Gra Valkas Empire Information Bureau

The row of electronic receives continues to beeped relentlessly. One could easily mistake them for emitting Morse code, but the pattern was actually different.

“Your Excellency, we have just received an update from a local informant to append our information on Rodenius,” reported a man in a sharp, glittering black suit.

“In brief?”

“Yes sir! Due to the intervention of Celestina, Louria’s invasion of Qua-Toyne Principality, Quila Kingdom, and Tibetain Principality failed. The Louria’s royal family was deposed and the country has apparently shifted to a form of democracy.”

“What?!”

The man being addressed as “Your Excellency” raised his eyebrows. He had always been satisfied with the report summaries, so he left all the work to his retainers and simply took responsibility himself if anything went wrong.

“Based on our predictions, the Kingdom of Louria should have overwhelmed and gain control over the entire continent of Rodenius, but… I’ve never heard of this ‘Celestina’ country… what do we know about them?”

“After Celestina joined in, the state of war changed completely. Louria’s grand fleet of fifty hundred ships was unilaterally defeated by Celestina’s fleet. On the ground, Louria’s forces were routed without even scratching Celestina’s.

Furthermore, after analyzing eyewitness reports from Louria’s capital Jin Hark, Celestina’s military includes a 15,000-ton heavy cruiser and a 5,000-ton light cruiser. There were also reports that they may possess a carrier. The cruisers were mainly equipped with a 30 to 130-millimeter cannon, but one of the ships was loaded with possibly a more primitive weapon, like a fireball and 88mm while another has only two cannon on the ship, probably around 80 to 130mm. There is no news regarding their aircraft deployment.”

“Did they have wyverns and fixed-wing aircraft?”

“Yes, sir. They have wyverns and possess a rotary-wing aircraft.”

“Peashooters, huh? Their naval technology seems to have developed somewhat strangely. I guess it’s been sufficient for the enemies they’ve faced so far. We ourselves are still developing rotary-wing aircraft, so they’ve got us beat in that corner. But, based on their ships’ armaments, and considering the way their military operates, it seems like they came from a rather peaceful world.

Compared to the technology in this world, they appear to have developed in isolation. Rather than that, I’m guessing they were also sent to this world, like we were… However, with only two-gun warships, and using peashooters at that, we need not fear them. They might get in our way a bit, but they won’t be much of a hindrance to our larger goals.”

That man was still curious about Celestina’s capabilities, however, not to think about it further, he changes the topic.

“How about the Leifor Fleet?”

“The National Oversight Army has just done resupplying. They should be fit for combat soon, but the admiral is being whimsical and doesn’t want to use an aircraft carrier against barbarians, so he’s only sending a single dreadnought.”

“In this world, one dreadnought is enough to become a legend.”

Somehow, the man who was called “Your Excellency” feels like something doesn’t feel right with Celestina. A person who blends herself in darkness manages to tap all of its conversations and sending them to the Central Imperial Intelligence Security Agency, simply known as CIISA, where Celestina Intelligences are gathered, including the main office of the Zealot Strike Force. While camouflaging herself, she withdraws in no hurry and blending in with the environment once again.

Celestina Empire, Imperial Capital of Natunia, Hereford, CIISA Headquarters

Cecilia and both of her adjutants, Lyrallei Windrunner and Nicholas MacMillan, are looking at every intelligence they had gathered from around the world. Cecilia, Maya, Shiki, and Lyrallei gathered their Zealot Strike Force to infiltrate and obtain as much intelligence as they could while also infiltrating the enemy base and intelligence spot to wiretap them. Four of them are the best Zealot Strike Force in Intelligence Agency, and each has a unique specialty.

“Ma’am. We’ve got intel from Gra Valkas Empire’s Intelligence Bureau. Downloading their conversation and video now.”

“Which unit went there?”

“Lyrallei’s Unit.”

Listening to their conversation, they concluded that Gra Valkas Empire could be the first target to apply a Country Punishment. A month after the first contact with Qua-Toyne Principality, the Zealot Strike Force are being dispatched to all countries, gathering every piece of information to determine technology and civilization before sending in diplomats in an attempt to open a diplomatic relationship.

“Obtain all intel from every Superpowers in this world. Also, wiretap every information that is sent in codes. We’ve got every possible of codebreaker ready.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Also, I will inform Maya to ensure that we keep ourselves low to fool them. How’s the status of our new Spaceship?”

“Raziel-class construction is on schedule, Ma’am. It will be launched in four months and will be commissioned in six months.”

“Excellent. Inform Elim and Balie Corporation to maintain the schedule.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Mu Continent, Western Sea

Superpower of Second Civilization, Leifor, 1st September 1523 / 224

The 48 ships in the Leiforian Fleet sailed west. The Eight Empire, an emerging country that appeared out of nowhere, conquered and assimilated the surrounding primitive countries, then declared war on the entire Second Civilization. They were written off as just some country of barbarians, but then they invaded the Kingdom of Paganda, a small island country under Leifor’s protection, which provoked the ire of the Leiforia Emperor.

The emperor deployed a fleet including two Dragon Carrier and 100-gun ships-of-the-line and ordered them to destroy the enemy fleet docked in Paganda. The Leifor Fleet raised their sails and used the magic tool Tears of the Wind God to accelerate to an unbelievable speed of 12 knots (Which is common in this world) and sailed south.

“General! Our dragon rider scouts report that they have spotted the enemy fleet!”

The wyvern lords, sent from the dragon carrier to scout, used magic to report back.

“There’s only one ship… But it’s over two hundred meters long, and it’s fitted with gigantic cannons!”

General Bal wrinkled his brow. “Leave three escorts with us; send the rest of the dragon riders to attack! All ships, set course for the enemy ship!”

“Yes, sir!”

Pushing aside the waves, the fleet changed course to the enemy’s ship. The fleet movements were very coordinated, a testament to its discipline. Wyvern lords were launched from the dragon carrier into the blue sky. They flew beautifully, heading west.

Celestina Empire, Recon Prowler Alpha Team, Radar-class Prowler Arcus

“There they are, just like what Grand Duchess Cecilia said.”

Lieutenant Faira Desirae, the Captain of the Prowler Arcus, arrived on the scene. Intel gathered by Zealot Strike Force is on the mark, and they manage to identify the super-dreadnought based on the size and its caliber. Arriving at 45,000 feet above sea level, they start monitoring the battlefield.

“Grade Atlastar-class, huh?”

Files obtained from Cecilia and Shiki’s Zealot Strike Force enable Celestina to obtain every intelligence of the ship’s strength, defense, and armaments. First, they scan every file right into CIISA. Then, the Intelligence Team forward it into the CISC to compare with ships from different worlds and prepare the measurements while updating it into the War Games for simulation battles.

“It’s similar to Yamato-class Battleship at World War II on Earth.”

“It will be good enough if Scharlwarltz can splatter it.”

“Pipe down, crew. Send the drones for recon.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“We haven’t reached this civilization yet, considering we need to map everything out.”

Celestina Empire has yet to reach Second Civilization to open a diplomatic relationship. The first factor is distances, and second is they need to make a proper assessment to ensure the country was hostile or not. Even they have reached interstellar technology, they can’t just make a sudden move. Celestina prefers to make their movement nice and slow.

The Gra Valkas National Oversight army’s super-dreadnought, the Grade Atlastar, was slowly moving east. Its enormous body carved through the water, nearly splitting the ocean, as it trudged along. The 46cm cannons are installed coaxially in three places, and the 9 guns shined proudly, as if it was aiming at the horizon. It was a solemn ship, with the bridge rising like a castle from the center of the ship. There were 3 high angle-guns pointed at the sky like hedgehog spines. They fired shells with proximity fuzes, recently developed by Gra Valkas. These shells emitted radar waves and would explode automatically when anything reflected those waves, dealing damage with shrapnel.

Until a few years ago, the empire also used time fuzes, but, with the introduction of the proximity fuze, the accuracy of their shells jumped up by the factor of 20. The 46cm main guns also began using targeting radars, which further improved their accuracy on top of their world-class firepower.

The Grade Atlastar Captain, Luxtal Dragfalia, gazed out at the sea.

“Captain, we’ve detected something on the radar. Numerous flying objects are approaching, from Leiforia fleet.”

The report came from one of the radio operators: they were a type of dragon known as wyverns. When they had destroyed the royal guard rider squadron, it was the first time fighting against the wyverns, but their own fighter suffered no losses and shot down every enemy. The wyverns couldn’t even scratch the Empire’s Antares Fighters.

The Antares-type fighter plane had adopted an advanced low wing from the biplane and used a reliable 1500 horsepower engine. Like sharpening a sword, they obsessively iterated on a lightweight design and, as a result, created an aircraft that could achieve speeds of 580km/h while boasting the best maneuverability capabilities in the world (From their previous world). Equipped with high power 20mm cannon in addition to a reliable 13mm machinegun, its offensive capabilities were nearly perfect.

In comparison, Paganda wyverns can reach the top speed of 230km/h. They could shoot fireballs from their mouths, but only one at a time. It was such a slow attack that could be avoided by simply changing directions a bit. To the highly-refined Empire, the fireballs felt like they were barely moving. In conclusion, there is no way a wyvern could ever defeat an imperial fighter plane.

“Their current speed is three hundred and fifty kilometers per hour.”

The radio operator reported in again. Compared to Paganda’s wyverns, they were much faster. Well, in this world of so-called “superpower” countries, the only way to improve was to breed a better species.

“They will be visible in about eight minutes.”

The enemy ships weren’t shooting or bombing them at all. But they also didn’t have air support, either. They had anti-aircraft guns and proximity fuze weapons, but they still felt somewhat worried.

“Prepare for anti-air combat!”

The dreadnought’s operations shifted into full battle mode.

“Captain, should we use the standard anti-aircraft shell first?”

The standard anti-aircraft shells had timed fuzes and were fired from the 46cm gun, but they now had new proximity fuze shells that were distributed for testing purposes. These shells couldn’t be used in short-range combat, so they had to be used at the start of combat, when their targets were still in long-range. The enemies were about 30km away, and, considering their relative speed, they would want to use them soon, if at all.

“All right then… prepare to fire main guns. Number one and two guns, load standard anti-air shells, coordinated fire. Evacuate all crew currently above deck.”

All of the crew are evacuated, the main guns began to move. The front two triple guns slowly angled upwards, to point into the sky. The process felt very solemn…

“Firing preparations are complete.”

The target’s relative distance was roughly calculated using laser sights.

“Fire!!!”

All six guns fired at the same time.

BOOM—

The air shook.

Arcus moved away and raise the altitude to fifty thousand feet as they don’t want to add more commotion. The drones recorded it perfectly for the sequence and the fire itself.

Leiforia Army, Dragon Carrier, Mobile Troops, attack squadron, size: 50

They were heading to attack the enemy’s giant ship. They flew in a tight formation minimizing dead space in order to mitigate potential enemy attacks. There were two groups of twenty-five; one group flew at standard altitude while the other one flew above the rear of the first group.

“…?!”

Someone noticed something strange. There were a bunch of black dots in the sky.

(What are those?)

An explosion, a loud noise—

In a flash, twenty-five densely packed riders received direct hits from the six fuze shells shot by 46cm guns. Unbelievably, large flowers of fire blossomed in the air. The forward squadron had just been instantly annihilated. The rear squadron milled about in confusion.

“EVERYONE, SPREAD OUT!!”

Against an opponent capable of explosion magic of this potency, it was suicidal to remain group up. Before them, the giant ship was now in the visible range. It was gigantic! It also has no sails!

“CHAAARRGGEE!!!!”

True to their reputation as elites of the powerful Leifor army, the wyvern lord squadron quickly shook off their fear and dove right at the Grade Atlastar.

“There’s… too much!!!”

It was like rain, a rain of light. Within the rain of light, they tried to keep pushing forward towards the enemy ship. One rider was shot down, then another. Whoever the rain of light hit died, but apparently even if they just got too close, they would also be killed… These conditions were way too harsh!!!

Ten minutes later, there was no longer anything flying in the sky.

“Co… communications have been interrupted. The dragon rider squadron… has been wiped out.”

“Whaaaaaaaat??!!” bellowed General Bal at the operator’s words. “To those damn uncivilized barbarians…? They brazenly brought only a single ship to face the illustrious Leiforian fleet, yet our riders were defeated?! This cannot stand!!! Our ship-of-the-line will eat them alive!”

“The entire Leifora fleet will soon be within firing range,” reported the radio operator.

“Hmm… they may be within acceptable firing range, but our accuracy will still be quite poor… The range for shelling was… about two kilometers for non-flying targets according to the documentation, I believe. Does that sound right?”

“Yes, that’s right. However, while the shells are indeed powerful, they must properly explode to reach the ideal power level. Also, they aren’t like cannonballs, I guess they explode differently from gunpowder, but I’m not really clear how it works. The explosions are on par with black gunpowder, though.”

“…They’re all a hundred years behind our civilization, yet they’re the ones calling us ‘barbarians’ instead… What pathetic leadership. When they’re almost within firing range, say about five kilometers away, show them our broadside. Command will coordinate targeting to avoid overlapping. Main and secondary guns, use radar targeting.”

The orders went out.

“Interesting…”

Cecilia observes the battles through the live feed that was patched through directly from Arcus. She noticed that the Superpowers in this world think that they can do anything they want just because they are in a Civilization Area and considered as a Superpower, which will be proven by Gra Valkas to punish them that considered any countries outside the Civilization area as a barbarian.

“I concur with Gra Valkas for the treatment way, Lieutenant. They shouldn’t treat any countries outside the Civilization area as barbarian countries. We could also commence a punitive attack should they also act arrogantly and ask anything they want, thinking we may cower for them.”

“So, what happened if they treated us like how they treat us like a barbarian and must follow what they wanted?”

“There are many ways, but one of it is should they went too far, we could send one Firefly-class Heavy Frigate to punish them.”

“But, that was overkill isn’t it?”

“Considering the range itself, I would say no. It was indeed overkill, but considering the range itself, we don’t want to send a Naval Fleet to deal with such matters. Furthermore, we also try to keep Embellia’s unit as low profile as possible since they are our backbone for the Navy. Also, Scharlwarltz cannot be used unless the Commanding Officer at Battle Group Scharlwarltz allows us to use it.”

“I understand.”

Cecilia then saw Grade Atlastar prepare to annihilate Leifor Fleet.

“That fleet is going to be destroyed single-handedly.”

The 48 ships in the Leifora fleet under General Bal’s command had their sails filled with wind generated by Tears of the Wind God. They were quickly closing in on Gra Valkas’s dreadnought, the Grade Atlastar. Based on the wyvern lord squadron’s last-known position, they were able to infer the location of the ship and headed in that direction.

“We should be able to see the enemy ship soon.”

Bal opened his eyes wide and scoured the horizon.

“! I see it!”

??!! It was much closer than they had calculated based on the location information they had. The ship was also so big that his sense of perspective began warping. However, the Leifora fleet had been undefeated for over 300 years, with a 100-gun ship-of-the-line in command of 48 other ships; no matter how big the enemy’s ship was, they were helpless with only one ship.

The entire fleet continued forward, side by side, forming a line as they charged the giant ship.

“What hit our elite riders were probably cannon shells enchanted with explosive magic. Let’s get a taste of that for ourselves!”

The fleet, sails billowing, surged forward. They were about six kilometers from the Grade Atlastar. The enemy ship began to turn, showing its belly to the fleet, as it were. They could see three giant turrets on the ship; the aft and midship ones both turned to point at the fleet.

“It… it can’t be… Are we in range all the way out here?”

Smoke began to rise from the enemy ship.

“Enemy fire!!!”

“We’re too far away, it’s a trick!”

Five giant, ridiculously tall columns of water sprouted in front of and behind the Leiforian fleet.

“W-What power… They’re so accurate at this distance!”

Again, they saw smoke rise, this time from the secondary cannons. They loaded so quickly!!! Another two pillars of water jumped up right next to the ship-of-the-line.

“!!! Ship-of-the-line Rudolph was hit!!!”

The 80-gun ship-of-the-line Rudolph was hit by one of the three secondary cannon shots. The 15cm shell easily pierced the Rudolph’s antimagic steel plating and, unluckily, burst within the ship’s magazine.

BOOOOOOM.

The remains of the ship sent up trails of black smoke.

“The Rudolph has been sunk!”

“What?! …Those bastards!!! All ships, continue forward!”

Yet again, the enemy’s main cannons fired. This time, three ships were hit. After the pillars of water had fallen back into the sea, two of the ships were simply gone.

“Ship-of-the-line Viper has been sunk!!! …Sh-ship-of-the-line Leifor has also been sunk…”

!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone was stunned. The ship-of-the-line Leifor, which inherited the name of the country, was the symbol of Leifor’s invincibility. It was a 100-gun ship-of-the-line, it had the latest antimagic steel plating, and, at least within the country, it was boasted as the world’s most powerful ship… And that ship easily sank to a single volley from the giant cannon on the barbarians’ giant ship, when they weren’t even within firing distance.

Sadly, reality did not allow them any time to despair. The cannons kept on firing. Stalwart sailors, strong ships with strong crews, without letting off even a single shot, were one-sidedly destroyed by the bombardment. Even though the Leifora fleet used Tears of the Wind God, the enemy’s giant ship was still much faster. It kept itself outside of its firing range! And ship by ship, the fleet was sinking beneath the waves.

“Dammit! Dammit all!”

Aboard the 100-gun ship-of-the-line flagship Golly, General Bal shook with fear. All other ships in the fleet had now been sunk. The enemy ship slowly turned in the water, and all its cannons spun around to aim at the Golly.

“…Raise the flag of surrender,” he ordered.

They raised that flag on the Golly’s mast, which symbolized the declaration to surrender in this world.

“Enemy ship approaching.”

“Those bastards… Those bastards! When those barbarians get close enough, all cannons fire, sink that monstrosity to the bottom of the ocean!”

“B-But, to attack after declaring surrender… that would stain the honor of Leifor!” one of the ship’s officers objected.

BANG—

“He was lost to the enemy’s cannon fire… You understand, don’t you?” asked General Bal as he approached the ship’s captain. He had just shot the officer to death.

“What’s wrong? There isn’t a ship in the world that could withstand a full barrage from our cannons and remain afloat… And there’s only one enemy ship. If no one rats, no one will know what we’ve done.”

Bal looked at the approaching ship.

“Ready the cannons.”

The idiots kept on coming closer. They stopped about 300 meters away. There was basically no way they could miss now.

“Fools… The price for destroying my fleet is high! FIIIIIRRRRRRE!!!”

From one side of the ship, 50 cannons fired at the same time. A navy’s weapons were its men, and their methods of attack in this world were usually ballistae to draw enemies closer, fire arrows, and directly invading enemy ships. However, the prosperous superpower Leifor secretly built ships equipped to wholly destroy enemy ships. They would now use their hidden power on this monstrous enemy.

The giant ship took the cannonballs directly, and there was a huge explosion. With smoke pouring out of the cannons and plumes of smoke coming from the enemy ship where the cannonballs hit, all anyone could see was smoke.

“All cannons scored direct hits!”

“GAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Take that, you bastards! That will teach you barbarians to mess with Leifor, hahahaha… hah?”

The smoke cleared up.

The enemy’s… rotating turrets… leisurely…… turned… and aimed the Golly…

“Enemy ship is still active!!!” the radio operator screamed.

“There was… absolutely… no effect? …Cursed monstrosity…”

The Grade Atlastar fired all nine of its 46cm guns simultaneously at close range, and the Leifora fleet’s last ship-of-the-line, the Golly, was erased from existence.

“…They fired at us after surrendering… So this is all a ‘superpower’ amounts to… I think a little punishment is in order. What is our remaining ammunition?”

“Each gun has about seventy shots, sir.”

“I see… the enemy’s capital sits on the ocean, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it should be about three hundred and sixty kilometers straight ahead…”

“They shall be punished by bombardment, then.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Then, prepare for—huh…?”

Luxtal looks around at every view he can get from the bridge. He felt like someone is watching him and the warship itself.

“What’s wrong, Captain?”

“I feel like someone is watching us.”

Arcus immediately evacuate itself once the ship was tagged so they can continue tracking it down. The bridge crews are looking up at the sky, searching for an anomaly that bothers Luxtal.

“We found nothing, sir.”

“Maybe it’s just my imagination, then…”

“He’s got good instinct.”

Cecilia observes how Luxtal reacts when he felt that Arcus is keeping an eye on him. They also manage to attach the probes that can immediately blend in into the ship’s hull so the drydock crew or the crew cannot detect it with the naked eye or without stealth detection equipment. Celestina intends to keep an eye on it as they want to track where the ship goes.

“They are heading for Leiforia, the Capital of Leifor.”

“Order all of the Zealot Strike Force to withdraw from its blast range. Once the occupation starts, we probably request more personnel from Maya’s Strike Force. For Shiki’s unit, how long they can get any files related to Leifor?”

“Silent way, ten hours.”

“Alright. Breach it in a silent way. We can’t risk any attention from the palace. Also, snatch every treasury it can get. Did they request any item handler?”

“No, Ma’am. Some of them already got Magic Bag Tier 7 that can load up to 14 tons of items.”

“Alright then, inform them to make a run immediately. They got one chance before Grade Atlastar reaches the capital.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

A report came in from Zilva Silverain, a member of Shiki’s Unit.

“Ma’am. Intel from Lyrallei’s Unit, the Royal Guards are preparing their shoreline defenses.”

“Copy. Work with her unit to take the documents to the Royal Palace if possible. They will be reaching the capital in twenty-four hours, earliest.”

“Understood.”

Shiki’s unit is primarily specialized in important items hunting, such as artifacts, and documents. They are also very professional assassins especially should Tohriu Shiki, the Captain of Shiki’s Unit decides to take command personally. His ability can tear up anything within seconds which makes his unit is one of the famous Zealot Strike Force.

The next evening, the capital of Leifor, Leiforia, was burned to ash after being bombarded by the dreadnought Grade Atlastar. The emperor perished, the remaining armies surrendered, and the Gra Valkas Empire annexed Leifor and began settling in their land. The Grade Atlastar, which sank the entire Leifora fleet by itself and then burned the Leifor capital to the ground, driving the entire country to capitulate, became feared as the world’s largest, strongest ship, and turned into a legend.

It was an event that shook the world.

Celestina’s citizens witness it through a live feed sent by Arcus on the homeland of the Celestina Empire. This makes some of Adventurers and Naval Units, practically the Embellia’s Navy Army, and adventurers who are proficient at aquatic combat book themselves up to make a battle simulation against Grade Atlastar, making the War Games at the entire Empire for the Navy fully booked for a whole month.