CHAPTER 179 – RAM THE CASTLE!
HIRAYA MISTELTEIN
As the Daybreaker Squad and I stepped out of the cathedral, the warm, golden light of the late afternoon sun bathed us in its glow, casting long shadows across the cobblestone street. The cathedral's imposing stone façade loomed behind us, its spires piercing the sky like ancient sentinels. Just then, Gaeun’s voice broke the tranquil air, her words echoing with a mix of excitement and uncertainty.
“Um, I know we’re all pumped up to help Lysander, but how are we going to get there?” Gaeun asked, her eyes darting among us for answers.
Charlotte’s expression turned into one of disbelief, her eyebrows shooting up as she clutched her long, wavy hair dramatically. “D-Don’t tell me we’re going to go through the desert again!?” she gasped. “My hair already has a lot of split ends, and my skin is all dry!”
Kate rolled her eyes, a playful smirk tugging at her lips as she flicked a strand of auburn hair out of her face. “Don’t be so whiny, Charlotte. You’re acting like a fragile princess,” she teased, absentmindedly picking her nose with a gloved hand.
“But I am a fragile princess!” Charlotte insisted, her voice a blend of indignation and humor.
“Ah, fuck off, Charlotte,” Meike chimed in, her tone shifting as she mimicked Lysander’s gruff voice with uncanny accuracy. When Charlotte shot her an icy glare, Meike’s face softened, and she let out a sheepish laugh. “Ahahaha! I’m just trying my skills in impersonating people,” she added, her cheeks tinged with a hint of pink.
Watching the girls banter with such energy filled me with a deep sense of appreciation. We've traveled so far together, meeting countless allies and losing some we held dear. Yet, despite the trials and tragedies that have shaped us, we can still find moments of light-heartedness and camaraderie. This is the very essence of the Daybreaker Squad: resilient, spirited, and unyielding.
I turned to them with a reassuring smile, clapping my hands to gather their attention. “Don’t worry, Charlotte,” I said, my voice firm yet comforting. “We will be able to go wherever Lysander is in the fastest and most comfortable way.”
“But how?” Charlotte whined, her voice tinged with disbelief. “We don’t have the Windwalker Airship!”
I felt the familiar surge of mana gathering in my palms, a gentle warmth spreading through my fingers. I clapped my hands together, feeling the energy ripple outward. Kneeling down, I touched the ground, and a green magical circle formed beneath my fingertips, its intricate symbols glowing with an otherworldly light. As I focused, the circle expanded, radiating outward like ripples in a pond, its power humming through the air as I channeled more mana into it.
“Summoning Spell!” I shouted, my voice echoing with authority.
In an instant, the magical circle erupted into a blinding flash of light, enveloping us all. When the light finally dimmed, there stood the Windwalker Airship, its majestic form towering above us, its metallic hull gleaming in the sunlight. The sleek vessel hovered gracefully, its propellers humming softly, ready to whisk us away on our next adventure.
“We don’t have what?” I smirked at Charlotte, my voice dripping with playful sarcasm. Charlotte stood there, her mouth agape, eyes wide with astonishment.
“That’s our captain!” Kate exclaimed, slinging her rusty sword over her shoulder as she confidently boarded the airship.
“Good work, Hiraya,” Meike said with a wave of her hand, a hint of admiration in her voice as she stepped onto the Windwalker.
Gaeun bowed at me with a warm smile, her eyes sparkling with gratitude, before following the others onto the ship.
As the rest of the squad boarded, Charlotte and I remained behind. I performed a mock curtsy, sweeping my arm toward the entrance with a flourish. “Here you go, Princess Charlotte,” I said, my voice light with teasing affection.
“Hmph! Don’t tease me, Hiraya!” Charlotte huffed, turning on her heel with a playful flick of her hair before sashaying up the gangplank, her steps full of defiant sass.
I ascended a few steps on the staircase leading to the airship, pausing just before boarding to glance back at the Demonic Cathedral. The towering structure loomed against the horizon, its colossal stone walls casting long shadows across the landscape. The cathedral, with its intricate gothic architecture, once seemed ominous to me. Its facade was adorned with menacing demonic dragon statues, their eyes carved to follow onlookers with an eerie, eternal gaze. But now, knowing that this was the type of church used to worship the Foreign God Necross—Lysander’s previous incarnation—my fear of this place dissipated like mist in the morning sun.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
I smiled, feeling a newfound sense of understanding and resolve, and turned away, stepping aboard the Windwalker Airship.
Inside the bridge, the air was filled with the soft hum of machinery, and the holographic globe AI flickered to life, projecting an image that hovered in the air like a guardian spirit.
“Good morning, Captain Misteltein,” the AI greeted, its voice smooth and respectful. “How may I be of service?”
“Use Fast Travel to the last whereabouts of Lysander Faradeiss,” I instructed, my voice steady with determination.
“Roger that, Captain Misteltein,” the AI replied promptly.
Suddenly, massive magical circles materialized above and below the airship, their intricate runes glowing with pulsating energy. The air hummed with anticipation as the ship prepared for the journey ahead.
“Commencing Fast Travel,” the AI announced, its voice echoing with a sense of urgency and purpose. “Destination is Mariegold Cape—the Final Sanctuary of Humanity.”
The airship began to tremble slightly as the magical circles spun faster, their power building to a crescendo. Light enveloped the ship, and the familiar sensation of being pulled through space washed over me, as if the very fabric of reality bent to our will. We were on our way to find Lysander, to face whatever challenges awaited us at Mariegold Cape.
In the blink of an eye, the airship teleported high into the sky, five thousand kilometers above the ground. My eyes darted to the monitors, and I felt a wave of dread wash over me as I beheld the remnants of the Final Sanctuary of humans. The once-vibrant city was now a barren wasteland, its buildings reduced to smoldering rubble. Thick smoke curled into the air, carrying the acrid stench of nuclear flames and burnt blood, a testament to the devastation that had unfolded here. It was hell on earth, a scene that was all too familiar to us. We had witnessed cities razed by Gazelle Lockwood’s rebellion, seen the charred remains of civilization in the wake of war. But what made this moment cut deeper than any other was the painful realization that the destruction was wrought by the man I love.
“Something’s not right,” Meike said, her voice tense with unease.
“Yeah, it’s too quiet,” Kate added, her worried tone mirroring the dread settling over us.
I closed my eyes, reaching out with my enhanced hearing, straining to catch any sound that might signal life, but there was nothing. A chilling silence filled the air, oppressive and unnatural. I could sense from the natural elements around me that all life in this city had been extinguished. It was deserted, not even a single corpse to be seen, as if the people had vanished into thin air.
“Wait, what is that!?” Charlotte gasped, her voice tinged with alarm as she pointed toward the rear window.
We all rushed to look where Charlotte was pointing. Far in the distance, I could make out the silhouette of a massive structure—a floating castle, suspended at the same altitude as the Windwalker. The castle loomed majestically, its turrets and spires piercing the sky like ghostly fingers. It resembled the castles of ancient dragons, from an era when the Vesryn Pulse had not yet been invented and mankind was forced to dwell underground. I recognized its design from history books, but seeing it here, hovering ominously, was something entirely different.
Yet, something about the castle felt profoundly wrong. Its entire form radiated mana, suggesting it was not a relic of the past but a creation of artificial design, conjured by some reality-altering spell. The air around it crackled with impure mana, a sickly energy that hinted at undead magic. It could only be Lysander’s doing, his signature dark power saturating the air.
“Windwalker, prepare to ram the floating castle,” I commanded, my voice unwavering despite the chaos surrounding us.
“Say what!?” the four dragonoid girls cried out in unison, their voices laced with shock and disbelief.
“Everyone, go to the rear side!” I shouted, urgency propelling my words. “Gaeun, prepare for Bubble Barrier! We’re going to crash that castle!”
We hurried to the back of the Windwalker, the adrenaline coursing through my veins as I watched Gaeun raise her magic wand. With a fluid motion, she conjured a shimmering Bubble Barrier, its translucent surface glimmering with protective energy to shield us from the impending impact.
The airship roared to life, its engines straining as it reached maximum speed. The Windwalker surged forward, and the entire vessel trembled with the force of its momentum. The floating castle loomed ever closer, its menacing silhouette growing larger with every passing second.
With a deafening crash, the airship slammed into the castle's entrance, sending debris flying in every direction. The hull of the Windwalker groaned under the strain, metal screeching as it twisted and bent, but we had succeeded in breaking open the fortress's defenses.
Amidst the chaos and dust, we beheld a scene of horror—a one-sided battle that stole the breath from my lungs. Lysander stood at the center of it all, his body pierced by white swords. They pinned him like a grotesque marionette, skewering his hands, shoulders, abdomen, legs, and feet. Chains of radiant white magic snaked around him, anchoring him to the ground, their cruel light reflecting in his anguished eyes.
“Lysander!” I cried out, my voice cracking with desperation.
“H-Hiraya…” Lysander weakly muttered, his voice a faint whisper barely audible over the din.
Rage boiled within me, a seething fury that threatened to consume my very being. My gaze shifted to the one responsible for this atrocity—the King of Humanity, Arthurius Elkyria Neos. He sat with a smug air of superiority on his throne, which was perched atop a colossal bluish-white dragon adorned with a regal crown. I recognized the creature as the Dragon Queen, her majestic form both beautiful and terrifying.
“Surprise,” Arthur mocked, his voice dripping with contempt.
His betrayal cut deeper than any blade. To see Lysander, once his closest friend, subjected to such cruelty was beyond infuriating. Years of treachery and cowardice, all orchestrated by Arthur, had led to this moment—a culmination of deceit and violence that had wrought so much suffering. My heart burned with a fierce resolve, vowing that justice would be served for all the pain and loss Arthur had caused.