Battle at the Line of Defense
Flaming arrows hissed through the air. A few pierced the Yamamaneki on the other side of the wall, but they did not seem to inflict any damage.
The arrows still had purpose, however. Even though it was gradually turning bright, there wasn"t enough light on the other side of the wall. It looked like the Yamamaneki had a.s.similated with the forest. But if the flaming arrows. .h.i.t, they should be able to determine the monsters" location even from a distance.
『They"re here!』
A long-range sh.e.l.l hit a Yamamaneki"s head, knocking it back. The creature let out a low groan as it collapsed backward.
『Not yet! There"s still many of them!』
『Are our blast cannons ready yet?!』
『We"re good to go! Sir!』
Blast cannons were lined up on Zahadu"s chicken farm, each one loaded with sh.e.l.ls. Men brought back all the catalyst and sh.e.l.ls they could, so much in fact that if they used those in the revolt, one would wonder if they planned to destroy the whole palace. Right now, though, it was worthy of praise.
But we only have a few shots. Ludend calmly made calculations. With the long-range cannons" accuracy in mind, how long can we hold this line?
Ludend looked over at the man taking command of the battle, King Doriachi. The king leading the men on the frontlines was an absolutely outrageous idea, considering the survival of the nation. Though Ludend already tried to kill him in the first place. Caring about him now was simply ridiculous.
『Ludend. If you would.』
Ludend nodded and gave the blast cannon unit orders to fire. The guns spewed out fire as the sh.e.l.ls flew, knocking down the Yamanaeki trying to sc.r.a.pe off the wall.
『Amazing!』
『That"s our most powerful weapon, all right!』
The palace guards and rebel soldiers, who had been killing each other until just a moment ago, were rejoicing. Ludend watched them with a complicated expression.
『Now"s our chance to climb the walls and push the monsters back!』Doriachi said.
The soldiers let out a roar as they took off. The interior side of the wall was equipped with staircases, allowing men to climb up easily. Soldiers could position themselves easily on top as the walls were five meters thick.
『Yikes, are they for real…?』
『There"s a lot of them!』
The Yamamaneki struggled to get back up. Various types of monsters were crowding around it—gigantic boars, six-armed gorillas, two-headed leopards, among others.
『S-Stand your ground! This is our chance!』
『Fire! Fire! Fire!』
Soldiers nocked arrows to their bows and shot them at the monsters. They weren"t aiming at anything in particular, just firing as much as they could. Since monsters were swarming down below, their arrows were bound to hit.
『s.h.i.t!』
『Watch your step!』
Monsters were stacking up on each other. Soldiers desperately tried to push back a wolf-like monster that leaped towards the edge of the wall.
『This is hopeless! Even all our arrows won"t be enough!』
『We know that! We just need to buy time for the citizens to board the ships!』
An older soldier was taking command of the battle up the walls. As he looked to the brightening sky, he became speechless.
There was a huge silhouette in the skies above. Spreading its wings and flying majestically, it was a monster never seen before in Dream Maker.
『A dragon.』
There was only one, but it was huge, its body a l.u.s.trous black and its wings red. The dragon opened its mouth and let out a deep, ear-splitting, grotesque shriek, the kind the soldiers had never heard of before. Men lost heart, and some even sank hard on the floor.
『F-Fire…! Fire!』
The commander gave the order, but no one had the strength left to draw a bow and fire arrows. The dragon"s presence was so overwhelming that the soldiers thought of only one thing the moment they saw it—they could not win.
The dragon circled the sky and landed on top of the city walls, right in the middle of the soldiers. Some fell on their backside as the wall shook, while those who were already down on the floor screamed. As the dust settled, a voice came from above.
『I thought you guys would put up a better fight. I see now you"re just a bunch of cowards.』
『I-It can"t be…』
A man was mounted on the back of the black dragon.
『It"s Gorja!』
King Doriachi, Duinkler, and Ludend, who were watching the battle atop the walls from the outer edge of the city, also noticed the arrival of the dragon.
『What is that?!』
『Your Majesty! You must find shelter! The fact that it can fly means this place is dangerous too!』
A number of soldiers rushed to the king"s side to try to get him to safety. Doriachi, however, didn"t budge an inch, his arms crossed.
『I have the duty to see things through to the end.』
『Please be reasonable, Your Majesty. Dream Maker will be nothing with you…』Duinkler pleaded, but Doriachi simply shook his head.
『A king is nothing without his subjects.』he said.『I will retreat along with the last soldier to leave the battlefield.』
『Your Majesty…』
『Besides, the one riding that dragon is a citizen of our nation.』
Everyone turned their gaze to the wall, a faint hope in their hearts. Did someone tame a dragon? Are they on our side? they wondered, but Doriachi"s expression was hard.
『Gorja! You got a dragon to help us?!』the commander asked.
Gorja threw his head back and burst into laughter.
『What"s so funny?!』
『Funny?! It"s hilarious! You thought I brought a dragon to help you guys?! What a riot! Since when did monsters become friends with humans?!』
『B-But you"re riding that dragon…』
『Yes, because I"m an enemy of humans.』
No response came from the commander this time. The dragon spun around and slammed its tail at him, sending him flying outside the walls. Five soldiers were also thrown into the air and plummeted down to the swarm of monsters. Screams erupted from below. It might as well be h.e.l.l on this world. What fate awaited them was obvious.
『Oh, good Lord!』
Doriachi let out a sigh of grief. The people around were speechless at the sudden betrayal of the man who appeared to be Gorja.
『Let"s use the blast cannons, Your Majesty.』Duinkler said.
『We can"t—』
『Our men will be in danger too, but we have no other choice. He"s completely still on top of the wall. Now"s our chance.』
『Ludend!』
Disregarding the king who couldn"t decide, Duinkler called to the Ludend. He was clearly acting beyond his authority, and what he had in mind was an unforgivable crime. But Duinkler was prepared for any punishment he might receive after the battle was over.
Ludend also sensed Duinkler"s determination. Nodding with a hard look, he ordered for the blast cannons to be at the ready.
One of the men grunted in despair. A blast cannon sh.e.l.l shot through the air and missed. The timing was simply awful. Despite the dragon"s size, there was no way a single shot would hit it. Instead the sh.e.l.l flew over the wall and exploded in the distance.
Because of this, Gorja remembered the weapon. He took control of the dragon and flew away.
『He noticed us.』
『What do we do, Chief? We might get a shot if his alt.i.tude decreased.』
『No. I doubt we"d hit him, and we have limited ammo.』
「How about we use ourselves as decoy to draw his attention?」Luke, who had been watching the battle until now, spoke. He couldn"t understand what they were saying, but he knew right away what they were trying to do. Luke, with his great eyesight, could see who was riding the dragon.「I"ve known him since we met in Vireocean. I can probably draw his attention. Once I do, fire all the arrows you got at him. It might not work on the dragon, but it should be enough to throw him off.」
Thinking it was a great idea, Duinkler translated what Luke said. Rather, they couldn"t come up with a better plan.
『What do we do, Your Majesty? We can go with his plan—』
『No.』
『Your Majesty.』
『If we were officially working together in this battle, I might"ve considered it. But we can"t let a guest from another country act as a decoy. This is our nation"s battle.』
『Then what do we do?!』Ludend cut in.『Now"s the time to use whatever we can! The fact that you can"t do that means you are not qualified to be king!』
『How dare you say that, Ludend!』Duinkler snapped.
Still, Doriachi remained calm, his eyes fixed at Gorja circling above.
『Your Majesty…?』
This is odd, Duinkler thought. Doriachi might be a pacifist, but he should"ve already understood the predicament they were in. He was too calm.
『Soon.』
『Soon…? What do you mean, Your Majesty?』
They did not notice a triangular-shaped figure gliding over the gra.s.slands that led to the walls.