Kwagwagwagwang-!!!
The three massive discharge outlets, five meters in diameter, installed on the wall burst open simultaneously.
Tens of thousands of tons of putrid water and mud, held back in the upper reservoir, crashed down onto the floor with overwhelming water pressure.
The result was devastating.
"Gyaaahhh-!!"
"Save me! The armored car, the armored car is being swept away!!"
The torrent struck the concrete floor and swallowed dozens of rebels in an instant, their screams vanishing without a trace beneath the huge roar of the water.
Crack-! Kwaang!
One armored car, unable to withstand the pressure, tilted over, then was swept away by the current and slammed into the wall.
"Fuck! Save me!"
"Grab something! Grab anything!"
Absolute pandemonium.
Men whose skulls cracked against the concrete walls, men crushed to a pulp by the armored car as it was swept along, men who gulped mouthfuls of muddy water and suffocated in moments.
"Insane."
Erica's mouth fell open. Hannah had a death grip on the catwalk railing, and I too was soaked from the spray, my uniform drenched, as I looked down at the scene.
'Status Analysis.'
[Target: Rebel Conscript]
[Status: Drowning, bruised, extreme terror]
[Emotion: Save me! The water, too much... glub!]
"W-We've succeeded! Almost all of them have been swept away!"
Hannah snapped back to her senses and made her report.
'Almost all,' she said.
"...It's not over yet."
This enormous underground reservoir was larger than two soccer fields combined. The water that poured in from the outlets had risen in a flash, but the sheer size of the chamber meant it couldn't be completely submerged.
Soon, the water level began to stabilize at around an adult man's waist.
Which meant there were still some tough bastards who'd survived the torrent.
"Re-form the line! Move to the shallows! Climb onto the concrete rubble!!"
From the center of the now flooded lower section.
Someone had clambered onto the wreckage of a flipped armored car and a pile of collapsed pipes. It was Victor.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Victor]
[Status: Full-body bruises, extreme rage, killing intent]
[Emotion: Because of these sons of bitches, my men! I'll tear every one of you to pieces!]
He had managed to fish dozens of elite troops out of that chaos. And in their hands were numerous rifles and even anti-tank weapons that hadn't been swept away.
"The ceiling catwalk! Shoot! Shoot them down!"
Ting! Kagagagang!
Sparks flew as bullets bit into the old iron mesh.
"Ngh!"
Sidney ducked and hid behind a metal pipe, while Hannah, Erica, and I also hurried to stay low.
Fortunately, our allies waiting in the upper tunnel began covering us.
"Cover the Lieutenant Colonel!"
"Open fire!"
But the platform we were on wouldn't hold out for long.
"Withdraw! Run for the upper tunnel!"
We immediately bent low and sprinted along the catwalk.
"They're running! After them!"
Victor shouted.
"Ngh...! The firepower from the upper tunnel is too strong! If we try to chase them recklessly...!"
"Damn it! Just shoot! Keep shooting as much as you can!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
Tadadadang-!
Bits of iron mesh tore loose in all directions, sparks flying.
"Gah!"
"How do they still have the energy to shoot after swallowing all that shit water?!"
"Right side, on the pipe rubble! Enemy with an anti-tank weapon!"
Along with Hannah's call, one of the enemy was spotted hoisting a rocket launcher.
Those who'd survived below were closing their net of fire in a frenzy of spite.
"We're in trouble! There's no cover ahead!"
Sidney was right.
The section we had sprinted through earlier to break into the catwalk was just as exposed on the way back.
From below, Victor kept shouting.
"Aim for the section with no cover! Turn them to pulp the moment they stick their heads out!"
If they pinned us down here, it was over.
'Now.'
[Skill 'Bullet Time (Lv.2)' activated.]
The flow of the world stretched grotesquely. The ringing gunfire and shouting around my ears turned into a low, humming frequency.
Now that the enemy's numbers had noticeably thinned, I calmly exhaled and adjusted my grip on the submachine gun.
First, the gunner pulling out the rocket launcher.
Aim, align.
Taaang-!
The 9mm round left the barrel and punched cleanly between his eyes. His head snapped back before he could even register my face, spraying droplets of blood into the air.
Without a moment to watch the spectacle, I swung my muzzle to the next target.
Next, the one trying to mount a light machine gun behind a collapsed pipe.
Then the two marksmen who were aiming right where we were about to emerge.
Tatang! Tang! Taaang-!
In a slow motion so monotonously sluggish, only my finger pulling the trigger moved at normal speed.
[Skill 'Bullet Time' enters cooldown.]
[Remaining daily uses: 1/2]
Exactly four shots.
Wind holes appeared in the heads and chests of the four most threatening enemies.
"Keuheok!"
"Gahhhk!"
They crumpled all at once. The light machine gun being set up tumbled into the water, and the warhead of the rocket launcher, just about to fire, sailed toward the wrong part of the ceiling.
Kwaaaang-!
In that instant, as Victor barked in bewildered shock from below, a fatal gap opened in the enemy's fire net.
"Run!!"
With me in the lead, the three women raced across the spindly catwalk.
The enemy below scrambled to pull their triggers again, but it was already too late. Bullets zipped just under our feet as we slipped through, and we finally threw ourselves safely into the blind spot of the upper tunnel entrance.
Splat!
"Huff, huff...! That nearly hit me!"
"...How in the world did you do that just now?"
Erica gasped for breath, and Sidney asked coolly.
We pressed ourselves against the entrance wall and started to move inside.
"Maintain forward cover! Watch for enemy remnants!"
A familiar voice came from deeper in the tunnel.
Seraphina was in command, with troops forming a defense line to both sides of her.
"Lieutenant Colonel! Are you injured?!"
"Just light scratches. We'll sweep up the rest immediately."
"Yes, as ordered!"
We exchanged quick nods and raised our guns again.
"You damn Imperial scum! Shoot them all! Turn that tunnel entrance into a honeycomb!!"
Victor's voice, filled with spite, rang out. The enemy, drenched and desperate, was crouched behind the armored car wreckage.
The enemy isolated in the middle of a sea of water. And us, positioned on the high ground with an unobstructed view.
The situation had clearly reversed.
"Everyone, suppressive fire on the remnants below. Seraphina, drop one magic round onto that armored car wreckage."
Seraphina gathered her mana. A blue-white flash lanced downward.
Kwaaaang-!
A massive column of water erupted from the surface. The remaining enemies, swept up by the explosive pressure, were slammed into the muddy water with shrieks.
"Now! Pour it on!"
The friendly troops opened fire all at once. There was nothing more to see. The already shattered rebels flopped over one after another.
"Y-You sons of bitches!!"
And at last, Victor, who'd been using his men as meat shields, was fully exposed.
[Name: Victor]
[Status: Full-body bruises, sense of defeat, insane killing intent]
[Emotion: Damn it, damn it! My glorious revolution...! I'll kill you. Let's go to hell together!!]
'Hell, my ass.'
I put my finger on the trigger with emotionless eyes. The exhausted bastard was far too easy a target.
Taaang!
The 9mm round drilled exactly between his eyes.
"......"
A dark red hole opened in Victor's forehead. His eyes still wide, he toppled stiffly backward.
Splash!
His body sank anticlimactically into the murky current.
"C-Commander comrade is down!"
"Run, run away! Gahhhk!"
With Victor's death, the rebels' morale completely collapsed. They threw down their weapons and tried to flee, but they were drowned, caught between the hail of bullets and the sweeping force of the water.
"All units, cease fire. Clear."
"W-We did it...!"
"Lieutenant Colonel!"
I turned around. My subordinates were looking at me. Elise and Josef, behind them, were letting out sighs of relief.
"That was excellent command, Lieutenant Colonel Jäger."
Charlotte, from the very back, stepped forward. I answered with a light nod. Soon, she moved toward Sidney.
"Good work, Sidney. I'm glad you're back safely."
"I am merely sorry for causing you concern, Your Majesty."
Before anyone noticed, the two women had formed their own quiet atmosphere, embracing.
And with that, it was all over. It was finally time to crawl out of this wretched sewer.
*
The endless-seeming darkness ended, and at last, an open space appeared.
The mouth of the River Londinium.
The dawn river breeze brushed my cheek, and instead of sewer stench, a fishy but refreshing scent of water filled my lungs. Beneath the pitch-black night sky, the great waterway flowed leisurely toward the dark sea.
"Hah, hah... we're alive...!"
The moment they stumbled out of the exit, the guardsmen's legs gave out and they collapsed.
"We're out... we really made it out alive."
Erica, too, let her weapon drop and leaned against the wall, and even the ever-stoic Seraphina was bracing herself against the wall, tension gone.
But that sweet relief didn't last even a minute.
Dududududu-!
The ground began to rumble heavily from the river road above. At the same time, dozens of lights pierced the darkness, pouring down toward the estuary.
"Over here! Block this area!"
"Tighten the net! Don't let a single one live!"
It was rebel reinforcements wearing red armbands.
While we had been delayed in the discharge facility, the enemy had layered an even tighter surface encirclement around the river mouth.
"Th-This is impossible..."
Minister Josef's lips trembled. The embassy guards froze, faces pale.
"Everyone, prepare for combat...!"
Sidney screamed and raised her pistol, but—click. Only an empty hammer click answered her. The magazine was completely empty.
"...No rounds left."
Truly, surrounded on all sides. With our backs to the river, there was nowhere left to run and no strength left to fight.
The rebel commander raised a megaphone.
"Your Majesty and the Imperial delegation! You have three seconds. If you resist, we will turn you into pulp right here...!"
But.
Only Hannah and I were watching something else.
"Lieutenant Colonel."
Hannah sidled up to me and whispered softly.
"Yes, I understand."
Without any proper explanation, Hannah nodded at my answer. Did she believe we had some kind of telepathy? Or perhaps...
"Everyone, pull back. Get back into the sluice gate! Just for a moment."
The group followed my order and began to shift their formation backward. But Sidney and Charlotte turned to look at me, puzzled.
"Lieutenant Colonel Jäger...? What on earth are you counting on in this situation...?"
Sssss-!!
Before Sidney could even finish, the surface of the River Londinium across from us split in two. Rising with a spray like a waterfall came a massive steel monster.
"Wh-What is that thing?!"
The rebels' movements stopped cold. The way they looked around wildly, they were clearly shaken. And no wonder. You shitty rebels didn't have this in your calculations, did you?
"Everyone, against the wall and down! Heads down!!"
I yelled immediately. Then I grabbed the shoulders of Elise and Charlotte, who were slow to react, and shoved them onto the ground. Sidney and the others had already reflexively thrown themselves flat.
The submarine's hatch opened and the deck gun crew flooded out. With movements beyond practiced—almost mechanical—shells were loaded.
Kaboom-!
The four-inch gun belched fire. Then the 20mm autocannon rattled: Dddd-! Spinning up, the sailors gripping light machine guns and submachine guns deployed and poured out firepower.
A perfect surprise attack. A steel monster suddenly erupting from the dark river water in the dead of night—a bolt from the blue.
It wasn't in the rebels' calculations, and they had zero response ready.
"C-Crazy! Naval cannon! It's an enemy ship's cannon!"
"Get away! Scatter— Gahhhk!"
The enemy formation crumbled pitifully.
"We'll join in. Open fire from any shooters with remaining ammo!"
We, who'd been watching, added our own scant remaining firepower to the fray. The rebels were swept away like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.
Of course, there were some attempts to resist.
With a maddened roar from their commander, a few die-hards returned fire.
But an infantry unit versus an elite navy submarine. The pedigree was different from the start. Before the enemy machine gun could even set up, the four-inch cannon blew it away along with its cover; when the enemy answered with 7mm rifle rounds, what came back was a baptism of armor-piercing shells from the 20mm anti-aircraft autocannon.
It was no fight at all.
In an instant, the riverbank turned into a hellscape of enemy blood, gunpowder smoke, and shredded corpses rolling about.
Of course, now that the submarine's position was exposed, time was short. It was only a matter of time before the main forces in the city came charging toward this thunderous cannonade. No matter how elite the submarine, the equation changed if the enemy deployed heavy weapons and armored vehicles on land to match the playing field.
"Everyone, run for the submarine now! No time to dawdle!"
I immediately rallied the unit and moved forward. Charlotte, who'd been pinned beneath me, finally grasped the situation and let out an exclamation.
"Heavens, that's the Admiral's rescue unit..."
"Your Majesty, you must board immediately."
I roughly pulled her up by the waist.
"Let's go, Your Majesty. I, the Director of Intelligence, will serve you until my death."
On my opposite side, Sidney crowded in and supported Charlotte.
"Yes. Let's go."
At last, the survivors began to run toward the river. A sprint of sewer rats who'd squeezed out every last drop of strength to get back to the sea.
And at the end of that sprint, it was not just a submarine, not just the sea.
It was a brilliant dawn, rising beyond the horizon and setting the sky on fire with red.