----Shuichi Arakawa Point of View

It's time.

　Lewis, who had been staring at the hands of the clock, announced in a quiet voice. Claire, who was the original second-in-command, went to Kouki's place, and Ellis, who is in charge of information, is serving as Miki's second-in-command, so these days, Lewis is exclusively next to her. It's a good thing that we've known each other for quite some time. When was the first time we worked together on a mission.... I grab the microphone for the ship's internal broadcast while vaguely thinking about such trivial matters.

"As of this hour, we are entering the enemy's defense line, and we look forward to the efforts of all personnel.

　I tell him one word and then turn the microphone back on and light a cigarette. If it was Ellis next to me, I would have said, 'Is that all?' even if I was sarcastic, but Lewis is looking straight out of the bridge without saying a word. As I stared at the back of it, I could feel the ship I was on rapidly increase its speed through the vibration.
　In the original outline of the operation, the flagship of the four-nation coalition navy consisting of Noah, Russia, Merkava and Ursna was scheduled to use the Russian Navy's 'Pyotr-class nuclear missile cruiser'. However, with Conn's help, the Merkava-Ursna and Merkava-Ursna magicians from both countries were able to use enough magic in their own world, and as a result, the flagship was to be the "Mermaid," a modified iceberg-type battleship carrier. This ship is able to withstand missiles and laser attacks that the technical department has warned us the enemy is likely to possess. And most importantly....

"Propulsion is a squid...

'Captain, Miki is going to be mad at you again. They're not squid, they're Kraken. It's only because of their cooperation that we can do 80 knots with this huge body.

I know. The Mermaid is nearly 700 meters long and can reach speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour, thanks to them. But don't you feel uneasy when you don't hear the engines or anything like this?

'Well, I can see that. The quietness of it makes it possible to neutralize torpedoes from enemy submarines, except by wired methods. Thank goodness.

If you're wired that way, if they find you approaching, they'll catch you with their tentacles and eat you instead of a snack...

Yeah, to be honest, I really didn't want to make an enemy of you.

　I was surprised that the Kraken wanted to buy the torpedoes as a luxury item after the live-fire exercise on G-88. From Miki's point of view, it would have been hard to stop laughing because in exchange for the torpedoes, he was able to get an enormous amount of rare metals from the G-88's seabed.

''We've just received word from the ship carrying the transference gate. We've started shifting the Dragon Race, and the shifting dragons will be flying patrols over the fleet.

　At the same time the operator on the bridge informed them, a magic circle floated over the ship advancing on the port side and five dragons flew out of it. So far, there are no effective weapons to shoot down the flying higher level dragons.
　The only exception to this is by pulling out an idiot who, just for fun, conducted a dock fight with a power suit with a flying unit attached to it, hitting the dragon in the face with a pile bunker and knocking it out. That only worked because it was just for fun, but if it was a serious dragon, it would fly around at nearly Mach 5 and shoot plasmaized flames that could melt the armor of the power suit.

''Lewis, how can a dragon be incapacitated?''

Didn't you shoot it down in the last exercise?

'Fool, that was just a game of tag. It's just a case of a seriously hostile dragon.

Well..... The anti-aircraft guns we're developing now that take advantage of our imaginary weapons...

"Torpedoes are running!

　Oh, shit, a stationary torpedo!　I looked at Louis and waited for the operator to give me the next piece of information.

...running noise, they've stopped.

　Apparently, they preyed on your favorite torpedoes. But why did they head out with two of them?　Originally, we were going to use one to deal with the torpedoes. I'll have the Ursna surgeon contact the Kraken or, I believe, 18 and 3.

'We've got a submarine screw sound!　They seem to be leaving quickly!　Kraken number three is in pursuit. Oh, no.......right?

What's going on?

The estimated travel speed of the third Kraken is over 240 knots!

Four hundred kilos?　

　It's true that the Gloom torpedoes are called blunt-legged, so it's not surprising that they could have that kind of speed if they were serious.... Even during the exercises, the maximum speed should have been 210 knots. Even so, 240 knots is too fast.

"Shuichi-sama, Kraken has informed me that the sea around here is cold and light, so you can swim fast.

　As I pondered the reason for the increased speed, the Ursna surgeon spoke to me.

'I understand that you are cold, but what do you mean by "light"?'

''Yes. I think it's probably about the concentration of magic power. In this world, there is very little magic power, so the magic power of nature does not interfere with your own magic power.

'I see, it's the same as having no friction...'　

It appears that the enemy submarine's destruction was detected and only the screw shaft was destroyed as planned.

　Okay, that's one ship stuck for starters. The Kraken did a good job, it's easier to sink a ship than to sink it, but disabling it with it's communications function disabled will leave it terrified and confused, not knowing what's going on. And you can't even imagine getting your screw shaft snapped off by a giant squid.

Kraken 18 also captured an enemy submarine and appears to have broken the screw shaft.

'Good, good, good!　If we can clear the submarines in this area...

Anti-aircraft radar is responding, high speed airborne craft approaching the fleet. It appears to be a cruise missile!

How many?

Thirty!

Air defense ready!　The Dragon People are here to intercept.

　After attacking from under the sea, the next step is to attack from the air? To say it's a theoretically sound method of attack is an understatement, but would an opponent who is so much of a genius that Miki and Kouki would take such a method of attack?　This is like a drill from the book.

Dragon, we are about to reach our intercept position.

Captain, there's something wrong. It's just a drill.

　Louis seems to be on the same page as me. But that doesn't mean we can't make other moves, and we can't change the operation itself. The main unit is already waiting in front of the transference gate at the Hakone base to land.

'Cruise missiles reaccelerating!　The Dragon Squad has broken through!　They're gaining more altitude, and they'll be over the fleet in 60 seconds.

"Each ship, as soon as your missiles are in range, begin firing.

　A two-stage accelerated cruise missile. Well, the explosives it carries are probably small, so as long as it doesn't hit a fatal spot, it won't cause any problems. I'd rather be on the lookout for submarine attacks aimed at disrupting the impact, let's tell the operators.

'In the meantime, tell each ship to be on the lookout for another attack from an enemy submarine.

Yes, sir.

Thirty seconds to cruise missile arrival!　We've got a missile that's split!　Numerous small objects are falling from high altitude. The number is unmeasurable!

　Cluster munitions?　On a ship?　I don't care if it's 100 years old or not, you can't bombard a current military vessel with cluster munitions. What the hell do you think you're trying to do?

Three, two, one, now!

It wasn't a cluster bullet that fell at the same time as the operator's count, it was this....

"We've received word from Aram, Miroslav and Onisim that their detection systems have been disabled, and the same word from Kalinin. Our ship's detection system is out of commission!

'It's just a jamming bullet. Switch the submarine detection system to audible and reboot the anti-aircraft radar as well.

　We've already anticipated this, we're expecting an EMP attack, we can handle this much. It's more than that...

Sir, I'm picking up a submarine screw. Number unknown.

Mr. Shuichi, Kraken is on the line. I can't see them, but they've seen the submarine wake. There are more than forty of them, but they are all leaving the fleet. What do we do now?

　Are you withdrawing from the idea of moving away?　More importantly, the fact that you can't see them seems to indicate that they are using stealth camouflage. But the mole in the cell....

"Please tell the Kraken not to pursue them. For the time being, maintain the status quo, and if the other party retreats, then you can keep it. Lewis, I need to get in touch with Miki at Hakone Base.

I understand.

Yes, sir.

　At least if there's no damage to the fleet, it's not a problem right now. But I can't even consider what they're thinking. The right thing to do here would be to get advice from Miki and Kouki....