[Vol. 9] Chapter 91: Above and Below the Sea
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!”
With that one command, all ten warships of the Austre Empire’s First Naval Fleet, including the flagship Sea Dragon Titan, fired their main cannons at once, shaking the sky with thunderous roars.
Although these steel warships were not as fast or flexible as real living creatures, when firing at a fixed target, the main guns mounted on these massive vessels, each over a hundred meters long, could still unleash power strong enough to destroy anything in their path.
When the flashes and giant waves caused by the bombardment finally faded away, the monster that had been on the sea surface was completely gone. Even the thick ice that had encased it had melted away under the extreme heat and destructive elements of the blast, leaving only churning foam and rising steam behind.
“Good!”
“Glory to the Austre Empire!”
Seeing their first successful strike, Cassio clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The officers and soldiers behind him also showed excitement and relief. The enemy’s origin was still unknown, but now that they knew their ship’s cannons could actually hurt those sea monsters, their confidence quickly returned.
However…
After that brief moment of excitement, the admiral suddenly seemed to remember something. He looked up again toward the sky, at the massive ice-blue dragon still flying above the fleet, circling calmly across the clouds. Watching that majestic shadow pass through the sky, his eyes revealed a complex mix of feelings.
If he still couldn’t understand what the dragon was doing by now, then he didn’t deserve to be the commander of the Austre Empire’s Second Fleet. It was obvious, this dragon was helping them fight against those skeletal sea monsters. The reason it kept circling in the air was likely to look for the right moment to strike, just like it had done before.
That earlier monster must have been trying to launch a surprise attack from below the sea, but the blue dragon had sensed it just as it surfaced, and quickly captured it, turning it into a perfect target for the fleet’s cannons.
Still, Cassio couldn’t help wondering, the Austre Empire had no known connection or alliance with the dragon race. Why would a dragon help them?
Or perhaps… it was acting for the sake of the [Eternal Winter Temple]?
He turned to Lian with a questioning look.
“You stopped me earlier because you already guessed that dragon was helping us, didn’t you? Do you know that blue dragon?”
“......”
Lian frowned slightly and didn’t answer right away.
Of course, he had never met a dragon, such beings had nearly vanished from the world for a long time. But when the blue dragon had flown down just now, passing so close to them, a strange feeling of familiarity had suddenly surged up in Lian’s heart.
For a moment, an image flashed in his mind. The faces of a few girls he had met by chance, just before the battle of Nofenburg began, when he had secretly inspected the fortress’s defenses in disguise.
Come to think of it, it was strange. That sudden, unexplainable beast attack back then happened right after those three girls from the South entered the fortress. Lian had always suspected that they came from powerful, mysterious backgrounds. But he had never considered another, far more unbelievable possibility.
Could it be that the horde of beasts from that day, and even the giant tentacles that appeared from the sea causing the disappearance of the Candidate Holy Maiden, were actually coming for them… or at least somehow connected to them?
After that day’s incident ended, even though Lian was deeply worried about Lady Moraya’s condition, he didn’t forget about the other two companions of the white-robed girl who had also gone missing. He had specially sent people to search for them, but the result was completely fruitless.
Those girls clearly hadn’t left Nofenburg, yet it was as if they had vanished into thin air, leaving not even a single trace. Lian had always found this strange, but he’d been too busy with the ongoing search efforts to look deeper into it.
Only just now, when that frost-blue dragon descended from the sky, its wings whipping up icy winds that crashed against the deck and sent waves of powerful energy sweeping over him, did he suddenly realize the truth.
That feeling... was exactly the same as the aura he had once sensed from one of the two quiet girls who had followed the so-called Priestess Violet back then!
Although the blue-haired girl had hidden her aura very well at that time, appearing no different from an ordinary fighter, Lian, as the Sealmaster of the Divine Temple, with his own special sensing abilities, could still detect faint traces of it. He hadn’t thought much of it before, but now, after comparing both moments, he was almost certain —
That frost-blue dragon was, without a doubt, one of the two girls who had followed Miss Violet back then!
But mythic beings were proud by nature, and among them, dragons were the most proud of all. For a full-grown dragon to take on human form and act as a guard or attendant for someone else… even the High Priestess of the Divine Temple, or Princess Nolan herself, who bore the title of “Holy Maiden,” would never be able to make a dragon do such a thing.
So… who in the world was that Violet? And her disappearance along with Lady Moraya, could that really just be a coincidence?
As Lian’s expression shifted again and again, his lips moving slightly as though he wanted to speak but held back, Cassio tilted his head in confusion.
“What’s wrong? Something you can’t say?”
Lian took a deep breath of the icy sea air and slowly shook his head. The mist from his breath turned into a thin cloud of white frost, while his expression became more serious than ever.
“Let’s begin. We’ll fully assist your fleet and finish this matter as fast as possible. I have to find Her Holiness and send word to the capital immediately.”
He paused, eyes dark and heavy.
“This northern region… might be heading for real trouble.”
……………………………………
Beneath the frozen sea, in a deep trench several thousand meters below the surface.
In this place where sunlight could never reach, where the ocean was almost completely dark year-round, a girl stood silently.
She wore simple short clothes and tight shorts. Her bare arms, legs, and pale feet were completely uncovered, showing a wild and untamed beauty. Her long golden hair flowed freely like burning flame, and a pair of coiled dragon horns curved upward from both sides of her head. The scales at the tip of her long platinum tail shimmered faintly in the darkness, while her slit pupils glowed with light as bright as the sun, so dazzling that no one could look directly at her.
Even though she was standing in the deep sea, the crushing water pressure, strong enough to bend steel, didn’t affect her at all. Even the seawater itself seemed unwilling to touch her, parting naturally before it reached her body and forming a barely visible circle of empty space around her, leaving not a drop on her clothes.
Her very presence was like a ray of light shining through the deep sea, driving away the surrounding darkness and gloom. And by that faint glow, one could barely make out another figure standing opposite her. Small, wrapped in a black robe, and covered by thick mist.
The figure’s face was hidden and impossible to see clearly. The only thing visible was the strange staff in his hand.
The staff was about as long as his forearm, not made of wood or metal, but rather something hard to describe, pale and rough, as if it had been carved from the weathered bones of some huge ancient creature.