Rupegia

Intermission – King Temamana-a Hau-Hou

 

The infernal weapons of the Ryders explode constantly, and they kill a Titan with every bang. Yet another always takes the place of the dead, and the bridge continues to approach our fortress.

This nightmare never ends… I've dreamed about the fall of our nation so many times already that I'm dead inside. But like a husk, I'll fight until there's nothing left but bones!

The white smoke from the weapons continuously builds up, but even with reduced visibility, as long as they point their "rifles" toward the horde, they'll kill something. The Ryders' weapons have already killed our hearing, though, forcing us to constantly use [Regeneration] to be able to communicate in battle.

But the worst is the big cannons, whose numbers slowly increase, and so does the number of mangled corpses they leave behind, spreading blood and body parts everywhere. And this isn't even the last of the frightening creations I've seen here.

What bothers me the most, though, is how envious I am of the Ryders' army. Even though our troops clearly have more enchantments, elven discipline is something to behold and admire. The care they have for each other makes our men look like callous goblins, and it answers the question of how they manage to keep their casualties so low.

How can we copy it? How can we instill such a sense of comradery between our men?

We all know that they're Blessed by the Gods, but is that all?

What is their secret?

But there's no time to ponder upon that. Our enemies are before us, screaming with weapons raised high, and I have the Kingsguard with me to crush their advance!

I lift up my hammer and then activate its hallowed brilliance as I encourage my loyal soldiers, "Stand with pride, men, for this is the moment when our Fate glows brightest!"

"SHINE AND SOAR!" my daughter Haotawa shouts our dynasty's motto. She has always been a very ambitious girl, even for a First Princess, leading us to believe she's aiming to impress us so that we'll consider her worthy to be declared the Chosen Descendant.

And this leads my son, Hekeman-u, to also shout an encouragement to not be outdone by her, "FOR HOME AND EVERYTHING ELSE WE HAVE!"

We must restrain their rivalry before it becomes problematic.

Then the dragonkin Ryder uses the imperial honeyed speech to boost everyone's morale, "[Draw, raise, and strike, then raise and strike again until your arm falls off! RAISE AND STRIKE, RAISE AND STRIKE]!"

And I feel ashamed to admit that I let her honeyed words affect me. We all need whatever boon we can get, for this battle may last for days, and even I can't fight indefinitely.

But I pray for Endurance to give me the strength to stand alongside my men for as long as needed.

 

Intermission end.

 

The plane shakes so much that I have to keep a tight grip on the controls to keep it stable. We're definitely near the limit of what even magic can accomplish, and I have no idea how fast I'm going anymore.

But it might not be fast enough.

Each minute feels like an eternity as the horde slowly encircles our super fortress further and further. I can't even leave to help as the golems might not be ready to pilot at such an extreme speed, so all I can do is keep my grip and go fast.

The Dungeon Master is gradually widening the bridge and also surrounding the fortress with it, so every last window is being used to fire upon the horde, but even that won't be enough. It's a bad idea to put average soldiers in melee when the enemy is so relentless, so the monsters will eventually climb up our fortress again.

Which means that it's obviously better to start producing more SMGs than rifles since they're full-auto. But they're also more compact than the long bolt action rifles, so they'll be perfect for when the Titans breach the fortress and enter the tight, maze-like corridors. We'll teach the Titans the real meaning of pain… or maybe we should settle for "impenetrable."

I really don't want to start a pain competition with the death cult that worships suffering.

Then Avtande finally delivers the anti-curse talismans. It's a bit late, but I think it's too much to expect others to be able to match our cheat-boosted development of experimental stuff. We're just lucky that the nail freeze guy hasn't reappeared yet.

I get mine through [Gate], and I receive a little medallion that I have to slot somewhere inside my armor. We all sense some weird magic in it as it leaks a bit of mana, and it feels as if it's trying to "draw" something to it, but the "flavor" that we get from the mana is too faint and complex for us to get any more insights, and I don't feel like playing with [Sense Mana] right now.

We already have other talismans, courtesy of Sa'Haa, that were mildly useful during our fight with Katasko during the Purification, so we're immune to most nasty magical stuff already. It still won't stop us from being burned by a mini star, or knocked out by a rock that hits like a truck, or any other spells of the same kind, but no talisman is more effective at defending from that than simple, well-built armor.

Then I sigh and focus on flying again.

At least with everything quiet over here, I can focus on managing the factory through the golems and even giving the Sky Landers a hand. We're relying on them to keep up with the demand for bullets because I've stopped making new machinist golems.

"D-Dame Jarn!" a messenger shouts as he comes running.

"Yes?" she immediately answers and turns to face the elven man, who freezes awkwardly on the spot, unsure how to deal with the expressionless bimbo suit of armor.

So he just robotically blurts out, "P-Prince Looklwind announces that he has c-completed the 'full-automatic' rifle."

Awesome!

And I'll have Jarn work up the plans for it so that we can begin manufacturing. It'll be a while before it'll hit the battlefield, and even then, it won't be as useful as the SMG right now, but it'll have its place if we're forced to abandon the super fortress, which is very likely. The carbine has basically been replaced by the SMG for now, but the bolt action is still useful so that we can fit every breathing humanoid with a gun, though we can let the Sky Landers' "national effort" be responsible for that.

 

The constant fighting continues on, and another evening arrives, but I don't think I should go to sleep anytime soon.

We try to destroy the bridge again, but it's been reinforced too much now, so it's more efficient to just throw C4 at the horde.

Even Chesa has stopped trying to alter the bridge with her Gift, like turning the floor into lava, as the Dungeon Master directly fights her whenever she tries it. It's better to just create storms to electrocute the tin cans and heavy winds to clear the smoke from the guns.

As for me, I continue flying across the city-states of all sorts of monster races. I don't think the Dungeon Master has been doing genetic engineering like the monsters that threatened Gnomeria, and I'm starting to believe that this is some sort of backup storage of monster races in case the DM needs them for whatever reason.

It does entertain me for a bit as I observe how the technological level gradually degrades way past the average Rupegian town, and now I find myself looking at large grids of muddy huts occupied by goblin-like amphibian monsters that I don't recognize.

Wait… if I'm seeing huts, then maybe I'm near the end?

Suddenly, an alarm siren resounds throughout our super fortress, and the three quick horns tell that a new type of Titan has been spotted. The forward "tower/fortress" that's harassing the procession hasn't reported anything, so we believe that the Dungeon Master has just teleported them forward.

Chesa clears away the smoke, allowing everyone to actually see further along the bridge to our fortress, and Alissa spots Hippogryphs with hobgoblin riders.

Hmph… just a rehash.

But their numbers grow… and grow, and grow…

Shit.

The Sky Landers start deploying the airships, but they've never had a very large number of them here since it's costly to teleport them to this level of the dungeon. We also have our Horns, but their numbers are very limited.

Then something else catches Alissa's eyes. There's a golden glint among the horde, and it seems that they're shoving their way past the charging tin cans.

One of the field guns seems to notice them and takes a shot, but a faint metallic ringing resounds throughout the battlefield as the shell explodes a few meters above their heads, and we see a glowing, silvery sheen envelop the golden cans like a dome for a second.

A barrier!

They're finally sending their elite at us.

We warn the melee group, and the Hau-Hou position themselves at the center to intercept, with Urmeie and Lily joining them to get a piece of the spicy pie (and Belind remains among our Companions). King Temamana stands beside his son Hekeman, and both rhinos swing their bloody and edgy sledge hammers like baseball bats, punting away whoever dares to get close.

The queen isn't here right now as she has rotated out to rest, so the strongest mage we have is the first princess, Haotawa, the light-blue deer that I'd love to get my hands on. And she's older than any of my wives, so she's had the time to grow her magic stats enough to be a threat all by herself.

She begins to cast something at the golden cans, but her spell gets interrupted by an unseen mage, which is worrying since such a mage must be quite powerful themself if they can stop a Princess from casting. This also changes the type of battle that they're going to have into something closer to how two Lords fight.

That doesn't mean we have to stop pelting them with bullets and shells, though, so the silver dome appears constantly as it draws the attention of the other gunners. The Titans could've specifically made this dome to be very efficient against kinetic projectiles, but nothing is impenetrable, not even Okross.

But… what if it's fueled by the dungeon's power, like Lily's curse…?

And that question makes me extremely frustrated.

This constant escalation that seems specifically geared to counter us is so damn maddening. It's almost like-… like I'm fighting against myself! Well, not specifically me, but they're doing what we do: observe, analyze, and counter.

Then the golden cans reach the Hau-Hous, and it seems that the silver dome doesn't protect them in melee, for some reason, as the two sides engage in a brawl. It's immediately clear that the Hau-Hou are the better fighters, but this is a battle of endurance, and these elites are hindering our melee group's real purpose: to be a meat grinder.

The dome is also blocking the guns from firing downrange, though the ones higher up can shoot over it, but we can't just let the Titans do whatever they want for free now, can we?

"Ciel! Aoi!" Hana shouts through [Bind].

"Understood!" the two obediently reply in unison.

While Aoi and Hana spread their fearsome, leathery draconic wings with shiny scales, Ciel grows her gorgeous, white and gold angel wings. With what are basically two mage staves fused to her back, her [Wind Magic] has gained quite a boost, and now she can fly better than even the two draconic girls born with wings… or the succubus that has neglected her wings so much that she doesn't even have a [Summon Wings] skill.

"Pah…!" Roxanne grunts dismissively inside my soul space.

Then the trio takes off and flanks the golden cans, throwing themselves right into the middle of the fray. Four Celestial Horns seem to notice that and also follow them, which greatly speeds up the fall of the silver dome, but we still haven't found where their powerful mages are hiding, and then Alissa spots more golden cans approaching.

It seems that the silver dome stops protecting them once enough of the elites die, so the flying girls quickly retreat to not get overrun by the horde. A few spells are launched at them as they fly away, but Alissa memorizes the position they came from and answers with sniper fire from her position high up in the fortress.

A few more waves of golden cans are smashed, but then a big one appears, and we get concerned.

It's time to let my boys shine.

I briefly go back to prepare the squad, then unleash them upon the horde. Seven Horned Guardians roll out and begin crushing their way down the bridge toward the golden wave.

The Titans seem to recognize the threat posed by the tanks as spells rain down on them, but all it does is rattle the crew inside as the armor holds. Even the wild lightning from the Hippogryph riders isn't enough to stop them because the tanks are just too large, so the crews are only briefly electrocuted while it does nothing to slow down the mechanics of them.

And the crews know that the dome doesn't offer any protection in melee range, so they wait until they are just about to crash into the golden wave, then fire their cannons.

A cloud of smoke briefly blocks our view, but nothing stops the tanks, and they simply come out on the other side, mostly unscathed.

FUCK YEAH! THOSE ARE MY BOYS!

Then the tank squad's commander, keeping watch through his periscope, spots another thick golden wave ahead, so they continue on, sparing only a few of the golden cans from the wave they just crushed. This shock cavalry has gone beyond shock and even trauma. It's straight-up break, smash, and crush cavalry.

At least the next wave actually tries to create a shield wall and brace themselves, but this is a fucking isekai truck-kun on steroids with a fuck-you cannon, and nothing but an immovable object could possibly stand in the way of the unstoppable force.

But just as they crush another line, a portal suddenly appears ahead of them above the horde, and a set of very shiny Titan-shaped cans covered in colorful decorations comes floating out. They even have capes… capes!

My only cape is a ceremonial one…

But the levity is cut short as the shiny cans attack the tanks with sledgehammers, and the tanks lose the battle of unstoppable forces. The crews all slam against the insides of the tanks, breaking bones and even getting knocked out, but they're not dead yet.

Then the survivors hear repeated hits against the front wooden armor, which gives in and bends and cracks with every impact.

You've served us well, my boys; you dragged out their special units. Sweet dreams, and know that we'll avenge you.

A stunned gunner suddenly recovers enough to aim the cannon and pull the firing lever, sending one of the shiny cans flying as it receives a 60mm frag round directly on the chest. It detonates on impact, showering the others with shrapnel while the one hit disappears into the middle of the horde, but it almost immediately rises back up again, looking like it wasn't significantly wounded.

The other shiny cans wise up and hit the cannons (which are made of metal), bending them out of shape, but another gunner fires the moment it's hit, causing an explosion that triggers a cook-off of the ammunition. I didn't make blowout panels or include any kind of safety measure, so the turret goes up into the air as every 60mm shell explodes at almost the same time.

I've seen enough cook-offs to instantly recognize them, which means that the summoned crews also know what they are, so the survivors all get the same idea. They take a round from the rack and manually trigger it, exploding it along with the other shells and triggering more cook-offs.

The chaos and explosions work in our favor, but there's still a number of shiny tin cans floating outside of the blast range, and they decide to just fly forward as the silver dome appears to protect them.

"DANGER! ELITES INCOMING!" Hana roars in warning to the melee group. But it's hard to get proper sentences out with the constant gunfire drowning out her words, so she pulls out a [Project Voice] enchantment and tries again, "DANGER! STRONGER ELITES ARE FLYING TOWARD US!"

Lina gets up from her resting bed and [Equip]s her armor, then walks into the room next to hers where the officers are resting. It's just a dormitory enchanted with [Silent Room] and filled with incense to help them sleep, but that's all they need.

"Brett, we need you!" she sternly announces.

The muscular corgi man instantly sits up from his bed in fright, then jerks his head towards her and nods excitedly as he tries to make a serious face, but he's like a dog who just heard the word "walkies."

Was that racist of me?

"Not really. We're part animal, so we do have animal instincts. Just don't belittle us," Alissa answers neutrally. She does love when I call her a fox.

"What's going on…?" Silvano mumbles as he tiredly opens his eyes.

"A dangerous kind of Titan has appeared. They use enchanted hammers that can bend a Horned Guardian's armor," Lina answers stoically.

And the androgynous elf sits up and then slowly puts on his boots as he grins madly in excitement. "My prudent side is telling me to pass and rest more, but I've never been prudent."

"We know…" she dryly replies, making him snort.

 

I keep making fun of the Titans for being shiny, but the Hau-Hous are even more ridiculously shiny and also golden. Their decorative styles are even similar, now that I take a closer look, so I guess the Titans do know how to not be cringe-edgy, though that might just be their "copy humanoids" nature talking.

Then the floating shinies engage with the Hau-Hous, and I realize that the Titan's fighting style is also quite similar to the royals'. It's deceptively fancy, with unnecessary moves that could potentially become a trap if you try to go for their openings, but the problem with high-level melee fighting is that things are really hard to analyze.

I don't think even the royals themselves know what they're doing as these skills were developed before their time by unknown geniuses, so there's nobody talented enough to truly explain every little particular nuance of the skills. At a certain point, we just let the system tell us what to do and pray that our stats are high enough to win against our opponent's.

At least the battle looks impressive as they hit each other with strikes that could demolish a house, yet they [Block] and [Parry] so perfectly that they're barely scratching each other's armor. Brett and Lily are the exceptions, though, as they let themselves get hit, either because of a lack of skill or because even a hammer strike that could stop a tank isn't enough to make them back off.

But King Temamana still wins against his opponent by simply crushing the shiny can's skull, armor and all, and then Urmeie disarms her opponent and goes for the bear hug. Now that her opponent can't escape, she rips his helmet off and cracks his neck like she's in a spy movie.

Next is Hekeman, who wins, and Lily, Brett, and Silvano are about to win theirs while my girls still haven't taken the upper hand. But that's just because they're waiting for Jarn to come back.

Once Inspector Gadget is within range, I take control of her body and [Equip] a dozen new arms, along with weapons for them all, and then I use extra limbs to turn the 1v1 duels into 2v1s.

"You are now level sixty-six."

Mass battles are normally bad for Lords to level up with due to diminishing returns on Experience, but these shiny cans give pretty good chunks of XP, so at least they're good for something.

But with each successful kill, a new shiny tin can appears to replace their dead comrade. And now that the melee squad is too busy to continue the meat grinder, the Titans swarm over the fortress, and the breaches begin.