Chapter 229

#Chapter 229: Tin Knight and the Tower of Greed (9)

Master of the Tower of Guardian.

Hermina Harkbirg pondered over the request she received from Gale.

“I will deal a devastating blow to the enemy’s rear around noon. Requesting a large-scale offensive at the right moment.”

It was quite the unreasonable request, no, it was seriously outrageous.

Considering that an army doesn’t move like a RTS game where you just click a few times from an omniscient viewpoint, it was even more absurd.

While the Tower of Guardian, specializing in magical device creation, had more communication means than other towers, initiating an unscheduled offensive operation in less than an hour even with those means was no easy feat.

A reckless operation would bring enormous burdens if it failed.

The Master of the Tower of Guardian acknowledged Gale’s talents, but that didn’t mean she could gamble the tower’s fate on a single word from her.

In other words.

As long as it didn’t end with just “a single word,” it wasn’t impossible to take action.

Looking at the destruction video of the enemy’s main forces etched into Gale’s special recording magical device, along with the attached predictions of enemy troop deployment, the tower master couldn’t help but click her tongue.

“…Has it only been a day since we set sail?”

The battle had been so intense that the footage was a bit jumbled even with various adjustments, but she could clearly see Lognir’s silver-haired men meeting merciless deaths.

Adding to that were the positions of the enemy’s main forces discerned through necromancy and the inferred current situation of the remaining troops based on their movements.

Though she doubted whether such analysis was possible with just necromancy, the document included well-crafted reasoning and calculations that made it hard not to be convinced.

If asked whether she could trust it 100%, she’d have to shake her head, but the materials provided were enough to supplement the insufficient trust that came from just Gale’s words.

The Tower of Guardian was now ready to act.

***

-Right now, we have to deal a fatal blow to the Tower of Control so that there are no hindrances in the fight against the North Witch.

The Tin Knight’s assertion was not easily accepted.

No wonder, because following the Tin Knight’s words meant they would have to attack the enemy’s core base with just the power of this one ship.

Even if they weren’t on the level of the 4th grade witches’ direct disciples like Dorothea or Gale, there were still multiple 4th grade wizards who could easily form a line under them.

Several 3rd grade wizards capable of turning a dozen people into crispy fried treats with a single attack spell.

Lower-grade wizards below 2nd grade and regular soldiers weren’t able to gather at the base yet due to their lack of speed, but the forces originally present in the castle were more than sufficient without any external reinforcements.

In addition, various barriers, traps, and summoning rituals were deployed throughout the castle.

To try and assault all of this with just a single ship was literally like throwing eggs at a rock.

[If the Tin Knight says the eggs are sufficiently large and strong, then it should be fine!]

Yet, the Tin Knight’s insistence remained firm.

And eventually, the other colleagues accepted his claim as well.

No matter how much it sounded like nonsense to outsiders, the Tin Knight was someone who never lied when it came to combat.

So if the Tin Knight claimed they had to organize now, it had to be true.

The problem was how to assault that castle.

Captain Bill had modified his pirate ship to be able to operate on land, but that level of capability was merely floating a bit while maintaining distance from the ground.

It was far from “flying” in the skies, which means that once they approached the castle, they would be under fire from attack spells and immediately shot down.

Dorothea had no magic related to flight, and even if Gale offered her the shoes of Boralis, Dorothea would fall straight to her death if she tried to teleport into the air alone.

To send both the Tin Knight and Dorothea soaring into that distant sky.

To achieve that single goal, the group pieced together their strategies and finally completed their plan.

“Alright, I’ll start now.”

[The Tin Knight requests you to do your very best!]

Adelheid firmly gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands.

As golden flames of magical power enveloped her body, Amaryllis’s belt amplified her power even further.

Though Adelheid could easily crumple ordinary metal armor with her sheer strength in this state, she wasn’t satisfied.

More, more.

Even more so.

To reach the realm of giants from her memories. Like the blood-red monsters in her illusions.

Though she couldn’t reach their level just yet, she intended to at least step upon their shadows.

Crackle.

Amidst the golden flames, purple lightning intertwined.

Adelheid’s magical power grew wildly stronger, and Amaryllis’s enhancement effect became even more formidable.

It was as if they were roaring against each other’s powers, declaring they wouldn’t lose to something as trivial as their opponents.

Even while containing a force so explosive that it felt like it could run rampant if she let her guard down for a second, Adelheid remained calm.

She had repeatedly practiced the method of controlling her power with her master countless times.

The position of her sword was relaxed toward the lower right.

Though she infused her sword with magical power, its purpose wasn’t to cut but to protect the sword from a mighty destructive force.

Her feet were firmly planted on the ground while her body remained flexible, her eyes fixed on the target.

Distributing 100% of her strength evenly across her body would be wasteful.

Just like how a punch extends through the ankle, waist, and shoulder, magical power travels through the pathways to reach its endpoint.

An overwhelming force capable of crushing the castle gates remained within Adelheid.

Swinging it with all her might towards her ally, she held no concerns.

She had confidence that her master would surely endure this much.

As her devastating strike from below collided with the Tin Knight’s left shield, which cradled Dorothea’s form, a terrific sound echoed.

Kwang!

Compared to the power of the attack, the sound of the impact was surprisingly light.

Thanks to the Tin Knight’s defensive skills, most of the shock was converted into propulsion, launching him high into the air.

A white trail momentarily overlapped with the Tin Knight’s ascent.

It was none other than the White Knight, also propelled into the air by Gale’s enchantment.

The spear of the White Knight clashed once more against the Tin Knight’s shield.

Kwang!

The black weapon went up, while the white one went down.

As they soared higher, just before reaching the peak of their arc, the Tin Knight squinted his eyes and spoke to Dorothea clinging tightly to him.

[The Tin Knight advises you to look at the beautiful scenery below while you can!]

[If the Tin Knight slips and drops you, you’d turn into a red pancake, so don’t go wild!]

“That’s some tear-jerking advice…!”

Glowering angrily at the Tin Knight, Dorothea reluctantly shifted her gaze downward.

Even if she was a robust and powerful Black Witch, free-falling from such a height, nearly brushing against the clouds, was quite nerve-wracking, causing her limbs to quiver, yet she managed to fulfill her role.

Protective holy magic painstakingly set by Sofia shielded her from the reckless maneuver.

Amidst the sacred white light, her navy gloves emanated a unique form of malicious magical power.

In the next moment, a massive object appeared at the feet of Dorothea and the Tin Knight.

It wasn’t a giant rock that she thought the West Witch would handle…

The mass and volume of objects that Hyden’s gloves could contain were determined by their wielder’s magical power and control. Thus, for the less adept Dorothea compared to the West Witch, it was impossible for her to handle a giant boulder like that.

But she was a Necromancer.

Dorothea possessed overwhelming magical power that the West Witch could never hope to match, and amplifying the “Undead’s deficiencies” through her magic was one of her specialties.

Then, with her fingertips touching the “tangled heap of bones,” she initiated the transformation.

The sphere of bones, initially about 5m in diameter, inflated instantly to twice its size.

In the blink of an eye, it doubled again.

With just a single breath, it doubled once more.

As the heap of bones, which had only appeared as a distant dot, came closer to the ground.

Its size was enough to cast a shadow over a third of the castle.

Crunch, and something cracked.

The protective barrier enveloping the castle could barely sustain itself, shattering like glass.

Just before the Skeleton Meteor touched down, the Tin Knight swung his left arm and released the jewels contained in his shield.

Two shadows shot up into the sky for a brief moment, before the overwhelming force slammed into the castle.

-Kwaaaang!

Along with an incredible roar, the central structure of the castle was reduced to something akin to mashed potatoes in an instant.

The grand murals and statues celebrating Aeolia’s great history, the dazzling stained glass, and even the throne which had been painstakingly maintained in hopes of a future return were all buried and destroyed without exception.

Those from the tower who had been at ease trusting in the various protective barriers in the castle had been equally shocked.

4th grade wizards yearning for the gaps left by the heavily damaged competitors, 3rd grade wizards ruthlessly tormenting Captain Bill’s soldiers during cat hunts, and regular soldiers hoping for a new “lower class” to emerge after conquering the Tower of Guardian were all met with the same fate.

Though their thoughts might differ, the end result was the same.

The tremendous mass not only crumbled the castle but also shook the ground, sending shockwaves that rattled nearby structures and even caused some to collapse completely. If stone buildings were suffering, what could the people caught in the debris expect?

Thud, thud!

Wielding his shield’s magical power, the Tin Knight managed to reduce the impact of his fall several times before landing alongside Dorothea on the massive pile of bones.

“Huuh.”

Dorothea was panting.

Even with Sofia’s divine power and the Tin Knight’s care alleviating most of the burden on her original body, the residual strain alone was enough to put her in poor condition.

Her magical power, usually abundant, had evaporated to nearly 0 due to the excessive use of necromancy.

It was rather worrisome to face a fight in the enemy’s territory with such depleted magical energy, but there was no need to worry about that.

The survivors of the castle who faced them were quite literally in a daze.

“W-What is this?”

“Ah, ugh, aaah!”

“Oh God, I was wrong… I was wrong!”

On the faces of the survivors gazing at the tragically collapsed castle, not a trace of their usual arrogance remained.

They sank to the ground as if their legs had given way, with some screaming as if possessed while others, who had never believed before, searched for a god on their knees.

“What are you doing?! Get a grip!?”

“Prepare for battle! If we don’t kill them first, we’ll be the ones who die!”

However, not everyone had lost their fighting spirit.

The devastation was concentrated around the main castle and its vicinity, while those who had stayed away from the outer areas or annexes had managed to escape the dreadful attack somehow.

Among them were Lognir’s kin with silver hair and other 4th grade wizards, but that didn’t change the situation.

“Hah ha! It’s plundering time, boys!”

“Ohhhh!”

Taking advantage of the broken barriers and collapsed castle walls, Captain Bill’s pirate crew charged in, firing their special cannons left and right as they started sweeping the place clean.

They still had some combat strength left, but few had the will to fight.

When the remaining handful, including the White Knight and Adelheid, swiftly subdued even these, the rest immediately raised white flags, giving in without hesitation.

It was a decisive victory.