from behind her, calling out over the din of the incoming beam whilst slashing down with both arms.

"Heaven Splitting Blade!"

The entire view before Yamato was almost blinding as she failed to see anything beyond the blade of her katana, struggling to cleave the beam since the propulsion force behind the beam resisted her strength as she performed a downward slash while bracing herself against the thunderous boom of the cleaved beam passing by her on both sides, and the luminosity of the hyper beam was so intense at close range that the radiant light threatened to burn through her eyelids and sear into her retinas in order to blind her.

The beam dissipated around her as her grip on her handle threatened to unravel due to the red-hot blade's heat being felt through the handle, the shrill ringing in her ears fading to allow her to hear the sound of allied ship girls attempting to get close to her whilst shouting,

" … Yamato?!"

" … you alright, Ya-"

"Yamato-san!"

Feeling the cool air soothe her airways and cool down her skin after feeling as if she had been standing in a furnace and breathing in its heated air, she realized that Izanami, cradling Dyson in its muscular right arm, had finished charging up a hyper beam and was about to let it rip.

Pushing some of her comrades out of the way, she warned loudly,

"Evade!"

And strafed out of the way whilst holding up her katana to shield herself, shortly before stabilizing her foothold and firing off a few more large-caliber shells with the help of her rigging in order to stun the Beast as they crumpled upon contact with the shield and left vibrant circles expanding from the point of contact.

Cetus and Izanami's jaws were smoking by the time they were done, Yamato checking her radar to find that nobody was grievously injured, in which she rewarded herself with a sigh of relief as she heard the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon comment dryly.

[Hah, looks like you weren't strong enough to split two hyper beams in a row, hmm?]

Yamato snorted as she saw the flaw in that deduction, retorting,

"Well, there's only one of me and two of you. I can certainly block two of them, but then it would wear me down twice as quickly.

Can you fire off two beams in a row without tiring yourself twice as quickly?"

Dyson tilted her head as she lifted an eyebrow, conceding the point.

[Touche.]

Yamato then turned to look as she heard Saratoga point out an interesting similarity between the Water Demon and a certain Shokaku-Class carrier.

"Wait.

Doesn't the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon resemble Shoukaku-san somewhat?"

Everyone turned, unsure of how to answer the question without becoming distracted and allow the enemy to strike first, but the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon smirked as she remarked darkly,

[It's only skin-deep, I assure you of that.

Unlike my weaker and softer ship girl counterpart, I, Lorelei, will not be giving any quarter in this battle.

Prepare to sink!]

She sent out another swarm of enemy planes which consisted of Abyssal Revenge Torpedo Bombers, Hell Dive Bombers and Cat Fighters to join those which were already in the air, Yamato looking up and seeing the white exoskeletons protecting their innards while cracks permeated the surface as they glowed from within.

Sharp, pearly-white teeth gnashed in rabid anticipation, and while circular orifices doubled as eyes and aided in navigation, it apparently wasn't necessary as the Revenge had none.

And although they all seemed similar to each other at a glance, the Revenge Torpedo Bomber had four ivory horns forming a crown whilst carrying a lone torpedo tube on its underbelly.

The Cat Fighter's twin horns made it look like the devil of the skies, and with its one crimson red eye looking at where it flew, a crack which revealed red-hot flesh and machinery within streaked across the front of its face like a scar.

The Hell Dive Bomber only had one horn, but its tail was displayed and used as a hooked paddle to be used as a pseudo-fin stabilizer, with one crimson eye locked on Yahagi.

Yamato hesitated as she was rather close to the Agano-Class light cruiser, but seeing her try equally hard, arguably even harder than she did to do her part in this battle, Yamato recalled Nagato sharing with her the tale of Sakawa's loss.

She wanted to intervene immediately, but she maintained her fire on Dyson's shields with her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Secondary Cannons, and shouted out a warning for anyone who didn't notice the sight of Izanami raising its muscular fist like a hammer that was about to be brought down on the ocean.

"Everyone, brace!"

In the heat of battle, it was unrealistic for her to expect everyone to notice an incoming attack no matter how obvious it seemed to her, and sometimes, calling out warnings as a precaution did save lives.

She kept her center of gravity low by getting into a crouching position and even planted her hand on the ocean to further ensure her stability as Izanami's fist hit the ocean in a ground pound, causing the ocean itself to quake in fear as everyone hit the ocean, Yamato watching the Abyssal fleet move in for the kill.

But she whispered into her radio to address the carriers in this battle,

"Carriers, I'll be making my move, and it's best that you keep your torpedo bombers away from the ocean surface!"

Before she raised her katana again, still feeling the slight heat of the blade through her handle even after letting it cool down for a while, calling out her attack just loud enough for herself to hear.

"Sweeping Crescent!"

The Abyssals expected a vertical slash.

They were wrong.

Yamato's vertically raised sword rotated into a horizontal one, taking two quick steps forward before lashing out with all her might and unleashing a horizontal air wave into the ranks of the Abyssals, hearing several ship girls cry out in surprise at the devastating move.

"Kyah!"

"Whoa!"

The air wave sundered a Ri-Class heavy cruiser and shredded the flesh of a Ho-Class light cruiser, the submarines and destroyers ducking underwater in order to evade the attack while a Wo-Class awkwardly dived onto the ocean floor in order to evade her horizontal slash, noting her airwave nick the back of her headdress and shave off a few steel shards.

The air wave crashing into the sea also caused seawater to spray everywhere in an arc, distracting the Abyssals long enough for Yamato to shout into the radio whilst readying her cannons,

"Everyone, now!"

Before firing all of her cannons along with her comrades, who unleashed their torpedo salvos as one in order to catch as many Abyssals as possible.

It partially succeeded in that one of her shells inexplicably struck an Elite Ne-Class square in the torso, and as Yamato's cannon caliber was beyond what the Abyssal's armor could handle, her large-caliber shell simply obliterated the Abyssal as its velocity caused her ribcage to cave in.

A vacuum was left in its wake as blood, guts and fuel were flung out the other side, and her bosom was dematerialized by the shell's caliber and speed as jagged steel bones, a pink-colored lung and parts of her severed vertebrae were all visible in an extremely bloody and visceral explosion of body parts while the rest of the humanoid Abyssal corpse dropped dead, her tails partially stuck underwater as they flailed around in order to recover whilst being splattered in alien blood.

She could hear Saratoga's warning,

"My planes can't the bombers off for long!

Look out above!"

Yamato looked up then to find three Hell Dive Bombers headed down for her and Shimakaze, and the Wo-Class's Torpedo Diver was coming in from a distance to try and catch them off-guard with a torpedo cutting them off from the flank.

But Yamato diverted Shimakaze away from the scene as she saw Hiryu sail towards the incoming torpedo bomber, and while Yamato was worried about the Kai Ni carrier from her base, her worries were assuaged as the Hiryuu-Class carrier raised her right foot before kicking the wave crest in order to throw up a voluminous amount of seawater, calling out.

"Storm Leg!"

The seawater swallowed the enemy torpedo bomber whole, its glistening form emerging from the ocean before hitting the ocean hard and throwing up seawater yet again as its tubular payload prematurely detonated underwater.

She reminded herself that threats came from not just above and around, but also beneath her in the form of submarines as she sidestepped the payloads dropped by the Dive Bombers, futilely swinging her palm at one which buzzed her in an attempt to swat it out of the sky.

The threats never stopped coming as she heard Yuudachi call out,

"Watch out!

The Princesses are firing their cannons!"

She ducked as another salvo of large-caliber shells bombarded the ship girl ranks, Yamato's heart stopping at the sight of one shell missing Hatsushimo by a hair, the resulting column of seawater lifting the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer clean off the ocean as Hatsushimo screamed in fright.

"KYA-"

Before the seawater pushed her back into the ocean, and Yamato prayed for her safety as she saw Shimakaze and Yuudachi run over to where their comrade went under and fished around for her, Chitose's swarm of Type 96 Fighters watching their backs.

It was then when she noticed a Yo-Class submarine stealthily surfacing, her long, black hair appearing from the depths along with her rigging which resembled a beast which had its hippo-like jaws perpetually open.

The Yo-Class leaned forward on the beast's lower jaw as her bare, generous bosom squeezed together, the submarine glaring daggers at them with a flaming blue left eye as her long fringe blanketed part of her face and helped to give off a Ring vibe.

A cannon was located above the humanoid Abyssal's back and was pushed up against the roof of the beast's upper jaw, the Yo-Class submarine lowering her head beneath the ocean as a torpedo shot out from the cannon tube, gaining a few seconds of air time as it sailed above the Yo-Class's head so as not to knock the warhead on the back of the Abyssal's head.

Yamato fired a 15.5 Cm shell from her rigging's cannon, but the Abyssal submarine demonstrated the inherent Whack-A-Mole nature behind trying to wipe them out that way as the submarine crash-dived, her shell hitting nothing as she spotted a nasty little present the Yo-Class left behind.

Namely, an incoming torpedo.

Yamato stabbed her sword into the ocean at the angle which the torpedo approached her, wincing at the stinging sensation of small-caliber shells bouncing off of her armor as she waited for the enemy torpedo to come close enough.

She then slashed in a vertical arc in order to throw up seawater, this move pushing the torpedo backwards and throwing it off its projected travel path.

The Abyssals were sailing up to engage the ship girls in combat because they likely felt emboldened by their superiority in terms of manpower and arguably even firepower, but they were going up against some of the best-trained ship girls in Japan.

Everyone got in a straight-line formation before firing a cannon salvo, inflicting superficial damage to several enemies as the Abyssals returned the favor in kind.

Yamato let out an involuntary,

"Grrk!"

Just as she managed to singlehandedly slice through a medium-caliber shell but felt half of the shell tear into her uniform and bruise her shoulder, watching Sendai, Kawakaze, Ashigara, Kako and Tone lead the charge.

She heard a voice cry out in pain behind her, but she reminded herself that she couldn't do anything for them, and hoped that one of her comrades behind her managed to do something in her place.

Firing her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannons to disperse a group of I-Class destroyers which tried to form up and attack them, she saw that both Chi-Class torpedo cruisers unleashed a criss-cross torpedo salvo from both directions, Yamato instead opted to sail into a spot of ocean which was free of incoming torpedoes.

But the second Yo-Class submarine was there to greet her with a torpedo, calling out grimly.

[Sink… back to the depths… with us!]

Those words chilled Yamato's heart as she noticed the Yo-Class's torpedo coming straight at her, along with the two Chi-Class torpedoes coming in from two angles and would catch her should she strafe to either side.

She bravely replied,

"Someday… but not today!"

Before she dipped her katana into the ocean yet again, using her superhuman strength to pull off another Sweeping Crescent, this time pushing all the torpedoes away by spinning in a counterclockwise circle and creating another tidal wave which threw them all off-course, the Yo-Class having submerged by the time she was done.

Kawakaze performed a Cloud Walk in order to evade several torpedoes while Sendai was hopping from side to side in order to evade enemy shells with her heightened light cruiser agility.

Her Kai Ni uniform was sleeveless with a white scarf wrapped around her neck, and with an radar-like hairpin on her left temple, her uniform now matched that of her sisters with a white section covering her bosom and black buttons securing it in place along with the obi sash around her waist.

She was missing her plane catapult, although it was made up by the addition of a searchlight which was attached to her right hip, the searchlight's steel band located above her right black thigh-high legging as its length contrasted with the knee-high legging on her left leg.

Strapped to the base of her spine were two Quadruple torpedo launchers, and Sendai was holding a drawn torpedo in her hand as she flung it at a Ho-Class's center mass, causing it to be blown to smithereens in a fiery explosion and would be remembered by them as one more kill at the hands of the the light cruiser, Sendai of the Itou Naval Base blitzing through the enemy ranks as she worked with Myoukou to take down a Ri-Class heavy cruiser.

Myoukou slid down as her back and rigging hit the ocean in a slide, using her boost gauge in order to spin counterclockwise on the ocean while sliding towards the Abyssal heavy cruiser as the Ri-Class's shells flew by harmlessly over the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser.

She performed an aggressive scissor kick on the Ri-Class's legs and entangled them in her own in order to force the Abyssal to her knees, Sendai running up for a tag team as the Ri-Class cruiser managed to stop herself from face-planting the ocean by using her arms to support herself.

Sendai performed a front flip as she brought her knees up to her face in mid-air before planting her boat slippers down on the back of the Ri-Class's head, firing her boost gauge whilst thrusting her feet downwards to force the Ri-Class's face into the ocean, Sendai holding her right hand up in a ninja hand signal as she called out as a cry of focus,

"Nin!"

Before the two of them strafed out of the way to allow Yuudachi's incoming torpedo to destroy the Ri-Class by slamming into her insides, Sendai shouting out the name of her next move in order to enhance the intensity of her moves.

"Shukuchi!"

Her drastically heightened agility allowed her to become a blur on the battlefield, and even as Dyson and her Beast tried to shoot her down, the light cruiser managed to evade, firing her shells along with Kirishima to keep the Princess and Demon at bay, spotting Ashigara as the heavy cruiser performed a vehicle hijack on a Chi-Class.

Baiting a torpedo salvo as the underwater projectiles headed towards Ashigara, she leapt over them and tanked the incoming 5 Inch shell to her collarbone, seething as she powered on and sprinted towards the Chi-Class torpedo cruiser with outstretched arms ready to throttle the Abyssal, clawed fingers twitching as she roared,

"RRRAAARRRGGHHH!"

She managed to grab onto the Chi-Class's throat guard with one hand, changing directions and jumping in a direction parallel to the Chi-Class's velocity to prevent her arm from being outright dislocated as she was dragged in the wake of the moving Chi-Class's steed while her other hand went for the Abyssal's mop of black hair, making herself comfortable by sitting behind the Chi-Class Abyssal.

Yamato provided cover fire with her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannons in a continuous-fire cycle in order to prevent the other Abyssals from interfering with Ashigara's Grand Theft Abyssal, the Myoukou-Class's rigging furiously firing all their Anti-Air turrets to keep fighter planes off of her as Ashigara tried to maintain her grip whilst evading the shots the Abyssal fired wildly behind her, motorcycle-esque steed careening wildly on the ocean while enemy fighter planes tried to get in a shot into a vital area.

Kirishima sailed in close as the steed haphazardly sailed in her general direction, firing at the Chi-Class to no avail as the accuracy of moving battleships was atrocious, but it was enough to keep the Chi-Class's steed turning and powersliding everywhere to shake Ashigara off, but the Kongou-Class battleship adjusted her glasses by the bridge as she spoke in a collected manner.

"As I predicted…

Placing my shots at E2 and C5, the Abyssal would be forced to end up sailing…"

Boosting forward and holding her left arm out, she shouted,

" … HERE!"

Her lariat smashed into the Chi-Class's collarbones and forced her off of her steed, Ashigara taking the chance to perform a suplex as she hugged the humanoid Abyssal by the waist and tilted her head, tucking it in so as not to avoid injuring herself in the process.

Both occupants hitting the ocean caused the Abyssal steed to spin counterclockwise vertically, its rear wheel overtaking the front wheel as it spun out into the air without a rider, the Chi-Class humanoid now put in a suplex by Ashigara while it's steed had gone on ahead and took off into the sky, the Abyssal's neck bending at an uncomfortable angle as Ashigara's body was in a backwards arc and her arms were wrapped around the Chi-Class by the waist.

Looking up at a large-caliber shell flying in after being fired from the barrel of the Flying Dutchman, she considered simply evading the shell, but noticing her comrades located behind her in a diamond formation on her radar, she instead opted to call out,

"Everyone, brace!"

She freed up a hand by holding her katana in a single-handed grip, forming a fist with her free hand before punching the incoming shell with all her might, feeling the sharp tip of the shell heavily bruise her knuckles while she squinted so as not to risk having a piece of flying shrapnel injure her eyes, wincing at the piercing sensations of the shell pieces hitting her on the chest, face, abdomen and arm, reflexively grunting,

"Grk!"

She felt the sting of open wounds being exposed to open air as the shrapnel left behind superficial scratches, blood oozing out of them and propagating on her uniform as crimson stains.

Yamato focused on the battle as she sailed up to Myoukou, speaking to her urgently as she fired her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannons, because she wanted to save her trademark 46 Cm Twin Gun Cannons for when they really mattered.

"Myoukou-san, I need to try and get in close in order to fight the Battleship Symbiotic Princess, I suspect that she might be the flagship of this invasion.

I need to take her out in order to stop this battle before anyone else gets hurt!"

But strangely enough, Myoukou giggled knowingly despite firing all of her 20.3 Cm (No. 2) Twin Gun Cannons at the enemy, explaining herself to the confused Yamato-Class battleship.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Yamato-san.

I understand your enthusiasm, but there's no point engaging them when having to deal with all these small fry taking pot shots at you.

Sometimes, it's like a game of chess, where it's best to work your way up the food chain and clear the board of as many pieces as you can before even thinking of winning the game."

The heavy cruiser's demeanor shifted as her elegant laughter died down, Yamato gulping as Myoukou emitted an aura of strength from her very being and spoke solemnly about the situation at hand.

"But I do see where you're coming from.

'Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.'

We'll still have to take the Abyssal posse out, but with Admiral Mako's successful trap, I suppose we can afford to apply more pressure on our retreating foes.

Now then… shall we?"

She sailed forward and left Yamato standing there, the slow battleship snapping out of her reverie as she spoke into the radio.

"Ah! Uh…

Carriers! Please cover our entrance, and the rest shall move up to pressure the Abyssals!

T-Try to sink them if possible!"

Myoukou evaded incoming medium-caliber shells from an Elite Ne-Class and a Ri-Class heavy cruiser as well as a lone Wo-Class carrier while Yamato either deflected their shells with her katana or blocked them with the roof of her 46 Cm Twin Gun Cannons, Myoukou stopping before the Abyssals as she spoke.

"Let me pass."

The Ri-Class angrily voiced what all the Abyssals present thought, likely feeling insulted that one would even bother to ask for such a thing even in battle.

[Yeah, right!

As if we'd simply say 'Sure'!]

And she fired a salvo of torpedoes along with the Ne-Class Elite, the Wo-Class resorting to firing the cannons on her headdress in order to hit both the Myoukou-Class cruiser and Yamato-Class battleship.

But as Yamato deflected one of the Wo-Class's shells and allowed another one to bounce off of her skin with no repercussions other than a stinging sensation similar to an ant bite to a human, she saw Myoukou blitz forward and worm her way through the torpedo salvo, darkly replying.

"That wasn't a question."

Before shifting her center of gravity about while running up to the Abyssals in order to draw them into her pace, Yamato watching an experienced ship girl at work as she pushed off of her right boat slipper and leaned in close to the ocean surface.

The Ri-Class cruiser attempted to mirror her actions, but her left boat slipper dug into a wave trough at the wrong angle as any attempts to push off of her left foot only resulted in her stumbling and falling onto the ocean surface, arm cannons outstretched in order to catch herself as she yelped.

[What the-]

But Myoukou and Yamato fired shells into her, 15.5 Cm and 20.3 Cm shells puncturing her skin armor as it tore through her flesh, and one messily penetrated the side of her head as Yamato observed the dome of her skull shattering and breaking apart in a spectacular explosion of shrapnel, flud and grey matter as the shell exited from the other side of her head.

Yamato shivered in fright as she witnessed the gruesome sight of the Ri-Class's lower jaw and tongue lolling about as they were all that remained of her head, shortly before her body gave out from the lack of signals coming from the now non-existent brain, dropping onto the ocean like a puppet with its strings cut.

The gore was almost enough to make her dry-heave in disgust even after several sorties, but her more experienced and battle-hardened side suppressed this reflex and allowed her to power on with a sour taste in her throat, hearing allied dive bombers and torpedo bombers back them up in combat.

Myoukou's elegant maneuvers forced the Wo-Class onto her butt as she fell onto the ocean, but as a Ryuusei torpedo bomber dropped its payload into the ocean and began to pull up, the Wo-Class's headdress cannons managed to shoot off one of the Ryuusei's wings before crash-diving to safety, Yamato's heart stopping as she feared for the Fairy's life.

Myoukou was about to delay her showdown with the Elite Ne-Class to save the Fairy in the downed torpedo bomber, but Yamato snapped back into action as she called out to her comrade,

"It's alright, Myoukou-san!

I'll save the Fairy, you focus on the fight!"

Myoukou turned back to the Ne-Class Elite without saying a word, but Yamato knew that in her situation, there was no time for words.

She walked over to the slowly-sinking Ryuusei, scooping the plane up with one hand as she saw that one wing had been cleanly sheared off by the shell, and the Fairy pilot was in the midst of getting out of its cockpit, partially covered in soot as Yamato gritted her teeth while the smoking wreck of a plane slightly scalded the skin on her bare palm.

But she detected another Abyssal signature pop from beneath the ocean, her prediction right on the mark as a Yo-Class submarine ejected a torpedo in her direction, stealthily submerging again.

Gripping the bomber as tightly as possible without crushing it, she looked down at the Fairy in her hand, the little pilot possessing medium-length silver hair with a dripping-wet ahoge as she wore a Japanese headband and a light-brown, long-sleeved top and dress.

She uttered a warning,

"I'm about to perform a move, please hang onto something.

She watched the Fairy pilot nod resolutely and hugged Yamato's thumb for dear life, tucking the Fairy and wrecked plane close to her stomach before she looked back at the incoming enemy torpedo as it closed the distance, while the Yo-Class submarine was nowhere to be found.

Yamato dipped her katana into the ocean and slashed outwards in the direction of the torpedo in a vertical Sweeping Crescent, throwing up seawater and messing up the trajectory of the incoming torpedo as it sailed in a completely different direction upon landing back in the water.

She stored the Fairy as well as the plane wreck in her rigging while her own Fairies hosed down the wreck to minimize the risk of a rogue explosion, because to them, every piece of equipment lost to the ocean was more wasted resources, and it wasn't up to her to determine whether the dive bomber's flying days were over.

She noticed Myoukou causing the Elite Ne-Class to stumble on the ocean with her ankle breaker, finally being pressured by a worthy opponent as she was forced to spin out of the way of the Ne-Class's shell, the second tail body-slamming into her as the Elite Abyssal got the upper hand.

Not for long.

Cutting in by aggressively striding up to the Elite Abyssal and holding up her katana in a kenjutsu pose, she performed a Heaven Splitting Blade as she saw the Ne-Class's eyes widen in absolute terror, scrambling away from her descending blade.

The Abyssal then fired her torpedoes at point-blank range as a wall of seawater and foamy spray separated the Abyssal from Myoukou, Yamato seemingly maneuvering herself into a disadvantageous position by getting up close.

That would be true in their warship days.

This was a new age of warfare.

Yamato, with the tip of her katana still in the water, pointed her katana in a different direction and transitioned into a Sweeping Crescent, the spray of the seawater also serving as a distraction to distract the Elite Ne-Class as it engulfed the Abyssal.

Pulling her katana back and holding it parallel to her shoulders like a Chinese sword, she was stunned by the Elite making full use of the spray to hide her own attacks as she felt four medium-caliber shells strike her in the left shoulder, kidney and right collarbone while the last shell grazed her cheek.

But despite feeling her heart stop at the near-death experience, her warrior's spirit pushed her on as she thrust her sword out and into the Ne-Class's chest, aiming for the center of mass even as the humanoid Abyssal brought up both hands and curled both her tails inwards in order to protect herself.

She called out loudly as she felt her own expression darken,

"Heavenly Jeweled Spear!"

And pierced the Ne-Class through her twin tails and the forearms of her outstretched hands in her attempt to kill the Ne-Class, turning her into a living shish kebab as she utilized her momentum and weight to push the sword in.

Squeamish squelching noises could be heard as the twin tails squealed in agony upon being thoroughly impaled, cannons firing reflexively into the water as Yamato saw the Elite Ne-Class's face darken due to exhaustion, simultaneously cringing from the katana piercing through her chest and came out the other side, completely drenched in blood.

Yamato uttered a simple,

"I'm sorry."

Before looking away as she ripped her katana from the Abyssal's body in a downward motion, disemboweling the Ne-Class as her tails and arms were partially bisected, and since the Abyssal was stabbed through her chest, the blade cut through several of her internal organs as well as the base of her spine where her twin tails were connected.

The blade exited by cutting through her nether regions, Yamato's battleship strength making it disturbingly easy for her to cut through Abyssal steel as she turned away, unable to face the bloody splash as the Ne-Class hit the ocean.

Her own strength made her sick sometimes, to think of what she could really do if she went all out.

But she sailed up to Myoukou and looked down at the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser, feeling concern and genuine anger over the fact that Myoukou, one of her comrades as well as a fellow lover of Admiral Mako, got hurt in combat, asking worriedly.

"Are you alright, Myoukou-san?"

But even though she looked somewhat worse for the wear while her heavy breathing was slowly being brought back under her control, the senior heavy cruiser gave her a sincere smile as she answered.

"Oh, I'm alright, dear.

I've survived worse scrapes than this, and you managed to take down that Elite cruiser by yourself, so I took the chance to recover my strength."

Yamato nodded, but she felt two distinct Abyssal auras flare up from behind and threatened to sink her, turning back along with Myoukou and tightly gripping her katana as Dyson and Lorelei sailed up and took the stage, the Battleship Princess speaking up.

[I told you we should've fought them head-on instead of standing behind and bombarding them.]

And Lorelei retorted,

[Ah, stop your whining just because you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with your cannons!

At least I took out three of them with my planes, hmm?]

[You had help.]

[Nyeh, nyeh, excuses, excuses!]

Lorelei stuck out her tongue at Dyson, the rest of the Abyssal horde retreating in order to congregate around their leaders.

Yamato reviewed her HUD notifications as she was too caught up in the heat of battle to notice her fallen comrades, and while she was glad no one around her had sunk due to their tight teamwork, it still hurt to see her friends get killed, despite knowing that they would eventually be revived in the docks.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

LEXINGTON-CLASS CARRIER 233

"SARATOGA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

FURUTAKA-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER 217

"KAKO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SHIRATSUYU-CLASS DESTROYER 082

"YUUDACHI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Yamato lowered her katana, but remained ready to strike as she dared to ask.

"So, if I might ask, who is the flagship of your Abyssal armada?"

She expected a noncommittal reply along with a few of the ship girls which included Kaga, Kawakaze and (strangely) Inazuma, but Dyson then stepped up as she jerked her right thumb at her chest, boasting.

[I am.

Why do you need to know?]

Yamato's expresssion softened ever so slightly as she spoke up defiantly.

"Oh, nothing.

I simply wanted to know who to kill in order to end this battle."

Lorelei called out in irritation,

[Oh yeah?!

Do you really think that you're strong enough to put your money where your mouth is?!]

Yamato dared to smirk in the face of the two Abyssal bosses flexing their menacing auras of strength in order to try and intimidate her, answering boldly.

"Yes."

Raising her katana in a two-handed kenjutsu pose, she felt her heartbeat resonate throughout her body while the flow of her blood resounded through her ears, focusing only on taking out the enemy as she stated.

"Allow me to demonstrate.

Heaven Splitting Blade!"

Before slashing down at the ocean and creating an air wave which flew towards the Battleship Princess, everyone else choosing to scatter as Izanami blocked the attack for Dyson, its muscular arms flexing protectively while Yamato fired her cannons along with the Battleship Princess.

Evading enemy shells as she heard the hair-raising screech of steel on steel along with showers of sparks being thrown up in their wake, Yamato fired all her Anti-Air turrets and watched for any torpedoes in the water, and Kawakaze sailed up alongside her as she encouraged.

"Yo, Yamato-san!

Don't worry, we'll carve out a path for you, because other than Kirishima-san, you're pretty much the only one who can break the Princesses' middle shields!"

Yamato gave her a resolute nod in response, watching Shigure kick an I-Class destroyer with a torpedo in its jaw out of the water shortly before slamming her hand cannon into its exposed abdomen and firing off a shot, taking it out of action.

Myoukou accompanied her just as Dyson noticed their approach, turning to them as she fired the rest of her cannons in order to force them to disperse, growling.

[Go… away!]

Kawakaze shouted,

"Shigure-Aneki, let's do this!"

And although they weren't from the same naval base, the Kai Ni Shigure's response was as determined as ever in spite of her wallflower personality.

"Yes… let's!"

Before jumping to avoid the tidal waves as Izanami slammed its fist into the ocean, landing on a wave crest and dumping all her torpedoes in the water before moving away while the Princess fired her medium-caliber cannons in order to try her luck at hitting them.

Yamato stepped in to split a shell which almost hit Kawakaze, the fiery destroyer thanking her in relief.

"Yeow! That was close!

Thanks, Yamato-san!"

Dyson then got off her Beast's left palm, disconnecting some sort of thick, black wire which was plugged into the back of her head as it slithered back into Izanami, Dyson suddenly blitzing forward in a terrifying burst of speed as Shigure flinched, Myoukou and Yamato rushing in as Myoukou performed a circular motion with her two arms to deflect Dyson's punch while Yamato swung her katana at her head.

But as Dyson ducked beneath her katana slash, she grabbed the back of Myoukou's collar and hooked her right leg around the heavy cruiser's left leg in order to perform a Judo throw.

But just as Yamato noticed Izanami sailing towards them with tensed arms ready for combat, Shigure held up her hand cannon in order to fire into Dyson's eye, speaking defiantly.

"No you don't!"

Firing a bullet into Dyson's left eye caused her to loosen her grip, and Myoukou managed to counter Dyson's leg hook by getting in close to make sure their calves were touching before using the instep of her foot to hook around Dyson's ankle, Yamato tripping Dyson's other up in order to force the Abyssal down on one knee.

But the Princess's haunting aura weighed down on them all, and even Yamato was unable to control the tremors plaguing her entire body as Dyson looked back at them, Yamato feeling all of the Princess's hatred and malice for ship girls and humans alike as she retorted.

[Don't what?]

Yamato could only think to herself,

'Her eye is still working even after a point-blank shot?'

But just as Myoukou managed to unravel her complex hold in order to put some distance between them, Izanami appeared behind Yamato as it roared and shook the ocean beneath them with the intensity of its voice alone, slamming its fist into the ocean to disorientate both the heavy cruiser and slow battleship whilst straight-up launching Shigure into the sky since she was on the fringe of the crater formed by Izanami's fist.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer let out a terrified,

"Eek!"

As Dyson stepped forward, unaffected by the tidal wave after mentally coordinating the attack with her Beast and preparing herself for it, closing in for the kill as she pulled her right fist back and called out,

[Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards!]

Before crushing Shigure's body with a blurred fist, pressure waves being produced by the impact while Shigure coughed out mouthfuls of blood, her uniform rippling due to the force transferred from Dyson's incoming fist as bones loudly cracked within her body for all to hear.

Yamato's heart stopped at the sight of a comrade getting hurt, but she stumbled and was unable to stop Dyson from twisting her body and transmitting all her momentum as well as her entire body weight into her fist, transferring it all to the airborne Shigure as she spoke,

[It's over.]

Before sending the Kai Ni Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer flying away, Shigure hitting the ocean hard and skidding on the ocean surface while Kawakaze abandoned her offense to save her sister.

Myoukou pointed her cannons at Dyson, but was forced to evade as Izanami laid down cover fire with its large-caliber cannons, and Yamato swung her katana down on the Abyssal Princess, but what came next surprised even her.

Dyson used the bracelet on her right wrist to deflect the blade, Yamato noting the fact that the Princess deflected it at an angle instead of outright blocking it, which would have risked her bracelet cracking or even breaking from her attack.

The hail of sparks which were produced upon contact fizzled out of existence upon scattering and hitting the sea, and Dyson's smug expression contrasted with Yamato's look of shock, retorting.

[Did you really think that the little thing you called a sword in your hand was capable of cutting through everything?]

But Yamato narrowed her eyes, expressing a calm demeanor despite feeling threatened by the sight of Izanami rejoining Dyson and watching the pop up on her HUD read,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SHIRATSUYU-CLASS DESTROYER 145

"SHIGURE"

STATUS: DECEASED'

She silently struggled to bring her breathing under control as she responded.

"I don't need to be able to cut everything under the sun.

Right now, your armored skin and steel flesh will do."

Dyson smirked at the defiant retort, Izanami growling as Yamato back-stepped, firing both of her 46 Cm Twin Gun Cannons as she either deflected several medium-caliber shells with her sword or tanked them with her steel skin, watching as an enraged Kawakaze and calm Myoukou were joined by Shimakaze and Ashigara along with Kaga and Inazuma.

Kawakaze shot forward, looking beyond pissed off at how Dyson managed to one-shot her sister, her expression contorted in a snarl as her burning eyes promised a painful death to those unfortunate enough to incur her wrath, brandishing her torpedo launchers as she yelled.

"You're dead, bitch!"

And fired a broad salvo in order to catch the Battleship Princess as well as the two Yo-Class submarines, three Wo-Class carriers and all four Ho-Class light cruisers which sailed up to defend their flagship.

As another missile descended upon them and had the redhead destroyer located in its sights, Yamato, upon dispersing for fear of being caught in the blast, saw Kawakaze utter a disdainful,

"Shit!

Shukuchi!"

Before blitzing out of the blast radius, still being rocked by the ensuing explosion as two Abyssal Dive Bombers descended upon her, attempting to use the missile explosion as an opportunity to take a mobile threat out.

Not if Yamato had anything to say about it.

Taking gigantic strides towards her little friend, Yamato performed an aerial swing of her katana to create another air wave in order to disorientate the enemy bombers, and since she was the strongest battleship in the world, she had more than enough strength to keep spamming these air wave attacks so long as she didn't utilize her full strength in a Heaven Splitting Blade.

Shielding Kawakaze as the dive bombers blew up upon hitting the ocean, she felt her skin and hair singe a little from the heat, and as she looked down, she could see that Kawakaze looked surprised at how the Yamato-Class battleship shielded her from the nearby explosion, asking incredulously.

"Y-Yamato-san?!

Why did you shield me, I could've survived that!"

But Yamato shook her head, Anti-Air turrets all firing in every direction in order to ward off the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon's bombers which flew in from every direction as she answered.

"But you're hurting on the inside because of Shigure, Kawakaze-san.

I don't want you to be hurt any more when you're like this."

Kawakaze was dumbfounded by the answer, but before Yamato could explain herself, her breath stopped at the sight of Dyson flying in at an incredible speed, barely registering Izanami posing as if it had thrown a baseball like a pitcher as well as the voices of her comrades shouting into her radio before acting on reflex and pushing Kawakaze away.

Dyson was getting insane air time as she flew over the ocean surface, slamming into her and causing her to topple over with the element of surprise as she grabbed Yamato's neck, whispering threateningly in her face as the Battleship Princess had to contend with her superhuman strength, and her face was strained due to the effort required to do just that.

[Don't make promises you can't keep.]

Yamato's lungs burned as she tried to wrestle with the Princess while her windpipe was being crushed, but an anchor-weighed bola flew in a counterclockwise direction and struck Dyson on the temple as it wrapped around her head, causing her to loosen her grip on Yamato for an instant as she took the chance to headbutt the distracted Abyssal, bringing her knee up to Dyson's stomach repeatedly to get her to let go.

She felt another hyper beam slice through the battlefield, but thankfully, none of them got caught in it as she turned to find a bloodthirsty Ashigara sprinting forward and jumping in order to performing a running drop kick as her boat slippers flew into Dyson's gut.

The Abyssal Princess certainly felt that as she grimaced and stumbled, but Ashigara was like a stubborn hound who refused to let go of its prey, her expression as fierce and unyielding as she grabbed onto Dyson's hair, stopping her in her tracks as she drove her gloved fist repeatedly into Dyson's face as though the Abyssal's face had offended her in some way.

But Dyson caught her fist on the fourth blow, Yamato gasping and coughing in order to clear her throat and was unable to interfere with Dyson kicking Ashigara in the gut and pulling the heavy cruiser's fist to stretch out her shoulder joint, the final nail in the coffin being the downward punch into her shoulder cap in order to either dislocate or outright cripple Ashigara's right arm.

The Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser coughed out blood as her expression morphed into one of agony, but Dyson was forced to throw Ashigara onto the ocean beneath her as Yamato swung her katana down with a vengeance, a laser-focused Myoukou sailing as she followed up Yamato's deflected sword strikw by gracefully lifting her left leg and swiftly delivering two highs kick to Dyson's shoulder and head

A prone Ashigara used her legs to entangle Dyson's legs in order to make her stumble, Dyson being forced to block Yamato's Heavenly Jeweled Spear while tanking Myoukou's spinning hind kick as the latter finally caused her to hit the floor, although Dyson was kicking away Ashigara's legs in order to disentangle herself and was already getting back up.

Myoukou immediately took a sidestep forward with her right foot, getting into a half crouch as she lowered her body in a counter-clockwise motion and leaned forward in order to put her weight on her crouching left leg, her right leg sticking out to her side as she brought her fists up with bent arm ready to strike, the ferocity of her aura intensifing threefold.

Like a windmill, Myoukou swung her hips around whilst pushing out with her left boat slipper, transferring all her weight onto her right leg, and by extension, into her two fists as they both shot out to strike the Battleship Princess in the solar plexus and abdomen in a Piguaquan attack, sending her rolling back on the ocean with her Kai Ni strength.

However, they had to break off their offense as Izanami fired a shell in their direction, throwing up copious amounts of seawater as Yamato unleashed her cannons and Anti-Air turrets in order to ward off the swarming dive bombers as she felt her uniform and skin get scorched by one of them, but she endured it as she saw Dyson catch her breath and nodded with a look of something resembling respect at Myoukou's skills, the Kai Ni heavy cruiser helping her fallen sister up.

Yamato leaned in and used a subdued tone to speak into her radio in order to address her comrades and share what her plan was.

"Everyone.

I need a clear shot with all three of my 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannons to break the shield, it seems as if the Battleship Princess knows that close-quarters combat by herself just won't cut it against all of us.

My cannons are strong enough to break her shield plates, but unless I utilize all three cannons, I have a feeling that her shields will still stay up."

She sneaked an aside glance towards the ship girls who were huddled together in a tight diamond formation in order to defend Kaga from the Abyssal horde, who tried to break their defense as Kawakaze, Inazuma and Shimakaze were dropping depth charges into the ocean.

She heard Kaga stoically comment.

"Fine.

You'll have your opening, but I must implore of you."

Holding out her long bow, she finished her sentence with a simple,

"Don't miss."

Quick-firing several arrows, they burst into flames before three Suisei dive bombers and two Ryuusei torpedo bombers emerged, the Abyssals taking this as the signal to move into position and retaliate.

The two Yo-Class submarines fired their torpedoes along with the four Ho-Class cruisers, Yamato hearing someone call out.

"Evade!"

Everyone sprung into action as she watched Myoukou transfer Ashigara into the grasp of Natori and Isuzu, both of whom were part of the medevac crew as the heavy cruiser's tussle with Dyson had injured her legs and right shoulder, but Ashigara's expression still possesed unyielding tenacity as she gave Myoukou a firm nod, giving her elder sister some peace of mind as Myoukou simply responded,

"Very well."

Before turning away to rejoin the battle.

Kawakaze sailed in between the gaps in the torpedo salvo and then lowered herself in order to slide on the ocean, the Battleship Princess's large-caliber shell flying over her before springing back up, and she performed another Shukuchi in order to present herself as a high-speed target to an Abyssal Dive Bomber which streaked down at her, the little destroyer yelling.

"Get the fuck away from me!"

Yamato had problems on her end as she maneuvered around and evaded descending dive bombers who tried to bring her down like the Americans did in World War 2, although an increase in physical mobility allowed her more escape routes as she heard a dive bomber coming down with the signature drone of its engines.

She planted her foot in the ocean in order to stop herself from sailing into the dropped payload as it threw up seawater upon hitting the sea.

Another dive bomber was smart enough to wait for her to grind to a stop since her slow speed and heavy rigging meant that she couldn't immediately gather up the strength for another burst of speed, and it was agile and skilled enough to avoid taking on the full brunt of her hail of Anti-Air bullets.

And for that, Yamato let out an involuntary,

"Khhh!"

As she endured the accurate payload which successfully hit her rigging, praying that nothing would either explode or catch on fire.

Feeling the shockwave of the explosion shake her rigging, its aftershock was felt the strongest in the base of her spine as the attachment which was connected to her hips and back trembled, Yamato feeling her legs forcibly wobble while her shoulders were seared by the fireball as it mushroomed and singed her ponytail, sharply inhaling through clenched teeth as the fireball dissipated and allowed cool air to take its place, stinging her reddened flesh in the process.

And although there was pain, death and unabated chaos all around her, Yamato strangely felt something well up within her, warming her up like a flame.

Her breathing stopped just as she suspected an internal fire in her body, but since there were no warnings popping up on her HUD and forcing her to prepare for the worst, she grabbed her left breast and examined this feeling.

It was her fighting spirit.

She felt a medium-caliber shell glance off her shoulder whilst hearing the incessant bombings and cannons going off all around her, but the noise of war and all the pain she felt thus far only served to stoke a warrior's fighting spirit hidden deep inside her heart, where social niceties and upheld images of oneself were all ignored in favor of sheer force of will.

Here, she was no longer Yamato the lover, the battleship, the personification of Imperial Japan.

Here, she was Yamato the warrior, the strongest battleship on Earth.

Nothing else mattered.

She heard Kaga speak into her ear through the radio with a tinge of concern in her voice, asking tersely,

" … amato, are you alright?

We are in position, so-"

Yamato shook her head, taking deep breaths in order to calm herself down and did her best to tune everything out as she stepped forward, and unbeknownst to her, she unconsciously emitted a red-white aura of strength as she answered serenely.

"Yes.

Move on with the plan."

Lashing out with another Sweeping Crescent which cleanly bisected the bestial jaw of the beast which housed the Yo-Class submarine, the humanoid Abyssal's eyes widened to the size of saucers upon seeing her attempted torpedo attack get foiled with a single slash as the air wave sundered her head from the rest of her body, Yamato circumventing the explosion as her airwave attack likely set off a torpedo warhead in the submarine's ride as the other Yo-Class looked at her with pure and unadulterated fear, her eyes narrowing as she dived in order to avoid the same fate as her late doppelganger.

She barely noted the deceased Yo-Class's head plopping into the ocean somewhere else as she walked on.

The three Wo-Class carriers formed a tight perimeter around the Battleship Princess while the four Ho-Class light cruisers formed a second defense perimeter, loosely circling the carriers and the Princess while making sure they could cover each other as they formed a defensive turtle perimeter.

Myoukou, Shimakaze, Inazuma, Kaga and Kawakaze were poking holes at their defense as they encircled them like sharks which smelled blood in the water, Kaga standing further behind and sending out planes en masse, more concerned with quantity in order to match amount of planes which the three Abyssal carriers deployed as the Wo-Class trio were able to defend their Princess with their headdress cannons, requiring the use of more planes to overwhelm them.

But the Abyssals weren't completely done in yet.

All at once, they fired all their cannons at Kaga once they sailed into various positions which ensured that they wouldn't block one another's line of sight, Kaga instinctively using her flight deck as a makeshift shield against the shells which flew towards her while Yamato took the chance to unleash a one-handed Heaven Splitting Blade in a Wo-Class's direction.

The Abyssal carrier evaded in time such that her airwave only destroyed her headdress and tore apart one of her twin headdress tentacles, the Wo-Class spinning on the spot before falling onto the ocean before the two halves of her headdress followed suit.

Yamato then ran forward, tanking shells and avoiding torpedoes as she shrugged off the pain while keeping her eyes on the prime target, her comrades getting into position in order to fire their torpedoes as they came in from all directions.

This doubled the chances for the torpedoes to hit something, as demonstrated when a Ho-Class light cruiser evaded an incoming torpedo, but that move allowed the torpedo to continue on and hit the lower layer of Dyson's shields, Yamato warning just as Izanami raised its fist to smash into the ocean.

"BRACE!"

The muscular Beast slammed its fist down on the ocean and shook it again as Yamato struggled to maintain her balance on the terrain which was affected by an earthquake-esque attack, but she saw that Dyson aimed all her cannons at Yamato, and even as her Anti-Air turrets fired non-stop into the sky, dive bombers still descended upon her in droves.

She prioritized evading the dive bombers first due to a deep-seated fear of them as well as their ability to sink her, accelerating forward as she felt the strain on her legs after running around so often with her rigging weighing her down, but Shimakaze sailed up behind her as Yamato felt someone climb up her rigging before the scantily-clad destroyer used her rigging as a launching platform, Rensouhou-chan all ready to fire as she called out.

"No bullying my top-heavy friend when I'm around!"

Spinning around in the air and firing all her Rensouhou-chan cannons in order to either destroy or scare off the dive bombers before landing, Yamato staring down the barrels of the Battleship Princess just as Shimakaze attempted to get out of the way.

Without thinking, she jumped forward and shielded Shimakaze just as Dyson's cannon barrels flashed, the enemy shells carving through parts of her rigging before feeling her back get scorched by the flames which erupted behind her.

But shockingly, none of her cannons blew up in her face in spite of the hail of shells flying their way and partially destroying her rigging, labored breathing escaping through her clenched teeth as her Fairies got to work on extinguishing the flames which plagued her rigging and seared her burnt back, and she got up from her prone position after making sure she hadn't crushed Shimakaze or any of her Rensouhou-chan trio.

In her mind, nothing mattered more than taking down Dyson, her cannon barrels glistening with seawater as she had them facing forward while she stood up straight, which meant that they were dipped into the ocean and were thus drenched, falling water drops reflecting sunbeams as she aimed her two large-caliber cannons at the Battleship Princess.

Izanami started to strafe by launching itself away with its muscular arms, but Yamato's cannons were faster on the draw as four of her six shells landed on the mark, the Beast stumbling back from the impact of the most powerful naval guns in history as it growled,

[GRAAHH!]

But as it fired its 12.5 Inch Twin Secondary Guns which punched Yamato's skin and caused her to flinch, Izanami bizarrely chose to launch itself forward at the battleship, Yamato shielding Shimakaze as the looming form of Dyson's Beast blitzed towards her, yelling at the retreating destroyer.

"RUN!"

But she heard Dyson retort ominously,

[You really should follow your own advice.]

Yamato saw and felt a translucent-red wall slam into her body and rigging, the force field shimmering from the force of the collision as Yamato was displaced by the unmatchable strength of the Beast and fell back on the ocean while the Battleship Princess crashed into the ocean, now almost within range of using its girthy arms to crush Yamato in its grasp.

But Kaga's planes came to the rescue along with Kawakaze, who launched herself into the air with help from Myoukou as the heavy cruiser brought her palms together for the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's shoe to step on before Myoukou launched her with a Kai Ni heavy cruiser's strength, adding to her air time along with her boost gauge being emptied in a Cloud Walk.

Yamato and Dyson both looked up as Kawakaze spun in mid-air, landing and boost-launching off of a Wo-Class's headdress like a certain Italian plumber jumping off of goombas, reaching new heights as her fiery expression matched the torpedoes she had in a reverse grip in both hands, shouting at the top of her voice to draw the Princess's attention even if for an instant.

"YAMATO-SAN!"

Being greeted with a hail of Anti-Air fire was Dyson's response, and Kawakaze was forced to throw the torpedoes lest a lucky bullet hit and prematurely detonate the torpedo in her face, and she hit the ocean hard as the flung torpedoes detonated on the Battleship Princess's shields along with Kaga's Suisei dive bombers dropping their payloads which further strained her swollen-red hexagonal shield plates, Yamato watching Izanami shield Dyson from Yamato's move.

But it was too late.

Yamato used the time everyone had bought her in order to flip her last 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon out from behind her as she sheathed her katana and skipped the aiming phase, yelling,

"FIRE!"

The ocean cratered beneath her as all nine 46 Cm shells hit the mark and shattered Dyson's shields, the Battleship Princess staggering back in surprise just as Yamato cringed from the strain of the cannon's recoil being felt in her lower back and butt, since they were never trained to fire in a reclining position.

But before she could fold her large-caliber cannon back in place, the handheld cannon before her was literally ripped from her hands as Izanami held it by the cannon barrels, tore it from her rigging and flung it into the distance, Yamato being completely exposed to Dyson as the Abyssal stepped down from her Beast and leaned in close, a predatory look being reflected her eyes as she spoke.

[Props to you for destroying my shields.

I'll make it quick for you as a reward.]

Yamato got to her feet and quickly drew her katana in order to bring in down in a one-handed slash, but Dyson caught her arm by the wrist before leaning in darkly, uttering.

[Six Grand Opening, Elbow Upthrust!]

Yamato caught Dyson's incoming elbow in time, but when the Princess put her entire body weight behind her attack and spun her body in order to transfer her momentum into the elbow strike, it did little good as Yamato was stunned by the blow to her gut and felt her breathing become labored.

And that was before Izanami's right fist came flying in as it performed a nasty right hook.

With both arms occupied, Yamato was unable to block the incoming fist which struck her in the side, shoulder and hip, coughing out blood as she was sent flying for the very first time in her life, her boat slippers losing contact with the ocean.

Hitting the ocean head-first, she could barely hear the concerned cries of her comrades, an ominous red circle being displayed on the ocean in her HUD to indicate an incoming missile.

And she was smack right in the middle of its blast radius.

No time to rest.

She had to move.

MOVE!

Commanding her weary and injured body, she forced herself into action just as the missile barely made itself seen and heard by tearing through the clouds at breakneck speed, grunting as she summoned the strength to blitz forward in a physical burst of speed.

The explosion almost caught her in its blast radius as she felt the blast wave throw her off-balance while the radiant heat roasted her skin, guarding herself against it as she stumbled out of the way and prepared her cannons to fire again.

Her internal injuries and battle fatigue were taking their toll, and she wiped the blood from her lower jaw as she watched Inazuma fling another anchor-weighed bola at Dyson, snagging her wrist and head as Myoukou fired her cannons in a salvo into Izanami and Dyson, the humanoid Abyssal tearing the bola apart with sheer physical strength while Izanami swiped its left arm in their direction.

Kaga, hauling her wrecked 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon around via steel cables while her rigging housed the Fairies which previously manned said cannon, sailed up to Yamato as the battleship looked around for the Abyssal horde, asking the injured carrier about their whereabouts.

"Um… Kaga-san?

Where are the other Abyssals that were in this battle?"

Kaga exhaled through her nose as she answered honestly, seeing no reason to lie.

"They were all wiped out by us while you fought the Battleship Princess.

Your plan to engage her and her Beast in close-quarters combat was…"

The 1st Division carrier sighed and simply rolled her eyes after failing to find an appropriate word to encompass the danger, absurdity and outright lunacy of such an idea, but she continued nonetheless.

"Regardless, Inazuma and Myoukou wiped the floor with them while Kawakaze and Shimakaze had to break off their offensive to assist you.

I naturally had to watch over everyone, but thanks to you distracting the Princess, the seniors could go all-out in destroying the small fry."

Yamato nodded, watching Inazuma boost-evade a 12.5 Inch shell fired right where she previously stood, and everyone got ready to evade just as Izanami charged up another hyper beam in its jaw.

Time to do or die.

Yamato grimaced, not wishing to waste even a second of their opening as she fired her 46 Cm Triple Guns at the Abyssal, and instead of evading the shells and wasting even more stamina, Izanami raised its arms to block two of the incoming shells while Dyson leapt into the air and performed something like a volleyball spike, her raised hand making contact with the pointed tip of the shell and slapping it back into the ocean as it caused a thunderclap-esque shock wave to resonate across the battlefield due to the intensity of the impact, Yamato gulping at the colossal strength which rivalled or even exceeded her own.

But Yamato wasn't done just yet.

Evading the incoming hyper beam, she performed a Sweeping Crescent as she approached the Battleship Princess, forcing Izanami to block the incoming air wave as a cut was engraved into its flesh, the Beast crying out from the injury as it produced a minor pressure wave in the process and sent the ship girls scurrying away from it, but not before dumping all their torpedoes into the water and shattering the Princess's lower shield layer.

The Suisei and Type 99 Dive Bombers descended, but the flagship of the Abyssal horde was still protected by various enemy planes sent out by Lorelei, the insanely powerful Aircraft Carrier Water Demon as Kawakaze voiced her irritation over the radio, her ragged breathing being transmitted as crackling static.

"Tsk…

What the hell are the ship girls doing over there, allowing the Carrier Water Demon's planes to interfere in our fight?!"

But Kaga steered the conversation back on track by stating.

"Focus.

Our comrades who are doing battle with the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon are doing their best.

We have no choice but to accept the fact that the Demon's area of influence simply extends that far.

At this rate, the Princess will have her shields back up in no time, and we have to either take her down before then or separate her from her Beast."

Another missile descended on their position and forced hem to disperse, but she could see that Dyson was only focused on taking her out with her 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons, this being the logical thing to do since she was the slowest and arguably the strongest ship girl in the current fleet.

But Shimakaze and Inazuma took advantage of the tunnel vision which Dyson suffered from in her desire to sink Yamato by pulling off drive-by torpedo salvos from both sides, the salvos connecting as they distracted the Princess long enough for her to load up the Type 3 shells inside one barrel of each 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon.

Firing them felt as if the sun itself was being ejected before her as she had to squint at the drastic increase in luminosity and braced herself against the intensity of the heat before charging through it, detecting allied and enemy bombers flitting through the sky while shells either hit or missed, Dyson's accuracy suffering from the sudden flash of the Type 3 Shells while Yamato endured the flames and embers which engulfed her body and danced on her skin as well as the pain of enemy shells crashing against her body.

She barely avoided a detonating payload courtesy of an enemy dive bomber as it caused her to stumble in her seemingly suicidal charge, everyone chipping in to provide cover fire as Dyson's expression darkened, shouting in disapproval.

[I'm disappointed, Yamato!

I thought you were better than this!]

But as Yamato reached just within Izanami's reach, she avoided the ripped grey arms as they lashed out in order to stop her advance before forming a defensive air hug around Dyson while she felt the vacuum of air from the Beast's defensive swing throw up her hair, but Yamato never had any intention of getting within Izanami's reach, holding her katana up in a striking position as her two remaining cannons got into position, four barrels loaded with Type 1 Armor-Piercing shells as she responded.

"I am!"

Before firing them all at close range, having previously calculated the length of Izanami's reach and estimated where she needed to be so that the Beast's large-caliber cannons could be aimed at without getting swatted away like a fly by Izanami's ungodly-sized arms.

Lessons learned from World War 2 taught them that High-Explosive Rounds weren't too effective against armor, and she positioned her cannons such that she could fire them almost instantly at the Princess's cannons upon reaching where she was right now, praying for her plan's success as she fooled the Princess into blocking a Heaven Splitting Blade which never came, leaving her Beast's cannons undefended.

'Please, fly true.'

She felt the ocean crater beneath her and her cannons belch out smoke in the seconds immediately following a battleship's cannon salvo.

But what she didn't expect was the explosion which radiated from both of Izanami's shoulder cannons, the Beast's pained howl being lost in the deafening boom which sent even Yamato stumbling and falling back on her butt due to her proximity to the massive explosions.

All of her senses were overloaded as she tasted coppery blood in her mouth, flames heating up her skin and body as though she were in a furnace while the ever present white glow of the explosion overloaded her retinas through her eyelids as she fell back into the ocean, feeling her clothes catch on fire after running through her own Type 3 Shells and being engulfed in an explosion at close range.

She inhaled seawater and felt the scathing sting of saltwater enveloping her burns before she reorientated herself and pushed herself up from the ocean, coughing and snorting out seawater which entered her airways as her eyes pried open to see the fireball dissipate while the looming shadow of the injured Beast let out a hollow moan like a hurt whale before diving back into the ocean, the wire which was attached to the back of the Princess's head disconnecting as a damaged Dyson stood on the ocean.

Yamato had suffered serious damage, but Dyson wasn't looking too hot either as the end of her hair were frayed, suffering from first and second-degree burns as swollen-red splotches disfigured the skin on her chest, shoulders, neck, face and even parts of her arm as she took in ragged, gasping breaths, finally regaining enough of her composure to speak in a weakened voice.

[Not a suicidal attack, huh…?

Could've… fooled me…]

Yamato replied weakly, her parched throat a result of the superheated air which she inhaled through her mouth and made her voice hoarse.

"Well…

I'm still here…"

Dyson's expression then softened, breaking out into a weak chuckle just as Yamato's fatigued comrades sailed up and backed her up, but with her katana still in her hand even after everything that happened, she held up her arms in a protective gesture and to non-verbally warn them not to mess with an opponent who was acting out of character, Dyson continuing her soft laughter as her partially burnt face relaxed into something resembling a smirk.

[Is that so, hmm?]

And that was when all hell broke loose.

Dyson's hateful aura returned as its intensity quadrupled, Yamato feeling chills run down her spine as she heard someone behind her squeak in fear,

"Eep!"

And despite her burns and injuries, she started to feel the air around her drop in temperature as Dyson's expression morphed into one of pure, unrestrained malice and hatred, her crimson-red eyes now glowing brighter as she snarled, twitching fingers ready to strike out and rip someone apart with her bare hands.

[Well, that'll change shortly enough.]

Yamato felt her spirit waver in the face of such an overwhelming aura which weighed down on her and forced her to capitulate, but strangely enough, she felt herself standing up against Dyson's exertion of her strength as she felt someone fall behind her, Yamato's Anti-Air turrets unable to hold the dive bombers off for long.

She had to end this now.

She spoke to her comrades as she stepped forward, doing her best to hide the tremors plaguing her limbs while facing off against the Battleship Princess, the Abyssal's aura flaring up again.

"Everyone, cover me.

I'll finish her off."

She could hear Kaga speaking up in a tense voice,

"I can cover you with my fighter planes, because without her Beast to slow her down, she is capable of evading dive and torpedo bombers.

The best I can do is force her to go around my payloads.

Is that fine?"

Yamato nodded as she responded calmly in order to project an air of strength which she naturally exuded.

"That's alright.

She'll want to take me down, and I want you all to trust me when I say this.

I can take her down."

Another missile descended upon them and forced them to disperse as she endured the fireball which threatened to cause her to trip, Kawakaze, Myoukou, Shimakaze and Inazuma following behind Yamato as she ran towards Dyson while the Battleship Princess got into a battle stance, calling out over the boom of the explosion.

[Why can't you blasted ship girls just give up?!

We'll likely never live to see the end of this war, and it's clear that with limited resources and manpower, there's absolutely no chance of you winning!

So why resist us at all?

Why even fight?!]

Yamato gave her response as she saw her comrades unleash their torpedo salvos and fired their cannons while fighter planes and dive bombers tried to land hits on her, Dyson shrugging off all the cannons as if they were paintball pellets where the pain humans felt with a direct hit could be shrugged off with sheer willpower.

Dyson bent her legs, causing another basin to be carved into the ocean as a trough of seawater was thrown up in the wake of the Battleship Princess as she accelerated in Yamato's direction, and the fact that Kaga's dive bombers dived down towards her only forced her to take detours, Yamato noting that even though it seemed as if Dyson was performing a suicidal charge, she had a plan in her mind even as Yamato aimed her 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannons at the Battleship Princess, who was currently circumventing a payload's explosion.

Yamato fired her cannons and felt the recoil reverberate throughout her entire body, but Dyson threw herself onto the ocean and evaded the salvo, columns of seawater forming behind and around Dyson while the Princess pushed herself up and leaned forward like a sprinter at the starting line, bursting forward in another insane burst of speed.

She shouted at the approaching Princess as she raised her katana with both her hands on the handle,

"Why fight?

The question should be: Why not?!

Not when everyone's put their best foot forward and have given their all for me to come this far and face you!

This is no longer your ocean, so why don't you give up?!"

Dyson scoffed as she pulled her right fist back, and on the fringe of her attention scope, she could see that her friends were doing their best to assist her, but Lorelei's dive bombers dropped their payloads en masse to help the Battleship Princess stall for time, spotting an injured but resurfaced Izanami getting in on some of the action by engaging her comrades in battle.

The incoming fist blurred as Dyson roared, her killing aura flaring up as her eyes and expression shone with the same dogged expression belying her desire for victory at all costs.

Yamato saw the attack coming, but just as she brought down her sword in a Heaven Splitting Blade, Dyson closed the distance in a final burst of speed before grabbing and stopping her sword with her free left hand, stopping her from gaining any momentum with her arm swing as she called out.

[Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards!]

And Yamato was a step late in releasing her left hand to try and stop Dyson's incoming fist from connecting with her abdomen, reflexively vomiting mouthfuls of blood as she felt as if her insides had turned to mush, feeling mind-numbing chills shoot up her spine as the blow almost caused her to lose the feeling in her legs.

Her bones creaked agonizingly while her body and mind threatened to give out from the strain, pain and overexertion, barely noting that all the barrels of her cannons were shaking as the force of the punch caused even her rigging and cannon barrels to reverberate and tremble, the displays on her HUD tearing and distorting for a split second.

She grabbed onto Dyson's right hand as the Abyssal drove it further into her abdomen, but as she wrestled with the Princess and moved it away such that they were in a deadlock as their hands grabbed the other's, Dyson lowered her head, tucking her chin in and driving it forward like a charging bull into the spot where she punched.

This succeeded in amplifying the damage dealt, Yamato's legs wobbling from the fresh sensations of pain which radiated from the already-injured organs packed within her body while Dyson's horns dug into her skin, drawing blood as she felt her torn uniform become slick from the blood which seeped out of her impalement wounds.

It was so easy to collapse on the ocean.

So easy to let it all end here.

But…

But!

Her fighting aura flared up again, mentally willing away the static and stars which threatened to overload her mind and render her unconscious as she hefted up her leaden feet, either using her kneecaps to repeatedly knee a helpless Dyson in the stomach or kick at Dyson's legs with her boat slippers, feeling the world weighing on her fatigued shoulders as she leaned forward and shifted her weight onto Dyson, whose horned head was still pressed against her abdomen.

The Princess was stuck in the position of having to support Yamato's weight in a bowing position while both her arms were unavailable, and it was difficult for her to do so when she was getting pummelled by knee strikes and being kicked in the legs, finally choosing to thrust forward with her body before pulling back in an attempt to put some distance between them.

Not on her watch.

She held onto Dyson's right hand just as the Abyssal released her hold on Yamato's right arm with katana in hand, Dyson blocking the right-legged knee strike headed for her face with her freed-up left palm, a solid smack resonating throughout the area as Yamato tried to bring her katana down at an angle as a fake-out, and her prediction was on the mark as Dyson lifted her left hand in order to block the blade with her steel bracelet.

Ignoring the produced spray of sparks and the teeth-gnashing sound of steel on steel, without lowering her right leg, she transitioned from a knee strike into a kick and slammed her boat slipper into Dyson's stomach, finishing up with a head-to-face headbutt as she mimicked the Princess's previous actions and tucked her head in before thrusting it out and making contact, hearing something crack as a result.

Only now did she release the Princess's right hand, allowing Dyson to stumble back while Yamato clasped the handle of her katana with both hands.

Her expression became taut as she swung her katana backwards in a counterclockwise motion, bringing it down just as she saw a stunned Dyson bring up both her bracelets in a protective 'X' gesture, steeling herself for what came next.

Yamato focused her mind and squeezed out every ounce of strength left in her body to be put into her final attack, blinking away the blood which flowed from her forehead as she screamed.

"IT'S OVER!

HEAVEN SPLITTING BLADE!"

And she brought her katana down.

Dyson's eyes widened as Yamato's blade inexplicably managed to cut through her bracelets, bisecting the Battleship Princess and splitting the entire ocean behind her in half as Yamato could see the shock reflected in her eyes just as her sundered hands flew away, fresh Abyssal blood blasting out from the cross-sections of her arms like broken fire hydrants, a copious amount of it hitting Yamato as what remained of Dyson's arms flailed about while she fell.

Yamato watched on as the wound which she inflicted on Dyson's torso gushed out blood, spraying everywhere as Dyson hit the ocean and allowed the blood to burst out from her chest in a ghastly fissure-like injury which stretched across her torso from her right shoulder down to her left kidney, Dyson starting to sweat from the blood loss as she managed to wheeze,

[Oh, shi…]

Before coughing up blood, Yamato's eyes narrowing as she noticed her Beast, Izanami, slowly sailing towards them, but unlike other moments in the battle where it stood above the water in order to establish dominance and get a bird's eye view to spot enemies, this time, it was partially submerged in water with its wrecked cannons pointed down at the ocean as a ceasefire of sorts.

Its two large-caliber shoulder cannons were wrecked by the explosion as charred flesh on its shoulders and warped steel on its muzzle were the result of Yamato's surprise attack, sailing over to where Dyson laid on the sea, her body starting to sink as blood escaped her body and polluted the ocean in order to change it from a dark-blue into a strange-colored sludge-red.

Izanami growled softly, almost akin to a concerned purr emitted by the pet from hell,

[Grnnn…]

In which Dyson feebly attempted to reach over to hold her Beast, Izanami nuzzling its muzzle in her palm when it was clear that she couldn't do so while Dyson herself soothed the whining Beast with a rasping breath.

[There, there…

It's alright…

I'm alright…]

Yamato noted the enemy bombers turning away from them as well as her comrades who encircled the fallen Princess and Beast, Kawakaze sustaining a damaged rigging and torn clothes as she breathed heavily, asking.

"Should we take her out, Yamato-san?

I mean, it'll be one less threat to us in the future."

Yamato lowered her head, suddenly feeling uncertain about whether she should execute the Battleship Princess after everything which transpired as she saw Izanami's gigantic left hand curl up menacingly at the mention of execution, but stayed its hand for now.

On the one hand, it would get rid of a major threat to their forces, and since the Princess and her Beast were sitting ducks right now, they could all fire their weapons and be done with it.

On the other hand, it was hard to guarantee a kill when Izanami was still functional, albeit injured, and if the Beast were to go on a rampage, not even Yamato would be able to stop it since she was slowly losing the feeling in her limbs, and the world in her mind was starting to spin.

Also, Yamato never liked excessive violence and was always forced to kill and sink those who posed a threat to her, not those who were taken out of combat.

And there was the problem of ammo count.

How many more ship girls had to be called in and killed, and how much more ammunition must be spent before they took down a berserk Izanami?

In the end, she shook her head, surprising everyone around her save for Myoukou and Inazuma as she explained herself.

"I don't have enough strength to atop her Beast should it go berserk after we kill its Princess, and from what I'm seeing, it's still capable of killing us if the chips are down.

And before you say anything, check your ammunition reserves and ask yourselves if we really can afford to engage a rampaging Beast in combat who's lost its Princess, especially in our current condition."

This managed to silence all of the dissenting voices who waited for her to finish before speaking, Kawakaze, Kaga and Shimakaze's expressions souring at the inability to kill off the ememy flagship while Myoukou's eyes lowered slightly in disappointment, Inazuma simply looking as if she wanted everything to end for them to go back to base, execution or no execution.

Izanami cupped its dying Princess in both palms before submerging as Yamato determined that the signal to retreat had been given since the sounds of battle died down and left them with an eerie and hollow silence of pained sobs and anguished cries in the distant background, Dyson managing to speak up about Yamato's strange choice about letting her live.

[You… you know… I must say, you're a strange one…

Letting me live… was the biggest mistake of your life, no matter how glad I am to have escaped the executioner's … blade.

If I may ask… why?]

Yamato felt her trembling legs wobble from overexertion and farigue while her body started to fail, but she managed to hold herself together as she gave everyone her most determined expression, hiding the symptoms of her extensive injuries from everyone, even her allies, in order to project an image of strength.

"The simple answer.

Your Beast's likelihood to go berserk if you sink, as well as the ammunition shortage on our end.

The personal answer?

Only the strong are allowed to display compassion and mercy, and although this action may have negative repercussions down the road, I'll become stronger by then in order to shoulder those consequences.

If you want to come at me with your gang of clones in my sea next time, bring it on any day.

I'll kick all of your asses and keep our great ocean salty with your tears."

Dyson chuckled and coughed some some more blood, but it didn't matter to her at this point due to her insane survivability and a ceasefire on both sides after the ship girls clinched a decisive victory.

[Huh…

We'll likely never see… each other again, but it was… fun…]

Before her head disappeared under water, her Beast emitting a guttural growl before following shortly behind as its exhalation blew up bubbles in its wake, Yamato finally collapsing the second they both disappeared underwater and she made absolutely certain that they were safe from any enemies who intended to take a few parting shots at them.

The cries of her comrades and her Fairies attempting to get her back in working order were lost on her as her limbs felt numb while a dull ache was felt throughout her entire body.

And the burns plaguing her back, the fatal internal injuries as well as the headbutt-induced bleeding and headache eventually took their toll on her, still holding the handle of her katana in a death grip as she mentally told herself before blacking out from the pain and fatigue.

'We won.

We actually won.

I wo-'