The two ships positioned themselves about thirty meters apart, maintaining a distance of roughly a hundred meters from the Sea Emperor Turtle. Since none of us had ever worked together before, there was no expectation of coordinated attacks. Each person would simply use their strongest magic.

However, we had agreed to concentrate our attacks on a single point.

“Hmph. You guys might as well just sit back and watch.”

Even now, Rex still wasn’t convinced of our abilities.

Of course, we had no intention of just sitting around. We had a job to do, after all. Still, watching how the others fought first might not be a bad idea.

Rex pulled his staff from his waist and fixed his gaze on the distant Sea Emperor Turtle. As he began chanting, his magic power steadily rose.

Come to think of it, most magic required both an incantation and a command word. Skipping the incantation was possible, but it reduced the spell’s power.

“Not bad.”

Saskia murmured in mild admiration. If even an A-rank adventurer acknowledged him, then Rex was at least competent.

“Fireball!”

A two-meter-wide sphere of fire formed at the tip of Rex’s staff and shot toward the Sea Emperor Turtle, exploding with a deafening roar upon impact.

“Hmph.”

Rex turned around, clearly expecting praise, but judging by the explosion, the turtle’s shell was likely unharmed.

“Stone Cannon!”

Other B-rank adventurers followed up, launching large boulders and additional fireballs. Each attack exploded against the turtle’s shell, creating a cloud of dust and smoke.

Saskia raised her left hand, and a gust of wind cleared the smoke, revealing the turtle’s shell—completely undamaged.

That was probably a remotely activated wind spell. It took us a while to master that technique, but it seemed Saskia could use it effortlessly.

“Doesn’t look like it’s doing much.”

Her comment made the B-rank adventurers tense up.

From the other ship, massive chunks of ice and stone were also being launched, but the results appeared no different.

“Well, guess it’s my turn now.”

Saskia extended both hands and closed her eyes in concentration. Magic gathered rapidly at her fingertips. Unlike Rex, she wasn’t chanting at all, but the density of her magic was on a completely different level. As expected of an A-rank adventurer.

“Aerial Cannon!”

A distortion in the air shot forward at incredible speed, slamming into the Sea Emperor Turtle’s shell. A faint crack formed upon impact, and the resulting shockwave rippled outward, even reaching us.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

Rio was genuinely impressed, and I had to agree. I had assumed wind magic was mainly for slicing attacks, but apparently, it could also be used to launch compressed air projectiles.

On the other ship, Adelie launched a five-meter-wide boulder at the turtle. Despite her refined appearance, her magic was surprisingly forceful.

“As expected of Saskia.”

The B-rank adventurers cheered, but she didn’t seem to care.

“Less talking, more casting. Keep firing.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

Even if their attacks weren’t doing much, constant bombardment might eventually alter the turtle’s course. Meanwhile, Linford finally began to move on the other ship. His magic power surged as he raised his left hand to grasp his right wrist. Magic began forming at his right palm, extending outward into a two-meter-long cylindrical shape.

Once the structure was complete, Linford released his left hand and began forming a solid mass of earth in his right palm. The chunk grew from fist-sized to about the size of a basketball.

“That looks like a barrel and a bullet.”

Rio murmured, and I nodded in agreement. The vague feeling I’d had about the spell’s structure suddenly clicked.

“I see… Normally, projectile-based spells like Earth Needle already include the force needed to launch the projectile, but he’s using a separate magic spell to create propulsion.”

“Right. That probably increases its speed.”

Building a magical barrel to accelerate a projectile… If all the explosive force were focused on the shot itself, then the projectile speed would definitely increase. And he was likely using some additional technique as well.

Linford finally finished his preparations and locked onto the turtle. He set the earthen bullet into the barrel and fired. With a thunderous crack, the projectile was gone in an instant, striking the turtle’s shell in the blink of an eye.

“Whoa, that’s incredible.”

“The barrel must act as an acceleration mechanism… How does it work?”

If we could learn to replicate that, our attacks would be far more effective. Simply pouring magic power into our spells wasn’t enough against the Sea Emperor Turtle.

Linford’s attack had left visible cracks in the turtle’s shell. However, the projectile itself was nowhere to be seen, likely deflected upon impact.

“Hey, you two! Stop gawking and get to work.”

Saskia’s voice snapped us out of our observation. I hadn’t expected her to call us out, given her previous indifference, but she was right—we had a job to do. Standing around just because Rex had told us to "watch" would only hurt our reputation.

“Ah, sorry about that.”

“Since we were recommended for this mission, let’s give it our all.”

“Yeah.”

Refocusing, we turned our attention back to the Sea Emperor Turtle.