Pillars of Ita

"The San Jose is getting closer. It's less than ten miles away, Ed."

Alyssa received the message from Jita from the crystal, raised her head and said.

Fang Plover looked back. Several islands and reefs were floating on the clouds, and the largest one in the northwest just blocked the view. Otherwise, they should have been able to see traces of the Imperial Navy from this distance.

He turned around again, holding the net rope in one hand, and looked forward. Another island reef emerged on the channel ahead, with large and small reefs surrounding the two larger islands. Those dark rocks were rich in wind elements, but it was difficult for the alchemists to separate Guy. Crystals are extracted from it.

Floating islands and mineral veins above the sea are often two different concepts, which is why these unknown islands and reefs are so desolate - a beach that plunges into the clouds, a deserted forest, two low and gentle mountains, There is no sign of human activity on the island.

But in the sea to the south of the island, a small shadow of sails has appeared. One of the larger ships is the "Horned Grebe" of the Brianos. Seven sailboats are lined up around it. Coming against the wind and waves.

There are two other caravels in front of the fleet, with pointed bows like the slender silver beaks of seagulls, a silver main sail, and two wing sails hanging on both sides of the ship, like the spread wings of seabirds. They opened fire first and then, and the bow of the ship flashed with fire.

But the small-caliber magic cannon did not have such a long range, and the two shells fell into the clouds far away from the Seven Seas Traveler.

The cone-shaped shells pierced the clouds, like a wave of waves in the sea, but they did not cause any ripples in Fang Plover's heart. This round of salvo proved that the training level of the Brianos was extremely high. poor.

The opponent did not even estimate the correct distance between the two sides, nor did he understand the range of his own weapons, or he was just bluffing, which exposed his cowardice.

"Little guy, what are you going to do?" The red-haired female pirate stood aside, still looking leisurely, "The 'San Jose' is very close, and there is not much time left for you, but Briano This guy has neglected training, so this might be a good opportunity.”

Fang Yu glanced at her and sighed slightly, not intending to correct the other person's title. Anyway, he was used to being submissive. Besides, Dragon Queen Alyssa also called him 'little guy'. One more person is not much.

Of course he knew in his heart that this was an opportunity. The Brianos were going against the wind. The old frigate Horned Grebe could not keep up with the speed of the new caravel, and the wing sailing ship was only suitable for sailing in offshore waters. The opponent In fact, it is out of touch.

"Ms. Tata," Fang Plover said, sinking his mind into the world of consciousness, "open the hatch of the air combat deck."

"Ed, opening the hatch at this time will slow down the Seven Seas Traveler."

"Miss Tata, I know."

"I still want to remind you, Mr. Knight, the 'Lancers' and Seraph don't have much time to recover and repair. There is not much magic left in the core crystal. At most, they can only fight for one more time."

"Yeah." Fang Plover nodded slightly.

That's enough.

Seeing that he had no objection, Miss Longhun did as he was told and slowly lowered the hatch of the lower deck.

At this time, nine out of ten of the 'Lancers' on the Seven Seas Traveler were unable to enter the battle, and only about ten of them were still able to fight. Trixis had already inspected them one by one, and the hatch slowly opened in the darkness. Through the gap, bright light poured in like flowing water, unfolding a picture of clouds.

"Captain, connect." Cui Xisi shouted towards the microphone.

Fang Yu pulled down his goggles and lost himself in his thoughts. Multiple pictures lit up in his field of vision one by one - the tall structure was slowly sliding forward along the rails, making a sharp friction sound, closing the distance between him and the clouds. distance.

He held the magic glove empty, and a dazzling beam of light ejected from the wind element thruster of the construct, pulling out a long strip of light. Under Trixis's gaze, the Lancer jumped into the air. Fang Yu's field of vision brightened slightly, and the picture was climbing rapidly. Multiple perspectives finally formed a complete picture.

A few miles away, the Oshu people on two caravels also looked at the few tiny black spots thrown into the sea. "Air combat structure!" someone shouted, with a hint of vibrato in his voice. After all, the alchemist who controls large-scale combat structures is already a legendary figure.

What's more, the comer was not malicious. More than a dozen ships had lost contact before. It was rumored that the other ship was unarmed, but now they understood what happened.

Anyone else would worry about the same thing happening to them.

But the officers understood what this battle meant. The Sword-holding Court and the Imperial Navy had already issued a death order to capture these people. They encouraged them from behind: "Don't worry, cheer up. The opponent is just a combat craftsman, and Not some devil."

"As long as you stop them, the empire will reward you generously. Everyone has signed a life and death document, and you will also have the opportunity to 'meet the saints'. Don't let the small lose the big."

The sailors were not professional navy officers, most of them were local youths from Brianos. Faced with such a scene, they felt somewhat panicked. However, the temptation of reward and promotion promised by the empire made them reluctantly settle down.

The opponent's ship was not big, and it did not look like it was armed. It was just a dozen air combat structures. Those tiny black dots did not seem to pose any threat at that distance. The sailors comforted themselves. , finally relieved.

The officers on the ship called the gunnery officer and warned: "The other party's ship is unarmed. Move closer and then attack. Don't waste the stored energy of the magic cannon."

The gunnery officer nodded repeatedly, obviously realizing that his previous performance was a bit amateurish.

After all, the 'Lancer' is just a modified version of the Fang Plover. The flight efficiency of the chassis based on the port construction is very low. It took nearly a quarter of an hour to drag its long light tail to reach the effective range of the Oshu caravel. The narrator observed for a while and finally chose to fire.

But for the magic cannon to hit a target the size of a 'Lancer' at that distance was nothing more than a dream, and the first round of bombardment failed as expected.

The second round of artillery bombardment arrived about two minutes later, but still failed to hit a single shot. Fang Plover did not even order the 'lancers' who formed the attack front to evade, and only watched the few shells from a hundred or two hundred meters away. It flew past.

Alyssa couldn't help but shake her head.

"The Empire was not like this during the Battle of Byrne. It was only thirteen years ago."

"After all, these people are not the regular army of the empire, and the empire's garrison and main army are not the same." Fang Plover replied.

The Oshu people fired four rounds of artillery fire within a quarter of an hour, including the time to wait for cooling. However, most of the artillery attacks were in vain, and only one or two rounds hit - the left arm of one of the 'Lancers' along with the large shield. Being thrown away.

However, Fang Yu asked his Dragon Soul Miss to help with a self-examination and found that he could still go into battle.

When the 'Lancers' approached less than half a mile in the air, the two speedboats of the Brianos finally panicked and began to turn along a tangent line, exposing the silver wing sails on the port side that were the same as the fish fins there. .

The empire's cutting-edge caravels usually carried fourteen guns, two at each end and five at the sides. When they showed their sides, Fang Plover realized that the other side might be going to use full firepower. He lightly fired. Opening your hands, thoughts spread along each 'Lancer' like an electrical signal——

Ten 'Lancers' split apart in all directions like blooming buds in an instant.

The Brianos gunnery officer looked at this scene with his mouth wide open:

"Hurry, fire quickly——!"

The sailors hurriedly loaded, aimed, and then fired. The flames ejected from the muzzle of the magic cannon were in different orders, and the volleys turned into scattered bursts. The shells passed through the gaps of the 'Lancers', and there was not even a single shot. hit.

Less than five chains of land.

The cold light flashing on the spear held by the 'Lancer' was clearly visible. The Brianos sailors were completely panicked. The loading of the magic cannon was further slowed down. However, the Marines on the ship used large-caliber The magic gun went into battle.

But the bullets pinged against the metal shell of the 'Lancer', and had no much effect other than throwing up clouds of sparks.

For the first time, the Oshu Marines panicked. Although the 'Lancers' seemed a little weak when facing opponents of the same level, they still had the ability to absolutely crush these second-rate garrison troops.

The feeling was roughly similar to the despair experienced by German soldiers on the Somme River during World War I on the other side of the Stargate - although large war structures were not uncommon in Aitaria, these second-rate troops Never seen it indeed.

There are not many high-level alchemists.

In the past ten years, a total of 1,200 Hailin Morning Stars registered in Aiyin Block have been distributed. More than half of them were obtained by the electors, and then one third was taken back over time.

Not to mention that the person opposite them was actually a young man who had already touched the edge of the great craftsman. Catherine couldn't help but look back at Fang Plover - the title of 'Dragon Alchemist' was probably almost a thing of the past. Styled.

There are a total of twenty-seven great craftsmen in Corrin-Ithurion, forty-nine if you include the Chosen Ones. Now, it seems that this ancient kingdom is about to welcome a new craftsman lord.

While the female privateer was thinking, the Brianos finally hurriedly completed the last round of filling.

At this distance, the hit rate finally increased to a high level. Four artillery shells in one salvo hit three of the 'Lancers', and directly caused one 'Lancer' to disintegrate in the air.

The other two, controlled by Fang Plover, crashed into one of the caravels.

In the violent explosion, the deck of the fast sailing ship seemed to have been plowed over. The gunnery officer, more than ten sailors, and several marines were transformed into a white light on the spot. The magician quickly set up a protective shield at the stern of the ship. The shield blocked the flying metal fragments. The imperial officer on the ship also managed to escape, but he immediately saw three more 'Lancers' falling heavily on the deck, and pointed the spear in his hand in this direction - before he could react, the gun The tip bloomed with extremely intense brilliance.

The next moment, a ray directly penetrated the shield, and with the mage who had set up the shield, and the body of the imperial officer behind him, the shield disappeared in an instant, and the two corpses lost their strength and fell down.

The Marines on the ship were so frightened that they forgot to fight back.

But compared with the smooth sailing on this fast sailing ship, the resistance faced by the Lancers on another ship was much more fierce. The captain of that ship was a swordsman himself, and the boatswain also had two brushes. There are also several fierce men.

Although these people all looked like they were only in their early twenties, they were very well-organized in their actions. Together, they temporarily made the four 'Lancers' who landed on the deck lose their footing. They even moved a magic cannon, and A close-range shelling took away one of the 'Lancers'.

Although the shelling on the deck also left the deck in a mess, two of the remaining three 'Lancers' were wounded everywhere, and they were unable to capture the fast sailing ship for a while.

On the contrary, the imperial side's morale was so high that they almost pushed Fang Plover off the deck.

However, before the Brianos were overjoyed, two giant dragons made of atmospheric air jumped up from under the clouds and landed on the deck on the other side. They swept their wings and immediately swept away the sailors who had their backs turned to them. Off the deck.

"dragon?"

"No, elemental creatures!?"

The Brianos on the ship were shocked. They didn't understand what was happening. Isn't the opponent a combat craftsman? How could he summon elemental creatures? What's more, among the summoner spells they knew, they had never heard of one that could summon a giant dragon.

However, the magician stationed on the ship suddenly thought of something, "...describing legends, magic books?"

When Fang Yu saw this scene, he couldn't help but lift his glasses and look back, and Ji Ta's weak voice came from the sound transmission tube, "Captain."

"Jita, is it you? Aren't you injured? Can you hold on?"

Miss Naturalist shook her head slightly, "The Seven Seas Traveler now does not need to control the construct to enter the battle, and most of the computing power is free. Now Miss Tata has transferred most of the magic power to my magic book, which is enough for me. Control its power at this distance."

Fang Plover nodded.

"Captain, this is now." Jita said.

Two elemental dragons wreaked havoc on the deck of the fast sailing ship, but they had no form after all and could not cause real damage to the Oshur sailboat.

In fact, these landing 'lancers' can't do the same, and Fang Plov doesn't expect them to be able to suppress a ship of sailors and marines. If the opponent retreats below the deck to defend step by step, he will take down these two in a short while. The caravel was really in trouble.

And what he faced was not just two fast sailing ships, but also the main fleet of the Brianos behind - the 'Horned Grebe', and seven wing sailing ships.

The two fast sailing ships were only about one mile ahead of the other ships, and it only took a quarter of an hour for the other side to approach. Once the Oshu people arrived first, they could easily take back the two fast sailing ships, which obviously did not meet his purpose.

The 'San Jose' is already very close on the wind element detector. They will soon be able to bypass the island and join the battlefield. The magic cannon on the empire's main battleship can have a range of more than six air miles. Although the accuracy is worrying, but It can still pose a fatal threat to the Seven Seas Traveler.

Unless Miss Miya is dispatched——

But as Catherine said, what if the imperial dragon knights come?

Only then did Fang Plover make up his mind.

He pursed his lips slightly, closed his eyes, and his gaze sank beneath the sea of ​​clouds - beneath the Brianos' fast sailing ship, a shadow had swam under the bottom of the ship, but its core crystal and Fang Plover's thoughts After the connection, a deep light immediately lit up in the visual crystal.

The scene under the sea of ​​clouds was reflected in Fang Plover's sight. It was layers of clouds and mist, and they were rapidly receding downwards. Then suddenly, the picture jumped out of the sea of ​​clouds - Brianos on the fast sailing ship. People saw a tall, golden structure with a metal ring blade spread out behind it like wings, reflecting the sun, leaping up from the sea of ​​clouds.

Those strange constructions often fail to leave a deep impression on people. After all, there are too many strange legends in Aitaria, coming from many different eras and different people, including main constructions, dragon knights, and alien bodies. To name a few.

But there are some constructs that, in the eyes of the Oshur people, they can understand what they are just by looking at them.

"Seraph of Orlando!"

"The Gray King's construct!"

The expressions of the sailors on the ship went from fanaticism to coldness, and finally fell into deep fear and despair. The legend called Seraph saved the war situation on the Empire's side in Aldolan, and has since become a household name among the Oshur people. legend.

But after that, it stayed in the museum of Aiyin Block, gathering dust, and no one could activate it. Until almost half a year ago, a young man came there and took it away from the Gujin family. .

That boy's name is the same as the great alchemist.

Ed, the Dragon Alchemist.

The tall structure raised its giant sword, jumped high, and slashed down.

The sword light sank into the middle of the deck of the fast sailing ship with almost no obstruction - everyone felt a slight shock under their feet, and then in their stunned eyes, they watched the sailing ship slowly split into two, moving towards both sides. Tilt, break.

Jita was watching this scene through the projection of the crystal, and then she gently took her hand away from the magic book. The two elemental dragons disappeared into thin air, but she was not worried and took down these two quick-moving magic books in one fell swoop. Sailboat, then their plan was half successful.

Tian Lan pressed almost half of his body on the side of the ship, watching the Imperial sailboat split into two from a distance, and couldn't help but cheered, "Great, tell them to underestimate us again, but Brother Ed is too That’s awesome. As long as we capture the remaining ships, the road ahead will be clear.”

But the fairy lady suddenly appeared between the two of them.

She was looking at Fang Plover with calm eyes, "Mr. Knight, the same plan is indispensable."

"Besides, Seraph has been fighting continuously day and night. In fact, I don't really agree with you putting it into battle from the beginning. There is very little magic left in its core crystal, and it must be taken back for a round of maintenance."

"How long will it take for maintenance?" Fang Plover asked.

"It ranges from a quarter of an hour to half an hour." Cui Xisi's voice came from the sound tube, "Actually, I proposed to Miss Tata, not to mention that Seraph can't ignore magic cannons with a certain caliber or above. Are you willing to do so?" Leave it on this battlefield, Commander?"

"Before this, we could still have 'Lancers' to attract firepower, but now there are only ten structures left. The Imperials were fooled once, and they won't be fooled a second time. They will definitely do it this time. Watch out for what’s under the clouds.”

Fang Yu nodded slightly, "Then let's implement the second plan."

"Second plan?"

Alyssa was slightly startled on the side, how come she hadn’t heard of this?

However, Fang Yu turned around and said to Miss Tata: "Inject energy into all the efreets and clockwork fairies, and release them in two batches." He lowered his head and looked at his pocket watch, "Inject the first one in five minutes." Wave."

"The Seven Seas Traveler is almost at its limit," Catherine glanced at him in surprise and asked, "Do you really want to choose to confront the Imperials head-on?"

She looked at the other side of the island, "There is still a chance to go around now. The Imperials have lost their fast sailing ship, and they can't catch up with us."

"There is no chance," Fang Yu shook his head, "The Seven Seas Traveler is not going very fast after it was damaged. What's more, the 'San Jose' is less than seven miles away from us, and there is no one with it on the wind element detector. Two frigates, where do you think they went?”

Catherine narrowed her eyes. She was also an old pirate, so she naturally understood what that meant.

She took a gentle breath and looked back. A silver sail could be faintly seen behind the island in the northwest - the huge shadow of the 'San Jose' had already appeared in that direction.

"You only get one chance," she began, "little one."

Fang Plover looked forward - the remaining 'Horned Grebe' by the Imperials, as well as the seven wing sailboats, and nodded slightly.

...(End of chapter)