Yokosuka Port, inside the naval base.
Boom boom boom boom. A thunderous sound like mountains collapsing echoed across the ground. The sea demon's tentacle, over twenty meters wide, crashed down onto the flight deck of the Forrestal-class aircraft carrier No. 4, carving a massive gash through the center of the ship.
Although everyone had evacuated the carrier at the last moment, this didn't stop Ryuuto from unleashing his full fury on it. Even the largest weapon humans had ever built was completely defenseless against his tentacles. After the fourth strike, the carrier's backbone completely snapped, turning it into an 80,000-ton piece of scrap metal slowly sinking beneath the waves.
By now, his "ears" no longer picked up any annoying radio signals. This meant the Seventh Fleet had completely given up on trying to defeat the monster. The victorious sea demon stopped waving its tentacles and growling, standing perfectly still in the gradually rising morning sun. This pose, to the humans who had watched it destroy the aircraft carrier, looked almost godlike.
"This can't be happening... the US military actually lost..."
"What about the evacuation of Tokyo's residents?"
"It's not good - they lost too quickly. There's no time to clear out the residential areas."
"Is Tokyo done for?"
"Wait, the monster seems to have stopped moving."
"You're right. What's going on? Why did it just freeze after destroying the carrier?"
"No idea, maybe it's tired?"
"Could it be because the sun came up?"
"Does that mean sunlight is its weakness!?"
Since the monster stopped moving as soon as the sun rose, it was hard not to think sunlight might be its weakness.
Obviously, they were overthinking things.
Ryuuto had simply entered a brief sage mode after letting off steam. Just like any middle schooler after releasing tension, he was now feeling empty, cold, and guilty.
"...■■■■■."
After being completely motionless for 10 minutes, humans noticed the great sea demon beginning to move again.
…
Tokyo, Chiyoda. Cabinet Office, Prime Minister's Office.
"The monster is moving again!?" The middle-aged man's hand trembled slightly as he held the phone, his face turning pale. He was the Japanese Prime Minister who had just finished addressing the nation.
"Where's it heading? Is it going back to the deep sea? If it's returning to the ocean, don't attack it!"
"..."
The Chief Cabinet Secretary on the other end of the phone went quiet for an uncomfortable moment, then said: "...I'm sorry to tell you this, Prime Minister."
In an instant, the Prime Minister collapsed into his office chair as if all strength had left his body. The monster wasn't retreating. It was heading for land. It was heading for Tokyo, the world's largest metropolitan area with a population of 37 million.
…
Meanwhile in Fuyuki, at Caster team's temporary base.
"Well... it's reaching its limit now." Morgan turned away from the TV screen, her expression turning serious.
"Um… Caster, what do we do next? This isn't looking good..." There wasn't another person in the room, yet a different woman's voice could be heard. "Since my heart is made from Master's flesh and blood, I can feel it... he seems to be drifting further and further away from me."
After hearing Fanatic's words, Morgan tilted her head slightly. "All those impulses he's been holding back for so long have probably erupted at once, making his brain stop functioning normally. Hmph... it's actually impressive that he managed to keep the Beast's instincts under control for so many years. We could still make it if we hurried over now, but I don't think just the two of us can stop Master's rampage. Even though my Noble Phantasm could completely destroy the sea demon, I can't guarantee that Master would return to his senses afterward."
"What about using a Command Spell?" Fanatic asked.
"It won't work," she shook her head slightly, looking down at her stomach. The mark clearly visible on her skin was proof of the master-servant bond between her and Ryuuto.
She was lying, of course. Command Spells couldn't normally control a familiar as powerful as the sea demon, but someone with Morgan's abilities could make it work. By enhancing the Command Spell with her thousand-year-old knowledge, she could easily make him calm down. But she had deliberately told Assassin she was powerless, which was definitely a lie.
Just then, on the TV screen, the sea demon that had already come ashore suddenly stopped moving forward.
"Wait, why did it stop?" Fanatic was confused.
"It's over." A flash of loneliness crossed Morgan's eyes as she turned and walked toward the living room door. "Someone has already brought Master back to normal."
"Who was it? How did they do it?"
Without answering, Morgan dissolved into a stream of blue motes and vanished from the living room. Back in her bedroom, she fell onto the bed as if completely drained.
"Heh... I really am a selfish woman." Rolling over, the witch stared at the stains on the ceiling while running her fingers across the mark on her stomach. "No matter what happens... I don't want to use even a single bit of this Command Spell."
…
After landing, Ryuuto couldn't see the endless sea anymore. All around him were people and signs of human civilization. Well... who should he eat first? He raised a tentacle, ready to release the baby sea demons.
Just then, "Ring ring ring ring ring!" The loud sound of a cell phone cut through his fantasies of destroying the city. Damn it, who was ruining his fun? Hold on... Could it be the US President calling to acknowledge him as the strongest creature on earth? Maybe they wanted to pledge their loyalty and sign a peace treaty? He smirked as he disconnected from the sea demon and pulled a Motorola phone from his pocket.
"Who is this?" he answered.
"It's your mom."
"Oh, good morning, Manaka."
"Mm." On the other end, Manaka was comforting her little sister who was hiding in her arms, while she lovingly watched her tentacle-covered son on the TV screen. "Ryuuto, breakfast is ready. I made your favorites—takoyaki and crab buns. Come home when you're done, okay?"