ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (2)

Battle of Isra Sea 2

November 25

Isra Sea, Off the southern coast of Israfail Empire

Two hours had already passed since the Southern Fleet of the Israfail Empire, led by Admiral Aaron Siomenan Dreyfus, and the First Fleet of the United Kingdom of Slephen, led by Admiral Gilbert Crowe, clashed at the Isra Sea. The Israfean fleet, which had 210 ships sailing, including old sailing ships, men o' war, and paddle steamers, as well as the armored cruiser, was almost helpless before the magic heat ray cannons and magic barriers possessed by the 231 ships of the Slephen fleet, leaving only 42 ships, including the flagship Solomon, capable of continuing the battle. On the other hand, damage to the Slephen fleet was only four ships that were badly damaged or disabled, making this predictable-looking battle between 17th-century sailing warships against 19th-century steam warships turned out to be the 17th-century ones overwhelming the 19th-century ones.

"Damn... this one fleet is a stubborn one."

Gilbert Crowe, commander of the Slephen fleet, was frustrated by the enemy's stubbornness.

"Commander! The batteries in the power reactor are about to run out!" a technician reported.

The power source, which had been supplying an enormous amount of magic power due to the continuous use of the magic barriers covering the ships and the heat ray cannons, was about to run out.

"If we can at least disable the magic barrier, we can avoid running out of battery power. Let's use the magic heat ray cannon to finish the job in one fell swoop!"

"But if we deactivate the barrier, we will be hit by the Israfean silver dragons from the sky at any rate..."

In the sky over the sea where the naval battle is taking place, 47 silver dragons from Israfail's fleet were flying around. They are now blocked by the magic barrier, so they are unable to touch the Slephen fleet, but once the barrier is lifted, they will attack at once.

"It's inevitable... we'll try the guided heat ray cannon, although it's still in the prototype stage."

"...I understand, sir!"

Gilbert decided to use yet another new weapon. His orders were transmitted to the ships via the faith shells.

Above the sea

Forty-seven riders belonging to the Israfail Empire's Southern Fleet were watching the battle between their fleet and the Slephen fleet from the sky, or rather... watching helplessly. Although they tried to attack the enemy ship many times, they were blocked by the strong magical barrier and could not even inflict damage. On the other hand, their ships were steadily being sunk by the laser beams emitted by the enemy. Feretz Ephraiman Slonimsky, the captain of the dragon rider unit, bit his lower lip in frustration at the sight of his troops being one-sidedly beaten.

"Captain, look!"

At that moment, one of the riders pointed at the enemy ship. The four heat ray cannons attached to the enemy ship were pointing upward. Feretz, intuiting that they were aiming at him, ordered his men to disperse.

"All hands, evasive action!"

In order to escape from Slephen's attack, the 47 riders scattered and began to fly around. Immediately thereafter, a beam of light was shot into the sky from each of the Slephen fleet's ships.

"WHAT!?"

The beams curved toward the dragons flying around in the sky. 40 silver dragons were shot down almost simultaneously. The seven surviving dragon riders, including Feretz, were stunned, not knowing what had happened. A few dozen seconds later, a second barrage was fired. Feretz left this world with his partner silver dragon, without even a moment to leave a final word. The bodies of the silver dragons, burning, fell one after another onto the sea.