The Noble Lady of Lust

Chapter 446: Naval Battle

”hmm...Chris, donʼt you think we should go help?” (William)

”So, what do you want to do? Can you fly or something? Or do you want to try a unique approach? Do you want me to throw you up there?”

”N-no, itʼs just that it feels weird that weʼre not doing anything.” (William)

”Hey, Donʼt say another word. You and that damn crowʼs mouth of yours might get us into a fight.”

”...” (William)

By then, most of us on board this enormous flyingboat were on the deck, watching to see how events would unfold.

I watched as Maximilian and Celestine—who, along with Instructor Graham, were the highest authorities—began giving orders and such.

And before I knew it, a circular formation had been created, with the outer ring consisting of instructors with over 8 metamorphoses and the members of Celestine and Maxʼs factions and some mercenaries theyʼd hired.

Next came a ring of instructors—including Astrid and Lily, who are considered the weakest among the instructors who came.

And right in the center was our rookie group of twenty recent ”graduates.”

In any case, that formation meant weʼd only have to fight in the worst-case scenario, though that idiot William seemed to want to do something to satisfy his hero complex.

But there was nothing we could do.

Bang! Boom! Crack!

For now, it was still a battle between ships and their weapons. At most, only mages and ranged attackers could intervene, but from our position, it would be difficult.

For now, itʼs best to just watch.

”Oh, come to think of it, why donʼt you bring out Munin? That guy might be useful.”

”Huh? Do you think he can help?” (William)

Munin was Williamʼs divine beast—a golden raven, sort of like Mirkʼs son.

I was the one who suggested the name; in the alternate timeline, he was called Sirk, which I didnʼt think was very original. Munin isnʼt exactly original either, but nobody knows that.

Anyway, at my urging, William summoned Munin, who appeared on his shoulder.

”Kwak! Evil, evil, wicked!” (Munin)

And as soon as he saw me, he moved behind William, hiding from me out of fear.

Perhaps because he was a raven — he is one of the few divine beasts capable of speaking from birth — although at the moment he can only say simple words.

On the other hand, he acted that way because when he was first born, he thought he was a big shot; due to the way he was conceived, he possessed Mirkʼs pride and believed himself to be some sort of deity.

So I taught him his place that day and plucked his feathers, which caused him to beg for the ability to fly for a few days.

”So, Chris, what does Munin have to do to help?” (William)

”Nothing for now, but if the barrier protecting this ship falls and an attack comes our way, youʼll release him and sacrifice him.”

Yeah, that thing is just like in the alternate timeline—it can still survive as long as at least one feather remains, so itʼs the perfect sacrifice.

”...” (William)

”Evil, evil! You wretched bastard!” (Munin)

”Hey, you little piece of shit, when did you learn to speak in full sentences?”

”I-I think this is the first time sheʼs ever said a whole sentence.” (William)

Bromm! Crack!

”Oh! That broke the barrier. Alright, William, be ready to throw that little punk.”

Well, jokes aside, things seemed to be getting worse and worse—the first ship to be attacked, which belonged to the beastmen, had fallen.

Itʼs really not that big of a deal, since, at our level, youʼre more likely to survive a fall from a great height than die from it: mages can cast barriers, warriors have sturdy bodies, and they may have armor or artifacts with life-saving properties.

But most likely, the mages will coordinate to prevent the ship from crashing altogether; five Eighth Metamorphosis mages are enough to do something like that, and every ship had more than that…

But the important thing is that those demons seem determined not to let us get through.

The curious thing is that, once I enhanced my vision, I realized that the people aboard it—just like in our case—were members of the younger generation, along with some ”veterans” who might have been instructors or something like that, which, technically, does not violate the rules of war.

But the problem is that the place where they intercepted us is part of our territory in the Middle World, so itʼs very risky for them to do something like this.

And thatʼs exactly why this surprise attack was so effective—itʼs curious just how far they were willing to go.

Bang! Brum! Prack!

In any case, the seniors set up protective barriers against ranged attacks, so Muninʼs sacrifice didnʼt seem necessary.

But the problem is that now that the shipʼs barrier was broken, the demonsʼ flying ship—which seemed to be targeting ours—seized the opportunity and closed in.

Judging by the speed at which it was coming, its plan seemed to be to ram us head-on from the side.

That ship still had its barrier intact, and its bow appeared to be reinforced with spells—or perhaps it was an artifact in itself—so it was possible it could split us in half.

But the crew of this ship werenʼt going to let something like that happen.

I saw Max, Instructor Graham, and a few other senior crew members position themselves right where the ship was about to crash.

Max took up a heavy greatsword. He raised it as high as he could and, in what I believe was the execution of his Art, brought it down, striking the enemy shipʼs barrier.

Bang!

Instructor Graham did the same, bringing down his large, solid staff.

The rest followed suit and did the same.

It was a massive ship, but even the weakest among them were at the peak of the eighth metamorphosis, so they were actually able to halt its momentum.

Even so, they couldnʼt break through the barrier.

”Hey, Silvia! the barrier”

I called out to Silvia, who was, in her own way, the other magesʼ worst nightmare. In fact, originally, just with her innate skill, Eye of Flow , she could identify things like this with relative ease, but now that she has the Eye of Zenith (Ω) sheʼs even better than me and Asrid at finding weaknesses and flaws in barriers.

”Iʼve got it!... Itʼs right there!”(Silvia)

Boom!

Silvia didnʼt hesitate for a second and pointed to a spot, and where she pointed, a small blue light appeared.

Then, that light exploded, and like a chain reaction, the barrier fell.

I was only going to ask her to pinpoint the spot, but her initiative is good. I thought sheʼd be more scared or nervous, but sheʼs unusually calm.

Now, the problem didnʼt end there.

Yes, we avoided being split in half, since, without their barrier and the momentum they had, their plan was no longer viable.

But now they were technically right up against our starboard side.

And they didnʼt waste that opportunity—like pirates, the demons began storming our ship.

Yeah, itʼs my fault; I shouldʼve muzzled William. Iʼll make a note of that for next time.

Weʼll probably have to fight now, though for the moment our seniors and instructors are handling it, and we donʼt have to do anything until they break through their defenses.

I looked at the others in my group, and many seemed nervous—even William, who just a little while ago wanted to do something.

Hmm, theyʼre all very capable and strong. This isnʼt a situation where theyʼd die if they used everything they know and have… but nerves, combined with inexperience, are poison in this kind of situation.

The girls seemed a little calmer, but that was only in comparison. They were nervous, too.

Which once again makes me marvel at Silviaʼs calmness. Well, as for me, I was calm, too.

Maybe because of everything Iʼve been through, along with my memories, this situation didnʼt seem like a big deal.

And the same goes for my main self… but Iʼm going to ignore the fact that I saw that idiot pull out a hook and put it on.

Putting aside that idiot part of me, I knew I had to do something to calm everyone down.

ʼHmm, well, since even William seems nervous… Hmm, well, Iʼll do it. How hard can it be to give a motivational speech?ʼ

I addressed the twenty people and spoke loudly so everyone could hear me.

”Okay, everyone, pay attention. Weʼre about to embark on a battle where we could actually risk our lives. You understand that, right?”

””...””

”Okay, Iʼll take that silence as a yes. Now then… first things first: the girls—listen up, everyone—if things get ugly, donʼt hesitate to use the guys as human shields and run.”

”Hey, what the hell, Chris?” (Esteban)

”Hey, donʼt interrupt me. Iʼm trying to give a motivational speech. So, as I was saying, the girls will probably be fine, but as for the guys, one or two might die for the sake of Williamʼs growth.”

”Huh? Me?” (William)

”But Iʼm warning you—if you end up dying, at your funeral Iʼll give a speech about what great people you were and how you secretly liked to dress up as girls to go to shady clubs where there were girls—but girls with Adamʼs apples—and how youʼd wake up unable to sit up… Ivan, Mike, you two are the biggest idiots; be careful.”

”You bastard, you wouldnʼt leave me alone even if I were dead.” (Mike)

”Hmm… I wonʼt be able to sit up? Why does that sound familiar? Hmm…” (Ivan)

”If two of you die, Iʼll talk about how you were secretly in a relationship with each other, along with the whole club thing.”

”Arenʼt you getting off topic?” (Ban)

”Oh, excellent observation, Ban. Anyway, what Iʼm saying is that no one better dare die today, or you know the consequences.”

”Damn it, Iʼll survive no matter what.” (Mike)

”Iʼm more afraid of what that bastard will do than I am of dying.” (Ban)

”Me too… heʼs really capable of actually doing it.” (Ivan)

”…He definitely is.” (Alexander)

It seems my motivational speech worked— Iʼd also do everything in my power to stay alive if someone told me that. Even the girls I didnʼt threaten seem calmer.

”Thatʼs more like it. Oh, Esteban, youʼre not an idiot, but youʼre one of the most irrelevant ones, so you better watch your back, too.”

”Ugh, you sound like youʼre joking, but why do I sense real danger...? But speaking of irrelevant, Tharenʼs worse than me, isnʼt he?” (Esteban)

”Huh?... Well, maybe.”

Yeah, now that you mention it, there are a few more guys who were just used to make up the twenty.

I donʼt know them, but if they were selected, they should at least be able to survive on their own.

Anyway, now that the bad vibes and nervousness were gone, it was time to get things in order.

”All right, letʼs organize… Those of you who can cast healing and support spells, go to the center. For now, youʼll be in charge of helping the senior and instructors; thatʼll make it harder for the invaders to reach us. And those of you who can attack from super long range, fire at the ones coming out of that ship. The close-range warriors, form a circle around them and donʼt let any of those bastards get in.”

To begin with, we were already in a circular formation with our elders surrounding us, but now I organized a circular formation within it—a double layer.

Taking advantage of the fact that Instructor Graham had positioned himself at the front, I also discreetly added Astrid and Lily, as well as the other instructors who were in the middle, to this formation.

Really, the teachers should have stopped getting involved by this point, but since everything happened so fast and there werenʼt enough people, they somehow got swept up in it.

Well, those who were too weak—who had fewer than four metamorphoses and were more of the ʼtheoreticalʼ type—were left behind.

The ones who were here could fight well, so I didnʼt hesitate to use them, and, curiously, they followed my orders without much resistance, although there were a few who looked at William with disappointment.

Maybe because he wasnʼt the one who set things straight, but this wasnʼt the time to think about factions and all that crap—the important thing was to survive.