Hikari and Camilia were again on their vantage point.
Hikari had brought along her supply of handcannon ammo.
Around them, a squad of Razenheir sharp shooters and pikemen, forming a firing nest above the tree top.
Above them, the Herdial sky fortress lumbers its way ever closer to the Carla fortress.
On the ground, a trench line was being dug. Centred around four emplacements for massive siege guns, the barrels of which match some of the mangrove trees in diameter.
A foot of the mangrove, the RazenHeir force gathered, using the massive tree as cover. The knights and their line infantry.
Boom! Boom! An earth shaking salvo from the field guns. Camilia covered her ears with her paws.
One of the shots hit the wall directly, knocking off a chunk of debris.
Boom! Boom! A broad side from the sky fortress, sending a hail of steel down onto the fortress.
Then there was a pause as the gunners reloaded and readjusted their aim.
The shelling went on, making several holes in the wall of the fortress, until the siege guns ran out of shells.
There was silence. No signs of movement coming from within the fortress.
As Hikari meditated, circulating her mana, she could overhear the officers below.
"Silora's bottoms, we're sure that every scout of every house here had seen the cultists converging on Carla from some direction right? The zeppelin blockade reported no attempts to break out. Surely at least one zeppelin officer hadn't been dozing off. Are the cultists really just playing dead on us?"
"Shall we send a scout team? Maybe the cultists all stabbed themselves in the stomach?"
"Good plan. Thank you for volunteering to be a sacrificial lamb. I say we just keep shelling them. We'll eventually hit their powder magazine and see them flying out of those walls."
Hikari intensified her mana, making Camilia get off her lap.
"Their anxieties are justified. I don't like this one bit. Should I tell the scout master to retreat?"
"Shape the flesh in the avatar's image."
The abbot's voice echoes in her mind.
"A load of gibberish that mad abbot said. Perhaps it had something to do with what the cultists are trying to accomplish. Why go after the Eldarsoars?"
Hikari stood up and holstered her claymore. She hopped off the tree.
"Scout master. I wish to storm the cultist stronghold."
"By yourself? That's too brash even for you. We already sent out a scout team. I know they might die, but you're too valuable to risk. Many more will if you fall."
Hikari looked at him. Her gaze made his knees tremble. The scout master takes a deep breath.
"Evacuate our non combat personnel. Tell the rear camp to pack up in case anything happens. Your potions and additional throwing weapons are in those crates. I trust your hunch, we'll brace for what's coming."
Hikari nods. She returned to the top of the mangrove and downed the entire barrel of mana potion.
"What's up meow?"
"Get off. All of you"
"Meow? Uh… yes Hikari."
Camilia was taken aback for a moment before hopping off the tree.
The RazenHeir troops manning the tree top post glanced at each other before making their way down the pulley ropes.
She channeled her mana, laying down a mana circle. She drew her hand cannon, pointing at the pile of bullets at the side.
A cannon ball sprung from the pile, flying towards her handcannon, going straight into the barrel, making a loud clank as it bashed against the back chamber wall.
With the musket ball in the chamber, she summed it at the fortress.
A pause.
The cannon ball left the barrel beyond the speed of sound, creating a shockwave that churned up piles of branches, drilling into the stone wall.
Load. Another cannon ball flew into the chamber.
Pause. A deafening knock followed by the sound of crumbling stone.
"Hey! What in the name of the golden monkey is going on up there?"
A Herdial officer stormed into the RazenHeir camp.
"Well you see. Our Lady knight up there just wants to vent some stress."
"We had an agreement that the Flying Fortress and the Great Bombards would take the fortress. What is the meaning of…?"
Dong….! The deafening sound of Hikari's cannon ball hitting a thick steel wall.
"Looks like I've pierced through to the right spot."
Load. The barrel of the handcannon glowed red with searing heat.
A pause. A brilliant purple streaked across above the infantry line, stunning the troops below.
Hikari felt a massive mana barrier from inside the fortress collapse, releasing waves of raw mana across the fields.
The infantry held tight to the trenches as what seemed like a hurricane blew over them, sending several field guns flying.
A series of explosions could be heard from within the fortress. A thick glowing smog appeared followed by a surge of mana streaking vertically up into the fly.
Then a pause. For a brief moment, cheers were heard across the trench lines.
But then, flesh abominations crawled out of the hole Hikari blasted into the fortress.
Hikari put down her handcannon as the barrel had melted.
"I might have to go see the forge master now."
She recollected her mana circle, grabbed another barrel of energy potion and gulped it down. Then she advanced towards the fortress.
As she reached the walls, a titan emerged from below many times the size of the golems she had fought before.
On its back were cannons wrapped in vines, along with their gun crews.
A barrage of cannon balls hit the back of the titan.
It didn't seem to have enough significant damage.
The titan fired a volley in response, most of it missed, but the ones that hit pierced the sky fortress's thin armour.
"Fivecauldronsof stew that the flesh titan beats the Flying Fortress. I'd better do some damage in the meantime. "
Hikari snuck under the Titan.
It was a hellspace behind the walls.
Vines everywhere. Tortured flesh and mucus covered the buildings.
Cages littered the place, most were open. The unprocessed prisoners died starving, their arms hanging out of the cages.
A horde of flesh abominations rose from the ground as Hikari landed. A sweep with her spinning glaive decimated them.
Hikari looked up at the Titan overhead.
"Well. Well. If I just kill you, I can go home."
Hikari observed the Titan in between waves.
It has eight massive legs to support its weight.
its belly was covered in steel places.
Hatches opened up, releasing a wave of flesh abominations.
She grabbed three musket balls in between her fingers, set them alight and threw them into the hatches just before they closed.
The Titan rumbled. Vines started growing out of the Titan's underbelly, appearing from between the steel plates.
A sweep from her spinning glaive cuts down the vines.
But another wave of vines were already starting to take their place.
"Ten golem cores. Ria better buy me something good with these."
She drew a throwing dagger, channeling mana until the dagger was burning brilliant purple. She threw it, landing it in between two steel plates. The RazenHeir flames that ignite even cold steels spread.
The hatches open, Hikari tossed a volley of musket balls inside.
A barrage of acid barreled towards Hikari's position. With some quick foot work, she dodged to the side, the acid melting the abandoned zeppelin frame behind her.
"It sure is easier to dodge in a pair of new socks. They'll be really sweaty after this though."
Swoosh. She sank another dagger into the Titan.
A barrage of cannon fire peppered the Titan from above, creating room for her to sink another dagger in.
Repeat. Another dagger. The flames are starting to stack.
Another dagger. Dodge the acid. Slice the abominations.
Stick a musket ball into the hatch. Repeat.
"Here goes the last dagger."
As the dagger stuck into the flesh. Hikari channeled her mana, projecting it upwards. The runes on the daggers rang.
The Titan groaned, its under belly was engulfed in flames that would not . One by one, the daggers dropped out of the titan as the flesh holding them melted.
Then, the steel plates started dropping off, disappearing into the chasm below.
The Titan's belly was now exposed.
Hikari drew her claymore, leapt into the air, in a horizontal spinning motion, releasing crescent waves of flames towards the titan.
She felt the splatter of mana as her strikes bashed against a barrier.
The ground shook as the titan convulsed from the damage.
A gush of vines appeared out of the Titan, covering every building and zeppelin frame.
Hikari was quick to hop back onto the walls. Her glaive tore through bundles upon bundles of vines, lighting up the stems. But the thick growth exhausted its spin, smothering it.
"Well, I lost both glaives now. Can't put off seeing the forge master for much longer."
As she ran along the battlements, dodging and parrying vines with her sword, the cannon battery on the titan's back fired a broad side.
Hikari watched the cannon balls fly into a high arc towards the flying fortress, which already had thick smoke coming out of several of its gun ports. The volley unfortunately scored several direct hits. Explosions erupted across the sky fortress. Soon after, it started losing altitude.
"Oh snap. The scout master mentioned the floating fortress being a crown jewel or something. Better start on those cannons."
Hikari drew her claymore, unleashing a crescent flame targeting the stem of the vines. Kicking her boots against the wall, she darted past the vines, sinking her claymore into the flesh atop the titan.
The titan tilted to the left and right, trying to shake Hikari off.
"I hate zeppelin rides. Don't remind me of those."
The latter anchored herself on her claymore stuck in the titan's flesh, as she had baited most of the vines to guard its belly.
She watched as the vines slowly pushed cannon balls up towards the battle, as the vines behind it poured gunpowder into the breach. Condensing a ball of mana into her hand, she tossed it into the barrel, causing the gunpowder to explode prematurely.
"Where does this thing actually store its gunpowder? Also, how does it even know what gunpowder is?"
Hikari continued, igniting the insides of the cannon barrels, disabling them for as long as the flames would burn. One by one, the cannons fell silent.
In the brief moment of respite, she took a glance at the battle on the ground. It was surprisingly stable. As she and the sky fortress kept the titan busy, the ground infantry with the support of knights, field guns and their entrenchments could put up a decent fight against just the flesh abominations.
But the sky fortress wasn't looking too good. The next moment, a large explosion erupted on one of the top compartments. The fortress started spiralling towards the ground, resulting in a deafening crash.
"I tried. Guess flying doesn't give you as much of an advantage as you would like."
Pulling out the claymore, she repositioned herself over where she thinks the core of the titan was. She grabbed the handle of her claymore with both hands. She slowed her breath, focusing on the blade. A mana circle formed around her.
"Might as well use this as well. I always felt the balance was off anyways."
The entire half ton hunk of steel glowed brilliantly with searing heat. The flesh around her burned. Sudden popping was heard as gunpowder pods buried beneath the flesh were ignited.
The vines crawled up to her from the sides of the titan and lunged towards her from all directions. But as they crossed into her mana circle, they were incinerated to ash.
Then, with a silent burst of flames, Hikari pushed all of the built up energy in her claymore in one instance down into the core of the titan, drilling through its barrier right through its core. A burst of energy erupted from its core as it shattered, creating a blinding light that could be seen for miles.
As the dust cleared, Hikari picked up the handle and about two inches of blade that was all that remained of the original. She let out a loud yawn.
"I hope they are still alive and have more stew for me. Odd, I feel as though I can't wait to tell Ria about how I slayed the titan."
— Hikari —
Mind :755 -> 765
Martial proficiency : 270 -> 273
Firearms proficiency : 112 -> 118
Dark flames of the RazenHeir house potency : 158 -> 164