Book 5, Chapter 159: Gap
Chapter 159: Gap
Fresh blood dyed the sky red.
That blood had come from the Harpies’ blood being spilled everywhere.
Even though Deep Blue Flame felt that this amount of blood was still far too little, the Harpies, whose reproductive rate was quite low, felt the sting of such a loss. This feeling was compounded by the sheer amount of resources they had poured into their defense.
The chaotic battle was causing both sides to grow impatient. As time went on, the holdout became torturous. Finally, by the third day, the Thousand Poisons Toad was much weaker and also much more impatient. It appeared infuriated, but it was growing weaker and weaker. Nevertheless, it continued to slam its massive body into the sturdy walls of Sky City and unleashing clouds of poison in all directions.
Unfortunately, the Harpies were all used to this tactic by now, and their ability to advance or retreat had improved as well. No matter what the Thousand Poisons Toad tried to do, the Harpies were prepared, so they also suffered the fewest deaths.
This would definitely be the least costly battle that the Intelligent Races had ever fought against a Desolate Beast.
Well, if it weren’t for us, Palmer thought to himself.
Palmer lifted up the felt hat on his head and continued to advance with the rest of the group.
The Harpy captain at the front barked impatiently, “Hurry up, we don’t have much time left. We need to send these items over to the front lines!”
Following this command, the group of Harpies, who were riding a crash of Iron-Armored Rhinoceroses, hurried towards the castle walls.
When the transportation party arrived at the base of Sky City’s walls, one of the Harpy officers stopped them in their tracks. “Your identification, please.”
The captain handed over his identification.
“Profound Clarity from the Illusive Dust Workshop, responsible for constructing Annihilation Bolts. Are these all Annihilation bolts?” the inspections officer asked.
“Not entirely,” the Harpy replied. “Some of them are components for the Sun-Shattering Cannons that were ordered only recently. You know that some bandit destroyed the Red Rain Workshop yesterday, so their duties were transferred to us. We were only able to construct these components after staying up all night. Do you need to inspect these?”
“Of course,” the official replied dutifully as he began to open the containers being carried by the Iron-Armored Beasts.
“Be careful. These boxes contain components for the Sun-Shattering Cannons and are explosive. You can’t just open them like this.”
“Explosive?”
“Yes, explosive. That’s not strange, is it? It’s a military necessity.”
Yes, they were military necessities.
What was strange about a military necessity being dangerous?
He nodded. After inspecting the documents once more, the inspections official returned them to the Harpy captain.
The members of the transportation party walked through the checkpoint to the wall single-file. The inspections official nearby watched them closely, unwilling to slack off in the slightest. Even though he was far from being able to see through a person’s disguise, he was still dutifully carrying out his responsibilities.
One of the soldiers standing nearby chuckled, “Captain, aren’t you being a bit too nervous?”
The official frowned. “Don’t forget that there’s a bastard who was making trouble for us last night.”
The soldier smiled. “You were the one who said that he was alone. Don’t we have a group of soldiers here?”
“Who knows? We have many enemies surrounding us right now. It wouldn’t be strange if they were to join forces against us,” the captain said with some apprehension.
He was probably the only official worried about something like this, but unfortunately it was impossible for this idea to reach Eternal Night. And even if it were, it was very likely that nothing would come of it. There were simply too many possibilities, and Eternal Night couldn’t possibly try to plug all the leaks. He simply didn’t have enough manpower.
The official had no idea that he had actually stumbled upon the truth of the matter.
Off in the distance, Deep Blue Flame was still patiently waiting for news to come his way.
The golden bird had already turned itself into a handsome young Harpy. The wings on its back were golden, giving it an elegant appearance. However, the way it sat spread-eagled was incredibly unrefined. It said lazily, “Is that human trustworthy? I feel like the answer is no…… The Intelligent Races are never to be trusted.”
“We can only know whether we’ll succeed after we try,” Deep Blue Flame replied. “If this fails, all that will happen is that we will lose Palmer and the others.”
“I’ll miss it,” the golden bird said worriedly when it heard Palmer’s name. “Out of all your children, he’s the only one that I can beat up soundly and comfortably.”
Deep Blue Flame had a hard time stomaching the golden bird’s offensive words. “Shut your mouth, Golden Blaze. Don’t think that just because you’re his son that I’ll let you get off so easily!”
“Hey, I’m just saying. You don’t need to be so offended by it,” Golden Blaze said as he flapped his wings. “I am just getting anxious to see the fireworks. When are they going to start again?”
“Soon…… The agreed-upon time is almost here,” Deep Blue Flame replied.
The transportation group passed through the city gates, then through the other wall before finally arriving at the southernmost gate entering Sky City.
A few Harpies were stationed there to accept the goods.
It was already possible to see the massive figure of the Thousand Poisons Toad off in the distance. However, the Thousand Poisons Toad was obviously having a hard time getting close to the city due to the swarms of locusts in its way. As such, it could only spit out dense clouds of poison from time to time.
The poisonous fog sizzled whenever it came into contact with the city’s barriers. If it weren’t for the endless supply of Origin Energy, the poisonous fog probably would have already killed thousands if not tens of thousands of Harpies.
This Desolate Beast, which should have been able to wreak incredible amounts of devastation, was not powerful enough to breach the sturdy defenses of Sky City, making it impossible for the beast to actually demonstrate its full strength. This infuriated it to no end and caused it to howl with rage.
“Are you growing agitated? Don’t worry, the moment you have been waiting for is coming,” Palmer muttered to himself.
“Hey, you, don’t just stand there. Get out of here.” One of the Harpies walked over to push Palmer out of the way.
However, this shove was completely ineffective, startling the soldier. Palmer suddenly reached out and picked him up, slamming into the ground. Energy poured into his bare hands, allowing him to suddenly tear that Harpy in half.
The other Harpy soldiers were badly startled when they saw this and all charged to face the new threat.
Palmer gestured, and his originally thin, weak-looking body began to grow taller and sturdier. A massive wolf’s head replaced the Harpy head.
It tilted its head back and roared, “Awaken, mighty Wind Wolf warriors!”
As it bellowed, the Iron-Armored Rhinoceroses carrying the cargo also began to howl, their bodies beginning to glow with red light. Suddenly, they broke free from the restrictions controlling them and charged right at the soldiers.
“Not good! It’s the beasts! The beasts are attacking!” one of the Harpy officials cried out.
A moment later, he was trampled underfoot.
The sound of ferocious beast howls suddenly filled the air, startling the Harpies and causing them to turn around.
Then, with shrill screeches, the countless Harpies shot into the air, silvery feather light filling the sky as the flew towards Sky City at top speed.
No one could compare to the Intelligent Races in terms of mobility.
But no matter how fast they were, it was impossible for them to be faster than Palmer.
Palmer, who had reverted to his original form, was a giant wolf nearly thirty feet tall. He stood on its hind legs and stared intently at the oncoming Harpies as a smile appeared on his face. “Send some more of them my way!”
Then, he took a stance and howled, “For the glory of my race!”
As he howled, an explosion suddenly accentuated his proclamation.
That explosion had come from the back of one of the Iron-Armored Rhinoceroses.
The powerful wave of energy seemed to be comparable to one unleashed by a Tenth-Ring Arcana Technique.
Even so, this was only the beginning.
Following that first explosion, the rest of the Iron-Armored Rhinoceroses began to explode as well.
At this point, they had already spread out through this area of the city - they had charged forwards not to kill but merely to send the trunks on their backs to the designated areas.
A string of explosions began to shake the city.
A total of twenty-four Iron-Armored Rhinoceroses exploded with the force of a Tenth-Ring Arcana Technique all at the same time. Even the iron-clad walls of Sky City would have a hard time withstanding this blast, not to mention that it was coming from the inside rather than from without.
The ferocious explosion sent Sky City reeling. A thick plume of black smoke began to float into the sky from the southern region of the city. Even an idiot would realize that there was a situation brewing.
At the same time, the Thousand Poisons Toad discovered what was happening. It bellowed as it leapt in that direction.
Its massive body floated over the city like a dark cloud before landing on the ground and sending shockwaves in all directions.
At this point, it was obvious that a massive hole had been blasted into the side of Sky City.
Sky City’s defenses were controlled by region, but now that this region had been destroyed, it was completely defenseless.
Even with the Thousand Poisons Toad’s low intelligence, it was able to sense that this was a perfect opportunity.
It howled and opened its mouth, spitting out a steady stream of poison into that opening. At the same time, it fiercely slammed its body and tongue at the hole to try and widen it.
“Success!” Outside Sky City, Golden Blaze flapped its wings excitedly. “Palmer was able to blast the city walls open! That human didn’t lie! His illusion was able to trick those Harpies, and he even freed the Iron-Armored Rhinoceros from his chains. He fulfilled his promise!”
“We were the ones who fulfilled our promise,” Deep Blue Flame replied. “All he did was help us a little.”
“Well, this was a successful alliance no matter how you look at it,” Golden Blaze laughed loudly. “It seems that it’s time for we Beasts to also make our move.”
“That’s right,” Deep Blue Flame chuckled. “The Thousand Poisons Toad has been fighting alone for so long. It’s time for us to join it.”
He turned around and barked, “My children, let’s charge forth into battle! It’s time to reclaim this territory for the majestic Beasts!!!”
“ROAR!!!”
As he howled, a large wave of Beasts surged forth, filling the sky with a cacophony of howls.
Iron-Winged Scarlet Condors, Black-Blooded Eagles, Golden-Eyed Falcons, and Flaming Cranes shot through the sky.
The most eye-catching beasts were still the pack of wolves prowling at the front.
Wind energy swirled around them as they appeared to walk on clouds despite not having wings. Their appearance was incredibly ominous and menacing.
The Wind Wolf pack!
Deep Blue Flame’s pack.
“Today is the day that Sky City will be destroyed!” Deep Blue Flame bellowed loudly.
Bang!
As if in response to his words, one of the ninety-nine Sun-Shooting Pearls supporting the barrier in the sky suddenly began to glow intensely before it went dark.