When everyone was ready, Merlin began the operation to destroy the factory, sending a gigantic fireball towards an important gear amidst the heavy machinery. The impact could be seen immediately as operations halted instantly due to the chain reaction triggered by the destruction of such a vital component of the machinery.
The Round Table Knights immediately fanned out as they activated their respective weapons. Firen cried, "Light cleansing flames, [Fiamma]!" as his sabre erupted into red hot flames surrounding an orange blade.
Zexel mumbled, "Unseen and deadly, [Zephyr].", turning his blade into sharp, rapidly flowing wind. Cynthia shouted, "Rip skies asunder, [Mjolnir]!" as the mace she was wielding transformed into a 2-handed golden war-hammer rippling with electricity.
Alderon whispered, "Increase thou burden, [Gravios]!" as his sword morphed into a black, single-handed axe. Sasha chirped, "Entangle with death, [Weaver]!" as her sword morphed into a pair of gloves that wrapped snugly around her hands. Only Krow refused to activate his weapon, putting his hand on its hilt instead as he prepared to make a quick draw.
Arthur yelled above the commotion, "Fujika! Stay close to me! The battle's about to begin! Merlin, I leave the destruction of the factory to you!" Merlin signalled her acknowledgement as Arthur quickly took up his position, Fujika close behind.
True enough, a throng of pirates started emerging from the various exits of the factory, all carrying magic weapons that gave off the same ominous feel to the weapons currently being synthesised in this factory. These weapons covered a wide spectrum, from melee weapons such as swords and maces, to ranged weapons such as crossbows and rifles.
The effectiveness of these weapons could be seen immediately, as the pirates armed with ranged weapons began shooting the intruders. Fujika was shocked by the amount of power contained in each shot from a crossbow as it caused mini explosions upon impact, far more destructive than a normal weapon. The fact that such weapons were being mass produced and wielded by outlaws was a scary idea to entertain in Fujika's mind.
Despite the display of power from the pirates, the Round Table Knights and Arthur stood their ground, maintaining their all-round defence of Merlin who continued her indiscriminate destruction of the factory unhindered. Fujika was awed by the resolve and courage exhibited by Arthur and his fellow Knights, as they stood proudly, barely moving as they simply brushed off all the incoming projectiles with their weapons.
As the enemies drew near, Arthur unsheathed his sword and chanted, "Shining bright justice, [Excalibur]!" His sword shone with such bright light that the nearest pirates were blinded momentarily, slowing their advance. However, upon recovering, they roared with anger as they attempted to overrun the intruders, using their numerical superiority.
Arthur rallied, "For Cameron!" as he charged towards his enemies, accompanied by Fujika. Arthur slipped past all the attacks of his opponents, cutting them down with swift, precise strikes as he rushed through them. Fujika took care of those who managed to survive Arthur's initial onslaught, mercilessly raining a [Glacial Barrage] on her foes.
Fujika realised that her anxiety was for naught earlier, as these pirates, though well-equipped, were poorly trained. On Firen's side, screams from the pirates could be heard almost immediately as they were torched alive by one swing of his [Fiamma], the S-Class Fire elemental weapon, leaving charred corpses behind the wake of cinders.
Zexel's opponents fared no better, as he sent a tornado flying their way which sucked them in and mercilessly eroded them slowly, turning the tornado into a wall of red which was hungry for more. Perhaps Cynthia's enemies were better off, as they were simply electrocuted when she smashed her [Mjolnir] on the ground, supercharging the ground below her as sparks flew erratically.
Alderon initially appeared overwhelmed, as he did not possess mass destruction capabilities unlike the 3 Knights mentioned earlier. However, just as it appeared that the pirates had surrounded him and jumped onto him like a pack of ravenous piranhas, Alderon simply sent them all flying away from him with a war cry, emerging as a dark-coloured titan as he covered his entire body in black mana armament. He then swung his [Gravios] heavily, creating a huge shockwave that blew away all the pirates in his path.
Sasha was more ecstatic than afraid in this battle, as the near-invisible strings from the tips of the fingers on her gloves were weaved so perfectly that it caught her victims off-guard like a spider web. The only exception was that, instead of being trapped, one was diced into several pieces if he was caught by the ultra sharp and fine strings of [Weaver].
Krow, truly a master of the sword, closed his eyes as he sensed his enemies incoming. In a flash, he drew his sword and re-sheathed it almost instantly thereafter, muttering, "[Bestial Sword Style - Cheetah]!" The enemies he rushed across were all cut down instantly as they collapsed to the ground.
Krow didn't let his guard down, as he dodged a number of projectiles aimed at his feet by leaping into the air. Before the pirates could seize the opportunity to catch him while he was vulnerable, Krow dived down in an instant towards his enemies. "[Bestial Sword Style - Peregrine Falcon]!" Krow muttered as he slashed a number of foes upon the end of his rapid descent.
The pirates, realising that they were outmatched in terms of speed, decided to play it safe by hiding behind some of the other pirates who were equipped with large, sturdy shields that were cursed weapons as well.
One pirate taunted, "Let's see how you breach our defence this time! Scoundrels, open fire!" Krow expertly slalomed his way through the incoming attacks, and right before he reached the gigantic shields, Krow pushed forward suddenly, crying, "[Bestial Sword Style - Rhino]!" as he performed a single straightforward thrust with both hands at the end of his rush.
By coating his sword with black mana armament, Krow dented a hole through the shields of the pirates, as the shield-bearers died of physical trauma, leaving the other pirates defenceless as Krow mercilessly butchered them using his superior speed and sword technique. By the time Gold Lion arrived with his deputy, Silver Crane, the destruction was at least 85% with a substantial number of pirates killed in action.
Gold Lion was enraged by the widespread destruction and bloodshed before his very eyes, as clearly evident from his tightly clenched fists and bulging veins on his forehead. Silver Crane understood automatically as he mumbled, "Gleam in moonlight, [Moonwing]." Immediately, the armour on his back sprouted metallic wings, with sharp feathers made of light.
Silver Crane jumped off from the edge they were standing on, soaring towards his target, Sasha, who was busy slicing her enemies to bits. Before Silver Crane could decapitate Sasha with the sharp energy tip of his right wing, his attack was blocked by Alderon, who intervened in the nick of time.
Sasha was shocked, but quickly regained her composure as she mumbled, "Thanks, Alderon." Alderon remained silent as he knocked away Silver Crane's wing, before engaging in a fierce exchange of blows with Silver Crane, who refused to back down. The 2 eventually shifted their fight to an area with more space, as they fought to their hearts' content.
When Merlin was satisfied with her masterpiece, she shouted to Arthur, "Your Highness, I have largely destroyed the machinations of the factory, however, all my effort would be for naught if we don't shut down the power source, the source of mana for all these cursed weapons! Go now, search for the power source which should be close by and destroy it! I'll cover you guys so leave now!"
Arthur nodded in agreement as he beckoned Fujika to follow him, as they cut their way through to the nearest exit. Gold Lion instinctively felt something was amiss and realising that there were two individuals trying to break out of the encirclement, he quickly touched the gigantic rocks near him, causing them to float. He swiftly redirected the rocks towards the pair, raining rubble upon them.
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Arthur was stunned upon seeing a gigantic shadow cover him, looking up to realise that enormous rocks were crashing down upon him. Before he could take action, a hexagonal constellation appeared above Arthur, absorbing all the boulders. It was Merlin's [Constellation Gate], and she quickly reopened it above Gold Lion, sending his projectiles back at him.
Gold Lion swiftly flew out of the way, dodging all the boulders unlike his unfortunate men who had no way to escape. Before Gold Lion could prepare another attack, he realised that Arthur and Fujika were already out of sight. Merlin smiled warmly as she taunted, "It's a pleasure to meet you, 'Flying Pirate' Leon, no, Gold Lion."
Gold Lion snarled, "Merlin, the Mystic. Humph! Your Enigma Ability may be decent, but do you think I have not gathered enough intel to discover your weakness! I'll take you out quickly before giving chase to those two."
Gold Lion immediately placed his palms on the ground, causing the ground below them to rumble as several large boulders, each the size of an adult elephant, started floating into the sky, smashing the stone ceiling open and causing more rocks to crumble to the ground below. Gold Lion quickly flew and touched that was left of the ceiling, breaking them apart into more humongous projectiles for his attack.
Merlin remarked, "I've heard about you for a long time already, your ability to touch anything and cause it to float towards the sky combined with your expertise in telekinesis makes you a very dangerous opponent indeed. At least to most people, that is."
Gold Lion grunted, "Don't be so arrogant, Merlin! My [Levitate] is far superior to your [Constellation Gate]. Don't believe me, come and eat this! [Twin Rock Shower]!" Gold Lion sent two waves of rocks hurtling towards Merlin simultaneously from different directions, where both appeared to converge and smash onto Merlin at the same time.
Gold Lion chuckled, "Hahaha! You can only open one [Constellation Gate] at any one time, so you can't redirect a 2-pronged attack bound to hit at the same time with just one gate! Even if your gate can stretch, I've purposely angled my 2 attacks in such a way that it's impossible for one gate to swallow all my attacks at one go! Victory is mine!"
Merlin smiled and said without fear, "You sure?" She then summoned one [Constellation Gate] and had it move in the opposite direction of one rock shower, to the surprise of Gold Lion, who had assumed the gate was immobile. When she was done absorbing all the rocks from that wave, just before the 2nd shower of rocks could hit her, she closed the 1st gate and summoned another gate before her, pitting the 2 showers of rocks against each other.
Upon clashing, the boulders smashed each other into smaller pieces, all of which were easily blocked by Merlin's mana barrier. Gold Lion gritted his teeth in fury as he saw the small debris from his rock showers bounce harmlessly off Merlin's barrier.
Gold Lion forcefully calmed himself down before continuing, "Ha! If you think controlling only 2 showers at any one time is my limit, I'll prove you wrong! This is the finishing move! [Omnidirectional Rock Downpour]!" Gold Lion summoned an even larger number of boulders as compared to before as he sent them flying towards Merlin from all directions.
Gold Lion thought, "There's no way she could open and close her [Constellation Gate] so many times in such a short amount of time. She's done for this time!" Merlin sighed, "Gold Lion. I honestly think you are obsessed with triumphing over my Enigma Ability. The truth is, I'm a renowned magician after all, which means I don't rely solely on my Enigma Ability."
Without speaking further, Merlin raised her palm in line with the majority of the boulders from her estimation. Merlin chanted, "[Fire Dragon Bullet]!" as she conjured a gigantic flame dragon that rushed through the incoming boulders and burned them to ashes within seconds.
Merlin quickly followed up with another Grandmaster tier spell, "[Glacial Meteor]." as she conjured a humongous block of ice which sharp tips pierced and smashed the incoming rocks as they crashed onto it.
Merlin's Ice spell was flying so fast that Gold Lion barely dodged it even with the agility afforded by his Enigma Ability. Gold Lion chuckled, "Well, well, we can go on like this for the whole day and a victor wouldn't be decided. I can't believe you dare to call yourself Sage tier, you weakling."
Merlin smiled and replied candidly, "At least I use my Enigma Ability at the right time." To Gold Lion's horror, Merlin opened a [Constellation Gate] right next to him, emptying its contents as Gold Lion was swallowed by the intense flames of the [Flame Dragon Bullet] spell.
Before Gold Lion was incinerated to ashes, he realised what exactly transpired. As he was distracted by Merlin's second spell, [Glacial Meteor], Merlin had actually summoned a [Constellation Gate] to absorb her own magic, preparing to redirect it towards him at point blank range where he wouldn't be able to fly away in time.
Merlin heaved a sigh of relief as she turned away, a smouldering corpse crashing onto the ground behind her.
Meanwhile, Alderon was seemingly struggling against Silver Crane, whose agility and speed harassed him to no end. What was worse was the energy-based feathers on the wings of Silver Crane, which could be shot like projectiles before regenerating again instantly.
To make matters even trickier, Silver Crane flashed his twin pistols, shooting mana-enhanced bullets on top of his feathers, causing Alderon to receive several grazes and open wounds from the sharp rounds that could break through his otherwise formidable mana armament.
Silver Crane jested, "Looks like brute strength's all you've got. Here, I thought the Round Table Knights are a little special but what do we have here, a barbaric lout who only swings a heavy axe with no sense of strategy whatsoever. This is your final warning, throw your weapon down and surrender, so that I may consider sparing your life."
Alderon stared at Silver Crane resolutely, refusing to yield. Silver Crane shook his head and answered, "Very well, I'll show you your death then." as he soared towards Alderon after attempting to distract him with a volley of shots from his feathers and pistols.
Just before Silver Crane could reach Alderon, Alderon suddenly jumped up to his surprise, performing a front flip and a quick slash to Silver Crane's back. CLANG! The sound of steel clashing was audible to both as they stopped in their tracks.
Suddenly, Silver Crane was forced to go down on his knees as he felt an unbearable force pressing his wings down, preventing him from getting up or moving. Silver Crane expressed panic as he asked, "What's going on here? When did this happen?"
Alderon replied coolly, "My [Gravios] has the ability to double the weight of anything it strikes, so this means 4 times the weight if struck twice and so on. How many times did I strike those precious wings of yours?"
Silver Crane recalled the fierce exchanges they had shared, remembering being struck at least 10 times in total. However, one thing wasn't clear, why did he experience the effects only now?
Alderon explained, "It seems like the back plate of your armour where your wings originate from could withstand these steady increases in weight, therefore it minimised the amount of disruption to your movement. However, the moment I broke it with that last attack of mine, your wings no longer had the support it used to enjoy, causing it to sag onto the ground. Shall we end this?"
Beads of sweat formed on Silver Crane's forehead as he stammered, "Hey, we can talk through this right? I choose to surrender! Don't I have the right to avoid death by surrendering?" Alderon replied coldly, "Sorry, I don't bargain with terrorists." as he swiftly decapitated Silver Crane with a quick chop to the neck.
Arthur and Fujika found themselves outside of the factory once again after a long trek through the exit. Fujika, being a natural sensor, could sense that the source of power for the weapons was up ahead, as she sensed the similarity in mana frequencies, not to mention the same identical ominous feel.
However, before they could proceed, their path was blocked by 2 men, one dressed in black robes and the other with a gigantic sword on his back. They were Terence and Sharkan respectively. Terence spoke arrogantly, "Sorry, I can't let you guys hinder its awakening."
Suddenly, the ground shook violently like an earthquake, as Fujika sensed an exponential increase in the amount of mana from the source she was tracking. She had never felt so much mana like this before from a single source. This was way beyond even the feared Sage tier.
A nearby mountain further down the path exploded without warning, as something sought to escape from its confines as it stood straight on its 2 legs. Arthur and Fujika could only gasp in horror as they witnessed the awakening of a humanoid, giant-like monster made out of seemingly clay. It was 2 times the height of an ordinary Titan, and had hands as long as its entire body.
Terence laughed crazily, "Finally, the fruit of our labour has been reaped! By sacrificing the souls of those pirates wielding the cursed weapons created from its power when they die, the Lost Ages Biological Weapon, Armageddon, is finally revived, mwahahaha! There's no need for the Pirate Armada! Armageddon is enough to destroy Cameron and maybe even the rest of the world, hahaha! Heed the will of Astaroth and destroy everything, Armageddon!"
The giant humanoid weapon appeared dazed for awhile before it started lumbering, first towards the harbour where the Pirate Armada was stationed. With a swipe of its arm, Armageddon destroyed the harbour with ease, killing a majority of pirates within the harbour as it roared deafeningly.
Fujika nearly wanted to vomit as she could sense that Armageddon's power had rose drastically again, probably due to the fact that it killed all the pirates wielding weapons created from its power in the harbour. She now understood why whoever sought to revive this monster made use of the pirates.
By enticing them with false promises of power, these pirates paid with their souls, the greatest source of mana, regardless of their success in their planned invasion, hence speeding up the revival and restoration of this monster as more pirates died.
Fujika could only watch on helplessly as Armageddon set its sights on the distant Cameron, ready to show the world its forgotten prowess.