Published: March 21, 2026
"Everyone brace for impact!!!!!!!!"
Sensing a presence rapidly approaching from above the ship woke me in an instant. I sprang up as the hero's roar echoed through the vessel.
The moment I grabbed the wooden frame of the room's doorway, following that urgent command, a violent jolt struck the ship.
Like a roller coaster's sudden drop, my insides floated. Everything not fixed rose and slammed into the floor. The shock was strong enough to lift the bed I had been sleeping on moments before. If I hadn't been holding the frame, I would have been thrown and smashed.
Amid the sounds of things falling and breaking all over the ship, the roars of wyverns mixed in.
"Enemy attack from above!!! The wyverns are concentrating their assault on the bow deck!!"
"...Tch. They arrive only now, huh."
The hero's voice rang out again. That matched what my presence detection had told me. Even now those night blades above were fighting.
"Akira! Are you hurt!?"
Amelia burst out from the neighboring room.
Kyousuke and Noah and the others were already rushing from their rooms toward the front to help.
"I'm fine. Amelia looks okay too."
"Yeah. Let's get up there to help. It's probably the main wyvern force."
If the initially attacking, ravenous wyverns were a vanguard, what was coming now was the main pack. Even with the night blades up there, handling a larger number might be tough.
As Amelia started to dash forward, I grabbed her hand instinctively.
I knew I should send Amelia quickly—she could use gravity magic to drop them all into the sea—but I had a bad feeling.
My presence detection and danger sense weren't picking up anything. Still, something felt off, like a nagging unease. I don't have Kyousuke's "instinct" skill, but from combat experience I had a sixth sense telling me the rear was what needed watching. I remembered from the Cantinen Labyrinth that detection skills can be unreliable when facing someone with higher-level or concealment-type skills, so following a gut feeling can be safer.
What flashed through my mind was Aurum's status I had seen in the Brute Labyrinth. If Demons were here, my unease might not be paranoia.
"Akira?"
"Something's wrong. Why are the wyverns focusing their attack on the front? The vanguard attacked on pure instinct, with no reason."
The wyverns obsessively attacking the bow felt like the demonic beasts that move on command under the Demon Clan's orders—like those I saw in the Brute Labyrinth. I had seen the night blades and the hero move to the front while the other three headed to the rear when we switched shifts. If they were acting on hunger or mindless instinct, wouldn't they choose the larger group? Even if they attacked the night blades in front because they were visible, some should have gone aft.
The main wyvern pack might not be as extreme as the vanguard, but they should still be hungry. Yet when I probed with presence detection, their behavior felt coordinated.
Amelia's eyes widened as if she just noticed. No one concentrating on the fight up top would likely be aware. Zeal, Kazuki, and Ueno—who were supposed to cover the rear—had heard the hero's shout and gone forward. There was no one at the stern now.
If Demons slipped in now, no one else would notice.
"Got it. I'll support the night blades. Akira, you act however you think best. You're better suited for it."
I thanked Amelia for taking the front support and headed to the ship's aft, which was now thinly defended. Even if my worry proved baseless, I could check the combat situation through telepathy with the night and rush back.
I told the night blades what I'd told Amelia over telepathy. A firm reply came back that they had it covered.
"I hope it's just my imagination."
We'd been traveling half a day since leaving Beastmen territory. It should take another two days to reach Demon Clan territory, so it seemed unlikely Demons would be here—unless they commanded flying beasts and rode them across.
That thought lasted only until I stepped onto the deck.
"Huh? I didn't expect to find someone clever enough not to fall for the diversion. But you alone won't mean much, I think."