"Are you truly all right?"
At the voice, Arphia opened her closed eyes.
"...About what?"
"Meteria, of course."
The white-haired man who resembled her younger sibling. At the words that came from his mouth, the corner of her eye twitched.
Even now, it still burned. Just thinking about the trash that had dirtied her precious little sister made something black continue to rise inside her chest.
And yet, ironically, the one who could extinguish that black emotion was also the boy-like man in front of her... the one who looked so much like her sister.
"We're family. Wouldn't it be better to stay together?"
"I came here because Meteria is here."
Arphia did not care about humanity even a speck. Her world consisted of number one, Meteria, and number two, herself.
There was no number three. There hadn't been... but now there might be.
She stole a glance at the man sitting beside her. Beautiful white hair, irritating red eyes. She had thought it before, but something that mixed what she liked with what she hated was several times more painful than simply separating the two.
If she tried to hate him, the things she liked stood out. If she tried to like him, the things she hated kept catching her eye.
That strange, impossible feeling only piled irritation higher and higher.
"But still."
In the end... maybe this conclusion came from the fact that her love for her sister was greater than her dislike for anyone else.
It was probably her foolish, overindulgent nature—wanting to see only the good and ignoring the bad—turning against her like poison.
"Something like this being a harm to the world my sister lives in is unacceptable."
"Besides, my sister wanted to go to the sea. Even if it's impossible this time, she should be able to make that wish come true next year."
"Is that so..."
Vesta smiled warmly, his expression gentle and pleased.
Not liking that at all, Arphia sharply turned her head away.
"Annoying."
"Eh...?"
If she were to name the greatest source of her stress lately, the man in front of her would be number one.
His appearance had never been to her taste to begin with, but this incident only highlighted that infuriatingly perfect balance even more, making her dislike it all the more.
If only he resembled his mother more... or, better yet, if he looked only like his father, she could at least beat him with a clear conscience. But with that awkward ratio, even doing anything felt difficult.
As Arphia clicked her tongue, it was a critical hit to the tender heart of a rabbit. The rabbit was knocked out before the battle had even begun.
"Haa... Meteria said she wanted to hold a feast once this subjugation is over."
"That sounds like a death flag... Wait, a feast?"
Of course there would be a feast. After an expedition like this, it would be stranger if there wasn't one.
"A celebration for the subjugation... and a feast to bless the child who will be born."
"..."
"She said it would be bad luck if the person who blessed the child died in the subjugation. She told us to celebrate only after the subjugation, and only if we survived."
"That's... how should I put it..."
It was very much like Meteria, and yet not quite like Meteria either.
He knew she was someone who cherished children, but... "No need for a blessing from someone who's going to die"? That sounded a little strange.
"It's her way of encouraging us. If you want to celebrate the child, then come back alive. Something like that."
"...Ah."
Perhaps she had noticed his confusion, because Arphia added a little more.
It was very much like Meteria, and yet not quite like her. Not only kind, but firm as well.
Was she already putting on the strength of a mother? She really was an incredible woman.
"But are they really all planning to celebrate? I saw them fighting over it before."
"Well, that's just how they talk, but what they really mean is—"
Her words never reached the end. They could not.
KWAAAANG—!
With a tremendous vibration, the ship began to shake.
"What..."
"The ship is shaking...?"
Of course a ship shakes. Ships float on the sea, and the sea is always rolling.
But our ship was flying in the sky. There were no waves to rock it, and even if the world itself trembled, this ship should not have been shaken.
And yet it was beginning to shake now, like a small boat being swept away before a mighty wave.
A powerful force had begun to shake the world itself.
"Prepare for battle—!"
At the shout, his body tensed automatically.
Battle was a chain of variables. No one here would be shaken by something this small.
Everyone raised their weapons and began chanting. They drew up their power to face the second calamity approaching them.
With the illusion that the world itself was trembling, the sea split open.
"What..."
The fin attached to the school was a drop item from Leviathan.
Thinking that a drop item was only a fraction of the original's size, he had once wondered whether Leviathan itself might be mountain-sized.
And now he could see just how foolish that thought had been.
It wasn't like a mountain. It was on a scale that couldn't even be compared to a mountain.
He had thought the sea had split. But no.
That was its body. And only a tiny part of it, at that.
If he were to compare it to a human, maybe it would be like a single finger. Just that alone had made him think the sea had split.
But that thing was like gripping something and rising up—
KUGUGUGUGUGUGU—
As if splitting the womb of its mother, it tore the sea apart and lifted that colossal body into view.
Long enough to reach the sky, and yet thick enough to cover the sea.
It was no mountain. That was not something that could be compared to a mountain.
It was already fair to call it a domain unto itself.
The long, torn pupil of the monster stared at him.
A chill ran down his spine. The overwhelming mass alone summoned a primal fear.
That was the tyrant.
That was the calamity.
[KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!]
As the monster roared, the world convulsed.
"UOOOOOOOOO!"
Just as everyone was overwhelmed by the abnormal giant body, something charged toward the monster with a thunderous cry.
Like a lion running across the plains. A figure moving at a speed that seemed impossible for such a heavy body.
He clenched a heavy fist and smashed it into the monster's face.
THOOM—! A heavy impact sound that seemed to rise from the very bottom of the earth. At the shock that seemed impossible to have been made by a human, hope lit up the faces of the subjugation force.
"Kuh..."
But the figure's reaction was grim.
The fist was enough to shove aside even a mountain, but unfortunately, the opponent was not something that could be compared to a mere mountain.
Even after taking the blow, the monster only swayed slightly and then stared at the insect that had flown at it without so much as blinking.
Fsh—
"?!"
And at the same time, the figure disappeared.
"Captain?!"
"What is this...?!"
The subjugation force panicked at the sudden turn of events. But he had seen it.
'No way...'
Among all the people he had seen until now, that figure was the one most skilled at close combat.
And that figure had been blown away. In a single strike.
'...A high-pressure bombardment.'
One part of the massive body opened, and in an instant, water burst out under tremendous pressure. The size of it wasn't large, but by the feel of it, it was probably a mass equivalent to compressing an entire lake.
It had only been a blur to his eyes. The figure who had faced it head-on must have had no hope of tracking it.
'How many can it fire?'
Ten? Twenty?
Or was that not the only place water could come from? If that attack could be fired dozens of times from that body...
A cold sweat ran down his back. They hadn't even fought properly yet, and he was already feeling the overwhelming gap between them.
How on earth had these people brought down a monster like that...
"KAAAAAAAH!"
"Kuh?!"
Prey that shrinks before a predator is only eaten.
Leviathan seemed to have recognized them as prey, and with its enormous maw wide open, it came to devour them.
There was no time to hesitate. This was no time to hold back!
"[Keraunos-]"
The moment he tried to use his power without thinking about what came after—
"Guhk...!"
Pain shot through his body, and the technique was canceled.
'What...?'
An opening exposed by the sudden situation. But the enemy would not wait.
Just as that gaping maw, along with the ship, was about to swallow them whole—
"[Gospel]-[Satanas Bellion]!"
A highest-power bombardment, unleashed without sparing any strength from the very beginning.
A blast far beyond the ordinary attacks he usually used slammed into the ship they were riding.
"Kyaaaah?!"
"Aaaah!"
Screams filled the deck. Amid the chaos, he inwardly admired it.
'Incredible judgment speed...'
If they had attacked the enemy directly, they would have been swallowed and finished.
No matter how powerful the attack, it would be impossible to push back that mass.
Even that figure's attack had only managed to make it sway a little. Trying to drive the enemy back was impossible.
It was a crude method, but thanks to it, they had bought themselves one breath of time.
"Ghk..."
Forcing his aching body to move, he pushed himself back to his feet.
'Looks like I've gotten weaker than I thought...'
The fact that the power he had built up over so long was fading away left him feeling a little hollow, but what mattered right now was how to fight.
'It's too huge...'
It was a body far beyond anything he had expected. Against that thing, none of the techniques he possessed could land a meaningful hit.
"..."
After finishing his thoughts, he drew his sword.
Things he could not do, he would leave to others. Cooperation was basic for an adventurer.
So...
"I'll hold it back."
"I'll attack."
No more words were needed.
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