Chapter 386: Bring Down the Ancient Aerial Fortress! 9
* * *
BOOM, BOOM!!
BOO, BOO, BOO, BOO, BOOM, BOOM!!
Relentless bombardment from 'Soul Conqueror', towards the magical cable, explosions occurring one after another.
There's no opening to dodge this attack, naturally, whatever was there was destroyed...
...And its vision... was enveloped in pitch-black darkness.
* * *
"Uwaaaaaaaaaahーーー!? Hey, Engee, what the hell are you doinggg!? You destroyed my Gorilla Dragonnnn!!!"
That vision, enveloped in pitch-black darkness.
Megzam shouted angrily, glaring at the display showing the footage from Gorilla Dragon's built-in camera, now destroyed beyond functionality!
He slammed the controller he was holding with both hands onto the floor and stomped his feet!
<I-Ihihi! What are you talking about! It was mine to begin withhh! It's up to me to decide whether to destroy it or use it!!>
"We were about to kill that brat!!"
<Ihihihihiーーー! What are you talking about!? You were clearly losing because of your clumsy control!!!>
"THE FUCK DID'YA SAY!?"
Ignoring the footage from the observation camera installed on the underside of 'Soul Conqueror', which showed the magical cable covered in smoke after the explosions, Megzam complained to Engee.
<Ihihi... well, calm down, Partner... Anyway, with this, that annoying Cursed Child is finished! Be happy about it! I worked hard, you know? To adjust the power of the bombardment so that it wouldn't damage the magical cable, but still achieve maximum effect, I worked really hard!>
But Engee brushed off his complaints.
He nonchalantly talked about his own efforts, without considering Megzam's frustrated feelings.
"...Hmm? Power adjustment? So you're saying... you reduced the power of the bombardment...?"
<Of course! If we fire it at full power, the magical cable would snap! I told you that before, didn't I!? >
"............"
Here, Megzam had a bad feeling.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
He stopped arguing and stared intently at the giant display on the front wall.
The bombardment had stopped, and all that was displayed there was white smoke, illuminated in red.
That smoke was gradually blown away by the wind.
And what remained was the magical cable.
And...
...The remains of Gorilla Dragon, piled up in one spot like a pile of rocks.
Seeing that, a scene from his childhood suddenly flashed through Megzam's mind.
When he flipped over a rock at the bottom of a stream, searching for food, there was a small pile of pebbles stuck to the underside of that rock, just like that.
When he broke it apart, what emerged from inside was a bug he didn't know the name of.
It was a kind of caddisfly larva's nest...
Now, back to the pile of debris displayed on the screen.
Then, what created that pile?
What's lurking inside?
That...
That...!
That!!
...He doesn't even need to think about it!!!
"Heeeeeeey!! Engee, fire, fire, FIRE AGAAAAAIN!!!"
Almost simultaneously with Megzam's scream!
The pile of debris on the magical cable exploded from the inside!
And what emerged from the pile of debris, and started running along the magical cable again with incredible force, was!
...Of course, the black-haired, black-eyed girl!
The traveler, Emi Rune!!
<I-Ihiーーー!? >
BOOM!
BOO, BOO, BOO, BOO, BOO, BOOOM!!
Engee, screaming, resumed his bombardment, but it didn't hit!
The cannonballs aren't hitting Emi Rune!
She's too fast!
<Hi-HIIIIIIIIHーーー!? Why, why, whyyy!? >
Engee was panicking, seeing the Cursed Child approaching 'Soul Conqueror' so quickly!
(Tch! 'Search'!!)
This evil spirit is completely unreliable.
Megzam, instinctively making that judgment, connected his thoughts to 'Soul Conqueror's' operation support system.
And then, he searched... searched...
...For a way to break through this situation.
"O"
And then... he found it.
So Megzam, wiping his sweat-drenched forehead, grinned wickedly.
Without Engee, who was focused on the bombardment, noticing... he secretly started operating 'Soul Conqueror'!
* * *
<This is it! We're almost there! Hang in there, Emi!!>
Extra-sama's excited voice echoed in the mind of Emi, the girl running along the magical cable with the wind whistling in her ears.
A shining white sphere began to appear from the horizon that had entered her field of vision.
It's the sun!
Its beautiful light began to illuminate the cityscape below, the royal capital, which had endured the long night of destruction!
BOO, BOO, BOOOM!!
The rain of bombardment was still continuing, but its aim, filled with a sense of urgency, was completely inaccurate, and it didn't seem like it would hit her anymore!
And the bright red power source... is right there!
She can do it.
This steel jellyfish...
She can bring it down!
...It was the moment Emi became convinced of that!
GACHANN!
GAGON, GAGAGA, GACHANNN!!
Such sounds echoed from the lower part of the wall of 'Soul Conqueror'!
"!!"
She looked towards the source of the sound in surprise, and what she saw was... once again, a super giant... cleaver!
An incredibly giant cleaver, large enough to seemingly cleave even a castle in two... was dangling in the air, scattering dirt that was clinging to its blade onto the ground!
That cleaver was attached to an 'arm' made of steel, extending from the lower wall of 'Soul Conqueror'.
And it seems that arm can move quite freely.
With a whooshing sound, the cleaver swung through the air a few times, as if testing its movements, just like Gorilla Dragon did before.
<<<Ihihi ーーー !? Hey, hey, what are you doing!?>>>
The voice echoing from 'Soul Conqueror', seeing that, seemed to be panicking, but...
...After a few practice swings, the cleaver.
Straight towards Emi... with incredible force... was swung down!
...Well, not really!!
"What!?"
<<<Aaaaaah ーーー !? You did it, you bastard ーーー !!>>>
What the cleaver was aiming at... was not Emi, but the magical cable she had been using as a foothold!
Emi, who had stopped and assumed a fighting stance, thinking that she was being targeted, couldn't react to the attack on the magical cable, which was some distance away!
ZUPAAAN!!
The magical cable was easily, cleanly severed by that single blow.
Its cross-section, emitting a bright red light, resembled the inside of a plant's stem.
"N-Guh, aaaaaaaaaahーーー!?"
And Emi, losing her footing, began to fall straight towards the ground...
* * *
"I-Ihihi, haha, hahahaーーー! I did it! I did iiiit!!!"
Megzam, watching that scene on the display, jumped to his feet and raised both hands in the air, overjoyed!
<Hey, hey, hey! I told you not to cut the magical cableeeeーーー!?>
Engee protested to Megzam, his voice filled with tears.
But Megzam ignored his protest.
He scoffed.
"...Hmph, it couldn't be helped. If we had left things as they were, that monster would have reached us. It's a necessary sacrifice."
<Nuu... !>
Engee couldn't retort because what he said was true.
Engee groaned.
"If you had properly killed her, this wouldn't have happened. It's your fault. Right?"
<Nuu... !!>
He can't retort!
Frustrating!
Engee groaned!
"We can protect the main body with just one cable. So it's fine, right? We can't help it if it's a little inconvenient. We should have done this from the beginning. Your judgment is slow, you know."
<Nuu... !!!>
Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating!!
He, a super genius!!
Being talked down to... by this crude, violent primitive, dressed in filthy clothes!!
Humiliating!!
Humiliation, humiliation, humiliation!!
"Humans can't fly unless they're mages. And even though she uses some strange techniques, she's probably not a mage. Because she hasn't used any magic. Then all we have to do is take away her foothold. It's a logic even a child can understand."
<B-But she might be able to fly!! She might be able to flyyy!?>
Megzam, smirking, calmly, and yet persistently and indirectly mocking Engee.
Engee, frustrated, gave a childish, desperate retort to Megzam!
"Ihihi, hahaha! Oh, that would be terrible! ...If she could really fly? Well then, let's see?"
Chuckling, Megzam triumphantly operated the display.
What was displayed large there was the footage from the camera installed on the lower wall of 'Soul Conqueror'.
Footage of the cityscape spreading out below.
Naturally, Emi wasn't there.
<NUUUUUUUUUーーー!!!>
"IHIHI, HAHAHAHAーーー!!!"
Seeing that screen, Engee groaned like a scream, and Megzam burst into laughter!
But it was at that moment...
...Smoothly...
Something black crossed the screen.
"<...Hmm?>"
Megzam and Engee, having a bad feeling, stopped their pointless bickering.
Smoothly.
It crossed the screen again.
<Camera, follow it! Follow thaaat!>
Engee switched the lower wall camera to tracking mode.
And it tracked the black something crossing the screen, capturing its figure.
And what was clearly displayed there was...
...The black-haired, black-eyed Cursed Child, the traveler, Emi Rune, with jet-black, large, dragon-like wings extending from her shoulders!
...She was flying unsteadily through the air, generating propulsion by occasionally emitting jet-black mana!
"<NO WAY, SHE CAN ACTUALLY FLYYYYYーーー!?>"
Megzam and Engee screamed in unison!!