Chapter 2453 – Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p’s Might
■’A Flying s.h.i.+p?!”
When Divine Tribe’s members saw the gigantic Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p, their eyes nearly fell out of their sockets, including MacAffrey and Divine Tribe’s other upper echelons.
The Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p was ma.s.sive. They had previously thought that Flying Mounts dwarfed Land Mounts, but compared to this, Flying Mounts were little more than children standing before an adult.
“So, this is the rumored Flying s.h.i.+p?”
MacAffrey could not help but marvel at the crimson giant and its glowing runes and magic arrays engraved on the hull. Even the s.h.i.+p’s Mana mesmerized him.
As one of Divine Tribe’s upper echelons himself, he had heard about Zero Wing’s flying war weapon, but seeing the real thing in person still shocked him.
Before a steel giant like this, monsters and player armies were meaningless.
When the adventurer team fighting in the distance saw the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p, some even forgot about the monsters they fought for a moment. Only after the monsters’ attacks threw them did they recover their senses.
“What is that?”
“c.r.a.p! Is it really necessary to go that far?!”
The members of the adventurer team felt stifled and afraid as they gazed at the Flying s.h.i.+p. The confidence they had held on to began to wane.
“Boss, what should we do? Look at those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! We are only a team of 500, yet they’ve revealed that thing to intimidate us!” the ruthless, greatsword-wielding man cursed as he stared at the distant Flying s.h.i.+p.
With the weapons they had on hand, the idea of fighting the steel giant was a joke. It would be akin to fighting a tank or fighter jet with sticks. The two sides’ combat power was on entirely different levels.
Meanwhile, the robust man, this adventurer team’s commander, watched the s.h.i.+p with a grim expression.
Even if he had to face several dozen Tier 3 experts all by himself, he would still have the courage to put up a fight. He was even confident he could escape with his life even if he couldn’t win. However, faced against the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p, he wasn’t even confident in being able to escape.
At this stage of the game, any player that spent considerable time in a major NPC city knew what a Flying s.h.i.+p was, and although most didn’t know exactly how powerful they were, it was easy to guess. Flying s.h.i.+ps could fire Magic Cannons from the air, and even the weakest Magic Cannon had peak Tier 3 power. Moreover, Magic Cannons’ attacks were AOEs. Players who couldn’t fly would be nothing more than moving targets for such a vessel.
Right now, their team was at the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p’s complete mercy. If the players piloting the s.h.i.+p wanted them dead, they wouldn’t even get a chance to flee…
While the adventurer team panicked, Aqua Rose and her comrades boarded the s.h.i.+p while Divine Tribe’s members watched.
Vice Commander Affrey, I’ll try to open a break in the wall as quickly as possible. I’d like you to form a defensive line below the s.h.i.+p to clear out the monsters that will flood out of the fortress and help protect the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p from the fortress’s flying monsters,” s.h.i.+ Feng addressed MacAffrey, who was still in a daze.
Any other power would have to enter the fortress through the front gate, but with the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p, it didn’t matter where s.h.i.+ Feng’s army attacked from.
Hearing s.h.i.+ Feng’s instructions snapped MacAffrey out of his daze, and pulling his gaze away from the Flying s.h.i.+p, he turned to s.h.i.+ Feng, advising, “Do you really want to go in through the wall, Guild Leader Black Flame? That fortress has survived since ancient times, and its walls are much stronger than those of a modern fortress. Even with a Flying s.h.i.+p, I’m afraid it’ll be a challenge to break down the wall.”
He had still dismissed s.h.i.+ Feng’s intentions of capturing the Starlight Fortress, but now, he began to believe that this Swordsman had the means to pull it off.
Opening a hole in the fortress’s defenses was the most difficult aspect of trying to capture one. All fortresses had an auto-repair feature. If players couldn’t exploit that weakness before the wall began to repair itself, there would be no hope of success.
Naturally, the weakest point in the fortress’s outer defense was its front gate. The walls were far st.u.r.dier and had much higher durability in comparison.
“Relax. We should have enough time. As long as the Silver Lion Legion can keep the flying monsters off the s.h.i.+p, we’ll be fine,” s.h.i.+ Feng said, chuckling at MacAffrey’s concern. “Can your legion accomplish that?”
Destroying the front gate was the simplest method of creating a weakness in the fortress’s defense, but if players opened a path by destroying a section of the wall, the monsters within would be far easier to deal with.
The fortress’s walls were reinforced by magic arrays, which were linked to form a complete array that enveloped the entire fortress and strengthened its allied forces. This was why the monsters within were so much more challenging to defeat than monsters in the fields.
If players could destroy a section of the walls, however, they could damage the magic array engraved onto it. This, in turn, would weaken the strengthening effect the array had on the monsters within.
Unfortunately, destroying the walls was normally incredibly difficult for players, many times more difficult than destroying the gate. Teams that struggled to capture a fortress wouldn’t resort to attacking the more fortified walls.
This was precisely the reason that s.h.i.+ Feng dared to challenge the Starlight Fortress. Without current players’ strength, capturing it would’ve been impossible.
Even the weakest fortress in Star Valley was garrisoned by hundreds of thousands of monsters, of which several thousand were Great Lords, and several hundred were Grand Lords. Moreover, these monsters would resp.a.w.n after a certain amount of time. If players didn’t have the DPS to slay them all quickly, these monsters could even outlast a superpower’s army.
Of course, players didn’t necessarily have to clear out the monsters to capture a fortress. They only needed to defeat the fortress’s Guardian Boss, but until they cleared out a certain fraction of the monsters, those monsters would become a problem during the Guardian Boss fight.
Fortunately, only low-grade Elemental Creatures occupied the Starlight Fortress, and they weren’t very intelligent, not even the Mythic ranked Elemental Creatures. They operated almost purely on instinct.
If the fortress were occupied by creatures like Magic Elves, no one would have a hope of capturing it before players reached Tier 5.
That won’t be a problem. As long as we don’t have to deal with the Mythic monsters, there’s no way the monsters without the fortress’s buff will break though the Silver Lion Legion’s line,” MacAffrey confidently declared. However, he still preferred that they attack the front gate instead. If they could actually capture the Starlight Fortress, they would have performed a miracle on the western continent. Their names would go dowoi in history.
“Wonderful. Then, I’ll leave the legion’s commands to you, Vice Commander Affrey,” s.h.i.+ Feng said, nodding in satisfaction. He then boarded the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p and left the rest to MacAffrey, who was more familiar with the Silver Lion Legion.
Crimson Witch and MacAffrey’s close companions were speechless as they watched s.h.i.+ Feng board the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p. It was clear now that they had a high chance of capturing the Starlight Fortress, yet s.h.i.+ Feng chose the most difficult method of doing so…
However, they had no say in the matter. The Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p belonged to Zero Wing, and s.h.i.+ Feng had absolute authority over this operation.
“Let’s see if he can continue his willful act once his plan fails,” Crimson Witch said, clicking her tongue. Even as she said that, she couldn’t help but gaze at the s.h.i.+p in envy. If she had such a Flying s.h.i.+p, she could even trample on peerless monsters.
While the distant adventurer team hesitated on what they should do, and the Silver Lion Legion gradually moved into formation, one of the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p’s Mana Pulse Cannons began to gather energy.
The s.h.i.+p’s Bronze Engine powered the Mana Pulse Cannons, and the instant the cannon began to absorb the ambient Mana, even players within 1,000 yards sensed the Mana around them go berserk.
Before the legion had even finished forming its defensive line around the Flying s.h.i.+p, a black-white beam of light shot from the cannon, slamming into the Starlight Fortress’s west wall.
Boom!
The wall exploded, and the intense shockwave rocked every player within several hundred yards of the fortress. The Mana Pulse Cannon’s might was utterly incomprehensible.
Once the dust settled, it revealed a ma.s.sive crack in the west wall, and the Great Lord ranked Elemental Guards on the wall had lost more than one-third of their HPs from the attack…
“How is that Mana Pulse Cannon so powerful?” Crimson Witch gaped in shock.
She had seen Mana Pulse Cannons before, but they had never been powerful enough to devour one-third of a Level 100-plus Great Lord’s HP…
Before anyone could recover from the shock, the Crimson Dragon Flying s.h.i.+p’s 11 other Mana Pulse Cannons began to charge.
After a moment, 11 black-white beams bombarded the Starlight Fortress’s west wall…