Veylin drew his eyes away from the periscope.
These were not monsters.
They were intelligent beings.
Their coordination, equipment, and adornments made that clear.
They belonged to a civilization with a social structure, the ability to cooperate, and specialized technology.
A monster invasion was a natural disaster.
An invasion by another race was war.
The two disasters were on entirely different scales.
Information churned through Veylin's mind like a storm.
An engineer responsible for excavation was a Fourth-Level Warrior.
Then what about their combat troops? Their commanders?
This race's population, technological systems, social structure... all were unknown.
And the unknown was what Veylin hated most.
To think that such beings had been hiding in the oceans of this continent.
A thought surfaced unbidden.
If there were Octopus People beneath the sea, could there be Bird People above the skies?
Veylin cut off his wandering thoughts and forced himself to refocus on the immediate crisis.
He pressed his eye to the periscope again.
His attention settled on the tool in Melnus's hands.
It was a trident-shaped implement, but instead of sharp points, its tips were three flat shells.
As the user's arm muscles flexed, the ends of those three shells began to emit a low hum. Fine ripples spread through the surrounding seawater, and even faint halos of light flowed across the shells' surfaces.
It was a technological system he had never seen before.
Neither pure magic nor anything within the scope of alchemy, it seemed more like a bizarre fusion of several technologies.
Just then, the warrior he was watching abruptly stopped.
He slowly turned around.
The horizontal, slit-shaped pupil stretching across his face scanned the surrounding rock walls.
His movements were slow, carrying a predator's characteristic wariness.
Veylin's heart clenched.
The other party's senses were keen. He had detected