Above the clouds, the freezing wind left Barton's face stiff. He lay flat on the Great Skua's back, staring down through his goggles with slightly widened eyes.
It was no longer a harbor.
It was a boiling cauldron.
The instant the Mimic Torpedoes detonated inside the shield, the golden curtain of light that had been meant to protect the city became the deadliest accomplice. It perfectly trapped the shock waves and heat of the explosions, letting the energy surge back and forth within the sealed space, building upon itself.
Not a sound reached him.
He was too high up.
Barton saw only a dazzling burst of white light swallow the governor's mansion. Then, like a balloon inflated to its limit, that light expanded wildly inside the shield, squeezing into every inch of space. Buildings, streets, human bodies-all vaporized in that instant.
"So this is... 'Bathwater.'"
Barton muttered to himself. His hands were trembling with instinctive fear.
As a knight who had only recently left his police post for the battlefield, he had seen blood, killed bandits, and even faced death in that battle against the giant python.
But this kind of destruction was different.
Too efficient.
Too cold.
One tug on a cord, and thousands of lives turned to ash. No struggle, no roars, not even a clear look at the enemy's faces.
[What? Pissed yourself?]
A crude voice sounded in his mind. It was Ola.
Barton instinctively clamped his legs together, though he had not actually wet himself. He replied over the hive network, [No, sir. It's just... this is too horrific.]
[Horrific?]
There was a trace of mockery in Ola's voice, but also something hard and instructive.
[Boy, look down and look closely.]
*[If you think this is cruelty, it's because you haven't seen how Hector treated them.