The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-481

Chapter 481: The naval battle (3)

The central clock tower, a symbol of the imperial capital.

This clock tower, considered the second tallest structure after the imperial palace, was almost submerged up to its peak.

The hip carrying Vikir sliced through the fierce, rolling waves as it passed by the clock tower.

Suddenly, Vikir muttered to himself.

"It feels like something similar has happened before."

Camus, who was beside him, nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it did."

"…Right?"

"Yeah, when we were 8 years old. We were fighting, and my clothes got torn off, which was really embarrassing, and you…."

"No, not that."

"Really? Then maybe during the festival? We fought a lot here in the capital back then, wearing masks. Oh, come to think of it, I think my clothes got torn off that time too…."

"Not that either. I’m talking about the smell of the demon."

Vikir could feel the increasingly intense presence of the demon directly on his skin.

At that moment.

"Is that the imperial palace? I think I see something."

Aiyen, who had sharp eyes, shouted from the watchpole.

Soon, a golden light shimmered on the horizon.

The light flickered like an aurora in the night sky. It was unmistakably the symbol of the imperial palace.

The highest staircase in the world, and the golden palace built atop that dizzying height.

It looked as if the palace of gods from myth had been transported to the clouds.

Before the great flood, it was indeed regarded as a celestial palace above the clouds, but now it stood tall like a solitary fortress in the middle of the sea.

"The imperial palace. We’ve really made it. I never imagined there would be a demon inside…."

Dolores spoke in a worried tone.

Though her voice carried a hint of tension, there was no doubt or guilt about rebelling against the emperor.

That was because the life she had lived since meeting Vikir felt much longer and more vivid than the life she had lived before knowing him.

And this was true for Sinclaire as well.

"Wow, is that all gold? What a waste to use it for a building! I should strip it all off."

Sinclaire’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the outer surface of the imperial palace.

Money hat perched on her head was already twitching with excitement.

Meanwhile.

"…So that’s the imperial palace. Where the emperor lives."

Kirko gazed at the imperial palace beyond the horizon with a complicated expression.

Even the guards of Nouvellebag, who lived deep in the ocean, had always received loyalty training for the emperor.

However, the emperor, who lived in a palace high above the sky, and the wardens in a prison deep in the ocean had no real chance of ever seeing each other.

To the emperor, Nouvellebag was nothing more than a restricted area that existed on paper, and he would have even less reason to see it with his own eyes.

They were destined to live their lives without ever crossing paths.

So Kirko had only vaguely imagined what the emperor might be like, never expecting to meet him in person.

But right now, everyone stood before the imperial palace.

As rain poured down in torrents and waves crashed violently, the imperial palace grew closer and closer.

…Just then.

"Another tsunami! This one’s bigger! And it’s not just one!"

Cindiwendy’s warning rang out.

She was scanning the horizon with her telescope and quickly relayed the warning to all the ships in the rear.

"Another tsunami. The frequency is strangely high, even for a weather anomaly."

"Pssssss—Look at the scale. Someone must be creating this."

Orca and Sade frowned as they watched the massive swells rise before them.

If waves of that magnitude kept crashing in, all the ships would capsize before they even reached the imperial palace.

However.

"Hahaha! This is the perfect place for a hero like me to shine!"

Despite his young age, Tudor, who skillfully commanded the invincible fleet, wasn’t the least bit intimidated and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

His eyes, gleaming like the vast blue sea, guided everyone even in the darkness.

"Outer squadron, separate!"

Tudor’s command rang clear across the stormy seas, reaching every ship.

Then.

…Crash! …Crash! …Crash! …Crash!

The sound of chains breaking echoed from all directions.

The large sailing ships on the outermost edge of the fleet began to separate from the chained formation.

"…?"

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.

Tudor shouted loudly.

"The ships on the outer edge are made up only of decommissioned vessels! There are no crew aboard! They’re loaded only with gunpowder and breakwaters!"

And as these ships broke away, the fleet’s speed increased dramatically.

With the heavy obstacles removed, the fleet’s pace quickened.

"But wouldn’t that make us unstable? The waves are so rough."

"Why do you think I dragged those dead weights all the way here in the first place?"

Bianca spoke with a hint of unease, but Tudor remained confident.

Finally, Tudor raised his spear, Gungnir, to give the signal.

And then—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions and flames erupted from the abandoned ships that had been separated to the left and right flanks of the fleet.

The massive derelict ships sank beneath the waves, scattering fiery debris. The heavy breakwaters loaded onto them slowly descended to the ocean floor.

Then, an astonishing change occurred.

“The waves have disappeared!”

Orca, who was highly sensitive to changes in water currents, was the first to notice the anomaly.

The poor quality ships on the fleet’s flanks not only blocked the waves with their explosions, but the sinking breakwaters beneath the surface also pressed down on the approaching undercurrents.

The sea suddenly became calm, opening up a clear, straight path to the imperial palace.

With the dead weight cast off, the invincible fleet, now lighter and faster, sailed straight along that path toward the palace.

“A bold strategy, my friend.”

“Haha—As the head of the Donquixote clan, I must at least do this much!”

Tudor laughed heartily as Sancho patted him on the shoulder in praise.

The ferocious tsunamis veered away from the fleet’s path.

The fleet advanced, navigating the waves, which were now only a fraction of their former size, compared to the rest of the ocean.

Then, another strange phenomenon occurred.

[Screech!]

[Shriek!]

[Hiss! Hiss!]

Just as the waves began to calm, various sea monsters started surfacing, their heads breaking through the water.

Giant crabs large enough to stand on the ocean floor, ancient armored placoderms with tough, iron-like shells, sea serpents of unimaginable length, and grotesque deep-sea creatures of all kinds began attacking the fleet.

“They’re just letting the monsters loose now.”

Bianca clicked her tongue as she watched the monsters approach.

“Archers! Prepare to fire!”

At Bianca’s command, the archers of the Usher House positioned themselves at the forefront of the ships.

Even on the rocking deck, they stood motionless, bows and arrows ready, aiming at the massive targets before them.

“Fire at will! Release!”

Bianca gave the final order.

Simultaneously, countless iron arrows imbued with a gray aura shot out, piercing the sea monsters.

Each arrow was as powerful as a cannon shot.

Whether the monsters hid underwater or tried to escape behind the waves, the arrows pursued them as if they had eyes.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sea turned crimson with the blood of the monsters.

Not a single creature managed to break through the Usher’s impenetrable wall of fire.

“The demon is revealing its true nature.”

“It doesn’t even bother hiding anymore.”

“With the Emperor dead, the Crown Prince must be the demon.”

“Now that his support, the Reviadon Clan has fallen, there’s no need for him to hide.”

“Darkness and chaos incarnate. The center of power is always like this.”

Camus, Aiyen, Dolores, Sinclaire, and Kirko also drew their weapons, preparing for the imminent battle with the sea monsters.

At that moment—

Bubbling… Bubbling… Bubbling…

A different kind of ominous sign appeared.

The swarming sea monsters suddenly scattered to the sides.

The relentless tsunamis that had been surging nonstop also subsided.

An eerie silence descended unexpectedly.

And at the center of this stillness, a massive swell began to rise from the water.

Rumble!

Despite the archers of Usher firing at it, the rising swell in the middle of the sea didn’t budge, nor did the enormous dark shadow beneath it.

“…Could it be ‘that one’?”

Even the usually composed Orca let out a groan at the sight.

Behind him, other members of the Nouvellebag elite, such as D’Ordume, Souare, Bdissem, and Flubber, also showed signs of discomfort.

“It followed us all the way here.”

“No, I think the demon summoned it.”

“Regardless, we seem to have a lot of bad blood.”

[……]

This was a being that originally had no connection to the capital.

The most feared enemy of the wardens of Nouvellebag.

A rival in the struggle for supremacy over the deep sea.

Now that Nouvellebag was gone, “it” had apparently claimed the imperial capital as its new territory.

Swishhhh—

Finally, the imperial palace’s final guardian before the final battle emerged fully from the water.

Eight massive tentacles, each the size of a mountain, surrounded the surface of the sea.

In the chaotic darkness where sky and sea were indistinguishable, two enormous eyes glowed yellow, like suns.

[Kraken.]

One of the two legendary sea creatures said to have been born when light and darkness were created.

The worst possible monster that could appear at this point had arrived.