Rebellion in the Sky
I have always lived by the rule, “A true man of honor serves his lord and protects his people.” But now, for the sake of our territory’s future, I must turn my sword against the very lord I am sworn to serve…
“Your Excellency… We are going to rebel against you now.”
A lone man looked up at the portrait of Duke Vistall that had been removed from the council room wall and murmured quietly.
This was the duke’s hunting manor, located between Vanwing Pass and the royal capital. It was a fort-like mansion where the duke sometimes invited other nobles to enjoy hunting monsters while he was visiting the royal capital.
Normally, the staff would be hard at work preparing for the hunt as the year-end kingdom meeting drew near. Today, however, instead of servants, there was a large crowd of grim-faced men in Vistall Duchy military uniforms coming and going.
“Captain, we’ve finished exchanging the portraits.”
“Good work.”
The captain nodded at the young soldier’s report, and the boy took the swapped-out portrait and left the room.
Where the duke’s portrait had been hanging not long before, there was now a portrait of his eldest son, Torriel.
It was the men’s way of expressing that they were now serving a new master.
“Captain! We’ve received a pigeon from Mossan on the airship!”
An aide came running into the room, cradling a pigeon.
The captain accepted the bird, which had been created with Summoning Magic.
“‘We left Labyrinth City a quarter-cycle later than expected. Unsure if this will delay our passage over the hunting manor.’ I see… Well, no matter. Such a small delay will not affect our plan.”
The captain nodded gravely.
“But are you sure about this…? If we fail, our lives and even our families in our hometowns might well be forfeit…”
The aide’s voice trembled as he addressed the captain.
“Do not speak of it. ‘The time of great upheaval is upon us. An era of drastic change will come, just as when the ancestral king and the first hero of the Saga Empire founded the kingdom.’ We have no future unless we overthrow His Excellency, even if we are given the dishonorable name of traitors. We must put the prescient Lord Torriel at the head of the duchy.”
“Those are Prince Sharorik’s words… But is ‘a time of great upheaval’ really coming?”
The aide recalled the third prince’s cruel face as he spoke.
“It is. I may be too ignorant to understand, but Lord Torriel had full confidence in the ‘era of change’ Prince Sharorik spoke of,” the captain responded firmly. “That is precisely why Lord Torriel respects the demi-humans, and even went so far as to go to the city of the Weaselman Empire to serve as their viceroy himself.”
“But he earned His Excellency’s displeasure by acquiring the Screws.”
The captain and the aide both looked at the “Screw” on the table.
It was the size of a man’s arm, a terrifying magic tool that could control even the most ferocious monster if driven into its head.
In truth, the Weaselman Empire had expanded from a small nation to an empire controlling all the demi-human nations on the eastern part of the continent in a mere twenty years by using this Screw and their army of manned golems.
They formed alliances with the burly lionfolk, the scalefolk tribes, and many others, and even destroyed the land of the tigerfolk.
“His Excellency may hate demi-humans, but even he would understand the usefulness of the Screws. If we were to show them to him now, we might yet—”
“No.”
The captain cut the aide off.
Then, after thinking for a moment, he continued.
“Lord Torriel has already spoken to His Excellency the Duke about the Screws and the manned golems, of course. And yet His Excellency still refused to join hands with the weaselfolk.”
“I—I see…”
The captain revealed information that only those closet to Torriel would know.
The excuse Duke Vistall gave for disowning Torriel, a monkeyfolk attack that caused major loses in several villages, was actually the monkeyfolk’s retaliation against a new weapon test conducted by weaselfolk engineers that had killed some of their people.
“We will be the stones that pave Lord Torriel’s noble path to leadership. If that has cleared up your doubts, go and check on the tamed monsters before you gather the commanding officers. There should be no issue as long as we have the Screws, but just in case.”
“Understood. Should I check on things underground as well?”
The aide’s face was once again full of his usual readiness for battle.
Now he could be trusted to do his job.
“Yes, if you would. The tamers we hired in Labyrinth City should be looking after it, but they have too much pride in their own taming abilities. Make sure someone keeps watch that they don’t foolishly attempt to remove the Screws.”
“Of course. I shudder to think what would happen if the creature we needed seven Screws to capture were to turn its fangs against us.”
“Agreed.”
The aide excused himself and hurried to the hangar containing the tamed monsters.
“Truly, I see no reason why we would need to use that thing when we have all this force already, but…the famous Scarlet Nobleman, Baronet Jelil, and all those sly mithril explorers are on that airship. Better to be prepared just in case…”
Muttering to himself, the captain stared in the direction the airship would be coming from.
“Thank you for gathering here for the sake of Vistall Duchy’s future, everyone.”
With that, the captain looked around at the commanding officers lined up before him.
“I am sure many of you feel reluctant to turn against our master Duke Vistall, to whom we owe very much. But know that this is a necessary step for the security of our duchy.”
Most of the officers listened impassively, but a few wore bitter expressions.
That was understandable. Anyone who served a feudal lord knew that rebellion was a sin punishable by worse than death.
Unlike most capital crimes, anyone deemed guilty of treason would see his family and fellows all slaughtered without exception—in addition to himself.
“For the future of Vistall Duchy, I ask that you pledge your loyalty to me—no, to Lord Torriel.”
The captain looked around to ensure there were no objections, then nodded.
“Thank you. Then let us go over the strategy once more.”
On the table in the center of the council room was a map with the hunting manor at the center.
It was positioned squarely between Vanwing Pass and the center of the royal capital; even with the fastest Wyvern Riders, it would take a solid four and a half hours to reach.
“The primary goal of this operation is the assassination of His Excellency Duke Vistall.”
The captain looked at the officers.
“Such a thing would be impossible at home, but away from his territory, his power as a lord will not work. We will shoot down the airship and execute His Excellency.”
A lord could use the power of a city core to protect himself within his territory, so assassinating him would be incredibly difficult. Everyone present knew this, because when a terrifying demon once attacked the duke’s castle, the duke was able to use that power to chase the demon off.
“Our secondary goal is to rescue Lady Somienna and her mother. This will be accomplished using the airship’s lifeboats.”
The real objective of this was the Holy Chalice contained in the duke’s youngest daughter’s Item Box.
Lord Torriel’s mother and sister were valuable as well, but the chalice was far more important to him.
As far as the captain knew, the Holy Chalice was a magic tool for collecting and purifying the miasma within a territory, and ought to be easily replaceable; but when Lord Torriel explained the plan to him, he put great emphasis on securing the “Holy Chalice.”
“The tertiary goal is the duke’s wives and daughters. We need not worry about rescuing our comrades who have infiltrated the airship.”
“You would abandon them?”
“If we send in a few Lance Beetle Riders, surely—”
The officers sounded accusatory, but the captain interrupted them.
“No, they’ve already been given a precious magic tool from Lord Torriel himself to use for their escape. They will be fine.”
“A magic tool?”
“Yes, it’s a remarkable item that will protect them from the magi-bomb blast and allow them to land safely.”
“Such an item exists…?”
“I should have expected no less from Lord Torriel.”
There were murmurs of admiration from the officers.
The secret magic tool was known as a “Demonic Heart”—a forbidden item that granted the wearer effects similar to a demonic potion. It had been discovered long ago in the now-withered labyrinth that was once in Vistall Duchy.
I would have liked to have the Lance Beetle Riders wear them, too, were they not cursed items that can never be taken off…, the captain thought.
Having relayed the objectives of the plan, the captain went on to outline the steps.
“First, the escape lifeboat will be launched with Lady Somienna and her mother. It cannot fly for long, so when the operation begins, the aides will go out with a carriage to collect them.”
The captain pointed at the map and a rough schematic of the airship as he explained.
“Once we confirm that the lifeboat has been launched, we will attack from the ground using the tamed monsters, and destroy the airship’s magic barrier. Of course, if that is enough to bring the airship down, that would all be well and good.”
At that, the commanding officer of the bombardment squad smirked.
Of course, they knew when they first formed this plan that bringing down a flying airship would be exceptionally difficult.
Although it had presumably lowered its altitude after crossing Vanwing Pass, the airship would still just barely be within range.
“Once the bombardment begins, the Lance Beetle Riders will take off and draw the Wyvern Knight guards away from the airship. Wait to bring them down until they’ve been lured far enough away.”
The commander of the Lance Beetle Riders nodded.
“While the Wyvern Knights are drawn away from the airship, activate all the rocket trees, and destroy the airship.”
“Understood!” the intense commander of the rocket tree squad barked.
Unlike the other squads, no one would be riding the rocket trees once they were fired; success would be dependent on the rocket trees’ instinct to attack any large flying object.
“At the same time, our attack will signal our comrades on the airship to assassinate the duke, and sabotage the airship’s bridge, mechanisms, fuel stores, steering equipment, and turrets.”
The assassination would be committed by an expert operative, while the sabotage would be accomplished by one-use-only magic tools called magi bombs, made by the Weaselman Empire.
The latter’s strength was on par with several Fire Shots from a Fire Rod, so it could only be used to destroy the airship’s equipment from the inside.
“Captain, what about our secret weapon underground?”
A monster tamer sitting in the corner of the room insolently raised a question.
“That is only to be used as a last resort. We must avoid using things that are difficult to control unless absolutely necessary.”
The captain hesitated for a moment over whether to ignore him, then responded briefly and added, “Any other questions?”
“Captain, when should I go up?” This was from the artillery observer.
“At the same time as the assault begins,” the captain responded.
Ideally, he should go up before the assault, but they couldn’t risk him launching too early and catching the attention of the airship guards.
“If they issue an emergency SOS to the royal capital, they’ll send Wyvern Riders from the capital and Vanwing Pass. Most of them can already take on several times their number, but if Sir Torel of the Shiga Eight comes, even ten times our amount of Lance Beetle Riders would not be enough. Do we have any countermeasures for that?”
“No need to worry. Directly before the lifeboat is launched, our man on the inside will destroy their emergency communications.”
The captain of the Lance Beetle Riders nodded quietly.
“Captain, what will we do if the lifeboat doesn’t leave the airship?”
“Once the airship passes above this hunting manor, we will put the plan into action even if the lifeboat does not appear. Our first objective is the highest priority,” the captain added grimly.
Those present who knew that Lord Torriel’s mother was also the captain’s older sister looked at him worriedly.
There were no further questions after that, and the commanding officers left to give their men their orders.
“It’s almost time…”
Mossan, a high official and summoning mage of Vistall Duchy, muttered into the wind.
He stood on the balcony of the large airship as it cruised toward the royal capital, mingling with lowly explorers to gaze at the scenery, until he spotted a familiar tower below.
“So the time has come to toll the final bell, then.”
He used a mirror to flash a signal, and a flash of light came back in return.
So the plan was moving forward unchanged.
“…I must make preparations as well.”
Mossan turned on his heel and left the balcony.
He had to hurry, or the airship would arrive above the hunting manor before he reached the bridge.
On his way back onto the observation deck, he spotted his beloved Leda on the second-floor terrace. She was holding the magic flute he gave her and gazing at him silently.
I’ve asked her to do a terrible thing.
In spite of his regrets, Mossan focused on the plan and looked away to hold back the tears.
But while he was awash in those emotions, he bumped into a black-haired girl as he went back inside.
“I—I‘m sorry… O-oh dear. Are you all right? You don’t look well…”
Mossan responded that he was fine, and passed by the kindly girl as she looked at him worriedly.
“That certainly is a frightful face…”
Catching a glimpse of his reflection in the polished metal door, Mossan winced.
This ship is about to sink.
He couldn’t say it aloud, but he thought about it as he looked around at the passengers who were about to get caught up in the situation.
The cat-eared girl at the end of the balcony looked around suddenly, and said something to the black-haired boy next to her.
For just a moment, Mossan had a dreadful premonition, but of course there was no way to convey it to his comrades in the hunting manor below.
“But still…”
Even if she was a filthy demi-human, it was terrible that such a young girl would be embroiled in their plot…
“I will not ask your forgiveness. Once you pass to the realm of the dead, you may come seek your revenge.”
The high official murmured something inaudible, then shook his head to clear away his doubts.
We must take action, just in case the worst should happen…
The rest of his words did not leave his lips as he vanished onto the observation deck.
“…The airship still hasn’t arrived.”
Standing on the balcony of the hunting manor, the captain squinted toward the forest.
“Captain! Our scout says the airship’s come into sight. It will pass above our base within the quarter.”
“So it’s begun at last…”
Upon receiving his aide’s report, the captain strained to suppress the darkness in his expression, and forced a fierce grin onto his face instead.
Turning around, he stepped into the hallway overlooking the expanse of the vaulted entrance hall. His men were lined up below.
“Focus! The time is finally upon us! The fate of our Vistall Duchy rests upon this operation. I expect great things from all of you.”
“““Yes, sir!”””
His soldiers shouted a strong response.
The doors to the storehouse below the manor opened, and the ferocious monsters, tamed by the Screws in their heads, appeared one after another.
The Lance Beetle Riders, who would be the driving force behind this attack, were in the lead.
There were no less than ten knights wielding Fire Swallow Rods astride lance beetles. Elite though they might be, a mere three of Shiga Kingdom’s Wyvern Riders could not defend the airship against all ten of them.
The mages applied several rounds of support magic to the lance beetles and their riders in order to improve the chances of the plan’s success.
After the ten Lance Beetle Riders, the next monsters emerged, their large forms shaking the ground.
There were cannon toads, which boasted more firepower than a catapult, and rock shooters, which were larger than carriages. Both were more than powerful enough to damage an airship without any serious armor.
Through Lord Torriel’s arrangements, they also were able to get three valuable Barrier Breaker shots, which could destroy magic barriers.
“They really are enormous, aren’t they?”
The aide was looking at the five giant rocket trees growing in the garden as they began to rustle and move.
Rocket trees were nasty treelike monsters that attacked flying wyverns and left seeds in their corpses. They had acquired five, but since they were only shooting down a slow-moving airship, perhaps two would have been plenty.
Next to prepare for takeoff was the Elder Crow, with the Wind Magic-using artillery observer mounted aboard.
“With all this power, one almost pities the enemy.”
The aide’s eyes looked fiery as he spoke.
The enemy… For just a moment, the captain’s thoughts went out to his former colleagues on the airship, but he nodded without saying a word of that.
“Then let us begin the operation. Transport the cannon toads and rock shooters to the designated firing grounds. Lance Beetle Riders, move to the slope for easy acceleration.”
At the captain’s orders, each of the squads leaped into action.
“Captain, may the fortunes of war be with you.”
“And you as well.”
With a salute, the aide set out, leading ten mounted knights and two four-horse carriages to the highway. Their goal was to rescue the duke’s escaped wives and youngest daughter, Somienna, who possessed the Holy Chalice.
“Urgent news! The airship is here!”
“Excellent. As soon as the lifeboats are confirmed to have escaped, or when the airship arrives directly above the manor, begin the attack.”
As soon as the lookout gave the report, the captain reminded everyone of the timing of the attack.
The cannon toads and rock shooters, now scattered to their posts, aimed their barrels toward the sky, while the lance beetles spread their wings and prepared to launch with their riders aboard.
Receiving orders from the tamers, the rocket trees spread their roots and charged up magic, preparing to fire at any moment.
All eyes were on the rear deck of the airship, waiting for the lifeboat to appear.
“Hmm? Aren’t you Duke Vistall’s…?”
As the high official entered the bridge, the bridge captain addressed him.
Since the captain didn’t seem to remember his name, one of his aides murmured, “That is Sir Mossan, a civil official and Summoning Magic user.”
“Sir Mossan, was it? Have you business with us? If you’re looking for His Excellency, he has already gone back to the noble visitors’ room.”
“Yes, I am aware. I was hoping to observe your work for a while. Would that be all right?”
Mossan could hardly say that he was here to ensure that the plan succeeded, and even to destroy the bridge, if necessary.
Noticing his pale face, the aide whispered to the captain, “He incurred His Excellency’s ire earlier…”, and the captain sympathetically agreed to let him observe the bridge.
Mossan stood behind the lookout who was watching a magic tool called an “enemy detector,” and looked out at the view ahead.
The hunting manor where his comrades lay in wait was right in front of them.
“Captain, we have a report from the rear deck. Some of our noble passengers have entered the lifeboats to play around without permission.”
“Let them do as they wish. Just warn the rear deck staff to ensure that they don’t launch the lifeboat by mistake.”
“Yes, sir, I will.”
Mossan cracked a faint smile at this conversation.
Lady Somienna and her mother had safely entered the lifeboat.
“Hmm? What kind of error is this?”
The lookout frowned at the blinking lamp that indicated something was amiss on the airship.
At the same time, they heard a heavy, metallic grating sound.
“What was that?”
“I’m checking now—it looks like a lifeboat has been launched from the rear deck.”
“What?! But what happened to the safety lock?”
“It seems that it had been unlocked.”
Mossan heard the captain and the aide confirm what had happened.
It seems the lifeboat has been launched safely with its precious cargo in tow. Now we can put the plan into action without fear.
With that silent thought, Mossan reached for the Magic Bag hidden at his breast to withdraw the magi bomb and destroy the bridge.
But his hand stopped in place before he could pull it out.
Rationally, he knew destroying the bridge was the best way to ensure his comrades’ success.
And yet his hand refused to move.
Because deep down he feared that if he used the magi bomb here, the shrapnel might go flying into the sky, break through the glass of the observation deck located behind the bridge, and harm his beloved Leda.
What a coward I am…
Mossan sighed, then pretended to lose his balance and fall against the lookout.
“Excuse me. I just grew a bit dizzy…”
He grabbed the man’s arm, as if he had lost his strength.
This was all to prevent the man from reporting his comrades on the ground, who were likely showing up on the enemy detection device.
But as if in mockery of his efforts—
“Enemy attack! There’s something on the ground up ahead!”
A young man’s voice echoed through the airship’s announcement device.
The lookout shook Mossan off and went back to the enemy detector.
“Hard to starboard!”
“Hard to starboard!”
The helmsman echoed the captain’s orders.
Most likely, the airship’s efforts to slowly change course would be in vain.
After all, the sesame seed–sized bombs flying up at them were about to become much larger in the blink of an eye.
If all was according to plan, the barrage included Barrier Breaker shots.
“Emergency maneuvers!”
“Alert to all passengers, we are taking emergency maneuvers—”
When the captain shouted, his aide began relaying a warning through the announcement device.
“Hang onto the nearest railing if you want to live!”
The captain bellowed over the aide with a warning of his own.
As soon as he finished, the captain barked orders at the helmsman.
The helmsman slammed the buttons on the control panel, and the airship accelerated sideways.
The crewmen on the bridge were safely buckled into their seats, but Mossan was thrown from his position slumped on the floor, was tossed across the bridge, and went tumbling against the glass wall around it.
Wh-what?! Where did this speed come from?!
Mossan was shocked as the acceleration pressed him against the glass wall.
The barrage that was about to hit the airship head-on instead flew past its side.
They dodged it?!
Unable to even exclaim in the face of the acceleration, Mossan trembled at the unexpected capabilities of the airship.
And while the speed alone was shocking enough, he was equally startled that the hull could hold up to such acceleration so easily.
“Magic Furnace at full throttle! Activate the lower magic barrier at once, full power! If there’s enough fuel to spare, speed up the propellers!”
The crewmen quickly recovered and followed the captain’s orders.
“Damage report!”
“No damage to the machinery. The noble passengers are alarmed, but no one is hurt. No damage to the observation deck.”
At that, Mossan briefly clutched his chest in relief.
His beloved Leda was safe.
“No one was thrown from the balcony, either.”
“That’s a miracle.”
Impossible.
It made sense that Leda was fine inside the airship, but he couldn’t believe that no one had fallen from the balcony when the sudden acceleration happened so soon after the emergency announcement.
Was it a miracle from heaven, or mischief from hell…?
Forcing his sore muscles to move, Mossan turned to look at the hunting manor below.
As he gazed down through the glass wall, he saw the magic barrier below the airship becoming denser.
Beyond that, the rocket trees started sending up smoke.
“Captain! More monsters!”
The crew on the bridge had noticed the same thing.
“Starboard under attack! Hard to port!”
“All hands, hold on to the nearest railing!”
Mossan looked around for something to grab onto.
He wrapped his arm around a convenient frame, but his relief was short-lived when he saw the magi bomb rolling along the glass floor.
He must have dropped it during the emergency acceleration, since he was holding onto it within his bag.
Mossan stretched his arm toward the bomb with all his might.
“Now!”
The helmsman shouted, and the airship suddenly accelerated in the opposite direction.
Clinging tightly to the frame, he saw from the corner of his eye a rain of rocket trees and bullets fly past the airship.
“Captain, that was the last of the emergency altitude control boosters.”
“I know that!”
Looking up from the glass wall, Mossan saw the rocket trees changing trajectory in the sky above.
“Captain! Those monsters are coming back toward us!”
“Change of priorities! Focus on the turrets before the propellers. Shoot down those monsters as soon as the Magic Cannons are fully charged!”
As he listened to the captain, Mossan looked around, but he couldn’t find the magi bomb anywhere. It must have gotten stuck somewhere during the last acceleration.
He couldn’t see where it might have gone, but surely no one had just picked it up, so it had to be somewhere.
“Multiple reactions detected below! It’s other monsters!”
Mossan saw the Lance Beetle Riders fly up from the forest. At the same time, something that looked like a mess of black dots went flying toward the airship. It was the third barrage.
“Tch, what the hell is—”
In the middle of the captain’s comment, the third barrage hit the airship’s magic barrier.
“Damage report!”
“There’s…”
The airship barely shook.
The Barrier Breaker must have destroyed the magic barrier, but failed to do anything else.
“…no damage.”
Mossan’s eyes widened.
Impossible.
“The magic barrier was reduced, but is still intact.”
Impossible. Impossible!
It was unthinkable that any magic barrier could be so strong that even the Vistall Duchy’s treasured Barrier Breaker wouldn’t destroy it after a direct hit.
Had the kingdom developed a new magic barrier and kept it secret from the duchies…?
“Enemy contact with the monsters below!”
The Lance Beetle Riders flew past the airship, using the Fire Swallow Rods to shoot Fire Shots as Mossan watched.
The Fire Shots hit the airship’s magic barrier, glowed red, and vanished.
As he feared, they had little effect while the magic barrier was still in effect.
“Send an SOS to the royal capital!”
“We can’t. The emergency signal isn’t working!”
His comrades had done their job well.
Mossan paused his search for the magi bomb long enough to cheer silently.
“Captain, up ahead!”
One of the Lance Beetle Riders charged at the bridge from the front.
Surely even this newfangled magic barrier couldn’t neutralize a high-speed, head-on charge from a lance beetle.
This time, it’ll surely be over.
“Evasive maneuvers!”
“That was the last emergency boost cylinder!”
“We won’t make it in time!”
The shouts from the aide and helmsmen were tinged with panic.
“All hands, brace for impact!”
As the captain’s strained cry echoed in his ears, Mossan watched calmly as the lance beetle closed in, bringing his doom with him.
“This is the end.”
Riding an Elder Crow, the artillery observer smirked as he watched the lance beetle speed toward the bridge.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the airship’s turret hurriedly turn from the rocket tree toward the lance beetle, but it was too late.
The lance beetle would break through the bridge in seconds, and into the airship.
There wasn’t a soul alive who could do anything to stop—
“What?!”
Suddenly, a shining sphere shot the lance beetle down.
A black-haired boy and girl had run out onto the front deck and fired at it from long staffs.
Fire Shots from a Fire Rod should have little effect on a lance beetle, but just a few of those shots were enough to make flames burst out and destroy the exoskeleton.
Miraculously, the flames from the lance beetle pushed its rider off into an unnatural arc, so he landed safely on the deck.
But that was as far as his luck went—a brown-haired demi-human girl with a tail ran over and pinned the rider down before he could get his revenge on the black-haired boy and girl.
The artillery observer saw some little girls and a blond young woman who had tumbled to the deck from the balcony slump with relief when the danger had subsided.
Little did he know that the girls were actually lamenting that they hadn’t gotten to participate: “No fuuun?” “Aw darn, sir.” “We missed our chance to get in on the action.”
“I-it’s not over yet…”
The Magic Bullets from the airship’s turret couldn’t quite keep up with the rocket trees’ speed, uselessly spewing flares into the sky.
Besides, there were only two turrets, and five rocket trees.
The Wyvern Knights were off dealing with the Lance Beetle Riders’ attack, so they couldn’t defend against the rocket trees.
It was impressive that the boy had managed to shoot one of the beetles down, but a rocket tree was far faster, with far higher defenses.
Even if he was a little strong, no individual’s Fire Rod could bring down such a monster.
“How pathetic…”
On the balcony of the airship, several mages were beginning chants.
If the powerful Magic Cannon couldn’t keep up with the rocket trees, how could an individual mage with a shorter range possibly hope to do so?
The artillery observer sneered at the foolish mages.
Sure enough, the spells that followed scattered far from the rocket trees.
“What’s this? …A green person?”
A green woman the size of a giant had appeared next to one of the little girls on the deck.
“A summoner’s beast?”
The artillery observer squinted, but then he was distracted by three of the five rocket trees about to strike the airship.
“Now fall, you hunk of—whaaaaat?!”
The green woman flew into the air and knocked two of the rocket trees aside, catching the third one in midair.
Her other hand glowed green, and as the girl who seemed to be the summoner waved her arm, the green woman sent that light crashing into the rocket tree.
The trunk tore open like an ancient branch breaking, spraying out flames and seeds that could pierce even metal.
The artillery observer crossed his fingers that the airship would get caught up in the explosion, but the blast of fire and seeds went no farther than the woman’s outstretched hand, evaporating in the air without a scratch on the vessel.
“Tch, they’ve got a damned elf!”
Looking through his longscope, the man realized what the aqua-haired little girl who had summoned the green woman really was.
“Then that must have been one of the magical spirits from the legends of the ancestral king! What the hell are you doing on this airship?!”
The man howled with rage, but of course the elf girl didn’t hear.
The spirit flew up into the air, chased down the other two rocket trees she had knocked off course, and destroyed them far away from the airship.
Of the other two rocket trees, one was shot down by the turret’s Magic Cannon, and the last one was pierced by the black-haired boy and girl’s magic and slowed down, then was blown up by the other mages’ attack magic.
But the rebellion still had the advantage.
The battle between the Lance Beetle Riders and the Wyvern Knights had produced one loss on each side, and now an eight-on-two battle was unfolding in the sky far from the airship.
“The magic barrier should be at its limits now, surely?”
Amid the rain of fire from the cannon toads and rock shooters, the magic barrier of the airship was beginning to cave.
“I was worried when the three Barrier Breakers were misfires, but it looks like it should be fine.”
Misfires… Was that really what happened?
Three Foundation spears shot from the balcony and destroyed one of the cannonballs.
But surely there was no way anyone could have specifically targeted the Barrier Breakers so precisely…
The artillery observer shook his head, dismissing the absurd notion.
“GOOOOO!”
The young girl’s cry carried far on the wind and reached his ears.
A series of red flares flew up from the deck and rained down toward the ground.
“S-surely not—”
The lights disappeared into the forest, and columns of flames rose in their place.
Strangely enough, their number matched the exact amount of cannon toads and rock shooters.
“Please let me be wrong…”
But the observer’s prayer was in vain; the barrage from the ground abruptly stopped.
Though he had no way of knowing this, right before the scarlet lights hit, a series of Remote Stuns struck the riders off the tamed monsters and miraculously saved their lives.
“No! It’s still not over. We still have the Lance Beetle Riders.”
The artillery observer looked up toward their battle, placing all his hopes on their victory.
With their advantage in numbers, they brought down yet another Wyvern Knight as he watched.
Leaving two Lance Beetle Riders to square off with the final, wounded Wyvern Knight, the remaining six flew down toward the bottom of the airship toward the bridge.
They were probably planning to attack the pesky mages on the front deck.
Luckily, the elf girl’s powerful wind spirit had disappeared.
Even an elf’s remarkable stores of magic couldn’t maintain such a powerful summon for too long.
“Now, time to dance…”
Imagining the mages being roasted by the Fire Swallow Rods, the artillery observer smirked a little.
Flying along the side of the airship, the Lance Beetle Riders finally rose toward the front deck.
Six balls of flame shot forth from the riders’ Fire Rods, closing in on the mages.
Then the observer saw it.
A blond girl with a large shield blocked three of the flames.
Two of them were slashed away to nothing by two small children’s glowing red Magic Swords.
The young woman with the blond ringlets jumped in the path of the final shot, glowing with white light as she was engulfed in flames.
“No way… Who the hell are these people?”
Understandably, the artillery observer stared in disbelief as the blond girl stood unharmed at the center of the flames.
“It can’t be. It can’t be. It can’t…”
Standing in the lookout tower of the hunting manor, the captain stared up in shock as the airship passed overhead.
The first major stumbling block was when the airship avoided all five of their carefully timed rocket trees.
The second was when all three of their Barrier Breakers failed.
But still, it wasn’t yet a total failure.
Even if the rocket trees missed once, they would keep chasing their target until they ran out of fuel.
And even if the Barrier Breakers didn’t work, the cannon toads and rock shooters could chip away at the airship’s defenses as long as it was in range.
The reckless Lance Beetle Rider who attacked the bridge hardly counted as a third stumbling block, since they had still managed to defeat the Wyvern Knights as planned.
“Impossible… Impossible. IMPOSSIBLE!”
As the captain unsteadily went down the stairs underground, the unbelievable scenes flashed through his mind.
A strange green creature destroying the rocket trees. Greater Fire Magic the likes of which he had never seen, burning every last one of the cannon toads and rock shooters to a crisp.
Neither of those monster species were weak. In fact, they were the kind of monsters one would only take on with a large squad, and fully prepared for casualties.
The Wind Magic-using observer reported that the green creature was a wind spirit controlled by an elf, but surely that was impossible. The only time a mighty elf who could use Spirit Magic would stray from their World Tree was if the world itself was in danger.
And though the Lance Beetle Riders were their last ray of hope, there was only one still in the air.
The saboteurs on the airship had destroyed the emergency communication device and helped Lady Somienna and the others escape, but there had been no further contact from them since. Most likely, they had been captured aboard the airship.
“Sir? You’re not going to use that thing, are you?”
“You’re damn right we are! Wake it up and let it loose!”
The monster tamer hesitated—and the captain cut him down with a slash of his magic sword and stormed up to the monster they had trapped underground: the many-winged centipede.
Even with seven Screws in its head, the beast couldn’t be controlled completely. If it hadn’t been hibernating when they found it, it would likely have been impossible to tame the creature, with Screws or otherwise.
The captain threw a magic potion of Awakening over the creature’s massive head, ending its slumber.
As the many-winged centipede’s eyes opened and glared hatefully, the captain felt an ominous premonition, but there was no turning back now. This was the only option left.
Taking a deep breath, the captain slashed the monster free of its bonds with his magic sword.
ANWOOOOMWALOOOOWN.
The insect howled and ripped into the captain with its fangs.
Then, evidently satisfied, it left the captain alive and began to take off into the air with its countless wings.
“Go… The enemy you must destroy is up above.”
Even as he lay bleeding from his mortal wounds, the captain bellowed after the giant centipede as it rose into the sky.
Perhaps the last thing he saw as his vision went black was victory.
“…Where in the world did it go?”
Mossan was desperately searching for the magi bomb on the bridge, but there was no sign of it anywhere.
Strangely enough, his comrades who went to sabotage the other parts of the airship with magi bombs didn’t seem to have succeeded, either.
“If I knew this would happen, I would’ve brought the magic flute myself instead of giving it to Leda…”
He had asked Leda to hold on to the magic flute out of fear that it would be destroyed in the blast from the magi bomb, but now that fear had backfired.
Muttering to himself, Mossan reached for the creepily squirming magic device under his shirt—the Demonic Heart.
Even with the strength enhancements it would grant him, a non-military man like Mossan wouldn’t be able to take over the bridge alone.
If he had the magic flute, he could release the limits of the Demonic Heart and truly run wild.
The wearer’s life would be forfeit, but in exchange, he would receive such strength that he could cause far more destruction than any magi bomb.
“Captain! A giant monster just emerged from the hunting manor behind us!”
“Again?! What is it this time?! A hydra? A naga?”
Listening to the panic on the bridge, Mossan looked back toward the manor.
“So they decided to unleash it…”
As he watched, the enormous many-winged centipede flew past the airship and stopped in front of it.
“Alert from the turret! The Magic Cannon barrel has caught fire! It’ll be a quarter cycle before they can use it again—”
“That thing’s wings are deflecting our mages’ attack spells!”
The many-winged centipede was so dangerous that no monster tamer could fully control it, and it was as strong as a four-headed hydra or an intermediate demon—no, maybe even a lesser dragon.
The airship was now without its Wyvern Knight guards and Magic Cannons, and even the powerful Spirit Magic user must be out of magic by now.
There had been plenty of miscalculations up until this point, but this beast was powerful enough to overwhelm all those odds.
As long as there was no one aboard with hero-like abnormal strength, the airship was doomed to go down.
“No—this airship has the Scarlet Nobleman, Baronet Jelil, and other mithril explorers aboard. Better to be safe than sorry, then…”
Mossan put his hand to his chest and activated the Demonic Heart.
“Now there is no way our plan can fail. I am ready for your magic flute at any time…Leda.”
Murmuring the name of his beloved one last time, Mossan closed his eyes.
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