Episode 309: Approaching Death
In a newly prepared office in Oxford’s government building, sat Leila, the Prime Minister of England. She leaned back in her black leather office chair, her eyes scanning the report brought to her by the Parliamentary Secretary.
Most of it detailed the extent of the damage and information regarding the evacuees, but it also noted that the monster attacks were beginning to subside.
Leila breathed a sigh of relief.
For a moment, she had feared the worst, but it seemed the “Water Monsters” couldn’t venture too far inland.
Forcibly trying to subjugate them would be a blunder. They should fortify their defenses here and await reinforcements.
Leila had a plan to overcome this situation.
She had heard that the 【Yellow King】 was rampaging in America, which, conversely, meant that many “Lightning Monsters” were appearing.
In other words, there would be a large quantity of 【Lightning Magic Gems】.
America’s ‘Magical Weaponry’ development technology was on par with, if not superior to, England’s.
Once America concluded its battle with the 【Yellow King】 and crossed the sea in earnest, the 【Blue King】 would be nothing to fear.
America originally possessed the strongest Seekers.
Even the 【Yellow King】 would be dealt with somehow. They just needed to wait.
Do nothing wasteful, nothing unnecessary, nothing dangerous. Just waiting would secure their victory.
Leila placed the report on the desk and rubbed her temples.
There was no need to rely on Japanese Seekers. In the first place, rumors had spread that Japan had defeated the 【Red King】, but it was uncertain whether it was true.
Many voices doubted it, in fact.
Although she had sent a request for support as a formality, she hadn’t really expected much.
Moreover, only two people had come. One of them was problematic, making it a non-starter.
As Leila pondered these thoughts, she heard hurried footsteps approaching from outside the office.
“What is it?” she frowned, as the door to the room was violently thrown open.
“P-Prime Minister! T-This is terrible!!”
Nick Dowden, the Special Mayor of Oxford, burst in.
His face was pale, and he was gasping for breath.
“What is it? Why are you in such a panic?”
“J-Just… look outside… look outside!!”
“Outside?”
Leila looked puzzled. She didn’t understand what Nick was saying, but his agitation was extraordinary.
Leila rose to her feet and walked to the window.
Pulling the cord, she raised the blinds in one swift motion, revealing a bright, blue scene.
“What… is this…”
Leila was dumbfounded, at a loss for words.
What greeted her eyes was a submerged city. At a glance, it was clear that the water had risen to about one meter above ground level.
There were no rivers nearby, so how could this have happened?
As Leila remained glued to the window, Nick called out from behind.
“T-This situation suddenly occurred. According to the military’s report, water is overflowing from outside the Ice Gate.”
“From outside the Ice Gate!?”
Leila couldn’t believe it and couldn’t help but ask again. The gate was five meters tall, and the wall was over four meters high.
It had surpassed that? Another tsunami? No, could it be…?
“Is there any information!? How did this happen?”
As Leila pressed him, Nick stammered,
“I-I don’t know the details, but Birmingham is also flooded in the same way.”
“Birmingham!?”
Birmingham was a city further inland than Oxford. If it was flooded, then the entire country of England was in a similar situation.
Leila felt dizzy.
This wasn’t just a simple tsunami. The sea level itself was rising.
Was such a thing even possible!? Submerging the entire country of England could only be done by a god. How could they…?
At that moment, Leila gasped.
–This… this is the power of the 【Blue King】!!
◇◇◇
Among the soldiers guarding the Ice Gate was Andrew.
Andrew couldn’t believe what he was seeing and couldn’t help but gasp. Seawater was overflowing from the wall and pouring into the city.
He had thought it was a tsunami, but this was beyond that.
Beyond this gate was the sea itself. The Ice Gate creaked and groaned, sounding as if it would break at any moment.
“This place won’t hold! Retreat!!”
At Andrew’s command, the unit began to withdraw. Before several minutes had passed, the gate and wall were destroyed, and seawater came crashing in.
The water level in the city exceeded five meters and continued to rise.
Citizens were being moved to the upper floors of buildings and apartments under the guidance of the military and Seekers, but many were unable to evacuate due to the suddenness of the event.
The seawater continued to submerge the city. What was worst of all was that Water Monsters were freely entering the city.
Fish-men, sharks, crocodiles, and snake-like monsters were swimming around as if they owned the place.
There was no safe place left. When the sea level began to exceed ten meters, Leila, who had moved to the roof of the government building, looked around and was left speechless.
The city was completely submerged in the sea.
Cars parked on the roads and two-story houses were completely underwater.
“How… how high will the water level rise?”
Leila stood on the edge of the roof, trembling as she looked down at the city. Nick, who was next to her, spoke to her.
“The water level is rising at an incredible rate. At this rate… the worst-case scenario is that this place will also be submerged.”
Leila was stunned. The government building she was in was eight stories tall, about thirty meters.
If it were to be submerged, no one would be able to survive. How did this happen? How…?
After that, the water level continued to rise, increasing to fifteen meters, then twenty meters.
Low-rise buildings were swallowed by the water, and residents who had evacuated to the rooftops desperately tried to swim to other buildings.
However, they were attacked by monsters along the way.
They were dragged into the sea by Fish-men, and others were swallowed whole by sharks. People screamed as they desperately tried to escape.
Loud noises echoed, and blood flowed as many monsters gathered.
The surroundings were a scene straight out of hell. Leila could only watch from the roof of the government building as people were torn apart.
“A… ah…”
Leila covered her face with her hands and knelt on the spot. Why did this happen? What went wrong? She had done her best. But… but…
As she keenly felt her own powerlessness, Nick’s shout reached her ears.
“P-Prime Minister! Look at that, look at that!!”
Leila raised her face and looked in the distance. There, a giant snake was emerging from the sea.
“That’s a Sea Serpent… what is it doing…”
The next moment–the Sea Serpent pulled its head back greatly and used the recoil to unleash a “Water Breath.”
The breath struck something installed on the roof of a building directly. That was–
“A ground-to-air Magical Weaponry for the “Blue Dragon”! Is it targeting and destroying them? Such a ridiculous thing…”
It was unthinkable that a monster would intentionally attack facilities.
However, other ground-to-air Magical Weaponry were also being destroyed by Water Monsters.
Leila shuddered. At the cunning of the monsters, which she had thought had little intelligence. Soon, what began to gather in the sky were blue reapers flying through the sky.
A flock of Blue Dragons had arrived.