Chapter 427 – Ruler of the Air

Chapter 427: Ruler of the Air

“This story is about the supreme deity of the Franz Empire, who is the heir to fire, half of the ‘invincible demon king’, and married to the ‘Queen of the Stars’, King Amity. I personally met the Emperor, ‘Iron Mask’ Kamyu Franz Bernstein, and recorded the conversation.

On the first day of the meeting, the emperor came with a ceremony to honor the fallen on the day of defeat at the Hydas River, and his expression was quite dark, but he greeted me happily when he saw me.

[Look, Bill.
It’s been a long time.]

[No, Your Majesty.
I am really happy to see you in good health.]

[It’s Jim, there’s nothing to worry about.
I got rid of it all.
How’s Jesse doing?]

The emperor sat down.
On the wall hung a hand-painted picture for his beloved wife.

[Anyway, I want to do an interview and weave a story.
There are annals and Jim’s autobiography, but are you trying to write a biography?]

[Peace?
It’s just a small chat using friendship.]

[Chorus?
Haha.
To record, this is quite heavy on the shoulders.
It’s your achievement that will be left behind for posterity, so Jim should be good at talking?]

[Don’t think of it as an interview, just have fun talking like you normally would.
Oh, please speak as much as possible.
If we talk about fighting again, you’re going to stand up and pose, right?
I can’t record that.]

[You can draw it.
If you can’t draw, tell me.
I will draw the illustrations myself!
Are my drawing skills good enough?

[Come to think of it, you were good at drawing, right?
It’s because I have a friend who shows off the picture he received from the emperor in the past.]

[I could have drawn that better, unfortunately.
You draw better these days.
Recently, I learned a lot from my wife who is good at drawing.]

Next to the desk was a picture of the face of the emperor’s favorite concubine.
Noticing my gaze, the Emperor spoke.

[… If the time to reminisce is longer than the time spent together, no matter how happy a parting is, it hurts.]

[A person who loves even after knowing the breakup is sincere in love.]

[When I talk to you, Jim is always surprised.
I really enjoy talking about it.]

[You are exaggerating, Your Majesty.
How is Marie?
There is also a rumor that the iron mask of the tyrant traps and harasses the goddess of sunshine.]

Then the emperor burst out laughing.

[Wahhahahaha!!
Are there still rumors like that?
Are you here to check it out?
Good luck yes
If the prestige of the ‘Iron Mask’, the lord of terror, is high, you can’t help but be happy!
Kkeukkeuk!
It’s bothering me very much
He’s been bothering me so much that he’s still sleeping in Jim’s bedroom.
I slept late yesterday
Oh, there he comes.
Mrs.!
Why did it happen already?!
Not sleeping more?
Oh gu oh gu, be careful!]

After saying that, the emperor rushed to help the goddess of sunshine.

… (Shorthand)…

– High Priest Bill, excerpt from the beginning of ‘Conversation with the Iron Mask Emperor of the Holy Franz Empire'”

======

There is no fight as tough as the retreat.

“Breath, stop it!”

Tuhwaaaaa—!

“Aaaaa!!!”

“Quaaaaagh!”

The green dragon’s poison gas breath melted the soldiers.
The lungs, the eyes, the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth.

“Dragon 2 is nowhere to be seen.”

“Is it a detour?
Or an ambush?”

I would have been more fortunate if that was the case.

“I report you.
A silver dragon has appeared in the eastern region of Amitie and is defeating the nomadic cavalry hired by Cheong Hae Jin!
Even the cavalrymen of the steppe couldn’t get away from the dragon’s speed…
The horses ran rampant in Dragon fear and couldn’t even escape!”

“This is an urgent report!
The blue dragon appeared in southern Amity, and the navy land squad retreated.”

“Inspiration!
Lost contact with Khan, the Xenocider, who was roaming western Amity!
The messengers are intercepted midway, and Khan’s forces are not seen anywhere in the enemy village or watchtower!”

We, who had about 1.5 dragons due to Kubydov’s injury, were being harassed by the tenacious pursuit of 3 dragons.
From wiping out the tentacle monsters with dragons to the enemy’s ground forces crossing the river, busy days without a blink of an eye.

“Van Dark, right!”

“Blind!
Camu! Left!”

“Hellfire!”

Puffup!

Unfortunately, spirit-type magic was ineffective against the dragons who were resurrected as tentacle monsters, so I responded with fire magic, which I was still bad at.
So, there is no gap to be filled with magic power.

“Magic Flame Cannon.”

Tuhwaaaaa

A gushing river of dark red fire.
In preparation for this, the enemy prismatic dragon changes into white form and flings an ice breath with the white dragon to avoid it flexibly.

“It’s poison gas!”

“Gas, gas, gas!”

Fuhuaaaaa!

The enemy green dragon is blowing a poison gas breath into the air, obstructing your path.
Poison gas is ineffective in open areas.
But what if the wind from the dragon’s wings keeps blowing the gas toward us?
In addition, poison gas has the characteristic of giving a wide range of damage even if the breath is not directly fired.

“Damn it, should I make it rain with climate magic?”

Van Dark replied gloomily to my grumbling.

“That’s what the enemy is after.
Catching a tentacle monster is fire?
Calling rain to subside poison gas is not efficient, and the results are not good either.
I have no choice but to be patient.”

Rumika and Angela running around wearing Valkyrie armor.
As each day goes by, my stomach gets fuller, and as the father of a baby, it’s hard to bear watching.

“Heo-eok, hee-eok.”

Stella, a strategic weapon, had to conserve magic for communication.

“Haha…”

Marianne is running out of magic even to run here and there and use the recovery prayer, so wearing the Valkyrie armor is not even a dream.

Flutter, Flutter!

Kieeck!

“I got hit by too many Hellfire missiles…
Damn it.”

The fact that Kubydov is still flying is all thanks to Marie.
A red dragon that crawls on the ground, breathes and casts magic.

Doo doo doo… !

“Enemy appears at 3 o’clock and 5 o’clock!”

“Heavy-armed infantry!
Longbowmen are following the rear guard!”

It’s dark, it’s dark.
But I shouldn’t sink like that.

“There are no cavalry and chariots.
We lost many horses and chariots at the Battle of Hydas.
Come on, cheer up!
Go into the woods!”

It rains and the trees get wet, so it is resistant to fire.
In addition, 2 enemy dragons are using Ice Breath to keep Rumika in check.
The other one is a green dragon that uses poison gas breath, so I’m about to go to the forest and prepare for a counterattack.

But the enemy, how to always attack unexpectedly.

Tring-!

[Player 1, Alberic, received perks related to the characteristics of the job ‘Sword Master’.]

[Player 1 can summon and operate weapons belonging to the original world by consuming Karma values.]

[Summoned weapons and equipment are operated according to the user’s will, regardless of constraints such as knowledge, fuel, ammunition, and required personnel due to system calibration.]

[However, as a penalty for using the privilege, summoning information is sent to Player 2 at the same time.
Also, please pay attention to the usage time.

[Player 1’s karma is not very large, so please be careful when using it.]

“No way… !”

A system message pops up for me too.
Alberic is calling out something.

“Hurry!
Everyone go into the woods!”

“Run!
Come on, run!”

“Abandon the cart!
Just run!!”

Civilians and non-combatants led the way, and the allied forces of the Demon King and Stella Army, who were guarding the rearguard, ran into the forest.

Damn, what else is this time!
I don’t even have the mana left to use the fusion special move!

“Kubydov, hide at the entrance to the forest!
Karamit, watch out for the air!”

What?
Why are there no enemy dragons in the air?
Why did you back off?

Tring-!

[Summon the F-22 Raptor as requested by Player 1!]

Raptor… ?
What is that?

[Start transmission.]

Tsutsutsu… !

[10%… 30%… 50%… 70%… 90%… 99%… 100%.
Summon complete.]

“Hurry!
Karamit!
Can’t you see anything?!”

[I can’t see anything yet…]

Wheeaeaeek- Kwaaang!

Kayaaaaa!!

A lump of iron with a tail of fire flew in an instant and exploded on his side.

Wow… Kudangtangtang!

Karamit crashed into the forest.

Tring-!

[Air-to-air missile, AIM-9 Sidewinder hit.]

[When summoning the F-22 Raptor, a 20mm M61A2 6-line autocannon and an air-to-air missile AIM-9 Sidewinder are provided as basic armaments, and additional karma values ​​must be paid for other armaments.]

“Caramiteuuuuu!!!
Damn it, Marie!
Put on your Valkyrie armor!
Come on, treat me!
It hit me squarely in the side!”

“Valkyrie Armor, Saint On-!”

Marie flying away.
Now my magic power must be low.
But I can’t help it.
Both Rumika and Angela are tired.
Something is coming from the air, and there is no way to stop it unless even Karamit is in full condition!

Whee ae ae ae-!

“Get down!”

Only the unit near me was barely prostrated by the order I shouted recklessly.
In the first place, the scattered troops in the forest do not see a flag or a kite, so they cannot organically give orders!

“Huh?!”

“That… !”

“Saw?”

“What an iron bird!”

An iron bird in the shape of a squid that passes by with a tremendous roar.
It looks completely different from the ‘combat helicopter’ I saw last time.
It’s sleeker than that, simpler than that, and stronger than that.

“The sky is empty!
Come!”

Woo woo woo… Too-ta-ta-ta-ta!!

The cast iron bird flying in the sky rattled its cannon with a roar that amplified the sound of roasting beans 100 times.

“Aaaaa!!”

“Sah, save me!”

Be sick!
I can’t understand system messages!
I can’t understand the situation!

“Deputy Commander!
What shall we do?!”

“Give me orders!”

“General, some of our troops are fleeing!”

“Inspiration!
Berserkers have started rampaging!
I’d rather die fighting with honor!
It’s a request to get out of the woods!”

“Your Highness, the Beasts are losing their fighting spirit due to binge drinking!
The herbivorous beast race suffered hearing damage from the roar!”

Ah… Shit.

“What should I do?!”

“What do you do, General?!”

“Give me an order!”

“Are we all going to die?”

“Inspiration!”

“General!”

“His Highness the King!”

“Honey!”

“Camyu-nim!”

“Lord!”

“Brother!”

Everyone is looking at me alone.
Really, really, fucking burdensome!!

‘Fuck that I’ve never seen anything like that!’

Can’t say that

I am the commander
It should not be shaken.
Your heart shouldn’t break.
Calm down.
Their lives are on my shoulders!

Seruk.

He wore an iron mask on his head.
I can’t seem to show my face right now.
Wandering eyes.

It must be somewhere.
How to block that unknown force.
Just like in the Battle of the Hydas River, we need to come up with something!

Whoa… Shit!
Master, Master…
What should I do… !!

[It’s Camus.
Listen carefully.
The most threatening attack is the ‘unknown attack’.
If you know what type of attack it is, if you know when, where, what scale, and in what way the enemy’s attack is, you can block any attack.]

What next?

[When you encounter an attack you’ve never seen before, you need to buy time.
And observe dispassionately.
If you calmly watch and counterattack one by one, you can defeat any opponent.]

Okay.
Calm down, Camu!
Haha, what should I do?
What do we do?

Buy time first.

“Ground forces, get down!
Commanders of each army, take your children to cover up and take cover!”

Enemy ground forces will come after our formation has been decimated.
I just figured out the pattern.
I don’t understand the explanation of the weapon at all, but anyway, the ‘air-to-air missile’ that attacked Karamit and the ‘autocannon attack’ sprayed on the ground forces were the basic weapons.
If you want to use other armament, you need to consume karma value.
And… Alberic lacks karma levels.
If not, why didn’t he summon dozens of planes like he called the strange steel bird called the combat helicopter the other day?
That’s why I summoned only one!
I don’t have magic power, but he doesn’t have enough karma!
Ultimately, it’s a battle of attrition!

“His Highness Vice King!
Then, if the enemy ground forces come… !”

“Leave it alone!
While the air force is hitting, the enemy ground troops won’t attack either!”

“Dragon… !”

“Enemy dragons don’t even care for a while!
Commanders of each unit, get down with your troops!
Execute the fugitive immediately!
Bastard who wants to die, live with me!
Bastard who tries to live, die in my hands!!
The crime of escaping the enemy will be punished immediately!”

“Yes!”

The reason why the enemy dragon was also eliminated.
It’s because it gets in the way of that iron bird’s flow.
With such a fast-moving Iron Bird, there’s a risk that enemy dragons will run into them or misfire if they’re in their path… Uh?
Wait for a sec.
That fireball.
Karamit just evaded, didn’t he fly in the direction he evaded?
Guided missile?
What is the principle?

[Player 1 Alberic summoned ‘Joint Precision Direct Hit’.]

[Considering the weapon characteristics, it is summoned in the form equipped on Player 1’s fighter.]

New weapon.
There were no troops other than the Royal Griffon Riders in the air.
Creatures with significantly smaller RBI compared to dragons.
Then what is the goal?

“The bombing is coming!
Cloak and take cover!
Hey you bastards!
Don’t manage your troops?!
You say that’s a cover up?!
Everything is revealed there!
Water mage, create mist!
Cover Karamit and Kubydov!”

Wedge love!

Woo woo woo…

“Come!
Bow down!”

Aaaaang-!

The metal that fell into the sky blew away things on the ground, causing explosions and dust.
Fortunately, I couldn’t hit the dragon.
Instead, another unit was beaten.

“Quaaaaagh!”

Hehe… Mom, help me, Mom… “

“Aagh!”

“It’s okay, it’s stuck in shrapnel!
Fuse! Nun!
Somebody come this way!”

Abigail.
The time I earned with my life, the observation was over.
And if you hold out longer than this, your morale will drop and your troops will flee.
Not even conscripts, let alone regular legionnaires, can withstand such a one-sided attack!

“Stellar!
Follow me!”

“Where are you going?!”

“Dear Kubydov!
That’s all we have left!”

I could think of a way to float Lumica or Angela, which has a small area, but it lacks magical power.
The two float at the decisive moment.

Tat tat!

“Kubydov, can you fly?!”

[If I can’t make it, I’ll drag you along.]

He ran with a bundle of amulets larger than his head.

“Of course!
Stella, hold tight to my waist!
No, let’s just tie it up!”

I tie Stella to my back with the cloth I made earlier.
Stella does not have the magic to maintain the Valkyrie Armor, so Stella carries it while wearing pants.
A saddle was prepared in advance on Kubydov’s back.
Of course, with features that can only be barely hanging on.

Fault!

“Let’s go, Kubydov!
Our fate is up to you!”

[The Red Dragon is the strongest dragon warrior!
A fight with fate is always welcome!]

Flutter, Flutter!

[Take a close look, black dragon kid.
I’ll show you how to fight!]

Kubydov struggling and flying.

[The bluff on the topic of kuhuk, kuluk, and kondae… !]

Karamit is out of breath while being treated by Marie.

Taoism, sound amplification!

“Rumika!
Save your magic attribute!
When Karamit recovers, come aboard!”

“But… !”

“Listen to me!
Commander Ezio!
Gather the wounded and send them north first with the refugees!
Angela!
Royal Griffon Riders, bring them all down to the ground!
It’s no use chasing after you!
Reserve your stamina in case the dragon comes!”

“I will serve you, lord!”

“Balak, this chew!
Catch the berserkers so they can’t jump out!
Let’s have fun fighting later!”

“Bastards, did you hear me!
We are the key to counterattack!”

“Adolf!
Catch the beastmen!
Now I will solve it!”

“Brave Beast Warriors!
Who dares to tremble!
Raise your head and straighten your back!
Wake up!
Grab your position!”

“Duke Dupre!
Gather the longbowmen, build a long spear wall!”

“All troops, form a defensive formation!”

Woo-woo-!

Duke Dupre orders, and the soldiers blow their horns.
Gathering trumpet.
Promise of decisiveness.

“Bandaaaaa!
All I can trust is you!
Build a shield wall for the heavily armed infantry!
Cut the heads of all the fugitives!”

“Uh ha ha!
Gather!
We are the real men!!
Take the 3 Corps!!”

Van Dark mounted his horse and swung his flail to gain momentum.

“Blücher!
Assist the 3rd corps!”

“Cohesion!
Assemble!”

Ridge-! Ridge-! Ridge-! Ridge-!

Blücher held the drumstick and beat the drum himself.
Encouragement beyond binge drinking.
Strict command.
Blucher shouted to those who bowed their heads on the floor and to those who tried to show their backs.

“Being next to hell, where did you spend a day or two!
Where do you think you can run away and live!
Fight!
Two steps to hell!”

“” “To Hell! Two steps!”””

Ridge-! Ridge-! Ridge-! Ridge-!

Drummers beat drums in succession.

“Gather around the white flag!
Show the dignity of the elite legionnaires of the Demon King’s Army!”

Blucher honestly moves according to FM.

“We are different from the cowardly beastmen!
It’s different from Gaetorai Berserker!
Our real man!
The strongest warrior, the Demon Lord Army!”

“””Van Dark! Van Dark! Van Dark! Van Dark!”””

And by stimulating the spirit of competition, he forms a formation and sets an example for other troops.
These two can prevent rout.
From this point onwards… It’s mine!

Flutter, Flutter!

The red dragon picked us up and flew up.
I would like to hide in the forest and attack it, but the dragon is so big that I can’t hide it for long.
There is a high chance that you will get hit first and run out of power!

Flutter, Flutter!

A red dragon under the ultimate hypnotic magic, ‘mind control’.
Control requires no reins, no telepathy, no voice.
You just have to move.

Wedge-Ae-Ae-!

A punctuation sound that is likely to cause neurosis.
A terrifyingly simple and functional cast iron bird made a great turn and approached.

That guided missile from earlier, the countermeasure… !

Chuhuaaaaa-!

Without a moment to think, the iron egg laid by the steel bird attacked with a tail of fire.