Chapter 176
Chapter 176: New Era
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: imperfectluck
With the fires of battle stoked in Antuen again, there was not a single place in the Northlands that was able to remain peaceful and quiet anymore.
As the Elves hurriedly escaped to their ancestral home as they received the nightmarish news, the Beastmen were the ones who blew the horns for a final battle to determine the outcome. Their free-roaming Wolfrider soldiers gathered together again, as the Beastmen needed all their strength to attack humanity’s final castle – the Maple defense line.
Maple Castle – this originally isolated and quiet town in the north had transformed itself into the hotspot where the entire continent gathered.
By the time news of huge changes in the Sleuweir Kingdom’s capital of Antuen arrived through the special communication channels between the churches, the Beastmen were already unable to change the target of their prepared attack. They had gambled every option and available resource they had on the Maple defense line.
Even without being expert strategists, the Beastmen tribe leaders still knew that unless they were able to get rid of this annoying thorn in their sides and completely wipe out any hope of resisting that the humans had, there would only be unending rebellions in the territory that they had already conquered.
They summoned their free-roaming Wolfriders back together, one of their mighty Beast Behemoth squads had already perished in battle, their disorganized Mammoth combat squads that trampled all over the lands had already lost more than half their numbers, their precious aerial knights had been decreasing in number as if they were perishable food. The Beastmen sacrificed so much of their own flesh and blood, transforming the defense line into nothing more than a meat grinder.
The humans weren’t having it easy, either. In front of the strong Beastmen alliance’s armies, every life became nothing more than combat statistic casualties. Thanks to differences in overall strength, each Beastman that managed to pass the defense line required at least three human lives to take down.
With defenses stretched thin across the entire defense line, the fact that the commander in charge of defending the western castle door still had the ability to help support other areas was something eye-catching.
“Princess Knight” Reyne, this laughable nickname that was originally nothing more than a made-up name for the sake of popularity, started becoming recognized by all as the battle progressed.
But, this female leader who was recently increasing in popularity had her own frustrations, and as for the reason? Due to those Auland folks that kept overreacting to everything and pestering her.
“Your Highness, why do these warriors’ equipment look so familiar, it seems so similar with our White Wolf squad’s equipment, no, it’s exactly the same! That’s a special alloy from our country.”
From a certain standpoint, the fact that Darsos sent Hemet, one of his most trusted advisors here to the Northlands, was evidence of how important he viewed this place. But currently, this long-time acquaintance was being a bit of a pest.
“Oh, that was information we obtained while exchanging technologies. We created it for our warriors according to the model used for your squad. As for the materials, they’re actually quite different. It’s just that they’ve been painted with similar colors. You can inspect it more closely if you want, there’s actually plenty of differences in the details.”
“You can create actual products right after obtaining the technological information so quickly? That doesn’t seem right! And this armor still has the mark of the White Wolves!”
“Oh, that must be a misunderstanding, these are our new ‘Winter Wolf’ emblems, which are quite different. See, there’s three additional hairs standing up on this white wolf’s head, yep, these are our Winter Wolf emblems, which you can also call three-hair emblems; that’s what Brother Roland calls them.”
‘Just adding three hairs to the old emblem counts as a new emblem? Do you have any shame? Even if there’s no copyright or suing in this world, people still have embarrassment, don’t they? If you want to plagiarize, at the very least you should give the wolf three whiskers on each cheek!’
Hemet opened and closed his mouth without speaking up about those doubts that flashed through his mind.
Reyne finally somehow managed to unconvincingly make Hemet accept this, when a new problem arose.
“What we used on that day? Are you talking about our floating battleship?”
The newest arrival that stood out the most in the midst of battle was the floating battleship Borealis. Its existence perfectly patched up the few weaknesses that the western castle’s defending army had.
Heavy cannon fire as support, transporting the injured, and the ability to give the finishing blow at the critical moment. The enemy Beast Behemoth that died was first injured then surrounded and killed with the Borealis’ assistance, so just this accomplishment alone ensured that it would become known to everyone.
“No no, we borrowed that ancient floating battleship from our Winged Tribe allies, you see, it’s already a semi-biological existence, completely different from your one hundred percent mechanical battleships.”
‘How do you know that our battleships are one hundred percent mechanical?’
Those words were right on Hemet’s lips, but in the end he didn’t counter with this question either.
He already knew what was up just by seeing the situation. It was ridiculous to believe anything that Reyne said, but since there was no evidence for this type of thing, nor did he intend to ruin the relationship between the two countries, there was no use in saying it out loud.
Reyne secretly wiped her cold sweat. Even if she knew that Hemet wouldn’t bring everything out to the surface, the action of plagiarizing right in front of the original owner was something that only Roland could pull off as if it was only natural with such self-assurance.
“…Our Auland Empire is deeply interested in this research area, and hope that we can exchange information. Of course, we can pay the additional price necessary.”
Kagersi wouldn’t be able to recover the information for quite a while, and the battleship was currently locked away in the underground base, so the next best thing would be to at least obtain some information and restart Auland’s research.
‘No wonder Brother Roland asked me to use these in front of them, everything happened exactly as he expected.’
There was probably also only one person that could so openly steal someone else’s work and then sell it back to the original owner like this.
Of course, since the Eastern Mist Communal Country already expected this response, Reyne was naturally prepared.
“Of course, please discuss the specific details with Big Sister Elisa. She opened up a merchants’ guild in Maple Castle called the Cindler Merchants’ Guild, and deals a great amount of business in military arms.”
Hemet felt a stomachache coming upon him at thinking about that sharp-fanged, sharp-tongued woman. He’d already been to the Cindler Merchants’ Guild before, and knew just how difficult it was to haggle there. He would probably have to pay a painfully large price for the information he wanted.
But, it wasn’t a bad deal for him, since the Auland Empire was ridiculously wealthy and could afford it. Restarting research on the floating battleship was the most important task at hand, since the Holy War had restarted and there wasn’t much time left. It was vitally important to begin training personnel for this technology as well people to operate it.
And just as the upper ranks were discussing the exchange of military arms information, there was a new change in the combat situation.
The Beastmen began a new wave of attacks, catapulting countless burning boulders at the castle walls that arced downward from the sky like a meteor shower.
The burning boulders had such great force that each and every one of them not only damaged the castle walls, they would each kill several humans with their impacts. However, these boulders were only the preludes to each new Beastman attack on Maple Castle.
With the support of heavy boulder fire raining down from the skies, the various tribes of Beastmen equipped themselves with heavy shields as they began attacking Maple Castle again. The air cavalry that descended from the skies together with the Beastmen attack proved that this was no mere testing of Maple Castle’s defenses.
Air cavalry that weren’t limited by terrain and siege weapons that could possibly break through a fort’s defenses would always be the main actors in a siege battle. With Wyvern Knights, Thunder Roc Knights, and Harpies as their main aerial forces, the quality was quite high, but their numbers had decreased noticeably after so many days of harsh battling.
“Dragon knight! That dragon knight’s here again!”
The young green dragon named Osmenya and his Wolf Tribe rider Kakaji had become infamous through this battle. Even when facing off against overwhelming odds, he had already defeated more than one hundred, which was plenty for him to become the aerial ace of the battle.
Everything was now utter chaos atop the castle walls. The wyverns were furiously spitting poison from their poison sacs, the Thunder Rocs were killing off groups at once with Chain Lightning spells, while the Harpies’ spears aimed specifically for the archers and commanders. The Beastmen air cavalries’ strategic targets were quite clear: they were attempting to clear the way for their infantry to climb over the castle walls, while the dragon knight acting as the aerial commander was currently roaming at high speeds and destroying the castle’s defenses.
In the past, the ordinary human defenders’ only tactic had been to use human walls to block the elite Beastmen air cavalry, and sacrifice many lives in order to force the Beastmen’s retreat.
But this time, the situation was different.
“Inform the Silver Cross squadron that it’s time for them to begin.”
With the Princess Knight’s command, the Borealis (Envy)’s belly suddenly opened up while it was covering the humans with supporting fire, with countless figures jumping out of its belly from midair.
“What a joke, they’re jumping down from that high? They’re suicidal!”
This general’s shouts doubtlessly said out loud what everyone had been thinking. For any ordinary warriors, that height would be suicidal unless they knew how to fly. And if all several hundred of these warriors had the ability to fly, that would be even more unbelievable.
Sometimes, the previous generation’s experience was a type of limitation. As eras changed and technology improved, the common sense of battle was bound to be swept aside. These warriors truly did know how to fly!
“Awaken, Azure Dragon!”
“Azure Dragon Sword Seal!”
Together with the fierce roars of the Four Elemental Swordcasters, each of their magic swords shone brilliantly, and the Azure Dragon Sword Seal that was activated in this emergency situation began rotating around the Four Elemental Swordcasters. The Wind Elves were summoned here by the seal, and they in turn summoned whirlwinds to give these warriors the ability to fly and fight in midair.
Of course, the Azure Dragon Sword Seal’s whirlwinds were limited in power, and they were merely now falling down slowly rather than truly being able to fly, but this was more than enough to prove that they had the ability to fight in midair.
“Several hundred magic swordsmen? How is this possible?”
Metal had the ability to cancel out magic, so for warriors wearing heavy armor to actually be able to utilize magic was already far beyond common sense. But, the indisputable fact before everyone’s eyes was a testament to this fact.
After a short period of shock, the Beastmen air cavalry hurried to this area, since of course they wouldn’t allow these obvious enemy reinforcements to land.
“Odd numbered-warriors, Sword Seals overload!”
The warriors hovering in midair weren’t defenseless however, so with their commander’s order, all the warriors lifted the magic swords in their hands and all the Azure Dragon Sword Seals were overloaded with magical energy this time as pale white streaks of lightning crawled around their magic swords.
“Odd numbered-warriors, target: the enemy air cavalry before us, Sword Seals explode! Prepare, three, two… one! Wield your swords!”
All the warriors slashed their swords forward in unison, causing hundreds of lightning bolts to erupt from their swords.
It had been a clear sky just a moment ago, and now the sky became filled with lightning and thunder. The hundreds of lightning bolts lit up the entire sky, blinding the eyes of everyone who lifted their heads to see the spectacle.
*Thud!* *Thud!*
When the viewers regained their senses of sight again, all they saw were the Beastmen air cavalry falling from the sky like dumplings, with a minimum of two air cavalry squads having been eliminated.
“What type of forbidden spell is this? It’s so terrifying because those magic swordsmen didn’t have a single sign of magical waves on them.”
The other countries’ residents could only watch it unbelievably, but it wasn’t difficult to understand for those in the know. At that instant, the countless Wind Elementals within the Azure Dragon Sword Seals transformed into thunder that wasn’t individually strong, but the thunderbolts attracted and fed off of each other before finally becoming an inescapable electric net.
Its actual force wasn’t nearly as formidable as what the viewers perceived, thanks to the lack of ability in the spell’s users and the thunderbolts draining energy from each other. The spell’s attack power was already incredibly low.
But for aerial battles, attack power was never the important part, just having the stun effect from thunder was enough.
The air cavalry that had fallen from the sky weren’t actually electrocuted to death as the viewers believed. They were merely paralyzed to the point where they couldn’t move anymore by repeated electrical shocks, but looking at it from another angle, falling out of the sky from such a height didn’t really have much of a difference compared to being electrocuted to death.
As the Swordcasters expected, apart from the very few incredibly strong individuals that were able to regain control of themselves and fly upwards again, most of the enemy air cavalry didn’t even have time to shout in surprise before crashing to the ground and becoming nothing more than crushed meat.
The Swordcasters that just used their Sword Seals’ explosions lost the protection of their whirlwinds, but their even-numbered companions that were prepared beforehand caught on to them. These odd-numbered warriors only fell a slight distance before summoning new Azure Dragon Sword Seals for their next tactical move.
“Even-numbered warriors, Sword Seal overload!”
The commander gave the exact same order on the midair battlefield again, with many of the smarter air cavalry members hurriedly escaping for their lives. Meanwhile, those “courageous” ones that had decided to rush the magic swordsmen in the downtime between spells were destined to crash into a new electrical net.
“Sword Seals explode! No countdown! Pick your targets freely, wield your swords!”
The blinding electrical net appeared once more in the sky. Apart from all the *thud* sounds of the Beastmen air cavalry falling against the ground, the sky had now been completely cleared. There were no survivors left by the electrical net created by several hundred magical swords.
Now it was the odd-numbered warriors’ turn to catch their companions. *Pound!* *Boom!* When the armored swordcasters finally landed safely on the ground, everyone on the battlefield shouted out joyously in celebration.
It had been a short exchange that lasted less than three minutes, which was more than enough to completely wipe out the Beastmen’s strongest air cavalry troops from the previous generation. This was seemingly no more than a small battle in the overall campaign, but it actually represented that apart from high-level mages and high-tier aerial troops, there was now a third method to deal with air cavalry – organized magical swordsmen.
No small human kingdom would be able to raise griffins. Only human kingdoms that were medium level and above could afford to raise an organized platoon of air cavalry, while in the poor Northlands, the Northerners could only use bows in place of the expensive air cavalry.
For so many years on the battlefield, the air had always belonged to the enemy, with air cavalry ambushes being the enemies’ ace tactic usable in every situation, but the warriors’ cheers were clear evidence that the situation had now changed.
“Tell those sons of bitches that the northern skies belong to us as well!” One man shouted out what every northerner had been thinking. Even the newly-minted Swordcasters were hardly able to believe that they had just achieved such a shocking victory.
This was just the beginning. With organized magical troops appearing on the battlefield for the first time, the entire world’s strategies and tactics would become revamped. Having brought out this new type of troop doubtlessly proved that the East Mist Communal Country was already at the forefront of the current era. And from today onwards, nobody would ever treat the East Mist Communal Country as an easily bullied small northern country ever again.
“…What.” This time, Hemet was unable to say that it belonged to the Auland Empire. Magical ability required talent, and even the very concept of an organized magical swordsman squadron was difficult to imagine based on the theories of magic. The obviously well-practiced tactics and command system were evidently the result of long practice. In Hemet’s eyes, this was probably the ace trump card up that person’s sleeve out of what he brought back from history.
Reyne smiled in delight at Hemet’s reaction. From her first meeting with him, this emperor’s special envoy had always remained high and mighty with his attitude, as if he was facing a subordinate that he could command at will. At this moment, in front of brand-new tactics and jobs, in front of this astonishing battle achievement, the haughty Auland people finally began lowering their proud heads.
“Would you like it?”
Even if Hemet didn’t say it out loud, just from his expectation-filled eyes, it could easily be seen that this emperor’s trusted envoy had a desire for this information that was raging like a wildfire. This wasn’t even at the extent of wanting it anymore, he wanted to swallow it down whole.
“It’s quite expensive!”
Even on the battlefield, the Princess Knight’s exquisitely beautiful smile attracted countless passionate gazes. Only, nobody could guess that her delighted smile was due to a base desire to take revenge by viciously jacking up the price.
“I’ll buy, buy, buy! No matter how expensive it is!”
Hemet was overjoyed at hearing this news. For such an ace weapon, as long as Reyne was willing to sell, Hemet was willing to sell even his family treasures for it. There wouldn’t be another opportunity like this, he would only regret it if she wasn’t willing to sell.
However, Reyne flashed a rather mysterious smile upon hearing Hemet’s response.
“As long as you’re willing to pay, there’s something even better and more expensive, you know. Timlet, it’s time for your little toy to appear.”