"So, do you both understand all of this? Especially you, Derpy?!" Jin asked through the System Channel, and the Shadow Dagen was already getting restless after all that information.
"In short, just smash myself into the fortress, right?" Derpy reiterated, and Jin felt like placing his palm on his face.
"Yes… ultimately it boils down to that so you can put it that way." Jin said with gritted teeth. Just as he was about to tap on the interface for the System to begin teleporting his monsters into action, Peppers interrupted the conversation.
"Jin, it"s just as you expected. The fortress is opening up its bottom. There are signs of increasing levels of magical energy and heat acc.u.mulation underneath it."
"Can your s.h.i.+eld hold?" Jin asked, and Peppers replied with a resounding yes.
"Ayse came by to fix the improved vest on me. I should be able to fix the s.h.i.+eld to withstand the damage. She even gave me a prototype amplifier unit to allow me to cast two spells at once." Peppers boasted with glee on her face.
"DON"T TWIST MY WORDS! This unit merely allows you to continue channelling your s.h.i.+eld spell without breaking concentration and thus gives you the leeway to start prepping your mana for an explosion spell. That way you won"t go crazy by the influx of mana going into you like a black hole." Ayse corrected her in the System Channel.
"Basically, two spells at once." Jin and Peppers said simultaneously, and it baffled Ayse that her master was of the same mindset as Peppers.
"Whatever, Master. Just don"t let Peppers shoot until the amplifier unit gives her the green light. Otherwise, both s.h.i.+eld and explosion spell are likely to backfire on her instead. Worst case scenario, the entire town you are protecting will disappear."
"...at least that means the threat we are fighting will be gone, and those humans will be in the System"s command." Peppers mumbled after a bit.
"Sure, if you don"t mind turning into a LITERAL black hole which will suck all mana and life into it, and possibly cause this world to crack and disappear from existence. It would be scientifically interesting to see if the System could still revive you then." Ayse threatened with the theoretical possibility, but she knew that the chance of such a thing happening was barely above zero.
"Urgh. Then why did you even let Peppers have that amplifier unit." Jin asked with much more worry about the situation. However, before he could get an answer, Peppers suddenly shouted when she saw that a beam of high intensity energy had dropped onto the apex of her s.h.i.+eld.
"ALRIGHT, LESS TALK ,MORE ACTION!" Peppers screamed, and Jin pressed a b.u.t.ton on the interface that allowed his initial plan to be put into action.
While Jin believed that the masterminds of the fortress were rooting for a successful beam attack, he sent Derpy about one kilometre away from the fortress to allow them to witness the impending doom they were about to experience. (Actually, it"s more like enabling Derpy to fly at top speed and adjusting his angle in case the portal coordinates were off since the System had to teleport such a large figure.)
Upon exit, Derpy was already swimming in the air at full speed, and the fortress did not have any means to defend against such an enormous target. Most of its turrets were beneath the hovering fortress, and they were occupied with hitting the s.h.i.+eld which protected the humans, hoping for it to crack under pressure.
By the time, the masterminds of the flying fortress decided to send out flying units, Derpy had already come too close to the fortress. There and then, one of the newest members of Jin"s army of misfits stood proudly on the nose of the Shadow Dagen.
"Duke Vepar, at your service!" The One-Winged Armoured Angel introduced himself with a wide smile as he pointed his gauntlet in front of the fortress and enlarged it. (After capture, the System had allowed him to return to the bridge where he lost his giant gauntlet though it was mainly to help the monster maintenance team to properly repair the bridge.)
Vepar had not actually been able to precisely control the size he could enlarge other than the standard colossal gauntlet he showed during the Demon Invasion. However, the System had measured the size of the flying fortress and helped extend the size of his gauntlet accordingly, enabling him to grab the entire fortress within.
Along with the speed that Derpy was moving, the gauntlet was not only able to grab hold of the entire fortress but also uproot the pillars it had entrenched itself around the town. Of course, not all the pillars remained intact upon experiencing such force. Many were broken, but the collision still forced the fortress to move away from the town of Wecha.
Normally, physics would not have allowed the one-winged angel to survive the uprooting, but thanks to the innate powers of his "flying mount", Vepar had temporarily merged with the Shadow Dagen.
So, the impact of his gauntlet was absorbed by the entire giant whale of a monster as it continued to dash and break the fortress away from the attack. (Nevertheless, the strain felt by Vepar was absolutely wrenching. He felt like death would be a better option.)
Along with the fortress, the continuous beam of energy which went haywire ended up killing a ma.s.sive number of Demon Rats. Unfortunately, it also resulted in some Orc and Goblin casualties. The System had been smart enough to quickly teleport a majority of them outside beam trajectory in time, all in the name of saving cost, resulting in an overall higher death toll to the rats.
The flying fortress was unable to maintain its apt.i.tude and balance after being grabbed by the giant gauntlet, and the whale monster suddenly disappeared from the collision. However, that was not the end as Derpy did not return via the portal and instead had already flown upwards once again to achieve enough speed for a terminal velocity drop.
"Boy, this is fun!" Vepar laughed as he readied his gauntlet once more. This time, he switched hands since the left one he had just used to grab it became powerless and broken.
"I like your att.i.tude! Are all Demons like you and Wolte?!" Derpy exclaimed along with a loud wail.
"Nah! I doubt so!" Vepar answered as he clenched his fist, ready to enlarge it and bash the fortress to the ground.
"They don"t make us like they used to!"