Chapter 2: Leviathan
"Useless! Useless! Useless! Why are you so useless?!"
Those manning the airship's bridge and the soldiers stationed there did their best to ignore the spectacle currently playing in the center of the room, either by focusing completely on their task or looking in the completely opposite direction.
In any other case, the sight of a Harvin stomping down on the head of a kowtowing Human would have been hilarious due to the difference in height involved.
Any other case didn't have the Harvin being Furias, a general of the Erste Empire infamous for his short temper, utter callousness for any life that isn't his own and the willingness to kill anyone who displeases him, even his own soldiers.
"My most... sincere... apologies... General," Pommern drawled through gritted teeth, his right hand clenched around the stump where the left used to be. "There were... unforeseen... interferences."
"Do you know what I can do with your apologies? Nothing! That's what!" He raised his boot and stomped down on the captain's head once again, causing the man to grunt in pain as his already abused face violently met with the floor once again. Normally Furias took delight in causing pain to others, but right now he was too angry to care. "I trusted your words when you said you could retrieve your oh-so-important specimen directly from Mizarea, and gave you not one but
four battle-class airships! And what do I get in return?"
Furias turned around and took a few steps before throwing his arms in the air. "Two airships sunk! While another was left in the city and the last one
is completely gone! All of this in a matter of
seconds! Never has Erste suffered such a humiliating defeat!"
He walked back to Pommern and stomped on his head again. "And all you can tell me is that there were
unforeseen interferences?! Do you think I am an idiot? Do you Pommern?! Do I look like an idiot to you?!!"
"A-Absolutely not! Never! General Furias, I swear that wasn't my intention!" Pommern tried to explain, only to freeze when he heard a rather sharp 'click'.
"I have half an idea to just shoot you and dump your body overboard," Furias sneered, a gun pointed straight at the captain's head. "You have five seconds to give me one good reason why I shouldn't, and it better be convincing."
"I can give you one right now. I want to hear what he has to say," A new, deep voice interjected.
Furias' features twisted into something even more ugly before he took hold of his emotions. Having recognized the voice, and knowing that the speaker was one of the few individuals he had to show a modicum of respect, the Harvin looked up and smiled condescendingly at the knight in black armor that just walked inside the bridge. "Oya oya? How surprising to see you here, Apollonia. Aren't you supposed to be busy with something else on the other side of Auguste?"
"I never gave you permission to use that name, Furias. Mind your place!" The Black Knight snarled. The soldiers present promptly did their best to wipe out that name from their minds, lest they accidentally blurt it out later and incur the imperial advisor's wrath.
"Woah! So scary!" Furias took a few steps back while waving his hands, the gun now hanging from his index by the trigger's ring.
"If you're truly interested in this waste of space-" He shot a short glare at the still kowtowing Pommern. "-It's all yours."
The Black Knight watched the odious midget walk back to his raised throne before addressing the captain. "Pommern, was it? Stand up."
"Yes, Your Excellency!" Pommern quickly pushed himself back on his feet while keeping his head down, not daring to meet the Black Knight's intimidating gaze. "I apologize for this unsightly appearance-"
"It matters not," The imperial advisor interrupted him. "You were trying to retrieve the Girl in Blue, correct?"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"But you failed."
Pommern gulped, "...Yes."
The Black Knight hummed. "How?"
"I..." Pommern gulped again. "I don't know who or how, but all the battleships...
were sniped right out of the sky."
Metal encased fingers clenched around the sword's hilt. "Tell me the full story.
Now."
[*]
The day after the Empire's failed kidnapping, the crew of the Grandcypher, with the addition of Eugen and Archer, left Mizarea with the goal of finally finding the source of the sea's corruption and putting an end to it once and for all. The one-eyed agent was at the helm of the motorized boat, while the white-haired man was sitting at the bow, using his superior eyesight to check for approaching hostiles. The rest of the crew was sitting between them.
Archer spared the crew of skyfarers a brief glance, seeing that Lyria and Gran were still mumbling among themselves while giving him their own brief glances, before turning back to stare at Auguste's sea. He might as well cut to the chase.
"If you have something to tell me, you should do it now when you still have the chance," Archer glanced behind his back. "There is no telling what will await us at our destination."
The two teenagers released a small 'eep' of embarrassment. Really, if they wanted to be discreet they should have done so where he couldn't hear them.
"U-Uh! Mister Archer!" Quickly composing herself Lyria put her hands on her lap before bowing. "Thank you so much for saving me yesterday!"
"I also want to thank you for helping me rescue Lyria," Gran was the second one to bow.
'That was it?' Archer shrugged. "There is no need to thank me. I saw Erste soldiers taking civilians hostage and acted accordingly. It's not like I was trying to specifically save you."
"Even so, I am really grateful for what you did," The blue-haired girl insisted.
"Yeah, you were quite amazing!" Yuisis piped up. "One moment we were watching the airships and then! Wham! You were already on another building and running like the wind!"
"I agree with Yuisis here," Katalina added. "That was quite the impressive jump. Without even a running start, you cleared more than twenty meters in less than a second."
"What? Twenty meters?! That's crazy!" Vyrn yelped.
"It's nothing special," Archer replied without turning back. "I knew people that could do the same, or even better. I'm just average in that regard."
Average among Servants, that's it. But this being an alternate dimension where magic and mythical creatures were still common, it was quite possible the people of this world still had the chance to become Heroic Spirits on their own. Moreover, the man now known as Archer has never been the type to underestimate possible dangers.
"I'm wondering what kind of company you kept that you would consider a jump of twenty meters 'average'," Rackam waved his hand with an awkward smile. "Changing topic, anyone saw who, or what, fired at the Empire's airships?"
The others shook their heads.
"Not that I am not grateful. But you must admit it makes you wonder," Eugen grunted. "Oy Archer, you have the best eyes here. Did you know anything?"
"If you're asking me if I saw the origin of those attacks, then my answer is no," Technically true since to do so he would have needed a mirror. "Also, monsters incoming."
"Eh?" Io looked left and right. "Where?"
"Under the surface. A school of Jawfishes. We will reach them in thirty seconds," He turned around to look at the crew. "Do you want to take care of it? Jawfishes aren't very strong, so they're an ideal choice to get used to the way Auguste's monsters fight."
"Leave it to us!" Gran declared without hesitation while taking out his weapon, the others following his example. Archer had to give them credit, they quickly took a position as to cover each other's back.
"What do you mean, 'the way Auguste's monsters fight'? Monsters are monsters, right?" Vyrn asked.
"I assume Mister Archer is talking about how the local monsters dwell in the water, so we can't fight them like we do those on land," Katalina mused. "They'll probably pop out of the surface for quick attacks before swimming away, or aim at the bottom of the boat."
Eugen snickered. "Not quite Miss Katalina. Not quite. True, they do the latter with big ships-"
At that moment the water's surface broke in a dozen different points, the monsters jumping out of them. They had the form of large blue fishes, with spiky fins and large maws full of razor-sharp fangs. Reaching the jump's apex the Jawfishes, instead of falling down, began to wave their fins and move in the air as if they were still swimming in the water.
"But when they have people within their sight, they always choose a more 'personal' approach."
"What the?!" Vyrn gasped. "They're flying!? That's cheating!"
"I don't want to hear that from the flying lizard!" Io shot back.
"I AIN'T NO LIZARD!"
"Oh yes, that's absolutely shocking. Taking advantage of a natural ability to gain an edge in combat. Truly, it cannot be anything but cheating." Archer deadpanned.
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This last month has been somewhat awful for me. Let's hope it gets better.
BTW, love your avatar 
