"...Something’s not right. Something is definitely wrong."
The scene shifted to the open sea. Ryuga, who was leading a group of passengers from two sightseeing boats, muttered those words as he stared toward the shore.
They had temporarily merged into a single group and were currently making their way toward land, their boats towed by the Seahorses under Elena’s command. Back on the sightseeing boats, Anhel and Sakura were still preparing the second wave of evacuees. The situation remained precarious.
"You say something's wrong, but what is it? What do you mean?"
Melt reacted to Ryuga's muttered concern, and he replied with a grim expression.
"The Security Force ships aren't coming. They told us they would send vessels to provide cover once we escaped with the passengers, but there isn’t a single sign of them."
The group began to grasp the strangeness of the situation. While they were relieved that Ryuga was being communicative, the reality of their predicament set in. The Seahorses were doing their best, but they were pulling several boats laden with a heavy crowd. Their speed was limited, and it was obvious they were struggling.
"Could there have been some kind of trouble? Even so, for not even one ship to be moving is beyond suspicious," Marcos muttered.
It was possible an unexpected accident had grounded the Security Force. However, just as Marcos noted that such a total failure was unlikely to be a mere coincidence, a shadow raced across the boats.
"Marcos!" Ryuga barked.
"I know!"
Reacting instantly to a sudden spike of dread, Ryuga and Marcos brandished their weapons. Ryuga swung his Katana while Marcos raised his shield. Two sharp metallic clangs echoed in rapid succession as they deflected something out of the air.
"W-What was that!?"
"You shouldn't have to ask! It’s an enemy attack!" Ryuga shouted, his vigilance reaching its peak.
The startled group looked up to see a humanoid bird-man flapping giant wings above them.
"Hey now, did you really think it would be that easy to get away? Why don't you stay and play with me for a bit, huh!?"
"...First a rhino-man and a fire-woman, then a brute and an oil hag, and now a humanoid bird. Honestly, they certainly have enough variety to keep things interesting," Ryuga remarked.
The Bird Magic Armor Beast, covered entirely in brown feathers, laughed eerily while twisting its sharp, hooked beak. It pulled its wings tight and then snapped them open, raining down a barrage of Feather Bullets upon the boats like a hail of gunfire.
"Elena! Full speed! Get us to the shore, now!"
Marcos roared as he braced his shield and unleashed the magic power stored within. A Golden Impact erupted from his Giga Scissors, blowing away the rain of feathers. The Magic Armor Beast laughed, seemingly impressed.
"Whoo! Not bad! So your defense is solid, is it? Whoops!?"
Immediately after its attack was neutralized, the beast banked hard to avoid an arrow and a purple blade flying toward its head. On the boat, Setsuna and Melt looked frustrated that their counterattack had missed.
"Damn! He dodged it!"
"As long as we keep the pressure on, it should be enough of a distraction. Don’t stop! Keep firing to protect the boats!" Melt cried.
Even if they couldn't land a killing blow on the Bird Magic Armor Beast, constant pressure would keep it from moving freely. As long as they maintained the barrage of Setsuna’s high-powered long-range arrows and Melt's rapid-fire Magic Power Swords, the enemy would be too busy dodging to launch another attack like the Feather Bullets.
"Good! Keep it up! At this rate, we’ll reach the shore!"
Marcos nodded, clenching his fist. He was confident that as long as he blocked any stray shots, they could deliver the boats to the Safe Zone even without the Security Force’s help. However, Ryuga’s sense of unease only continued to grow.
(What is this feeling? Am I overlooking something...?)
Aside from the absence of the guards, the operation was going perfectly. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that they had made a grave oversight. What was he forgetting?
Just as Ryuga tried to piece it together, the boats, which had been racing forward, came to a sudden, jarring halt.
"Elena, what happened!? Why did we stop?"
"I don't know! They just suddenly stopped moving!!" Elena cried out in distress.
The group was baffled. Had the Seahorses simply run out of stamina from the strain? As they panicked, Ryuga’s eyes widened as he saw dark red blood billowing up from beneath the waves.
(Dammit!!)
The bird-man in the sky was a decoy. The real threat was somewhere else.
There were five members in the culprit group. The final member had already made their move, destroying the Security Force ships before they could launch. Now, working in tandem with the aerial beast, they had lured the heroes' attention upward to facilitate a sub-surface ambush.
Ryuga realized everything at once.
"It's in the sea! There's another Magic Armor Beast in the water!!"
At the exact moment Ryuga’s warning left his lips, a massive pillar of water erupted from the surface right next to Raiha.