We see a large Wasp and a small Wasp taking off from the Carrier. The first of the two lands on the Floater while the second lands on the Winch. It looks like they're Nohopu's and Mahi's personal transport planes.
Ririmu replaces Hukarere, and we leave the golems on the bridge to pilot the ship.
We separate into groups on the deck and start talking among ourselves while I use [Bind] to relay everyone's words. Ciel and Yunia talk with Roxanne so that we can all hear them.
"Having the Horns protect us is simply not enough for me to be comfortable with facing anything with 'Leviathan' in its name," Yunia says.
"If the Floater could almost kill it, then it shouldn't be too bad," Ciel says.
"I could explode it if it's not too mana-dense," Roxanne says.
"If it's too big, that would exhaust you, right? It'd be better to save that for an emergency," Yunia says.
"Wow, you are offering to do something that would give you an overuse headache? Are you alright?" Hana teases with a smirk.
"Shush, you little bitch, I've always used [Explosion] this way," Roxanne responds.
"Stop bickering, you whores," Yunia coldly says and glances at Roxanne. Then, she calmly continues, "I'm unsure of what to think of Hihiriwa, but he doesn't seem to hesitate from asking us for help."
"You just wanted to call them whores…" Ciel mumbles.
"Perhaps he'd prefer to sacrifice us instead of his men," Lina says.
"I don't think he wants to 'sacrifice' us. He needs us, or Wolfy at least," Alissa says. She glances at Paraaone, but he doesn't seem to be trying to listen to us, and we're fairly sure that he doesn't know Andraste. "I think he wants to spare his own men and get the most use out of us since we're much more powerful than everyone here except for the Horns."
"And it's not so simple for us to just say 'no' to him, right?" I question.
"We don't know how he'll react," Yunia nods and responds solemnly.
"If he decides to force us to cooperate, we'll have to rely on Oritiki," Alissa says.
"Will she even defend us? She's pretty friendly with him," Lina asks.
"She's friendly with everyone," Roxanne replies.
"True…" Lina whispers.
"We'll have to try to confide in her about some of our worries," I say.
"I advise that we don't do that while inside the Carrier or the Floater," Yunia says.
"You think Hihiriwa will be spying on us?" I ask.
"I don't know, that's the problem. There's too much mana inside the Carrier, and I don't know which spells they can use to spy on us, so I also don't know which countermeasures we'll need," she answers.
"Could we sneak onto the ship at night to inspect it?" I ask.
"That's a good idea, but we should try to get into Hihiriwa's room before they retire. They'll probably talk about us when they're in private."
"Understood."
My Holly reaches the bridge of the Carrier. It's a polyhedral half-sphere protruding from the front of the carrier, seemingly made of rhombic pieces of glass reinforced with steel. I see a truck-sized green gem glowing faintly underneath them all. I assume that this is the frontal [Wind Shield] that protects the bridge.
There are nine Chimeras sitting near the glass wall with telescopes in hand, observing in all directions; they must be spotters. Surrounding the lavish captain's chair, there are over ten Chimeras operating comm boxes with a summoned bird beside each of them. The floor is also made of glass, allowing everyone to see all around them. A single Chimera in front of the captain's chair operates a few levers and a flight stick, the pilot.
Hihiriwa is sitting in his big chair; Kaiia's in a smaller one beside him; Oritiki is standing on the other side of him; and Kaata is operating one of the comm boxes at her simple workstation.
There's no open window to enter through, so the Holly will choose the nearest entrance at the side of the ship and try to make her way to the bridge.
"What are your opinions of the others?" I ask the girls.
"Nohopu is insane," Ciel says with a chuckle.
"The rest of them are completely normal," Yunia answers me seriously.
"Mahi is a civilian. You have a chance with her," Alissa says.
I pet her ears and smile wryly. "It'll be difficult to have sex with her since she'll be busy all day and night with the Winch," I say.
She smiles mischievously. "There'll be a few opportunities when we stop to rest."
Yunia rolls her eyes and says, "Just proposition her. She's a Chimera, it's unlikely that she'd be offended."
"Also ask her if she likes women. I'm itching to fuck someone new," Hana says.
"Anyway, they all seem to be reasonable people, except for Nohopu," Ciel pulls the conversation back on track.
"Maybe his behavior is why Hihiriwa keeps him close," Lina suggests.
"Indeed, perhaps he values boldness over cautiousness," Yunia agrees.
"You've been quiet so far, Aoi. What do you think?" I ask her.
"Hihiriwa wants to make children with me," Aoi answers immediately, and I almost choke on my spit.
"Don't ever let yourself be alone with him. You should never worry Wolfy with the possibility of betrayal," Alissa immediately admonishes.
"I knoo~w…" Aoi responds in a childish tone. "All I want to is bite his head off because he's so weak, but I know that I shouldn't, so I can't think about him properly because of how this anger keeps getting in the way."
"O~h, that's surprisingly mature of you, Aoi," Roxanne comments.
"'Surprisingly'?" Aoi questions in a low tone, deliberately enunciating each syllable.
"Nyehehehe," Roxanne snickers like an old witch.
"You're growing more articulate. Congratulations, Aoi," Ciel gently says.
"Hehehe," Aoi giggles and gives us a toothy grin.
"If he wasn't weak, then you wouldn't want to bite his head off?" Alissa questions.
"No, but then I could just ignore him. He's too arrogant; he doesn't deserve to look at me with lewd eyes."
"Huh, I didn't notice he was looking at you that way. I thought you were just annoyed at having to use cutlery," I say.
"That, too, but you're always looking at me like that." She tilts her head in slight confusion.
"I also didn't know that." I smile wryly.
"Maybe you're gaining some form of [Intimidate] that you're not aware of?" Hana questions.
"You did start to seem like a predator since a little while ago," Alissa says, and Lina nods.
"He can resist mine and Aoi's 'charm,' so it could be related to that," Roxanne says.
"Those dragon visions must be working," Yunia says.
"Gih!" Gify nods proudly.
"Then you should continue trying to become a dragon!" Aoi says excitedly.
"And you, a human," I reply to her.
"Let's do it together," she says, excitedly.
"When we have a day to rest."
The conversation is already too sidetracked to pull back on course, and we don't have anything meaningful to add, so we just start chatting about trivial things.
The spy Holly enters the Carrier through one of the open windows. It's a Cannon Room.
The "cannons" the Chimera use kind of look like railguns. They have a central crystal where the spell is formed, and a long, enchanted "barrel" that serves to amplify its effectiveness. The crystal is set on something like the chamber of a revolver, allowing them to change the type of spell being used ([Earth Bullet], [Fireball], or [Lightning Bolt]) on the fly.
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There seems to be a spotter, who uses a scope to range their shots; the gunner; and an armored guard, who protects them from invading monsters.
The Holly sneaks along the ceiling. It has to move slowly when it's so close to a person because it's not completely invisible, and its [Ignorance]-like spell is less effective the more eye-catching it is. I keep a close eye on anyone who could be a mage because they might sense the Illusion-flavored mana coming from the Holly.
It successfully sneaks out of the room, then makes a mad dash along the empty corridor, hugging the left wall. The floor plan of the ship is, thankfully, quite simple, so it easily finds a door to the upper level of the bridge, then waits there until someone opens it.
The Holly nestles itself in a corner near the ceiling where it can hear Hihiriwa speak. I'll have to keep a close eye on that Holly since I'll have to unsummon it the very moment it's discovered, before they can realize what it is.
With the most stressful stage of the infiltration now over, I let out a sigh of relief and give some attention to the girls.
Lina deliberately avoids Paraaone. She gets embarrassed whenever she looks at him because she keeps remembering his long pink bull - tool dangling near her face. I already know how I'll tease her tonight.
She senses my mischief and sends me a worried glance.
Ready yourself, little Lina; the big, bad monster inside me is coming for you tonight.
The area we're in right now is called "the calm." A long stretch of near-nothingness. It seems that most of the islands around here have been towed away by the Winch to create a protective barrier around Whakamutu.
Alissa and I pretend that we're having a private moment inside the ship's tent so that we don't get distracted from our espionage.
We see a pair of light blue clouds flanking the Looping Winds approach the fleet. They seem harmless at first, but small pieces of earth protrude from them, warning us of the hidden danger. The Floater passes them without a problem, but when the Carrier gets near, the spy Holly sees the bridge suddenly bursting into chaos, then a siren is sounded, breaking our concentration.
Monster ambush!
Ririmu suddenly taps my bird repeatedly, so I start sharing its hearing. "Code red! Monsters are inside the clouds! Ambush! Get out of the Looping Winds, NOW! THE CARRIER IS MAKING A BRAKING MANEUVER!"
I immediately jump up and use [Telekinesis] to fly to the bridge. I land behind the golems and hear Alissa desperately climbing up the ladder.
"Jarn! Release!" I order, and she immediately obeys. I see a swarm of Dragolites emerging from the clouds. They'll be here in just a few seconds.
I grab the levers and make the ship fly upwards, out of the Looping Winds, then I start braking in a controlled manner so that we don't get thrown off the ship.
The Carrier almost instantly stops in front of us, and we fly over it. Then it spins in place, facing its right broadside towards the clouds. The Winch makes the same maneuver, but much faster.
"The minimum distance between us and the Carrier needs to be much higher!" I yell a complaint and scowl at Ririmu's bird. He winces but remains composed.
The Floater is far ahead; it'll take about a minute for it to come back.
I turn the ship around and fly us back at full speed. Paraaone flies along behind us to intercept anything aiming at our ship. The Carrier opens fire on the swarm, making it rain monster corpses.
Roxanne pulls out multiple flasks and hands them to Lina.
"Throw them in a wide area! I'll [Explode] them and create a smokescreen!" Roxanne yells.
Lina nods earnestly, then starts to rapidly throw them using both of her hands, only needing to use one of them for each flask. The Celestial Horns start to take off one after another and engage the swarm.
Alissa suddenly twitches. There's a Cloud Snake trying to sneak up on our left.
Fucker!
"HANA, CIEL, GO GET IT!" I order through [Bind].
Hana grabs Ciel and jumps.
"WAAAAAH…! Oh, right!" Ciel shrieks, but then she remembers that she can use [Fly].
"CLOUD SNAKE!" Hana yells and points her elven spear towards the target: a thick, fluffy cylinder of cloud twice as wide as they are. It's barrelling directly towards them.
"SHIIT!" Ciel swears and launches a [Beam] at it. The spell hits it right in its "face," creating a hole that's half a meter wide, then it starts dodging, only receiving some light wounds after that.
A rainbow-colored smokescreen starts to spread behind us, and the Dragolites that fly through it either collapse or enter a berserker rage, blindly lashing out at anything near them.
A group of ten Wasps takes off in formation and engages the Dragolites. I stop the ship and turn us around again so that we can face the monsters flying around Roxanne's cloud of pain-, death-, and allergy-inducing gas.
"RAAAAAH! I'M GONNA BURN YOU TO ASH, YOU HAUNTED PIECE OF WOOL!" Hana roars and charges in.
[Taunt] successfully diverts the Cloud Snake's attention, and it prepares to receive her. Its spherical "face" splits in two as it opens its mouth, revealing actual fangs the size of her head, though they're transparent and have a metallic blue sheen.
[Beam] shoots down the Snake's throat and burns a hole through its stomach.
"HSSSS!" The Snake quivers in pain and dodges to the side.
"LET ME SHEAR YOU! SHEEP!" Hana [Taunts] again, and the Snake turns to face her. Her shield collides with the lower part of its "face," and she sinks her spear into the invisible, but solid, matter hidden behind its cloud covering.
The Snake hisses again and shakes its head, trying to throw Hana away. She inhales deeply, then the Snake opens its mouth, and she spews a long plume of flame down its throat.
The light blue cloud becomes a dark red as its innards catch fire and burn down into embers. Dragonfire is not just a simple flame; it's loaded with abstract concepts that make it stick to whatever it burns, almost like napalm.
Hana pulls her spear out of the Snake and swaps it with her bastard sword, then she goes choppy-choppy on the writhing monster.
The Dragolite swarm reaches us, and we enter melee combat.
Ciel comes back and defends the right wing of our ship while Alisa defends the left one and Paraaone defends the sail. Yunia guards the bow of the ship and leaves a pile of corpses around her. They're no match for [Precognition]. Lina, a wind elemental, and I protect Roxanne while she plays shooting gallery. Aoi and the golems protect Alissa. My little blue dragon seems to be getting a bit bored from crushing these small fries. She doesn't even have to defend herself since they'll never be able to break through her scales.
The rest of the Wasps take off and join the fray, then the Floater catches up. The soldiers clear out from the battlefield, and the Floater sweeps it with [Discharge], then they finish off the survivors.
The Cloud Snake dies, and its body disappears into smoke, leaving its beautiful fangs behind, then the battle ends shortly after that, but this time, there wasn't a leader-type to hunt down.
Paraaone lands on the deck and raises his eyebrows at Yunia. She's surrounded by beheaded Dragolites, and the deck is slick with their blood, creating a slipping hazard.
"I guess we'll be eating Dragolite again," Paraaone comments with a chuckle.
"Boo! Dragolites are weak, not tasty," Aoi complains in Reo, making him chuckle again.
Alissa gracefully drops down onto the deck behind me, the two doll golems creepily floating behind her, and we walk up to the Celestial bull.
"This battle was… odd… Why did the Carrier get caught off-guard?" I question him.
He takes off his helmet and awkwardly scratches his bull chin. "Yeah… you'll have to ask them. I don't usually comment much on tactics, but this ambush was certainly unexpected. There's definitely another leader-type ordering the monsters."
"Do Cloud Snakes and Dragolites usually work together?" I press on.
"Not that I know of…" He answers, and his expression shifts into worry.
"If they had attacked the Winch instead of the Carrier, things could've gone really badly," Alissa says.
He chuckles and says, "I guess they aren't that smart."
He really isn't the serious type.
I smile wryly and start collecting the Dragolites. I really don't want the deck to stink of monster blood.
Code yellow is given, and I ask Ririmu if anybody needs healing. There are a few people that were wounded this time, so Ciel and I fly over to the Carrier to [Heal] the injured.
A guide takes us to them, and I set a [Gate] coordinate on the way. We reach the infirmary and quickly finish our work since none of them were grievously injured.
While pretending to stretch and rest so that I don't get mana overuse, I set another coordinate in a dark corner of the infirmary.
"How wonderful. Your mana is so different from the usual healing potions. I've never seen such a strong abstract concept present in [Light Magic] before," the doctor says with a voice of wonder. She's a fluffy and cute bunny-headed shortstack.
"There are a few concepts overlapping in this spell. My spell, specifically, uses 'regrowth,' 'repair,' 'hope,' and 'succor.'"
"'Hope' and 'succor'?" The doctor questions.
She nods gently and answers, "'Hope' in the Gods, and 'succor' for whoever is in need."
The doctor blinks blankly, her tall bunny ears twitching with every blink. "I've seen a few priests of Change and Creation gain healing powers, but they weren't nearly as powerful as yours."
That's because those aren't the Gods that we pray to.
Ciel plays with a small lock of her dark hair, feeling very uncomfortable because she's a bad liar, and she's afraid of screwing up. She glances at me, asking for help, but I just calmly stare back at her. If only she had [Bind], I'd be teasing her so much right now.
"Well. I wouldn't claim to be more pious than a priest. I guess this spell is just something that both of us are good at," Ciel says with an awkward shrug.
The doctor scoffs and walks away grumbling. Ciel winces then gives me a glare, and I hold back my laughter.
Right before we leave, Kaiia, Hihiriwa's executive officer, makes an appearance to thank us. "We appreciate the healing. It's fortunate to have someone with such wonderful powers as yours with us," the fluffy panda man says and smiles gently.
We hear the doctor starting to grumble again, and Kaiia gives her a confused glance.
"We're happy to help," I reply, drawing his attention back to us. "This spell is rather expensive mana-wise, so we'll be very cautious in deciding when we use it from now on."
"Of course, we understand your circumstances," he calmly responds with a nod.
This was a freebie. If Hihiriwa wants to use us, we'll first build up some rapport with the crew, then we'll demand compensation.
The now fully healed personnel wave to us as we leave, and we return to our ship.
The Wasps investigate the islets where the monsters came from, but they don't find anything. There was no leader-type guiding this attack.
"Does this mean that the leader left orders and they obeyed even though the leader wasn't here anymore?" Hana questions, sounding impressed.
"That leader-type must've been in charge for quite a while to get the monsters to behave that way," I say.
"It's been some time since we had an expedition clear this area, but we didn't think that it'd be this bad," Paraaone comments.
The girls and I share a look. It could be the case that things changed ever since this dungeon "awoke" them.
"Well, I think we can only rely on Oritiki to keep us safe now," I say through [Bind].
"This just makes me even more concerned about that albino Fay Leviathan," Yunia whispers to me.
Unfortunately, I can only weakly nod.
The fleet continues on, and the rest of the day goes by without another encounter. Once the faint blue sky disappears, we stop by an island to recharge the ships and get some rest.
Apparently, the Floater's main function is gathering Light mana during the day, which it converts into Wind mana to then transfer to the crystals of the other ships. As Hihiriwa said, the Floater can recharge our ship, so we don't have to worry about doing it ourselves, not that it was hard for us in the first place.
We're allowed to use the Carrier's showers, but we have our own bath, so I park our ship above the others to ensure that no one can peep down on us, then we begin our sacred ritual.
Yunia's been very tense today, so I decide to focus on her right now. I can't read her mind, so I have to put some effort into getting her into the mood.
I put a few points in [Washing] and wash her fit body myself, making sure to get in a few squeezes -. I delicately shampoo her hair while my tentacles embrace her body, playing around with her fun bits.
She accepts my affection with pride, remaining majestic and composed even when the purple tentacle monster creeps closer and closer to her - sacred entrance.
I rinse out the elven shampoo from her hair and calmly clean every inch of her face. Not one part of her body is left untouched by me -.
I don't resist and nibble on her long, flexible ear, making her yelp. She breaks her composure and slaps my arm, making it sting a little.
"I'll bite you - in a place you don't want," she says in a cold tone, then pouts and looks away.
I smirk and say, "My apologies, my Queen. Let me make it up to you." I gently - apply [Massage] on her.
-
- I savor every part of my Goddes as if it was the first time again. I've liked her since we first met, but now I can say with certainty that I'm really falling in love with her. I just hope that she's also falling for me, too.