Chapter 91

The boundless blue.

Until the distant horizon, everything was illuminated by the brilliant sunlight. However, there was no feeling of oppressive heat; the temperature was just right. Occasionally, a gentle breeze brought comfort. Still, no matter how one looked around, there was nothing but emptiness, which made one feel a bit lonely.

But, that was to be expected. After all, this was the middle of the ocean.

In the midst of the undulating waves at the center of the sea, a vessel floated. No, could it even be called a vessel? At least, the people of this world would not consider it a vessel.

The reason being, the streamlined object with a black luster had no deck. Normally, it should have had V-shaped wings on both sides, a propeller at the back, and a rudder like a tail... but now, it looked like a pitiful wreck. If one did not look closely, its shape resembled a slightly flattened orca.

Rather than a vessel, it would be more accepted by the people of this world as a new species of monster. This orca-shaped vessel was actually a submarine. Needless to say, it was the divine artifact that had saved Aichi from the lava of the "Great Guren Volcano." As a price, the submarine was almost completely destroyed.

On that submarine, which was bobbing up and down in the waves, a person lay with his hands crossed behind his head, enjoying the natural scenery with one eye – it was Aichi. His left prosthetic arm, which had been melted by the aurora and could not move, had been repaired using materials from the submarine (a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul). Its appearance had been restored, but the internal mechanisms were almost completely unusable.

"...Aichi, how do you feel?"

Aichi, drowsy from the warm sunlight and the cradle-like waves, suddenly heard the cabin door behind him open. Mochizuki, who appeared from there, asked him with concern. Aichi had been severely injured by the aurora attack, and his recovery was not ideal due to the toxins.

"No problem. The wounds aren't bleeding anymore. It will take about a day to fully heal... But, how about you, Mochizuki? You must be quite tired, right?"

"Um... I'm fine. Shia also gave me some of her blood."

Hearing Aichi's concern, Mochizuki answered happily and climbed out of the hatch, moving to lie next to Aichi. Then, she straddled him very naturally. Her soft buttocks stimulated Aichi in a very dangerous spot.

"...Mochizuki, why are you sitting on me?"

"...Because Aichi is here."

Though her answer sounded like that of a frivolous mountaineer, Mochizuki's eyes were very serious. The voice that attacked Aichi was tinged with a subtle allure as she muttered, "...Just like that," and leaned down, licking Aichi's neck and gently biting it. She then licked the blood that flowed out.

"...Hmm, the toxins are almost gone. It looks like it's not a problem."

It seemed that she was confirming the remaining level of the aurora toxins by drinking Aichi's blood.

"So, I told you it was fine, right?"

"...Yeah. But, I'm still worried. Although the place is a bit problematic... it's good that you're resting well."

"Sure. Indeed, it was a tumultuous series of events. Was it luck or misfortune...?"

Looking at Aichi's wry smile, Mochizuki frowned, as if feeling the same way. Both of them recalled the events from being engulfed by lava in the "Great Guren Volcano" to now, drifting in the middle of the ocean. Should they sigh over their misfortunes so far, or be glad that they survived despite everything? It was a subtle and complex dilemma.

After being swept away by the lava flow, Aichi and the others were in the current for a whole day. They couldn't keep Mochizuki's "Absolute Disaster" active to stabilize their bodies, so they repeatedly tried to create a floating gravity stone seat using generation magic inside the turbulent submarine. The submarine was still being tossed around like a toy, but the floating seat helped prevent them from being turned into a smoothie.

Mochizuki and Shia tightly embraced Aichi from both sides, spending the sleepless time in the dimly lit submarine.

Would they end up in the planet's mantle? As Aichi began to suspect this, the underground journey finally ended. The largest impact yet struck Aichi and the others. The impact was so great that it penetrated the "Vajra" defense and directly damaged the submarine. Then, with the impact, the submarine was blown away like a cork.

To deal with the intense impact, Aichi quickly reactivated the "Vajra" and used the "Far-Seeing Stone" to check the surroundings. (He could see through the cross-shaped floating cannons because of the Far-Seeing Stone.) What he saw was not a red world filled with lava, but a "sea" that was violently boiling and bubbling due to the snake-like lava.

It seemed that Aichi and the others had been caught in a magma steam explosion at the crater of an underwater volcano and were blown away. The impact caused significant damage to the submarine, but it managed to avoid taking on water. Whether it was a stroke of luck or a testament to Aichi's divine artifact, it was a close call.

After surviving the ordeal and finally reaching the Earth's crust, Aichi and the others continued to face disasters.

The submarine was thrown into the sea by the eruption. After a brief moment of shock, Aichi quickly regained control and started navigating. The wings and tail were severely damaged, but they could still navigate by releasing magic. Although the magic consumption was much higher compared to using the propeller, wings, and tail, it was manageable.

If they were caught in another eruption, they wouldn't survive. Aichi and the others hurriedly left the area. However, a massive shadow followed the orca-shaped submarine. It was a giant squid. With a body length of thirty meters and over thirty tentacles writhing, it resembled the legendary Kraken.

The monster mercilessly attacked the submarine. As it was about to be crushed by the circular arrangement of sharp teeth, Aichi and the others managed to repel it using the submarine's armaments (torpedoes, etc.) and Mochizuki's magic.

However, even after repelling the Kraken, the troubles were not over. They were then attacked by a group of sharks. These sharks were also monsters that used coordinated attacks to create water spouts, making them formidable enemies.

Finally, the submarine's armaments were depleted, and they had to rely solely on Mochizuki's magic. After using up the magic crystals' power, Aichi, who had lost a lot of blood, had to have Mochizuki drink from Shia. They managed to repel the sharks and escape, but after the intense battles in the "Great Guren Volcano," even Aichi and the others were exhausted. Shia, thinking she hadn't done anything special, ended up providing fresh blood to Mochizuki until she fainted from anemia.

After letting Mochizuki and Shia rest, Aichi went out to the sea surface. In a place where there was only the boundless ocean, he looked up at the sky and headed in the direction of the continent. After about half a day of sailing, the weather was pleasant, and the waves became gentle. Aichi stopped the submarine as if to take a short break and luxuriously enjoyed the sunbathing outside.

The events from the "Great Guren Volcano" to the present were truly tumultuous. Aichi thought that if it weren't for them, the chances of survival would have been zero. He couldn't help but want to shout, "What a misfortune!" like a certain gender-equal character who punches with his right fist, but he didn't actually say it. (Note: Referring to Touma Kamijou from "A Certain Scientific Railgun.")

"How is Shia?"

Aichi, looking into the distance, asked Mochizuki, who was still straddling his waist.

"...She's still sleeping. Because she drank a lot... I think she won't wake up for a while."

Mochizuki said that the efficiency of magic conversion from drinking Aichi's blood was much higher compared to drinking Shia's. Shia could not compare to Aichi, who was the target of the "Blood Alliance Contract." The same amount of blood provided several times the magic power. The "Blood Alliance Contract" was a contract to drink blood from a specific target, making the effect from others worse and the effect from the contract target several times better, a derivative skill of "Blood Power Conversion."

"Got it. Well, take your time. We don't know where we are, and we don't know how long it will take to reach land. We don't know when something might happen, so it's good to recover and relax a bit."

"...Yeah."

Since the sea was