"Starboard! Twenty paces off the stern! Watch out!"
Inside the captain's cabin, Jason's nerves were stretched to the limit. Amid the violent sliding of the ship, a sharp, stabbing warning flared in his mind, and he instinctively screamed a warning to the crew.
Splash!
At the same time, a colossal purple-red giant octopus, dozens of meters tall and wreathed in dense blood aura, burst from the crimson sea. Its keratin-covered tentacles whipped upward and slammed brutally toward the deck.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Argo's outer light barrier shook violently, flickering on and off. Worse still, the recoil had nowhere to go. The hull tilted and spun atop the waves, leaving everyone struggling to keep their footing.
"Jason, shut down the magecraft defenses! Just focus on steering the ship. Leave the rest to us!"
Samael quickly realized that the magical barrier was actually restricting the heroes' movements. He signaled the captain to pour all his attention into piloting.
Jason clenched his teeth and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surge of danger that spiked the moment the barrier was removed. He thrust his sword forward.
"Hard to port! Full speed ahead!"
At the same time, the crew scattered across the deck instinctively moved closer together. Drawing on the tacit coordination forged during the Calydon Hunt, they regrouped into small units and began fighting in coordinated formations.
"Trash! Get out of my way!"
Guarding the port side, Heracles pulled a massive axe-sword formed from natural gray-black mountain rock out of a magecraft array. With a thunderous roar, he swung his arm and cleaved downward.
Three tentacles, each several meters thick, were brutally severed. Purple-red, foul-smelling blood sprayed everywhere as the severed limbs fell onto the deck, twitching and writhing.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Telamon, Peleus, and the Prince of Calydon, along with the rest of their group, surged forward. Working in tandem with the mighty Heracles, they smashed the remaining tentacles that dared attack living beings into pulp.
"Hymn of the Twin Gods!"
On the left flank, the twin swordsmen stood back to back. Wrapped in surging Ether, they spun forward at high speed, forming a wind pillar that extended from their blades. Amid the storm of blood and gore, they viciously pierced and dismembered a sea serpent that had opened its jaws to spew venom.
Chunks of still-twitching stone-like flesh and foul organs scattered in all directions.
"Hear me, my requiem, that heals all sorrow and soothes every rage!"
The prodigious singer Orpheus gazed sadly at the roiling blood mist above the sea and the maddened creatures attacking everything around them. He steadied his mind and plucked the strings of his lyre, hoping to cleanse the frenzy tainting them.
The clear, gentle melody flowed like tinkling water, spreading soft ripples outward in widening circles.
The blood mist faltered, and many of the surrounding sea beasts froze for a brief moment.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Clang! Clang!
The shrill whistle of incoming bolts was cut short as they neared the Argo, all of them intercepted by a casually wielded cross spear.
Even the ballista bolts dragged by winches could not shake the figure standing firm with spear in hand.
"Orpheus, keep calming the sea beasts and clear a path! As long as we don't get bogged down by these monsters, the Colchis fleet won't catch the Argo that easily!"
"Alright, leave it to me!"
Samael barked the order, then immediately sensed another dense wave of incoming projectiles. He frowned, looking toward the dozens of bolts converging in a focused barrage.
Again?!
Before the ancient serpent could move, a crimson-and-gold figure charged in from the side. With a shield on one arm and a spear in the other, she swung fiercely, knocking the descending bolts aside.
"Hah, a bunch of sore-losing cowards. I'll play with you!"
"Caenis? Fine. I'll leave this to you. Protect Orpheus!"
"Got it. Stop ordering me around!"
The foul-tempered female warrior snorted impatiently. Sharp-tongued as ever, she nonetheless activated the divine blood within her body and followed the command of a certain goddess's illegitimate child. Taking position at the stern, her arms spun like wheels, her reflexes so sharp that every arrow, large or small, shattered on impact, unable to advance an inch.
With the immediate pressure eased, Samael did not waste time. He moved swiftly across the deck of the Argo, coordinating the battle and dealing with emergencies as they arose.
"Boss, above!"
"Phoebus Catastrophe!"
As the warning rang out, Atalanta looked up into the violently surging blood mist. From within it, a dense swarm of bipedal wyverns burst forth. Her emerald eyes narrowed as she silently recited a prayer and loosed two arrows into the sky.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, a massive Magecraft array centered on golden and silver celestial bodies activated. The divine radiance of the sun and moon condensed into hundreds upon thousands of light arrows, which rained down like a meteor storm within the array's domain.
The dense blood mist along their path hissed and steamed like cold water poured over red-hot iron, much of it dissipating into wisps of pale smoke.
Even the wyverns were not spared. One after another, they were pierced by the starlight arrows, scales shattered, wing membranes torn apart, limbs and skulls blown to pieces. Wailing in agony, they plunged into the sea below.
Ares prided himself on martial valor and favored ferocious dragons as both symbols and pets.
Because of this, the traitor lurking in the Arima Cave had been able to easily gain Ares's trust, guarding the sacred grove while enjoying worship and offerings. Likewise, Colchis, a land devoted to the Frenzied God of War, had been granted divine favor, allowing it to raise a wyvern force of such scale.
The irony was that after Cadmus slew his treasured dragon, the second Colchis fierce dragon assigned to guard duty had already defected.
Now, as the wyverns carrying Dragonfang Soldiers crashed into the sea, savage sea beasts warped by the war god's authority were drawn by the scent of blood. They surged toward the impact points, brutally tearing the fallen apart and devouring them.
Having wiped out nearly eighty percent of the enemy's aerial forces in a single strike, Atalanta stared blankly at the Sky Bow glowing in her hands.
The power unleashed by this Noble Phantasm felt several times greater than before.
"Don't space out. They're coming up!"
Before the huntress could dwell on it, Ana, standing beside the lookout platform, fired an arrow that shattered a Dragonfang Soldier emerging from the sea. She tilted her head slightly and issued a stern warning.
Atalanta snapped back to her senses and nodded in thanks. Her gaze swept over the Dragonfang Soldiers leaping onto the deck, each clutching swords, shields, or spears as they broke free from the wyvern wreckage. She immediately steadied herself and focused on clearing the advancing enemies.
Thud! Thud!
Samael swept his spear, knocking two Dragonfang Soldiers off the ship's rail. Though the number of these monsters was dwindling, the ancient serpent's brow furrowed even deeper as he looked into the distance.
As the blood energy continued to rise and concentrate, a group of Dragonfang Soldiers on the decks of the Colchis fleet began to sprout grotesque bone spines. Stark white bone wings unfurled from their backs.
Whoosh!
Amid the thunderous beating of wings, thousands of advanced Dragonfang Soldiers took to the air and dove straight toward the Argo.
The heroes, a step too slow to notice the massive airborne assault, stared as a vast swath of bone-white forms swept toward them. Their expressions stiffened, their hearts tightening.
Clang!
Just as another grueling wave of attrition was about to begin, an exquisitely crafted golden shield descended from a Magecraft array and slammed into the stern.
At the same time, overwhelming divine power surged into the shield. A heavy, majestic presence spread outward as floating golden patterns shimmered like a sky full of stars.
Amid the dull grind of metal, the stone head embedded at the center of the shield came alive. Serpentine hair writhed and stretched, transforming into dozens of crimson-purple giant snakes, each flicking its tongue. A pair of dreamlike, purple-red rectangular pupils slowly opened.
Samael narrowed his eyes. His lips moved as he intoned coldly,
"Medusa's Gaze!"