Chapter 64
Traces of the Mythic Age. Monsters can still reach places beyond the reach of human science.
The wyvern unit that ruled the skies was one such example, and the Tusoteuthises that ruled the sea were another.
If so, could the Tusoteuthises also be used like the Wyvern Knights?
In response to the staff officers' question, Kyle Leopold shook his head.
"Our technology is still too primitive to risk using those things."
Of course, Kyle Leopold was not unaware of the importance of undersea operations. He was a person from the twenty-first century, after all.
People in the twenty-first century made use of the seabed in many different ways.
Undersea fiber-optic cables carrying communications between continents, undersea tunnels built where bridges could not be constructed, various resources extracted from the seabed...
But with this world's current level of technology, every one of those methods was difficult to put to use.
Moreover, they could not trust those so-called undersea monster handlers.
"Mind synchronization is not magic meant for humans to use."
Mind synchronization was not a one-way process. To the same extent that humans controlled monsters, their own minds were devoured by those monsters.
That was also why monster handlers were treated as black mages.
Once humans became immersed in a monster's perspective, they began to see ordinary human lives as no more significant than flies.
That was no different for the undersea monster handlers, those lucky monster tamers. They had been left alive because there had been no way to deal with them, but now that submarines existed, there was no longer any reason to do so.
"So exterminate every last one of them."
Following Kyle Leopold's order, the largest hunt in history began.
"All submarines, fire torpedoes as soon as they're ready!"
The torpedo tubes of the haphazardly arranged submarines opened one after another. Air bubbles trapped inside rose with a gurgle, and compressed air exploded as the torpedoes were launched.
Krrrrrrrr-
The spinning propellers spewed countless air bubbles behind them.
Bubbles as small as fingernails tangled together to form pure-white tails, leaving snow-white trails like long ribbons.
The white trails multiplied into dozens of paths, filling the sea. Countless wakes stretched endlessly through the dark-blue water.
Their targets were the four Tusoteuthises whose protective shields had all vanished.
Unaware that the torpedoes were approaching, the undersea monster handlers shouted in panic.
"If we engage in this state, we might be hit by that unidentified weapon! Retreat and join the surface ships..."
At that very moment, a sun rose beneath the sea.
The sea and the sun. There were no two words that could have been less fitting together, yet there was no other way to describe the scene.
The seabed was dyed bright red by the heat released as dozens of torpedoes detonated simultaneously.
"Gaaaaaah!?"
One of the monster handlers, all seated in the same place and shouting orders, twisted their body and rolled across the seabed.
It was utterly different from the lofty way they usually carried themselves, believing they were unlike ordinary humans.
The Tusoteuthises swallowed by that sunlight were no different.
The eight arms writhed in agony beneath the unexpected heat that had struck beneath the water. It was a pitiful movement, like a worm wriggling beneath the sun.
For monsters that had ruled the seas for a thousand years, it was an unbearably ugly struggle.
Then a massive explosion descended upon them.
The sea shook without pause beneath a succession of thunderous blasts. Columns of water shot up everywhere as though competing with one another, while shock waves like enormous hammers relentlessly crushed the Tusoteuthises from every direction.
The pain of burning, pressing down, and grinding flesh. When all of that pain was transmitted to the handler within seconds, they could no longer endure it.
"Ghk, ghuurk..."
The handler collapsed with their eyes rolled back and blood streaming from their nose, never to rise again.
When an 8th-tier mage who had aspired to reach the 9th tier collapsed so pointlessly, fear quickly spread among the surrounding mages.
Beneath the surface, which continued trembling like a drum, the mages each controlled their Tusoteuthis in search of a way to survive.
One mage who panicked after watching a Tusoteuthis disintegrate before their eyes muttered in a trembling voice.
"No! We can't escape! At this rate, it'll be too late...!"
Kiiing-
A magic circle for mental connection appeared before their eyes. With trembling hands, the mage drew a dagger from inside their robe, hurriedly cut their left hand, and smeared blood across the blade.
Another mage realized what they were trying to do and hurriedly tried to stop them.
"W-wait! If you forcibly sever the mind magic like that...!"
But the mage's blade had already been swung.
Kwa-chang-!
The mental resonance magic circle shattered with the sound of breaking glass.
The shock caused the mage attempting to force a termination to crumple where they stood.
And the body of the Tusoteuthis that had come to a complete stop in the water was the perfect prey for the submarines.
Once again, torpedoes exploded in succession, and the giant squid's body was engulfed by the shock waves.
***
"Active sonar contact lost!"
"Same here!"
The sea was quiet after the storm of shocks had passed. As the dead could not speak, the dead Tusoteuthises showed no movement whatsoever.
With the noise of the four creatures cut in half, it was only natural for a skilled sonar operator to notice.
"Radio message from the wyvern unit! New floating debris has been spotted rising to the surface. It appears to be wreckage from the Tusoteuthises."
Oscar, captain of U-31 and admiral of the main submarine force, raised a crystal orb when he heard the order.
It was in accordance with Lord Kyle Leopold's command.
"To make them understand that this battle is a perfect victory for the South, we need to show them that control of the waters beneath the sea belongs to us as well."
And the only way to make our presence known without revealing the submarines was through communications.
Oscar switched the crystal orb's mana frequency to the Eastern common frequency.
He intended to contact the monster handlers who were likely communicating through crystal orbs somewhere nearby.
Ssshhh-
Amid the static peculiar to the common frequency, Oscar's voice flowed from every Eastern crystal orb in the vicinity.
"Defeated remnants of the Royal Navy. I am Oscar, commander of the Southern Undersea Legion."
After waiting a moment, he heard the panicked voice of a mage through the crystal orb.
"Where are you!? Where are you hiding while attacking us like cowards!?"
The mage had witnessed two Tusoteuthises vanish before their eyes, and unmistakable fear could be heard in their voice. Oscar continued with a cold smile.
"From this moment on, we'll be hunting you and your comrades."
"W-what...?"
This time, the voice that came through belonged to an old captain. His breath came in hurried, trembling gasps, as if he had been lucky enough to survive the surface engagement.
Oscar deliberately let a brief silence pass before continuing.
"Your ironclads, your pointlessly oversized Tusoteuthises, and your comrades who've fallen into the sea won't be enough."
A second round of torpedoes was loaded into the submarines' torpedo tubes. The wyverns that had returned to the carrier decks were resupplied with depth charges, while the destroyers revved their engines furiously to finish off the battlefield.
The Eastern Navy no longer had the strength to resist.
Every sail on their vaunted sailing ships had been broken, and the undersea monster formations had been completely wiped out by the barrage of depth charges.
The two Tusoteuthises had been blown apart in an instant.
The word "battle" no longer suited the two forces. This was a situation better described as a hunt—or a one-sided massacre.
And a pack of wolves never lets go of prey once it has bitten down.
"We're still hungry."
With those words, Oscar ended the transmission through the crystal orb.
Clang-
With a heavy metallic sound, a second torpedo was loaded into the torpedo tube.
To end the chaotic battle, a second simultaneous torpedo salvo filled the sea with bubbles.
Above the sea, gray smoke filled the air from the destroyers' 76mm guns. The barrage, which had already surpassed a hundred rounds, was sinking the fleeing sailing ships one by one.
Those that escaped beyond the range of sight belonged to the wyverns.
They finished off the small monsters that had been lucky enough to survive with depth charges, and shredded every small frigate they could see with machine guns.
The decisive fleet battle, filled with blood, flames, the smell of gunpowder, and death, ended just as the sun began to sink beyond the horizon.
Every Tusoteuthis had become a corpse.
The destroyers circled with depth charges ready, searching for surviving undersea monsters, while the Southern Fleet's main force, arriving belatedly, approached the burning cluster of sailing ships.
"Take the surviving sailors prisoner. It would be better to keep them alive for intelligence gathering or incitement."
Following that order, the light cruisers and the supply ships that had come behind them lowered lifeboats.
The wyverns rested on the carriers, and the submarines also returned to port.
"What were our casualties?"
"Two dead due to a gun malfunction on one destroyer, five seriously wounded, and around fifty lightly wounded for other reasons."
Lucilla answered calmly as she flipped through the file.
"No casualties inflicted directly by the enemy?"
"No. That's correct."
"I wonder what that old man Edward will say when he sees this result."
As he said that, Kyle Leopold ordered the fleet to withdraw.
Two days later.
Three sailing ships that had barely made it back alive reported the outcome of the devastating battle.