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/Fwoosh…/
The wind continued to hustle as they flew in the sky, slamming into Dale's visor, almost forcing his eyes to open several times.
"My eyes... They're getting dry…" He said lightly as he tried to brush them, only to realize his helmet was in the way
'Dammit…'
"We should be almost there… And you know what that means."
"... Yeah."
Dale looked below, recognizing the changes in the environment at once.
'The part of the forest where the Karkavan live resembles that of a thick rainforest with tall trees and plants everywhere, creating a lateral green sea, while this part is closer to a swamp with open patches of land covered in water, many rivers and lakes, but overall less greenery all around.'
'Deep down in the forest, the trees reach sky-high heights like the one in the Hill when we first entered the forest a few days ago, I imagine it would be quite the sight.'
'Like getting sent back in time to when Dinosaurs roamed the earth...'
'In a few more minutes, we'll be crossing the Final Fortification, a fortress built in the impending doom of the Wall…'
'I can't see anything as of yet, but I've seen a few buildings here and there scattered throughout.'
'Watchtowers, Dams, Ports, and the like… We're definitely already within the Southern Corps territory given how much infrastructure there is around us.'
…
/Boom…/
""!""
Suddenly, the peaceful and oppressive silence was disturbed by the sound of a distant explosion…
"We're here! Get ready…"
/FIUMMM!/
"?!"
/CAAAAAWW!/
Just as he said that a blue beam of light pierced the skies on their right, almost puncturing through Ubuk's wings!
"SHIT! The defensive mechanisms can lock onto us from here?!" Testros exclaimed as he tried to get up on the bird's back to get a better view
'It's a bit off course, but that's expected from such old mechanisms.'
'If one hits Ubuk...'
"!"
And as he saw what lay in front, his eyes palled.
"KID! Plan B!" Testros screamed as he sat down before he whistled as strongly and loudly as he could
/WHISTLE!/
/SHARPEN!/
Upon hearing the signal, Ubuk's eyes sharpened as he started moving his wings rapidly, accelerating to incredible speeds!
Meanwhile…
"By careful old man!" Dale said as he got up as well
'My time to carry my own weight.'
"I should be the one saying that to you!" He replied without turning back
/Smirk/
Smiling, Dale jumped from Ubuk's back!
/FWOOOSH!/
At the same time, Caladgolg trembled, moving after him at high speeds.
/Land!/
Dale landed on the giant sword, surfing on it as he followed Ubuk.
With its speed, following the bird was an easy task, the problem was…
"Shit!"
Dale could feel tremendous energy fluctuations going on below him on the ground, he was relatively high in the air so everything looked rather small even with his enhanced vision…
But he didn't need good eyes to tell things were about to get tense!
/Grab!/
He grabbed his spear from his back, ready to do… Something!
Everything at his disposal to protect the bird above him!
'I can go back if the bird gets injured if I ride Caladgolg, but it's not... "Safe"...'
/FUOOM!/
"!"
Another beam of blue light made its way to Ubuk, traveling at breakneck speeds!
'Can I intercept this?'
The plan was simple.
Given Dale could fly on his own and at an even faster speed than Ubuk, the moment they arrived at the danger zone, he would be in charge of defending the bird from all attacks.
Also, one more target meant that the attacks would have to be divided between both, which was another advantage of his presence.
Lastly, without his weight on its back, Ubuk was capable of displaying 200% of its normal speed!
/CAW!/
"DALE!"
"On it!"
/FWOOSH!/
As he surfed on Caladgolg, blue energy gathered at the tip of his spear.
'Please don't break!' Dale pleaded as he slashed his spear at the blue beam of light
/CLANG!/
/FUOM!!/
"URG!"
When the red thorn collide with the beam of energy, the mana surrounding it shattered instantaneously, displaying just how powerful that concentrated energy shot was.
Half-Assed defenses wouldn't work against it, this was the technology of the Corps!
However, as the beam collided with the torn itself, it was unable to go through it, being reflected off its shell and into the distant sky!
"Haa… It worked!"
'My hands hurt a little though…'
The only reason Dale wasn't sent flying due to the inertia of the impact was thanks to Caladgolg, it kind of glued itself to his foot to prevent him from falling during his extreme air movement.
Of course, the strength of its stable position in the air was still limited, and if the inertia of the impact was too large, Caladgolg itself may be sent flying in the air, and with it, Dale.
"Good work Kid! We've already arrived directly above the Fortification!"
"!"
Dale looked below, seeing a massive battlefield full of craters, trenches, walls, and more in front of a tall castle.
'They built something like that in an emergency? There has to be magic at play here…'
"ANOTHER ONE INCOMING!" Testros exclaimed as he looked to the side
"!"
He once again looked below, and this time, there were 4 energy beams gathering power at the same time.
"You got to be fucking with me…"
/FUOOM!/ X4
"!!"
Gathering everything he had, Dale channeled his Mana through his body and into his spear, planning to try and redirect the attacks as much as possible…
/BAMM!/
The shots slammed against the barrier of light, but they barely stopped.
With his spear technique, Dale managed to parry one to a distant angle, while he barely managed to push another one out of the course with the bird
/BOOM!/
"GAH!"
However, Dale forgot to consider he was also a target, having one of them hit him square in the chest, sending him upward closer to Testros due to the inertia.
He gasped for air as the impact of the shot made him feel lightheaded.
"KID!" Testros exclaimed as his eyes sharpened
'There's one more!...'
"Hupp!"
He pulled one of the reins of Ubuk, making it do a barrel roll in the air!
/SLASH!/
The moment he was upside down, Testros pulled his sword from his back, slashing it at the last artillery strike!
/REPEL!/
With one swing, the beam was sent back to the ground where it dissipated in the air as it did so.
"Cough!"
"Dale! You okay?" Testros asked concerned as he looked to the side
"Cough cough… Yeah… Just a bit out of breath." Dale replied as he rode Caladgolg next to the bird and the old man
"Ohohohohoh! Only you would be able to take a direct impact from an Artillery Cannon and just be out of breath!" Testros replied with a hearty laugh
"It hurts a little too…" Dale replied as he looked at his chest
It was only a bit charred, nothing more.
However, this was already enough to tell him what sorts of treats this cannon was supposed to take on.
If it can't damage the armor of an Elite Squad Captain, then it likely can't damage the monsters the armor was made to protect its wearer from…
It made Dale a bit lightheaded just thinking about it…
"Kid, pay attention." He said as his eyes became serious
"You're doing it wrong, you need to gather it and angle it, shape it like the edge of your own sword, don't just put the shape but give it substance as well!"
"Think of it as extending the reach of your spear, as if you were a Smith adding more metal onto it!"
"Stop trying to be conservative if you didn't even learn what it means to squander!"
"Wh…?"
/Gather…/
""!""
"More are coming! Get down there!" Testros exclaimed once more as he moved the reins of Ubuk, having the bird fly higher
/FWOOSH!/
Dale moved down, gazing at the ground far away…
'Oh shit…'
'One, two… Ten… At least a dozen…'
"This wave is gonna be a hard! How are these things still in damn operation?!" Dale complained as he gathered his Mana on his hands
"I have no idea, just… Just try to diverge as many as you can! I'll take care of the rest!" Testros said as he held the handle of his sword tightly
"... I feel so useless…" Dale mumbled to himself as he looked at the cannons
'I can definitely block these, but I'm not proficient enough for it.'
'The difference between a Master and the Apprentice, the difference between just Knowing the process and Mastering it.'
'Right now, I would be doing more good using my bare body to block those rather then trying to deflect them with my spear…'
'What should I do?'
/Gather…/
The cannons were about to fire!
…
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Notes
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