Chapter 237: Infiltration
-Did it hit the target?
Aruna, who had been looking at the Sky Castle, responded to Dordol’s question.
-It did.
-Where did it hit?
-The rear...so it hit the ground on the south side.
-That means...
-There wasn’t much damage.
The Sky Castle was a castle on top of a giant rock foundation that stretched 2 kilometers wide. So even though the Moving Castle had a gigantic cannon, it would be useless if it couldn’t strike the right target. Of course, just being able to hit the Sky Castle was a significant achievement.
The Sky Castle functioned as the capital of the Union Kingdom, meaning the Emperor who ruled the Union Kingdom was there.
Aruna, who was observing the Sky Castle from a distance, continued talking to Dordol.
-It’s like we've stirred up a hornet's nest.
It was exactly as she said.
Above the floating rock foundation in the sky, dozens of Dragon Knights, who had been waiting underground in preparation for an attack, flew up as soon as the bombardment hit. It wasn't just the Sky Castle. Movement was also observed from the fleet of airships of the Union Kingdom, which were flying alongside the Sky Castle.
Aruna thought to herself.
‘They have a large force... With that number, they must be a reconnaissance team. But it will be difficult for them to discover the Moving Castle located tens of kilometers behind. They may be able to figure it out without discovering it though.’
Firstly, it was good that Aruna had detected the Sky Castle and successfully struck it with the Moving Castle to raise an alarm. However, this was only strategically beneficial.
'Oh no.'
Half of the Dragon Knights that had flown out of the ground had discovered Aruna and were coming toward her. However, the Dragon Knights weren’t the ones making Aruna tense. What caught Aruna’s attention was Laitla, wriggling and revealing itself behind the Sky Castle.
-Now we'll finally see the showdown, Firebird.
Aruna started flying in avoidance without responding. It was because Laitla had opened its mouth to cast a breath spell.
***
When Dordol looked from afar from the World Watcher, a streak of light pierced through the sky.
While Aruna was busy fighting Laitla, Dordol also focused on their own tasks.
"...Just as our Pantheon had predicted, the Sky Castle has revealed itself."
As Dordol disclosed the location revealed by Apostle Aruna, the staff officers re-examined the data. However, there was a contingency plan in place.
"The air fleet is ready.”
Dordol nodded.
"All flying fleets go to battle."
Following Dordol's command, the communicators repeated the orders, simultaneously contacting all five of the Empire's flying fleets. Then, hundreds of airships revealed themselves above the World Watcher, ascending into the sky.
'This is our best shot.'
Even without the predictions from the Pantheon, Dordol could guess that the Union Kingdom would attack with all available forces. The problem was that once the Sky Castle started moving, there was no physical way to block its advance. Considering the size of the Sky Castle's base, it was essentially a floating mountain, and even with all the Empire's forces mobilized, stopping it would be impossible.
'Then, we have to make it stop by itself.'
Information about the Sky Castle was top secret within the Union Kingdom, but the Empire had some knowledge about it as well.
Once the Sky Castle, propelled by hundreds of Helix Wings, started moving, even if all the Helix Wings were stopped, its massive mass would allow it to travel several kilometers solely due to inertia.
'The Sky Castle would not have entered inertial flight yet.'
However, with the fleet sailing towards the Rasdasil coast, if things continued as they were, the Sky Castle would soon reach Rasdasil through inertial flight alone. The worst-case scenario would be the Sky Castle reaching the center of the Rasdasil Ruins.
'If we can capture the Sky Castle and put it into reverse thrust, we can stop its flight.'
The Sky Castle was designed to hang propellers, such as Helix Wings, in all directions below its base, allowing it to propel itself and perform reverse thrust to stop its inertial flight. Therefore, if they could enter the Sky Castle and control it to initiate reverse thrust, they could prevent it from reaching Rasdasil.
'...But it won't be easy.'
It was as Dordol expected. Dordol looked out at the firing naval fleet, then looked down at the command center located one level below their position, and finally at the communicators below that. The Sky Castle was not yet visible, but as time passed, the enemy would start to appear from the giant bridge window of the World Watcher.
"From the reconnaissance ships, sight of the Sky Castle confirmed. Apostle Aruna, Apostle Laitla in a fierce battle."
The Sky Castle, standing on solid ground just five kilometers away and with a base as large as the Moving Castle itself capable of absorbing recoil, had a massive cannon mounted on it.
"...The frontmost reconnaissance ship is no longer in contact… Crash confirmed from other reconnaissance ships."
"Have the returning reconnaissance ships turn back. Observe the Sky Castle from a safe distance until the fleet arrives."
Dordol’s orders were passed down through the staff, specifying the exact ships, distance, and observation targets.
Another communicator shouted to Dordol, "Confirmation of gunfire from the Sky Castle's lower cannons."
"Where?"
"We are confirming..."
Boom!
A bang echoed, loud and clear even from over 200 meters above, and spouts of water shot up between the fleet. It was certainly not cannon fire from the ships.
"It's the fixed turret at the lower part of the Sky Castle. Increase the fleet's speed to get out of its range."
Following the command, four shots in succession brought about massive water columns soaring over each battleship. Fortunately, none of the battleships were hit this time, but if even one shot hit, the targeted battleship could have sunk instantly, even if it was Fiend-class.
The fixed turret hanging beneath the Sky Castle was a bombing turret intended to hit ground targets. While smaller in size compared to the Moving Castle’s main cannons, there were five of them, and they had a faster reloading speed due to their smaller size.
The Sky Castle's second fire split the Abomination-class battleship in half.
"...Damn."
Dordol sent down a small, fast airship as a rescue vessel. However, the battleship was already sinking rapidly, so hope of successful rescue was slim.
'The sixth fleet hasn’t arrived yet. Until then, it will be difficult to actively engage in naval battle against the enemies powered by the Angry One. On the other hand, the Sky Castle is slowly but steadily advancing... Ultimately, it seems difficult to block off the enemies at sea.'
Just then, a familiar voice reached Dordol.
-You seem busy.
Dordol asked.
-...Night Sky?
-Leave the attacks on the Sky Castle to Mazdari.
Since it had been decided that they would have dual command in the event of the Sky Castle’s appearance, Dordol readily accepted the order.
-Understood.
Night Sky said.
-The Angry One has put everything on the line… Keep in mind the scenario where we can't stop the Sky Castle.
-Alright.
As Dordol answered, they saw the shadow of the Sky Castle appearing in the distance.
***
On another airship, the Thunderstrider. Unlike the World Watcher, which showed its massiveness with impressive force, Mazdari's Thunderstrider aimed to fulfill its passengers' goals even in extreme environments by utilizing a combination of various power sources.
Currently, the Thunderstrider was floating above the sea in front of Rasdasil, at a height of roughly three kilometers high.
The passengers aboard the Thunderstrider were aware that a fierce battle was going on below, but all they could see were white clouds.
Behind the railing of the ship, three people wearing parachutes stood.
Mazdari, who was below the railing, said, "Is everything ready?"
One person raised her hand. She looked Human, but she was actually a Vampire, and her name was Ramin Solost Muel.
"What is it? Speak quickly."
"Why are we the only ones going?"
"Night Sky said that a small number attracts less attention."
"Then why not the true elite, the Apostles..."
"The Apostles...they stand out in the eyes of the gods."
This was true. The existence of an apostle could be easily discovered by players due to the slight differences in effects. It wouldn't matter if the front line was incredibly long and the players couldn't take it all in at a glance, but in a concentrated battle like the current situation, infiltrating with an apostle was meaningless.
Ramin was surprised, and so was the Frogman Gorgota Falu, who was standing beside her.
"Wait, so Mazdari, you're not going either?"
"I’m going later. I have a duty to protect the Empire's aerial fleet. In a little while, the Empire's fleet will encounter the Union Kingdom’s fleet, and a fierce battle will break out."
"But..."
"Gorgota. You have the most important role in this mission. If the follow-up engineering troops fail to enter, you are the only person I can trust to operate the reverse propulsion device."
Gorgota looked at the people standing on either side of them and sighed.
"Why are you sighing after looking at our faces? You're the expert, right? Teacher and I are amateurs."
"I didn’t know anything about it until a few days ago. We've all looked at the same things and studied the same material, so why do you two not understand?"
"Teacher, this person is bad mouthing you."
Owen, who was standing on Gorgota’s right, laughed.
"You shouldn't be criticizing our incompetence, but instead, be proud that you are competent."
"Elder...that's not what I meant..."
As the conversation dragged on, Mazdari glared at the last person.
Owen smiled and said, "Oh, I have no questions."
Mazdari sighed in relief. "Sounds good, Elder. Now, everyone get ready... Wait."
Mazdari briefly furrowed his eyebrows, then habitually brought his hand to his ear, as if listening to something.
"Oh, yes. I will do that."
After those few whispered words, Mazdari told the three people, "Everyone, turn around."
Ramin turned around but looked back suspiciously.
"That's Whispering, right?"
"Oh, you know about this too?"
"Hwee-Kyung explained it to me once."
"Making things unnecessarily complicated."
"...."
As Mazdari changed the topic, Ramin’s curiosity spiked.
"Who were you talking to and what about?"
Mazdari said nothing and grabbed the parachute bag Ramin was carrying, doing something to it. Seeing this, Gorgota and Owen looked at each other, then took off their parachute bags and put them down below the railing. Disturbed by their incomprehensible actions, Ramin tried to turn around to look at Mazdari.
"W…wait, what are you doing?"
After lightly tampering with Ramin's parachute bag, Mazdari said, "Night Sky said you don't need parachutes. They are noticeable, so he told you to take them off and descend."
"...What?"
"You're obviously going to grumble about it, so I helped you out. Be thankful."
"What did you say?"
Then Mazdari pushed Ramin.
Ramin felt a lightness on her back. It was only natural for her to feel so. The parachute bag, with its shoulder straps cut off, was getting further away, held in Mazdari's hand.
Ramin shouted something toward Mazdari. Gorgota, who was falling behind her, said something to Ramin in shock. Ramin couldn't hear exactly because of the wind, but she could guess what Gorgota had said just by looking at the shape of their mouth.
"That's blasphemy!"
Below the three falling people, the Sky Castle could be seen.
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