Chapter 47
A little while earlier.
Leon had reached the Albatro Duchy with the Rondine fleet.
To avoid arousing suspicion, only Leon's ship and the Grand Duke of Rondine's ship entered the harbor, where the Grand Duke of Albatro welcomed them.
"It's good to have you here, Grand Duke of Rondine."
"In this emergency, I couldn't very well stay away, Grand Duke of Albatro."
With that, the two men shook hands firmly.
It was a historic event for the rulers of two countries that had long been at odds to shake hands.
The fleets of both nations, keeping watch near the harbor, eased their vigilance somewhat when they saw that the two rulers had met without incident.
Leon and Erna, too, breathed sighs of relief at having cleared the most basic first step: meeting in person.
"We've somehow cleared the first stage."
"Yes. Now we just need to figure out how to fight the Sea Dragon from here."
As they talked, Leon and Erna followed the two rulers toward the castle.
However, Erna suddenly turned to look out over the sea. Her hand was already reaching for her sword.
Then Erna abruptly drew her sword.
"Erna?!"
"All hands, battle stations! Protect His Highness and both sovereigns! It's coming!"
Hearing Erna's order, the royal guards took up protective positions.
At almost the same time, a tornado formed over the sea.
It formed between the Rondine and Albatro fleets and began swallowing up parts of both fleets.
Everyone was rendered speechless by the sudden disaster.
After swallowing roughly a third of each fleet and reducing the ships to flotsam, the tornado vanished in an instant.
Then it appeared.
"The Sea Dragon Leviathan...?!"
A long, slender dragon covered in beautiful pale-blue scales, as clear as water, stood there.
It had a pair of wings and a pair of arms. There were probably legs beneath the sea as well. It was a dragon adapted to the ocean. Its appearance resembled that of a snake, but it was far too large to be called one.
The portion above the surface alone was over fifty meters long. It was far larger than the legends described, and its imposing form made everyone tremble.
Ignoring the humans' reaction, Leviathan slowly opened its mouth.
A gigantic water blast formed in Leviathan's mouth just from that.
It dwarfed ordinary water magic.
Having immediately recognized its danger, Erna gave an order.
"Evade!"
Trusting their commander's judgment, the royal guards scooped up the nearby rulers and retreated from the area.
Erna also retreated with Leon. At almost the same time, the water blast struck the spot where she and the others had been standing moments earlier.
A thunderous boom rang out, and a gigantic crater appeared, as if a meteor had crashed down there.
Seeing that, Leon and Erna's faces went pale.
It wasn't because their own lives were in danger. They had realized what would happen to the city in the battle to come.
"Damn it! Erna! Take command here while directing the evacuation of the people!"
"Leon! What are you going to do?!"
"I'm going out on a ship! Unless we draw its attention toward the sea, this city is finished!"
"That's reckless! What can you do with one ship?!"
"I'll take command of the fleets in disarray! They need a commander!"
"Those are foreign fleets! And they belong to a country we were fighting until just recently! They might panic and fire on you!"
"My brother secured an alliance in my place! I can't just stand by and watch it collapse!"
With that, Leon ran off.
Erna tried to stop him, but she couldn't.
Leviathan's second shot had come.
Erna struck the water blast as it flew over the harbor toward the center of the ducal capital, deflecting it.
The water blast landed near the crater from before and created yet another crater.
"How long can this last...?"
Looking at her numb right arm and her beloved sword, whose edge had been chipped by a single strike, Erna muttered.
If only I had the Holy Sword... Thinking that, Erna ordered those around her to evacuate the two rulers and the populace, then began dealing with the water blasts herself.
■■■
"Captain! Fire the cannons!"
"Against that huge thing, it'll be like shooting peas at it!"
"Even so, do it!"
"You're asking the impossible! We're closing in! Brace yourselves, men!"
Following Leon's order, his ship closed to within firing range of Leviathan and opened fire with its magic cannons.
However, the attacks couldn't even scratch the dragon's hard scales.
Even so, Leon continued ordering them to fire.
Then he picked up the receiver of a magic communication device.
"To the Rondine and Albatro fleets nearby! I am Leonart Lakes Adler, the Eighth Prince of the Empire! We are attacking to draw Leviathan's attention! If there is still a ship in either fleet that does not fear the Sea Dragon, follow us! Even if you can do no more than help a little! Draw its attention away from the harbor! Is there any ship willing to sink alongside us?!"
One ship answered Leon's call first.
As soon as Leon's ship came into view, that ship had already turned toward Leviathan, and it soon moved to support Leon's ship.
"We'll follow you, Your Highness."
It was the ship that had been the first to stop Al when he charged into the harbor.
The captain of Leon's ship noticed it immediately.
"Your Highness! That's the ship from back then!"
"The ship from back then?"
"The ship that came to stop you when you charged into the harbor!"
At the captain's words, Leon remembered what Al had told him.
However, since Al had only mentioned charging into the harbor, Leon could only play along.
"That ship from back then."
As he muttered, Leon privately thought that Al could at least have told him if something special had happened.
But that, too, seemed like Al. If he hadn't mentioned it, it must not have been something he absolutely had to talk about.
"I'm sure there's still a lot he hasn't told me..." Leon muttered. Still, he was looking forward to finding out.
Al had always been an amazing older brother to Leon. That was precisely why seeing him do something so visibly impressive was exciting.
See? My brother's amazing, isn't he?
While Leon was thinking this, Albatro ships began gathering around his ship.
Not to be outdone by the Albatro ships, ships from the Grand Duchy of Rondine began gathering as well.
Seeing this, Leon took a deep breath and gave an order.
"Thank you, brave ships of both nations. All ships, open fire! At any cost, draw Leviathan's attention to us!"
Thus, the hastily assembled fleet began firing on Leviathan.
However, Leviathan's gaze remained fixed on Albatro's ducal capital.
Leon and the others desperately tried to draw its attention, but Leviathan continued firing water blasts as though it were simply carrying out a task.
At the harbor, Erna somehow kept deflecting the water blasts, but she wasn't destroying them.
The redirected water blasts struck uninhabited areas, altering the buildings and terrain there.
Amid this scene of utter devastation, a girl wandered into the Albatro Branch of the Adventurers' Guild. However, the branch had already been half-destroyed, and its staff had evacuated.
Even so, the girl headed deeper into the branch.
There was a long-distance communication room there. After reporting the Sea Dragon's appearance some time earlier, Eva had been left there unattended. She knelt and pleaded.
"Please... please... Anyone will do... Please save our country... At this rate, our country will be destroyed... All our people will be swallowed up by the Sea Dragon's disaster... Anyone will do... Please save our country... Please accept the request to subjugate the Sea Dragon...!"
Separated from her escort, Eva had left the evacuating people behind and made her way here.
She knew that the Adventurers' Guild had a long-distance communication room for contacting distant branches. There, she continued to plead earnestly, as if praying to a god.
Only adventurers remained for her to rely on.
The SS-rank adventurers under the Guild's banner should be able to do something about this situation.
With that hope, Eva continued crying out for help.
Her plea had been broadcast to Adventurers' Guild branches across the entire continent, far beyond anything Eva had intended.
When the building was half-destroyed, the system switched to a mode that broadcast to every branch. Normally, this mode was used to notify every branch of the highest-level crisis affecting the entire continent. Now, however, it was broadcasting Eva's plea across the continent.
Eva's plea reached not only the staff but also the adventurers in the branches.
Some adventurers wanted to do something, but they had no means of reaching the south.
The same was true at the Imperial Capital branch.
"Damn it...!"
"Can't we do anything?!"
"Shut up! Making noise won't change anything!"
"What did you say?! A girl is begging for help!"
"Can making noise get you down there to help?!"
The adventurers who had been drinking heard the girl's plea and cursed their own helplessness.
They cursed, drank in agitation, and waited for someone to speak up.
But Eva's plea kept broadcasting.
Because it was in emergency-alert mode, it was being broadcast throughout the entire branch.
The staff wore anguished expressions as well.
In the midst of all this, a man entered the branch, strode deeper into the Guild with sharp, clicking footsteps, and responded through the same mode that reached every branch across the continent.
"I'm on my way. Hold on."
Eva had not expected that answer.
Could help really be coming?
And he had said that he was coming immediately.
As Eva wondered what was happening, a rift opened in the space beside her.
A black-robed man wearing a silver mask emerged from it.
"Who are you...?"
"I'm Silver, an SS-rank adventurer affiliated with the Imperial Capital branch. I've come to accept your request."
Naturally, that voice reached every branch as well.
At that moment, many adventurers cheered the arrival of their representative.