" Hurry up and clear the deck! We still have more aircraft inbound..."

" Shit! Someone get a stretcher and carry him to the med bay, stat!"

" I don't care if we have to push it off the deck, clear the fucking runway!"

" Arrestor lines are good, they can receive the next batch of aircraft..."

Standing on an observation post overlooking the busy deck below, I could not help but think that post-battle treatments are pains in the ass to have.

" This is Tower to Rigel 5, you have the green light for landing."

" Rigel 5 to Tower, heads-up that I don't have landing gears and I have a hole in my left-wing."

" Tower will have DCP and medics on standby, Godspeed Rigel 5."

Looking up to the sky behind the Zeppelin, I saw a heavily damaged Do 335. It struggled to maintain a good landing vector due to the punctured left wing.

" Rigel 5, you're too fast! Wave off!"

" Not gonna make it, the engine just died!"

" DCP and meds prepare for a crash landing! Everyone else, take cover!"

The Dornier, without landing gears, crashed belly first on the runway and slid halfway across the ship. With it spinning out of control and showing no sign of stopping, I decided to intervene before the poor pilot goes overboard.

I jumped off the observation post and dashed ahead of the Dornier. Turning around and with a wave of my hand, I cast a spell.

" Restrains."

Chains of light appeared behind me and formed a net on the Dornier's path. As it caught onto the net, its momentum decreased until it halted. Things did not stop there as the engine block incurred a fire. To prevent ammunition cook-off, I froze the entire aircraft excluding the cockpit.

After a short silence, the pilot opened the cockpit and dropped down on the deck a bit heavily. Seeing that she still had the strength to give me a thumbs-up, everyone breathed out in relief. Then, cheers arose as my act of saving a maiden in distress won the hearts of the sailors and pilots.

" 100 EP for a heroic Avatar! To be honest, you look cool when you did that." Admin congratulated.

" Did I now? I only did it on a whim though." That was me being sincere. My thought at the time was, ' Let spare everyone the cliche scene of dying after a mission completed.'

" It's the result that matters." Admin shrugged.

Watching the pilot being taken to the infirmary with a wry smile, I was suddenly taken into the air.

" ... Melissa, what are you doing?" Having a flock of fluttery silver hair in front of my face was all I need to confirm the identity of the assailant.

" Ara, you don't like being carried?" The maid questioned with a teasing smile. Looking at her smug face as if she successfully caught me off guard, I wanted to retort.

" That's not the point here!"

" A maid needs to reward her master when she accomplished a feat, no? Giving you a princess carry is a way for me to express gratitude after you saved us from further misery." I stopped my struggle when I noticed Melissa was feeling a bit down.

Although the fleet is intact, Melissa must be feeling responsible for the loss of pilots.

" Fine, but please carry me to our room." I buried my crimson face into her bosom. With me accomodating her like that, Melissa lightened the burden of her heart a bit.

" As you wish, master."

From the hangar to the hallway and our private quarter, Melissa kept on carrying me in our embarrassing posture. For sure this will be the talk of the fleet for the rest of the trip, ahh...

Not just that, whenever others see us together, they will direct warm gazes at us.

" Nee, Melissa."

" You called?'

" Aren't you a maid of the Browning sisters? Why do I see you sticking with me all the time now?"

" Fufufu... My contract ended when the fleet set off, you can say I'm a freelancer now."

" ... You're gonna keep staying with me no matter what I say, right?"

" Of course, you're a worthy master of my service, after all."

" How did you even know that?" I asked, exasperated.

" A maid's intuition."

" ..." Seriously!? What did I even do to get a maid? Admin, I need an answer!

" Just give up, Kiseki." Admin shook her head. She could guess the reason why but felt no need to explain. Kiseki will figure it out in due time.

While being served tea and sweet at the cantina, I collapsed on the table. Riko and the rest who were resting nearby failed to stifle their laughs witnessing me caved in. It would be a while later that I learned of Melissa's backstory, a history unexplained by the anime.

It is just that we are pressed on time for now.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

" 10 o'clock!"

Nato ordered all the anti-air guns on the port side of the fleet to concentrate on the 10 o'clock direction. Countless muzzle flashes appeared as the night sky was filled with flak clouds and tracers. Soon, a flight of three Dragoons was destroyed by the concentrated fire.

" 5 o'clock! Main fleet head to bearing 45 at full speed!"

Barking out more orders with the relentless gun fires as background, Nato squeezed hard on his binoculars as he scanned the horizon.

" There's no end to this!"

With the once tranquil night broken by sudden radar contacts, Nato was woken up to take command. He once again divided the fleet into two with the main fleet will once again stall the enemy while the civilian fleet makes haste out of harm's way. He cursed at the fact that an endless number of small Dragoons kept assaulting the main fleet without rest.

" At this rate, our defense will be overwhelmed by the violence of quantity."

"Sir, should we deployed our remaining fighters?"

" Are you insane!? It's one thing to take off in the heat of battle, it's a whole different matter to take off while this is a nighttime battle! Leave the aerial battle to our Witches, we better focus on closed-in defense for now."

Occasionally, far from the fleet, flashes of blue appeared and decimated swathes of Dragoons.

" Inbound fast movers! 3 o'clock high!" The Graf Zeppelin's radar operator warned.

" 3 o'clock! Deploy countermeasures!"

With a wave of his hand, Nato returned his attention to commanding the fleet. This time, the main fleet launched many special smoke canisters in the air. Each canister holds a mixture of energy dispersal powder that lessens and redirects incoming energy sources which are the energy weapons from Dragoon. It is thanks to such a countermeasure that mankind can combat a higher civilization.

" All hands brace for impact!"

Multiple lasers passed through the smoky air around the fleet with their energy dispersed and scattered across the ocean, leaving rocky waves to hit the fleet. What could not be redirected was blocked by energy shields from Kiseki. Damage to the fleet has been light thanks to the countermeasure and Kiseki's help.

" Sitrep!"

" Light damage to the ship's runway, the Yoshino was hit above the waterline by a glancing blow. The fleet is still combat-capable at full strength!"

" Outstanding."

Yet, how long can they keep it up? For two hours they have been fighting in the dark of the night, two hours of heightened tension with no sign of stopping. Mistakes will be made if the situation persists.

" We have more air contacts inbound numbering 20. Shit, they are ignoring us and are heading for the civilian fleet!

" Damn it...! Divert all of our Witches to the secondary fleet!"

" But that will...! Roger that, sir."

Losing the aerial cover of the Witches is tantamount to exposing the main fleet to the Dragoon's onslaught. However, every sailor of the fleet holds a duty of protecting the non-combatants. Because of that, they are willing to lay down their lives.

" As expected, dying in glorious battle is one heck of a way to go."

Not sure who said it with a snicker but it echoed the sentiment of everyone in the main fleet.

" Yeah, what to fear?"

" We survived Nam, sure as hell we gonna live through this shit-show."

" You don't say. Let's use this chance to cause as much damage as possible to that blasted Nest!"

" If one dare blocks us then just ram them to smithereens!"

" Righto!"

" You guys do realize that I'm still here, right?"

I could not help but ask in exasperation. Somehow, they look to be like muscleheads for a second.

" At least morale is still high. Should I say, as expected of the elite Seventh?"

" No, it's more like we finally have a chance to vent our anger on the Dragoons for once."

Nato shook his head with a wry smile.

" Anyways, I will sortie so you guys only need to focus on surviving while dishing out your... retaliation. Just that, it will be hard to protect everyone in a battle of this scale."

" We are grateful for your help, once again. And don't worry, these here are people with enough conviction to fight this tide."

I took a look at the staff manning the bridge. Their eyes are full of determination and will to survive.

" Then, I will be off."

I head out of the conning tower and joined the fray. Midway, I met Melissa and others.

" Kiseki!"

Melissa flew in front of me. Carrying her Vicker K machine gun, she is panting slightly with her maid dress crumbled. Everyone else did not fare any better either. At least, no one has any serious injury.

" We will go and help the secondary fleet... Do you want me to stay?"

Melissa asked with a bit of hesitation. This girl...

" You can be at ease and leave this area for me. Just make sure to get back here safely, all of you."

I look at Melissa, Yang, and the rest. Good, although they are weakened somewhat, they still have fighting spirits in them. They should be ok for now.

" Don't worry, we'll be back in a jiffy! Protect our home in the meantime for us, 'kay!"

Riko merrily said. Yeah, they will be fine. I gave them a departing smile before flew out to engage the surrounding Dragoons.

" Angel art, Falling Moon."

A torrent of light rushed out from Spear's muzzle. Unlike last time with Bruno, Falling Moon's area of effect and destructiveness are enhanced with Spear. A section of the night sky got lit up like Christmas with the sea parted like Mose's doing. Many Dragoons were wiped out but as if making fun of the jovial atmosphere of the fleet, having witnessed my prowess, more filled in the gap. Where are they coming from?

" Admin, can you help me check is there any spatial disturbance near the fleet?"

I asked as I dodged a beam attack. Returning fire with Spear and Bruno, I took more flying Dragoons down for the count.

" I'm on it. You think there's a gate here?"

" It's unheard of for a Nest to use a spatial gate just to overwhelm this little fleet. But with I'm here, there's no guarantee the Nest will obey the script of the anime."

" That's true, just give me a minute."

" Roger that."

Pulling the triggers on both Bruno and Spear repetitively, I quickly dispatched off the Dragoons one by one. While I wanted to use another Falling Moon, the skill consumes a lot of mana. Thankfully, I could still fight by using my Mystic Eyes and smaller-scale magics.

" Got it! There exist three spatial disturbances to the North, deep behind the wall of Dragoons. It will be hard-pressed to defend the fleet and at the same time trying to take them all out though."

" Yeah, for now, we can only maintain the stalemate. Hopefully, when we rendezvous with the Admiralty, we will have the chance we need to kill them all."

" A bit bloodthirsty now, aren't ya."

" They messed up my sleep time and I'm pissed because of that. By the way, isn't this kind of scenario is good enough to qualify a quest of its own?"

" Ask and you shall receive! Quest issued!"

Bonus Quest unlocked: Homebound

Primary objectives:

Ensure at least 50% of the 7th Fleet reaches the rendezvous point. The Witches of the 7th Fleet must survive.

Secondary objective:

Destroy the sources of three spatial disturbances in the area.

Rewards: 20000 EP, Rank 4 gear enhancement scroll, Healing Cross (special reward for completing secondary objective), 10 stats points.

" Healing Cross?"

I questioned with a raised eyebrow. I did not forget to split a Dragoon ship in half though.

" It's a Rank 4 artifact that can heal all wounds except fatal once every twelve hours. Even though this is just a Rank 4, Avatars vie for this artifact as their lifelines in times of need."

" I can see why this is helpful, especially for Avatars that fight on the frontline like me. I can't wait to figure how that thing works."

" 50 EP to an Avatar who still think about their hobby in the heat of battle!"

" Can't help it, I'm an Artificer with All-craft."

Unbeknownst to me at this time, Healing Cross is one of the rarer artifacts in the Chief God's dimension.

" Now, dance to me the tune of Death, mindless Dragoons!"

I smirked, reconcentrating on the battle. As if knowing that I was the one that killed their mother, all the Dragoons convened on my position. This lessens the stress on the fleet at least.

For a long while, I did nothing but shoots, reloads, then shoots some more. Sometimes I need to intervene with magic before an allied vessel received crippling damage. Other times I need to physically block an intense energy attack from the three spatial disturbances. It could not help that I accumulated some injuries as the battle dragged on.

With the situation persisted like this, Nato begrudgingly made the decision.

" It has been four hours and our Witches are exhausted... Reform with the civilian fleet will slow us down but we can cover for them with our AA dome. Pass the order, the main fleet will rejoin with the secondary fleet, after that the Witches will land for R&R. Inform Kiseki of our changes."

" Aye aye, sir... We can only count on our Angel now, huh?"

" I'm afraid so, let's hope that God won't forsake her and us. on the sea tonight."

" Yes, sir."

So I have been fighting for that long, huh. Even with my blessing, Melissa and the Witches could not hold for more than four hours. That just goes to say that the Dragoons sent a ridiculous amount of resources to combat this little fleet.

Having earned me a breather after casting Falling Moon and a high-rank Ice-type spell that destroyed some seabound Dragoons, I flew near the fleet as I downed another mana recovery potion. It was a sour and sweet taste.

Putting the empty bottle in my inventory space, I met eyes with Melissa on the Zeppelin.

From her tired body, I could sense anxiety, unwillingness, and regret.

" It's ok, I can handle this. Rest."

My words, carried by the winds, magically reached her. Melissa eased the tension on her shoulders and performed a maid courtesy on the deck. She regained her original coolness befitting of a maid, for now.

" Slowly but surely, you started to care for her."

Admin said with a gentle tone.

" ... It's hard for me to ignore her when the person herself suddenly dedicated her services for me."

" You like being serviced?"

" I can't deny that."

" Interesting, perhaps I should arrange for that."

I did not catch Admin's muttering as I received an attack, once again.

" Sigh... Let's keep dancing, shall we?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aboard the Graf Zeppelin.

" Melissa, catch!" Franka tossed over a glass bottle to the dazed maid. Melissa caught the bottle when it nearly hit her face.

" That was dangerous, Franka."

" I knew you will be fine either way."

" Should I be grateful that you thought so highly of me like that? And, what's this?"

" Nato gave them to us," Franka downed her bottle, it contained a purple liquid. " it tasted like grape juice. Well, these are the drinks that Kiseki left behind for us. She said that we need to drink it to recover our strength."

" I see."

Melissa unhesitantly emptied her bottle. She could feel her injuries healed and her mana recovered at a faster pace than usual.

" I should thank her when all of this is over."

" We all will. She told us to be safe, right?"

" Yeah, that she did."

" Come on, let us head inside. All we need to do now is rest and have faith in Kiseki and our sailors."

Franka said with a pat on Melissa's shoulder.

" ... You're being awfully considerate all of a sudden. Why the sudden change of heart?"

" You already know the reason why."

Franka shrugged. Yeah, she has changed, so are Melissa and the rest. All because of a girl.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

" I want the secondaries to lit up the sky with star shells, now!"

On the KMS Weimar, Captain Alfonso Rikter busily commanded his vessel, the lead ship for the screening force of the 7th fleet. Consists of Weimar, Munchen, Kidd, Hammer, and Corry, this force uses their superb agility to fill in any gaps in the anti-air dome of the fleet. With their quick reload and accurate main guns, they can also make short work of medium-size Dragoons.

" Star shells away, sir!"

The dark sky, filled with smokes of war, now got lit up like day. With the improved viewing condition, everyone could see the intense fighting between Kiseki and the main bulk of Dragoons attack force.

" Hostile vessels, bearing 245, range 11000!"

" Main guns on anti-surface duty, secondaries on anti-air! Radio, tell the Hammer and Corry to prepare for a torpedo attack!"

Hurriedly scanning for the enemy ships with his binoculars, Captain Rikter got cold sweats.

" Mein Gott! All vessels, dispense countermeasures!"

His order was quickly followed through as all ship launched their countermeasures. Just in time to save the fleet from a barrage of plasma shells.

" Fleet to full! All vessels fire on the foremost vessel of the enemy formation. Hammer and Corry flank ahead of the enemy to drop their torpedo.

" Aye aye!"

The screening force answered by firing ranging shots at the lead Dragoon vessel. After a tense few seconds, shells landed near the enemy ship.

" Weapon officer, are we good for salvo?"

Moments later, the weapon officer gave the green light.

" Good for salvo!"

" All vessels, load AP. Go for salvo in 3, 2, 1 - Fire!"

With that cue, every 150mm and 127mm cannons the force have unleashed hell on the enemy. Soon, dozens of shells landed on the lead enemy ship. The Dragoon is of medium size of light cruiser-class, having gotten hit by concentrated fire like that, it exploded in half with black smoke everywhere.

" Confirmed target destroy! Acquiring a firing solution for the second enemy vessel."

" Outstanding! Pass the order, the force will move to cover Hammer's and Corry's torpedo run."

" Yes, sir!"

After a few more exchanges of artillery fire with the Dragoons, Hammer and Corry got a good firing line on the opposition fleet. They let loose twenty electric-driven torpedoes before pulling back behind friendly cover.

" Come on... Come on..." Watching the Dragoons charging up their cannons again, everyone on the Weimar experienced trepidation. " A torpedo connect! One, two, no! I counted at least six water pillars! Across the enemy formation!"

" Hurrah!"

The crew of the Weimar broke into cheers, the situation was the same on all vessels of the 7th fleet.

" Sent my congratulation to the Hammer and Corry, I own them two kegs of beers."

" Roger that, Captain."

" Focus, men! The battle is far from over but we sure did throw a good sucker punch, aren't we!?"

" Aye!"

From that one battle amongst many of the vessels led by Captain Alfonso Rikter, the screening force scored five kills with only moderate damage to the Munchen. Having lost the C turret and a dual 105mm anti-air mount on the port side, Munchen lost a large portion of firepower.

Fortunately, there is no report of critical damage.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

" Ma'am, Captain Rikter scored five more kills."

An adjutant reported to his superior who is the Captain of the USS New Jersey.

The female Captain snickered as she rested her head on her hand.

" Alfonso, oh Alfonso,... Always quick to handle the small fries. Send him my compliment but do remember that it's thanks to our big and mighty guns and our 2700-pounds of justice that save the day! Am I right, sailors!?"

" Aye!"

" Good. Radar, any information on high-value targets?"

" Report, we've spotted signatures of a Battlecruiser-class and four cruiser-class due North-East. The range is 20km."

" Have gunnery load super-heavy, we'll aim for the battlecruiser first."

" Aya aye, Captain."

The ship's internal radios sprang to life as orders were passed down from above. Moments later, the cannons on the New Jersey, Richelieu, and Yoshino swung to their port side and were aimed to the desired elevation. With pressure unlike the cannons used on cruisers and destroyers, the capital-ship main batteries unleashed hell on Earth toward their target every half a minute. It did not take long for New Jersey to score a lucky hit with the opening salvo. First blood belongs to New Jersey with a critical hit on the Dragoon battlecruiser, successfully detonated the energy storage of the enemy capital ship.

" Enemy vessel confirmed sunk! Captain, I think we broke the record of the Bismarck for having the shortest kill time on a Dragoon battlecruiser!"

" See! I'm telling you that we're justice on the sea! Keep up the good work and sink the rest of the cruisers."

With a more jubilant mood than before, everyone aboard the New Jersey fought much harder. The intensity of their anti-air barrage also improved, bagging more Dragoons for the ship's record.

In the Seventh Fleet, the USS New Jersey is a long-standing veteran that survived numerous battle. Hence, it is not surprising that they have such arrogance and impressive prowess. They prided themselves in the name of 'Big J', after all.

" New signatures on radar, it's a fleet headed by two battleships."

The announcement of the radar officer put a damper on everyone's mood. Ever since the engagement has started, this is the first time they saw two battleships gunning for the fleet. A similar-sized Dragoon battleship outperformed their battleship by a large margin. Facing two might risk the annihilation of their strongest surface combatants.

The grave situation called for some ingenuity.

" Get me the other Captains of the escort group and screening group."

The female Captain of Jersey lost her haughty manner and ordered seriously. She knows when to stop messing around.

" The line is connected, Captain."

" This is Captain Harvest, I guess you all notice the battleships signatures so I will keep this short. With the cover of the rest of the fleet, the Yoshino and all of our destroyers will detach and attacked the enemy with torpedoes. We cannot engage them directly so we must utilize the advantage that is our stealthy torpedoes and catch them by surprise."

" This is the Yoshino, roger that. Together with Charles and Laffey, we will flank and launch the fishes."

" This is Captain Alfonso, my cruisers will escort the Gearings to cut in front of the enemy's path. It will be risky but we have a better chance of hitting them if we cross our torps."

" Just be careful not to hit each other."

With the foundation set, the Captains quickly built up the plan and acted on it.

To protect the lightly armored ships and let them get close to the enemy. The New Jersey and Richlieu used countermeasure shells to blanket the sea with energy dispersal smoke. With such a cover, ships with torpedoes closed the distance rapidly at maximum speed.

The Dragoons could not ignore the strategic maneuver so they sent flying units to intercept but were thwarted by Kiseki. The pressure intensified as the Dragoon battleships began to fire at the approaching Allied fleet.

" Tsk."

One of the laser attacks from the enemy ships hit the Charles Ausburne and rip the conning tower in half. As expected, even with the reduction in energy intensity from countermeasures, the laser can still evaporate a destroyer with no effort.

On fire and with no officer to command the ship, the Ausburne's engine room kept on powering the vessel till it demised. I do not think the guys below deck figured out that their Captain has died.

"The first casualty... this really isn't easy."

I complained as I witnessed the Ausburne sank beneath the waves. Amidst the burning oil patch and wreckage, survivors struggled to survive.

" We just don't have the time to save them..."

They could not be helped, I thought as I return to the battlefield.

" Best I can do is have something accompany them to the other side... Spacial Rend!"

Shooting our a crescent blade of purplish light, the airspace ahead of me was filled with decimation instantly and numerous Dragoons of all size were destroyed.

" I will leave the rest to you guys."

I looked down on the Allied fleet, wishing them the best of luck.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feeling goosebumps on her arms, the Captain of the Yoshino craned her neck upward to see Kiseki's devastating attack.

" Oi, oi... That's a little bit too powerful, ain't it?"

Captain Nagano could not help but feel overwhelmed by the disparity in Kiseki's power compared to the other Witches. Yang is a Rank A-Witch but she might not hold a candle when compared to Kiseki.

" But it was thanks to her, our Angel that we can reach this far. All vessels, launch torpedoes!"

Nagano gave the order for the ships under her command and very soon, thirty torpedoes left bubble trails on the night sea.

" Report, the screening force also launched their fishes!"

" Take us back to the Zeppelin... Also, see if we can drop off some supplies for the survivor on the Charles."

" ... Aye aye, Captain."

Withholding a sigh, Nagano pitied the sailors of the Charles Ausburne. She regained her attention by a report from her subordinate soon after.

" Captain, the enemy is changing course maneuvering!"

Checking the situation, Nagano noticed that the enemy fleet was performing evasive maneuvers.

" Run time of the torpedoes?"

" They should be impacting any time soon."

" Now we wait."

Nagano wished that with such a lot of fishes in the water like that, the damage would be intensive at the very least.

" Impacts! We have multiple impacts on the enemy lead ship, Captain!"

" Their escorts didn't fare well either! They all should have taken crippling damage at the very least!"

" Wait...! They still have an intact battleship! Shit, that bastard dodged everything and is speeding toward us!"

" All hands prepare for close combat! Deploy countermeasure and swing us around. Have the starboard side torpedoes launchers ready."

" Captain, Laffey expressed that they want to help."

" Deny, we can't afford to have a destroyer without torpedo to engage a battleship... Wait, tell them to hang around the sinking Charles and rescue as many sailors as they can. Since we will be stalled here by the battleship, may as well have Laffey recover some of our men."

" Roger that. At least we can sleep easy later, knowing that we did try to save them."

" That's true."

Nagano thought that perhaps having one enemy battleship left was not that bad of a thing, after all.

" Richelieu and New Jersey just radioed in, they will provide fire support for us."

" Good to hear, give me a sitrep on our ship."

" Captain, the Yoshino is fully combat-capable with only light damage to the port side. Our port launchers are still reloading and we are at half ammo for all weapons. We still have more than half of our countermeasures so we can still fight for a while."

" Noted. Radio Alfonso, see if he can distract the enemy outliers as we deal with this battleship."

"Yes, Captain."

" Evasive maneuvers, get us closer to the enemy."

By coordinating with the rest of the fleet, Nagano commanded her vessel to successfully shortened the distance to the enemy, only taking superficial damages in the process. The approaching Dragoon vessel is a tough one, due to the angle of approach being very bad, the shells from New Jersey and Richelieu barely did any damage. At max speed, the Yoshino quickly found itself looking at the broadside of the opposing battleship.

" Any closer and our countermeasures will be useless, Captain!"

" Its main turrets are charging up!"

" Main turrets to bearing 45 and drop port anchor."

" Captain!?"

" Just do it!"

Nagano knew the order sounded silly but against Dragoons, sometimes you need to improvise.

" You hear the boss, get a move on!"

Albeit confused, the order was followed through by the crew on the Yoshino, they trusted their Captain well enough to place their lives on this bet.

The few seconds after was filled with trepidation. With their turrets not pointing toward the enemy, the Yoshino has no way of countering. They could only watch as the black barrels of the enemy glowed red hot, ready to fire at the insolence ship that dared approach it.

"Sorry, but not today."

Nagano smirked as the ship suddenly lurched beneath the waves before the rest of the ship swung sideways to the right and come to a stop. Just in time to dodge a salvo of plasma shells, previously aimed at the predicted course of the Yoshino.

The explosions and evaporation of seawater created a curtain that shielded the Yoshino from the eyes of others, soon disappeared, and the Yoshino with a starboard side bristling with weapons retaliated. Wasting no time at all to turn the turrets, thanks to the order that Nagano gave, the gunners let loose everything on the unprepared broadside of the enemy battleship. Even the 100mm dual-purpose also pitched in.

A cacophony of explosions rang out from the Dragoon, the vessel was stunned badly and with its engines damage, unable to dodge the deadly fishes in the water. It did not take long for the Yoshino to hit four torpedoes on the Dragoon. Everyone cheered as they witnessed the battleship listed to one side, sinking fast.

It was just that their victory was short-lived.

One of the main turrets on the stern of the battleship sprung back to live and fired a single shot before exploding. The last-ditch effort of the sinking ship scored a hit on the C turret of the Yoshino. The superheated plasma burned through the armor plating and hit the ammo racks tucked beneath the turret.

Ammo detonation!

The entire cruiser shook as the C turret got launched to the sky with a big explosion. Flashfire appeared almost instantly on the aft section of the ship, threatening to further worsen the situation as the fire started making its way to the engine room and other compartments.

" Cough... Cough... Status!?"

" ..."

" Shit..."

Nagano cursed as she saw her XO neck was bent in a weird direction. She struggled to the intercom of the ship to give out order after order, ignoring her bleeding forehead. The situation is dire but maybe she can still salvage it?

" No use... The fire is spreading too fast." At this rate, the ship will be engulfed in flame in minutes.

She was about to give the order to abandon ship when a report came in. Kiseki swooped down on the Yoshino and froze a majority of the aft. Her action put out the raging fire and helped the DCP regain control of the ship. The Yoshino was saved.

" ... Thank God."

Nagano sighed with fatigued. She voiced out the thought of everyone on the vessel before slumping back down on the Captain's chair.

Yoshino was saved and although critical damage was received, she can still muster half of her combat effectiveness should the need arise.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

" Mad lads."

I could not help but comment with my eyes twitching.

" A warship pulling a drift maneuver on the sea. That's not a thing a Naval Academy can teach you."

I could hear the stifled laughter in Admin's voice. Humans sure have many tricks up their sleeves.

" That also marked the last major engagement in this long battle, I guess."

Admin gave her observation. She is right, aside from some cannon fodders, the Dragoons lessen their assault intensity. For them, the losses far outweigh the gain now.

" It won't be long for us to clean up the battlefield."

" I guess rewards are in order."

" Thank you, I would trouble you to do that."

" 100 EP for a hard-working Avatar!"

" Hahaha..."

I laughed, exasperated at her action. Having a rare moment of peace on the battlefield, I once again met eyes with Melissa who was down below. I conveyed to her our success with just a look and she let out a very beautiful smile that contained many positive emotions. I got charmed by said smile for a bit, this led to me being teased a lot by Admin later. Much to my annoyance.