All my life I lived with a motto “Never expect gods to help you but do everything yourself with a hope”.

After my meeting with a self-proclaimed goddess I understood how right I was. She just summoned me out of nowhere and now she says that she just doesn’t know how to let me out of this damned fog. Not to mention her s*talk of ‘you’ll never become a god yourself’. I will go back to that damned fog and show that damned goddess what I can do.

When I returned from the mountain I was met by the maids.

“Master, have you achieved your goals?” Rin was curious and as always she was the first to ask the important question.

“No, we have nothing else to do here. Pack the possessions and let’s go back to the coast.” I was thinking about the Akagi’s words that the fog never let anyone come back. While I am sure that it won’t harm me, I am still worried about the fairies. I have no idea how strong they are and will they be alright if I fail.

“Let us follow you, either we all go back, or die trying.” Grace was not too optimistic about our chances but at least she is with me.

[I can clearly see how Willow and Benet paled, they are not the type who enjoys fighting. I will have to make a choice, to let the maids follow me or to keep them safe.]

While I was considering both options, the miko came to our group.

“Traveler-sama, w-where are you going? W-was the temple n-not to your l-liking?” She was trembling with worry just from seeing me gathering my things.

“Miko-san, can I ask you a favor?”

“Y-yes!”

“Please, look after my companions while I am gone. I will go and put an end to the fog.”

After my words the miko fainted. I left her to the maids and headed where the coast should be, after I will be far away I’ll launch scouts to confirm the exact location.

‘Yes, that is a good plan.’ I heard some talking amongst the maids but it is not my concern.

On the way I found a couple of abandoned villages and camps but nothing worth my time so I rushed towards the coast where I sent the carrier.

The way to the fog was uneventful and calm, the seas were serene and the weather showed no signs of any storm approaching. When the fog wall appeared on the horizon I prepared all aircraft for sortie and loaded all guns. The fog and its horrors shall not win against me, as always, I will prevail!

With an inspiring self-motivation speech I steamed into the fog.

The next few hours were peaceful but I was prepared to fight any moment. The aircraft groups were in semi-prepared state. All planes were fueled and had machine guns armed. Six groups were on the deck and fully equipped for their respective tasks, the rest of the aircraft were lined up in the hangar, near the lifts. When the time comes, I will lift them to the flight deck and then arm them before their sortie.

The guns had their primary ammo restocked. For the main gun I chose HE shells to damage the enemy destroyers in case they dare approaching, the rifles were just there to add firepower and fight against aircraft.

This time my radar was working properly which allowed me to spot something unusual in ten kilometers to my port side, I immediately fired ranging shots and the anomaly quickly started evasive maneuvers.

The two unknown ships started to increase the distance. In case I was a destroyer or a cruiser, they would be successful.

‘VROOOM’

However, my dive bombers were going to disagree with their respective decision.

[Show them, boys!]

When I heard pinging sound I was ready to take actions. The issue was that the enemy launched fast torpedoes and they were closing in too fast for my rudder. Unlike a battleship in a certain movie, I can’t just drop my anchor and have my fat corpse turned like a rubber duck in a bath. Well, I still can drop the anchor to have it torn the f* off.

The steering systems managed to turn the ship fast enough to avoid the torpedoes but I was having another issue, while the planes were idling, a cruiser approached from my starboard and it was surely not a lightly armed one…

My shots were only doing minor damage to its armor. I may have evaded its first ranging shots and some of his glancing shots but something tells me this bastard will make me very disappointed in my choice of a route.

The heavy cruiser started rising its guns after the reload and was about to fire.

KABOOM

Something exploded inside the cruiser and the entire ship was torn apart. I heard a radio chatter.

“Fuji, this is Yamato, the fleet is heading towards you, await their approach and take the place of the flagship.” A low male voice of a seasoned captain transmitted me the information.

Soon, I saw the battleship’s mast in the distance.