Chapter 45

The battle continued without a break.

In fact, aerial combat was the domain of mages and the crew members who operated the airships.

While they did various tasks, the most important one was to deploy a shield at the crucial moment to block the enemy's main cannon fire.

Maintaining the shield continuously would be safe, but in that case, mana consumption would increase exponentially.

Therefore, mages who could quickly deploy and dismiss a shield at the precise moment and not allow even a single shot to hit were considered superior.

However, no matter how excellent a mage, their reserves of mana were bound to have limits.

This is where the crew members' abilities became important.

If they could evade even one more attack, the mage's mana consumption would decrease proportionally, which is why mages spared no time, effort, or cost in training their crew members.

However, this didn't mean that aerial combat was solely their responsibility.

CRASH!

An enemy ship rammed the side of Unit 917's airship.

The shields protecting both vessels disappeared simultaneously.

Unit 917's airship tried to create distance, but the enemy ship stubbornly rammed its bow and wouldn't let go.

The enemy ship's deck was very chaotic.

Thud.

Thwack.

Several grappling hooks attached to ropes flew over and caught on the airship's railing.

They were trying to force a close-quarters battle.

"Cut the ropes!"

Selina shouted, but it was impossible.

Enemy arrows would fly if we got too close.

"Prepare for melee combat!"

I checked the shield's stability, drew my sword, and shouted.

Glancing behind me, I saw that no one was standing properly due to the impact of the collision.

Come to think of it, this was my first aerial battle.

Our members, including myself, were not yet accustomed to fighting on a shaking ship in aerial combat.

I was barely holding on by force of my stats, but if I hadn't gone beyond Level 1, I too would have been swaying back and forth like a small sailboat on a choppy sea.

"Charge! Chaaaaarge!"

"Sweep away the dogs of the Black Dragon!"

"Glory to the Queen!"

With thunderous shouts, enemy soldiers carrying weapons climbed over the railing of our airship using ropes.

At the forefront was a burly man with a fierce expression.

His first impression brought to mind a pirate sailing the rough seas.

However, in this world, everyone knew that melee combat wasn't decided solely by size unless you were an idiot.

"Glory, what glory?"

Perhaps my past battlefield experience wasn't in vain; instead of recklessly confronting him, I calmly analyzed my opponent first.

He threw his body into the air, raised a two-handed axe above his head, and poured all his strength into a single, utterly simple attack.

Even as a novice, I saw so many flaws that I didn't know where to begin pointing them out.

I judged that blocking with a shield would be a loss.

I ran forward and swung my sword in a wide horizontal arc.

THWACK!

"Guh-ooh-ooh-ooh!"

The man flew back with the same momentum he had charged with, tumbling across the deck.

From the sensation of the impact, he seemed to be a well-trained Level 1 Hero.

Unfortunately, I couldn't cut him in half or throw him off the airship with a single blow.

However, seizing the initiative was successful.

The enemies, who had been charging with exhilaration like bandits on the verge of a successful raid, hesitated, and in that time, our allies stood up, took their stances, and faced them.

"C-Commander?!"

"The commander in one blow... Could he be a knight who can use magic? But his attire is that of a soldier..."

It seemed the burly man who had just been sent flying was the player character, the commander.

Placing the player character at the very front.

Should I say he was fearless, or overconfident?

Either way, it was lucky.

Witnessing their commander fall in a single blow, the White Hero soldiers couldn't exert their full power, and thanks to that, the battle ended without much difficulty.

The last White Hero standing eventually knelt before me, bleeding.

"Any last words?"

"This defeat will not lead to White Hero's downfall!"

"Remarkable loyalty. Though your queen won't even acknowledge it."

SHICK.

I cut down the last White Hero soldier.

My breathing was a little rough, but I didn't feel tired.

Now, all that remained was to capture the enemy airship as spoils of war...

"W-We have to cut the ropes!"

"Arrrgh! All the heroes are dead!"

The enemy ship was in utter chaos.

Some crew members sat down and wailed, while others frantically tried to cut the connected ropes to somehow survive.

It wasn't over just because all enemy heroes were eliminated.

All White Hero crew members were also soldiers, and we had to deal with them completely to secure the enemy airship as spoils.

Securing an additional airship would give us a significant advantage, so if there was an opportunity, we absolutely had to seize it.

"I'm going over for a bit."

I didn't even have time to wait for Selina's permission, so the moment I put my foot on the railing to act immediately.

CRASH!

"Such... madness...!"

A powerful explosion, along with erupting flames, intense heat, and pain, enveloped my entire body.

Thrown back by the impact, I rolled a few times on the deck, and the flames on my uniform naturally extinguished, but the pain doubled.

Lirisa rushed over and helped me up.

"Ryan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But did you see what happened?"

"There was bombardment from the enemy medium-sized airship."

"...It seems he didn't graduate Stage 1 purely by luck. He has some ability to assess the overall war situation."

I had judged that a player commanding a medium-sized vessel would be beyond a novice level, but he was more capable than I had thought.

Even for an ultra-small airship, he knew its importance and had the audacity to destroy it with his own hands rather than let the enemy capture it.

In the end, all we could do was quickly cut the ropes.

Once all the ropes were cut, the enemy airship, having lost power, plummeted downwards.

CRASH!

Hitting the ground, the airship let out black smoke in a final spectacular fireworks display.

The problem didn't end there.

Suddenly, our airship began to tilt sharply.

"Uh-oh?"

I caught Lirisa as she lost her balance, and with my other hand, I desperately grabbed a rope connected to the sail.

The airship's tilt steepened to almost 90 degrees.

No one, including the crew, was standing properly; most were barely holding on, stepping on the railing.

The cause was the previous bombardment.

One of the wings and part of the sail were completely blown off, causing it to lose its balance.

Selina was struggling, but it seemed difficult to resolve the problem immediately.

"Everyone, hold on tight!"

With Selina's warning, a White Hero airship approached rapidly and rammed into our airship.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"KYYYAAAAHHH!"

Screams filled the air, and the dangerously tilted airship finally flipped completely.

Several crew members couldn't hold on and plummeted towards the distant ground.

Selina's eyes glowed blue.

Because she cherished every soldier and crew member, she used her magic without restraint to cast gravity magic.

The bow of the enemy airship was aimed at us.

Looking into its chillingly dark muzzle, cold sweat streamed down my face.

"...I'm really going to die."

If it hit directly at this range, Level 2 or not, it would be certain death.

Selina was in conflict.

With trembling pupils, she looked back and forth between the crew members who had not yet hit the ground and the muzzle.

She couldn't use multiple spells simultaneously.

Therefore, she had to abandon one.

If she canceled the gravity magic, the crew members would die, and if she didn't use defensive magic, everyone clinging to the airship would die.

ZZZZZZZT....

Magic gathered around the main cannon.

Selina squeezed her eyes shut.

I had a rough idea of what decision she had made.

The Selina I knew would never give up on people.

She must have already made her decision in her heart, but she was hesitating until the very last moment because she wasn't confident in her choice.

I, as the field commander, had to give her confidence.

"Selina! Abandon the ship!"

"…!"

Her eyes snapped open.

The moment she bit her lower lip hard, nodded, and opened her mouth.

"Hmm... This posture, it's too much for an old man."

Archmage Oscar.

The old man, who had been held like a sack by Sergel gripping the railing, his eyes glowed black, and a black barrier unfolded on the airship's surface.

CRASH!

An explosion was heard.

However, the enemy's main cannon could not penetrate the black barrier.

"...Thank you, Elder."

Only then did a relieved Selina concentrate on controlling the gravity magic, and I, too, could calm my startled heart.

And then, another explosion.

Flames shot up from the side of the enemy airship that had been aiming its muzzle at us.

A cannonball fired from an allied small airship far away had struck the enemy airship.

"...H-Huh."

A sobbing sound came from below.

I looked down and saw Lirisa, whom I was holding, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

I had been sweating profusely during the situation just now, so I thought it was understandable.

"By the way, the situation isn't looking good..."

Currently, Unit 917 was unable to continue the operation.

We were forced to lower our altitude.

Indeed, the presence of a medium-sized airship was overwhelming in a sky filled with small and ultra-small airships.

Although our side had more airships, the tide of battle shifted significantly every time the medium-sized airship's main cannon spewed a flash.

As time passed, the war situation became increasingly unfavorable.

Even at this moment, an allied airship was plummeting with flames trailing from its tail.

Once again, just as the medium-sized airship was about to fire its main cannon.

[All allied airships, lower your altitude. Anti-aircraft fire will commence.]

A male voice came from Selina's rank insignia.

Perhaps the signal had reached other airships as well, as allied airships rapidly lowered their altitude.

Judging that something was amiss, the White Hero airships increased their speed, abandoning the skies above the fortress and fleeing.

KABOOOM!

Blue light beams, originating from the ground, crisscrossed the sky.

* * *

Thanks to the enemies quickly realizing and retreating, the anti-aircraft fire from Ahinlab Fortress did not shoot down any enemy ships.

However, it was not entirely meaningless.

The anti-aircraft fire brought a temporary lull to the disadvantageous battle for our side, providing time to regroup and reorganize.

Unit 917's airship slowly headed towards the fortress's landing strip.

"Over here! Slowly lower your altitude!"

Engineers waiting at the landing strip guided the landing.

As the airship landed, numerous engineers swarmed it and began repairing the damaged parts.

"My judgment was slow, and I almost put you all in danger. I am truly sorry."

And Selina, first and foremost, bowed her head to us.