Chapter 10

BANG! CRASH! BASH! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-! RATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

How long had this been going on for? Nobody on the field knew anymore, nobody even dared to think of it no more. The concept of time had been heavily eroded from their minds, whittled down to its most base applicants during watery waves crashing onto main decks, the sounds of shells being let fly from cannons amidst smoke and soot, with the choice of who lived or died being solely dictated by fate itself. A rather cruel and unforgiving mistress just like a woman who had discovered her partner's infidelity. Very little mattered to them anymore, not the thoughts of returning home, nor the thoughts of what life was like outside the closest thing to a literal hellhole they could ever or would ever know. What did matter to them was their struggle for survival amidst scorching heat and energy blasts whizzing so fast they may as well be blades trying to rip their bodies to pieces, cauterizing wounds and leaving mangled corpses behind. They had seen enough of those to last a million lifetimes.

It wasn't like those not on the battlefield were spared either, as they overlooked the scene from a holographic map of the surrounding oceans of Taiwan. Within the command bunker, these people stood amid a set of terminals, the sounds of typing filling the air though thanks to the bunker being held deeper within Taiwanese territory.

None of them looked especially relaxed, far from it each of them overlooked the map which showed various clusters of blue, red and yellow. The blue stood for their allies such as their mass-produced ships, and their newly recruited Shipgirl Yuubari, and the red indicated the enemy fl of which was entirely Siren-based. Not the Azur lane forces which they had long been expecting to try and fight in a war of human design that had little purpose beyond ideals by leadership, another one of humanity's follies over their multi-thousand-year-long existence.

The red spots signified the Sirens and their fleet… which dwarfed them 10 to 1.

It hadn't been long since the battle had begun, and the way things were going wasn't too favourable. None of them were fools to think otherwise, not with how bad the initial engagement had been.

"Sir." One of Gozaburo's Admirals commented breaking their tense silence as he held a hand around his chin. His eyes, saggy from both stress and lack of sleep after all the all-nighters combing through documents as well as discussing possible strategies they could employ to hold off the Siren's advance, grimly glanced over to him after staring at the crimson mass which signified the Siren's fleet. "It would appear that we will need to request bombardments on the port and starboard sides lest the enemy launches a pincer assault on our remaining ships."

The battle safe to say had gone rather poorly in the initial encounter once word got out that the Sirens had started to converge on Taiwan waters. In the ensuing conflict, a vast amount of their defence fleet sunk to the ocean depths from the Siren aircraft and bombardments from their battleships, with their cruisers and destroyers harassing their front lines and retreating before they could get in range of their mass-produced ships' guns. Though they weren't quite as weak as one might think, mass-produced ships were merely like bullet sponges practically speaking meant to soak up the Siren rounds for their more advanced vessels and shipgirls to continue fighting. Not to mention they drew Sirens into a close combat situation in which their guns could deal some damage.

During the initial battle many of the coastal guns hastily erected over the last few months, had been brought online alongside hidden airfields that were told to send many of their boys into the air as they could. Thanks to varying factors, however, this base wasn't equipped with the garrison needed to properly defend it with only a token force, but it had been enough for them to last beyond this impromptu invasion's first phase at least. Beyond that was where things got tricky, considering many of the airfields got put out of commission by Siren aircraft that managed to break past their AA fire. Many of these had been registered on their map as error signs where these defences had been.

"Hm." Gozaburo hummed thoughtfully while he took in the situation, thoughts and ideas circulating throughout his brain that he calculated and either tossed aside or kept in reserve depending on the battle's progress. From what he could see there were portions of the siren fleet breaking away from the main fleet, a sign of a pincer attack just like what his subordinate had mentioned though there was little evidence of this being such a move. For one the enemy fleet's size made it certain that if they wanted to wipe them out then it would be a cinch for them to do so. "Pull Yuubari back behind the fleet, then have them split apart. Tell Yuubari the moment they do so she is to launch torpedoes into their ranks."

At once the command chain turned into a buzz of activity with telegraphic communications being sent to the various places needed to relay those orders to the ground. Gozaburo intended to utilise Yuubari's advantages as a Shipgirl to great effect, as some pros to using her as the vanguard being that she was smaller and faster than ships yet was just as capable as her light cruiser self. Ideally, he'd like to have had a fleet of her comrades take out the Sirens then the mass-produced ships could focus on delivering supplies and other matters, but beggars can't be choosers.

If anything if Yuubari was who he thought she was then he bet it was lucky they had even one shipgirl at all.

Moments later, a communication report came in from one of the staff members at the terminals around them. "Sir, it appears the Sirens are starting to surround Yuubari." one of the staff officers reported, his features stern and grim. "She managed to take out a couple of destroyers and a Cruiser with her Torpedos and rained suppressing fire upon the frontward vanguard, now they're trying to encircle her!"

Gozaburo furrowed his brow as a disturbing thought processed itself in his mind. 'Could they be after our sole Shipgirl?' he wondered, frowning. His mind whirred with the possibilities he conjured. Perhaps those Siren bastards considered her presence to be an eyesore, despite the prospect of one Shipgirl alone holding back the entire fleet sounding ridiculous despite the evidence presented to him. All his navy warfare training refused to consider this an option, there must be something more to this plan of theirs.

Nonetheless, this was something they could indeed use to their advantage, and he would be a fool not to take it. Thus he threw his right arm out while his left stayed behind his back, hand clenched into a fist. "Send orders for the bombardment of those ships breaking from the main force to that new escort of hers. Blow those ships out of the water!"

"SIR!"

(Scene Change)

'Looks like I got new orders…'

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

The familiar sounds of his main batteries booming while they released their rounds filled his ears as Kosuke internally scowled to himself, having his arm pointed towards the incoming Siren menace. Thanks to his unique situation he had already seen what the Siren fleet had been about to do and had already primed [Proto Satan]'s main guns towards them. He currently had his vessel positioned for a full broadside near the coastline, a defensive position assigned to him due to the ship's status as a 'battleship' (internally he swore that he had heard some of the staff on the base considering how the sakura empire scientists will wanna dissect him if they got the chance, not really a confidence booster right there).

His ship's guns soothed his nerves with their rate of fire by giving him the pleasure of seeing their shells slam into and ruthlessly tear through the Siren ships, destroyers, cruisers whatever. The sight of this brought a massive smile onto his face while the male watched as Yuubari circled and blasted away at the other fleet with her Rigging. Cruisers she dealt with Torpedoes and Destroyers got a person into the shells fired from her guns, even though he'd seen it plenty of times by this point the sight of her Rigging doing its thing mesmerised him in ways very little could attest to.

Perhaps this had been as a result of him only seeing her control her ship in a manner akin to how he does with [Proto Satan], but seeing the look she had on her face when using her Rigging wasn't a bad sight at all it felt like he was watching her in her natural habitat. It was a good thing this fleet didn't have anything like those Siren Shipgirls or those damn clones of the normal Shipgirls, their absence made repelling this fleet much easier for them in the long run.

Speaking of the Sirens, Kosuke just had to wonder just what their goal was. In the apparent invasion's initial phase, they had opened up with a heavy barrage of cannon fire supported by aircraft formed by their backline battleships and aircraft carriers respectively. The barrage had largely been directed at their coastal defences like the Taiwanese guns and airfields launching their planes. Some of those defensive fortifications managed to survive thanks to a combo of Kosuke's AA fire and that of the defences themselves, as well as Yuubari helping when she could from her position in the vanguard, but still about 80% of their defences got wiped out.

The last bunch of defences were condensed around Taiwan's middle, around some facility Kosuke could only see the silhouette of from his position on the coastline. He didn't know what it was, but he did know it must be important hence why he never asked, not like these guys would expose military secrets to someone they likely saw as an outsider.

It was probably why they positioned him away from the main fleet, as an 'escort' of unknown qualities and features they must not put much faith in him. Perhaps they had just enough to issue orders to him through their radio, but that was the extent of it, and if he were to guess then he'd say it was largely coming from those whom the fleet admiral surrounded himself with, his crew one could say. It didn't seem like the FA himself had any animosity towards him, only seeing him as a practical asset at least that was what he got from the guy, which Kosuke could understand. Military generals view battlefields differently from civilians or those on the ground.

Didn't mean he had to like it though.

BANG-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-BANG-BANG-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-BANG-BANG-BANG-BOOM!

If that wasn't enough, the male frowned as he tried to ignore this deep sense of emptiness and anxiety pooling in his gut, seemingly not his own though. He glanced at the battlefield ahead and felt a sense of yearning, something which confused the male for a few seconds before an idea popped inside his mind as to the cause.

This might be the farthest he had ever been from the frontlines, assisting his comrade with his gunfire. Throughout their journey to get back to civilisation, Kosuke had kept himself as close to the girl as possible using [Proto Satan]'s superior specs to protect her, either as taking damage for her that he could repair easily enough or drawing attention away from her to provide a means of something akin to backstabbing. He never really took to staying back in any of their engagements, perhaps due to [Proto Satan]'s immense speed allowing him to style on those Siren fuckers while sending them to davy jones's locker. There had always been this sense of unity, this sense of purpose he had when protecting her, like a Samurai protecting his lord's life from assassins.

Now though, now the lord had donned armour and taken to the field with a retinue of bodyguards, and the Samurai left behind could only watch.

Something about that comparison ignited a fiery flame within his heart that pulled him out of that self-deprecation.

'Ok, this is just BS. Shouldn't I be doing more than just sitting here?' Utter frustration pooled within his gut with much greater intensity than he had anticipated though Kosuke ignored that. Thoughts and ideas started making their way into his head as he began to consider options other than what that general said to him. 'Going around the Siren fleet and blasting their rear lines to kingdom come would be an ideal way to whoop their asses, and cut off their fire support and aircraft capabilities in one fell swoop!'

The more he thought about it, the more sure he became of his ability to do something more than what he was supposed to. No plan survived first contact and it wasn't like he was under Gozaburo's command or anything; he wasn't even part of any military either. At the same time, the urge to do something grew greater and greater inside his stomach, becoming impossible to ignore to the point where it nearly hurt. That's right, he wasn't some backline bitch who relied on minions to do things he could do, that wasn't his style in the least otherwise he'd never be able to face his comrades back home again!

If he weren't consumed in his thoughts or watching Yuubari dispatch the vanguard ships of the enemy fleet, he would have heard a faint horn sound coming from his vessel resembling a feral growl.

(Scene Change)

"Hehehehehe… so there's our 'booty' that got her up in arms… shame it's not at full strength… oh well! Time to play!"

(Scene Change)

Just then… something about the battlefield shifted.

Before his very eyes, Kosuke saw some of the fleets start breaking off from the main one. A detachment of 9 Destroyers, 6 Cruisers, 4 Battleships and 2 Aircraft Carriers quickly formed a mini fleet from the main one still assaulting Yuubari despite the pincer assault's failure… though one that didn't join their comrades in isolating the Shipgirl. Instead of that, it broke away and sailed over to the coastline…

Directly towards his position.

'Oh shit, if that fleet's ignoring the defenders…' Kosuke thought with sweat trailing down his brow, watching as the remaining coastal guns opened fire on the fleet to try and halt its progress only for the said fleet to shrug it off, ignoring the geysers erupting around them. Some rounds hit some of the ships, but they carried on like the guns didn't even exist which only cemented the solution in his mind. 'Damnit… well, guess I have an excuse to test that theory now…'

With his control over his vessel, Kosuke quickly floored the engines and started steering his ship away from the coast towards the open sea, the sounds of his ship's mechanics whirring to life filling him with elation. He made sure to angle his vessel so that it could still fire broadsides on those assholes, his main guns already being aimed towards the vanguard while [Proto Satan] tore through the waves like a knife through paper mache.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

Immediately using the range to his advantage, Kosuke unloaded barrage after barrage on the enemy fleets while aiming for the waters in front of them. As such multiple hits kept slamming and slamming into the enemy ships, the sounds of metal being blasted apart filling the ocean. Briefly hearing his radio going off inside his head, Kosuke patched it through and spoke into it before the sender could get a word in.

{That fleet which broke off from the main one, is attacking the coastline, or more specifically myself.}

{And what makes you so-}

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Before the angry-sounding Fleet Admiral (something that sent chills down Kosuke's spine while making him think of an angry shark about to go on a blood rage) could say more, several geysers erupted around him from rounds of energy crashing near his position, sending rippling waves into the port and starboard sides of his hull. Their source came from the battleships in the enemy sub fleet's rear that began peppering him in retaliation for his strikes earlier.

The silence that followed the connection got taken as a sign that the Admiral understood his point, hence why he cut the link to focus on the task at hand.

He wasn't smirking like a smug ass combined with a looney toon when all was going to plan, not at all.

Raising his arm to point it towards the enemy, Kosuke waited till [Proto Satan]'s guns had aligned themselves before proceeding to return fire, each turret erupting with faint flashes of light alongside the signature booming sounds that ripped through the air parallel to the shells they launched. In the distance he saw his shells land, several destroyers going up in flames while certain cruisers opted to swerve to the side to avoid them. Their armour wouldn't withstand a single blow from his Drillship's guns, and they knew it, making them only MARGINALLY smarter than most of the morons trying to sink him over these few weeks.

Didn't mean he would be stopping, no sir.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

WHOOSH-SPLASH! WHOOSH-WHOOSH-SPLASH-SPLASH!

In the following seconds, Kosuke and the enemy fleet started trading blows with one another. Shells sailed through the air only to either collide with enemy hulls, or the vast open depths as a missed shot… which happened with increasingly worrying frequency, something which Kosuke vowed to remedy as they got closer to one another, his only real solution to that problem. Those that hit the hulls on either side erupted into smoke and flames, with the solid shells from [Proto Satan] causing massive holes filled with smoke and flames on the unlucky souls that it hit, meanwhile, the energy rounds slammed into the Drillship's portside left scorching marks on it while areas rich in the heat got melted away, something Kosuke ignored in favour of returning fire.

It hadn't been long before the male's vessel had gotten directly into the enemy fleet's sailing path towards the coast, all six main gun turrets brought to bear and slightly smoking from the continuous firing. He quickly decided on an alternate course however when he started seeing the other battleships start aligning their broadsides and the carriers nearing the final preparations to launch their aircraft, opting for a figure 8 style of the formation while retreating backwards. Thus [Proto Satan] adhered to his control and started doing that, firing its main guns all the while as the Siren Cruisers provided suppressing fire…

Though at the apex of his first 180 portside turn, Kosuke's eyes widened when he picked up Torpedoes coming his way, if the odd waves coming his way weren't enough of an indication. 'Oh, shit-!'

BOOM!

Only a couple managed to hit thanks to [Proto Satan] turning in time, but the one that did erupt in a massive geyser which forced the male to shield his face by raising his arm over it. This had the unwelcome effect of pausing his fire, which gave his enemies the chance to retaliate by launching their rounds on his ass right when his ship completed its turn, enemy rounds of battleship tier ringing through the air and crashing all around his vessel. Some missed, others hit with many of them scorching through the hull's defences.

'Ugh… those fuckers…!'

Kosuke growled under his breath whilst a surge of animalistic fury swelled inside his gut. With every hit that the male's vessel recoiled against, dark thoughts of sinister retribution swirled within his mind like a swirling vortex. These fuckwits were going to pay, he goddamn swore it internally and, once his ship had completed its rotation and [Proto Satan]'s main guns were brought to bear, Kosuke wasted no time in retaliating.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Loud booming sounds accompanied his ships' guns roaring to life, launching their payloads back towards the enemy and filling their formation with shell-made geysers… amidst a few explosions, thanks to some hitting the enemy vessels, shredding through their armour and damaging some significantly. Few of them sank, however, which caused him to internally frown in confusion. 'Don't tell me these guys have wisened up and made their mass-produced models more resistant to [Proto Satan]'s gunfire…' he wondered internally. But his rounds had destroyed a lot of their vanguard ships, so maybe it was the battleships and aircraft carriers.

But as the enemy started launching its next air wing with Battleships unloading their shells, Kosuke began to get the suspicion that this would not be as easy a fight…

Then there came an almost childishly feminine giggle.

(Scene change)

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Alarms blared throughout the command room with frantic staff members rushing all over the place to complete their assigned tasks, a surge of dread flowing through the air. It had happened the moment that they had detected something enter the battle zone, something which none of them had expected but at the same time utterly DREADED. Siren mass-produced fleets were easy enough to deal with thanks to them being nigh mindless automatons which follow their orders imputed into them. This knowledge had been afforded to them through countless sacrifices throughout their initial engagement with the enemy, they managed to incorporate some of this tech into their mass-produced ships to command them on the battlefield better.

But this? Whole different ball game.

"Damnit…!" Commander Gozaburo's lips trembled as he tilted his head downwards slightly to cover his face using his cap's shadows. Bad memories of the early Siren engagements flowed through his mind, more specifically the moment that humanity had been able to start pushing the mass-produced fleets back which ignited a sense of hope for the people… hope which got dashed as soon as it had been formed when one of THESE things showed up: A Siren, as in a humanoid Siren and if rumours were to be believed the basis for the Shipgirls themselves.

The screen before him showed a sight he had dreaded for many years, the sight of a single humanoid-looking Siren with a rigging reminiscent of a hammerhead shark circling her. She wore a mockery of the Japanese sailor uniform, her glowing yellow eyes wrought with malice and bloodlust while her mouth had twisted into a downright unnatural-sounding giggle, aided by the autotune-like voice that appeared in many humans' nightmares following a close encounter with the speaker.

Some of his staff looked like they wanted to deny reality based on their expressions, and while he would normally have chewed them out for such cowardice as it did not deserve a place in the imperial Sakura Empire Navy… this time he could understand it and wasn't completely immune to its effects either. He too remembered the last time he had led good men to battle against such foes.

Even so…Why?

Why did THAT bitch of all people (he could scarcely call them people at this point if they were people at all) have to show up NOW of all times? Last he heard that wench's presence had been observed fighting in the black sea!

(Scene Change)

"EEEEEHEHEHEHEEHEHE!"

The cold arctic ocean and the north pole COMBINED could not compare to the chills that assaulted Kosuke's spine upon hearing that robotic giggling. No amount of playthroughs on his game could have prepared him for how CREEPY it felt, resembling sandpaper grinding through his ears till they were nothing but dust. The whole autotune feel to it making it increasingly robotic like in the anime didn't help either, a sense of otherworldliness he had not experienced before washing over him like water being poured over him, dousing his fires of wrath with the cold sense of impending doom.

"...Shit."

"My my! How nice of you to join us on this fine-ass evening!"

Kosuke had at one moment been exchanging blows with the enemy fleet, the second a single portal akin to those the other ships used manifested above the same fleet. From there came a sight he never thought he would see so soon, one he honestly didn't expect to see here at all, or any time. In hindsight, he probably should have, but seeing the form that descended to a point then stay hovering in the air like some kind of hovercraft, that shark-like rigging of hers hovering around her like some damn attack dog ready to pounce, all but confirmed his worst fears.

Kosuke had been wrong in his prior assessment of his weaknesses with Yuubari when he mentioned his weakness to submarines and the like. He hadn't even CONSIDERED thinking about this type of enemy even though he really should have, something which stung at his warrior pride. Even so, for his updated list of weaknesses he'd say subs and humanoid Sirens were his biggest threats right now since despite controlling a ship, he was no Shipgirl, thus could not form any Rigging.

"So… guess this is a humanoid Siren…" the male uttered under his breath, he didn't want to alert this one to the knowledge that he knew her from a videogame or even had prior knowledge of her. From what he knew of Sirens they had good memory since they did all those 'experiments' on entire timelines, and that kind of admin work did not come without special requirements. Requirements that even this psycho who could be classed as the 'Joker' Siren (and that was putting it mildly) had to have passed with flying colours.

Psychos are usually underestimated in the intelligence department which usually doesn't bode well for others.

Definitely for fucking Purifier of all entities.

"Hi-hi, hidey ho! It's super Purifier everyone's favourite psycho!"

'So she doesn't hide the fact she's a psycho…' Kosuke thought, sweat dropping at the thought of this Siren being one of the more unhinged of the Sirens he'd seen in the game. Though part of him wondered why he could hear her from so far away Kosuke attributed it to the whole Siren tapping into his communications through his phone or some shit. He didn't give it much thought, not seeing it necessary for the time being. "Meh, I'd give a six out of 10 on the psycho scale honestly," Kosuke commented, ignoring the way her autotuned voice made him want to cringe inside.

She had good hearing too, cause Purifier's eyes sparkled at the response she heard from him. "Really? How so? What's the evidence?" She questioned seemingly bouncing on one foot and then switching to the other rather sporadically. Her rigging didn't follow in its master's movements either due to it not being capable of doing so or something else, either way, it was a somewhat welcome sight. "Puri's aching to know those variables to the equation!"

"Meh, your whole psycho spiel hasn't anything on the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland." Kosuke taunted back, making sure to aim all the main guns at the enemy whose barrels lightly steamed from the constant use. Though truthfully, Kosuke had seen and handled way worse than this battle maniac so she wouldn't be able to scare him any with her antics.

He certainly wasn't trying to convince himself or his shaking legs, nope not one bit.

It was a good thing that the woman seemed to not find his words too offensive like a Twitter nerd, cause Purifier grinned that signature psycho grin of hers as her golden eyes bore down onto the male, her pupils seemingly acting like camera lenses zooming in on him. Not like the male noticed this as she held a hand over her shoulder. "Hehehehe, oh boy this is great! Glad to see this won't be boring at least!"

Kosuke slightly narrowed his eyes at the sight, wariness seeping from his being like smoke rising from a chimney. Nobody should be able to understand a psychopath, they never know what they could be thinking, that was a lesson he had learned the hard way a while ago. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but wonder why the hell someone so important like Purifier would be sent out into this remote part of the world. Did the Sirens find this place to be such a threat to them that they had to risk the alliance they had with the Axis powers? It's not like they valued one another now that he thought about it, so perhaps something was brewing behind the scenes.

"Really? Well, as a reward for amusing you queen of the psychos, might I ask why you are here?"

"Hehehe, sorry but this gal's not that cheap."

"Could have fooled me."

Fortunately, this woman seemed to be in the mood for some banter, made him think of his bros whenever they were on the verge of something stupid and he had to solve the problem with some wits and diplomacy… not very good at the latter, decent enough at the former. None of the enemy ships had advanced further yet but their guns and aircraft were still a step away from being let loose, so he had to keep his head cool until reinforcements arrived.

PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW!

"?!"

Alarms rang inside his head when out of nowhere, Purifier unloaded a whole ass barrage on him, her Rigging aiming its elongated barrels and showering him with energy rounds that shredded through his ship despite Kosuke's attempts to hurriedly veer out of the way. In the end, Kosuke had to shield his arms from both the geysers erupting where the shots that missed landed on the ocean surface, as well as dive roll sideways to avoid one of them that burned a hole through his vessel, coming in from above and exiting about halfway between the middle of the port side of the ship.

Several groaning sounds accompanied [Proto Satan] as it briefly listed to the side before it realigned itself moments later, all in response to the impact those rounds had on it. Kosuke meanwhile stumbled back to his feet (nearly losing balance due to how slippery the deck had become thanks to the water) to level a glare towards the smugly grinning Purifier. He would have commented on it, but instead, he chose to retaliate in a much more 'physical' way.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

In anger, each of the main guns opened fire on Purifier who giggled like the schoolgirl that she emulated, all while she proceeded to strafe about like a target at a gunnery range, easily evading the rounds. "Hahahaha, how touchy! Now I know why those stores sell women repellent for you!" she chirped, her guns already primed and ready to fire and her expression indicating she was done with their prior banter.

"Oi, at least I need it! It's the same as the bitch drugs you are taking!" Kosuke retorted as he readied [Proto Satan]'s guns. He did NOT appreciate having been blindsided by that attack of hers, so he had no qualms with restricting his silver tongue. Bitch chose to try ambushing him when they were still being civil, so fuck that! He didn't even care that this was a warzone, it was still a dick move so he would respond in kind!

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

His vessel echoed his sentiments with a fervour that would have baffled even Kosuke himself if he were of a sounder mind, because [Proto Satan] unloaded his volley at Purifier in revenge, only to curse when he saw his rounds hit nothing but empty air. The said irritating Siren had dodged them much like the ones that she had dodged earlier, striking back by showering his vessel with laser rounds… rounds supported by the fleet beneath her.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Demonic rounds flew through the air like the hounds of death themselves, slamming into Kosuke's ship and the surroundings of the water with many having shredded through parts of the superstructure, sharp ripping sounds making the ship's captain stumble on the deck which paused his response measures…

As well as stopped him from seeing the sinister, slasher smile that Purifier spotted upon seeing the rounds hit home.

'Ugh, damnit those battleships have some damn good accuracy…' Kosuke thought whilst a grimace twisted his expression, each blow landed on his vessel's hull damaged his armour, and hit his whole fighting ability, he didn't want to think about being forced to go down with his ship. Purifier wins and that would be his ultimate fate. Still, he'd forgotten about those damn battleships of hers, and it seemed like Siren's presence affected them as they started raining fire on his position, forcing Kosuke to retaliate with his gunfire.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-!

Invigorated by the song of war, both [Proto Satan] and the Siren battleships started trading blows with one another with a mix of hot lead and superheated energy. Geysers of water littered the battlefield while the two sides fought to rip one another into pieces, tearing things up like men's butts in all men's prisons. The world became alight with constant flashes from gun barrels, lights streaking through the skies to and fro like a food fight with each 'food' being capable of reducing matter to their base particles.

But the longer the exchange went on, the signs that one side was emerging as the dominant force on this battlefield… became increasingly evident. That side, unfortunately, wasn't Kosuke and his ship as his position, constantly moving as it was, wasn't on the winning end of this battle due to A: being outnumbered, B: having to watch out for torpedoes that he'd have to shoot down with his ship's smaller guns, and C: support from Purifier which composed of pot shots she took on himself specifically like she'd fire some quick energy rounds right where he had been standing on his ship's main deck.

Part of him wondered why she wasn't getting involved herself since she was usually a blood knight and loved fighting and stuff. But that thought process didn't last too long thanks to Kosuke focusing on the battle which he felt himself quickly losing ground on. Throughout the engagement, less than half his usual strikes hit the battleships themselves, most of the cruisers and destroyers that remained being used as meat shields for his Shells. He suspected that the enemy was using those vessels deliberately knowing that they wouldn't last if his rounds hit them.

Things got progressively worse for him in the following seconds when, through the sounds of splashing water and shimmering energy blasts, the sounds of jet engines started filling the air and mixing in with the prior sounds. Kosuke's eyes widened when he noticed the aircraft carriers having reversed direction, sailing to a line behind the battleships with their aircraft already starting to leave their flight decks. 'Shit, there'll be a pain!' he shouted inside his head, sweat now truly sliding down his brow. To deal with both the aircraft carriers and the battleships at the same time…

Wait, scratch that.

"HAHAHAHA! Tally-ho!"

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

He immediately got reminded of Purifier's existence when she unloaded a volley on his ass faster than the majority of any Battleship he'd sunk previously, and in response, Kosuke promptly set [Proto Satan] on a faster speed to widen the whole figure 8 formation he got going on to try and make himself the smallest possible target.

SPLASH-SPLASH-SPLASH-SPLASH-SPLASH-SPLASH-SPLASH-SPLASH-!

Each round fortunately either hit the waters around the male or ripped a chunk out of the ship's main deck, thankfully not damaging any ammo storages or magazines. Nonetheless, Kosuke grimaced at each one, seeing his life flashing through his eyes at every round's approach while his heart hammered away in his ribcage, a second being all it took to confirm his lack of ability to affect the outcome. This wasn't the usual MO for Purifier, at least the one he knew which to be fair wasn't much… she was usually more like a bloodhound with a love for battle, yet here she was only firing from a distance. It didn't feel like she was taking him seriously, and while the thought of her not taking him seriously irked the lad in ways only people in his situation could comprehend, Kosuke also felt relieved.

Her underestimating him meant she wasn't going at him with full strength, something he had no doubts he'd sink to the depths otherwise.

"Hehehehehehe, surprise!"

PCHEW-PCHEW-PCHEW-!

At once, another chill crossed down Kosuke's spine when he heard the sounds of portals opening, causing him to glance at their source. He did so, and laid eyes upon a bunch of siren portals opening up in the air the oceans with there being two 'sets' he could see.

The first 'set' manifested close to the shoreline spewing forth Siren ships before vanishing, leaving a fleet of 40 ships (10 battleships, 10 Carriers, 10 Destroyers, 5 Light Cruisers and 5 Heavy Cruisers). 'Shit are they gonna do any land invasions?!' he screamed inside his head, only for those thoughts and feelings to vanish when he saw the Siren fleet focus entirely on him leaving the infrastructure alone, making him internally sigh in relief. 'Phew, guess not… guess that means I'm their target…' he thought afterwards, before glancing to the second set.

Said set of portals manifested within open waters several hundred meters away, spewing forth an even bigger Siren fleet. About twice as large making it a total of 80 ships (20 Battleships, 20 Aircraft Carriers, 20 Destroyers, 10 heavy cruisers and 10 light cruisers) with every one of them bearing down on his current position like a pack of animals closing in on their target prey…

He would be lying if he proclaimed he didn't feel a little intimidated.

Part of him felt thankful that he'd moved when he did as well, cause if this stuff happened and he was close to the shoreline then a lot of collateral damage and potential civilian casualties could have been racked up and he'd have to carry that weight for the rest of his life. The former could handle no problem since collateral damage can be fixed, LIFE however was a different story.

Nonetheless, a small smirk formed alongside the fire that lit itself inside his chest as he gazed up towards the rapidly approaching Purifier. "Heh, must have some fans among your ranks, weirdo. What, this like some idol shows or something?" he quipped, prepping [Proto Satan]'s Main battery for what could be one of the biggest fights he had in his entire life in this world so far.

"No need for that dumbass, but I like that idol analogy of yours. Taking it for myself, I'd say the main star has yet to arrive!"

Once again Purifier's cheery voice broke him out of his thoughts as she advanced towards the male with what remained of her fleet. Their exchanges looked to have done a number on the fleet, something which provided a small bit of relief to Kosuke whose eyes fell upon the battleships whose guns looked to be disabled with the number of holes in their structure.

Things didn't end there though. The countless black spots circling the air space confirmed that the carriers had now deployed their air wings, with those spots (Siren fighters and bombers) now circling the skies above Kosuke's head which made him snarl in irritation. He was too far from the shoreline for what remained of the allied land defences to try shooting them down, not like they would have been much help anyways given their desecrated state.

But then, the male widened his eyes when he recalled the crazed girl's words. She mentioned that the 'main star' hadn't arrived yet, and judging by her expression these fleets weren't fitting the bill here. Did that mean something else would be coming soon? Knowing how these Sirens operated and relying on some personal experiences told Kosuke that this likely wasn't the main event yet, something which chilled him as he'd gone for a dip in the Atlantic ocean. He did NOT want to know what the heck this Siren had in store for him right now, his current abilities considered he didn't think he had what it took to survive, beads of sweat rolling down his neck as he clenched his teeth tightly.

"KOSUKE!"

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-!

"?!"

"Oh goodie, new friends have come to play!"

Both Purifier and Kosuke widened their eyes in unison, one in shocked surprise and the other in sheer crazy joy when the sounds of ships being blown to bits erupted behind the partially destroyed fleet. Both looked to the said fleet's destruction to see the aircraft carriers sinking like rubber ducklings, various holes adorning their forms and thanks to this many of the aircraft abruptly fell into the seas too, having lost the command units keeping them in the air. Battleship guns turned on the cause of their companion's destruction, but soon went up in flames when they exploded, their engines being blasted in rapid succession before being blown in half when geysers erupted from them, likely caused by torpedoes.

'Hot damn, that woman knows how to pull off an ambush!'

Kosuke couldn't help but be impressed at the sight of Yuubari breaking through the small fleet Purifier had been leading initially before the others showed up, a glance to her former position showing only sinking wreckages to be claimed by the waves. The sight of her arriving felt like a sight for sore eyes for the male regardless, and as she dashed across the waves the small shipgirl provided suppressing fire on Purifier by unloading her main battery on her ass as much as possible, prompting the Siren to back off while letting her rigging fire back in retaliation.

{How're things going with the defence?!}

{All good, hostels eliminated!}

A quick transmission later and Yuubari, her expression grim and with no small amount of tension, pulled a U-Turn to float in the space between Kosuke and Purifier, her eyes brimming with defiance as she aimed her Rigging at the enemy. "Damn Siren, so this warranted one of your kind to personally oversee, huh? Guess that explained their sudden lack of coordination…" she commented, glaring heatedly at the said enemy before her. She had observed the prior Siren fleet lose much of its cohesion with one another late into the fight which allowed both her and the remaining land defences to wipe out the lot of them. It had only been when she had looked at her companion's position had she understood why and immediately sped to his aid.

She did NOT like what she saw when closing in though.

'As much as I wanna give that woman a hug for reinforcing me, this situation's hardly improved…' the black-haired male remarked mentally, slightly grimacing at the approaching fleets surrounding their asses which had already started deploying their aircraft, filling the space their fellows once occupied.

As strong as she was, Yuubari wasn't going to be enough to take down a humanoid Siren on Purifier's level, and with all these bugs circling them like the filthy pieces of shit that they were, it'd be a while before he could provide reinforcements to her since he'd be busy destroying these mass-produced ships. It also looked like Yuubari had been put through the wringer with the number of bruises on her body, her kimono looking torn as all hell compared to when they first started this fight and her stockings torn in many places, exposing bleeding flesh beneath with the blood dampening some areas of said stockings. Some of her hair strands looked burned in several areas too, with one of her ribbons missing from her person.

Clenching his fists was the sole visible reaction he had to those things he observed about her. He went to open his mouth while also raising his hand to start opening fire…

PCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!

"?!"

But those plans slid to a halt when yet ANOTHER portal opened up behind the fleet still in open water, but this one immediately set itself apart from the rest. Whereas other portals had this ovular otherworldly shape to them as he'd seen in the AL anime, this one trumped them both in size (being twice as large) and also shape in that it resembled a fanged maw opening through reality itself. The opening process looked slow and almost deliberate like the thing was trying to prolong the suspense that flooded the air alongside this sense of impending doom that flooded his being.

Deep within the maw, Kosuke heard the sounds of engines flaring to life which told him something lay behind it. What it was he had little inclination aside from the likelihood that it was probably a ship of some sort considering the Sirens' MO. smoke started spewing out of the maw for added effect, making him consider the source behind this gift in the theatrical arts at least.

But then, he sensed someone MUCH more affected by the sight than he ever could be which caused Kosuke to glance to the side and see, to his shock, Yuubari becoming paler than a ghost or a recently made corpse. Her whole form started sweating bullets as her skin lost all colour, trembling violently like she had seen something she had never been meant to ever see. "Oi, Yuuubari, what's wrong?!" the male shouted urgently, not seeing this as a good sign. Not to mention that he even tried asking through their coms after she didn't respond due to her possibly not hearing the male, but that didn't work out either.

Instead, she stared into the opening maw, trembling like crazy with a profound terror in her eyes. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times without uttering a single sound, , in fact, the only thing one could hear from her was her quickening breathing place as she bore witness to something she NEVER wanted to see again, phantom images assaulting her mind. Images of sinking friends mixed with hulls full of holes, of blood and oil staining the oceans to a mix of black and red like an art painting, and the constant shrieks of terror drowned out by loud gunfire merciless like a hurricane. "Th-Thats…!"

Before long, Purifier giggled like a crackhead overdosing while the maw opened up completely and a MASSIVE ship sped through at high speeds. Speeds that to Kosuke's horror (said boy now realising EXACTLY what this ship was) dwarfed his own without much challenge. The hull resembled a typical siren cruiser, but with a size that rivalled a fortress instead of a mere vessel. The whole thing looked decked out in guns and advanced weapon systems, he could recognize the main turrets as being those fit for a battleship rather than a cruiser, alongside ports for launching missiles and rockets… yet while it cut through the ocean at speeds unheard of for any ship like a blade cutting through flesh, its massive guns aimed themselves right at the duo like the vessel had 'eyes' honed in on their prey.

'Oh… shit… shit, SHIT! Fuck this is not good, why the fuck did something like THAT appear?!'

The sight of it now paralyzed Kosuke alongside Yuubari, whose dread now pooled within both their guts as the maw closed behind the speeding vessel as it now made a beeline straight for them. Fuck he should have foreseen something like this, if his vessels from WG had been brought over to the AL world then who to say the others weren't as well? The various superships ruled entire oceans just with their presence! Entire NATIONS would try to take these ships for their own no matter the sacrifices they made, and worst of all it's freaking justified due to just how damn ridiculously effective they are!

He had known there was this likelihood ever since the merchants told him and his companion about their escort's demise, and as much as he still wondered why the Sirens had a ship resembling one, his current viewing showed him that it was just as dangerous as the original… and that unlike in the game, THIS one didn't have any fuel shortages.

Like a hungry lion pouncing on its prey when the critical moment presented itself, both he and yuubari couldn't help the notion they were facing death right in the face.

And it wanted them.

Gritting his teeth, Kosuke growled the name he SO did not wish to utter for both practical and emotional reasons, everything being a straight mess right now. He uttered it so quietly that Yuubari wouldn't have been able to hear him. "The fucking Wirblewind: Siren addition!"


Chapter end!

MASSIVE apologies for the long wait for this one a combination of issues both about this chapter and other stories arose.

One of the biggest was that I didn't know how to properly write this naval engagement, like I said before I don't have much naval writing experience so if this one is a bit bad then I apologise. Hopefully by the time the next chapter's done the whole battle should be done and there'll be only one chapter left before I finish the whole arc. Next arc will cover Kosuke's time with the Sakura Empire which should be a doozy.

Also, question... should I make a ?

Not just for the money side of things but also so that I'm motivated to keep on writing instead of procrastinating like a lazy SOB. I'm of a mixed opinion of writing for money cause of how I view the current manga industry and well, I've always written for fun. But with the current cost of living crisis I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and make money off this. But if I did, then what should I put in it? a Poll for which story is the most popular which would indicate which story to update? a section which could offer story ideas though I'd have the final say in it? I dunno.

Anywaays thanks for reading this, and see u next time.

Peace out!