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In the burning dawn sea, we attempted to evacuate the professor by placing her in a drum. This was because the marine monsters that had already climbed onto the shore were rampaging wildly.

Pointing at the unstable drum, the professor shouted in disbelief.

“Hey, professor! Get in!”

“What are you doing right now?!”

“I came to rescue you, as sent by your university! Don’t you learned people know this? Hurry up and get in!”

While brushing the water-soaked hair that clung all around her, Professor Bernike vented her frustration.

There was no need to worry about hypothermia; she was wearing a wetsuit for some reason.

“This is utterly ridiculous. You want me to ride in this rusty drum? It won’t even last a minute before it sinks to the bottom. You fools should have brought a boat! Don’t tell me you swam all the way here in a drum?”

“Not exactly… oh, right.”

“What’s this, stupid? Ugh, whatever. Just quickly get me on a boat.”

Thinking about it, we did have a navy. They could send any nearby fishing boat.

「Navy! Send a boat to this position!」

Soon, a fishing boat approached. With assistance, the professor climbed aboard, wringing out her hair and gulping down the water we handed her.

As the fishing boat moved away from the island, and as the professor got a bit organized, we began to ask questions.

“Professor, what was that monster? I know it’s a marine monster, but why did it show up?”

The Violets asked, looking at the monsters approaching the island.

After finishing a bottle of water, the professor chuckled and whispered with a playful glint that made her look like a mischievous middle schooler.

“Why did the monsters show up? Because I triggered a rampage.”

“Triggered a rampage? What do you mean?”

Taken aback by her unexpected comment, I asked. I had seen the doctor conducting some experiments in the laboratory, but could that have been a way to control the monsters?

“Those idiots used this marvelous brain of mine just to make toy controllers. But you can’t cage a dragon. Especially with the finest intellect of Rustroom, which possesses charm and talent, there’s no way those barbarians with guns could hold me down. A single vial of the awakening agent was all it took to mess with that colonel.”

“Oh, I see…”

Seeing the professor’s confident demeanor was absurd.

Could she really have escaped by controlling the monsters? When I asked, her response was laughable.

“Control? Do you think controlling a monster perfectly is child’s play? The magical power flowing on a cellular level makes ordinary brain-computer interfaces impossible! Even if you implant Laplacian or the foundation’s artificial nerves, complete control would take at least three months. What I did is not precisely control. I just stimulated the nervous system. It’s like the remote-control cockroach experiments those first-year kids do.”

“Remote-control cockroaches? They have kids doing that in college?”

“It’s a recreation for the naive and innocent freshmen. Anyway, can you call it proper ‘control’ if you electrically stimulate the antenna and nerves of a living bug to move it forcibly? Can you really say dragging it by the scruff is a self-directed stroll? It’s similar. I just stimulated the nervous system to make it rampage.”

“Uh… I don’t understand!”

“I’m not expecting you to understand, so don’t think too hard about it, mercenary.”

As we tilted our heads in confusion, she laughed mockingly.

For some reason, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

“Wait, that monster is rampaging madly on the beach.”

“But what do you mean by stimulation? Hold on, how long is it going to keep doing that?”

The yellow eyes of Bernike, filled with flames, glimmered like a snake.

“First, I injected tens of liters of hyperdren awakening agents and acceleron neurotransmitters into its auxiliary brain. Just before escaping, I overloaded the control bio-circuit connected to the main brain and spinal cord. That monster’s brain is probably overwhelmed by excessive stimulation.”

Bernike, seemingly enjoying herself, kept evoking sinister laughter.

“You could say its state is that of an anger management patient who returned home after overdosing on drugs and caught his friend cheating with his girlfriend. Haha!”

“Could you say that in a way I can understand?”

“I simplified it for you, mercenary… tsk, tsk. In short, it’s going to fight until it dies.”

As soon as I heard that, the ships belonging to the Violet Navy, which had been drawing attention, fled in panic.

The Violet forces on the ground had already retreated far from the coastline as soon as they caught sight of the monsters, but the confused navy was desperately trying to stop the creature.

Even the state of radio communication was chaos.

[Monster! This can’t be! Code Eta! Code Eta! It’s a Paranodon!]

[Damn! Look at that! It’s augmented with armor! It’s definitely modified!]

[Those fucking air force bastards! Did they modify that thing to control the monsters?]

Overhearing the radio chatter, Bernike chuckled to herself.

The scene was transmitted to the scholarship officer, who was aboard a jet thanks to Radio Violet.

“Scholarship Officer! Did you hear? The operation is over. The professor unleashed the monster.”

As soon as Radio Violet finished the report, the scholarship officer furrowed his brow like it was a rare occurrence, placing his right hand on his forehead in dismay.

“This is madness, Professor Bernike. You really—”

With a sigh, Seijis muttered. The Paranodon was already turning over the warships that had been anchored and smashing the docks.

The navy had unwittingly landed themselves in a monster movie.

Their role was that of an army being decimated by a giant monster.

[Heavy weapons! Where are the heavy weapons? Helicopters? Where the hell is the hunter team?]

The scream of an unnamed soldier echoed through the radio communication. Unfortunately, such things don’t exist. We shattered everything.

All that was left was for one faction to scream in terror and watch. After observing the battle for a while, the Violets spotted soldiers staggering, seemingly officers.

Foremost among them was a familiar face.

[i][…It’s the area commander. He’s currently heading that way with the assault team. We will subdue that creature!]

It was Colonel Kurt.

For some reason, he was covered in blood, looking like a mess, and seemed to have sustained some injuries. Officers carrying large bags followed him, all appearing like hunters.

Well, I didn’t know how great a fighter a colonel was, but I didn’t think he could knock down that enormous whale with dozens of tentacles all by himself.

The outcome was already decided.

“I guess we can let it be! We’ve won anyway; let’s just evacuate the people!”

Hearing my words, the scholarship officer immediately disagreed.

“We can’t do that. We came to seize that island. Have you forgotten that the allies need to enter and secure it? We also need to consider the possibility that the monsters’ focus will shift to the miners after destroying the navy base.”

“Oh, right…”

Feeling dispirited after an insightful reminder, I thought it over and realized I was far too simplistic. We had to defeat that gigantic monster.

“I’ll try and capture it somehow…”

“No need for that. We’re arriving soon, so leave it to me. Just provide fire support. I’ll handle the monster.”

“Got it!”

Three minutes later, we could hear the sharp jet engine sounds unique to the Palsion.

Colonel Kurt staggered forward with his officers. Before them loomed the struggle of their comrades thrashing and resisting along with the monster swinging its tentacles and firing beams.

“Damn it! Damn that professor! She shouldn’t have been utilized. Should have just kept her locked up like we agreed, or just killed her! Then we could’ve slowly received support from the corporations!”

“Exactly! Didn’t they say they’d support us if we just kept her locked away? There was no need to keep asking for more equipment!”

The subordinates muttered angrily. The colonel tightened the bandages around his left arm and struggled to reply.

“Can we trust that monster? Someone so superficial and impulsive is untrustworthy. Even more, that professor was much more cunning. It is our fault for not keeping an eye on her.”

It was a blunder. They seized the request coming from the corporations as the perfect opportunity, but that crafty professor took advantage of their complacency to scheme.

By the time I felt something was wrong and ran there, it was already too late, and Bernike had triggered a rampage that injured him and caused countless casualties.

In the moment she climbed onto the back of the monster and leisurely disappeared beneath the water, the colonel’s ambition of suppressing the fear of the deep sea and becoming the sea king turned to mere bubbles.

“However… we can start over… we must…”

“No, this is where it ends.”

With vacant eyes murmuring, Colonel Kurt opened them wide.

Before him stood a well-dressed man armed with a crossbow and one-handed sword.

Instinctively, he sensed that this person was an intruder.

Just as the colonel was about to issue a command, he noticed his subordinates were curiously silent.

When he turned around, the only one standing there was himself. All of his men were sprawled on the ground with bolts in their heads.

“What happened?”

Seijis felt no need to explain.

So the colonel discovered the sword lodged in his own chest. The scholarship officer recalled the past that had vanished into time with vague annoyance.

“Did you really think you could suppress the fear of the deep sea with your shallow schemes? That monster?”

“How did you—”

“So many have suffered because of your foolish ambitions. The delusions end here.”

“…!”

The colonel’s head was severed. Even in the last moments of his rolling head, questions lingered in his mind.

Seijis turned and stood in the way of the flailing Paranodon, which was making its way toward another direction on the dock.

This monster, a mix between a whale, an octopus, and a legendary dragon, seemed to have undergone some modifications, as its head and major body parts were surrounded by a blackened Gigas steel armor.

Indeed, the colonel was repeating the insanity as remembered.

‘How much sweat did I break dealing with that monster alongside Adela…’

Instead of instantly drawing his sword to charge, the scholarship officer decided to fulfill the expectations of the Violets.

“Violets, I need fire support. Very large fire support.”

“Got it!”

No sooner had Radio Violet completed her words than two biplanes appeared from above the naval base.

As the rear ramp opened, a massive metal barrel resembling an inflated drum plummeted from the sky.

The barrel bomb filled with about a ton of explosives and shrapnel was as barbaric in shape as it was impactful, but its precision heading toward the target couldn’t be overlooked.

The guiding device attached to the bomb persistedently controlled its wings, advancing toward the target.

-Boom! Kaboom!

A series of intense explosions erupted from atop the bomb. As the shockwave struck the Paranodon’s body, the magical power enveloping its skin repelled violently, creating a dazzling flashing light.

Though it sustained no fatal injuries, the impact delivered to its head seemed significant, as the Paranodon thrashed in agony, staggering about.

Some armor components attached to the monster’s body fell away. Almost immediately, Seijis rushed forward like lightning.

-Swish! Ping!

A barrage of bolts filled with furious magical power pierced through the tightly packed eyes on its head.

As vision vanished amidst the explosion, the monster wailed, wildly swinging its tentacles thick as columns.

The spot where the bolts struck was obliterated, but the target had already fled. Seijis swiftly darted around the monster.

The flying sword energy mercilessly cleaved through the tentacles.

In the moment, an extended hand revealed a wonderfully crafted axe with strange patterns adorning the air.

-Whoosh!

In the instant of invoking the Rykes hydra number one, the figure concealed itself. The monster, scanning around with all its eyes, had no choice but to witness the hateful human striking its tail.

-Rooooll!

The armor-reinforced auxiliary brain shattered. The formerly strong tentacles drooped weakly, causing the monster’s movements to slow. Struggling, it tossed its foe away. The scholarship officer, who had twisted his body toward the ocean, caught sight of the monster opening its mouth wide.

-Roowwwl!

Once again, a massive shield was summoned in mid-air. The shield and beams clashed violently, splitting light beams that swept across the sea.

From the ship carrying the professor away, the Violets could see the aftermath consuming those nearby as they dissipated in the chaos.

After shaking off the staggering immense pressure from the shield, Seijis leaped into the air.

The shallow intelligence of the raged monster sensed the impending danger.

In a desperate move, it barely flailed its remaining tentacles in a futile strike against the air.

It was all in vain. Seijis soared overhead, using the tentacles as stepping stones.

Rykes Hydra number five, the perfected throwing technique invoked in the blink of an eye.

Releasing the axe sent it spiraling through the air.

-Thwack!

The axe cleaved through the monster’s skull, crushing its brain.

The trembling axe veered in the opposite direction in defiance of time, spinning back into its owner’s hand.

The Paranodon, as if struck by lightning, convulsed its massive body and then collapsed right where it stood.

A stillness followed.

The Violets erupted into cheers.

“Wow!”

“We did it!”

“A guardian of the sea has been born!”

The Violets rushed toward the scholarship officer, who was calmly wiping the blood off his body.

“What are you doing?”

“One, two!”

Celebrating their victory, the Violets hoisted the scholarship officer into the air.

**

After the battle, the Violets began collecting their spoils.

“Guns! Ammunition!”

First, they gathered the immense weapons and ammo from the arsenal, raiding the headquarters’ safe for all valuables.

The money collected here would be used as compensation for the slave miners.

With such a bounty, there was no shortage of currency.

“Hey! There’s an armored vehicle. If we can drive this around…”

“Hey! What’s important about an armored vehicle? Look at this! It’s a robot!”

The surviving walkers stood before the Violets in line, eagerly awaiting their turn to sit in the cockpit.

Though they had ridden all sorts of vehicles, this was the first time they had climbed into a walking robot.

With cannons and machine guns mounted, it seemed fairly useful.

“Let’s grab some shells too. As long as we take out the gunpowder, it should be fine, right?”

Since they had cleaned out a military base, there was no end to what they could take.

Even if they raided the grocery store, they’d have an overabundance of food.

Our minds were already filled with thoughts of roasting BBQ.

“Hurry up!”

“Ugh…”

While sorting through the captured remaining prisoners, clearing debris, and carrying on with the tasks at hand, ships approached over the horizon.

It was the fleet of the allies. There were warships, and it seemed of considerable size.

Zeppelins soared in the sky.

“That emblem… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere…”

The lion emblem embedded on the zeppelin felt incredibly familiar.

As I racked my brain for memories while rummaging through the network, the scholarship officer hurriedly called us.

“The allies are coming. Let’s go meet them.”

“Uh? Okay.”

The approaching zeppelin appeared clearer and clearer. Now I remembered who the allies were.

“The Cascadia Family?”

No way, it was someone I knew. Why hadn’t they mentioned it?

“But Scholar, why didn’t you say? If it’s Sister Adela, isn’t she someone we know?”

Noticing the playful smile barely breaking through the scholarship officer’s expressionless face, I finally caught on.

“I said someone you know was coming. Adela is coming, but the one arriving here today will be someone you’ve never met before.”

“Someone I’ve never met?”

“An extremely important figure. That person is…”

While attentively listening to the scholarship officer’s explanation, the heavily-armed zeppelins slowly descended onto the maintenance hangar after finishing their preparations. The size was remarkably large.

The anti-gravity engines gradually lost their glow, slowing their speed, and the landing gear extended to gently touch the ground.

As soon as the ramp opened, hunters clad in armor stepped out, along with Sister Adela.

“Sister!”

“It’s the Student Council President!”

Looking back now, I thought we might be gifting Sister Adela a mine.

A bright smile spread across Sister Adela’s face upon spotting us.

As I was about to rush over to her for praise, the scholarship officer stopped me, as if signifying not to approach until the most important person had arrived.

Then, a rugged-looking man stepped down from the zeppelin alongside his entourage.

The expression of Sister Adela, who had just been smiling, turned solemn in an instant, and we instinctively realized who this important person was.

The scholarship officer had informed us.

“Is that person the one?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

This was the first time we were meeting a true figure from a renowned family since Cordo.

“That’s Adela’s father!”

The illustrious Duke Alistair of the Cascadia Family, a scion of a prestigious noble house, approached us.

“You are the Violets my daughter spoke of.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than all the members of the Violet Brigade chimed in.

“It’s the Duke!”

“Hello! It’s Sister’s Dad!”

“Wow!”

As soon as we welcomed him, everyone except me, the Duke, and the scholarship officer turned pale in shock.

I had no idea what the problem was.

 

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