Enterprise breathed a sigh of relief as the generators came to life and the energy shield appeared above the base. The mass-produced ships weren't firing at their position because of the risk of hitting Empress and her rigging, so their rounds were flying over their heads, drawing arcs of light that impacted onto the barrier.
Out of the corner of her eye, Enterprise could see a stream of Kansen coming from inside said barrier. At the head of the humanized fleet were Littorio and Peter Strasser. The two senior Kansen were leading the crowd of shipgirls through the entry of the bay, passing beneath the opening of the shield, and were heading in their direction to engage the enemy fleet ahead.
Every single Kansen available had taken to the sea. The only ones missing were those who were sent out on patrol or on sortie and, of course, the ones who were still bedridden or recovering from past injuries.
For a second, her thoughts went to her sister. Yorktown had recovered completely from the wounds she had sustained during that certain mission, but because of those injuries, her ability to maneuver her rigging and her planes had been irreversibly compromised, and she had been under Vestal's care since then. When the Siren warships had started bombarding the base, Enterprise feared she'd be in danger, but now, with the shield up and running, she didn't need to worry as much. The Commander had also ordered Yorktown, Hood, and Helena to take refuge inside the bunker with him, and that was enough to put her mind at ease. The only thing left to do was to take care of the enemy fleet and retrieve Freedom from Empress' clutches.
She looked at the monstrous rigging her friends were battling and the massive fleet they were about to engage.
Easier said than done.
Peter Strasser and the rest of the carriers stationed at Azur Lane took position right outside the bottleneck entry of the bay, side by side, all of them with their rigging out and ready to deploy their aircraft. The Iron Blood carrier took a moment to assess the situation as she scanned the battlefield with her eyes.
In front of them, Littorio was moving ahead with the bulk of the fleet, heading straight for the enemy forces in the distance; the alien warships had given up on trying to bring down the shield and were already switching their fire on them.
Further ahead, halfway between them and the enemy, Enterprise and her group were engaging Empress and her rigging; the creature was shooting energy blasts at them from the barrels grafted onto the side of its head and using its tail to swat them away like mosquitoes, but for now, the four shipgirls seemed to be holding their ground.
Musashi and King George V were out of sight, gone to engage the left and right sides of the enemy formation, and lastly, the Commander was inside the bunker, monitoring the situation for them from a safe place.
Everyone was carrying out their own duties; now it was time for them to do theirs. "All carriers, deploy your aircraft!"
All the shipgirls around her acknowledged her call by raising their flight decks. Fighters and bombers of all kinds appeared and took off from their rigging, turning to their true size after a few seconds of flight. With precision and efficiency, the carriers maneuvered them into formation, splitting them into multiple squadrons and directing them to engage the enemy.
The Iron Blood representative let out a satisfied hum as the shapes and vibrant colors of Grummans, Zeros, Messerschmitts, and other fighters blended with one another. So many carriers from different factions with different approaches to aerial combat and different beliefs and experiences were working together, maneuvering their air wings in harmony like a flock of starlings. All that joint practice and training was paying off; the perfectionist heart within her chest was throbbing with delight.
Of course, it didn't take long for the alien forces to respond to their move. Clouds of drones started rising in the sky from behind the enemy fleet, their carriers hidden out of sight behind the safety of the tougher vessels. It was only a matter of seconds before the two sides clashed, and Peter needed to step up for her colleagues.
Around her were experienced veterans like Langley and Houshou, perfectly capable of keeping their cool under pressure, but there were also greener Kansen like Aquila and other younger but still very skilled carriers like Hornet and Shoukaku. Those two in particular seemed to be worried about something, if the expressions on their faces were any indication.
"Shoukaku, Hornet, don't worry about your sisters; Littorio and the others will help them. Focus on the enemy in front of you," she said to the two carriers when she noticed them watching in apprehension as their sisters and their friends engaged the Elite Siren and her rigging far ahead of them.
The two shipgirls acknowledged her words, then Peter addressed the Sardinian carrier with a firm but reassuring tone. "Aquila, don't be afraid. Follow my lead and watch my back."
Aquila, who was standing right beside her and had been nervously fidgeting with her cane all the time, did the same, finding comfort in the words of the senior Kansen. She took a deep breath and moved her own planes to fall into formation behind Peter's, ready to cover her comrade's air wing.
With nothing more that needed to be said and all the pieces in place on the board, the carriers of Azur Lane steeled themselves as their aircraft met the enemy in the air above the heads of their comrades.
Massachusetts and Alabama took aim and shot their guns at Empress' rigging. They both grimaced in annoyance as the shells exploded without making contact with the monster, their trajectory blocked by the appearance of an azure energy shield that absorbed the impact and disappeared in the blink of an eye immediately after.
The blue whale-like rigging turned its head toward their position and aimed its barrels at them, unleashing a flurry of energy blasts. They jumped out of the way and went in opposite directions, flanking the metallic creature on either side and shooting one volley after another at its body. But their attempts at finding an opening were for naught; its energy shield consistently deflected each round they shot at it, flickering back to life right before every impact.
Empress, who was still standing atop her rigging's head, turned her head and let out a mocking laugh at the two shipgirls. "Your efforts are futile! My squire's shield is impenetrable!"
Taking advantage of that moment of distraction, Enterprise shot an energy arrow directly at her. Of course, the shield deflected that too, but the surprise of the impact was enough to startle the Arbiter, prompting her to focus back on her.
"Eyes on me, Siren!" The Eagle Union carrier fired another arrow, but this time it turned into a bomber that went straight for the Elite. The aircraft dropped its load onto the head of the monster, and the following explosion enveloped Empress in a cloud of smoke, making her disappear from sight for a few seconds.
"Apparently, the renowned Grey Ghost is hard of hearing," Empress' voice echoed in the air as the smoke cleared around her, revealing her unscathed figure. "You'll have to do better than that."
Enterprise was unbothered by the Siren's taunt. She knew that she wouldn't be able to break through her opponent's shield, but her goal wasn't to hit Empress; she just needed to distract her long enough for the other carrier to make her move.
Zuikaku was able to climb unnoticed onto the monster's back and was running straight toward Empress along its elongated body, sword in hand, ready to strike at the Elite as soon as she got in range.
Empress' eye-orbs noticed her presence before the Siren did. The six hovering contraptions put themselves between her and their owner and began shooting their concentrated lasers at Zuikaku. The shipgirl kept moving forward, nimbly dodging and ducking under their beams without stopping, until she found herself face-to-face with her opponent.
The Arbiter was fixing her with a glare, as if daring Zuikaku to strike her down, but the Red Crane didn't let herself get intimidated. Without wasting time, she used the momentum gained from her run and swung her sword at the Siren's neck, decapitating her with a swift slash. Jumping down from the monster's head before the eye-orbs could resume their attack on her, Zuikaku landed right next to Enterprise.
She was about to brag about her feat with the other carrier, but then she noticed the surprised expression on the face of her friend and rival. Their words died in their throats as they watched Empress' head pause midair instead of falling down with the rest of her body. It was as if time had stopped only for the Arbiter; her face was locked in a mask of fury and irritation, and her body was caught in the act of defending itself from the assault of the Sakura carrier.
All of a sudden, her body multiplied. Or rather, multiple copies that looked more like afterimages of her body and head appeared in a flash of light. They remained like that for an instant before merging into the original all at once. The shipgirls didn't even have time to question the weirdness of the situation; their surprise was replaced by shock when they realized that Empress' body was back in one piece. The Arbiter stumbled to regain her footing atop her squire's head and turned to face the four shipgirls again.
"She can regenerate?!" Zuikaku let out a cry of disbelief.
"You underestimate the extent of my power, Azur Lane. Tis not mere regeneration," Empress sneered while glaring down at them, her eye-orbs taking position around her once more.
"An impenetrable shield and high-speed regeneration... How do we deal with it?" Alabama wondered out loud. She and Massachusetts were back in position next to the two carriers.
"Remember what Freedom said; this kind of power comes at an energy cost. We just need to keep up until the shield of her rigging gives out or she can't regenerate anymore," Enterprise reminded the others.
"So we just need to beat her to a pulp. I can get behind that," Massachusetts proclaimed with impatience in her voice.
"Easier said than done. It was hard enough to decapitate her once; now she'll be on her guard for future surprise attacks," Zuikaku remarked.
"Maybe we can help with that," Littorio's voice reached them through their comms, and the four women turned to see the Sardinian battleship approaching them at the head of the humanized fleet. Cleveland and her sisters, Belfast and the maids—everyone was there and ready to face the bulk of the enemy fleet head-on.
"All Kansen, split up and engage the enemy!" At Littorio's rallying cry, the crowd of shipgirls following her scattered in different formations and directions. Some of them moved to support Enterprise and her group, while the rest kept advancing toward the alien vessels, which were now aiming their fire directly at them. From above their heads came the sound of aircraft engines and gunfire as the squadrons deployed by the carriers on both sides clashed in the air.
Empress clicked her tongue in annoyance; the situation had just gotten more complicated. She was counting on ending things quickly, but in front of the stream of Kansen who had already started shooting their guns at her, the Arbiter was forced to pull back, lest the shipgirls overwhelm her with their sheer numbers. She needed someone to cover for her, and she had just the thing for it. She snapped her fingers in annoyance, summoning a bunch of portals of smaller size than usual around her.
The shipgirls following her stopped in their tracks as, from those purple gates, came out a bunch of low-tier humanoid Sirens, but this time they weren't the usual Executor-class. The figures resembled shorter, hooded copies of Empress, even though their rigging were a lot less intimidating than hers; those were all Enforcer-class, more exactly of the Harvest type, Empress' personal puppets.
The humanoid Sirens assembled in front of Littorio and the others, forming a barricade to block their path as the Arbiter and her rigging retreated further and further away from them.
"We'll hold them back. You and the others go after her," the Glory of Naples addressed the Grey Ghost and her group. Enterprise nodded at the Sardinian battleship and moved to the side as Belfast and Cleveland sent her a confident grin and a thumbs up.
Without wasting time, Littorio and the others charged at the group of Enforcers, drawing the Sirens' attention toward themselves and allowing their comrades to chase the Elite, undisturbed.
A few miles away from the base, out in the open sea, the fox ears of a certain male Kansen twitched, and Kurama stopped in his tracks.
Sensing an opening in his guard, Kawakaze lunged at him with her katana. The tip of the blade he had given her came to a stop a hair away from his throat. She was about to celebrate her first victory over the shipboy, but his unfazed expression and furrowed brow made her pause.
Kaga, who was standing on the side, watching the two of them spar, raised an eyebrow, not expecting the shipboy to let down his guard so easily.
"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Kawakaze asked, sensing that something was off.
"Where are the seagulls?"
Both women turned to scan their surroundings. Indeed, the sea birds that had been accompanying them for the last few hours had suddenly changed course. They couldn't hear their signature calls anymore, but they could still see their white wings flapping in the distance, flying in opposite directions to their destination.
"I don't know; maybe something scared them," Kawakaze replied in confusion.
"Why is it so important?" Kaga questioned him.
"Because I smell... smoke. Coming from ahead of us," Kurama replied after taking a whiff of the breeze blowing in his face.
Before the two shipgirls could try to process what he was saying, Nagato came out of the bridge of her namesake, followed by Akagi and Mutsu.
"Nagato-sama, is everything all right?" Kawakaze asked her liege.
Nagato shook her head, a troubled look adorning her face.
"I've just picked up an emergency call from Azur Lane. The base is under attack, and Shikikan Travis is recalling the Kansen on patrol duty, but they are all too far away to make it in time," the priestess declared grievously.
The Sakura Kansen looked at each other; they all knew what she meant by that.
"Everyone, get in formation, and then full speed ahead!"
"Ryokai!" Everyone acknowledged her in unison as they jumped over the railing of the warship and into the sea, ready to summon their own vessels.
Being unable to summon his hull, the shipboy was the only one who remained behind, and Nagato addressed him with a stern tone. "Kurama, do not run off on your own this time. Do I make myself clear?"
Kurama narrowed his eyes and fixed her with a glare. The hair on Nagato's neck stood on end; it felt to her as if he was inspecting her very soul through her gaze, and it took her all her self-control to not just sprint away from there.
A slight hint of fear was still present in her eyes when Kurama looked at her, but he also caught a glimpse of resolve and firmness. She must have been pretty shaken after seeing what he was capable of, but she still found the courage to address him with a commanding tone befitting her stature. She was starting to act like a true leader, and he had to give it to her.
"I'll clear the way; just make sure to stay behind me," he declared, moving toward the bow of the ship, ready to summon his rigging.
With the arrival of the rest of the Kansen and the subsequent appearance of the Enforcers, the battlefield had fallen into utter chaos.
The aerial battle between the two sides seemed to be at a stalemate, with neither side being able to gain air superiority over the other. Unfortunately, the alien carriers far outnumbered the Kansen, and in a battle of attrition, the shipgirls would eventually be overwhelmed.
Down by the sea, the vanguard wasn't faring much better. Initially, Littorio and the others had decided to take a more defensive approach against the enemy. Their goal was to wear out the mass-produced ships with a few hit-and-runs without exposing themselves too much, waiting for Musashi and King George V to take the enemy by surprise from the sides and give them a chance for a proper counterattack.
But now, the Enforcers were running around the battlefield and wreaking havoc amidst their ranks. The shipgirls were forced to break formation and engage the humanoid Sirens in close quarters while also dealing with the artillery fire raining down on them from the mass-produced ships. The situation was slowly getting out of hand, and it was only a matter of time before they started experiencing inevitable losses.
While retreating toward the bulk of their fleet, Empress reached for the other Elite Siren through their mental link. "Observer, I've secured one of the male Kansen. Where in the Creator's name have you gone to?"
"I have a visual on the second one. He has a small escort of shipgirls with him," Observer reported, without mentioning the fact that she had already failed to apprehend him once.
"Then what are you waiting for? Capture him at once! I'm busy here," Empress let out a loud sigh of annoyance as her rigging's shield blocked another volley directed at her.
"I thought he'd be an easy catch for me, but…" Observer trailed off.
"What are you muttering? Speak up!" Empress was about to lose her patience.
"He just destroyed half of this side's formation on his own."
"What?!" Empress bellowed in disbelief, turning her head toward the east. She could see smoke and fire rising from afar and noticed that most of their pawns on that side were either sunk or sinking. "You and your pawns are utterly useless!" She yelled in her comms.
She decided to ignore the shipgirls chasing after her and ordered her rigging to move toward their second target's position. She'd just get rid of the Kansen that were escorting him in a heartbeat and seize him before he could put up any resistance. With that, her job would be done, and she would finally be freed from tolerating Observer's incompetence.
She was so absorbed in her cogitation that she didn't even notice the aircraft coming at her until it was right by her side. The plane was flying in the air only a few feet away from her, and riding atop it was the Grey Ghost.
Without wasting time, Empress aimed the cluster of eye-orbs surrounding her at the aircraft. Right before their concentrated lasers could hit the fighter, Enterprise jumped, landing right next to Empress and smashing her miniaturized flight deck into her side, making the Arbiter fall from her rigging and into the water below, right where Zuikaku was waiting for her.
The Sakura carrier slashed at the falling Empress, cutting her in half with a single blow at the waist. Not even two seconds later, the two halves of her body reunited once again after the same afterimages from before appeared and merged together. Empress recovered immediately and glared at the shipgirl, outraged. "Are you dumb, deaf, or both, vermin?! You can't kill me with-"
Before Empress could finish her sentence, Zuikaku lunged at her once again, but this time she didn't limit herself to one strike. She swung her sword in a flurry of slashes, mercilessly severing her head and limbs from her torso. Then, for good measure, she conjured one of her paper planes and threw it at her, jumping away at a safe distance as the Arbiter's body was enveloped in a fiery explosion.
"You insolent vermin!" Empress shouted furiously as her unscathed form emerged from the cloud of smoke and fire. She recalled her eye-orbs, but Zuikaku rushed at her before they could get into firing range and stabbed her in the stomach, embedding the blade of her katana to the hilt deep within her bowels.
"Let's see how you regenerate with a sword stuck in your stomach," the Sakura carrier taunted the Siren as Enteprise rushed in to neutralize the hovering contraptions that were aiming their eyes at her friend. When the last one of them was destroyed, the Grey Ghost approached the Elite and aimed her bow and arrow right at the side of her head.
"I'll say this once: let the shipboy go," Enterprise ordered with a cold hiss.
For the first time since the battle began, cold sweat began pouring down Empress' forehead. She was sure that her power would allow her to survive even in the current situation, but she wasn't sure the shipgirls would be deterred by that. She tried to recall her rigging, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that her squire was being held back by the rest of the shipgirls. Cleveland and her sisters, Alabama, Massachusetts, Belfast, and other Kansen were pummeling the monster with gunfire. Its shield was barely able to sustain the barrage of shots they were firing; the impacts of the explosions weren't damaging it but they were still enough to keep it at bay.
After pondering her options for a few seconds, Empress let out a smug grin and raised her hands in the air next to her head, relenting to their request. "Fine, I concede, Azur Lane. I'll have my rigging spit him out, so can you tell your friends to stop shooting at it?"
Zuikaku gripped the hilt of her sword tighter, still embedded inside Empress' body, ready to act as soon as she tried something. Enterprise narrowed her eyes at her but then slowly reached her comrades with her radio, telling them to hold their fire and step back.
With reluctance, the shipgirls complied, giving space for Empress' rigging to move around while still keeping their guard up and their guns aimed at it. The metal creature shook himself like a wet dog before taking to the air once again. Hovering a few feet above the water, it slowly opened its jaws, revealing the figure of a wounded Freedom inside of it.
Massachusetts winced at the sight of the shipboy. The hole in his stomach had stopped bleeding, but he was unconscious and in urgent need of medical assistance. She moved right below the monster's mouth to catch her boyfriend as the monster spat him out of its jaws.
But before his battered body could land in her waiting arms, Freedom was swiped away and dragged up in the air by a mass of black tentacles that had appeared out of nowhere, and before Massachusetts could react, the monstrous rigging, which was still hovering a few feet above her, aimed its guns right at her.
"Watch out, Mamie!" Thanks to Alabama's warning cry, Massachusetts was able to jump out of the way, evading the energy blast by the skin of her teeth. All the other Kansen rushed in to resume their onslaught on the monster, but the creature swiped at them with a wide motion of its thick, long tail. Cleveland and the other lighter Kansen were able to dodge the appendage, but others, like Alabama herself, were too slow and received a direct hit that sent them flying.
The monster let out a powerful roar and charged at the two carriers still holding Empress hostage. Enterprise and Zuikaku were forced to let go of the Arbiter if they didn't want to end up splattered on her rigging like flies on a car's windshield, but the Siren grabbed the Sakura carrier by the wrists before she could let go of her sword, preventing her escape.
Zuikaku tried to fight back against her grip, but it was all in vain. As the monstrous rigging charged, it opened its jaws wide, and Empress headbutted the shipgirl, then used her superhuman strength to throw her into its mouth. She then jumped atop the rigging's head and made it move further up in the air, where Observer was patiently waiting for her with the shipboy in her clutches.
"Good thing I was there when you called through our mental link. I expect a thank you for saving your butt and an apology for calling me useless," Observer haughtily declared as her colleague's rigging came to a stop in the air next to her.
"Don't try me," Empress sharply replied as the Arbiter removed the sword from her torso and threw it away.
Observer shrugged; she moved her other tentacles toward the monster's mouth as it opened its jaws once more to allow her to wrap her tendrils around the shipgirl trapped inside. Zuikaku, still a bit disoriented because of the hit to the head, tried to fight back against the slimy appendages, but they quickly wrapped around her wrists and ankles, lifting her up in the air and hanging her right next to the unconscious shipboy.
"You are sorely mistaken if you think—mpf!" Observer silenced her by wrapping another tentacle around her mouth.
Empress stared down at the group of Kansen beneath them as they regrouped to help their injured comrades get back on their feet.
"It seems that the tables have turned, Azur Lane," the Arbiter began with a booming voice. "I admire your tenacity, and for that, I'm willing to make a final offer to you," she paused dramatically as the shipgirls fixed her and Observer with hateful glares.
"We know for a fact that the second male Kansen is only a few miles away from us, and he's being escorted by some of your comrades. Tell them to hand him over, and we promise we will withdraw our forces and be on our way. If you don't, your Sakura friend here will regret it," Observer aimed one of her barrels at Zuikaku's temple as Empress finished talking.
Zuikaku struggled against her binding upon hearing the Aribter's words. She didn't want that. Being taken hostage by the enemy was already humiliating enough; losing the shipboys to the Sirens because of her carelessness would stain her honor like nothing else. She tried her best to shake her head at her comrades, beckoning them to reject the offer, but her cries of protest were muffled by the tendril around her mouth.
Enterprise didn't know what to do. Her bow was aimed at the two Sirens, but it's not like she could do anything else with them having not one but now two hostages.
She turned her head toward her comrades. Cleveland and her sisters were helping up their injured friends, Massachusetts was holding her sister by the shoulder, and Alabama's rigging was half destroyed by the hit she had taken. Further away, Littorio and all the other Kansen were still engaging the Harvests and the mass-produced Sirens, but they weren't faring much better than them. Peter Strasser and the rest of the carriers were trying their best to manage the aerial battle with the enemy drones, but they were quickly losing ground.
Belfast and the others turned to her for guidance. Her expression darkened under her cap, and she gritted her teeth in frustration. The situation was getting desperate, and there was still no sign of reinforcements. She didn't know what to do.
Zuikaku doubled up on her squirming, trying her best to break free from her bindings as Enterprise reluctantly lowered her bow under the smug grin of the two Sirens. The Eagle Union carrier opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a single word, a loud explosion was heard, coming from behind the center of the enemy fleet, followed by the appearance of an intense orange glow in the distance.
All those present turned their heads toward the source. Everyone, both Sirens and Kansen, gawked as the explosion blew apart two of the alien carriers in the back of the formation. Nine ginormous pillars of whirling fire appeared out of nowhere and started making their way toward the closest alien vessels.
Those pillars of flame were accompanied by a multitude of aircraft; squadrons of Zeros joined the dogfights above the battlefield as dive bombers started raining down on the other mass-produced ships, specifically targeting the enemy carriers. Behind them were the distinct figures of the hulls of the First Carrier Division, followed by two Japanese battleships and one destroyer; Nagato, Mutsu, and Kawakaze had already opened fire on the enemy in front of them.
On top of that, the vanguard of the alien fleet had stopped firing at the rest of the Kansen and was now focusing on the left and right sides of their formation, from where the groups of Musashi and King George V had finally made an appearance.
The two battleships and their escorts had been fighting their way from the coast toward the center of the formation, just like the Commander had ordered them, and now, with the left and right wings of their fleet out of commission, the Sirens were the ones caught between a rock and a hard place. With one less problem to think about, the Kansen led by Littorio were finally able to focus solely on the Enforcers and launch their counterattack against the enemy.
With a new sliver of hope blooming in her heart, Enterprise aimed her bow at the two Elites once more, shooting an energy arrow that immediately turned into a fighter and aimed straight for Empress' rigging with the goal of making her fall down again.
The monster was quick to move to the side and slam its tail into the aircraft, reducing it to smithereens midflight. The two Sirens, who were too busy trying to process the chain of sudden events taking place around them to pay attention, were brought back to reality.
"We are being surrounded, and I'm out of available pawns; we need to get out of here," Observer declared in alarm.
Empress gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger. One moment they were at an overwhelming advantage, and in less than ten seconds, things had spiraled out of control. "Zero will not be pleased," she stated angrily.
"Forget that. She'll have to make do with only one of the male Kansen. We can't risk losing this one by staying here to fight a lost battle," Observer stated as the whirling entrance of a portal appeared right above their heads.
"Hey, Observer, that's not your doing, is it?" Empress questioned her colleague, lifting her gaze to the weirdly shaped gate.
The other Elite raised her head, and her purple blood ran cold in her veins as what was clearly not a portal of her own creation had opened dangerously close to them. She didn't have time to warn the other Siren that five short shipgirls came out of it, plunging down on them with their rigging on display.
Ayanami and Shimakaze were the first. With their weapons drawn, they fell to the side of Observer's rigging, cutting the tentacles holding Freedom and Zuikaku captives with a flurry of slashes, freeing both Kansen. Next were Laffey, Z23, and Carabiniere. The three unleashed a barrage of gunfire as they fell on the Elite, disintegrating her rigging and making her scream in pain.
Everything happened so quickly that Empress only had time to shield herself from the explosions, forcing her ride to back away. Once the smoke cleared, Observer wasn't next to her anymore. The destroyers had landed right on top of her, hauling her down with them, and now they were standing on the water below, right next to her torn and mangled body, with Carabiniere aiming her firearm right at her head in case she was still able to move.
Now that Freedom and Zuikaku were safe, the other shipgirls didn't run the risk of hurting them with their volleys anymore, so as soon as their comrades touched the water, they opened fire on the Arbiter. The monster's shield had already been depleted, and now their rounds were able to reach its metallic body without issue. Empress, with the risk of losing her balance, was forced to order it to retreat.
The creature let out a deep and powerful howl of pain as it turned on its tail and began flying away from the shipgirls' onslaught, toward the back of their pawn's formation. Cursing her bad luck, Empress tried to spur her squire to put as much distance from the Kansen as possible, only to run right into an air wing of Zeros that had locked onto them after a few seconds of flight.
The monstrous rigging was able to shoot down a few with its energy blasts, but there were too many of them, and it took only a few seconds for the aircraft to strike it down with their coordinated attacks. The monster plummeted down, its mangled body covered in holes, raising a copious amount of water once it crashed into the sea. It started thrashing about like a fish out of water, trying to take off again, but its hovering system had been damaged during the clash with the aircraft, making its attempts futile.
Empress, still perched atop her rigging, struggled to keep her balance as she scanned her surroundings with her eyes.
By now, their forces were in disarray. Most of their pawns had been eliminated, their drones were being overwhelmed by the shipgirls' aircraft, and there were no carriers left to replenish their numbers. Her Enforcers had been decimated, and reinforcements had arrived in the form of the Sakura delegation, accompanied by the thing that had created those enormous pillars of flame. Her only way of teleporting away from there was dead or possibly captured, and her squire, who was struggling to even stay afloat, was unable to get her out of that situation.
Things couldn't get any worse for her…
All of a sudden, a large shadow was cast over her, and the temperature increased by a few too many degrees. An ominous feeling fell over the Arbiter as she turned to look over her shoulder, only to see the figure of another male Kansen, with orange fox ears atop his head and nine giant columns of whirling fire extending from his back in place of his tails, looming over her.
His piercing red eyes were fixed on her, showing disgust, contempt, and barely concealed hatred.
Empress froze as genuine dread crept over her, and her rigging paused its thrashing as well. She felt as if she had just met an incredibly dangerous predator in the wild, and if she were to move, she'd be dead.
"So you are one of those humanoid Sirens I've heard so much about," Kurama spoke with a calm but menacing tone of voice. "You don't look like much, to be honest."
Upon hearing his words, the stress she had accumulated during the battle broke the lid off the box of her patience. In only an instant, her fear was replaced by anger. "Are you looking down on me?! How dare you?!" She shouted at the top of her lungs as her rigging responded to her will by lunging at the shipboy.
Before they could even brush the fur on his ears, one of those giant pillars slammed into her rigging from above. The flames were hot enough to melt and bend the metal plates that covered its body, splitting it in half, and the impact sent her flying into the sea, right in front of the male Kansen.
The two halves of her rigging were now lying motionless in the water, and the entire left side of her body, which had been caught in the attack, was charred black. It didn't take long for her power to activate and regenerate her burn wounds, taking away the excruciating pain that was afflicting her.
And then fear took hold of her once more as the shipboy said, "So you can regenerate. Let's see how long your power can keep up."
Her screams of agony were muffled by the roaring of the flames as his tails crashed onto her form several times in a row, her body regenerating in a few instants only to be reduced to charcoal immediately after, over and over again.
Kurama kept going until the Siren couldn't regenerate anymore and her body was completely reduced to ashes in the wind, leaving only her Cube floating in the water at his feet.
AN: Kurama likes his steaks well-done.
Next Chapter: Old Grudges, New Troubles