Forbidden Constellation's Blade-Chapter 175: Battle For Khaz Vordun (7)

Ryn couldn’t afford to hesitate, not even for a second.

The bowstring snapped back as Orion ignited once more, the constellation blazing along the limbs of the weapon. He could feel the MP drain from his body as the arrow grew larger and larger, bright and more unstable than the previous two.

He didn’t have time to aim perfectly, but well, there wasn’t a need to.

THWOOP!

The arrow tore upward in a blinding streak of light and slammed directly into the center of Leviathan’s skull. A violent shockwave exploded across its scales as its entire massive head jerked backward—jaws snapping shut prematurely as the force of the strike shoved it away.

The ocean exploded in water and spray as its gigantic body fell backwards and into the water once more.

[MP: 10/190]

Ryn staggered slightly, feeling the effects of MP sickness come through. His skin was pale and his arms were trembling, but at least he had bought some time.

Leviathan didn’t immediately recover this time, staying under the water with not even so much as a ripple on the surface. He loved to think that it was dead, but there was no way he could kill a Demi God-Class Beast that quickly.

"Turn the ship!" Ryn shouted immediately.

Jay steered the will without hesitation as the ship banked sharply across the air, curving back toward the wreckage left behind by Braum’s vessel.

Debris floated everywhere, wooden planks, broken cannons, and scattered crates bobbed violently in the dark water.

And among them...some movement.

"There!" Jay pointed.

Several dwarves clung to floating wreckage, struggling to stay above the churning sea. Then Ryn saw him.

Braum stood waist-deep in the ocean, one arm wrapped around a floating section of hull while the other dragged two injured crewmen along with him. Even in the water, the dwarven hero looked impossibly solid, like a stubborn pillar refusing to sink.

yn let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

"Lower the lines!" he ordered.

Ropes dropped immediately from the sides of the flagship as the crew rushed to pull survivors aboard. Dwarves scrambled upward, soaked and exhausted but alive.

Braum grabbed one of the lines last.

With a powerful heave, he hauled himself onto the deck, seawater pouring from his armor.

For a moment he just stood there, catching his breath.

Then he glanced toward the horizon where Leviathan’s massive body was last seen before it crashed into the water.

"...Well," Braum muttered. "That thing’s still angry."

"Got anymore of those shots in ya’?" he asked gingerly, but already knew the answer as soon as he looked at Ryn.

Ryn didn’t answer immediately. His eyes were fixed ahead.

They were high enough now to see it clearly.

What had once been the ocean had been forcibly divided into two enormous cliffs of sea. Dark water rose like walls on either side of the exposed sea bed that stretched all the way toward the distant machine.

How did—What could’ve caused this to happen?

Jay stepped closer to the railing, adjusting his crooked glasses as he stared.

"...By the Creation Goddess," he whispered.

Amelia followed his gaze, hair swaying in the wind as the realization finally hit her.

"That’s where he is."

Far in the distance, barely visible against the dark ground below, the massive structure that fed the beam still stood. Yet it flickered unevenly, distorting and even changing colors.

Ryn narrowed his eyes.

"If that path is open..." he murmured.

Braum followed his line of sight.

"...Then we can reach him."

The idea hung in the air for only a moment before the dwarven hero slammed a fist into the railing.

"Aye! Now that Leviathan’s not on our asses anymore," he yelled loudly "We can bombard the machine from here!"

Jay’s head snapped up. "Or we drop people down the corridor, support him directly!"

Ryn’s mind was already racing through possibilities. The divided sea had created a temporary battlefield corridor. If they pushed the ship forward just a little more—

They could actually influence what was happening below. But he was still skeptical, mostly of the crack.

"Helm," Ryn said quietly. "Bring us forward. Slowly."

Wind howled upward from the unnatural canyon of water, whipping across the deck as the flagship approached the corridor.

Underneath, Ryn could barely see it with his enhanced eyesight. Fritz stood battered, one hand on his sword as the other was placed on his bloodied shoulder.

And another figure stood nearby, one who wore a familiar white robe and an equally familiar black mask.

Shit! A seat was here?! Could it be...Pisces?!

"Prepare the cannons!" Ryn started, "Once we get close enough—"

A spear of white light tore down from above without warning, slamming into the water just ahead of the ship in a blinding explosion.

"Hard port!" Jay shouted.

The helm jerked violently as the ship veered aside. Another spear of light descended a heartbeat later, striking the exposed seabed where the vessel had been moments before.

"What’s going on?!" Taylor yelled as another spear missed their ship by inches.

That was when a barrage followed. Spears of radiant energy rained down from the fractured sky like divine artillery, each one tracking their ship with stubborn tenacity.

"Attack it! Or it’s gonna hit us!" Ryn yelled loudly.

Amelia got into position immediately, unleashing her own barrage of flaming spheres and waves of fire. Similarly, Braum expanded his arsenal to incorporate whatever weapons they had on hand, blasting all of them simultaneously at the spears.

Some attacks managed to hit but they kept coming. The flagship twisted sharply between strikes, engine working at maximum capacity as it dodged one beam after another.

But the closer they moved the denser the barrage came.

Another spear slammed into the ocean just beside them, the shockwave nearly rolling the entire ship sideways.

Jay grabbed the railing with both hands. "This is insane!"

"Ryn!" Amelia yelled as her fire sputtered out. "I can’t keep this up anymore!"

He kept his eye on the battlefield. Fritz was facing a Seat by himself. Even if he wanted desperately to help, the interference made it impossible.

He looked around once more at the conditions of his party. Amelia was out of fuel, Braum had long ran out of cannonballs, and the rest were just as exhausted as he was.

Reluctantly, Ryn said slowly.

"Full retreat!"

The helm pulled back hard as the explosions swallowed the path ahead. Ryn kept his eyes on the distant machine as the ship retreated from the vicinity.

"...He’s on his own down there," Braum said quietly.

Ryn didn’t answer for a long moment.

"He’ll make it. I believe." he said at last.

But they had their own problem to deal with. A massive shadow moved beneath the surface just as they left the area. It displaced entire sections of water as Leviathan began to rise again.

Ryn watched the dark shape grow beneath the waves.

His fingers tightened slightly around the railing, finally asking about what he’d already known.

"Status..."

Jay didn’t hesitate.

"Empty," the alchemist replied grimly. "Cannons are dry. Ammo reserves are completely gone."

Braum crossed his arms beside the railing, staring toward the approaching disturbance in the sea.

"My ship’s at the bottom," he added bluntly. "And the rest of the artillery with it."

Amelia stepped closer, flames flickering weakly around her shoulders before fading again.

"I don’t have enough left for another large spell."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Because they all understood the same thing: there was nothing left to use or do.

Leviathan’s massive body finally broke the surface again, its colossal head rising from the water as its glowing eyes fixed on the flagship once more.

The guardian had recovered.

Ryn’s mind ran through the possibilities anyway.

Could we outrun it? No...that’s impossible, our fuel reserves are running out soon as well.

Could he stall it again? Not without Orion.

Well, there was one more option...one that he would use only at the very last moment of desperation.

His gaze lifted toward the flickering beam in the distance.

Fritz was still fighting. Still buying time.

Which meant their job hadn’t changed. They just had nothing left to fight with.

The thought lingered for only a moment before something else clicked into place. Ryn slowly turned his head, looking down across the deck of the flagship.

"Set course," he said.

Jay frowned. "Course where?"

Ryn’s gaze shifted back toward the serpent towering across the sea.

"Straight ahead."

Braum’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"...You’re serious."

Ryn nodded once.

"We’re out of options."

The flagship wasn’t just a transport vessel. It was a dwarven warship, powered by an engine core containing massive amounts of manalite. It was practically a manalite bomb.

Amelia stared at him for a moment before the realization hit.

"You’re planning to ram it."

"I’m planning to detonate it, yes."

Jay gulped, his eyes narrowing.

"This ship is the only thing keeping us alive right now," he added. "And if we lose it, how else are we supposed to get to other regions?"

Ryn snapped his head once at Jay before replying in earnest,

"There’s no point if we can’t save Khaz Vordun here."

Everyone went silent at the comment, all except one...Braum.

"Well," the dwarven hero said, cracking his knuckles.

"If we’re going down swinging, lad... you picked a fine way to do it."

Hesitantly, Jay issued the command. With just a flick of a switch, the engines roared to life as he could feel the manalite overloading right underneath them.

They roared through the surface of the water and straight at the gigantic serpent. Ryn’s voice carried across the deck.

"All hands," he called out.

"Prepare for impact."