V51C5P2 – A Knight for Wy-3
– Krrrararararahh!
With Bingryong at their lead, the wyverns were hovering around the distant sky. The sculptural creatures had not joined in the battle and were presently on standby, because of Weed’s order. They were told to patrol around from afar, keeping watch, as they could be slaughtered by a large-scale spell if they stepped in too rashly.
“Why are we so weak?”
“I want to go and fight.”
“We must wait. Our master is trying to keep us from harm.”
Phoenix, Fire Giant, Death Worm, Imugi, King Hydra, White Tiger, Nile, Yellowy, Gold Man and so on. Weed’s living sculptures gathered together here wished they could fight in the battle with everyone.
“I want to do something.”
“I have nine heads; I should be allowed to fight.”
“Not when there are so many humans crowding in one place; you would kill some good humans.”
As the sculptural creatures were chattering among themselves.
– Something is getting closer.
Bingryong twisted his body towards the southern sky. With his instinct, typical of a large flying creature, he sensed a strong presence approaching from the distance.
– Everyone get ready for combat.
Bingryong soared higher into the air, and the wyverns scattered to their respective positions. Phoenix and Fire Giant, who possessed particularly superior combat power among the sculptural creatures, prepared themselves for fighting together. Death Worm burrowed into the ground, and King Hydra poised its nine heads uptight, inhaling deeply to spray its poisonous breath. Weed did not use them in combat too often as he quite valued them, but their combined force was enough to easily capture a castle or two. If it had been the beginning days of Royal Road, their power would have made them known as some of the scariest monsters ever.
Presently, enormous figures were still flying soundlessly towards their position, obscuring the moon and stars. Their forms were like those of birds, yet their size ranged from 300 to 500 meters with their wings spread wide. Bodies covered in tough muscles, they were Baraags, a race of flying warlike creatures. There were no less than fifty of them, and as they continued to close the distance, Weed’s sculptural creatures gradually shrank back in fear. King Hydra’s heads stooped down a little, and Bingryong was slowly slinking backwards. Phoenix was fluffing up his feathers, only to make it apparent that he was feeling greatly threatened.
– Are you our enemies?
Fire Giant let out a roar that reverberated through both the ground and the sky.
*Flap flap flap!*
The rapidly gliding Baraags began to reduce their speed. This simple act of flying was still enough to show just how swift and dangerous creatures they were, the beating of their wings sending huge gusts of wind to the ground.
The Baraags gazed at Weed’s living sculptures with a sort of approving look on their faces.
– Don’t you know? We’re friends.
– Friends?
– Like you, we are a creation of art and sculpting skills.
The encounter between two groups of sculptural lifeforms.
The race of Baraags that Emperor Geihar von Arpen had kept safe had not gone extinct, and came to meet them.
Yellowy, who had been hiding in a thicket until now, raised his body cautiously.
– Mooooo. I know them. I have seen them before.
– And we also have heard about you from the parents of our parents. They said there was a very tasty-looking… I mean, a very wonderful ox friend. I see your reputation was not exaggerated.
The Baraag’s flas.h.i.+ng eyes scanned over Yellowy’s ribs.
*Rrrrrrumble!*
Death Worm emerged again from the ground; Seville the Knight and Eltin the Elf also stepped forward to greet the Baraags. The flying creatures descended to the ground to meet each other briefly, but the Baraags soon spread their wings again, getting ready to depart.
– Did a battle break out in this area?
– Yes.
Bingryong straightened his body proudly. He might be a weak Ice Dragon, but his experience in hunting at least gave him the majestic frame that allowed him to maintain his confidence in front of the Baraags.
– We are leaving to join the fight. According to the Prophecy, the Great One will come back to life through the power of sculpting. And we must serve his cause.
The loyal race of Baraags, willing to fight for Emperor Geihar!
– To make this world into a place where all sculptural creatures can live freely, as they once did so long ago, we will march to the battle.
With that, the Baraags soared into the sky again and left, heading towards the Garnav Plain.
“…”
Even after hearing this, Weed’s sculptural servants decided to stay where they were for now. Certainly, they too wanted to fight for the world and for the betterment of all sculptural lifeforms. However, Weed had given them an order to wait and not to step into the battle just yet. They were much more afraid of Weed’s scolding, which was certain to come if they disobeyed him, than they were of the enemies.
***
It was a dark night.
The place where the flaming meteors had struck was teeming with countless users, standing without any lit torches to illuminate their surroundings. This area, which had been the construction site for the large sized sculptures, was subjected to the shockwave of the meteor impact that shook the whole ground. The sculptures that had been built hundreds of meters tall could not endure such force. All of the people’s works, complete and incomplete; the users who had been in the area could do nothing but watch helplessly while more than three thousand pieces collapsed into the ground.
“This Hermes Guild has turned all of our efforts into nothing.”
“It’s over now. Even the Giraffe statue has fallen.”
Every large sculpture here had been built by the sweat of numerous users’ brows. The disappointment they felt in watching all of their works turning into piles of dust in but a second was beyond words.
However, someone in the crowd yelled.
“Some of them are still standing!”
“Wow! The Craving Goblin Archer — it looks undamaged.”
“The Statue of a Leaping Swan. This one hasn’t collapsed, either… But it’s wobbling a little.”
“Let’s repair it then. I think we’ll just need to place something under it to support it!”
For those users who had been working in the sculpture construction site, the current battle was the least of their problems; they had to pull out iron wires and stones from the remains of the ruined sculptures to prevent the still standing ones from collapsing.
*Crrrrrumble!*
A statue of a dolphin was swaying dangerously from the middle part.
“Yikes, it’s going to fall down!”
“Get out of there, quickly!”
“Just a moment… I just have to reinforce this side.”
“No, it’s too late. Just get out right no-“
*Crrrraaaaas.h.!.+*
The dolphin statue collapsed into pieces, making an impact powerful enough to make the ground underneath quake. Quite a number of users who had been stubbornly working on it until the last minute died with it, but that only made the rest of the people burn with even more determination.
“Nothing to lose. Architects, let’s not a.s.sess the risk for now.”
“What? But we must follow the safety rules in any construction site. Safety comes before everything else. Do you know how much effort we put to prevent any casualties when we were building statues with the Gra.s.s Porridge Cult?”
“Let’s put it aside just for today. We’re at war now.”
With venomous looks on their faces, the users began to put spurs to the reinforcement work on the remaining sculptures. Not even bothering with ropes to secure their bodies, people climbed up the statues with their bare hands, strengthening the structures with steel and stones. The architects also followed suit, taking huge risk to scale the sculptures on the verge of collapsing.
“This is my work; so it’s my job to save it.”
*Crrrrumble!*
The sound of more sculptures toppling down could be heard everywhere, yet the users did not hesitate. Other people who heard the news began to a.s.semble in the construction site to help, making the place bustle with energy. It was not that these people did not value their lives; they just couldn’t stand aside and let all of their previous effort and hope be trampled into nothingness.
“The Warrior statue is all fine.”
“No damage on the Frontier of the North, either!”
Miraculously, despite the enormous force of the meteor strike they discovered about 400 sculptures that were left intact.
Depps the Sculptor.
Face covered in dust and sweat, he shouted.
“About those broken statues… How about we fix what we can?”
“What?”
“These works have been partially damaged as they collapsed, but quite a lot of them can be fixed if all of you here could lend a hand.”
In the cases of those that were not completely destroyed, the pieces could be restored through a minimal amount of repair. They simply had to put together the disconnected and broken parts back into place, and if that fails, link them again using steel wires.
“I think that’d be easy enough!”
“The problem is that these sculptures are so huge… But we can just connect the pieces bit by bit; all we need is enough manpower.”
With that conclusion the users were about to get to work, but Depps had one more proposal in mind.
“It’d be too wasteful, throwing away all those statues that were damaged beyond repair. So how about putting together salvageable pieces from those broken statues?”
Combining destroyed sculptures together!
Some of the sculptures had their heads and torsos unscathed while completely missing their limbs, and the opposite cases were equally common. Depps was suggesting that they should find any useable parts from the destroyed sculptures and piece them together.
“Can we do that, though?”
“If they were all human statues, it shouldn’t be a problem, but many of the pieces here have various races and sizes.”
“They are still sculptures… I’m not sure if we should rebuild them so crudely…”
The users were feeling conflicted, but before long, they agreed. Realistically, for those statues which had been destroyed by more than 50 percent, it would be more difficult to fully restore them than to make new ones. Still, it would be nice if they could recreate even just a small portion of them by fixing them little by little. Even if they do end up with a failure, it wouldn’t be too late to give up then.
“Everyone’s hope depends on us. Let’s make this work however we can!”
“Chin up, we can do this.”
“To work, to work!”
“More workers keep coming to join us as the words spread. Let’s do our best. We will create a miracle here.”
The power of users that had filled an entire part of the Garnav Plain with sculptures in mere 15 days!
Those who had taken part in the construction of the sculptures were currently flocking in, having heard the news of meteor strike. From the ruin of broken and collapsed statues, people were sweating to rebuild their works through effort and labor.
***
When Weed defeated Ultar and cried a Lion’s Roar to begin the advance, countless users raised their weapons to join him.
“Charge, charge!”
“Ox Knight Order, let us gather and march together.”
“Airborne troops, begin your drop!”
On the ground users armed with swords and s.h.i.+elds were rus.h.i.+ng towards the enemies, and in the sky the Avians were dropping more users from the air. The 11th Legion had to engage in the battle with their Legion Commander lost. Their damaged morale further reduced the imperial soldiers’ combat capacity by more than 20 percent. For large armies this difference was significant, and in terms of fighting spirit too, the Arpen Kingdom’s side was overwhelming the opponent. As the users fought with all their might, convinced of their victory, the Imperial Army was busy retreating back.
“I shouldn’t just stand idle like this. Tsschwikk.”
Weed put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.
– Hweeeee!
A shrill sound traversed the battlefield. Just as the people standing around him were wondering about the meaning of it, Weed called Wy-3 using Sculptural Summoning.
“Take me on your back.”
– Master. Are you by any chance going to mount on me in that form?
“Of course. Let’s fight as much as we want.”
Wy-3, with his broad and comfortably shaped back, had to endure letting Karichwi the Orc ride him.
One wrong choice of master leading to a lifetime of suffering!
Before jumping into the battle, Weed took out a few pieces of armor for Wy-3. They consisted of protective gears for neck, chest and head, made by thin sheets of steel which was dyed black; he had crafted a set of armor suited for a wyvern, just like what Mule’s Griffon squad wore.
– You mean these precious items are for me…?
“I’ve made them myself. Chhwit.”
– Thank you. Master.
Wy-3 was deeply moved at first, but as he was donning them one by one, he could not repress his disappointment. They were too thin, too light. Even their Defense scores were very low, and Wy-3 was dubious if this armor could block any glancing blows, let alone square hits.
– Do these items protect me from magical spells?
“No such function. Tsschwit.”
– They block arrows, then?
“Nope, Chwwiiick.”
– Then why should I wear them?
“Because they look great on-screen, Tsschwit!”
What Weed wanted was the picture of Karichwi the Orc riding a wyvern clad in black armor, ruling over the sky with their majesty.
“Let’s begin the fight! Tsschwiik!”
– Quaaaack!
The flying slave Wy-3 launched into the air, beating his wings with great vigor.
“Woooooow!”
“Karichwi, Karichwi!”
Just by seeing the sight of Weed flying in the sky on Wy-3’s back, the crowd below exploded with tremendous cheers.
“Let’s get closer to the ground. Chwit!”
They lowered their alt.i.tude, gliding over the battleground where the users and the Imperial Army were fighting each other. Spears and other weapons threatened to touch Wy-3’s legs, but it wasn’t enough to frighten him. With plenty of experience in battles along with his excellent flying technique that had been improving constantly, Wy-3’s power had grown so strong that common soldiers could not pose any threat to him. He might be forced to serve an awful master, but his inborn nature as a ferocious wyvern was not lost.
– Quuuuaaack!
Performing an acrobatic stunt in the air like a fighter plane, Wy-3 flashed past in an explosive burst of speed.
“That’s Weed-nim!”
“Is that the wyvern I’ve heard so much about?”
“Wy-3 is so incredibly fast!”
Wherever Wy-3 went, the morale of the users soared high as they cheered and raised their weapons. A wyvern wearing black armor, and Karichwi the Orc! This somewhat mismatching combination was powerful enough to be the absolute tyrant of the battlefield.
A group of Imperial knights caught Weed’s eyes.
“Preys found ahead. Tchwit.”
– I’m going.
Changing the direction suddenly, Wy-3 rose up almost vertically. Then, in a blink of an eye, he was diving, swooping down on the Imperial soldiers. Weed swung the Loa Sword and Thunder Spear simultaneously.
“Chwiick!”
A wild dance of unparalleled deadliness!
Staying at a height where Wy-3’s legs could almost touch the ground, Weed broke through the enemy lines slas.h.i.+ng both his spear and sword.
“Kuergh!”
The Imperial knights clad in their st.u.r.dy armor were thrown back by tens of meters to all directions.
“There. Chwick!”
They couldn’t let the knight commander get away alive, even though they spared the rest of the knights. It was a basic strategy in battle to defeat the enemy commander first, but a more important reason was the golden crown which this knight commander was wearing.
“It must weigh at least a kilogram. That’s pure gold. Tsschwit!”
By Weed’s order, Wy-3 chased after the commander, caught him in his claws, and threw the knight into a wall violently.
– Aaaaargh!
Wy-3 enjoying himself!
While fighting the Imperial knights, Weed drew attention from the Hermes Guild members as well. In his current form as Karichwi the Orc together with Wy-3 he was riding, his presence was difficult not to notice.
“We just need to get rid of that guy, after all.”
“That’s Weed. We don’t even have to fight him one-on-one like in a duel.”
“Let’s kill him.”
Spells cast by the Hermes Guild members created walls of fire in midair or spears of ice that flew towards him. Wy-3 rushed past the magical attacks using his high speed or swiveled out of the way. As the wyvern skidded in zigzag maintaining his current low alt.i.tude, blasts of dangerous spells sent by the Imperial troops followed him.
“Run, quickly!”
“Wipe them all out.”
While Weed and Wy-3 were distracting the enemies, the users were increasing the pressure on the 11th Legion. The army that included quite a lot of high-level users surrounded the 11th Legion from all directions and cut down their numbers swiftly.
(Continued on next part…)