Chapter 229: The Tin Knight and The Tower of Greed (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 229: The Tin Knight and The Tower of Greed (9)
Hermina Hackbirk, the head of the Tower of Protection, was lost in thought after receiving a request from Gale.
「Will deal a fatal blow to the enemy's rear around noon. Requesting a large-scale offensive at the opportune moment.」
It was a considerable—no, a seriously unreasonable request. Especially considering that an army couldn't be moved with a few mouse clicks from an omniscient point of view, like in an RTS game.
The Tower of Protection, which specialized in crafting magic tools, possessed unusually abundant means of communication between units compared to the other towers. Yet, even by fully utilizing these means, launching an unplanned offensive in less than an hour was by no means an easy task.
A reckless operation, by its nature, carried an immense burden in case of failure.
The head of the Tower of Protection acknowledged Gale's talent, but she couldn't launch an offensive that could decide the tower's fate based on her word alone.
To put it another way, under the condition that it wasn't just her word, it wasn't entirely impossible to act.
A video of the annihilation of a major enemy unit, recorded on Gale’s special recording magic tool. Seeing it, along with the attached diagram of the predicted enemy deployment, the Tower Head was left speechless.
“…Hasn't it only been a day since they flew off on that ship?”
The battle had been so fierce that the footage was somewhat chaotic despite various corrections, but she could clearly make out the figures with the Rognir clan's characteristic silver hair meeting their merciless ends.
On top of that, there was an analysis of the current situation of the remaining forces, inferred from the locations of the enemy's main powers—identified through necromancy—and their changes in position.
She wondered if such an analysis was even possible with necromancy, which could typically only determine direction and approximate distance. But upon seeing the document, with its elegant script and attached rationale and calculations, she found herself unconsciously convinced.
If asked whether she could trust it 100%, she would have to shake her head, but the data was more than enough to supplement the trust that Gale's words alone lacked.
The Tower of Protection began to move.
*
-We must inflict a fatal blow on the Tower of Control right now, ensuring there are no meddlers in the fight against the Witch of the North.
The Tin Knight's assertion was not easily accepted.
And for good reason. Following the Tin Knight's words meant they would have to attack the enemy's core base with only the forces aboard this one ship.
Several 4th rank mages, who, while not on the level of the Four Great Witches' direct disciples like Dorothea, Gale, or Franka, were certainly the next best thing.
Several 3rd rank mages, each capable of roasting a dozen people at once with a single attack spell.
While the lower-ranked mages of the 2nd rank and below and the regular soldiers had yet to gather at the base due to their slower travel speed, this only meant there were no external reinforcements; the forces originally stationed in the castle were more than sufficient.
In addition, there were various barriers, traps, and summoning spells deployed throughout the castle.
To think of conquering all this with just one ship was, quite literally, like trying to break a boulder with an egg.
[The 'Tin Knight' says that in that case, the egg just has to be ridiculously big and strong!]
But the Tin Knight's assertion was firm.
And in the end, the other companions accepted his argument.
No matter how much it sounded like absurd nonsense to an onlooker, the Tin Knight was not one to make empty boasts, at least when it came to battle.
If he said they had to deal with this now, then it had to be true.
The problem was how to attack the castle.
Although Cap’n Bill’s pirate ship had been modified to operate on land, it could only float a short distance above the ground. It was a far cry from truly 'flying' high in the sky, which meant they would be bombarded with attack magic and shot down the moment they tried to approach the castle.
Dorothea had no flight-related magic, and even if Gale lent her the Shoes of Borealis, teleporting into the air alone would just be a prelude to her falling to her death.
To launch both the Tin Knight and Dorothea simultaneously, high into that distant sky.
To achieve this single goal, the party pieced together the various cards they held, and at last, the plan was complete.
“Alright, let's begin.”
[The 'Tin Knight' says he's counting on you!]
Adelaide gripped the hilt of her sword firmly with both hands.
As a golden, flame-like mana enveloped her body, the Belt of Amaryllis seemed to drink it in, unleashing even greater power.
Even in this state, Adelaide could crush a decent suit of metal armor with her grip alone, but she wasn't satisfied.
More. More.
Even more.
Like the giant in her memory. Like the crimson monster in the vision.
She couldn't reach their realm just yet, but she could at least tread upon their shadows.
Crackle.
Amidst the golden flames, violet electricity began to mix in.
Adelaide's mana grew several times more violent, and the enhancement effect of the Belt of Amaryllis raged even more fiercely.
It was as if the two powers were rejecting one another, roaring, I will not lose to the likes of you!
Yet, even while containing a torrent of power that seemed ready to go berserk if she lost focus for even a moment, Adelaide's demeanor remained calm.
She had practiced how to control enhancement through mana time and time again with her teacher.
She held her sword low, pointing to the bottom right.
She imbued the blade with mana, not for the purpose of cutting, but to protect it from the ferocious, destructive power.
Her feet were planted firmly on the ground, her body flexible, her eyes fixed on the target.
Distributing one hundred percent of her power evenly throughout her body was a waste.
Just as a punch travels from the ankle, through the waist and shoulder, to extend the hand, so too did her mana flow from one extremity, through a channel, and to another.
An immense strength, enough to shatter a castle gate whole, settled within Adelaide.
Yet as she swung it with all her might toward her companion, Adelaide felt no concern.
She was certain that her teacher could, without a doubt, withstand this much.
The upward slash collided with the shield on the left arm of the Tin Knight, who held Dorothea in his right.
KABOOM!
Compared to the force of the attack, the resulting sound was rather light.
This was thanks to the Tin Knight using his unique defensive technique to convert most of the impact into upward propulsion.
A white trajectory briefly overlapped with the Tin Knight's soaring path.
It was the White Knight, who had received an enchantment from Gale and had likewise shot up into the air.
The White Knight's spear and the Tin Knight's shield collided once more.
KABOOM!
The black figure shot upward, the white one downward.
Just as the high-flying parabola was about to reach its apex, the Tin Knight spoke to Dorothea, who was clinging to him tightly with her eyes squeezed shut.
[The 'Tin Knight' tells her the view is great, so she should take a look at the ground!]
[The 'Tin Knight' adds that if his hand slips and he drops her, she'll become a red pancake, so she'd better not struggle!]
“My, what tear-jerking advice…!”
Dorothea shot the Tin Knight a venomous glare before finally turning her gaze to the ground.
No matter how strong-willed the black witch was, the prospect of free-falling from a height where the clouds felt close was nerve-wracking enough to make her limbs tremble. Still, she performed her role.
Holy magic, cast by Sophia to protect her body from the reckless maneuver, enveloped her.
Amidst the sacred white light, her navy-blue gloves began to exude their uniquely sinister mana.
The next moment, something enormous materialized at the feet of Dorothea and the Tin Knight.
It was not a giant boulder like the one the Witch of the West had wielded.
The upper limit of the mass and volume that the Gloves of Haider could store was determined by the owner's mana and control. For Dorothea, whose mana control was relatively clumsy compared to the Witch of the West, storing a massive rock like the one the witch had handled was impossible.
However, she was a necromancer.
Dorothea possessed an overwhelming amount of mana that even the Witch of the West lacked, and 'inflating' the 'lacking parts' of the undead with her mana was one of her specialties.
And so, Dorothea's fingertips touched a 'haphazardly woven pile of skeletons.'
The sphere of bone, which had a radius of about five meters, instantly swelled to twice its size.
In the blink of an eye, it doubled again.
In the space of a single breath, it doubled once more.
By the time the pile of skeletons, which had at first seemed like a mere dot in the distance, drew near the ground.
It had grown large enough to cover a third of the fortress with its shadow.
Crack. A shattering sound was heard.
The protective barrier enveloping the entire castle didn't last for even a moment, shattering like a pane of glass.
Just before the skeleton meteor made contact with the ground, the Tin Knight swung his left arm, releasing the gem embedded in his shield.
Two shadows shot briefly into the sky, and an instant later, immense violence struck the castle.
—KRA-KOOOOOOOOM!
With a tremendous roar, the main keep at the center of the fortress was instantly turned into something resembling mashed potatoes.
The ancient murals and statues that testified to Aeolia's great history, the brilliant, multicolored stained glass, even the throne that had been meticulously cared for in the belief that it would one day be sat upon again—all were crushed and destroyed beneath the rubble without a trace.
The same was true for the members of the tower who had been resting easy, trusting in the castle's various barriers.
The 4th rank mages who coveted the vacancies created by the mass deaths of their competitors; the 3rd rank mages who had brutally tormented Friedel's soldiers during the cat hunt; the common soldiers who eagerly awaited the new 'lower class' that would be created after the subjugation of the Tower of Protection.
Though their thoughts differed, their end was the same.
The immense mass did not stop at collapsing the castle; it shook the very earth, delivering a tremendous shock to the ground. Other buildings caught in the aftershock trembled, and in severe cases, collapsed entirely. If even stone buildings fared thus, it was no different for the people swept away.
Even so, the damage was relatively light for its weight and size, as it was not a 'single mass' like the one the Witch of the West had wielded, but rather a 'clump of many smaller, entangled masses.' This fact, however, offered no comfort to the dead.
Thump, thump!
Using the mana in his shield as a brake to slow their fall several times in mid-air, the Tin Knight landed with Dorothea atop the massive pile of bones.
“Hoo.”
Dorothea's breathing was ragged.
Even though Sophia's holy power and the Tin Knight's care had alleviated most of the strain on her body, the minute remnants were enough to leave her in poor condition.
Her mana, which normally showed no signs of running dry, had all but evaporated from the reckless use of necromancy, leaving only about five percent remaining.
It was a rather precarious amount of mana for fighting after being thrown into the heart of enemy territory, but there was no need to worry.
The castle's survivors, who should have spotted the two and fought back, were already, quite literally, shell-shocked.
“Wh-what is this…”
“Ah, ugh, uwaaaah!”
“Oh God, I'm sorry… I'm sorry…!”
As the survivors stared at the horribly collapsed castle, not a speck of their usual arrogance remained on their faces.
Their legs gave out from under them as they collapsed to the ground. Some screamed as if they had gone mad, while others fell to their knees and desperately prayed to a god they didn't normally believe in.
“What are you all doing?! Get a grip!”
“Prepare for battle! If we don't kill them, we die!”
However, not everyone had lost their will to fight.
The damage had been concentrated on the main keep and its immediate surroundings, so those who had been staying in the outer areas or the annexes had managed to escape the horrific attack.
Among them were members of the Rognir bloodline with their flowing silver hair, as well as other 4th rank mages, but this did not turn the tide of the situation.
“Hya-ha! C'mon, ya scallywags! It's plunderin' time!”
“Ooooh!”
Cap’n Bill’s crew, having charged in through the destroyed barrier and collapsed castle walls, began to sweep through the area, firing their special cannons left and right.
The forces to fight back remained, but few possessed the will to do so.
Once even those few were subdued by the allied powerhouses, including the White Knight and Adelaide, the remaining personnel raised white flags toward the party, one after another.
It was a victory.