[T.L: punisher87]
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June 20, 1803.
The decisive battle had begun.
A fleet of about five hundred battleships and over six hundred dragons cut across the sky of the Huphester, stained with darkness.
The night that determined the fate of humanity flowed slowly and painfully, like the passing of years.
Occasionally, knights and mages aboard the battleships, as well as demons and beastmen, were enveloped in an illusion that felt like a faint breeze blowing through the air.
Profound terror can be transformed into such a sensory experience.
The elite martial artists from each camp, who had crossed numerous life-death situations, were intensely focused on their own strategies.
If they were to lose even a moment of that focus, it felt as though fear would pierce their souls like a sword. It seemed impossible to fight.
It was not because they were lacking. As the tomb of the swords drew nearer, the influence of the evil god grew stronger, like the deepening of the night.
"There could exist a labyrinth even in the sky... The course should be accurate, so why haven't we observed Huphester's fortress yet?"
Veradin spoke. Due to the thick fog of chaos that had obscured their vision since earlier, the fleet could not pick up speed.
The reconnaissance led by Orgal was in a similar situation.
The true chaos spread by the Huphester had made it impossible for even his steel gate to be opened and closed freely.
However, Veradin soon could realize.
"...We were already close."
As if a door suddenly opened, the fog cleared, revealing an absurdly massive fortress before their eyes.
The fog had been continuously concealing the castle.
The fortress, completed by the evil god in just two days, revealed that the reports of its walls had not been exaggerated in the slightest.
The hundreds of battleships and dragons appeared insignificant in front of that fortress, merely transient beings.
The end of the world.
Those who confirmed the evil god's fortress could not help but think the same thought.
This was indeed the end of the world.
"Young Patriarch! The sky... is opening!"
The spreading chaos cloud above the fortress was splitting in half. What weighed heavily and distorted nature was the colossal flagship symbolizing the power of the evil god.
The shadow of "Ram" cast a dark silhouette over the entire sky and land. The dragons, sensing its massive weight, felt the difficulty of flight, and the mages maintaining the fleet's power source were sweating profusely.
In reality, the altitude was decreasing. It felt as though an invisible hand was lightly pressing down on the temporary alliance fleet.
No matter how hard the dragons and mages tried, they couldn't maintain altitude. The pressure ceased when the fleet stopped at about halfway up the fortress wall.
"So, it seems impossible to fly over the dwelling of the gods...."
Regarding facing a god, it was appropriate to start the battle from a higher position than that.
Veradin understood this phenomenon. If they couldn't break through head-on, they couldn't enter the fortress.
"It was expected that penetrating the fortress from within would be impossible. Everyone, don't try to increase the altitude but calmly prepare for deploying protective barriers. The welcoming ceremony will begin soon."
Furthermore, Kadun, Orgal, and Bale took their positions at the center of the fleet formation.
It was preparation to block Ram's main cannon, an experience they had gone through during the first initial battle.
Grooooar!
However, what suddenly resounded was not a roar but the gloomy howl of the Chaos Dragons.
They displayed a strength far surpassing what they had experienced during the first initial battle or the Rikalton war.
The power of the evil god was amplifying the strength of the Chaos Dragons.
Chaos Dragons poured out from beneath Ram, surpassing several thousand in an instant.
Ram never stopped spewing out Chaos Dragons and Black Ships for even a moment.
The welcoming ceremony Veradin had anticipated was not this.
'Instead of firing the main cannon, they are sending out Chaos Dragons and Black ships?'
The course of the battle showed a flow that was difficult to understand from the beginning.
If a number of Chaos Dragons and Black Ships similar to them appeared, the sky would naturally descend into chaos.
Even if it was the evil god, it wouldn't launch Ram's main cannon in the midst of a mixed sky with allies.
'Is it trying to conserve the power used by the main cannon? Or is it because she believes that after inducing a chaotic battle with such a force, she can eliminate us together?"
As Veradin was pondering that far, an urgent report came from the watchtower.
"Young Patriarch! It is reported that the power of Ram is presumed to have been cut off!"
"What did you say?"
"It is reported that the movement of the protruding main cannon, which was being revealed as the central part of Ram, suddenly ceased. The chaos gathering around the main cannon has also dispersed!"
The power of Ram itself was the embodiment of the evil god's power. If the power was cut off, it meant that the evil god had encountered a problem, and the Chaos Dragons and Black Ships should not have been strengthened.
'The power of the evil god remains intact, but only the connection with Ram has been severed...?'
Lynn Milcano.
Except for the Varmel alliance, the temporary alliance was unaware of her betrayal.
Therefore, they had no idea why Ram suddenly stopped.
"Young Patriarch, we may not know the cause, but this is an opportunity. We must break through before Ram resumes its operation."
Octavia said.
Veradin also thought the same. There was no reason to disagree. However, an inexplicable unease was clouding his mind.
But soon, Veradin decided to give the order to break through. There was no evidence to dispel his unease.
"...Change the formation to a breakthrough formation. Among the three individuals responsible for defending the main guns, fire dragon Kadun and Knight Bale will take the lead, and Orgal, continue to prepare for defense."
As the fleet began to change formation, the aerial forces of the evil god also started blocking their path.
"Position the gunners. From now until the breakthrough is complete, I authorize autonomous firing."
As soon as the order was given, the entire fleet began firing simultaneously. From the direction of the castle, the breath of chaos dragons and the bombardment of black ships flew towards them.
The continuous thunderous noise filled the air, and the chaotic light created by the collisions of the bombardments spread in a chaotic manner.
"I shall go out now, Young Patriarch."
"I wish you good luck, Captain of the Specters."
Octavia stepped onto the deck. She and the other giants revealed themselves on the decks of each fleet.
Hedo's swordsmanship, Dante's invisible sword, Syris' Myriad Ice, Valkas's Black King Fist, Amela's war machines, Yulian's thunderbow Harmilla, Berakt and Bianca's greatsword techniques, Ranke's rampage, Octavia's light magic, and the link magic of the Specters, among others.
All of these techniques were slaughtering the enemy forces that gathered.
The most outstanding among them was Bale, who led the vanguard.
Every time his golden wings fluttered, hundreds of chaos dragons and black ships disintegrated into particles and disappeared.
Bale in aerial combat was truly a disaster. It was impossible to intercept his speed, and he alone took responsibility for the attack range of an entire fleet.
Ram's main guns were still closed. The continuous influx of chaos dragons and black ships from below did not pose a significant threat.
Originally, a war of attrition had no meaning against the current temporary alliance.
Unless a force capable of dispersing the power of the giants appeared, breaking through to the front of the castle was only a matter of time.
However, about ten minutes later, the temporary alliance encountered another unexpected situation.
"There is a purple barrier forming ahead!"
"The barrier is pulling the fleet in...!"
It was about 2.5km away from reaching the castle.
The fleet's speed began accelerating faster than the set speed due to the gravitational force of the purple barrier formed around the castle.
The aerial forces of the evil god were unaffected by the barrier.
While the fleet slowed down for a moment, the enemy counterattack continued.
Most of the personnel on the deck were struggling to resist the gravitational force, holding onto something and deploying their defensive barriers, unable to fight properly.
The dragons at the forefront were being sucked into the barrier.
Bale exerted his golden authority to pull some of them out of the barrier, but it was inevitable that some of them were trapped inside.
[Kahh!]
[Kruh...!]
The dragons trapped in the barrier let out desperate screams. They crumpled like pieces of paper as soon as they touched the barriers.
The situation where the fleet could not easily escape the opposite side of the barrier continued.
"Fortunately, the barrier is not completely impervious to physical attacks."
Each time the fleet's artillery struck the barriers, cracks appeared.
"But the speed at which the cracks heal is too fast. It will take too long to break through with just artillery."
One by one, battleships began to sink, overwhelmed by chaos dragons and black ships. Veradin closely observed the situation.
He noticed that the cracks caused by the attacks of individuals with special powers, like Bale, took noticeably longer to heal compared to regular artillery strikes. Therefore, Orgal and Bale needed to be at the forefront to destroy the barriers. However, the forces of chaos were aware of this fact and persistently pressured the two.
"Change the positions of Orgal and Kadun."
"It will take some time. The chaos dragons have seized the rear!"
Orgal, who had been prepared for defense all along, was dealing with them, holding back the battleships being pulled toward the barrier.
Bale at the front was in a similar situation, so it would take time to change their formation and break through the barriers with them at the center.
At that moment, someone who had been in Kozec's training room revealed themselves for the first time.
"Veradin."
"I was just about to call you."
Jin, the magic swordsman with unique powers.
"Did your meditation go well?"
While the fleet advanced towards the stronghold of the evil god, Jin had been meditating alone in the training room for the final time.
It was a meditation to envision the one-on-one battle against Rosa, where he would face her alone with his sword techniques.
Jin gazed at the stronghold of the evil god, faintly visible beyond the purple barrier.
In the deepest part of that stronghold, Rosa was likely imagining her confrontation with him.
Jin nodded slowly.
Then flames ignited on Veradin's staff. It was the "Fire Seal'' that Kelliac had used in the past during the Battle of Sword Emperor Castle.
As Veradin began to swing his staff in the air, a giant glowing script in the dark night sky appeared, etching itself in crimson.
Jin Runcandel is descending.
As if a cannon had opened, Kozec's front window opened.
Jin grasped Bradamante, which was imbued with shadow force, and threw himself towards the battlefield.
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