"What on earth is happening?! Where did those monsters come from?! Are the people in the intelligence department all useless? And that fire caster—how was an enemy like that not reported!"
Inside the command room, the Captain was nearly frantic, clutching his adjutant by the collar. He had completely lost the composure he held when arriving on the tundra, questioning the sudden battlefield events like a madman.
"Captain, I don't know either! In the intelligence provided by the higher-ups, there was absolutely no mention of these things!"
The Captain shoved the adjutant to the floor. He felt utterly screwed. How could such a simple mission turn so complicated? He had just been reporting his "success" to his superiors for credit, and in the blink of an eye, the situation had completely flipped.
Looking at the internal monitors, Patriot's team had already broken in! They had no means to stop their advance and could only send soldiers to whittle down their stamina. However, the narrow corridors were perfect for Talulah's Originium Arts; she only needed to ignite the air around her enemies to finish them. Even the heavy defenders couldn't hold her back. Talulah in this cramped environment was like Jackie Chan in a furniture store—completely untouchable.
As the soldiers inside the ship continued to fall, the command staff even began to consider abandoning ship. But the outside was just as dangerous; one could say Death itself was circling in the sky above the vessel. Those Wyverns had wiped out the deck troops, and the heat was beginning to seep into the command center, turning the room into a giant oven.
On the ground, the abandoned "mud-legged" Inspection Team members were deserting under the oppressive presence of the monsters. These men were finally reaping the bitter harvest of their own actions, becoming sacrifices to someone else's ambition.
Suddenly, the panicked crowd felt something heavy land on the deck, followed by a loud thud and the sound of claws scraping against steel. They froze, afraid to make a sound. The screeching noise was like fingernails on glass, sending shivers down their spines. Fortunately, the sound didn't last long before stopping.
Outside, Jeanne was holding her chest, looking exasperated as she stopped the Wyverns from sharpening their claws. The sound made her physically uncomfortable. The dragons, however, were delighted to have found such sturdy material; mountain rocks were far too brittle for their liking.
On the monitor, the girl commanding the dragons kicked open a steel door and walked straight in. A fight seemed to break out shortly after, but her path didn't seem to lead toward the command center.
The staff had no time to worry about Jeanne's goals. The sound of explosions and heavy footsteps grew louder. Patriot had found them.
In truth, without Patriot, this team couldn't have navigated the complex structure of a landship so quickly. An intruder could easily get lost in the maze of corridors. The command staff could have closed doors to force them into detours or led them into unimportant modules to be vented out. But for Patriot, this was not an issue. Having fought for Ursus for half his life, he knew the structural blueprints of these ships even if he didn't personally pilot them. Furthermore, the Ursus military had never had the time or resources to redesign the internal layout of their landships, as that would require everyone to relearn the ship's navigation.
This unchanging architecture allowed Patriot to lead the group directly toward the Captain's bridge, aiming to seize control before more complications arose.
The bridge crew began firing the moment they saw the steel doors melt under high heat. Crossbow bolts and Originium Arts were unleashed like a torrential rain toward the entrance. But it was futile. Every attack was intercepted by erupting flames before it could touch an enemy. The energy from the colliding Arts even sent some of the crew flying backward.
Talulah, watching this scene, found it hard to believe how effortlessly she was wielding such power. There was no strain, only a sense of lightness.
She didn't dwell on it. She led the Shieldguards into the command center and subdued everyone instantly.
"Don't move! Hands over your heads! Anyone who doesn't listen ends up like that steel door!"
Talulah threatened the room with her greatsword. The dancing sparks around her told everyone that this was no joke; she really would burn them alive.
The crew was confused. The monitors had shown Patriot leading the team—what was this situation? Had one of their own subordinates actually managed to wound Patriot? As they hallucinated about a "hero" falling from the heavens to save them, clear out the enemies, and tell them that the monsters and Patriot were dealt with, their dream was shattered by a shadow outside the door.
From the bridge, only the midsection of a massive figure could be seen through the doorway. Although they couldn't see his face, his sheer size gave it away. This was the living legend of the Ursus military—Patriot.
He hadn't entered immediately only because the bridge door was too small. Furthermore, there were numerous wires and data cables hanging from the ceiling. At his height, those things would likely snag on his antlers and cause a system failure.
This was a lesson Patriot had learned during his long military career. The folk customs of Ursus were hardy, and the equipment placement on landships was even hardier—some things were just hung up for convenience. Early in his career, Patriot had caused a "blackout" incident when his antlers got tangled in the wiring, causing a massive electrical collapse. Since then, any landship Patriot stayed on became a model for "standardized indoor hygiene," with every wire neatly fixed to the ceiling.
Thus, he let the Shieldguards follow Talulah inside. After fighting side-by-side recently, his opinion of the girl was high, and he trusted her to secure the control room.
After Talulah incinerated a few who tried to resist, everyone else surrendered. The crew was tied up and stacked in the corner.
Just then, a voice came through the comms console on the bridge:
"Considerable time has passed. What is the status of the battle on your end, Second Lieutenant?"