Chapter 816
Episode 204: Declaration of War (3)
October 25, 1805.
Five days had passed since Ziphl received the declaration of war from the Jeokmyeong tribe. The Balmel Alliance’s stance had been broadcast worldwide, and now all that remained was to see if the Jeokmyeong would honor their promise.
Naturally, not only Ziphl—the target of the Jeokmyeong’s invasion—but every major power was watching the situation with bated breath.
The Balmel Alliance had already divided their infiltration squads into five groups, matching the number of Ziphl’s first-class magic towers, and had successfully infiltrated the federation.
“They’re really something,” Mary said, settling near the first-class magic tower in the Lisrit Autonomous District with Yona and the Tona brothers.
“Yeah, sis. Just how many ships are stationed at a single magic tower? If every first-class tower has this many, it’s several times more than during the Hyungshin War.”
“Even if we estimate conservatively, there must be at least a hundred ships. And the second-class towers have about fifty each. Ziphl’s production capacity is way beyond normal.”
“It’s probably because of that so-called ‘sanctuary’ the youngest mentioned. Since the special nature of that space isn’t well understood, it likely plays a role in fleet production. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain this kind of output. They’d need at least twenty underground shipyards like the Sota Desert ones.”
“Heh, the lights from the fleet are pretty, Mary. It feels like looking up at a star-filled night sky. It’s kind of nice.”
“Yona, those are our enemies. You shouldn’t be admiring them like that.”
“Shouldn’t be? Say that again, heh.”
“Ha ha, never mind.”
“Yona, Heitona’s right.”
“If Mary says so, then I guess I’ll try to see them as bad guys. Now that I look again, all that flashy brightness is just annoying.”
“Good, good. That’s our Yona. And Tona, since you’re the eldest, don’t be so dismissive in front of others, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll keep my pride in check!”
The Tona brothers swallowed their frustration and forced awkward smiles. Even though they had become heroes of their clan and the world after the Hyungshin War, their treatment by their siblings hadn’t changed much.
In truth, Yona teased them because she found them endearing, and Mary admired that the Tona brothers hadn’t grown arrogant.
“Sis, do you really think the Jeokmyeong can easily take down a magic tower like that? There seem to be at least three squads of phantoms and ghost units inside, each nearly superhuman.”
“That’s exactly why we’re here—to observe carefully. Especially since this is the first-class tower farthest from civilian areas, it’s likely their primary target. There won’t be any restrictions on their attack.”
From the Balmel Alliance’s perspective, the best outcome would be for Ziphl to mount an equal counterattack against the Jeokmyeong invasion.
The more damage both sides suffer, the greater the advantage for the Balmel Alliance.
“If Ziphl just gets steamrolled, the clan’s main enemy might change—from Ziphl to Jeokmyeong.”
“That’s possible, but it’s more likely they’ll suddenly form an alliance at some point. They’ve already allied with remnants of the royal family; if they get cornered, there’s no reason they won’t expand their alliances.”
“As long as the youngest’s brothers aren’t freed from Lafrarosa, that scenario would be really tough. Hmm, I’ll start preparing the meal.”
Just as the Tona brothers were about to enter a pit they had dug, Mary suddenly froze and pointed to the sky.
“Stop moving! The meal can wait! It looks like it’s starting. A dimensional gate has opened overhead.”
“Damn it, how can it be that huge?”
“Heh? That’s beautiful too—like the Milky Way descending in one piece!”
“They’re our enemies, Yona.”
The dimensional gate that appeared before the brothers’ eyes was far larger than any Jeokmyeong gate they or Jin had ever seen.
Even a rough estimate showed it could easily release five hundred ships into the sky.
It was positioned directly above the Lisrit first-class magic tower.
Mary and her group naturally assumed that a massive fleet would emerge from the gate. The tower was on full alert, so a fleet-wide bombardment was expected to begin immediately.
“What is that?”
But what emerged from the gate was something so enormous it couldn’t be called a mere ship.
“Is that the airborne fortress Ameris mentioned…?”
In ancient times, when Ameris was active, a faction’s strength was measured not by fleets but by the number of airborne fortresses they possessed.
The Jeokmyeong had the most of these—five fortresses ruled by the Great War Kings, plus one dedicated to the War God, totaling six.
One of them now loomed over the Lisrit tower like a crushing weight. It was called ‘Usu,’ the fortress operated by Us, the Great War King Gaila.
“It’s nothing compared to Ram from the Hyungshin War, but it’s terrifying… Without even a single escort ship, just one of these could easily take down a first-class tower?”
Bang! Kraaah!
As soon as the airborne fortress Usu appeared, Ziphl’s fleet opened fire. A protective shield enveloped the entire tower, and waiting mages unleashed their magic in a chain reaction.
Even those called superhumans would have to risk their lives to break through such overwhelming firepower.
Mary and the others lay flat, watching Ziphl’s response closely. Though they were five ri away, the heat radiating from the tower made the wind feel hot.
“The firepower from a first-class tower is even better than we expected, sis.”
“The problem is, it doesn’t seem to be doing any damage to that fortress at all.”
The Tona brothers swallowed dryly. Indeed, the bombardment and magic from the Lisrit tower had no effect on Usu.
Usu hadn’t even launched a single attack yet. It simply hovered there, as if to flaunt the gap in power.
{I offer you a chance to surrender. Those who do not wish to fight, raise your hands and exit the tower. White signal flares will be taken as a sign of surrender. Commanders of each ship must decide within one minute.}
The voice of Great War King Gaila echoed around the tower.
{Our Jeokmyeong always keep their promises. Those who surrender will be treated as civilians.}
The dragons carrying the phantom and ghost squads couldn’t get close to Usu. Only once did they barely touch the underside of the shield, but a jagged red lightning spike pierced a dragon’s body like a spear. It was clear that infiltrating Usu’s interior using dragons and ships was impossible.
Only someone capable of tearing through the shield alone could penetrate.
“Tower master, we have to retreat.”
Eventually, the phantoms and ghosts returned to the tower and urged the master to flee. They had realized that the first-class tower’s power alone wasn’t enough to even engage in ‘combat’ with the airborne fortress.
A child versus an armored knight.
That was the only way to describe the gap between a first-class tower and an airborne fortress. The Red Fleet that recently raided a second-class tower wouldn’t have been so helpless, but an airborne fortress was on a completely different level.
The tower master immediately accepted the ghosts’ suggestion. Those ghosts were survivors of the second-class tower raid.
“Damn it…!”
The tower master cursed and fired a signal flare to signal retreat. Similar flares went up across the fleet.
{If you want to live, you should have fired a white signal flare as I said, foolish ones.}
Right after Gaila’s words, the underside of Usu opened. Ziphl’s fleet turned away, and the tower master, phantoms, and ghosts boarded small ships and took flight.
The only goal left for the Lisrit tower was to survive and report the airborne fortress’s power to their superiors.
But Gaila had no intention of allowing even that.
“Comrade Simat, open fire.”
Gaila poured blood into a glass. Beyond the bridge, he saw humans fleeing pointlessly.
“Comrade Gaila, I think it’s better to capture part of the tower for analysis rather than destroy it completely.”
“From the looks of it, it’s a low-grade structure. Is that really necessary?”
“We must. Even low-level technology could pose a threat. What was the cost of underestimating Runcandel and the Balmel Alliance?”
“Hmm… If Comrade Simat says so, then so be it. Then partially destroy the tower and recover what we can. This time, we’ll only take those who survive the bombardment.”
“Jeokmyeong!”
A massive red sphere formed beneath Usu. The space around the tower warped, and some mages and dragons were pulled into the sphere, vanishing without a trace.
Like a stack of straws, the tower shattered into pieces. The fragments were absorbed into the upper part of Usu.
After the Mana Tower was reclaimed, the main cannon of the Usso that fired wasn’t just a simple straight shot. At its center was a pillar-shaped enemy brain that was leveling everything in the area, from which lightning-like tendrils snaked out, striking down the fleeing Ziphl.
The people escaping the Mana Tower couldn’t resist the bombardment even once—they were simply slaughtered.
Mary and her group could only shudder as they watched the scene unfold.
“…Those damned Red-Eyed Tribe probably didn’t just attack here today. I wonder what the situation is like on the other fronts. But if every battle goes like this, there’s no hope left for the Ziphl.”