The Fleeing Kraken

With the sudden blare of emergency sirens and the roar of guns that followed, Ian—who had been working—quickly set down his pen and hurried to the window to look outside.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Thinking that, Ian shouted toward the outside as if barking an order.

“Cannon fire is going off outside—find out what’s happening!”

“Yes!”

Time passed with that reply, and soon he heard another round of booming guns. At the sound, his expression hardened on its own. Judging by where the sound was coming from, it was clearly fired from the fortress guns installed on the small islands near the capital, meant to protect it.

Just as he thought that—

Knock, knock, knock!

A hurried pounding on the door came, followed by a voice announcing that Count Dimentis had arrived. As the commander responsible for defending the capital, he must have come in person.

“Come in!”

At Ian’s voice, the office door opened, and Count Dimentis entered. His face looked stiff and tense, and he reported the situation at once.

“Your Majesty. We received a report that bombardment is underway against a monster believed to be a Kraken that was approaching the capital.”

“The Kraken?! Is that true?”

“Yes. A reconnaissance plane flying out over the sea for patrol spotted it by chance. It reported immediately, and the fortress batteries have opened fire to prevent it from approaching.”

“You’re telling me the Kraken we thought was in the northwestern sea of the continent appeared here?”

“We cannot confirm that yet. But the report says it is definitely a Kraken.”

“It may not be the one from Noma waters, but an entirely new Kraken. Either way, we must drive it off. We cannot allow it to approach the capital.”

“To that end, the Capital Defense Air Group has been ordered to sortie. We also received a report that the 1st Fleet has begun mobilizing.”

“It must not be too late.”

Ian had no desire to see that massive Kraken climb onto land and destroy even part of the capital. In his heart, he wanted to leave the palace immediately and head for the harbor. He had even intended to use this chance to demonstrate his power properly.

‘But they’ll stop it.’

To others, that would look far too reckless. As he was thinking that, he spotted fighter planes slicing across the sky through the window.

“So the air units are finally going.”

“The worry is that it will hide deep underwater.”

“That’s my worry as well. If it escapes, doesn’t that leave a lingering threat?”

That was why the thought kept returning—Shouldn’t I go myself? More than that, if the Kraken had come this far, there might already be ships that had suffered. By nature, it likely attacked vessels on the sea on sight.

‘I should order an investigation.’

As Ian thought that, another wave of cannon fire thundered. This time, far more guns were firing—likely the coastal batteries had finished preparing and joined in. It would be best if those shells hit, but given the distance, it did not seem likely that many direct hits would land in time.

‘The best attack method will be bombs dropped from aircraft.’

They had already prepared depth charges with the Kraken in mind. Considering the size and performance of aircraft, the explosive power was not great—more of a harassment tool—but it would still buy time. The real issue was whether they could hold out until the 1st Fleet arrived.

‘Some ships can mobilize immediately, but if their boilers are cold, it’ll take a long time to raise steam.’

That was why he felt their response system against the Kraken was fundamentally flawed. If it were an enemy fleet, it would have been detected in advance. But because it moved underwater, they failed to spot it in time and gained no window to respond.

In any case, the number of fighters taking off kept increasing. The number visible in the sky alone exceeded ten, and counting those already passed, it had likely reached fifty.

If every fighter based in the capital launched, it would exceed a hundred. At that thought, Ian realized he could not just sit here. By now, his family would have heard and be frightened.

‘I can’t work properly anyway. I should go and reassure them.’

After sending Count Dimentis to direct the situation, Ian left his office and headed first to where his mother was. His younger sister would likely go there as well. He also sent someone to tell Queen Adrina to come to where his mother was.

Puwak—!

An explosion sent up a spray of seawater. The blast was not huge, but it was strong enough to force attention away. At that moment, the Kraken surfaced and thrashed its legs in every direction.

It made threatening motions, but amid the rising fighters, it failed to land any hits. Its legs sliced only empty air, then—

Splash—!

They slapped down hard on the sea. Some fighters opened fire with machine guns as they passed.

Rounds from mounted heavy machine guns struck the Kraken’s armor-like scales. The 13.1mm bullets sparked as they hit, throwing off noticeable bursts of flame. Of course, bullets like that could not pierce those armored scales.

Gweeeee—!

Even so, it was enough to keep the creature’s attention divided. The Kraken tried again and again to strike the flying things harassing it from above, but no matter how long and strong its legs were, it could not reach them, leaving it to slash only the air.

Machine-gun fire poured in from all sides, and air-dropped depth charges fell and exploded. Even under this pressure, the Kraken did not dive and hide. Its rage was too intense, its blood too heated for that.

[Don’t get too close! Keep your distance and fire!]

The flight leader’s voice came through the radio, and the wingmen followed, continuing attacks while maintaining as much distance as possible. Honestly, they believed it was nearly impossible for their attacks to bring the Kraken down.

‘Our firepower is too weak.’

The aircraft were more advanced than the old days of dropping bombs by hand, but the explosive power of what they carried was still insufficient. Someday, they would field better fighters and drop far more powerful bombs—but not now.

Even so, more and more fighters converged, and under their attacks the Kraken began to lose its composure. Some of the occasional bomb hits even tore open fairly serious wounds.

In this situation, the Kraken gradually realized it was at a disadvantage. The fury that had consumed it began to drain away, replaced by threat and fear. Only then did it grasp how unfavorable this was, and it started slipping back into the water.

[Ah! It’s trying to run!]

[We can’t let it go!]

[Drop your depth charges—now!]

The calls flew back and forth, but the Kraken was faster at vanishing beneath the surface. When the sea that had been filled with its dark shadow became empty, only then did they all exhale in frustration.

[Damn, we lost it!]

[Hell—now we don’t know when it’ll show up again.]

[We’re going to suffer for a while.]

[What are the navy bastards doing? Why aren’t they here yet!]

[Are they crawling over or what?]

They felt hollow at letting it escape, knowing they would now have to scramble to track it again. At the same time, complaints spilled out about the navy’s lack of appearance. Of course, they knew that in terms of time, arriving instantly had never been realistic.

Even so, the airmen needed a target for their frustration. And the fighters that had been circling empty skies had no choice but to return to base, fuel considerations forcing the decision. Pairing up, the earliest arrivals headed back toward the air base on the outskirts of the capital.

Even at that moment, more fighters arrived, rotating in and out as they searched for the Kraken that had completely disappeared underwater. Some continued dropping depth charges at intervals, producing bursts of explosion.

This continued until naval ships of the 1st Fleet finally arrived. The air force fighters returned to base, and their place was filled by aircraft launched from the 1st Fleet’s carriers.

From here on, it was the navy’s time, and they continued the search with burning eyes.

“So that’s it. In the end, it escaped.”

Hearing Count Dimentis’s report, Ian felt unexpectedly calm. He had already expected this outcome. Still, he could not help but feel regret. By escaping, it had become a major lingering threat.

‘I should have stepped in earlier…’

It was already done. He decided they needed to raise the alarm across the entire military. According to information from Noma, they had already mobilized large numbers of troops to defend their coastline against Kraken attacks. If even a provincial city or village were struck, it would be a disaster—so they had to move fast.

“Mother, I must take my leave.”

“Go, then. Don’t worry about your mother.”

“Yes. Charlotte, and you as well—Queen Adrina too, please stay with Mother, even if only for a while.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay by Mother’s side.”

“I will remain here as well.”

“I’m fine.”

His mother said that, but since this was an emergency, he asked for understanding and insisted it would be better if they stayed together. Then he moved at once with Count Dimentis, who had come to report. Their destination was not the office, but the grand conference chamber.

The moment they arrived and the doors opened, he saw ministers and generals gathered inside. They had been summoned in advance. The presence of generals as well as ministers made the severity of the situation clear.

Everyone rose and bowed as soon as Ian appeared. Ian went straight to his seat, sat, and spoke.

“Be seated.”

As everyone sat, the chamber fell into a heavy silence. Into that atmosphere, Ian spoke first.

“The Kraken showed itself near the capital, and it escaped. From this moment on, we will establish countermeasures.”

Ian decided first to mobilize the entire military to prioritize coastal defense. In particular, they would deploy weapons capable of dealing meaningful damage—towed guns and the like—as a first priority. Fortunately, production was high enough that they had sufficient reserves.

They would also deploy anti-tank rifles they had developed and produced themselves. If those could at least drive the Kraken off, it would be something.

“Additionally, I intend to mobilize all eight fleets centered around the homeland coastline and begin reconnaissance patrols.”

They planned to commit every fleet to homeland defense except the 9th Fleet stationed in the Colonial Continent and the 8th Fleet stationed in the Marin Archipelago. This would limit patrol coverage across the broader sea, but for protecting the homeland, they had no choice.

“We must find the Kraken—no matter what. Do you all understand?”

In response, the naval generals seated to one side answered, “We will obey Your Majesty’s command.” Watching them, Ian could not help but worry whether they could find and exterminate the Kraken without suffering losses.

‘I should have taken the field myself. Becoming king really puts so many restraints on movement.’

He had already spent many years as king, yet he still felt the suffocating constraints of the throne. Back when he had aimed to become an admiral, he could have moved freely—but now every eye in the kingdom was on him.

And while Ian wrestled with reality and anxiety over the Kraken, the Kraken itself had already left the Polia Kingdom’s homeland long ago. From the moment it was born, it had grown in the deep sea and become an adult filled with confidence—but it had suffered too much at human hands.

Shaken hard once again, it headed for wider, deeper waters. It intended to hide there. Unaware of this, Ian had no choice but to cause an uproar and focus on defending the homeland.