As the Pan-Hellenic Alliance fleet advanced, the coiling Leviathan serpents rising from the depths and the frenzied sea monsters, large and small, gathered in layers to block their path, slowing the fleet's progress.
Across the front, center, and rear of the allied forces, the battles were equally fierce.
On the Roman side.
"Flowers Scatter Across the Sky!"
The Rose Emperor, clad in Divine Spirit vestments, gave a sharp cry and swung the oddly shaped crimson curved greatsword in her hands, sweeping it through the small and medium-sized frenzied sea monsters that leapt from the water at close range.
With the deep crimson True Form Mecha Armor behind her providing support, a force field spread out around Nero. Petals condensed from Ether whirled in every direction, forming a dense barrage that sliced the Magical Beasts in their path into sashimi.
Soon, amid flying flesh and blood, the waters before Nero and the nearby deck were piled with the attackers' corpses, each one a medal stained in blood.
"Blood of Ares! Burn!"
Penthesilea stood back-to-back with Nero, the chain hammer in her hands extending and retracting freely, whistling with ferocious force. She commanded the Amazon warriors to draw their bows and clear the obstacles at mid-range. Arrows inscribed with divine patterns fell like meteors, brutally plowing a bloody path through the sea lane packed with monsters.
"Spell: Blazing Sky!"
"Spell: Dark Sky!"
"Spell: Icy Sky!"
Meanwhile, in another group that had climbed onto the mast, Tamamo-no-Mae bit her fingertip and used her blood as a medium, writing swiftly in midair and drawing talismanic marks one after another.
The divine patterns pulled Ether from all directions, gathering and condensing it wildly into spell projectiles of different attributes, dark-red fireballs, pale-blue wind blades, blue-white ice spikes, and more. They scattered thickly around like a rain of blossoms, knocking down the monsters in the airspace above.
Under the suppression of such a fire-rich mobile battery, very few of the Leviathan deep-sea serpents poking their heads out, or the frenzied small and medium-sized sea monsters gathering around them, could approach the fleet alive.
"Hehe, behold! I truly am a genius! Sing of my brilliance to your heart's content!"
Down below, however, the tyrant who had not behaved for long immediately raised her tail in triumph and launched into a self-satisfied speech. Then, unable to resist, her eyes rolled mischievously as she seized the chance to lift her deep crimson greatsword, manipulate the True Form Mecha Armor, manifest an amplified stage, and open her mouth in song.
"Applause is like blades and spears! Fools, listen! Laaa!"
In an instant, her high-pitched, off-key singing was amplified by the power of the True Form Mecha Armor, forming visible ripples of sound that warped the air.
Puff, puff, puff, puff!
One Magical Beast after another, large and small, leapt from the water, only to freeze in midair like paintings fixed on a scroll. Then their flesh burst apart with a roar, shattering into flying chunks.
For a time, the scene looked like the aftermath of a massacre, corpses everywhere and horror beyond words.
So my singing has this much destructive power? Umu, this is the power of art!
Just as Nero stood with her hands on her hips, thoroughly pleased with herself, Tamamo-no-Mae, who had been focused on controlling the whole battlefield, was struck by that brain-piercing demonic music. Her ears rang, and she toppled headfirst out of the air, crashing onto the lookout platform.
As a result, a major gap appeared in the tightly woven fire net overhead.
Hiss!
A Leviathan serpent, its body riddled with bloody holes and covered in arrows, relied on its thick hide and immense defense to bite down toward the ship's hull. Its reeking, blood-red maw came right over Tamamo-no-Mae's head.
Sssssss!
At that moment, a small figure waved a rainbow arc of light in her hand. The surrounding temperature plunged, and five diamond-shaped ice spikes shot out, piercing the Leviathan's eye sockets and driving straight through its skull.
Under the intense pain, the blinded Leviathan thrashed and coiled wildly in every direction, opening its mouth to release a shrill, furious hiss.
Receiving the signal, small and medium-sized sea monsters burst out of the water one after another and charged madly upward.
But just then, Tamamo-no-Mae, having recovered, leapt from the top of the lookout platform. Her canine teeth clenched with a grinding sound as her ten fingers crossed and formed seal after seal. Her golden eyes stared forward, a cold light flickering deep within them, and several fox tails of light suddenly spread behind her.
"Curse Arts: Krishna Vortex!"
In an instant, the curse power she had quietly scattered around during her previous attacks began to resonate and tremble, gathering violently. It tore at the space within its range, warping it into a pitch-black distortion.
Pfft…
With a faint sound like a candle being blown out, the huge vortex that formed in midair swallowed hundreds of small and medium-sized sea monsters in one breath.
Bang!
The Leviathan serpent, now reduced to half a body, sprayed a rain of blood as it smashed into the sea and slowly sank.
Smack!
Once the crisis passed, a hand dropped from the sky and slapped the little girl on the head.
"If you're going to fight, then fight! Why did you suddenly start howling like a ghost? You scared my fur stiff!"
Tamamo-no-Mae swooped down with a dark expression, caught Nero as she tried to slip away, grabbed her by the ear, and tore into her.
Tch. She definitely just doesn't know how to appreciate it!
The Roman Emperor, looking deeply unlucky after taking a beating, warily put some distance between herself and a certain fox spirit whose temper had been getting worse lately, muttering inwardly in her own defense.
Why so fierce? Next time, fine, next time I'll improve it, so even you vulgar people can enjoy the charm of art…
Compared with her mutual dislike for Nero, Tamamo-no-Mae was quite fond of the other little girl who had just saved the situation.
"By the way, the attack method you used with your sword just now looked a lot like my Spell: Icy Sky."
Seeing scattered sea beasts attacking again from ahead, Tamamo-no-Mae immediately jumped back to the aerial control point. As she cleared obstacles for the fleet's advance, she curiously questioned Little Altera.
"Mm-hmm. I just learned it from you."
Little Altera, holding a golden lamb plushie in one hand, nodded and admitted it without hesitation, her chin lifting slightly.
"You learned it just now? That quickly?"
Tamamo-no-Mae looked at the little girl before her, who had replicated her secret art with swordsmanship, and could not help feeling surprised.
"I can use the move she used earlier too!"
Hearing the doubt in her voice, Little Altera immediately put on a stern little face and repeated herself seriously.
Buzz!
At the same time, the silver-haired little girl picked up the rainbow lightsword beside her feet and gathered her Mana. Then, with an attack pattern identical to Nero's [Flowers Scatter Across the Sky!], bands of brilliant light shot forward as shockwaves, piercing through several sea beasts that had gathered again.
Ever since regressing into a little girl, this Hunnic king had not only become far livelier, even her mind seemed to have shifted toward that of a child.
"Oh-ho! You can imitate these moves almost perfectly after seeing them only once. What incredible talent. From now on, you're my disciple! I'll personally teach you more useful secret arts, so don't you dare pick up bad habits from that little brat down there."
Tamamo-no-Mae was delighted by the promising find. Unable to resist, she picked up the petite silver-haired girl and held her like a cool pillow, rubbing against her with a smiling face. Along the way, she whispered a few words about Nero into Little Altera's ear, setting her up as a negative example.
After successfully fooling the half-understanding Little Altera, Tamamo-no-Mae calmed herself a little and continued protecting the fleet's advance from the rear.
As far as the eye could see, the salty, fishy sea fog hung thick in the air, while scattered organs and torn limbs floated with the waves.
...
Meanwhile, aboard the Argo.
In the command room, Samael used resonance Magecraft to observe the entire battlefield. When he saw one particularly deadlocked area, his brows drew together slightly.
On the Greek side, when faced with these sea monsters and Leviathan serpents, the Argo could rely on the unmatched strength of its crew, while the Deep Sea Fleet could rely on Atlantis's black technology. Both could basically break through the encirclement with only minor damage.
By contrast, however, the Athenian fleet formed from conventional troops was having a far harder time dealing with the situation.
That said, although the repeatedly purged Areopagus could not be relied upon, the Academy of Athens had produced quite a few unexpectedly striking performances, as well as some truly outstanding talents.
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