The Giants and the foot soldiers were lucky they did not experience the terrible magic at work. Earl Barbatos who had been a little further from the frontlines couldn’t help but curse at this sudden reversal.
They knew their Dragon Devil allies would have survived the massive magical assault since they were among the toughest he ever knew. This made it even worse seeing them get slaughtered after Keyrin’s attack left them vulnerable.
Yet, their loss was the Giants’ gain.
The Armoured Giants finally made it to the front of actual defensive lines since their enemy’s heavy hitters had been busy in the skies. Once there they quickly managed to capture three-quarters of the sky bridge.
Qiu Yue’s decision wasn’t wrong. Through the wars in human history, Air superiority was not just necessary. It was deemed as the most essential. The 7 Day War between Israel and her neighbours, the prelude of Normandy, the invasion of Pearl Harbour and many others had shown that whoever controls the sky controls the battlefield. Thus the demons didn’t realise how critical it was for Moloch and the cultivators to achieve that.
On the other hand, Earl Barbatos was confident the cultivators were in a losing battle. It had been quite the uphill battle with all the trickery that Moloch had employed so far. From poison gases, traps, clay statues and now a cramped battlefield, the Demon Horde managed to overcome them with tenacity.
However, something about their current advantage still ticked him off. His instincts told him that he was missing something crucial.
Despite the struggle the Demon Horde had to endure for his Giants to gain that much land, their triumph on the sky bridge seemed… too good to be true. Given Moloch’s resourcefulness, or more accurately the one of whoever it was backing him, the Earl doubted that they had seen it all.
Unfortunately, there was only one way forward, and Earl Barbatos had no choice but to press forth. Even if he was worried it would be right into the next trap. More foot soldiers had finally appeared due to Earl Furfur’s desperate attempts to get more help, and the word had also spread about how Moloch was putting up such a formidable defence against the Nobles of Demon Metropolis.
Several other Lords and Ladies were getting ready to enter, and they were dying to rush towards the sky bridge, yet most of them were being held back by the Central Command. The Royal Prince who kept asking for more aid did not understand why the Command felt they were confident that Earl Barbatos could carve a path to the top and put the next teleportation checkpoint for the army at the safe zone so they could proceed further safely.
This was a feature of all Dungeons in the Dungeon World. Whenever two parties became locked in a standstill for an extended period of time, the Dungeon Cores would interfere with the battle.
It allowed the invading army to place a temporary teleportation checkpoint down. At the same time, the defenders received something to even the odds as well. Jin’s side was granted an emergency dungeon shield similar to the World Magic Shattering type of shield that Moloch had been bestowed with upon releasing the ‘Newbie Protection’ shield one day before it expired.
It acted as an ultimate barrier for the defenders to regroup and recoup losses. Unlike the other shield, the Dungeon Core allowed the defenders to have a final stand by resurrecting their dead thereby increasing the number of defenders (although not every single fallen one). The attackers would have to wait for their members to resurrect as per normal; After the battle was done.
Otherwise, it would be waves of relentless invasion against the Dungeon Core and the rules of the Dungeon World did not allow for such a thing. This gave the defenders a fighting chance, but in case you had numbers like the Demon Metropolis, quantity and quality was no longer an issue.
Still, the Demons were unaware that they were fighting an entity that was totally out of their world and thanks to its own powers, quantity and quality did not matter that much either. (Well, to a certain extent. Even though the System prefered to portray itself as almighty.)
Everything relied on the Mad Giant’s advance with his army. If he succeeded, the demons were guaranteed to catch their second wind and the attackers would have a renewed chance to terrorise Moloch’s troops.
Without Marquis Forenus and his Dragonlites to relay the information they had discovered about the floating islands, Prince Stolas and the others falsely assumed that reaching the platform would more or less award them victory.
—————-
Lord Wolte shot so many shells out that he coughed violently and gasped for air (also petroleum oil). As an old war dog, he was able to judge the limits of a defensive battle. He could see they were about to reach that point with the sky bridge.
The cultivators had been trying their best to overcome the Giants. Some of them had even gone for suicidal attacks to stop the Giants, but without something similar to Keyrin’s appearance, there was no way the current defence team could hold out.
Just as Lord Wolte was wondering whether he and his Dark Templars should retreat or provide a cover for the cultivators to fall back, he received an incoming call.
“Wolte, we need you guys to hold them as long as you can. I have discussed it with Moloch, and we want the Mad Giant to be on the centre of the sky bridge before we fall back. We’ve been at it for hours, and the customers might get bored soon.” Qiu Yue personally gave the orders to Lord Wolte.
Seeing that ‘little’ Barbatos was still at the start of the sky bridge, it was more or less a laughable command by the higher-ups.
“I can’t believe we make decisions like that based on the wishes of some mortals. Are you really the rumoured great tactician Jin trusted you to be?” Lord Wolte argued back in the System Channel while firing his shells out against the Giants.
“To be honest, you are actually an important piece of the puzzle. If we want to lure Earl Barbatos to the centre, we won’t be able to do it without you.” Qiu Yue replied, ignoring the sarcastic remark. “…You know, you could provide the ideal ‘platform’ for the Mad Giant to be attracted to.”
“You don’t say…” Lord Wolte squinted his eyes as he fired another barrage of shots without any aim, hoping it would hit something since he was concentrating on talking to Qiu Yue.
“Yeap. You didn’t think you could really hide it, did you? You should understand that I have the System with me.” The Red Panda Tactician teased him.
“Pfft, you got me. I was actually hoping to keep that as a dirty little secret, an ultimate trick under my sleeve.” Lord Wolte scoffed unhappily, and Qiu Yue rolled her eyes. This was war. They did not have the time to hold their punches.
“Unless we visit the Fishing World I don’t think you will be able to use it. So, I see no reason why you should not show off your so-called ultimate form to us right now. Save the cultivators and us some trouble.” Qiu Yue requested, and Lord Wolte was contemplating whether to act on Qiu Yue’s proposal.
“You will be the shining star if you do!” Flattery usually worked wonders on those older fellows.
“So, if I really get his attention, what would you do?”
“If you can keep him occupied, maybe our Pandjilla will go all out against his Giants, and then we retreat to the hills.” Qiu Yue’s reply was firm, and if there was a hand for Lord Wolte to scratch his head at the particular dilemma, he would already have done so.
“Fine, fine. In return, I wish for- “
“At least 1,000 demons worshipping you so they can handle your operations? Consider that done.” Qiu Yue quickly promised, and that gave Lord Wolte the go-ahead.
“YOU BRATS! HOLD AND COVER THE LINES! If I see any of you slacking from afar at sea, I will not hesitate to shoot you myself!” Lord Wolte ordered, and the Dark Templars all grinned upon acknowledging their patron’s Command.
Finally, it would be time for the Metal Slug’s ultimate* form! (Obviously, he believed it was not the end of evolutions if he had more worshippers.)
