April the 9th, naval time 9:45PM, Vice Admiral Ito's  perspective.

      Ito was still on the radio with Rear Admiral Komaru. The situation was tense in the war room aboard the Yamato. He had thought about deploying more ships, but it would be a fool's errand. The fleet here could not sortie to aid them, they would be on their own. Of course he still had a job to do here. Continuing to give orders over the wireless he heard the loud bangs crackle through the radio, it had begun.

      April the 9th, naval time 9:46PM, Explorative Fleet's  perspective.

      The fleet was now sailing through a red sea filled with large female corpses. Most of the crew was below deck. All the ships bridges were filled with nervous looking Japanese sailors. The four giants were over a thousand feet away, but it was obvious that they would be upon them soon. The fleet had split into two sections, and was now sailing at a forty five degree angle alongside the giants. The first of the loud bangs from the five inch guns had startled them, but done no damage, as the first three shots went straight over their heads. "Damn worthless sights!" Yelled the captain.

      Those aboard the Asashimo had already made adjustments and fired a second deafening volley from their other three guns. Only one had hit, on this shot, but it was enough. "That's more like it! Relay adjustments to the fleet! Bring them down!" The captain glared out the window at the giants.

      As the second set of shots rang out, the other two ships were told over radio to commence operations. Without a moment's hesitation the two other ships let loose with their guns. Each firing all of their five inch guns in unison. The 51 Pound rounds were sent flying out of the their barrels at over 3,000 feet per second. With the rounds firing at a rate of over five rounds per minute, a torrent of shells flooded the air.

      Since the battle had begun Kenta had been holding the rail tight as he held unto the young man who had been in the water minutes earlier. His ship was plowing through the water  at over eighty knots causing it to break over the waves like a speedboat. Kenta felt he might get sick, but the man next to him covered in blood was probably the real cause. With the sky filled with rounds, Kenta could not help but watch the carnage unfold.

      The three destroyers; Asashimo, Hamakaze, and IsoKaze each had a total of six, five inch guns. Within the first minute of the battles commencement, the giants had closed the distance between them by half. But this hardly mattered as over 180 Common Type 1 high-explosive rounds had hit their marks. Made to pound through solid steal and explode, the rounds mostly passed straight through the giants bodies, but some of the rounds exploded when they impacted the giants bones and organs.

      The giants had never know a bullet, but to their primitive minds, they knew the sound of thunder. Panic struck them. Brandishing their large clubs that looked to be over fifty feet long, they tossed them towards the fleet. Taking evasive action the fleet suffered no damage to their poor aim. The IsoKaze came closest to being hit, as the club smashed the water a mere four meters away.

      Kenta tried to calm the unknown man as the battle continued. In the end he only ended up cursing the young man out and shoving him below deck. It had been only a minute since the first shots had wrung out. Kenta was in disbelief of the effect the ships were having on the giant clubbed demons. The Oni's seemed to slow down as their small wounds spewed blood. The giants wounds reminded him of a shrapnel wound, they had relatively small injuries, but were bleeding out very fast from all the shots. One had lost its eyes, and another was flailing down in the water wildly swinging it's club. Kenta couldn't help but think of the irony of the giants, they looked like westerners with their blue eyes and blonde hair, if it wasn't for the horns and size, he could swear his enemy had not changed. It had become apparent to Kenta that the fleet was gathering back together as a single group. This was most likely because the giants had becomes confused and clustered together.

      Kenta had been so preoccupied with the battle he failed to notice the  vibrations running through the ship. Perhaps it was the constant fire shaking the ship and not the engine, ships had never traveled so fast, as they now did in Watatsumi. Even now with a direct course away from the injured giants, the giants still continued to trudge after them, albeit slowly due to their confusion. For the second minute of the battle it seemed they might be overtaken by them, but after a short while the evidence was clear. The battle had only lasted three minutes, but in those three minutes, the four giants had endured the onslaught of over four hundred rounds. It seemed that the giant men were not dead. Most of them had lost all ambition to continue their trace as they hollered some incoherent cry. It was only a matter of time until they would bleed out, but the fleet kept a course that gave them some extra distance.

      Aboard the Asashimo, the crew started to cheer in accordance with their victory. To Kenta the whole affair seemed like the giants were mere lambs to the slaughter. He couldn't take pride in this kill, none of the ships had even taken damage. Still it was a lot less boring then just exploring. The idea of another attack was far from his mind. The all clear had been sounded, but not everyone had completely settled yet. "I suppose I should go help clean up that man we rescued."

      "You mean the one watching the battle that you shoved down the bulkhead?" Asked another sailor top side.

      "I did do that didn't I, oh well." Kenta remarked as he went below.

      April the 9th, naval time 9:46PM, Sakuya's perspective.

      Sakuya's over sensitive ears were screaming bloody murder as sounds as loud as thunder sounded continually. "What the hell is that noise!" Sakuya yelled to her troops. They all looked blankly as they too held their hands over their ears. "Worthless!" Pointing her finger towards the smoking tree village in the distance, the girls all understood, and made haste to the tree village in front of them.

      Sakuya pushed through the waist deep water  as fast as she could. Finally coming into a closer range she was able to catch a glimpse of the tree burning men. But even further away she saw them. "The dark demons..." "The Gray hulking beasts."

      Arising from the demons was a black smoke, the speed of them was baffling. They had no visible legs but merely glided atop the water. "They are so damn noisy!" Yelled one of the women in Sakuya's tow. "Is that some of the demons you saw Sakuya?" "Their making my ears bleed!" Said the girl as she held her hands over her ears.

      "Unmistakably, but why are they fighting the tree burning men?" Sakuya asked, both to herself and her sisters.

      "Perhaps they are rival demons?" Stated one of Sakuya's troops. The girls approached closer until they were within the black demons sights.

      "That doesn't make any sense, this is the first time we've ever seen them, if they were rivals then they would have been seen in the last war." Said Sakuya.

      "How would you know Sakuya, you weren't around back then!" Sakuya just shook her head.

      "No one is still alive from the era of the last war still. Of course I wouldn't know, but my mother never said anything about them!"

      Despite the serious situation these girls couldn't help but keep their minds occupied elsewhere.

      April the 9th, naval time 9:50PM, Explorative Fleet's  perspective.

      The Captain of the IsoKaze was aboard his bridge gazing out over the carnage before him. "Captain! Multiple targets sighted. Six, eight... Total is eleven giants from the south!"

      "Send a message to Rear Admiral Komaru!" "Sound the General Alarm and prepare for naval action!" The captain continued to shout his orders.

      "Admiral, message from the IsoKaze reports eleven more giants inbound from the south moving at high speeds!" Said the radio officer.

      Judging it took roughly 450 rounds to take down four of the previous giants, that left them with over two thousand rounds still, they could still win another fight if they had too, thought the Admiral. Then again they might have just got lucky, the giants before seem confused, these ones might be smarter. "Give me the Vice Admiral!" The young officer handed him the radio.

      Ito had a troubled look on his face after he received new Intel form the front. Given the circumstances he was sure that the explorative fleet could engage the giants, but it was far too risky. "Komaru, you're to disengage and make haste north!" "You are only to fire if you are followed!" He paused a moment again before speaking. "At full speed you should rendezvous with the main fleet in under three hours!"

      "Three Hours! At full speed we could only make it in five!" Stated Komaru.

      "The Main Fleet will be sailing south towards you, you are to avoid battle until we arrive."

      "Yes Vice Admiral!" Rear Admiral Komaru changed the frequency of the radio. "To all captains of the Explorative Fleet, prepare to change course to north."

      The message was heard loud and clear as all the ships came about changing directions.

      April the 9th, naval time 9:55PM, Sakuya's perspective.

      Despite their best efforts Sakuya and her ten sisters arrived to the village as the dark demons had already started heading north. Their figures becoming shadows in the distance.

      "Sakuya, shall we pursue them!?" Asked her sisters.

      Sakuya looked at her troops. "Sisters those demons did that!" She pointed at the bloodied corpse of a tree burning man. It had holes punctured through its body, as well as a few spots where it's fleshed had been set aflame from within. "Besides some of the villagers may still not be beyond help."

      "Your right Sakuya, but I don't see any signs of life here..." Sakuya's sister had a point, this was a graveyard. The girls littered about in the water from the old to the young did not look much better than the remains fo the four tree burning men.

      "Perhaps a man is still alive here floating amongst his daughters or sisters, be careful, and fan out and search!" "If you're lucky maybe he will propose to you." Despite the girls grim spirits, this small thought did keep them a bit optimistic as they searched the field of bodies.

      April the 9th, naval time 10:00PM, Nobuto's perspective.

      "Odd these brothers of mine are. They crawl in and live in a beast like no Wani I've ever seen. Their rude, crude, and never speak correctly. They constantly use the holy words, often profanely. They wear the best clothing I've ever seen! I wish to know more about these odd brothers, they are nothing like my father, and they seem more oddly interested in me. My mother said all men are like my father, and I wish not to doubt her, but it cannot be. They just can't seem to stop asking me questions, when they have not even politely asked for my name yet! Yet it is I who has questions. Why is it that courtesy must dictate that I must wait to be greeted before replying. To ask such questions without being greeted properly would be extremely rude. I am at a loss." These were Nobuto's thoughts, as the young Japanese man Kenta, tried to get him to talk.

      Kenta was now sitting below decks in a small room. The man in front of him still reeked of blood and piss, but at least the pounding in his ears had stopped. Even with his ear muffs, Kenta's ears had been exposed for a while when this idiot top side had pulled them off, much to his irritation. "Listen, I know you're frightened, but get over it!" Kenta looked down at the young taller man across the table. Yet another reminder of how short he was, more so to this man then his comrades which still towered over him. "We saved you, but have no record of you aboard the fleet?" "What were you doing there floating in the water?" The young man's silence irritated him so much. Then again it was a lot less boring then keeping watch over his gun again.

      Nobuto did not particularly care what this brother spoke of. He listened to him sure, but was more focused on the interesting layout of this beast he now dwelled inside. At first he had been terrified when he had been forced down below into the cramped beasts, "compartments as they were called?", but now he found it quite comfortable. Perhaps more so then his palace his sister had built. Unlike a Wani, the beast was solid and hard, more so then the surfaces of his old palace. Yet at the same time his seat was padded with some weird unknown material, he wished his elder sister had found this material for his garments. But this train of thought only reminded him of her untimely end, and depressed him. Still this beast proved able to protect him and his brothers from the tree burning men, but still he wondered what kind of an arrangement the brothers had with the beast.

      Kenta was getting fed up with this fidgeting tall man. "Pretty glad we clobbered those Giants, eh?" Kenta said as he pounded a fist into his palm.

      Nobuto finally was pulled back to reality when his short brother in front of him peeked his interest. "Yeah it was Awesome!" Responded Nobuto in his native Ryujin tongue.

      April the 9th, naval time 10:25PM, Maki's perspective.

      Maki had spent the last four hours jabbering away at the small man in her palm with little to no success in getting him to respond. His anger had not subsided, and he seemed so stubborn and arrogant. Then again her anger had mostly subsided as she now just felt frustrated.

      Still the trip so far to Otohime's had been completely uneventful. The only thing which was worth mentioning was the small mans mouth in her palm as he took in the sight of Otohime's dragon palace castle. In comparison, it's stone structure made Mt. Fuji look tiny, and Osaka castle look like an ants colony. Stairs that ascended out of the water for thousands of feet, with a giant Torii made of stone which enchanted it's looks further. "Truly the center of this world." Thought Shouta.

To be continued.