Beginning

The blue whale's corpse caused another enormous wave to shoot upward. However the sixteen men and women had long since been prepared, shooting through the holes Arnold and Joyce created to face the next on coming curtain of black water.

Drake took out a twin pair of pistols as he landed on the surface of the water, a layer of Force protecting the soles of his feet. A twinkle lit in his eye when he raised them up, exuding an air of confidence the rookie hadn't had before.

SHUU! SHUU! SHUU!

His fingers began to move in rapid succession, causing another projectile to flash outward with every squeeze of the trigger. It felt as though he had the entire world within his domain. Every single one of his shots, without fail, pincered the brow of a carnivorous fish. It didn't seem to matter whether they were hiding deep within the black waters, nor did it matter that their images were distorted. None of it could escape Drake.

The other seven dropped down along with him. This time, Milan took the helm, a deep snort erupting from the depths of his chest.

"You think you can just blow a single hole through the wave and call it a day, Arnold?! HA!"

Milan's deep rumbling voice shook the waves beneath his feet, his Force rising to an unprecedented degree. He and the group behind him began to sink down as more and more of the dark waters were pushed to the side.

BANG!

At that moment, an enormous energy shield of silver shot out with Milan's body at the center. At first, it was just barely 1.8 meters tall. But, in the next instant, it ballooned to over 300 meters tall and wide, dwarfing the second oncoming wave.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The wall of black water was completely stone walled, crashing against Milan's energy shield and even reflecting back with such force that a tsunami formed in the retreating direction.

With a wink, the energy shield vanished and the Moon youths shot forward as well, smiling in Milan's direction as though to give him thanks.

"I'll take a date with any one of you beauties as repayment!" Milan called out through the rumbling storm.

Joyce snorted. "You're too short for any one of us."

An uproarious laughter came from Milan's back the moment these words fell. Raj and the rest were practically wheezing.

Milan wasn't exactly short, but he was a tick beneath six feet tall. He was just more stocky than he was gifted height wise. This made him the perfect size for anchoring an offensive line at the center. But, to think he would be looked down upon like this.

Another young lady who went by the name Aulina winked in Milan's direction, clearly siding with Joyce on this matter. Her light giggles penetrated Milan's heart, causing it to crack and shatter. The only thing he was missing was a single tear rolling down his face.

"Dammit!" Milan roared. "I'll show you all the prowess of a Short King!"

"Keep up first!" Joyce called out, already having separated them by a distance of 50 meters.

Every time her fist flashed, an abyssal hole would form on the water's surface, mincing the fish that were just below into minced meat. Soon after, a whirlpool of surging black waters would form. The result was the ocean's surface growing more and more volatile every passing moment.

The tsunami Milan had just reflected back began to roll backward, but the group of 16 was completely unfazed, their synergy only seeming to increase with every exchange.

Aulina's delicate feet touched the surface of the water. In the blink of an eye, several spiraling water javelins formed around her. And yet, they reflected with such clarity that it almost looked as though they were instead polished works of black glass. However, as beautiful as they were, they were even more deadly.

These javelins shot forward, skewering the carnivorous fish. In fact, every one seemed to reap the lives of at least two or three. Though not as devastating as Joyce's fists, they were much faster and there was an endless supply all around.

Just when it seemed that the tsunami would come back to wipe them out, Aulina stretched a hand forward, causing the rolling waters to stop in its tracks. The fish within began to whine and struggle, suddenly finding it difficult to move within.

Then, in a motion that could only be described as casual, Aulina squeezed her palm shut. copyrighted © content.

There was no eruption of blood, no shocking screech… There was just a sudden vacant noise. A chattering of teeth that they had gotten used to, knowing it was coming from the carnivorous fish, vanished. If it wasn't for the rumbling thunder above and the rain that was slowly starting beginning to fall on the battlefield, the silence would be pregnant.

Milan's roar was cut short by this sight as he stared at Aulina's back view. He looked as though he had been shocked out of his wits. He pressed his lips together, seemingly too scared to say anything more. At least, that was what it seemed like before his pursed lips began to whistle.

"Hey, tall beauty wait for me!" Milan suddenly called out, shooting forward.

"Forget him, I've got the height you want!" Raj called out.

"And you've got the flub she doesn't!" Milan chided without looking back.

The group shot ahead together, their momentum only growing as though they were just getting started.

By this point, their display had already raised the morale of the Ascension Empire military by a great deal. It wasn't just them but the youths who had come here to display their talents also felt emboldened.

There were more than a hundred kilometers worth of coast to defend so it wasn't surprising in the least that there were many other groups displaying the same kind of valor Leonel's brothers and these Moon youths were as well.

However, as the rain began slowly picking up from a drizzle, to a storm, and eventually becoming a torrential downpour that made it difficult even to see a meter ahead of yourself, it became very obvious, very quickly that this was just the very beginning.