The giant ship's horn still echoed through the harbor air, making people's hearts tremble.
Before the sound had fully faded, new activity began on the deck.
Several biplanes, painted the iron gray of the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Loen, launched one after another from the broad flight deck, wide enough to serve as a racetrack.
They climbed somewhat clumsily, like a flock of iron birds newly leaving the nest, their engines issuing a monotonous, thunderous roar.
The nobles on the pier raised their binoculars, watching the scene with great interest.
"Is this an air show? Mr. Edwin always comes up with new tricks."
A plump baron said to the lady beside him, his champagne glass swaying as ripples spread across the golden liquid.
People pointed excitedly, anticipating an unprecedented aerial celebration.
After all, airplanes themselves were a rarity, let alone ones taking off from a ship.
But after circling half a turn in the air, the planes did not perform any flashy maneuvers.
Instead, they turned their noses—not toward the wider ocean, but directly toward the viewing platform where they stood.
Several black dots dropped from beneath their wings.
A piercing, deeply ominous whistling tore through the lingering horn blast and the crowd's chatter.
The smiles on some faces froze.
The next second, a towering waterspout erupted from the sea before the pier without warning.
It was not a naturally formed vortex. Faint, translucent scale-like structures could even be seen along its wall of water.
The waterspout precisely caught the falling black dots and swallowed them whole.
Then several muffled booms sounded from within the water vortex, as though someone were beating drums in the deep sea.
The entire vortex shuddered violently before collapsing with a roar, turning into a torrential downpour that poured from the sky.
Icy