End of The World (Azur Lane: Origins 3)

Chapter 9: Corruption

'The patrol fleet has spotted a fleet led by two Arbiters and their Enforcers heading towards HQ! All combat capable ships are to sortie immediately!' Again, huh? This curse never misses a chance.

'My fleet will fight the Arbiters and Enforcers! Misa's fleet will take care of their escorts!'

I had barely arrived at the battlefield when a blond blur shot past me. Brisbane immediately through herself into the fight. Something about her was different. She was more aggressive than usual.

Brisbane was way faster than she had been prior to this battle. When she finally slowed, I realised that her eye that was normally covered by hair was glowing a familiar shade of red. I couldn't quite figure out where I had seen it before.

One of the high-class Sirens threw Brisbane to my side. She was on her feet instantly and I heard her mumble something about power levels and percentages. Did she have the same power as the Brisbane from four years ago? That would be possible, if what the commander told me is true. But if that's true then...

'Commander?'

'Yes, Kawakaze?'

'In our fight the other day, I saw a metal pole sticking out of Brisbane's leg. What was it?'

The commander leaned back and said, 'I guess it's finally time to tell you.' I watched him, waiting for him to continue. 'Brisbane doesn't have a complete human body like the rest of you. She was created using the wisdom cube salvaged from the original Brisbane. Unfortunately, this deformed her significantly.'

'We tried replacing her missing organs and body parts with robotic ones but we couldn't get them to fully integrate with her body. Until we experimented with Siren flesh. Siren flesh is special because it integrates with metal perfectly. We ended up using it to help attach Brisbane's robotic organs and body parts.'

'The largest area of Siren flesh in her body is her right leg. The pole you saw was part of its frame. Brisbane has to wear a special stocking to prevent the Siren flesh in her leg from mutating. If it does, it could allow the rest of the Siren flesh to corrupt her.'

'Have you heard of the six Catastrophe Levels?' I nodded. 'The public doesn't know any details of a Level 4 Catastrophe because it concerns Brisbane. Specifically, if the Siren flesh corrupts her.'

I shivered at the thought of this. A Catastrophe of that scale is incredibly destructive, second only to a mass Siren invasion and a large-scale Siren assault.

A Level 4 Catastrophe could occur. At this rate, it seemed likely; Brisbane was tearing through the Sirens like a demon. As she did, various parts of her body began to glow the same familiar red. Then I realised where it was from. The Sirens themselves.

Brisbane shot up to one of the Enforcers and grabbed her shoulder. She clenched her hand into a fist, crushing the Siren's shoulder, before ripping it from her body. The destroyer pressed her gun against the other Enforcer's chest and fired, killing her instantly. The first Enforcer aimed her lasers at Brisbane and fired, destroying her right stocking.

Everything seemed to slow down as Brisbane sailed to a stop. Both sides watched as Brisbane's back arched, the red glow in her eye intensifying. Siren tentacles shot out of her leg, waist and upper back.

The Enforcer watched as one of Brisbane's tentacles tore a laser cannon off her rigging before stabbing her with it. Another tentacle grabbed the Enforcer's body and threw it at the Arbiters, who barely dodged in time.

No matter what was shot at her, Brisbane shrugged it off as her tentacles flew at the Arbiters and effortlessly snapped their necks. More tentacles wrapped around their bodies and slammed them into each other. Nothing remained of the Arbiters except for fragments of their rigging.

Silence flooded the battlefield as Brisbane stood among the bodies of the Siren fleet, all of which she had massacred. Her body was limp, hanging from her tentacles. Brisbane's fighting had been terrifying, as if she was a real demon. I felt like I finally had a glimpse at what cursed me four years ago. Nothing I had ever seen before could even compare.

I was the first to break free of the paralysing shock. My hand was shaking slightly as I spoke into my radio on the emergency channel. 'UNS Kawakaze to all allied military forces. I am declaring a Level 4 Catastrophe. End transmission.'

We never got the chance to fire a single shellat the Sirens.