Chapter 238: Cursed Siblings
Ramin thought that proper conversation was impossible in the situation of falling through the air, so she silently looked down. With the round horizon in view, the Sky Castle was gradually getting closer, along with the airship fleet surrounding it and the naval fleet below that.
Water columns continued to shoot up around the fleet due to the Empire's bombardment.
‘Is it that way considering the direction the Sky Castle is moving?’
Ramin was free-falling and then stabilized herself. At first, she thought she would be able to spin her body, but she realized that spreading her arms out slightly reduced her speed, while tucking her limbs in increased it. Once she had her direction, she could head toward the Sky Castle.
‘Now it’s becoming clearer.’
Fortunately, the faster she fell, the more concrete the expanse of the Sky Castle appeared, making it seem unlikely that she would fall into the sea.
The Sky Castle itself was still utilizing the skeleton built in ancient times. The tall tower, reaching approximately 200 meters, had a streamlined shape that spiraled upwards from the outside with a staircase. It was an ancient architectural style not found in the Union Kingdom, the Empire, or even in places like the Ronante-Oroban Alliance.
The problem was that the original Sky Castle essentially did not function as a castle since it only had the spiral staircase and nothing else inside, so it was just a giant piece of land floating in the sky. Later, the Union Kingdom filled the inside of the tower, and it became a structure that went up along the spiral staircase.
The lowest tier of the tower had the rough stone construction of the initial architecture from when the Sky Castle was discovered. Afterwards, upright stone walls were built while mimicking the ancient style, which then transitioned to the opulent structure constructed during the prosperous times in praise of the gods while uniting the second continent, and was eventually concluded with a simple, pragmatic style due to the prolonged war with the Empire.
The end of the spiral staircase in the tower was still empty, and it seemed reserved for the future the Union Kingdom had yet to reach.
‘Wait, if I jump straight to the top of that fortress, can I immediately face and kill the emperor?’
Originally, the castle surrounding this spiral tower was divided into sections with a few walls, forming concentric circles, known to be constructed for nobles accessing the spiral tower and soldiers protecting the city. However, its interior was currently empty. Instead, the fortified city had anti-aircraft guns installed on the rooftops of buildings, and the few people walking around were all wearing monochromatic military uniforms instead of full-dress uniforms.
Perhaps due to the small size and high speed of the three falling figures, the scouts of the Union Kingdom seemed not to have noticed them.
However, Ramin decided to abandon the goal of assassinating the emperor. Even if she managed to do it, the armies of the Union Kingdom wouldn’t stop. If she could stop the Sky Castle, on the other hand, she could stop the Union Kingdom's forces.
‘...Okay, but…’
Ramin felt a sudden rush as she realized how close she was to the Sky Castle, prompting a belated sense of doubt.
‘...How do I land?’
She steadied her body. Next to a building that looked like a stable, there was a large tree, which she thought could help absorb the impact of the fall, but after reconsidering, she realized her speed was far too fast.
‘Huh?’
She could hardly comprehend the last few tens of meters because the ground approached much faster than she had anticipated.
Tap.
Ramin doubted her ears, and then looked down at her feet. Solid ground was supporting her.
"...?"
Just before touching the ground, Ramin felt a strong gust of wind surrounding her entire body, turning her around and placing her upright on the ground.
From behind the bewildered Ramin, Gorgota, who seemed nauseous from the unpleasant experience of falling, and Owen, who looked dubious about the entire descent, approached.
Owen said,
"Is there really a need to get an alternation of joy and sorrow over a miracle orchestrated by God?"
"Well, I guess..."
"From what I saw coming down, it seems like we should head in that direction."
Gorgota, still dizzy, shook their head and said, "Umm... It would be best to take that side alley."
"Even though we would have to go around?”
"Right before we landed, it seemed like we were spotted. I’m not sure if they couldn't quite make out what we were, or if they just didn’t have time to fire the anti-aircraft guns, but they didn’t shoot. However, a small reconnaissance team was moving toward the spot where Ramin fell."
Ramin and Owen agreed. This was somewhat an anticipated response.
The Danly Union Kingdom was not a trivial nation, it was a major power comparable to the Black Scale Empire. Even though they had invaded at the speed of a free fall, it could be recognized as a suspicious movement; it was simply less likely for an incident of this scale to attract the attention of a god. But if a fight broke out, and the scale of the battle increased, it would draw the attention of the Angry One, and consequently, the probability of successfully completing the mission would decrease.
The three individuals quickly made their way through a narrow path along the stone wall and then slipped into the alleyways. The Sky Castle was designed with intruders in mind, so while it appeared to be an ordinary city, its structure was entangled like a maze. Even irregular dismantling and rebuilding of the walls were done to deceive the Empire’s effort in scouting, and this was possible because the interior of the Sky Castle was not a living space for ordinary citizens.
Nevertheless, the three were able to obtain the most recent map. However, due to its complexity, neither Ramin nor Owen could fully understand it. If there was anything fortunate about the situation, it was that among the three, there was an agent who had proficient skills in such learning.
"When viewed from above, the tunnels and passages were confusing, but now that we've passed through them directly, I remember where we are… It's this way."
As Gorgota took the lead and ran ahead, Owen closely listened for the noise of the enemy scouts and located their positions in the shadows, allowing them to reach the edge of the Sky Castle without any particular interference.
The edge of the Sky Castle had gigantic Helix Wings attached to it that were the size of a house, and in front of the Helix Wings, there was a control station, shaped like a bunker.
Gorgota said, "Now, here's the problem. As far as I know, a standard Union Kingdom bunker would have at least one machine gun. But given the size, there could be two or even more. And there’s an open ground between us and the bunker."
"That's true. Then one of us could draw their attention while..."
At that moment, a streak of lightning flew parallel to the ground and struck the bunker.
Boom!
Right after the flash of light seeped into the bunker and disappeared, smoke billowed out from the open gun port of the bunker.
Gorgota and Ramin looked at Owen with stunned looks on their faces.
Owen, while burning some herbs, said, "We need to hurry. When do you plan to bypass those giant Helix Wings? Right now, it's more important to work quickly than to work safely."
Gorgota, who had been lying in the bushes, got up and dusted off their clothes. "...You're right, elder. The scout team will arrive soon anyway, so stealth isn’t the priority. We need to reverse the Helix Wings as quickly as possible."
"Then let's hurry."
Gorgota took the lead into the bunker, and the control device was immediately revealed. Since the structure was simple, Gorgota was able to teach Ramin and Owen the basics of propulsion.
Once the reverse thrust was completed through the control device, the final crucial step was to destroy the propulsion device to ensure it stayed operational.
After explaining, Gorgota said, "It would be best to split up here. We need to reverse at least five or more of these Helix Wings for the reverse thrust."
Since the propellers were attached to the edge of the Sky Castle, they had to split into two groups, one for each side.
Owen said, "I should move alone. It seems my student hasn't fully understood the explanation yet. She's never been good with machines since the old days."
"Why would you say such a thing? You’re making me embarrassed."
"Did you understand it?"
"Well, no... But Teacher, you don't know it well either, do you? Like me, you didn’t study it..."
Owen shook his head. "You little rascal, I learn quickly just by looking, so I'm lazy, but you’re just lazy because you want to be lazy."
Ramin didn’t have a comeback for that and avoided Owen's gaze. Gorgota tried to mediate the situation in the least awkward way possible.
“Then we’ll go left.”
“Alright. Be careful.”
"Yes, good luck."
Ramin said, "Alright, let's finish the job much faster than Teacher and flatten his nose... Oh, wait. This expression doesn't work with Lizardmen."
"Disregarding the fact that a disciple is boldly confronting their teacher, I suppose it's just an expression and it's okay."
However, contrary to what Ramin had thought, she and Gorgota couldn't finish the job much faster. Firstly, they had encountered a reconnaissance team.
"Intruder!"
The defense forces of the Union Kingdom were running on top of the wall, so they could easily spot Ramin and Gorgota.
After Ramin and Gorgota hid behind a stone wall for a moment, Gorgota, caught off guard, said, "What should we do?"
Ramin calmly replied, "It seems like they've only discovered me so far. So it would be better if I stay here to buy some time and divert the attention of the Angry One."
The words shouldn’t be uttered with such composure for someone who knew what it meant to bear the scrutiny of a god. Being noticed by the god of a hostile nation and religion meant that one could die soon or, if not worse, meet a miserable fate and perish in agony. The gods executed anything mercilessly for the values they were after.
However, Gorgota thought that Ramin's judgment was the most rational.
"Okay, let's do that."
"Can you enter the bunker alone?"
"If it's not in a safe way, there are quite a few ways to get in."
Ramin nodded.
"Then I will run into that inner passage, and you pass through when I do."
Gorgota agreed.
As Ramin ran, a hail of gunfire followed, and Gorgota also sprinted.
Ramin, receiving the full attention of the Sky Castle's defense soldiers, hid in the passage.
'...Is it done?'
However, the Sky Castle's defense soldiers were the true elite of the Union Kingdom. Moreover, they always assumed the possibility of the Sky Castle being attacked and were prepared to counterattack the intruders along the most optimal paths. In other words, Ramin faced an ambush by another group of defense soldiers.
"Fire!"
From an unexpected angle inside the passage where she thought no one was present, defense soldiers appeared and opened fire.
Ramin reflexively moved her and ran. She drew her sword and sliced through the bullets shot directly at her. The shards, even after being sliced, maintained their speed as they grazed past both sides of Ramin's ears.
In the next moment, as she sliced through another bullet, Ramin angled her sword even more. This time, the split bullets rode the back of the sword, curving up as they passed Ramin.
‘…I’m gonna get hit’
Even though Ramin was extremely quick, she was no match for a bullet, which had surpassed the speed of sound. However, at the moment Ramin was prepared for pain to hit, several bullets merely grazed past her.
‘What happened?’
Ramin quickly drew her sword and subdued her enemies faster than they could pull their triggers once she got into range. Then she checked her body.
‘…I wasn't hit by a single bullet?’
But she had no time to be puzzled. Around the bent path, a woman appeared. Judging by her silhouette, she seemed to be Human or a Nix. She was wearing a military uniform, but oddly enough, she was unarmed.
"Is she a civilian?"
Even in doubt, Ramin still kept her sword pointed at the woman.
The woman said from the darkness, "There’s a...rotten smell."
"A rotten smell?"
"My nose is pretty good."
Ramin sniffed around her shoulder anxiously.
"…It shouldn’t be that bad."
"...."
The woman acted as if she didn’t hear Ramin's words and continued to say, "Just because you mingle with the living doesn't mean you can become one of them. Cursed sibling."
"Cursed sibling? So are you also a Vampire?"
The woman chuckled while bending over. Then, just when Ramin thought that she would spring up, she bent down further instead, placing her hands on the ground with her shoulders and back rising. Her body was transforming.
"...Huh?”
Ramin was well aware of the only species that could transform their bodies. They weren’t Vampires, but in some aspects, they could be considered related. Like Vampires, they were known as a species born from the ancient times, from an Evil God.
'...A Werewolf!'
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