Chapter 269 - 243

A capsized vessel floated lifelessly on the water, surrounded by debris and a few wooden crates. It had several claw and bite marks all over the place. A large portion of it's bow and hull was gone. It was as though something took a bite out of it. The surrounding water was mixed with oil from the boat, and the color of blood. What happened here?

"This is horrible." (Umikaze)

"To think something like this was happening nearby..." (Avrora)

"The coast guards were right to leave this to us. This is way above their pay grade and expertise."

For the past three days, the Maizuru Coast Guard has been receiving some rather terrifying reports. 3 fishing boats, 1 yacht, 1 cargo ship, and 1 patrol ship were reported to be destroyed, with all crew and passengers declared missing. The reports had two things in common, the vessel was missing large portions of it's hull and everyone on board had disappeared. The Coast Guard decided to investigate this case themselves, until the patrol boat sent to search for survivors of the cargo ship sent a mayday message and became uncontactable for 12 hours. That's why we are here. The Coast Guard thought that this was the work of an Abyssal attack and reported it to me. I have the obligation to send at least a fleet to investigate since our enemies could be involved.

"A beast type?" (Gangut)

"Maybe. It might be an I-class." (Zuihou-chan)

"But they don't have claws."

"What kind of Abyssal can bite through a boat like this?" (Kumano)

"The closest I can think of is an Abyssal Mediterranean Princess. It keeps two large shark-like life forms as pets. We are going to have a hard time if a Bestial Abyssal Princess start showing up."

The normal ones are already difficult enough to deal with.

"Shioi, anything down there?"

"I can't find any remains. I did find some dog tags and chewed up uniforms though. What's scary is that there is blood all over the place." (Shioi)

Woah. That's bad. I have the list of the guards that were on the boat. Someone's son, father, or brother just died and we have no idea what caused their deaths. We could easily blame the Abyssals and get more people to acknowledge that we are in a war right now, but I don't want to make use of someone's death just to prove a point. And we aren't sure if the Abyssals or Sirens are involved in the first place.

All of sudden, everyone's radar started beeping rapidly and everyone went on high alert, raising their weapons. A red indicator appeared behind the fleet.

"An enemy?!" (Gangut)

"Ah. Sorry. It was me." (Zuihou-chan)

Standing behind the five girls was Zuihou-chan in her Abyssal form. Her entire body has turned grey and black, with her limbs taking on an ebony black. Black sclera replaced her original white ones and her eyes glowed red. A large, black crossbow replaced her right hand while a large claw replaced the left. As a finishing touch, two horns grew out of her forehead. Only her green miko outfit remains unchanged.

"That surprised me. You still haven't figured a way to control it?" (Kumano)

"We are working on it."

"Sorry..." (Zuihou-chan)

It has been five days since I announced Zuihou-chan's condition to everyone in the base. Everyone was surprised and slightly apprehensive, but after realizing that she is the same Zuihou-chan they all know and love, they dropped that attitude and begin treating her as per normal. But now, there is another problem. Her condition has gotten to the point where it is a full transformation. Right now, minus her miko outfit, she would take on the form of the Abyssal Phoenix Princess at random timings. When that happens, our own radars and automated turrets treat her as an enemy and will react to her. It's kind of bad when she transforms during a sortie. She would give everyone a fright, like what she just did. Maybe Vestal was right about the number being her ability to control herself. On bright side, she can launch her Abyssal Aircraft faster and in larger quantities.

"No no no. I'm not scolding you or anything." (Kumano)

"Comrade Kumano, look what you done. Now she is all sad." (Gangut)

"No. Wait. I don't mean it that way." (Kumano)

Another bad thing is that she now has a complex about it. Looks like I need to pamper her later.

The radar started beeping again. Now what?

Kumano loaded her crossbow and launched a Saiun up into the air.

"Enemy fleet located at 2 o'clock and coming in hot. 2 Battleship Ru-class, 1 Torpedo Cruiser Chi-class and 3 Destroyer Ro-class." (Kumano)

"Hee. Looks like we get to see some action today after all." (Gangut)

"Wait. Zuihou-chan, stay back! You have zero experience fighting in that form."

"Leave this to us. We will be fine." (Shioi)

"Line ahead formation. Avrora, take point."

"Understood. Within the light of dawn are spilled blood and raging flames..." (Avrora)

Both her and Umikaze's weapons started glowing as they fired at the appraoching Abyssal fleet. One of the Ru-class staggered backwards as it took the brunt of the attack.

"All Kumano Aircraft attack! Woooooooah!" (Kumano)

Kumano let out her signature dolphin scream as she launched two squadrons of Suiseis and bombed the enemy fleet, creating a stellar explosion while sinking the Chi-class and the damaged Ru-class. Surprisingly, the three Destroyer Ro-class got out unscathed.

Umikaze launched a salvo of torpedoes towards the Battleship Ru-class. As expected, the Ru-class extended out it's left arm cannon to block the torpedoes approaching while letting the rest pass by. Unless they are a variant, these things always use the same technique over and over again, expecting a different result. Do they even know the definition of insanity? Well, it's not like they were sane in the first place.

Out of the six torpedoes launched, only one made contact with the Ru-class. Another one took out the Destroyer Ro-class who didn't evade in time. The remaining four were completely off the mark. That's kind of expected. The Sextuple Torpedo Launchers have a different and wider spread than the quadruple Torpedo Launchers Umikaze is used to. The number of equipment she can use increased after getting her Kai Ni.

The torpedo that hit the Ru-class exploded, staggering the Abyssal Battleship. It recovered rather quickly though.

"Grr... One more time!" (Umikaze)

"Leave that thing to me! The revolution blesses you!" (Gangut)

Gangut fired a volley of shells at the Ru-class. The Ru-class once again stood its ground and tried to guard. A ball of fire and smoke engulfed it. When it cleared, the Ta-class was missing one of it's arm cannons. Bluish blood dripped from its wound and into the water. This one is tough.

Another explosion engulfed the Ru-class, taking out its left leg. The Ta-class fell to the surface since it couldn't stand anymore. The water around it turned blue from its blood.

An explosion appeared at the back other Destroyer Ro-class exploded, crippling it.

"Nice one, Comrade Shioi." (Gangut)

Umikaze launched another salvo of torpedos at the crippled Destroyer Ro-class. This time, three of them hit, sinking the Abyssal. Now only one injured Ru-class and one small fry left.

The radar started beeping again. Reinforcements? But this can't be right. Kumano's Saiun is still in the air. It would have notified her of any approaching enemies. Unless its submarines, but Shioi would have sounded alarm. A grey dot appeared on the radar. It's an unknown, and it's moving fast!

"Everyone, stay alert! Shioi, regroup and keep an eye underwater."

"Something's coming! Wait. That's a huge fish!" (Shioi)

A large, transparent mouth with sharp teeth appeared from underneath the injured Ru-class and trapped it within it's jaws. We watched in horror as it literally broke apart into small pieces within the transparent prison. The Destroyer Ro-class tried to run away but three blue spear-like objects erupted out of its body. It struggled for a split second, before it became limb. The lifeless Destroyer rose up into the air, supported by the spears which skewered it's body. Wait. That's a trident. What the heck is... What did the Sirens create this time?

A hooded figure surfaced along with the rest of that three-pronged weapon. It looked just like a Battleship Re-class, with the hood and tail. Only difference is that it was smaller, and had a fish tail instead of the normal Abyssal lifeform and guns. The hood was blue and stained with streaks of dark crimson. The trident was twice it's height, yet it's wielding so easily and with an extra weight at the end. The figure held out it's free hand and a bunch of shark-like apparitions appeared, lunging at dead Ro-class and ripping it to shred. Once it's done, the hooded figure looked at my girls and we could finally see it's face. It has the face of a young girl, with visible sharp scales. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. Her hair was grey with red streaks along her bangs. Her hands and feet are webbed. She just stared at the girls with eyes of a predator.

"What is that? An Abyssal?" (Avrora)

"Definitely not. It must be another Siren monster." (Kumano)

"Whatever it is, it's definitely hostile. Get ready for battle."

Everyone aimed their guns at the mysterious girl, anticipating her actions. The girl just smiled, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and charged at them.

"Fire!"

Avrora, Gangut and Umikaze fired at the girl while Kumano and Shioi launched their planes. Shells and bombs bounced off the girl as if they were rubber band balls. She thrust out her spear towards Avrora.

"Oh no you don't!" (Gangut)

Gangut rushed in front of Avrora and brought forward her rigging to block the attack. The trident easily pierced through her rigging and stabbed the Russian battleship in the abdomen.

"Gangut-san!" (Umikaze)

"Comrade Gangut!" (Avrora)

"Gh! Черт возьми! <Damn it!> This really hurts. But at last, this is a battlefield that I am meant for!" (Gangut)

"Wait. Don't shoot it!"

Too late. Gangut fired her remaining guns at the girl's head, only for the shells to reflect of her and explode on Gangut instead. Although uninjured, it seems to piss the girl off. This girl... She has the same reflective ability as the monster Azur Lane calls blue. A demon...

Blood dripped from Gangut's mouth as her snow white outfit is being dyed with red. The demon pulled out its spear from Gangut and knocked her back with a swing. Shells and bombs bounced of her body as she approached the injured Gangut, unfazed by everything happening to her.

"Get away from her!" (Avrora)

Avrora rushed in front of Gangut, only to get slapped aside by the trident. It stared at Avrora for a moment, before continuing her approach.

"Umikaze, Shioi, throw everything at it. Kumano, get Gangut out of there."

Crap. What should I do?

Kumano tried to pull Gangut away as Umikaze and Shioi launched their torpedos at the demon. The torpedoes didn't even touch it, rather, it was as though the torpedoes moved out of the way.

The demon charged and lunge its trident towards them. Before I can say anything, a black streak charged forward, pushing Umikaze and Shioi aside. A black claw caught the trident's teeth. The demon looked surprised as Zuihou-chan locked it in place.

"Back... off!" (Zuihou-chan)

Zuihou-chan pushed the demon back with her crossbow and attacked with her claw. The demon can only block her attacks as it tries to get some distance away. Is it smiling?

"Zuihou-chan, hold that thing off for a bit. Kumano, Umikaze, get Gangut back here. Hurry. Avrora, Shioi, support Zuihou-chan as much as you can. Don't use your guns. It will just reflect any projectiles thrown at it."

Umikaze and Kumano held Gangut over their shoulders as they retreated. Avrora rushed towards the demon and tried to punch it. The demon, without looking at Avrora, stabbed the water with its trident and vaulted over Zuihou-chan, dodging Avrora's and my girlfriend's attacks.

Shioi swung a torpedo at her, staggering it to the side. It snarled at Shioi, before dodging another one of Zuihou-chan's claw attacks without even looking. It thrust forward its trident and Zuihou-chan caught it with her claw. The two of them stared down at each other. It opened it's mouth and tried to bite Zuihou-chan's face. Zuihou-chan shoved her forearm into it's mouth, wincing as it bit down hard on her arm and drew blood. The demon's expression suddenly changed, from a creepy smile to a sad and surprised face. It released it's bite and stared at Zuihou-chan in disbelief,

"Mama?" (???)

Did it just spoke? And what did it just say?!