"All troops, form the Phalanx! Leave no gaps!"
Cheng Pu, the vice-commander of the Sun Army, shouted across the battlefield.
As soon as his command fell, the Sun Clan's heavy infantry, clad in red steel armor, simultaneously raised their massive shields.
Clang-! Kwa-ang!
With the dull thud of steel interlocking with steel, a solid crimson fortress was erected atop the ships.
However, it was no ordinary army battering against that wall.
"Kiiieeeek!"
"Grrr... Meat... Fresh meat..."
Swarms of Water Ghouls crawled ceaselessly up from the river.
With pale, bloated skin and razor-sharp claws, they scratched at the shields like hungry ghosts, trampling over the corpses of their own kind in a desperate attempt to scale the wall.
Screech! Clang!
"Do not be pushed back! The furnace is behind us! If we get pushed back, we all die!"
As the soldiers gritted their teeth and held the line, long muzzles protruded through the gaps in the shields.
It was the 'Steam Flamethrower,' an anti-monster weapon that culminated the technology of the Forge.
"Burn them!"
Hiss—!!!
Crimson flames mixed with high-pressure steam sprayed out in a fan shape.
The Water Ghouls clinging to the shield wall were turned into charcoal before they could even scream, falling back into the river.
Roaring flames and the nauseating smell of burning flesh filled the Purgatory River.
Fire and Steel.
This was the 'Tactics of Fire' that the House of Sun prided itself on.
But Liu Biao's forces were formidable as well.
"Argh! W-what is this?!"
One side of the defensive line collapsed.
'Corrupted Horseshoe Crabs,' with bodies as large as houses, appeared and tore through the steel shields like paper with their powerful pincers.
To make matters worse, the green acidic liquid spewing from their mouths melted the soldiers' armor and flesh in an instant.
Sizzle-
"Aaaargh! My arm! My arm is melting!!"
Just as the battle line was disarrayed and chaos was about to ensue.
A cold, composed voice encompassing the entire battlefield flowed through the Resonance Tubes plugged into the soldiers' ears.
[Do not panic. 3 o'clock, 4 crabs. Impact coordinates confirmed.]
It was Sun Quan, the second son, guarding the furnace at the main base in the rear safe zone.
Standing before complex observation equipment where dozens of lenses and gears interlocked and rotated, he was observing the battlefield as if looking down at a chessboard.
Red targeting lines calculated by magic flashed rapidly across his glasses.
[Commencing fire support. Keep your heads down.]
Boom-! Thud!
Large-caliber steam cannons mounted on the rear ships spat fire.
The precisely calculated armor-piercing shells avoided friendly forces and struck the heads of the crabs that had breached the defense line.
Bang-! Crunch!
Hard shells shattered, and hideous green fluid splattered everywhere.
Thanks to Sun Quan's perfect control, the Sun Army managed to barely maintain the line despite being outnumbered.
However, that balance did not last long.
From the center of the battlefield, where Sun Ce and Gan Ning were rushing, a desperate vibration began.
*
"Huff... huff... Is that it?"
Dragging his body, which had become tattered from dozens of battles, Gan Ning pointed forward with his chin.
Sun Ce also nodded, gasping for breath.
"Yeah. That disgusting lump of shit is Liu Biao's flagship."
At the end of their gaze lay a massive island floating on the river—Liu Biao's Flagship.
But up close, it looked less like a 'ship' and more like a giant biological fortress.
Barnacles embedded all over the hull squirmed as if breathing, and hundreds of yellow eyeballs glistened on the deck.
It was then.
Suddenly, the river swirled madly, and the water level around the flagship dropped rapidly.
"Uh, uh? What's wrong with the water?"
While Gan Ning was flustered, a muddy voice, sounding like boiling bubbles, resonated through the entire river.
[Tsk, annoying rats... I tried to end this with my cute toys.]
It was Liu Biao.
But that was not a sound coming from a demon's vocal cords.
It was the vibration of a deep-sea monster scratching the riverbed.
[What are you doing interrupting my meal? Do you know how hungry it makes me just to lift this body?!]
Kwa-a-ang!
Suddenly, a dozen massive tentacles soared up around the flagship.
But the tentacles were not aimed at Sun Ce or Gan Ning.
They targeted the ships of Liu Biao's own fleet escorting the flagship.
"Co-Commander? Why us...!"
"Aaaargh!"
Crunch-! Crack!
The giant tentacles wrapped around friendly ships, crushing them, and swept the soldiers and debris inside into the flagship's 'mouth.'
Using his own subordinates as fuel, the colossal monster was awakening.
Crunch, crack. Gulp.
[More... More... I need more life force!]
Along with the horrific sound of cannibalism, the river exploded upwards, and the entire flagship, which they had thought was an 'island,' rose up.
No, it stood up.
"Crazy..."
A sigh escaped Sun Ce's lips.
It was not a ship.
Wearing a giant shell in the shape of a ship, a deep-sea monster that had been rooted in the riverbed.
It was the legendary monster, the Kraken.
Having consumed enough nutrients, the Kraken stretched out its massive tentacles in all directions as if it had nothing to fear.
A single tentacle was thicker than most ships.
Faced with that overwhelming mass, the Sun Army's ships nearby were flipped over and crushed futilely like toy boats.
"Aaaargh!"
"S-Save me...!"
Giant suckers on the tentacles sucked up soldiers like vacuum cleaners, and Liu Biao chewed and swallowed them indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe.
Liu Biao's upper body, embedded in the head of the Kraken—the main body—looked down at the battlefield with eyes full of madness.
On his chest, the
A despairing difference in size.
Ordinary soldiers dropped their weapons and collapsed.
That was not an opponent they could fight and win against.
It was simply a calamity.
However.
"Do not cower!!!"
A thunderous roar tore through the air of the battlefield that was being soaked in defeat.
Emitting heat hotter than fire, a giant man with a red cape fluttering behind him appeared.
The Tiger of the Sun Family, Sun Jian.
"Being big just means there are more places to hit!"
Sun Jian placed one foot on the prow and aimed his red-hot Ancient Ingot Blade at the Kraken's brow.
Behind him, a haze rose up, and the image of a giant tiger shimmered.
"Ce! Are you just going to stand there and watch!"
At his father's shout, Sun Ce snapped out of it and let out a smirk.
"No way. The sashimi is just so big I was admiring it for a moment."
Flames ignited once again on Sun Ce's fists.
And beside him, Gan Ning pulled his chains taut, giggling.
"Let's make a rich seafood soup, old man!"
The Kraken, a monster far transcending the power of mortals.
And three beasts challenging that monster.
The final hunt for the fate of the Purgatory River was beginning.
*
"Urgh...!"
Sun Ce coughed out a rough breath and stepped back.
His fists were already overheated and blackened, and muscles all over his body were screaming.
Kwa-ang! Thud!
Even though the father and son, Sun Jian and Sun Ce, burned off a few of the Kraken's legs and punched holes in its body, it was useless.
Slime poured out from the wounds, and the severed flesh grew back in an instant.
Overwhelming regeneration.
The authority of
[Useless... You are just my snacks... I will eat you when you get tired... Very slowly...]
Liu Biao's mocking vibration echoed through the river.
Sun Jian silently looked down at his sword, the Ancient Ingot Blade.
Even that massive lump of iron, glowing red-hot from the heat of the furnace, seemed powerless before the bastard's infinite regeneration.
'Burning the outside won't kill him.'
Sun Jian's red eyes turned toward the Kraken's gaping maw, the esophagus as deep as an abyss.
The only passage unprotected by the hard shell.
And the place where the bastard's heart, the
A bitter, yet relieved smile hung on Sun Jian's lips.
"Ce."
"Huff... huff... Yes, Father. Is there... a way?"
Sun Ce wiped his sweat and asked, but what returned was a rough shove instead of an answer.
Thud!
"Ugh?!"
Sun Jian pushed Sun Ce away forcefully with his shoulder.
Caught off guard, Sun Ce tumbled across the deck and was flung out of the battlefield.
"F-Father?!"
"Watch closely. This is the Sun Family's final flame."
Instead of answering, Sun Jian drew up all the mana in his body.
The
Lava-like light spewed out from the cracks in his skin.
That was not output for combat.
It was a suicidal act of ignoring the body's limits and forcibly overloading the core.
"You... pig-like bastard! Try digesting this too!!"
Kwa-a-ang!
Sun Jian kicked off the deck and leaped.
His target was not the Kraken's tentacles.
He pierced straight through the green miasma spewed by the bastard and threw his body into the giant maw vibrating with a foul stench.
[Kuhahaha! Walking into the feed bin on your own! Stupid tiger!]
Liu Biao, steeped in ecstasy, snapped his giant jaws shut.
The Kraken's throat moved with a gulp as it swallowed Sun Jian whole.
But that ecstasy did not last three seconds.
[Burp? Grrr...? H-Hot...?!]
Liu Biao's scream shook the river.
The Kraken's pitch-black body began to glow red from the inside out.
As if a giant sun had been placed inside a thin paper lantern.
Deep inside the stomach, Sun Jian drove the Ancient Ingot Blade deep into Liu Biao's entrails and burned everything he had.
"Secret Art... [Heart Core Meltdown]. Let's go together, to hell."
Vooooom-
The heat crossing the critical point made no sound.
An intense white flash burst out, piercing through the Kraken's belly.
[No! My body! It's melting-!!]
KWA-A-A-A-ANG-!!!
A massive explosion, as if a giant mana furnace had gone out of control, erupted in the middle of the Purgatory River.
The surrounding river water and atmosphere evaporated in an instant, and the Kraken's colossal body melted away without a trace.
Leaving not a single cell to regenerate, perfectly.
A white pillar of steam soared into the sky.
Inside that majestic pillar of fire, the Tiger of the Sun Family oxidized without leaving even ash behind.
*
"...Father?"
Sun Ce, who had been slammed into the ship's railing by the shockwave of the explosion, staggered to his feet.
Before his eyes was nothing but white steam.
That intense heat, the overwhelming majesty of the Kraken, and his father's massive back pushing him away.
Everything was gone.
Thud, plop.
Blackened chunks of meat rained down from the sky.
They were Liu Biao's remains.
And amidst that ashen rain, a single brilliantly shining
"Ah... Aaah..."
Sun Ce's knees buckled.
A sense of loss greater than sorrow carved out his heart.
He didn't even have the strength left to wail.
He just stared blankly at the water surface where the fragment had fallen.
It was then.
Whirrr— Clank.
Before the steam could even clear, an alien mechanical sound was heard from above.
Before Sun Ce could lift his head, a tearing laughter through a loudspeaker struck his eardrums first.
[Kyahahaha! A father-son reunion I can't watch without tears!]
A giant shadow floating in the sky.
Powered by steam engines and mana stones, it was the aerial battleship, Yuan Shu's Airship.
Having not shown even a glimpse of itself throughout the battle, it revealed itself only now that everything was over.
"Yuan... Shu...!"
Sun Ce tried to clench his fist while grinding his teeth, but he couldn't move a single finger.
Due to the shock of watching his father's self-destruction and exhaustion, his mana circuits had completely stopped.
On the deck of the airship, Yuan Shu, clad in a golden maneuver suit, looked down with greedy eyes.
His gaze was shifting between the
[They say a tiger leaves its skin when it dies, but you leave fragments? This is exactly what 'reaping the fisherman's profit' means.]
Yuan Shu twitched the finger holding the control stick.
The muzzle of the magic cannon mounted at the bottom of the airship aimed precisely at the defenseless Sun Ce.
[Farewell, Little Conqueror. Go follow your father and be a filial son.]
"You, son of a bitch...!"
Kwa-ang!
Sun Ce's scream was buried by the roar of the cannon.
A merciless magic shell pierced through the ashen smoke and engulfed Sun Ce's bloodied body.