Snow and ice swallows a portion of Iron Blood's base, the entirety of the blizzard arrives. A metallic beast flaps its wings and causes the cold wind and the creeping ice to gradually spread further. It's a simple cold wind carried by the blizzard, but it bursts through a portion of the facility, sending Bismarck and Geryon flying.
"......."
Tirpitz ignores them as quickly as she sends them flying. The blizzard stalls the kansens within its range, but she has no interest in them. Instead, she casually walks towards the port to reach open waters while Orthrus quietly follows after her.
"Tirpitz!"
Without much hesitation, Roon open fires the second Tirpitz leaves the facility and step into the water's surface.
"Rrrr!"
The Zwei rigging bends its wing to shield its kansen from the relentless rain of high explosive shells. Its durability surpasses that of normal riggings and its defenses further strengthened by the META's freezing ability forging glacial armor on it.
"Tch!" Roon stops firing
She sends about three simultaneously salvos at Tirpitz, but the explosions fail to dent or budge the rigging defending Tirpitz. The shells do explode upon impact but the raw power is lessened against a META with little restraint. If anything, Tirpitz just lazily wipes the black smoke hindering her vision out of annoyance.
"It's so noisy. Everything.....is noisy....."
Tirpitz shakes her head, distracted by the ringing in her ears. The sound of cannon fire, the amplified waves, and incoherent whispers confuses what she sees in her surroundings.
"Which is real.....?" Tirpitz asks herself
The view in front and around her is filled by the blizzard she summoned, but her vision keeps switching to a burning sea littered with wreckages.
"I have no interesting in crushing the weak. Get lost" Tirpitz coldly warns her
Her intention is to prevent herself from unintentionally sinking anyone from Iron Blood since she values her promise more than her growing anger and confusion. It's why she has yet to use her cannons on Roon.
"You're out of control again, so I'm going to make sure to you stay put"
"Kkh!"
The burning and piercing sensation staggering her is similar to when she's forcefully revived in her original timeline. It's excruciatingly painful, especially with the new sensation of shackles strangling every corner of her body.
"I....said.....get lost!"
It's unintentional, but the uncontrollable emotions has her swipe her hand in the air which on turn commands her rigging to charge at Roon and rams the unfortunate heavy cruiser.
".......!"
The speed and resilient armor dents and bends Roon's hull as the rigging sends her flying and helplessly rolling several meters back.
"This strangling feeling is getting on my nerves....!"
Tirpitz takes a few steps back since the unknown weight strangling her body is annoying her. She could barely concentrate on her surroundings that she fails to realize the sound of multiple shells piercing the snow.
Don't do that.....
For a moment, she hears her own voice speaking to her in dismay and sorrow. The mere echo tightens her limbs and makes it difficult for her to breath for the next minute.
"......"
Even if Tirpitz isn't actively defending herself, the rigging wraps its wings around Tirpitz and the shells instantly freezes faster than it could detonate upon impact. It turns the explosive force of the shells into frozen pellets shattering to crystallized bits.
"Get lost, get lost, get lost!"
Tirpitz is losing her patience and what's left of her restraint is used to angrily warn them to leave. There is a force contradicting in her - one of it is her nature as a META despising the uncomfortable Zwei retrofit and the other is her body being numb and a whisper irritating her.
"Just because you're the queen of ice, it doesn't make you the preadator and us the prey!" Regensburg angrily points at her
"There's no need to get violent, Tirpitz. If you insist on fighting, we'll kick your-"
A gust of the blizzard's wind in front of them forces the two cruisers to shield their eyes with their hands. Before it could even disperse, Tirpitz closes her distance to Magdeburg to only a meter away.
"Eh?!"
In a matter of seconds, Orthrus bit half of the rigging as easy as snapping a twig and Tirpitz puls her curled fist back......delivering a powerful hook to the cheek. Her rigging follows by sending her flying too with an icy wind.
"I will show you this blizzard isn't your domain! Regina, tear it apart!"
Regensburg targets the rigging first and orders Regina to pin it down before Tirpitz can order to open fire.
"Rrraaarr!"
The two rigging roar at each other's faces when Regina grabs both of Orthrus' wings. Its weight added by the additional armor makes it impossible to pin it down to the surface water, so it turns into a pushing contest between two metallic beasts.
"What?!"
To Regensburg's sudden shock and horror, ice begins to consume Regina's claws trying to pierce the frozen armor. Then the cold begins to make its way to the rigging's arms.
"Regina, return to my side!"
Unfortunately, the command is too late as Orthrus' roar causes a shockwave that knocks away Regina. It's frozen arms shatter before it falls on its back, landing beside Regensburg.
"This is different than before!"
Unlike the previous incident with Tirpitz's rampage, the current one has her full wisdom cube and doesn't exercise restraint. Regina's entire left arm including the shoulder and wings are shattered easily. Its other arm is missing as well as half of its jaw.
"Gah!"
The few seconds of staring at a damaged Regina is more than enough for Tirpitz to causally stab Regensburg in a non-fatal area of the stomach with a sword shaped from ice.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Regensburg grabs the sword peircing through her stomach and stares closely at Tirpitz, instantly seeing the completely different demeanor and expression.
"......"
Tirpitz casually pulls out the sword and has Orthrus knock away another kansen. Regensburg falls right near her rigging who couldn't move from its limbs and joints completely frozen.
"What's going on.....?" Tirpitz notices her hand
To her great shock, Tirpitz's free hand grips the wrist where she's holding her sword while she's unaware a few seconds ago. She tries to loosen her grip, but her hand doesn't obey her and struggles to even loosen by a centimeter.
"Stop this at once, Tirpitz!" Scharnhorst shouts at her
A few meters after moving away, Tirpitz is blocked by Scharnhorst alongside Gneisenau. With the blizzard engulfing half of the base, Tirpitz is further strengthened by it and turns the battlefield into her snowy playground.
"You two. Which one are you? Your faces are the same....."
Tirpitz couldn't differentiate the normal version and META version. In her current perspective, she's facing the META ones but it switches to viewing them as the normal ones.
"I hate fighting my own comrades, but if you keep attacking kansens, we'll beat you until you go down"
"I remember every time I lash out.....I was shackled. You did this to me, but you treated me like a rabid beast to be euthenized. Iron Blood or not......I'm just sick of it!"
Ice vapor is released from Tirpitz's hand and with concentration, it begins to stick close to the blade. Forcing herself to wield the power she once had in her prime causes a tightening sensation around her limbs and difficulty breathing.
Fifteen minutes later......
It's been long time Tirpitz has to fight with serious intent but still retaining enough reasoning to not sink anyone. She pants after the two unconscious battlecruisers managed to chip off her glacial sword and shred parts of Orthrus' surface ice armor.
"The more I use my power.....the heavier I feel....." Tirpitz starts to leave the scene
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau lie unconscious near each other with their cannons bent or shattered by the ice. As for Tirpitz, her breathing grows heavy from the punishment of forcing to break from her current limit.
"......!"
Similar to what happened earlier, Tirpitz's is surprised her hand is gripping her neck. The force is not strong enough to snap her neck, but the tightness makes it still difficult to breathe.
"Every time I hurt other kansens, my body stings and shocks me. Just what the hell is going on?"
Tirpitz staggers and back and desperately uses every strength in her body just to move her hand away from her neck and forcefully keep it at the side.
"Hmm....." Tirpitz takes a deep breath to recompose herself
The fresh air and overlapping noises around her are real, but her mind remains hazy. For the past few days, she's in a self-induced comatose until Iron Blood reactivated her original rigging and forced it to stimulate her wisdom cube.
"Am I....alive.....?"
To her, dream and reality becomes mixes and often switch to each other which confuses her current perspective. It's as if she's peacefully bathing on a gentle stream until someone yanks her body out of the peaceful sleep and tosses her to concrete reality.
"If I were you, I'd start burying everyone in this blizzard"
Victorious META appears in front of her with her hands on her back and her head leaning close to Tirpitz.
"What did they do to me?" Tirpitz weakly
"Isn't it obvious, dummy? Why you were having a peaceful nap, they took the opportunity of making you undergo Zwei retrofit. They forcefully changed you and shackled you to your rigging"
"Zwei....."
Instead of the utter disbelief that Victorious META expects, Tirpitz raises both shoulders a bit then stares at her arms back and forth.
"That explains the clothes...." Tirpitz shrugs with little care
"Really? You're more concerned about your new uniform?!"
Now, it's Victorious META who's in utter disbelief. She throws both arms at the front and her dismayed glare is responded by Tirpitz raising am eyebrow, still barely caring about the "upgrade" and bring forced to regain consciousness.
"They integrated my rigging and added it to the Type Zwei rigging. Since I'm already a META, it's practically useless. No, it's useful since this strengthened the body but....." Tirpitz gazes up at the rigging looming over her
"Your wisdom cube is restrained. Even if the original Type Zwei rigging was overtaken, its designed to control you"
Tirpitz lifts her right arm and squeezes her hand, sensing the mild numbness lingering in her body. She feels an unknown weight cooling around her body and slight uneasiness as the Type Zwei rigging is designed to prevent METAmorphosis.
"Not only did they force me to wake up, they kept me on a leash.....again. I may have made a promise, but I can't and won't tolerate being toyed with"
The effect on her META wisdom cube is more of a nuisance than a benefit. Although she never forgets to watch over the people "she" cares about, Tirpitz is completely displeased and upset the burden placed on her.
"Grr!"
The META rigging spreads its wings wide open and unhinges its jaws wide open to further strengthen the blizzard gradually engulfing the base.
"I won't forgive anyone who tries to control me" Tirpitz grits her teeth
"Are you going to who you used to be? Even though you promised not to hurt anyone?"
Victorious META reminds her in a cheerful and mocking tone. Her smile.lacks the innocence and warmth of the normal Victorious, so Tirpitz frowns at her with obvious hostility and displeasure.
"What's more important? Sparing their feelings or reliving what you despised the most? Go back to the spiteful version of you and you might just kill someone important to you"
Victorious META taunts while circling around her, pressuring and provoking her at the same time.
"Still, I can't blame you for being angry.....but it's still your fault for refusing to wake up"
"......." Tirpitz just scoffs
"Thanks to your stubbornness, you're now restrained by Iron Blood"
Using sufficient strength to knock away the other Iron Blood ships in mere minutes already takes a burden to Tirpitz. It's the same as being chained and desperately pulling herself away from her shackles only for it to tighten the more she struggles.
"Is that why my hand moved on its own a while ago?" Tirpitz asks in suspicion
"The body's information. It's the same reason why old habits don't go away even after the soul died" Victorious META wags her finger
"Who knows? You're doing something the old Tirpitz wouldn't have done, but it's strange a lifeless husk moved on its own"
Out of life curiosity, Victorious META closely stares at Tirpitz's hands while the latter stands quietly without complaint.
"It's as if the memory is etched into the body even after the owner is long dead"
"That doesn't make any sense"
"So is the fact you're posing as someone else" Victorious META retorts
"......"
Seeing and speaking with the hallucination of someone she still dislikes is more of an insult to Tirpitz than torment. The version of Victorious META annoying her keeps provoking and mocking her, but she can only keep silent knowing she couldn't sink someone who doesn't exist anymore.
Ten minutes later......
Akagi pushes through the blizzard with Kaga, fearing for her safety, and follows her instantly. Right now, the opportunity Akagi has been carefully setting is right before her. Bismarck and the others have yet to recover and recompose themselves, so she hurries before they could subdue her.
"Akagi, as long as this blizzard remains, there's no way you can just run to her and expect her to go down" Kaga grabs her wrist
"My key to baiting Bismarck META is right there. If they stop her first, then that wretched META won't come to me herself" Akagi insists
"This is an out of control META. It won't hold back against any of us"
"Then it gives me a reason to not hold back myself. Bismarck won't be able to pin it against me if her sister goes into a second comatose"
"You're trying to bait a META who's leading other METAs"
Kaga doesn't have proper measurement of Bismarck META's full strength, but regular Bismarck with her Zwei upgrade is already a formidable warrior. She's afraid of Akagi hurting herself and others just to get revenge and get rid of a hindrance.
"Not only did I have enough of her existence, Bismarck META must have a way to revive a destroyed kansen"
"You're still trying to revive Amagi?" Kaga pulls her back
"......I already learned my lesson when it backfired on me. What she will bring back is no kansen but an abomination"
The horrible memory scars her till to this day. Akagi could never forget the punishment of denying someone's death and overturning the common sense of putting someone to rest.
"Akagi....." Kaga loosens her grip
"If that Tirpitz is a result of Bismarck meddling with life and death, then I can't let it be"
"......Still"
"There are enough abominations in the world, Kaga. Azur Lane can't afford to have even one running around"
"It's still risky trying to take on since she could possibly be a META now"
"Then if it's a failed META attacking everyone indiscriminately.....then I just have to put her down. Bismarck doesn't have the guts to kill her little sister"
"Akagi, you're going to get yourself hurt because you're targeting another META!"
"Bismarck META hindered our plans and even plans to bring back another META. This is for both myself and to prevent those mad Iron Blood unleashing their undoing. We'll all get dragged in their problems"
"......." Kaga is on the verge of giving up
"Fine! If you don't want to help me, then I'll finish her off myself!"
Akagi forcefully pulls her arm away from Kaga and quickly leaves by herself due to her impatience.
"Everyone is afraid of what has to be done. Bismarck is soft on her little sister, so she can't kill her.....but I can!"
Akagi pushes her way into the relentless blizzard and after sailing for two minutes, she feels the frigid wind gradually softening and weakening.
"I'm reaching the eye of this blizzard. That means...."
Sensing the flow around her, Akagi increases her speed and pushes further into the blizzard. It's then she catches the enormous shadow of a winged beast and the echo of its deep growl.
"There you are" Akagi smiles in anticipation
Akagi spots her prey even if she's still distant. She couldn't mistake the battleship clad in white and a metallic beast floating behind her.
"......"
The only difference is Tirpitz doesn't seem to notice her and too occupied gripping her shaking arm. In Tirpitz's perspective, Victorious META is still present, but Akagi can only see one battleship muttering to herself.
"It seems Bismarck failed to recreate the power she obtained. You're really a half-baked battleship......who couldn't accomplish anything!" Akagi readies her aircraft
"......."
Akagi raises her voice and makes her presence clear. Being insulted by someone she barely knows is enough for Tirpitz to shift her gaze and notice her standing at a distance.
"Obviously, she wants to kill you. So what will it be?" Victorious META is standing beside Tirpitz
"My head still feels hazy but I'm certainly not blind or stupid" Tirpitz clicks her to tongue
"You failed to gain a proper Zwei retrofit and now you're on the verge of METAmorphosis"
"Get lost. You shouldn't even be here"
The thought of answering Akagi's taunting makes Tirpitz feels uncomfortable and difficult to breathe like how she either knocked down or knock away the other ships earlier.
"Why is this body acting up?"
Tirpitz herself knows it's not because of the Zwei retrofit restraining her as a META but the body and the wisdom cube being in conflict.
"Would you look at that? You're being rejected by the body" Victorious META scoffs
"That's not possible. There's nothing left of her" Tirpitz grips her wrist
The hand gripping the sword trembles like it's an instinct to protest in fighting another kansen. For almost two months, the body is already vacant and just a shell the bodiless META occupies.
"Don't forget you're facing me!"
Annoyed for being ignored, Akagi summons dive bombers by throwing her red paper talisman high up in the air. She bombs the distracted battleship, but the low visibility and cold wind protecting the META curves the falling bombs and causes only near misses.
"Why can't I swing my sword?"
Tirpitz uses every ounce of strength to lift the hand holding the sword, but she can barely do so. The weight of her arm is unbearable and frustrating because it opposes her intent to cut down Akagi.
"It's like a headless dragonfly" Victorious META watches in amusement
".....And you're like a haunting fly" Tirpitz answers back
"Has the failed retrofit driven you mad, Tirpitz? You've been talking to yourself" Akagi smirks
"......"
"Your body can't withstand the transformation, can it? That's why it's overloading your senses and straining your body"
Since Akagi is unaware that Tirpitz speaks to Victorious META, she comes up with the conclusion of the failed attempt resulting in Tirpitz becoming delusional and in physical pain.
"If this keeps up, you'll become a feral META and Bismarck still won't kill you. Before those hardheaded Iron Blood lets you loose to kill who knows who, I'm going to put you down here!"
Akagi sincerely believes Tirpitz is a failed Zwei retrofit and would also become a failed META, resulting in an uncontrollable kansen with increased strength and an annoying ability.
"Annoying flies!"
This time, fighter aircraft circles from both sides and relentlessly fires machine gun bullets at her. Orthrus doesn't waste a second and wraps its wings around its kansen. The bullets shatter the moment it makes physical contact with the metallic beast.
"I see. If I take down that metallic beast, then this blizzard goes down and you go down!" Akagi hypothesizes
"Rrooaarr!"
Orthrus roars and a gust of wind nearly knocks down Akagi by her feet. The red fox shields her face with her arms and it only manages to force her about four steps back.
"......!"
Akagi swipes the annoying snow in front of her only to realize Tirpitz is right in front of her with her arms stretched above her hand and the ice sword ready to swing downward.
"How-!"
In the last second, Akagi jumps back. Fortunately enough for her, the sharp edge of the blade shallowly diagonally slashes from Akagi's left shoulder until to her chest. She only blinks and Tirpitz swings her blade to the left
"Tch!"
Unfortunately for Tirpitz, it's only a shallow cut on Akagi's cheeks with the fox's sharp instincts allowing her to move away from a swift fatal blow.
"My hand feels heavy" Tirpitz lifts her hand and stares at her hand
Tirpitz manages to force her right arm to move as she wishes, but the weight from her hand up to her forearm slows down even her swiftest swings.
"That speed is impossible for a battleship" Akagi wipes the blood from the cut in her cheek
"Then you haven't faced Bismarck" Tirpitz smiles a bit
"Acting high and mighty just because the blizzard you created is your only advantage"
"You declared you will kill me, but I haven't seen you put in any effort.....or is this your limit, Akagi?"
"You haven't seen me how serious I can get!"
Akagi launches more dive bombers and torpedo bombers catching Tirpitz in a pincer from both sides again and above.
"I knew it. She hasn't seen Bismarck in a serious fight....." Tirpitz sighs
"........!"
A dismayed Tirpitz swings her blade downwards and the shallow cut on Akagi's shoulder deepens. Tirpitz hasn't even moved an inch from her spot yet she cuts the air and uses it to directly land a hit.
"I had enough of pesky aircraft"
At the same time she swings her blade, Tirpitz swings it again to the side the aircraft immediately freeze before it could release their bombs. Every single one helplessly loses altitude and falls straight to the uneasy waters around them.
"You're difficult as hell!"
Akagi throws another squadron of fighter aircraft just to distract her long enough until Akagi can launch more bombers at her knowing Tirpitz has difficulty facing aircraft carriers.
"Being difficult is Iron Blood nature and they're somehow proud of it"
Tirpitz doesn't view normal kansens like Akagi as much of a threat since the frigid battlefield is part of her territory. She lifts her hand and the rigging behind her spreads its wings wide open again.
".......!"
A shock reverberates all over her body and causes her legs to weaken. This results in her being forced to kneel on the ground with her free hand pressing the surface. Her arm visibly trembles from the sudden shock and loss of strength.
"Now's my chance!"
Using the few seconds Tirpitz isn't moving to attack or even defend herself, Akagi swings her arm and orders her swarm of dive bombers to drop all of their bombs to keep her in one place - reenacting her helpless historical death.
"This again....." Tirpitz clicks her tongue
Orthrus shields her with its body, successfully enduring several falling bombs. Although the relentless explosive damage and shockwaves chips off its freezing armor, the metallic hide remains intact and merely scratched.
"Again and again, this body is refusing to cooperate. Why now? It's not even possible when there's nothing but a empty shell" Tirpitz forces herself to stand up
"That's because you planned to actually slice Akagi in half. Of course, that body won't allow you, silly"
Victorious META appears in front of Tirpitz again and proudly wags her index finger in front of her face.
"Muscle memory, spinal reflex, and functions like that - Even if you destroy the soul, her experiences are etched into the body" Victorious META chuckles
"It still doesn't make any sense because it's as if she's still resisting me!"
"You killed her soul but not her memories. It's as simple as a natural reaction of an opposing force"
"......."
"You're harming the body. It's a simple defensive mechanism that even an icy blockhead like you should know" Victorious META takes a few steps back
"Just because you're dead doesn't mean you can mock me all you want" Tirpitz points her sword at her
"You're right, but who's the one who can't let go and talking to someone no one else can see?"
"Tch!"
"I won't let you run. Not even your consciousness allows you. Why do you think I'm here?"
Deep inside Tirpitz, she knows Victorious META isn't physically present, but the slightest grip on her arm feels as if she's existing.
You've stained your hands with the blood of your comrades.....
I knew it. You're beyond saving.......
Look at what you became....
Bismarck should have put you down.....
This is just a moving corpse. The person is long dead.....
You have to be put to rest. For your own good.....
Different voices of kansens she could no longer remember echo in her head. Those are kansens who all faced her with pity of resentment. Each of them are different yet they share the sentiment of how the one Bismarck failed to revive is not her sister, but a soulless monstrosity.
My head hurts. I can't think straight. Everything hurts......
Her incomplete resurrection left her partially mindless and feeding her with the energy of the black wisdom cube amplified intense emotions such as confusion, anger, disgust, sorrow, and horror. It caused her original body and wisdom cube to reject each other.
Someone...anyone.....make it stop.....
No matter how much she tries to lead herself to self-destruction in her madness, her primal instincts repeatedly forces her to survive as much as possible.
Why did you bring me back to this living hell?
It grows to intense hatred and thirst for revenge towards the two culrprits because her hostorical life had a pitiful death and her kansen life is cursed to wander as an "undead" unable to attain permanent death. No matter how much she's destroyed, the black wisdom cube's corrosion coursing through her like blood pumping in the veins causes to repeatedly keep on functioning.
"You blamed everyone for your foolishness" Victorious META is on the brink of laughter
"....."
"You could have killed yourself, but you're a coward so you convinced yourself that only another kansen can kill you"
"......"
"It's all because you were afraid of a pathetic death, so you sought a death in battle just like your big sister!" Victorious META mocks her ah
".....!"
Tirpitz tightly closes her eyes, desperately setting aside the memories still haunting her.
"There was no way to kill myself. Every time the black wisdom cube forces me to revive, it strains my mind. I'm like a machine short circuiting after shutting down repeatedly. That's why I could barely remember half of who I used to be....."
Tirpitz realizes much of her former life is lost and clings to the remaining half - the proof of her mistakes and its consequences. There are gaps in her memory such as how she's contained shortly after the failed resurrection. The next memory after that is fleeing from Iron Blood and attacking every living being because of heightened senses and amplified emotions.
"Who is she talking to? I knew it. This failure has gone mad beyond saving" Akagi frowns
Akagi pressures the defense to break, but even her best torpedo bombers waver Orthrus' solid ice defense. Not to mention, the blizzard weakens any explosive power of regular kansens, making high explosive shells and dive bombers less effective on her. Right now, Akagi just sees her mumbling to herself and staring beside her as if someone else is standing beside her.
".....!"
The defense wavers for a moment due to Tirpitz raising her voice at a non-existing person when Orthrus backs away a bit and the wings that's wrapping her loosens.
"Now!"
Torpedo bombers from the left drop four torpedoes with only two directly striking her. The boom underwater and the explosive splash staggers Tirpitz. She takes two steps back, briefly dizzy and bewildered that it snaps her back to senses.
"What-"
Unfortunately, her distraction is an opportunity for Akagi to throw several paper talismans clad in crimson red flames directly at her. She partially raises her hand, but the flaming bombs explode before it could make physical contact with her knowing she freezes anything that touches her.
Reduce to ashes!
Burn, burn, burn!
Let these flames consume you......
Due to her clear control over ice and snow, kansens repeatedly counters it with intense flames. Only few could do so since the negative temperature she produces and unleash surpasses the natural coldest temperature.
"That.....hurts....!" Tirpitz is clad in red flames
After what she feels like are hundreds of repeated deaths over the same method, Tirpitz absolutely despises it more than the tallboy bombs used to sink her. She doesn't want to remember being incinerated at the same spot over and over again just because it's not enough to fully reduce her to nothingness and the black wisdom cube that automatically triggers both her regeneration and fueling her revival.
"It hurts....it hurts..... hurts!" Tirpitz claws on her cheeks and neck
Tirpitz moves erratically, twisting her body left to right and swinging her hand out of desperation. The intense heat Akagi procudes isn't fatal to her due to her low temperature body and enhanced META body, but it weakens her. If the blizzard isn't present and if Akagi learned to shut off her freezing temperature, it would have significantly damage Tirpitz and render her vulnerable.
"I don't want this! Not again, not again, not again!" Tirpitz holds herself from screaming
The battlefield becomes intense with the wind growing stronger and the temperature further dropping in response to her mixed fear and resentment over being burned to death. Akagi's flames don't severely damage her but to Tirpitz the pain is amplified out of trauma.
"Akagi!"
Bursting in anger, Tirpitz unleashes cold vapor around her, countering the crimson flames consuming every part of her body. The heat that could melt through steel vanishes in mere seconds when Tirpitz's heightened senses overpower the body's rejection and the inhibitor.
"Oh boy. Akagi actually triggered her" Victorious META slowly backs away
"This sensation......!"
Akagi also distances herself from Tirpitz when the annoyed and uninterested battleship is now reeking with murderous intent and blind rage. She feels the fur on her tails freeze and stand up out of instinct and not the cold.
"I have to-"
Akagi plans to further distance herself just enough for her to quickly strategize against an enraged META, but the bloodlust numbing Tirpitz's rationality gives her explosive strength. In a literal blink of an eye, she's right in front of Akagi with her fist pulled back.
"Gah!"
Orthrus temporarily transforms into a mash of ice and steel going from a defensive form to a pure offensive one. Its wing span reduces and grows a pair of clawed arms with protruding blades on each shoulder. The hand appears bulky due to inches thick ice reinforcing from its hands to the forearms. Those pair of ice wrapped fists act like solid punching gloves and a swing of its right fist hits Akagi right in the head and sends the red fox spinning in the air.
"......!"
The second she even lands and rolls for a few meters on the surface, blocks of ice forms above her and one of the several ones raining her manages to directly hit her on the head, dizzying her for a second.
"What now?!" Akagi rubs her head
The rigging, still behind Tirpitz, folds its left arm up and the hands tightens into a fist again. Tirpitz herself isn't actually going to hit Akagi but performs the same motion so the rigging acts as a shadow.
"Shi-"
Tirpitz swiftly punches down the air and the rigging does the same with little to no delay. Instead of the air, the shadows of the rigging's fist looms above Akagi a plot second before the latter meets the force of a high speed strike clad in solid ice.
"......!"
The shockwave disturbs the sea and sends a small circular wave around Akagi while the latter herself causes a loud splash when her face roughly meets the surface water.
"Huh?"
A swift thrust of a blade pierces through the cold air and the sight of a silver glinting blade is reflected in Tirpitz's eyes seconds after knocking Akagi down.
Meanwhile......
Geryon bursts out from the rubble of concrete and steel, sending the debris flying around it.
"Nngh....."
Bismarck safely emerges with minor damage at best thanks to Geryon's impressive reaction and defense.
"They're alright....."
Before she could even recompose herself, she runs to the unconscious Graf Zeppelin, Friedrich der Grosse, and Neumark. She checks their pulses on their wrist and neck, sighing in relief when both of their heartbeat and breathing remains stable even with the blizzard surrounding them.
"Bismarck!"
Victorious runs to her at the sound of Geryon's roar and flying debris.
"What in the world happened?" Victorious panics looking left and right
"The rigging went out of control and this affected Tirpitz too. She attacked us right after she woke up and fled" Bismarck summarizes
"Tirpitz did what?! Where is she?!" Victorious can barely breathe
"She must have fled into the open sea. The fact the blizzard remains means she hasn't left Iron Blood waters" Bismarck walks past Victorious
"You're going to face her in that state?"
"I have to stop her before she undergoes METAmorphosis. If that happens and she's like the dead META......then I have to put her down myself"
Zwei is meant to halt METAmorphosis, so Bismarck naturally fears the process failed and it's corrupting Tirpitz instead.
"Then I have to talk to her. I'm sure she's confused and scared because it's like she was shocked into waking up" Victorious vaguely guesses
"You don't know that....." Bismarck shakes her head
"I still have to try before you two end up killing each other!" Victorious steps in front of Bismarck
"Victorious, wait-"
"She's my friend and I'm not letting that rampaging dummy get herself killed for the third time!"
Bismarck tries to grab her, but Victorious cuts her off and hurriedly runs away from Bismarck out of the fear the two sisters will fight to the death.
"Ugh!" Bismarck presses the side of her abdomen
After taking a single step, the pain from shielding her comrades and taking the damage, reverberates all over her body and stings the area where she's directly hit earlier. She would have followed Victorious and reached her before rushing blindly, but the coiling pain forces her in one spot.
"The big icy blockhead! I'm going to throw her in boiling water if she survives!"
Victorious drags her feet as fast as she could even while she pants from overexerting her body just to search for Tirpitz. She immediately heads to the open water without care for the blizzard or freezing to death. All she can think about is Tirpitz in danger of getting herself killed by Bismarck or another kansen.
"She must be at the center of this blizzard"
Victorious is only partially sure about the nature of Tirpitz's abilities, but she's aware that once it manifests, Tirpitz is usually at the core where the area isn't affected by the snowy wind and freezing air.
"Waah!"
The intensity of the blizzard doesn't freeze Victorious, but the raging snowstorm greatly hinders everyone's visibility. Her radar's detection range is greatly reduced due to the whiteout, so she's forced to rely with her eyes for the direction.....only for her to trip on a solid bump and falls on the surface face first bit cushioned by her chest.
"What was tha - kyaa!"
Victorious rubs the back of her head and turns her head where she feels the bump on her foot. The bump is actually a kansen lying on her with the arms on the side.
"K-K-Kaga?!"
Victorious rubs her eyes and shakes her head to make sure she's actually seeing the right kansen. It's still the same white fox but unconscious and fortunately still breathing.
"Focus, Victorious! I need to find Tirpitz quickly!" Victorious stands up
For a moment, she freezes thinking why Kaga is in open waters, unconscious and has a cut on her back. Then Victorious loudly slaps both of her cheeks and remembers her top priority.
"She doesn't know what she's doing, so I have to talk to her!"
Victorious only witnesses the blizzard engulfing the Iron Blood base, but she firmly believes Tirpitz isn't intentionally harming everyone. She believes just like before, Tirpitz is out of control because of the unforeseen side effects.
"The wind is getting weaker. I must be close"
She shields her eyes from the snow by moving her arm in front of her and pushes her way into the frustrating weather. The wind still pushes her away, but her concern for a suicidal and frenzied friend is why not even the blizzard slows her down. The cold bites her skin and prickles her palms, but she's the only one whose breathing is unaffected and her skin is not freezing.
"Tirpitz!"
Victorious stretches her hand and feels the sudden loss of howling wind and slight warmth passing by her skin. She smiles realizing it's similar to "the eye of the storm" where the center is the calmest.
".......!"
What should be her relief and happiness quickly turns into a wide-eyed shock and her lips shaking in fear. She freezes because of the sight in front of her.
"N....ngh...."
Rather than just Tirpitz standing idly, what she witnesses is King George V behind Tirpitz, holding her saber with both hands and her blade being deep in Tirpitz's chest. The knight grits her teeth and pushes her sword further, ignoring the cold temperature releasing that's shortening her breath and freezing her skin.
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Chapter 15: Calm after the Storm
Before Tirpitz could do further damage and unintentionally kill someone, King George V confronts her to protect Tirpitz from herself, but Victorious' sudden appearance changes the situation. Bismarck ignores the lingering damage in her body and charges in the battlefield not knowing what's awaiting her.