"Sailor"

Cradle of the Sea, its largest island—Castello Island.

Nineteen Flao Aether Masters clad in purple-and-gold robes led more than three thousand Warriors in an assault on the primitive walls built from stone and timber.

On the front where the Flao launched their offensive, ten Psykers and a thousand Warriors had gathered.

Standing atop the wall and facing the firepower of ten Aether Masters was a woman holding a wooden staff crowned with the skull of a sea beast.

Her features were distinct yet gentle. Her forehead was broad and smooth, while her thick yet delicate brows resembled two finely drawn lines of ink.

Fury flickered in her tea-brown eyes. She raised her fair, delicate left arm, and a bolt of blue lightning tore through the sky, wrapping around three Psykers.

Countless tiny arcs of electricity burrowed into the Flao like living creatures, erupting with sharp crackling sounds.

Amid flashing blue light, the Aether Masters spat blood from their mouths and noses. Their white hair turned to charcoal and fell away as their bodies convulsed.

The other seven Psykers each raised their Staffs and attacked the wall. Their cunning nature as space pirates drove them to strike the weaker islanders, wearing down the powerful enemy.

Flames surged up and mercilessly swallowed several islanders firing Vostonian Lasguns.

Several islanders wielding Chainswords to fend off the Flao Warriors were hurled into the air by an invisible force, crashing into the islanders charging up the wall.

The Psykers' savage assault instantly left dozens of islanders seriously wounded.

The female Psyker bit down on her full, resilient lips and aimed her staff at the commander beside her, who had lost nearly half his body.

As Biochemical Psionic Power flowed into him, his bronze body rapidly regenerated before the naked eye.

The commander pushed himself up from the ground and noticed the female Shaman beside him.

"Shaman Malena, leave now. We can't hold this place."

"No." Malena, her nose straight and proud, lifted her chin and said firmly, "I saw it. The Mother of the Sea showed me a giant descending from the sky. He will save our homeland."

The commander cleaved a Flao Warrior who had climbed onto the wall, then kicked him hard off the eleven-meter-high battlements.

He looked up at the azure sky, where three Elifa with orange-yellow abdomens spread their blue wings and flew overhead.

A bitter smile touched his lips. He was already certain that the Shaman who had predicted the alien invasion and that the Vostonians would not arrive in time had made another false prophecy.

She was only trying to raise morale.

Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly saw a speck of red in the sky gradually growing larger.

The commander rubbed his eyes, then shouted madly.

"They're here! Reinforcements are here!"

The corners of Malena's lips curled upward. She raised her staff with both hands and drew upon every ounce of power within her.

The hearts of every Flao within dozens of meters before her began racing. Their blood surged and boiled, and their skin darkened instantly.

With howls of pain, they lost consciousness and staggered to the ground.

The seven surviving Aether Masters also felt their bodies go weak and collapsed to the ground.

Malena swayed, leaning on her staff to keep herself from falling.

She raised her head and saw a figure filling the sky. The giant looked exactly like the one she had seen in the Coral Sea.

Malena twisted her head with all her strength, following that figure.

He crashed heavily into the aliens. The earth shook, and the walls trembled.

More than a hundred aliens were killed outright by the impact, while hundreds of Ravagers were knocked down.

The Aether Masters had only just struggled to their feet after Blood Boiling when another immense force surged up behind them, hurling them into the air.

They desperately turned their heads. Their broad field of vision let them glimpse a giant before them after turning only halfway, and then they lost consciousness.

The commander watched as the heads of seven powerful aliens were sent flying in an instant, dark-purple blood splashing across the ground. He opened his mouth, and flying dirt poured into it.

By the time he spat out the mud, the ground before him was covered in alien limbs and corpses.

Without slowing, Nimrod led Maria and the other two toward the Flao.

When he had looked down over Castello Island from the air, he had already seen that vast stretches of the island had been destroyed in alien raids. Only this largest city and three smaller cities were still holding on.

While Nimrod slaughtered the aliens, Szczesny excitedly leaped from the Assault Boat and plunged into the azure sea.

The instant his body entered the water, he felt as refreshed as a fish released back into the wild.

Drawn by the shouting, an Aether Master hurried to the shore and used Telekinesis to support his body, hovering above the water's surface.

On the Assault Boat, two Warriors from the Vostonian 4th Regiment raised their Lasguns and fired beams at the Flao Psyker.

The Aether Master raised a hand and erected a Protective Field.

The beams struck the Force Shield dead-on, sending invisible Aether ripples spreading outward.

The Flao Psyker had just blocked the attack when he suddenly felt his ankles being seized.

Before the Aether Master could gather Aether energy, an immense force dragged him downward. With a splash, he was pulled into the sea.

He desperately gathered Aether energy, trying to use Telekinesis to force Szczesny away.

Szczesny felt the alien struggling. Illusory fish scales appeared across the backs of his hands, and his fingers tightened with savage force.

The Aether Master opened his mouth in pain, and seawater poured into it.

Although he had a shark-like head, the Flao was not a fish. Like any drowning person, the more he struggled, the faster he sank.

"Sailor" was completely unaffected. He had tested it long ago: even without carrying any equipment, he could easily dive for more than seventeen minutes.

The alien was dragged rapidly downward. Though he was an Aether Master, he was not skilled in Biochemical Aether Spells and could not create oxygen for himself. For a Flao who needed to breathe, that was fatal.

Szczesny felt the resistance growing weaker. He gave a violent yank, wrapped both arms around the alien's neck, and twisted hard.

Even underwater, "Sailor" could perfectly unleash his exceptional strength. Szczesny snapped the Flao's head clean off.

He kicked the Aether Master's corpse deeper into the water and swam upward.

Within seconds, Szczesny ascended more than a hundred meters. Then he suddenly sensed an abnormal disturbance in the seawater below.

He immediately drew his waterproofed Chainsword, placed a finger on its activation button, and watched below with vigilance.

The alien's corpse was gone.

Szczesny grew even more alert, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

After a while, he found nothing. Left with no choice, he surfaced. He still had to command his men in attacking Trinio, the second-largest island of Cradle of the Sea.

In the fifth hour after Nimrod landed on Castello Island, he cleared the entire island of aliens.

He met the female Psyker he had noticed while looking down from above. His gaze met her tea-brown eyes, and he was surprised to find that her pupils merely contracted without any expression of pain.

Her will is strong. Looking at me makes her uncomfortable, but it doesn't torment her.

She is even somewhat stronger than Howard and Maria—the strongest person I have seen since falling onto Vostonia.

As Nimrod considered this, the Shaman bowed and spoke in Vostonian Low Gothic.

"Malena Scala offers you her greetings and thanks you for your rescue."