Toaru Hikuushi e no Seiyaku:Part6

Part 2 (Part 6 of Volume 1)

Two hours after the argument with Illia.

“Whew... I'm exhausted. This place is so relaxing.”

Kiyoaki sat down near the nose gunner's position, eating a sandwich and some cheese from the in-flight meal. The nose of the Eriadore airship was equipped with a powered turret housing a 15mm machine gun. Mio sat in the gunner’s seat, glancing at the notes where she recorded the wind direction, speed, and drift measurements, while looking through the hemispherical glass canopy.

"You’re already burning out, huh? We’ve still got a long way to go." "Yeah... a lot happened." "Oh, with Murasaki?"

Mio’s voice, though casual, was a little tense. Kiyoaki looked puzzled. "Why would Kagura come up? No, it was with Illia, just a little..." "Oh. About the piloting?" "Well... yeah, mostly that."

Kiyoaki dodged the question, not wanting to go into detail. There would be time for explanations later. Right now, Illia was handling the piloting, giving Kiyoaki a chance to rest. He had left the tense atmosphere of the cockpit to relax with Mio and munch on an egg sandwich.

"You’ve got it good, Mio. Having all this space to yourself."

This area was located down the stairs from the cockpit, at the tip of the airship's nose. It was sectioned off from the fuselage by a bulkhead and was spacious enough for two people to sleep in. The cockpit, which held up to five people, was always tense, especially with Captain Balthazar keeping an eye on everyone.

"I'm not just lounging around, you know. Being a recon officer means constant measurements. It’s hard work."

"But it’s formation flying, so you won’t get lost. The flagship is doing the navigation; we just have to follow."

"That’s true, but once today’s route is over, my measurements will be checked. If I mess up, I could fail. I don’t get to relax either."

Mio puffed her cheeks out in a mock display of frustration.

There were hardly any clouds outside, and the bright blue summer sky stretched out ahead of them.

Below, the ocean looked like a solid sheet of plastic, with green ridges breaking through the blue expanse here and there—the islands scattered across the archipelago.

It’s said that the archipelago contains over 4,000 islands, with more than 300 small nations. Some of these are home to heretical cults or even have cannibalistic customs. The officer academy had taught them that if they were ever forced to make an emergency landing on one of these islands, they were to avoid contact with the locals as much as possible and immediately send out a distress signal.

The Eriadore airship squadron flew at an altitude of 2,000 meters, with the fleet of airships below them, flying in two vertical columns at 1,000 meters. From the way the airship moved, it was clear that Illia’s piloting was excellent. Despite the crosswind, she kept the plane level, maintaining formation without a hitch. The airship glided smoothly, like a large cruise ship on a calm sea, with no noticeable shaking.

It almost felt as though Illia was showing off her skills to Kiyoaki.

—I want to fight her.

Kiyoaki's instincts whispered this desire to him. He wanted to face Illia in a mock battle someday, to prove that his father wasn’t a liar by winning.

"Kiyoaki, you’re thinking something strange, aren’t you?" Mio’s sudden remark brought him back to reality.

"Not really. I’m not thinking about anything weird."

"Want me to guess? You’re probably thinking about Murasaki-senpai."

Kiyoaki’s mouth hung open. She was completely off base. Mio had been mentioning Kagura repeatedly today, for some reason.

"Hey. Are you misunderstanding something? Kagura may look just like my sister, but I’m not stupid. I’m not going to bring personal feelings into the cockpit."

"Kagura, huh? You’re already calling her by her first name."

"That’s what she asked me to do. And why do I have to listen to you complain about it?"

"I’m not complaining! I’m just pointing out that you’re thinking something perverted, and I wanted to warn you!"

"I’m not! Wait a second, are you oxygen-deprived? What kind of weird stuff are you accusing me of thinking about?"

"Hmph. I don’t care. Just go back to the cockpit. You’re probably eager to go back and work hard for Kagura-senpai, thinking perverted thoughts."

"That makes no sense at all."

As Kiyoaki sat there, bewildered by Mio’s seemingly baseless anger, the door to the bulkhead opened, revealing navigator Reiner Beck, who poked his head in.

"Oh, having a fight? Should I come back later?" Mio looked up. "Oh, Reiner. Did you finish the celestial measurements?" "Yeah, here they are." Mio took the board with Reiner’s celestial navigation results and compared them to her own measurements.

Reiner had calculated the airship's heading based on the sun’s altitude using a sextant, while Mio had determined the drift angle—the angle at which the airship was being pushed off course by the wind. By combining their results with the ship’s speed, they could accurately determine their current position. This method of "dead reckoning" navigation was commonly used when flying over featureless ocean expanses.

"Looks good. That island over there is Karanakta, and the one fading in the distance to the left is Lesnibun. We’re on track."

Mio looked out at the islands beyond the glass, confirming that the airship's calculated position was correct. With so many islands in the archipelago, it was a good route for practicing dead reckoning, though visual navigation was also effective due to the abundance of landmarks.

Mio reported the results over the voice tube to Balthazar. After receiving confirmation, Reiner stretched his arms overhead and, with a lazy smile, pulled out his lunch box.

"Sakagami, you're on break, right? Mind if I eat here too? It’s lonely eating by myself."

"Sure, call me Kiyoaki. It must be tough being up in the gunner’s seat. Is it cramped?"

"Cramped is fine, but the sun’s brutal. I’m getting sunburned like crazy."

Reiner sat cross-legged on the floor, pulling a sandwich from his lunch box. As he casually gulped down water from his canteen, he glanced at Mio.

"So, are you two dating?"

He asked, completely offhand.

Mio wobbled in her seat, and Kiyoaki’s face flushed bright red as he stared at Reiner.

"W-w-w-what are you talking about!?" "Huh? Did I ask something weird?" "Of course it’s not true! Why would you say something like that!?" Reiner gave them a puzzled look, then turned back to Mio. To make matters worse, Mio had fallen out of her chair and was now clinging to the base of the seat with both hands, looking flustered.

"W-what? What are you talking about? What did you say just now about me and Kiyoaki!?"

Reiner gaped at their over-the-top reactions for a moment before shrugging.

"...Oh, sorry. I forgot, Akitsu people are shy about that stuff, right? I heard something about how teenage relationships aren’t really allowed?"

"It’s indecent to be with a girl like that before marriage!"

Reiner, taken aback by Kiyoaki’s outburst, looked at him as if he were some kind of strange creature before apologizing.

"My bad. In St Vault, we’re a lot more casual about that sort of thing. Different cultures, I guess. But still, I’d say you’re lucky."

After a moment of thought, Reiner gave a light-hearted laugh and raised his canteen toward Mio.

"Let’s toast, Mio. I thought you two were an item. Here’s to working together from now on."

"What’s with that phrasing!? That’s really annoying!"

"Come on, we’re fellow recon officers. If we don’t work together, this ship will lose its way. So, let’s cooperate closely from here on out."

Mio turned her head away, her chin raised in defiance.

"I don’t care! I hate vulgar jokes. I thought people from St Vault were supposed to be gentlemen, but clearly, you’re not."

"Well, um, the standards are different. In St Vault, it’s actually rude not to flirt with a beautiful woman right in front of you. So, Kiyoaki, from now on, you’re my rival. I’m not losing to you."

Reiner, speaking nonsense, extended his hand for a handshake. Though bewildered, Kiyoaki accepted the handshake.

"You’re a strange one, Reiner."

Reiner smiled brightly at Kiyoaki's comment.

"Really? To me, you guys seem like the strange ones."

"...Not everyone in St Vault is that vulgar, right? It’s just Reiner, right? I’m starting to feel nervous about transferring to Air Hunt..."

Mio asked with concern, just as Cecil came down the stairs from the cockpit. "Um, can I take a break here too? Everyone seems to be having so much fun." Holding her lunchbox carefully in both hands, she beamed with an open, cheerful smile. Reiner quickly matched her mood.

"Sure, go ahead and sit anywhere."

"Thanks! It’s nice to eat together with everyone."

Cecil plopped down next to Kiyoaki with a carefree laugh and immediately bit into her sandwich. Kiyoaki, Mio, and Reiner were all third-year students, while Cecil was one year below them. Despite being the youngest, she easily slipped into the group without hesitation.

Between bites of her sandwich, Cecil grinned mischievously.

"Reiner, you’ve already said something weird to Mio-san, haven’t you?" "Nah, I didn’t say anything." Mio and Kiyoaki both jumped up, shouting in unison. "You totally did!" "He did!" "Of course, you did. I can tell from the way Mio-san is looking at you. Reiner has this illness where he flirts with everyone. He even tried it with Illia and got kicked in the face."

"Yeah, that was a hard hit. Didn’t even see it coming. One second, I was flirting, and the next, everything went black. I woke up in the infirmary."

"He’s reckless. He just flirts with everyone without thinking, and it’s so ridiculous."

"And what about you, Cecil? Did he try it with you too?"

"On our first meeting, yeah. I messed up his hair until he shut up." Kiyoaki glanced over at Reiner, baffled. "That’s impressive. It’s really like a reflex for you, huh?" "Well, not flirting with everyone would be rude." "Please stop. I’m begging you." "Please, stop it forever." "…Wait, you didn’t say anything like that to Murasaki-senpai, did you?"

"Not yet. I’m waiting for a moment when we’re alone. I might get killed, but it’d be rude not to try."

"Don’t do it!" "Stop it now!" "Please, just don’t!"

"…Yeah, you’re right. I know. She’s intense—she even carries a sword. She’s definitely the type to cut me down if I piss her off."

"If you know that, why even try…"

"I don’t know. Life’s short. Gotta have fun. And every once in a while, you might get lucky. You know what I mean, right? Those rare moments where everything just works out. Come on, as a fellow guy, you get it, don’t you?"

Reiner grinned, looking for agreement, but Kiyoaki only stared back with a deadpan expression, unwilling to nod. Mio, now visibly disgusted, crossed her arms defensively and asked Cecil.

"Hey, is everyone like this at Air Hunt? Because now I’m seriously scared."

"N-no! He’s just an extreme case! There are some people like him, but they’re really rare! Most students are serious and decent!"

"That’s a relief. You seem pretty normal, Cecil-chan. I’d love to hear more about Air Hunt—it’d be great to know what to expect before we transfer."

"Of course! Call me Cecil! Air Hunt is really strict, but there’s time to unwind too, and both the guys and girls work really hard together…"

Cecil animatedly described life at St Vault’s most prestigious officer academy, using lots of gestures.

Kiyoaki and Mio, curious about the academy they were soon transferring to, listened intently and occasionally asked questions.

The most intriguing part was the details about the aviation department’s training. Compared to Kainan, where they currently studied, Air Hunt dedicated much more time to flight training, to the point where occasional tragic accidents occurred due to the intensity. Kiyoaki couldn’t help but feel a thrill of nervous excitement.

"I’m looking forward to it. I heard Illia is the top ace in the mock battles?"

"Yes! Illia is absolutely unbeatable. I’ve been in the same school as her since we were in the Gymnasium (a school for students aged seven to fourteen), and she’s never lost a single aerial combat."

"I see. So, she really is that strong. I want to challenge her, soon."

Kiyoaki looked up toward the cockpit, his face serious. Not knowing what had transpired earlier, Reiner and Mio asked him.

"You want to face Illia in a mock battle?"

"You’re more competitive than I thought. I figured you were a bit more laid- back."

Kiyoaki briefly explained the complicated connection between their fathers before adding more.

"Illia’s skills are amazing. She’s at a level where she could go straight into real combat. Have you noticed? Even with the four of us down here, the ship has remained perfectly stable."

"Now that you mention it…"

Mio glanced out the window and confirmed that the horizon was still level with the aircraft.

An airship requires balance to stay aloft. In a fixed-seating aircraft, maintaining balance after takeoff is all that’s needed, but in a large ship like the Eriador, where people can move around inside, the pilot has to adjust for any shift in weight by controlling the yoke. With four people gathered at the nose, it wouldn’t be surprising if the airship dipped forward, but Illia had adjusted the balance so smoothly that no one had even noticed.

"Her skills are incredible. But still, I don’t want to lose. I’ve got to give it my all at Air Hunt…"

Kiyoaki muttered this to himself. Beside him, Reiner stretched lazily.

"All that passion’s great, but you need to take it easy sometimes. Training every day is tough. At Air Hunt, the motto is 'Work hard, play hard.' I’m sure Illia’s strong because of all the effort she puts in, but is she even having any fun?" Annoyed by Reiner’s comment, Cecil puffed out her cheeks in protest. "Illia works hard because she wants to make her father proud! He can’t fly anymore, so she’s studying planes all the time instead of going out and having fun. She’s really admirable. So… oh."

Noticing the stiff look on Kiyoaki’s face, Cecil quickly stopped talking. Even though the details varied, it was still a fact that Illia’s father could no longer fly because of the duel with Kiyoaki’s father.

"It’s fine. I understand. Still… I don’t want to lose. Up there, I absolutely can’t afford to."

If he couldn’t handle this, the dream of defeating Uranos would remain just that —a dream. Just as Illia had a dream passed down from her father, Kiyoaki had a goal born from overcoming the death of his family. If their two ambitions were fated to clash one day, he would face it head-on.

"You’re intense, man. I feel like the temperature in here just went up by a few degrees. Hey, Mio, let’s talk about something more fun."

"No, thank you. I refuse. But, Cecil, I do want to know more about daily life. I get the course content, but what about life in the dorms?"

"Oh, right! Air Hunt has a huge dormitory big enough to fit four stadiums inside it, with around a thousand cadets living there..."

Cecil enthusiastically explained about "Big Mother," the famous dormitory at Air Hunt Officer Academy. The building complex, a maze-like structure, housed students who lived under strict rules but still found ways to enjoy their daily lives.

"There's a five-story building called the student hall, and it has rooms for all the different club activities. Each squad also has its own officer's room, like a break room. After finishing homework, everyone gathers in the officer's room to play games and have fun. There’s even a kitchen where you can make simple snacks at night!"

Mio sighed enviously.

"That’s completely different from Kainan. Everything there was strict. No clubs, no officer’s rooms, and lights out was at 9:30 p.m. It was way too early..."

"Really? At Air Hunt, lights out is at 11 p.m., but you can still use the officer’s room afterward. Oh, and there’s this weird thing that happens sometimes—if you go to the student hall early in the morning, you might find

these super cute donuts, but no one knows who makes them! I got to eat one once, and they were so adorable and delicious! The donuts have little bear or rabbit designs drawn with chocolate chips. We call them ‘Mystery Fairy Donuts,’ but nobody’s ever seen who makes them. People say it’s the work of fairies, but they’re so tasty! I hope you get to try one, Sakagami-san!"

"Sounds fun, I’ll look forward to it. But wow, that’s amazing. At Kainan, the idea of students cooking late-night snacks in the dorms is unthinkable. If you got caught, you’d get slapped across the face, or worse, smacked with a bat."

"They do that?! I can’t believe it! Don’t worry, there’s no corporal punishment at Air Hunt. But if your grades slip, you might fail or even get expelled, so be careful..."

Kiyoaki had already been warned about this. At Kainan Officer Academy, any infractions of the internal rules would earn you a slap or a punch. At Air Hunt, instead of physical punishment, you’d get a verbal warning, but your individual grades would be impacted. If you fell below a certain score, you’d be expelled without any chance to explain—so in a way, the academy was even stricter than Kainan.

Reiner, yawning, chimed in.

"Well, as long as you hit the key points and do things halfway decently, it’ll be fine. There’s no need to get all worked up over training—it’s not like there’ll be a big difference in the end. After graduation, I’ll just join the military, fly for five years, and then retire to work as a civIllian airline pilot. That’s my life plan. Ugh, I’m getting sleepy after eating..."

"Well, some people like Reiner are like that," Cecil said, "but don’t get the wrong idea, Sakagami-san, Mio-san. Most of the students here are really serious about becoming military officers..."

Cecil was trying to clarify when suddenly, the ship's alarm blared. The harsh, mechanical sound shattered the atmosphere, instantly putting everyone on edge.

Over the voice tube, Kagura's tense voice came through.

"Enemy scouts have spotted the Uranos fleet. A fleet-to-fleet engagement is possible. Everyone, man your stations."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Kiyoaki felt his hair stand on end. They had been warned before departure that this kind of situation could happen, but he hadn’t really believed it would.

"I have to go! Mio, stay safe!" "You too! Good luck, everyone!" With Mio’s words at his back, Kiyoaki climbed the ladder, following Cecil and Reiner into the cockpit.

Balthazar was at the radio, Kagura stood nearby watching the horizon, and Illia was silently gripping the control stick, her expression unchanged. Reiner climbed up to the top gunner’s seat, Kiyoaki slid into the co-pilot’s seat, and Cecil powered on the radar. Only the friendly fleet showed up on the screen. Balthazar grabbed the voice tube and relayed the situation to everyone.

"Message from the flagship Dioclaus: The Uranos fleet is advancing from the southeast, likely heading for Tsurugi Island. Their forces include three regular carriers, six heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, fourteen destroyers, and several transport ships. All vessels are deployed on the water, forming a circular formation around the carriers and transport ships."

The sheer scale of the enemy fleet caused the air inside the airship to freeze.

It was clear that this was a major offensive force, aimed at taking Tsurugi Island.

A fleet of this size wouldn’t have mobilized without a carefully planned operation. Kiyoaki couldn’t believe their destination for the night had ended up being the enemy’s target.

"This is way too convenient for our goodwill fleet to just stumble upon an invasion force. Our military command must have known the Uranos fleet would attack today. The high command is probably cheering right now, hoping we’ll all die here."

Balthazar grumbled, and Cecil read out another message.

"Message from the Uranos fleet: You are violating Hydrabard territorial waters. Change course immediately. Failure to comply will result in defensive action."

As if conversing directly with the Uranos fleet commander, Balthazar scoffed.

"There’s no such thing as international waters or territorial seas in the southern seas. It’s a patchwork of claims by multiple nations. Naturally, our goodwill fleet claims to be within Akitsu Federation waters. This is just a prelude to a fight, and we all know how it’s going to end."

Muttering to himself, Balthazar grabbed the voice tube to warn Mio and Reiner in the nose and upper gunner positions.

"Battle is highly likely. Stay alert, and load the machine guns." Suddenly, Cecil shouted. "Uranos fleet has declared defensive action! Message from the flagship Dioclaus: All personnel, battle stations!"

In that instant, it felt like an electric shock ran through the airship. Kiyoaki realized he was witnessing a pivotal moment in history. A battle was about to begin between Uranos and St Vault.

This moment had been coming ever since the war between the Akitsu Federation and the Hydrabard Union began nearly five and a half years ago, in January of 1342.

It was a costly, prolonged war, with neither side able to capture key island fortifications, and it had dragged on into a stalemate.

St Vault had been searching for an excuse to join the war, and if the goodwill fleet were annihilated by Uranos here, it would have the perfect justification.

It was a bit complicated, but while St Vault and the Akitsu Federation were fighting the Hydrabard Union, the air force they were up against was Uranos. The Hydrabard Union had hired Uranos as mercenaries for its air force.

Since the start of the war, the Hydrabard Union had relied on Uranos to supplement its weak military capabilities. In return, Uranos gained political leverage, trade benefits, and hefty rewards. Whenever there was war in the archipelago, Uranos was always there. Its air force was so powerful that even St Vault and the Akitsu Federation had to join forces to oppose it.

That’s why a battle would inevitably happen here today.

For Uranos, war was a business. The more nations fought, the better it was for them. Attacking the goodwill fleet under the pretext of "protecting operational secrecy" was a minor concern for them. As long as they could drag the Hydrabard Union further into the quagmire of war and secure more funding, Uranos was content.

"Message from the lead ship: Lower altitude to 300 meters. Close formation. Do not pursue the enemy. Only engage approaching aircraft!"

With the order given, the Eriadore airship squadron gradually descended to 300 meters and leveled off. Because the airships didn’t have bottom gun turrets, they lowered their altitude to minimize vulnerability from below.

Illia manipulated the triple rudders. Kiyoaki’s role during air combat was to manage the throttle. There were four throttles suspended from the ceiling, each connected to one of the four engines. Kiyoaki placed his right hand on one of them.

"Increasing speed to 310 kilometers."

He called out to Illia as he adjusted the throttle.

Meanwhile, the fleet also descended and began landing on the water.

The impact of the over 20,000-ton steel behemoths hitting the surface churned the once calm sea into a stormy mess. While flying was faster during an advance, in an air battle, the benefits of staying in the air diminished. The entire goodwill fleet landed, forming a protective ring around the escort carriers and transport ships, with heavy cruisers and destroyers flanking them in two columns.

From the flagship escort carrier Dioclaus, thirty Beowulf R4R fighter planes took off. These were tasked with direct escort.

The roar of their engines filled the air as the Beowulfs, which resembled giant hornets, circled the goodwill fleet. The enemy fleet had three regular carriers, meaning they could likely launch over sixty fighter planes and nearly 120 bombers and torpedo bombers. Thirty Beowulfs wouldn’t be enough to hold them off.

Ahead of the cockpit, the Eriadore airship squadron maintained perfect formation. Although airships were faster than the fleet, they circled around the fleet in a two-column formation to ensure they wouldn’t stray from the protection of the fighter screen as they awaited the enemy attack.

"The ship’s radar has detected enemy aircraft! Approximately two hundred planes are heading our way from the Karanaqta area! Estimated time to contact: seven minutes!"

Cecil’s panicked voice echoed through the cockpit. All they could do was brace themselves for the first wave of the enemy assault.

Balthazar grabbed the voice tube.

"I’ll man the tail gun turret. First Officer, you take the left-side gun. Cecil, take the right. Illia, stay on the triple rudder, and Sakagami, manage the throttle. If necessary, Illia, hand over one of the rudders to Sakagami. Reiner, Mio, stay in position. As you know, this is not a drill. One mistake could cost us all our lives. Stay sharp."

Leaving those words behind, Balthazar headed toward the rear of the ship. Cecil picked up the telegraph and hurried to the right-side gun, while Kagura moved to the left-side gun. With all five gun turrets manned, the Eriadore airship was ready to lay down a deadly barrage of tracer fire if the battle began, turning

the sky into a web of fiery streaks.

Only Kiyoaki and Illia remained in the cockpit. " " Even in the face of such an extreme situation, Illia said nothing. She didn’t even change her expression. Kiyoaki sat next to her, checked the instrument panel, and tried to start a conversation.

"…Have you ever flown in a real battle?"

Illia stared straight ahead and answered shortly. "No." "…I see. Well, you’re still a student. But you’re really calm. That’s impressive."

Illia didn’t reply. She continued to scan the visible horizon, her eyes sharp and focused. The cockpit only allowed them to see forward. Anything behind them had to be reported by the gunners, relayed via the voice tube from Balthazar.

Kiyoaki couldn’t keep his composure as well as Illia. The thought of what was about to happen filled him with dread, and despite his efforts to stay calm, fear gnawed at him. From the perspective of the enemy fighter planes, this lumbering airship must look like a slow-moving seal, easy prey for wolves. If they were surrounded and hunted down, the skills of a student pilot wouldn’t be enough to escape.

──I don’t want to die here.

More and more, this massive airship felt like a giant coffin. Even though they were flying at a low altitude of 300 meters, it felt hard to breathe, as if the oxygen was thinning.

The time was 16:30. The afternoon summer sun had now been filtered by a growing layer of clouds over the ocean. The sky and sea were cloaked in a dull, silvery- gray curtain.

"They’re coming."

Illia's calm voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

Kiyoaki strained his eyes to see through the canopy. The sky was filled with layers of thin clouds, hazy and difficult to see through. However, Kiyoaki spotted them too.

"Fighter planes... Are those Type 3 Idras?"

Far above, at around 4,500 meters, there was a group of glimmering dots silhouetted against the sun. The long, slightly curved wings marked them as the Uranos fleet’s mainstay single-seater fighters, the Idra series. Kiyoaki had been trained at the academy to recognize enemy aircraft types, and that training was now paying off.

The Type 3 Idras were approaching without hesitation. There were ten three-plane formations. But the number was much smaller than expected for the main force.

"That can't be all of them. There must be another group coming from a different direction."

As if in response to Kiyoaki’s concern, the thirty Beowulf fighters guarding the goodwill fleet split into two groups. Fifteen remained to guard the fleet, while

the other fifteen charged directly at the approaching Idras.

──The battle is about to begin.

Kiyoaki leaned forward, straining his eyes to watch the airspace ahead. Suddenly, a deep rumble shook the airship beneath his feet. A flash of explosion red light stained the corner of the canopy. "They're firing!" Two of the goodwill fleet’s heavy cruisers had fired their 20 cm main guns at the Idra formation. After an eerie two-second delay, the time fuses on the shells detonated just in front of the Idra formation. Hundreds of small shrapnel fragments sprayed into the air.

Instantly, the battlefield bloomed with plumes of smoke. A fiery red mesh spread across the summer sky, like the net of death itself.

Caught in the deadly web, several Idras fell from the sky, trailing long flames. Their blue-violet tails of fire marked the moment St Vault stepped irreversibly into the war.

"They’re coming this way."

Illia’s voice was chillingly calm. The more tense the situation became, the colder and more composed she seemed to grow. Sitting beside her, Kiyoaki watched the clouds of smoke slowly consume the sky.

The Idra formations showed no signs of retreat. If anything, they seemed to relish the fight. Ignoring their fallen comrades, they pressed forward, weaving through the shrapnel bursts.

The Beowulf fighters also charged toward the Idras. The two groups hurtled toward each other at combat speed, preparing to engage head-on.

Like the heavy cavalry of the ancient St Vault knight orders, the fifteen Beowulfs formed a single lance, piercing through the Idra formation.

Flames burst forth.

Shattered planes rained silver debris from the sky.

Weaving through the blossoming explosions, the Beowulfs and Idras twisted and turned, trying to outmaneuver each other.

Vertical and horizontal spirals wove through the air, layer upon layer.

The vapor trails from their wingtips carved intricate patterns across the summer sky as the two groups of beasts tangled, biting and clawing at each other in a deadly dance.

These warriors had spent at least 500 hours, some over 1,000, honing their skills to perfection, and now they clashed head-on, only to have their lives snuffed out in an instant. All the immense effort that had gone into building and refining these planes was quickly reduced to wreckage, falling to the ocean below in columns of water before being swallowed by the sea’s depths.

"…………!!"

The aerial battle was about 2,000 meters away from Kiyoaki’s position, so the planes were little more than specks, but the sight still sent shivers down his spine.

──This is real air combat…!

The reality of it was completely different from the training at the officer academy.

The planes were so close that their wings nearly touched, twisting and turning like animals, trying to outmaneuver and shoot each other in a deadly ballet. Just getting an enemy plane into your sights must have been incredibly difficult. To actually shoot one down with fixed machine guns seemed almost like an act of god.

The battle was evenly matched, but the enemy wasn’t just coming from one direction. A report from Balthazar in the tail gun turret came over the voice tube.

"Enemy fighters approaching from 160 degrees, left upper quadrant."

The cockpit’s view was zero degrees forward, and 180 degrees at the tail. The enemy was approaching from the left-rear upper direction.

The cockpit had no view behind, so they had to rely entirely on the gunners for rear visibility. Glancing at the goodwill fleet, Kiyoaki saw the remaining fifteen Beowulfs racing toward the direction Balthazar had mentioned. The fleet’s overhead protection was now wide open.

"There are too many of them…"

Kiyoaki muttered his unease. He had known from the start that Uranos had the advantage, but seeing the battle unfold made it all too clear.

Suddenly, Illia pointed toward the sky ahead and said quietly. "That part of the sky looks… murky." "…What?"

"Doesn’t the sky look darker there? Or is it just my imagination?"

Kiyoaki looked in the direction she pointed. It was the same hazy silver-gray clouds as before, nothing unusual.

"Murky? The sky?"

"…Yes. That’s how it looks to me."

For the first time, Illia spoke with uncertainty. Until now, she had been responding mechanically, almost inhumanly, but now there was a hint of doubt creeping into her voice.

"……………………"

Kiyoaki looked again in the direction she had indicated.

He remembered something his father, the legendary ace Masaharu, had once told him. True aces could sense the presence of enemy aircraft not with their eyes but with something beyond the five senses.

Could this "murkiness" Illia mentioned be her way of sensing the approach of an enemy squadron, a premonition only she could feel?

──The blood of Captain Karsten.

Illia had inherited the blood of the man once known as the "King of the Skies."

Could that blood be whispering to her, revealing the direction of the enemy's advance?

"…………!"

His thoughts were interrupted. "Of course...!" Illia, too, couldn't hide the slight excitement in her voice.

Breaking through the "murkiness," silver-gray spears descended straight from the sky.

It wasn't just one; two, three followed, diving down at a sixty-degree angle in quick succession.

These were Uranos dive bombers, "Aktaion."

Accompanied by the eerie screech of air brakes, the silver gleam of the 500- kilogram bombs strapped to their bellies reflected in Kiyoaki's eyes. Ahead of the Aktaion bombers lay the allied fleet, arranged in two columns.

"The Beowulfs are gone!"

A scream of panic escaped him. The cunning ambush had targeted the moment when all the cover fighters had been deployed.

At 500 meters altitude, the merciless bombs detached from the Aktaions' bellies.

The planes transitioned from a steep dive to a sharp pull-up in a display of exceptional skill, true to Uranos' reputation as masters of aerial combat. The dropped 500-kilogram bombs traced a pre-laid path through the air as if following a rail, heading straight for the lead heavy cruiser.

The 170-meter-long ship shuddered violently before a brilliant blaze ignited at the base of the bridge. Moments later, a thunderous explosion rippled across the sea, and the flames surged even higher.

Two, three more bombers followed the same bombing path, relentlessly attacking the heavy cruiser. The anti-aircraft guns in the two-column formation finally began to fire, but it was too late.

Without mercy, the second and third waves of fiery spears pierced through the heavy cruiser.

Like sheep targeted by a pack of wild dogs, the heavy cruiser spewed flames like blood, staggering as it tried to flee. But with its bridge—its eyes, ears, and mouth—severely damaged, the ship's fate was sealed.

The ship tilted perilously to one side, beyond repair, and crew members engaged in firefighting efforts plunged into the sea. With its combat capabilities crippled, the Aktaion squadron shifted its focus to the next heavy cruiser in line.

Anti-aircraft fire from the now fully-engaged allied fleet rained down in a desperate counterattack.

But the Aktaions were undeterred. Instead, they seemed to revel in the battle, weaving through the thousands of fiery lines and unleashing more fiery spears at their targets.

Their steep dives tore through the summer sky, aiming for a guaranteed hit.

Some dive paths were cut short, with bombers spiraling helplessly into the sea, creating water columns. Others turned into fireballs, scattering fragments of metal that glittered as they exploded into large blossoms of fiery explosions. The lucky ones completed a perfect V-shaped maneuver, rising sharply at 500 meters, while below, the ships shuddered as pillars of flames erupted.

The battlefield was quickly engulfed in fire and smoke. Hundreds of lives were being claimed in the midst of the hellish inferno on the ocean's surface.

"This is hopeless! We have to go and support them...!"

"What can an airship do in an air battle? We're barely capable of protecting ourselves. We should focus on retreating rather than providing support."

Illia glanced at the squadron leader. Airships excelled in long-range transport and reconnaissance, and if they got caught up in an air battle, retreating would be the sensible choice. But the squadron leader had chosen to stay and fight. They couldn't abandon their already outnumbered allies.

"Are we really going to fight with this little firepower...?"

Illia's frustration was clear. Kiyoaki scanned their surroundings. The enemy planes were completely engaged with the allied fleet and the Beowulf fighters, paying no attention to the Eriadore airship squadron.

"The battle isn't over yet. Our allies are still fighting. We can't just run away on our own."

"The outcome was decided the moment we engaged. We’re just sacrificial pawns for St Vault’s entry into the war. If we’re all wiped out here, the military command will celebrate and turn us into martyrs. Is that what all our training has been for?"

Illia's voice rose in anger, her long-suppressed frustration spilling out. Kiyoaki couldn't respond.

"Are you satisfied dying here? Didn't you inherit Sergeant Sakagami’s will? Is dying for the military's agenda really your role?"

"Even if you say that... what can we do in this situation?! What are we supposed to do!?"

"Survive. Our mission is to live and fight another day!"

At that moment, Kagura’s voice came through the voice tube from the left gun turret.

"The Beowulfs are down to three planes. The remaining Idras are looking for targets. They'll definitely come our way. Stick close to the formation and focus our firepower. Stay calm."

Her calm voice eased the tension in the cockpit slightly, though the situation continued to worsen by the second.

Illia let out a long breath, calming herself. She gripped the control stick firmly, regaining her composure.

"...I lost my temper. Let's follow the deputy's advice and rely on the squadron's firepower for now."

"Yeah, you're right. We need to maintain formation as best we can... Wait, we’re losing speed."

Kiyoaki adjusted the throttle while glancing at Illia. Her usual doll-like

beauty remained intact, though a faint redness lingered on her cheeks and ears. It was understandable—this was Illia's first real combat experience. No matter how composed she appeared, there was no way she wasn’t afraid.

──No matter how talented she is, she's still a seventeen-year-old girl.

Kiyoaki steeled himself. They couldn’t die here, not when they were so young and inexperienced. They had to survive and turn this experience into something valuable.

"About ten Idras are coming our way. Gunners, wait until the allied planes start firing. Don't act prematurely. If they see you're inexperienced, they'll target the weak ones first."

Balthazar's calm voice echoed through the airship. Despite the tense situation, he remained as composed as ever. It was no wonder he had been chosen to represent the Air Hunt Academy as the captain.

Kiyoaki looked out at the sky. The Idra squadron that had just driven off the Beowulfs was now charging straight toward them.

Gritting his teeth, Kiyoaki gripped the throttle tightly. His hands were already slick with sweat. He glanced at the instrument panel. All he could do now was adjust the speed and keep an eye on both the sky and the instruments, ready to alert Illia to any issues.

"Message from the lead plane! Maintain speed and altitude. Do not break formation. Wait for the signal to open fire!"

Cecil’s voice came over the voice tube, clear and steady.

──The enemy fighters are coming to take us down.

Kiyoaki strained his eyes, looking out through the windscreen.

The enemy planes were approaching from the left front, slightly above them.

Their speed was incredible. It was hard to feel a sense of speed when flying in the air, but the approaching enemy planes made it unmistakable. What had once been tiny dots were now growing larger and larger, resembling baseballs in size.

"They're coming, they're coming...!"

He couldn't help but shout. Staring down the enemy fighters coming to kill them, the fear of death gripped him even tighter.

The squadron held its fire. If Kiyoaki had been in control of the guns, he would have fired already. But the Eriadore squadron remained patient, waiting for the wolves to come, without firing a single shot.

The deafening roar of propellers grew louder and louder, battering against the airship.

The enemy planes descended like meteors.

At the moment when Kiyoaki was certain they would collide, the nine Eriadore airships unleashed a barrage of fifteen-millimeter anti-aircraft fire, like a torrent of molten lava.

A hail of machine gun bullets.

Flaming spears stabbed into the Idras all at once.

Three Idras crumpled, spitting fireballs from their fuselages, and in an

instant, were torn into fragments of duralumin.

The Idras that had dodged the barrage wobbled as they flew, but they still fired flaming arrows from their wings as they passed by.

Kiyoaki heard the dull thud of bullets piercing the airship. They'd been hit. Someone might have been struck. "Mio!"

He instinctively shouted. "What?!" Mio's voice instantly came through the voice tube, and Kiyoaki, relieved, quickly responded.

"Nothing! I thought we'd been hit!"

The five gun turrets on the airship were all separated by walls, so it was impossible to see what was happening in the other compartments from the cockpit. Even if they were hit, there was no way to know who had been injured.

"We're fine! Stay in formation!"

"Yeah, sorry! Keep at it! Illia, if the controls get too tough, I can at least take over the rudder."

"Unnecessary."

Illia curtly refused and reassembled the formation. Kiyoaki felt frustrated, but he knew that for a pilot, handing over the controls, even partially, was a bitter pill to swallow. If he were the lead pilot, he wouldn’t hand over the controls to Illia either.

Several of the planes ahead of them were trailing smoke. They’d been hit in the last exchange.

Kiyoaki spotted the next enemy squadron approaching.

"They're coming again! Forty degrees down-right, climbing up at us...!"

He pointed, drawing Illia’s attention. A group of Idras was approaching from an altitude of about 100 meters, climbing upward. The airship's weakness was its lack of a bottom turret. When the enemy came from below, it was much harder to create a defensive curtain of anti-aircraft fire.

"Right turn and fire! Do not break formation!"

Cecil shouted the command from the lead plane. As ordered, the lead plane in the formation began to turn right, tilting the airship to the side so that the right-side guns could fire down on the approaching enemies.

Illia followed the lead of the plane ahead, turning the control wheel and tilting the airship to the same degree. The control wheel in front of Kiyoaki turned right of its own accord. Below them, the horizon tilted. The sunlit ocean glittered below, filling most of the forward window at an angle. About 80% of the windscreen was now taken up by the slanted sea.

Through the chaotic reflections, another Idra squadron, this time with eight planes, rushed upward. The Eriadore airship prepared to meet the pack of beasts as it circled.

The moment the enemy planes entered range, thousands of crimson lines of fire burst forth. Mio, Reiner, Cecil, and Balthazar all squeezed their triggers, sending a constant stream of fifteen-millimeter bullets toward the enemy. The vibrations from the gunfire reverberated throughout the airship. At the same time, the Idras fired back with their wing-mounted thirteen-millimeter machine guns.

Lines of fire crisscrossed, and planes passed each other in a whirlwind of bullets. The turning Eriadore airship formation wavered. This time, the Idras took no losses, while two of the Eriadore airships erupted into flames.

"Aaahh?!"

Kiyoaki screamed. The plane that had been flying to his left-front was now spewing flames from one of its four wing-mounted engines. Its speed quickly dropped, and it was no longer able to maintain formation.

"They're going to hit! Illia, pull away!" "I know, but..." Illia expertly maneuvered the controls to dodge the stricken plane as it slid toward them. The flaming engine passed just inches from their windscreen. Kiyoaki could almost see the terrified faces of the airmen inside, screaming as they plummeted. The terrifying scene was only a few seconds away from becoming their own reality.

The first enemy group that had passed them quickly turned back for another attack. There was no time to rest. The radio transmissions from the lead plane had gone silent. There was no longer any time to issue detailed orders to the entire formation.

With a harsh tearing sound that pierced the air, thirteen Idras descended from the right-front diagonal above them. Unable to hold back any longer, some of the friendly planes began firing prematurely. The panicked gunfire from Reiner’s turret reverberated through the airship. The enemy was still too far away for the shots to hit, but the fear of the situation made it impossible not to shoot. It was an understandable reaction for a rookie.

Laughing at their confusion, the Idra squadron unleashed a barrage of fiery arrows.

The deafening sound of metal being torn apart reverberated through the airship. They’d been hit. Were the others in the gun turrets okay? Was Mio okay? What about Kagura? And Cecil?

Kiyoaki desperately wanted to hear their voices, but there was no response.

The eight Idras descended from the left-front diagonal above them. The relentless repeated attacks continued. The Eriadore airships could no longer maintain an organized formation.

"They’re targeting the lead plane...!" Illia groaned. It was clear that the enemy's attacks were almost entirely focused on the lead plane. Their goal was to destroy the command center and force the squadron to abandon its coordinated fire. The lead plane was riddled with holes from the armor-piercing rounds. Although it wasn’t yet on fire, it was trailing white smoke from various points and seemed to be on its last legs.

Kiyoaki looked down.

The allied fleet, which had been enduring dive-bombing for some time, was in utter disarray, and two of the heavy cruisers were on the verge of sinking. The flagship aircraft carrier Dioclaus had barely managed to survive thanks to expert maneuvering, but with the enemy’s second and third waves on the way, it would likely meet the same fate as the cruisers.

"We’re going to be wiped out...!" Despair poured out of Kiyoaki's mouth. I don’t want to die here, not like this.

"As long as the lead plane is alive, maintain formation!" Balthazar’s calm voice once again came through the voice tube. How can this man be so composed? Kiyoaki was in awe. Since the battle had begun, Balthazar hadn’t shown a single sign of panic. He was the only one in the airship who remained completely calm.

"I’ll make the decision when the time comes."

With that short declaration, the voice tube connecting to the rear turret went silent again. "When the time comes" likely referred to what they would do if the lead plane were shot down.

At that moment, Kiyoaki spotted yet another enemy wave in the forward airspace. "Another wave is coming...!" "This is never going to end. At this rate, we'll be wiped out..."

Illia groaned. As time passed, the battle clearly tilted in Uranos’ favor.

──We’re losing this fight.

By now, even the students could see that the battle was lost.

──We have to run. If we want to survive.

Kiyoaki glanced at the lead plane as if praying for guidance.

Then Cecil's voice came through the voice tube, delivering a message from the lead plane.

"Break formation. From here on, each aircraft is to find a safe landing site on its own. Good luck."

A heavy, tragic atmosphere settled over the airship.

It was an order to scatter and flee, a final command from the combat unit. Balthazar’s next order followed, reverberating through the voice tube.

"There's a thick cloud cover to the northeast. Illia, get under it and lose the enemy planes. It's the only advantage we have."

"...Yes, sir!"

Illia responded immediately. Just as Balthazar had said, there was a dark, looming thundercloud to their left-front, likely a cumulonimbus cloud. Large airships were more resistant to bad weather than single-seat fighters. Even in storms that could tear small planes apart, the airship could continue flying.

Right now, the Eriadore airship’s only hope was to take advantage of the bad weather.

Heading for that cloud also meant straying off the course to Tsurugi Island. If they kept flying directly toward the island, they would be subjected to relentless enemy attacks.

Kiyoaki's Eriadore slowly tilted as it turned left. Four other Eriadore airships had chosen the same route and were flying ahead. The lead plane, however, remained over the allied fleet. It seemed the squadron leader intended to draw the enemy fighters' attention to himself and let the rest of them escape.

"Squadron leader...!"

"An officer's role is to lead their subordinates into battle and bring them back alive... That's what we've always been taught at the academy, and now the squadron leader is showing us a living example of that."

The swarm of Idra fighters relentlessly attacked the squadron leader's plane, their maneuvers akin to wolves toying with a wounded bull. The leader's plane, despite being engulfed in flames from various parts of the fuselage, continued to fire from its turrets. Even as it staggered and its fuselage became riddled with holes, it fought on, trying to take down as many Idra fighters as possible in its final resistance.

The armor of the Eriadore airship was thick. Its defensive capabilities far surpassed those of typical fighters, and it was difficult to shoot down unless the engine was directly hit by the Idra's 13mm machine guns. The squadron leader's plane still had a chance.

Or so Kiyoaki thought, until the next moment.

A flash of light streaked down from directly above.

A single flash struck the cockpit of the squadron leader's plane.

Shattered windshield glass sparkled as it scattered across the blue sky, mixed with the blood of the crew inside.

It was a direct hit to the cockpit, the airship's weakest point from above.

The squadron leader's plane lurched, spinning wildly as it spiraled down like a falling leaf.

A sword of light.

A matador's strike aimed precisely at the brain of a raging bull.

The squadron leader's plane hit the ocean with a massive splash, and Kiyoaki snapped back to reality.

"Ahhhhhh!!"

As he screamed, the plane responsible for the sword of light climbed upward in a sharp V-shaped maneuver.

It was just another Idra, but the nose art painted near its cockpit sent a chill down Kiyoaki's spine.

──The Black Panther.

In that instant, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

He had never forgotten.

The nose art of the biplane that had shot his sister in the back during the invasion of Messus Island.

The Black Panther soared proudly into the sky, leading its squadron in a celebratory roll.

The one responsible for taking down the squadron leader in a single strike was someone Illia knew.

"Karnasion!!"

Her voice, rare in its tone of loathing, spat out the name. Kiyoaki had heard that name before as well.

Karnasion, a name that resounded throughout the Archipelago Seas, one of the "Kings of the Sky," standing on par with Akmed of the airborne mercenary corps Valkyrie.

The man who had killed his beloved sister was now flying freely in the skies right before Kiyoaki's eyes.

He was dominating the battlefield. "Oooooohhh!!" Boiling rage surged through Kiyoaki’s entire being.

──I’ll kill him.

Without thinking, Kiyoaki gripped the control column with his left hand and placed his right hand on the throttle. He could feel Illia's control through the linked yoke, but he forcefully twisted it, trying to overpower her.

"Sakagami!?"

"I have to... I have to shoot him down! I have to fight!" "W-What are you doing?! Wait!" The three controls of the pilot and co-pilot seats were linked. If they continued like this, both pilots would be struggling over the controls, which could end in disaster.

Just as Illia tried to stop him, Kagura's voice came through the voice tube. "Calm down. Follow the captain’s orders and head for the cumulus clouds." In the midst of the chaos, Kagura’s voice was as clear and calm as a mountain stream.

Kiyoaki’s mind began to clear.

"Kiyoaki-kun, you're responsible for adjusting the throttle and monitoring the instruments, alright?"

Apparently, Kagura had heard the exchange in the cockpit through the voice tubes. She had noticed that both pilots were losing their composure.

"Karnasion has the skill to take out cockpits with a single shot. As much as it hurts, we must escape now. Don’t let the squadron leader’s sacrifice go to waste, do you understand?"

"...Yes!"

Kiyoaki barely managed to respond, forcing himself to calm down as he surveyed the airspace around them.

"...I have a history with him."

"...And you think that justifies seizing control?" "...I'm sorry. I was inexperienced." Illia lowered the control yoke and tilted the large aircraft, steering it toward the cumulus clouds as Balthazar had instructed. Four Idra fighters were in pursuit. The enemy was now certain of their victory, fully enjoying the hunt. They were probably competing with each other to see who could score the most kills, racing to be the first to shoot them down.

It was humiliating and infuriating, but there was nothing a large airship could do against single-seat fighters except run. Through the rain-streaked windshield, Kiyoaki saw that the four other Eriadore airships had nearly reached the base of the clouds.

But then—another merciless flash of light lit up the sky above one of the Eriadore airships.

A sword of light that split the battlefield in two. The unescapable strike of the Lord of the Sky. Karnasion pulled up just above the ocean, while the Eriadore airship, leaking blood and shards of glass from its destroyed cockpit, plummeted helplessly.

Karnasion’s aerial combat skills were nothing short of terrifying.

With him targeting them, there was no escape. No matter how strong the Eriadore airship’s defenses or how thick its armor, if the cockpit was pierced from directly above, there was nothing they could do.

Targeting a cockpit from above may sound simple, but aiming a fixed gun accurately while diving at over 300 kilometers per hour in three-dimensional space is something no ordinary pilot could do. It was a miraculous aerial combat skill, achievable only by the very best—those known as "super aces," pilots selected from millions and honed over many years with immense resources.

"Damn it! Damn it all...!"

Kiyoaki was close to tears with frustration. His hated nemesis was effortlessly shooting down one ally after another, and all he could do was run.

──I need to become stronger. Here in the sky, I need to be much, much stronger...!

As if mocking his desire, the Black Panther climbed high into the sky once more, licking its chops as it searched for its next prey. Once its eyes locked onto a target, that was the end. The fleeing Eriadore airships rushed downward toward the base of the cumulus clouds.

Karnasion wasn’t the only one pursuing them.

"Hurry up and get away! The other Idras are coming!"

Kiyoaki couldn’t see behind him from the cockpit, but reports from the gunners told him what was happening. That was Reiner’s voice. He sighed in relief,

knowing she was still alive.

But the next moment, the ominous whine of propellers approached from behind, followed by the thunderous sound of machine-gun fire ripping through the airship.

Kiyoaki heard the now-familiar, ominous sound of metal being torn apart— gagagagagak—echo throughout the airship.

The enemy plane that had dived from behind them, firing in a concentrated burst, flew far ahead of them, disappearing into the distance. As it passed, its shots had struck the center of the fuselage. It seemed, like Karnasion, that it had aimed for the cockpit but had missed slightly. Still, the location of the hit was concerning.

Kiyoaki instinctively grabbed the voice tube. "Reiner, are you okay?!" "Y-Yeah. It was close. I thought I was dead for sure..."

Reiner’s shaken voice came back, and Kiyoaki felt a wave of relief wash over him. Every time they took a hit, he couldn’t help but worry that someone might have been killed.

"They're coming! Three planes, 150 degrees below on the left!"

Kagura’s report brought the tension back to the airship. The gunners fired a barrage of 15mm bullets.

The enemy fighters flew past the nose of their airship, leaving behind the high- pitched whine of their propellers. The sight of objects moving at combat speed, over 500 kilometers per hour, passing right in front of them was indescribably intense.

──We’re in the middle of a dogfight. In the sky, where it’s kill or be killed...!

The scene unfolding before him was so surreal that he almost felt detached, as if he were watching from the outside. He had to keep reminding himself that this was real as he went about his duties.

The enemy fighters weren’t giving up. They kept coming after them, again and again, firing as they passed by. The Idras had nearly a 200-kilometer speed advantage, and at this point, the only option for the slow, cumbersome Eriadore was to survive by desperately laying down a curtain of fire.

Mio, Reiner, Balthazar, Kagura, and Cecil—the five gunners—continued to fire relentlessly at any enemy plane that entered their sights. The sound of their gunfire was so loud it drowned out even the noise of the propellers.

"We’re entering the base of the cumulus clouds! Strap yourselves in!"

Illia shouted. Following the three Eriadore airships ahead of them, they dove into the thick base of the clouds.

Suddenly, a torrential downpour slammed against the windscreen like a waterfall.

The friendly aircraft ahead of them disappeared in the rain. Visibility was zero. To make matters worse, powerful crosswinds battered the airship. The massive, four-engine giant was being tossed around by the wind.

Kiyoaki turned his eyes to the instrument panel. With no visibility, they had no choice but to rely on their instruments to fly. He called out the readings for

the airspeed indicator, compass, and altimeter to help Illia. Adding the readings for the direction indicator, engine tachometer, attitude indicator, and turn-and-bank indicator would make it easier for Illia to fly.

"Current altitude is 450 meters! I think we’re actually lower than that..." "I know. I’m subtracting 20 meters from the reading..." The pressure altimeter often overestimated altitude the longer they flew. It wouldn’t be a joke if the altimeter read 50 meters but they were actually only 5 meters above the water. Keeping that margin of error in mind, Illia had to navigate through the darkness and the storm.

──Illia’s so calm... She’s amazing.

As Kiyoaki adjusted the throttle, he couldn’t help but silently praise Illia.

Even though she was still a student, she wasn’t losing her composure and was focusing solely on flying through this storm. No matter how much training she had, this wasn’t something just any student could do. Her natural talent, along with the hard work she had put in up to this point, was evident in her piloting.

Kiyoaki placed his right hand on the throttle lever on the ceiling. "Tell me the speed you want. I’ll match it." "Maintain 300 kilometers."

He slowed the airship to the speed Illia requested, staring into the storm.

The wind and rain howled with such force that it felt like they had reached the end of the world. In the pitch-black darkness, it was as if they were being toyed with by an invisible monster.

The furious howls rose and fell as if they were being threatened by a god, and suddenly the atmosphere struck the airship with the force of a fist. The airship shook violently from side to side. If they hadn’t fastened their seatbelts, they would have been thrown into the ceiling long ago.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar, like the bellow of a divine beast, erupted nearby. A jagged flash of lightning seared into their retinas. The scene was so intense that a scream escaped without thinking. The world, which had been shrouded in darkness, was momentarily engulfed in a torrent of light. The sheer energy and brightness of the heavens tore through their senses, overwhelming their vision and hearing.

Their eyes burned. Their ears rang. But still, they had to keep flying.

Illia glared ahead, guiding everyone’s lives through the control column as she pushed forward through the corridor of lightning.

Kiyoaki stared only at the instrument panel to avoid being blinded by the lightning. He called out the changing numbers for the altimeter and airspeed indicator to help Illia keep them steady.

There were no enemies chasing them. Once inside this cloud, there was no way they could follow. But they couldn’t see any of their allies, either. If possible, Kiyoaki didn’t want to lose the three planes that had gone ahead, but in this rain and wind, formation flying was impossible. Every airship was focused solely on staying in the air.

I hope we can get out from under this cloud soon.

He prayed as they flew, but no matter how far they went, the clouds didn’t break. Just as he felt relief when the waterfall-like rain began to weaken, it started pouring again, accompanied by more lightning. The wind and rain slipped through the cracks in the windscreen, lowering the temperature. Though it was summer, it was cold enough to make him shiver. He could see Illia gritting her teeth beside him.

"Illia, if you get tired, I can take over." "No need." Illia refused to show any sign of weakness. She truly lived up to her reputation as the ace of the Air Hunt Officer Academy, maintaining her focus and concentration even as they were battered by the relentless wind and rain.

──Could I do the same?

That fleeting thought crossed his mind just as the sky beyond the windscreen turned a deep, dense blue. Sunlight poured into the cockpit, filling it completely.

"...!!"

"We made it...!"

For the first time that day, Illia’s voice contained a hint of joy.

Beyond the windscreen, the red-glowing ocean stretched out below them as the sun began to set. Distant islands dotted the horizon. Kiyoaki had seen the ocean countless times, but in that moment, it was so beautiful he almost cried with gratitude.

There were no enemies pursuing them, and no sign of their allies either. Kiyoaki’s Eriadore was now flying alone over an unknown section of the sea.

"It seems we managed to shake off the enemy. All hands, stand down from battle stations and gather in the cockpit."

Balthazar’s order came through. The students stationed at the various gun positions returned to the cockpit of the Eriadore airship.

All seven of them crowded together, Kiyoaki and Illia still seated at the controls, while the others stood, listening to Balthazar.

"As for our next course of action, we need to consider the situation carefully. According to the latest transmissions, Tsurugi Island is currently under attack by an enemy carrier fleet. Landing there while under air assault would make us an easy target, so we should avoid that. We could head for our next destination, the Chandler fortress, which lies beyond the Great Falls. We have enough fuel, and if we fly through the night, we should arrive by tomorrow morning. However, we don’t yet know the extent of the damage to our engines, wings, and armor. The longer we fly, the more those wounds will worsen, and if we’re forced to make an emergency landing at night, our chances of survival are slim."

The cockpit fell silent.

Anyone who had flown airships knew how dangerous a nighttime landing was.

Landing an airship was the most difficult maneuver in the entire operation. It was where most accidents happened, and those accidents almost always resulted in fatalities. Even in the daytime, landing on water was dangerous, with veteran pilots often encountering difficulties. At night, when visibility was nonexistent, the difficulty increased exponentially.

In a world painted entirely black, trying to discern the ocean and land a large aircraft was a feat so difficult that even seasoned pilots with over 3,000 hours of flight time avoided it at all costs.

During the Archipelago War twenty years ago, dozens of airships forced to land at night had crashed into the sea, killing all their crews. There were only two recorded instances of successful nighttime water landings in combat, and both were performed by highly experienced pilots on clear nights with bright moonlight illuminating the ocean.

Neither Illia nor Kiyoaki had ever trained for a nighttime landing, nor did they have the skills for it.

"My suggestion is to land on one of the nearby islands before sunset and inspect the airship for damage. If the damage is minor, we can take off immediately. If we can’t repair it ourselves, we can call for reinforcements by radio. Does anyone have any objections?"

Balthazar looked around. Kagura was the first to respond.

"That seems like the best option given the circumstances. However, I do have one concern. The islands in these waters are governed by independent local populations. If we land our airship in their territory without warning, we may have trouble negotiating with them, especially if we don’t speak the same language."

"Either way, it’s a risk. We can either take the risk of flying through the night and attempting a dangerous landing or take the risk of landing on an ungoverned island with unknown inhabitants. It’s one or the other."

Everyone fell silent.

Finally, Kiyoaki raised his hand hesitantly.

"Um... The number two and number four engines are fluctuating. I think it’s because they were hit."

Balthazar and Kagura both looked at the engine tachometers. Following Kiyoaki’s pointing finger, they saw the needles were indeed moving erratically, something that wouldn’t normally happen.

"I’ve also noticed that the propeller sound occasionally sputters. It’s too dangerous to fly through the night."

Illia nodded in agreement with Kiyoaki's suggestion.

"It's subtle enough that you'd miss it if you weren't paying attention, but it's a sign of malfunction. I also think we need to perform some maintenance."

The captain and the vice-captain exchanged glances and nodded.

"We’ll land on an island. Navigator, can you determine our current position?" Mio responded. "I can determine our north-south position through celestial navigation, but due to the storm we just passed through, I can't accurately gauge how far we’ve deviated from our course. I'm using the shape of the islands as a guide, but to get an exact location, we’ll need to wait for Etica to appear."

Etika was the name of the fixed star that sat immobile in the sky. By measuring its position in relation to the surrounding constellations, one could determine their location on Earth. It was the guiding star that had led countless sailors

back home throughout history.

"We don’t have a choice. I’ll choose the island. Illia, head for that part of the sea."

"Understood."

Balthazar pointed to an area where five islands, large and small, clustered together. The narrow passages between the islands seemed calm, making them ideal for a water landing. With the sun about to set, Balthazar chose the closest and safest location, where it would also be difficult for the airship to be spotted from above.

Following his orders, Illia tilted the control yoke of the Eriadore airship.

The massive aircraft gently descended toward the shimmering sea, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

All seven crew members held their breath as they gazed at their potential resting place for the night.

Each island was covered in lush green trees that blanketed the rolling hills, giving them the appearance of remote, secret islands in the southern seas.

Mio spread out a map, searching for any islands that matched the shapes in front of them. However, with so many potential targets, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact location.

The Eriadore spread its wings wide, flying between the islands as if threading a needle. Balthazar and Kagura scanned the coastline through the glass, looking for a suitable landing spot. The sun was sinking toward the horizon, and they couldn’t afford to waste any time.

The friendly fleet had been destroyed, they were separated from the regular forces, and the students now faced the prospect of landing on an unknown island they had never seen or heard of. The captain and vice-captain surely felt the weight of this anxiety more than anyone, yet they remained calm, making sure not to show any fear that might unsettle the crew.

"What about over there...?" Kagura pointed to a cliff on a large, nameless island.

The jagged cliffs jutted into the sea like the teeth of a saw, and some parts of the cliffs were deeply hollowed out, forming sea caves. It was the perfect terrain to hide an airship. Balthazar nodded and asked,

"Illia, can you land and bring the ship into that area?"

He pointed to a particularly deep cove nestled between the sawtooth cliffs. The steep walls on both sides made it a difficult place to navigate for an airship with a 40-meter wingspan, but there was a small beach at the back, making it a convenient spot for disembarking. After studying the cliffside carefully, Illia responded calmly.

"The width is sufficient. As long as we don’t scrape the bottom on the reefs."

"Those cliffside coves tend to have deep water. If the wings fit, we’ll be fine."

Balthazar gave the go-ahead. Illia pushed down on the control yoke, lowering the nose of the ship toward the cliffs.

Landing was a test of a pilot's skill. A mistake could lead to the deaths of all crew members, so even in calm seas during daylight, there was no room for error.

Illia analyzed the appearance of the whitecaps to determine wind speed and direction, then examined the color of the water to check for currents.

With the wind pushing against them, Illia carefully judged the landing zone and began a descending turn.

"Reduce speed to 250 kilometers."

Illia called out the speed she wanted, and Kiyoaki adjusted the throttle, slowing the aircraft to the requested speed.

As the speed gradually decreased, Illia kept the aircraft level. Maintaining this level attitude was extremely difficult for beginners. Strong winds from all directions constantly buffeted the aircraft, and it required great skill to keep the wings perfectly parallel to the horizon with precise adjustments to the control yoke and rudder pedals.

At an altitude of 50 meters, the sea below began rushing past at great speed.

When flying in the open sky with no points of reference, it was easy to forget just how fast the airship was moving. But now, with the ground so close, the speed became painfully apparent.

"Reduce speed to 200 kilometers. Shut down engines two and four."

As two of the four engines were throttled back and shut down, the whitecaps sped by just beneath the belly of the aircraft. If the plane wasn’t level, or if the nose dipped even slightly too much, the airship would crash nose-first into the water, flipping over and slamming into the sea. The dreaded "porpoising," one of the most feared accidents among airship pilots, awaited them.

Illia faced that pressure head-on, maintaining an expression of calm detachment as she watched the sea rise toward them through the windscreen.

The sea was now at eye level. "Engines to dead slow." Illia’s quiet command prompted Kiyoaki to adjust the propeller pitch levers, rapidly reducing the engine RPMs.

The propeller blades slowed until they were visible to the naked eye. The sheer weight of the airship began to press it gently down onto the water.

The nose of the Eriadore rose slightly, and the belly of the plane made a graceful, gentle contact with the surface of the sea.

Spray erupted around the aircraft, creating a rainbow across the windscreen. A soft sound of water brushing against the hull filled the air. A gentle vibration spread through the airship as it settled into the water. The sunlight danced across the spray as the Eriadore stabilized. Now, the ship rocked gently, as if cradled by the calm sea.

The airship began to glide across the water, heading for the cove.

──She’s amazing…! Kiyoaki was speechless. Watching the entire landing procedure from so close, he realized that Illia’s piloting skills were far beyond what he had expected.

──She’s been trained by Captain Karsten since she was young.

It made sense. No ordinary student could pull off such a landing. Illia’s flight hours must have already exceeded a thousand by now.

"As expected of Illia, you’re a genius!" Cecil cheered with a look of relief, clapping her hands. Even Kagura, clearly impressed, added,

"That was incredible. You’re already good enough to be a regular airship pilot."

Illia, seemingly unaccustomed to receiving such direct praise, responded with a brief but polite, "Thank you," as she turned the airship left and steered it toward the gap in the cliffs. If she lowered the plane too much, the wings would scrape against the cliffs, but she navigated the narrow passage with ease. Her movements were so smooth it was almost absurd.

Before long, a small beach came into view.

"Shut down the engines. Everyone disembark. We’ll tow the aircraft onto the beach."

Balthazar gave the order, and the engines were fully shut down, leaving the Eriadore anchored just offshore.

The seven crew members jumped into the sea, tied ropes to the airship, and hauled it onto the beach. Then, they unloaded their gear and communication equipment.

By the time they finished the disembarkation process, the nameless island in the southern sea was bathed in the golden light of a summer sunset.

Soaked to the bone, the seven of them stood on the beach, gazing at their battered aircraft and the darkening sky.

From here on, they would have to repair the airship with their own hands and safely take off from this island, heading for their destination beyond the Great Falls, the Chandler Base.

But where should they start? "We’ll establish camp first." Balthazar ordered, and the students turned on their heels, stepping into the interior of the island.