Chapter 173: The Use of Dragons
General Roktor, who commanded the army of the Fabirang Union, immediately made a command.
“Advance forward!”
As Roktor pulled the reins, the rubber powered mechanical horse made a creaking sound as it turned. If the Platys had created somewhat wild and bizarre contraptions using rubber powered mechanisms, what the Dwarves of the Fabirang Union had made were exquisite works of art, imitations of things that actually exist.
However, the command to advance wasn’t made fast enough. No, by the time the Moving Castle appeared, it was already too late.
The pouring cannonballs struck the saw blade tanks of the Platys and the cavalry led by Roktor. The cannonballs shattered the wooden rubber-powered machines, and the remaining kinetic energy bounced toward the soldiers of the Fabirang Union, who were all flesh and blood.
Some were hit in the face by cannonballs and ended up buried, while others got part of their flesh torn from a simple graze.
‘The Moving Castle in the rumors...!’
With the information given by their god, the Folded Wing Golden Bird, as relayed by their priests, Roktor had learned of the strategy Black Scale had used to capture the Moving Castle and considered how they should do the same. Contrary to what the priests had said, the Moving Castle wasn’t that shabby after the fight against the Dragon. General Roktor had only one thought.
‘We need to retreat for now.’
Even though the Moving Castle was not fully functional, a proper attack could only be launched with the Helix Wings to wage war. A siege was the worst form of attack the one on the offense could launch. What if the castle starts to retaliate?
There were no soldiers underfoot yet, while that massive Moving Castle with twenty three legs was a weapon itself.
The one to become the general of the Fabirang Union wasn't a Platy, who tended to be overconfident, or a Human, who tended to over-complicate things, but Roktor, a Dwarf, and it was due to their Dwarf-like simple and quick decision-making.
‘Despite its giant size, the Moving Castle's movement speed isn't very different from the speed that people walk. We retreat when the damage is minimal.’
Mind made up, Roktor shouted, “Retreat! Fall back!”
The soldiers of the Fabirang Union were pleased to hear the command to retreat. The Helix Wing formation also saw the flag being shaken by the main troops, gave up on further attacks, and started to move back.
However, there was one individual who didn't like this command. It was RD, the god of the Fabirang Union.
"No! You fools!"
RD judged that if they retreated now, they would never get another chance. Yet RD couldn’t easily give a revelation telling them to proceed with the attack because they also doubted whether they could win if they attacked the Moving Castle. And in that brief moment, Roktor had already issued the command to retreat.
In RD's view, an attack could have been possible if they had their own support. The number of Helix Wings was still significant, and the Moving Castle seemed to have relatively weak defenses against Helix Wings compared to before.
‘Of course, we can't execute a proper attack either…’
Attack training on the Moving Castle had already been conducted. If Roktor were to command another attack, their followers would base their tactics on this training.
‘If they try to interfere with their creations, then I will also give it my all.’
As there were multiple players on the opposing side, RD was aware that they were at a disadvantage. However, they also believed in the problems that were bound to arise from a large number of players.
‘More people means slower decision-making and attempts to avoid responsibility. It's something commonly seen among allied players. There's no reason they would be any different.’
"Advance again!"
At the end, RD gave this command through a revelation.
This was a ridiculous order to the priests, as well as Roktor, who had already ordered them to retreat, and the soldiers trying to escape the cannonballs. However, after debating whether they should follow God's will, Roktor ultimately concluded that once God’s will was made clear, they had no choice but to follow it.
"The retreat order is void! Get into formations! We will advance again!"
Unlike the magnitude of Roktor’s internal conflict, when Roktor actually ordered another advance, Roktor felt a sense of relief. That was because at this moment, Roktor was merely carrying out the will of God rather than acting as a general.
‘Is this right? ...Even if it's not right, I can't help it. It's all God's will.’
Despite the changing commands, the Fabirang Union did their best. The main force quickly got into formation. Roktor also swiftly assessed the situation and moved the forces. Roktor judged that excluding the copilots, the Helix Wings could carry one more Platy each.
Furthermore, if they went up the steep hill that the Moving Castle was hiding behind, it seemed like they would be able to escape the cannon range of the Moving Castles and launch an attack with arrows. The rest of the troops would move around the Moving Castle to attract the attacks, waiting for the Helix Wings to launch an assault and lower rope ladders or stop the Moving Castle.
On the battlefield, the Fabirang Union moved systematically according to Roktor's tactics, which didn't seem like it had only just been made according to the situation then and there.
Sung-Woon, who was looking at this from somewhere nearby just like RD, showed his admiration.
‘Well, even when a player's abilities are lacking, there are cases where exceptional individuals manage things on their own. But…’
Teams tend to have slow decision-making and avoid responsibilities. RD's conjecture wasn’t without merits. The problem was that Sung-Woon was already well aware of these problems. Moreover, he had already calculated how RD would move.
Something appeared from the central hall of the inner castle of the Moving Castle.
RD tried to guess what it was based on its size.
“Is it a creation? I knew it!”
RD summoned their most powerful creation—a giant...crab. Thanks to its long legs, the crab easily went up the Moving Castle’s legs. The weapon that RD’s creation possessed were its large claws, and RD believed that the creation called Boss with its skill, Cut, was the best force they had.
"Go!"
However, RD's Boss didn't have much chance to show what it could do. The giant monster that emerged from the inner castle skillfully dodged the snow crab’s claw attacks. The part of the body that RD thought was similar to a snake was actually its long neck, and thick legs were attached below its torso. It was the body of a Dragon, the Great Ashurada.
And Gordius, who controlled that body, gained an intricate nervous system, heightened sensitivity, and precision unlike anything it had experienced with Korpik’s body, which it had been using until now.
-It’s slow.
Gordius said this and climbed onto Boss's back. Then, Grodius twisted the crab’s right claw backward and pulled.
Boss screamed and produced foam.
And RD screamed as well.
"This can't be true! A Dragon?!"
While RD's mind went blank, Gordius didn't stop moving. It plucked out the eyes of RD's snow crab creation and even broke off the struggling left claw before casting it out of the Moving Castle.
Helix Wings either got hit by the parts of the Snow Crab and broke, or tried to avoid them, but eventually all crashed down.
Roktor saw the massive shell of Boss, who now had no legs, flying toward themself, casting a shadow.
‘It's over,’ they thought.
***
When Sung-Woon and his allies captured the Moving Castle, they had already anticipated that the Fabirang Union would launch an attack. And in Sung-Woon’s predictions, it seemed easy to defend the city of the Pangolins by strategically using Faith points.
"The problem is that the Fabirang Union isn’t the end."
The Fabirang Union seemed unaware, but they weren’t the only ones attacking Siol, the city that Black Scale currently used as their base.
Gordius learned of this fact shortly after he took over the body of the mighty Ashurada. Wejen, a subordinate of the Great Ashurada and the Crow guardian who delivered Ashurada's messages throughout various regions of the Rakshasas, had come to find Gordius.
Gordius had to act like Ashurada and greet Wejen.
-You are unharmed, Great Ashurada.
-I am unharmed. I was just about to finish them off.
-I apologize for interrupting you while you’re busy, but I have urgent news to deliver.
-Say it.
Wejen said.
-The fish from the west have gotten quite close.
-Fish?
-Pardon? Yes. The Deep Ones. They're carrying stones that turn fresh water into saltwater and coming up the river.
Wejen seemed puzzled, but continued to say.
-According to what you said, I led the Rakshasa tribes and tried to fight them, but we are facing defeat in our battle with them. Now we really need your help. In my opinion, those fish are a more urgent problem than these foreigners.
Gordius looked up at the sky. Night Sky’s answer was heard.
-You managed the conversation well, Gordius. I checked and it seems to be true.
-What should I do about this crow?
-It doesn’t seem very clever, but it could become trouble if left alone. Let's minimize variables.
Gordius did as Sung-Woon said.
The Deep Ones, that was, the army of the evil god Sha-Cha, was close to 30,000 strong. This was the real danger.
As they talked about this issue, Wisdom said, "This is a problem. Even if we try to use the Moving Castle immediately, it will take time to repair the walls. Setting aside dealing with the Fabirang Union, with the 30,000 forces that Sha-Cha has, they could climb up the legs, and if they use creations, they could also transport the troops. It’ll spell trouble if the Moving Castle falls into their hands."
Sung-Woon shook his head.
“We’re going to use the Moving Castle.”
“Without repairing it?”
“We will repair it.”
“How?”
Sung-Woon pointed at the Dragon. Wisdom and the other players then understood.
"Indeed."
In Sung-Woon's opinion, the Dragon possessed various values. It was a powerful weapon capable of facing apostles, which also had high intelligence and the ability to create variables through magic. Unfortunately, since the original Great Ashurada was essentially erased, Gordius couldn't really use magic, but the spells embedded in the body, like the breath spell, were still usable. It was an individual with many advantages like so, but it had another advantage that was often neglected because of how different Dragons appeared to be from any other species.
"It's the fact that they’re strong.”
In Sung-Woon's opinion, being strong didn't just mean that it would be useful in war and combat. Even from the perspective of modern civilization, great strength provided significant utility, and Humans have developed many technologies to replicate such power. Heavy construction machinery like excavators, trucks, and cranes were examples of that. And in Sung-Woon's view, a Dragon's body served as a living construction machine usable even at a low civilization level.
Moreover, since the Moving Castle’s main body wasn't destroyed, by placing construction materials on the Moving Castle’s foundation, repair work could be done while moving. So while the Moving Castle moved, the Dragon flattened the land where the walls sat and moved bricks.
Sung-Woon moved the Moving Castle and destroyed the player RD's army. Then, after roughly accepting RD's surrender, he immediately moved the castle to the west. Due to this, the evil god, Sha-Cha, only discovered the actual Moving Castle near the end of their battle against Siol. What Sha-Cha saw was a fully equipped Moving Castle and the Dragon, which was rumored to be dead.
-...
Sha-Cha was a different kind of player from RD. Immediately, Sha-Cha gave a revelation to their priests.
-Retreat.
And perhaps because they felt that the simple order wasn't enough, they added a more concrete explanation.
-It’s acceptable if we lose half of our troops. Just retreat as fast as you can.
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