By the time Lin Lan learned why Friedrich der Große and the others had suddenly come to Yunhai City, the battle against the Sirens on the sea had mostly come to an end.
The two Busters-Class III Sirens and the massive Type-II Siren fleet had essentially been wiped out under the pincer attack of the Ironblood fleet, leaving only a few mass-produced units putting up a desperate resistance.
However, the most critical "main actor" of this assault still hadn't been dealt with.
The Sea Lord Leviathan continued to thrash wildly with its enormous purple tentacles, lashing out at the surrounding pawn shipgirls, sending up massive waves.
At the same time, huge bolts of purple lightning rained down, venting the fury of this monster that should have remained at the bottom of the ocean trench.
Near the Sea Lord Leviathan, an ordinary emerald-green Leviathan kept regenerating its form. No matter how many times it was blown to pieces, it still revived.
"What kind of monster is this? It just won't die, no matter what we do!"
Prinz Heinrich, having regrouped with Agir and the others, dodged the massive tentacles and lightning bolts with agile movements as she asked.
"It's called the Sea Lord Leviathan, according to those lowly creatures. What a disgusting, clingy mess."
It was Deutschland, wielding a black and red shotgun, who responded with a face full of disdain.
She gagged slightly as she stared at the Leviathan's body, which continued to regenerate despite constant bombardment.
No matter how the Ironblood forces attacked the massive, grotesque creature, it quickly healed its wounds and dragged its bulk, flailing its eight purple tentacles, toward Yunhai City.
"Raaaaaaghhh——"
With a deafening roar from its maw filled with jagged teeth, even the nearby Leviathan remains began to regenerate and resurrect.
The Ironblood fleet had no choice but to repeatedly destroy the revived Leviathans around them.
Even under the combined firepower of Friedrich der Große, Ulrich, and the rest, the Sea Lord Leviathan—despite being blasted to pieces—kept reviving and slowly advancing.
"Commander, is there any way to completely kill it? At this rate, it'll reach Yunhai City sooner or later."
Seeing that the Sea Lord Leviathan was drawing closer to the coast—its enormous body already partially rising from the sea—Ulrich asked Lin Lan over the comms in a low voice.
"There is a way, but..."
Though Lin Lan's expression was bitter, he explained over the communicator the two conditions required to slay the Leviathan, as he had learned from Braun.
"Hehehe... so it's that simple?"
Friedrich der Große's confident voice echoed after Lin Lan's explanation, surprising him.
"Do you have a plan?" he asked.
With a serene smile, Friedrich der Große replied:
"My child, have you forgotten a certain Ironblood research battlecruiser who pledged loyalty to you?"
Before Lin Lan could respond, Friedrich der Große issued a high-spirited command through the communicator:
"Odin, show the Commander the supreme might of Ironblood!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
At that resolute reply, Lin Lan's heart skipped a beat.
Of course—Odin!
The Ironblood Phase-III research shipgirl wielding the thunderous Gungnir energy cannon. Her Gungnir could obliterate the Sea Lord Leviathan without leaving a trace!
But what about the light?
Before Lin Lan could finish his thoughts, he saw glowing blue lightning particles begin to appear in the dim sea and clouds lit by the violet evil lightning.
These glowing particles, like fireflies, were gathering in one direction—more and more of them, growing brighter and brighter.
Standing at the center of this growing sea of particles was a white-haired girl in black-aqua and crimson Ironblood rigging, wearing an Ironblood military cap, flanked by twin dragon-shaped rigs, holding a massive rigging greatsword in both hands.
Who else could it be but Odin?
All of that immense lightning energy was drawn to Odin's greatsword by her rigging's electromagnetic field, until the entire blade gleamed a blinding blue.
This sudden surge of energy made the Leviathan halt its advance toward Yunhai City. Its eight golden eyes shrank sharply as it turned to face the tiny shipgirl on the sea behind it.
The surviving Leviathans nearby went berserk, flailing their tentacles as they charged at Odin, trying to stop her from gathering more lightning.
But the Ironblood shipgirls, maintaining a clear line between Odin and the Sea Lord Leviathan, were no fools—they immediately opened fire on the approaching Leviathans, blasting them to pieces.
Under the protection of her Ironblood comrades, Odin raised her electromagnetic greatsword Gungnir high, its radiance growing ever more blinding.
The blue light pierced the darkness of the ocean, drawing the gaze of the despairing Oranians in Yunhai City and the navy commanders watching from the coast.
The fate of Yunhai City rested on this one strike!
Beside Lin Lan, Braun stared in awe at the divine-like radiance piercing the clouds, his mouth agape, letting rain drip in as he murmured:
"My Lord... what kind of miracle is this…"
"This is no miracle."
Lin Lan ignored Braun, speaking softly to himself as he stared at the blue lightning particles gathering on Odin's blade:
"This is the supreme power that the Ironblood girls once staked everything to obtain…"
In an instant, Lin Lan recalled the path Ironblood had taken in the game's original story, when no Commander existed.
He remembered how, faced with the blockade and hostility of all other factions, Ironblood pretended to ally with the Sirens only to be used by them, until Friedrich finally led them to thwart the Sirens' conspiracy.
He remembered how Bismarck, upon learning from the Sirens that in every world Ironblood was doomed to destruction, chose to face death alone.
The rise of Ironblood was always a path filled with hardship, struggle, and painful sacrifice.
And now, this brilliantly glowing electromagnetic blade was the crystallization of their defiance against that tragic fate, forged before they ever met him.
At last, Odin moved.
And from Lin Lan's communicator came her voice, filled with unyielding battle spirit:
"Commander, please witness your loyal Ironblood warrior Odin offering you victory!"
"Pierce through! Gungnir!"
Lin Lan's pupils shrank.
That's right—if not for him, as Commander, Ironblood might never have escaped the fate of being hunted by every other faction.
He, as Commander, had changed Ironblood's predestined end. He had united shipgirls of all factions to live peacefully and happily together in one port.
Odin, too, existed in this world only because of him—not as a discarded blueprint, but as a real shipgirl.
His shipgirls depended on him—and he loved them deeply in return.
As their Commander, he was the light illuminating their future.
With a fierce cry, Odin stepped forward on the sea. Though small, her body triggered a massive shockwave that spread outward like a tidal explosion.
Then came the giant blast of electromagnetic energy, hugging the sea's surface as it surged toward the Sea Lord Leviathan's colossal purple form.
Where it passed, the sea and darkness were split in two by its thunderous light. In an instant, the Leviathan's massive body was engulfed by Gungnir's light.
The once-invulnerable deep-sea monster was instantly vaporized by the energy beam. Its tentacles and all were reduced to nothing under the overwhelming electromagnetic storm.
Even the aftermath of the blast carved a deep, jagged canyon into the shoreline behind the Leviathan's body—like a divine slash from the heavens.
Then the massive tidal wave generated by Gungnir crashed into Yunhai City's coast, sweeping the stunned Qi Yue and others deep into the city.
"Condition Two is fulfilled. But what about the light?"
Just as Lin Lan wondered about the second condition while watching the Leviathan's body vanish, Odin's voice came again through the communicator:
"Herteitr's Rolling Thunder!!!"
Another blinding electromagnetic blast, just as powerful, shot from the sea into the sky, bathing the dark ocean in blue-white light.
Odin swung her greatsword skyward—and the electromagnetic energy tore through the clouds above, evaporating them completely, ripping open a hole in the storm to reveal the blue sky and shining sun.
At that moment, the afternoon sun poured through the rift onto the sea below.
Condition One, fulfilled!
The Sea Lord Leviathan's body had vanished, the sunlight directly struck the ocean, revealing a mass of thick black-and-red mist writhing in place.
Seconds later, the mist, seemingly unable to endure the sunlight, exploded with a pop and dissipated completely.
All that remained was a single black-red Wisdom Cube, suspended in the air where the mist had been, which then dropped straight into the sea.
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