The Divine Throne of Shipgirls

"Where did this little brat come from?" sneered Abyssal Monitor. "Your rigging's practically bigger than you are."

Viribus Unitis's rigging looked like two massive shields slung on either side of her, each mounted with a triple gun turret. The visual contrast of tiny girl and giant cannons was undeniable.

Sword pointed diagonally at Monitor, Viribus Unitis shouted, "Cease your nonsense! I have come to take your head!"

Monitor let out a cold laugh. Her short-barreled cannon fired a solid spherical shell.

In yesterday's battle, this type of shell had already proven deadly—it was a smart bomb etched with magical power. Dodging it was no use.

Viribus Unitis tracked the shell's arc. The moment it closed in, she brought her sword down in a slash!

Though it sounds long, the whole sequence took but a second. The shell erupted just as it neared her, engulfing her in magical flame.

Monitor raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I'll play with you a little, then."

From within the explosion burst dozens of crescent-shaped, cyan sword beams, slicing through the air toward Monitor.

Viribus Unitis followed close behind, charging in with her command sword blazing. In just seconds, she unleashed a total of three hundred sixty slashes—like birds returning to the forest, her sword aura rained down upon Monitor.

Monitor had no intention of engaging in close combat. As the blades closed in, she formed a series of intricate hand seals, levitating three meters off the sea. Her dress flared like a bell, glowing from within.

Each arc of sword energy that neared her vanished into the folds of her skirt like birds into a nest, swallowed without a trace.

"Impressive sword aura. Now taste my spider mines!"

Monitor's slender hand tapped her side-mounted cannon. With each tap, a black orb rolled out. Each orb bore an eye-like rune, and upon hitting the sea, sprouted four spider legs and scurried toward Viribus Unitis.

Having closed within a hundred meters, Viribus Unitis spotted the advancing spider mines. She veered into a wide arc, trying to flank the enemy.

"Ara ara… if there are spiders, how could there not be webs?"

Monitor curtsied. The turret on her crocodile-shaped hat fired a beam as thick as a girl's leg into the sea, instantly transforming a ten-nautical-mile radius into a dark green dimensional rift.

From the water rose thick, glowing webs of emerald silk, their strands hissing with energy.

Viribus Unitis's heart tightened. She slashed at the web before her, but there were more than a hundred layers, and each was extraordinarily tough—one strike barely cut through two.

That moment's hesitation gave the spider mines time to close in.

Splitting her focus, Viribus Unitis used her rigging's turrets to snipe them one by one. At such a close range, a fully trained shipgirl like her would never miss.

Each spider mine exploded into a puff of oily green smoke—but the smoke couldn't penetrate her defenses.

Monitor's expression hardened. She kept releasing spider mines with one hand, while her other hand formed another sequence of seals as she chanted softly.

The spider mines stopped self-detonating. Instead, they grew—rupturing their outer shells to reveal mechanical arachnids ten meters tall.

Over a hundred of these spider mechs clattered forward with snapping pincers, closing in from all directions.

Viribus Unitis drew a deep breath and raised her command sword. A dazzling holy light pierced through the storm clouds and surged into her blade.

"King's Blade—Divine Banishment Slash!"

A golden energy blade thirty meters wide burst from her sword. Dancing like a flower in the wind, Viribus Unitis darted among the enemy ranks. Wherever her blade passed, the spider mechs were sliced clean in two, screeching as their limbs curled in agony and their bodies melted into pools of glowing green sludge under the purifying flame.

Aboard the ships, the international press erupted with excitement, furiously snapping shots of the battle. Most daring of all was Cumberland, who used her ship-rigged sprite to fly a camera dangerously close to the combat.

A young girl. A holy sword. A wicked sorceress. Mechanical spiders. A shaft of sunlight piercing the storm.

A magnificent battle had begun.

[End of Chapter]

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