Saint George, Deutschland, and the others stared at Bismarck's lone back as she challenged an army, blood surging. They wanted nothing more than to lift their guns and die fighting at her side.
Blücher clenched her fists, stars in her eyes, babbling, "A-aah! From today on, I, Blücher, am Big Sis Bismarck's loyal hound—your beast of burden—liver, brain, eagle, hound—whatever you need!"
Seeing how worked up she was, if Alaska hadn't grabbed her, Blücher would have rushed out to live and die with Bismarck right then.
It wasn't just their allies; even the Abyssals were shaken by Bismarck's ferocity and will.
Abyssal Friedrich der Große and Abyssal Hindenburg traded a look and clicked their tongues.
"This is the G-faction spirit."
Abyssal Musashi fell silent for a heartbeat, then burst into wild laughter.
"She wants death? Then grant it. Today, whatever else happens—we kill Bismarck!"
Forty Abyssal flagships surged forward at once.
Not four—forty.
Back then, just Abyssal Barbarossa plus the "cat sisters" made three level-100 Abyssal flagships who completely suppressed Tirpitz. Now this Abyssal Musashi at 107, while not the instant-kill monster Abyssal Barbarossa was with all skills lit, still outclassed her in control and pressure—like a serrated chain around Bismarck's neck, sawing it off bit by bit.
But savage as the Abyssal flagships were, Bismarck fought even more savagely—trading blows if she had to, so long as she could land a shot in return.
Anyone else—say, the Prince of Wales—would likely be sunk by a single round of concentrated fire from Abyssal flagships.
Bismarck, however, had her own confidence.
With "Unsinkable Warship" passively shaving off eight points of damage from each hit, she could stand her ground and keep firing. Even a direct strike from Abyssal Musashi earlier had cost her only two durability.
Among the enemies, only Abyssal Friedrich der Große could sometimes, with her finishing sword technique, inflict more than two points on Bismarck; the rest could at most scratch her for one.
So not only did Bismarck hold under the swarm, she struck back—hard.
She ate a full broadside from Abyssal Hindenburg head-on; the blast thundered, and Bismarck burst through the flames, sighted on a nearby "generic-type" Abyssal battleship, and unleashed her guns.
Nine barrels as one—a red-black lance. The white-haired, gold-trimmed Abyssal battleship had no way to evade; she took it full on, screamed, toppled from the shark-maw rigging on her back into the inky sea, and dissolved to water.
Bismarck had seized an opening—and erased her with a nine-gun kill.
"Pressure her—don't let her set up that move!" Abyssal Musashi roared. "Hindenburg, fall back—Friedrich, take her place!"
Booted from the lead pack, Abyssal Hindenburg fumed but didn't dare defy. At level 94, her raw stats left her with only two Large Triple-Mount Main Guns and 156 firepower—less than Bismarck. Her slight edges lay in armor and durability—136 armor and 288 durability. Compared to Bismarck's 100/100, it was like having four lives.
Four lives meant nothing, though. One-on-one she wouldn't be instantly deleted, but she definitely wouldn't last a hundred exchanges.
She spat out one more broadside and ceded the angle to the stepping-in Abyssal Friedrich der Große.
Normally, battleships engage from thirty to forty nautical miles; anything inside ten is "in-your-face melee," with search and fire-control radar doing the locking.
But right now? They were truly at knifefight range.
Abyssal Friedrich der Große was no easy foe. Her sheet firepower was just three points under Abyssal Musashi's—177—but Musashi carried an AA radar and only two main guns, while Friedrich fielded three. In practical terms, their shell weight was comparable—and for shipgirls, firepower is damage.
Her refined swordplay lanced in to cut off Bismarck's rhythm alongside Musashi's attacks, and she'd flick a chain at odd angles to cheap-shot Bismarck, briefly forcing Bismarck onto the back foot.
Abyssal flagships wheeled around Bismarck like a lantern carousel; at such suffocating distance she could barely parry, much less carve out a window to charge and fuse her barrels again.
Forty Abyssal flagships formed three concentric rings, their demonic riggings completing the cage to shred Bismarck at the center.
Not far off, a sky-blotting swarm of Abyssal carrier aircraft and a surging half-million Abyssal force closed the bag.
Ink-black seas roared, waves heaved and crashed—like the entire abyss overturning into a hundred-li leviathan to swallow the tiny rescue party whole.
Any Abyssal would have expected Bismarck to fall back. Instead, facing hundreds of thousands and forty flagships, Bismarck lifted her guns and charged.
Her shout split heaven and earth.
"I am Bismarck under Commander Hikaru—who among you dares…"
"…to face me in single combat?!"
Thunder rolled.
At Bismarck's roar, the world itself turned ashen; The entire raging tsunami that spanned the horizon suddenly recoiled—as if the leviathan itself recoiled before her.
A single shout—enough to shake the sea.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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