Chapter 114: The Continental War (2)

The Omni-Web radar flashed a blinding amber warning across the primary monitor. Red leaned forward in the Void. He dismissed the live feed of the western refugees crossing the bridges and pulled up the northern quadrant.

Hundreds of new crimson blips materialized on the screen. The telemetry data tracked them three thousand feet above the ground. They bypassed the Continental Moat entirely and descended rapidly toward the City of Spiral.

“Of course,” Red muttered. He tapped his fingers against the obsidian armrest. “If the ground is an industrial meat grinder, you take the sky. Very classic.”

He maximized the visual feed. A massive armada broke through the cloud cover. Dozens of floating galleons constructed from glowing white crystal spearheaded the formation. Thousands of armored knights rode winged gryphons on the flanks. The mid-tier gods of the server had pooled their elite aerial cavalry for a decapitation strike on the Ash-Forge Crucible.

“A beautiful formation,” Red said, opening a direct broadcast to the Ash-Kin command node in the northern mountains. “But completely useless against modern ballistics. Wake the mountain.”

Deep within the northern peaks overlooking the city, the bedrock shuddered. The Ash-Kin engineers cranked massive iron wheels. Whole sections of the mountain face detached and slid outward on hydraulic rails.

The hidden silos opened to the sky. Giant, multi-barreled pneumatic cannons locked into position. The Brass Construct’s Rank 11 anti-air blueprints required absolute structural support. Thick bronze pipes pumped pressurized bio-gas directly from the underground Digester lines into the firing chambers.

Up in the sky, the lead crystal galleon charged its forward cannons with arcane light. The gryphon riders drew enchanted lances and threw their mounts into a steep dive.

Red dragged a targeting box over the entire enemy armada on his screen. He hit the execution key. “Clear the airspace.”

The mountain erupted. The flak cannons fired with the concussive force of exploding stars. Dozens of pressurized gas chambers ignited simultaneously. The recoil shattered the loose stone around the silos. Massive canisters of compressed Star-Iron shrapnel and chemical fire screamed upward. They detonated precisely two thousand feet above the city.

A wall of expanding fire and razor-sharp metal shredded the vanguard. The shrapnel tore through gryphon wings and knight armor with identical ease. Blood and severed feathers rained down upon the northern peaks.

The crystal galleons took direct hits from the secondary batteries. The Star-Iron payloads punched through their enchanted hulls and exploded inside the cargo holds. The pristine white ships fractured into burning debris. The sky ignited into a chaotic storm of falling bodies and collapsing magic.

Red watched the crimson blips vanish from his radar in massive chunks. He pulled up his ledger to track the experience points flooding into his Ash-Kin artillery crews. Flashes of leveling light erupted inside the subterranean silos.

“Rank 7 cannot stop combined invasion, they said.” Red said to the empty Void. “Enjoy the fall.”

Red watched the tactical feed as the flaming wreckage of the sky armada rained down upon the northern courtyards of the City of Spiral. Massive chunks of shattered white crystal and torn gryphon carcasses smashed into the obsidian-paved streets. The mid-tier gods had delivered premium magical materials directly to his industrial center.

“Do not let the enchanted alloys cool,” Red said, broadcasting his voice through the city’s System Nodes. “Process the survivors. Feed the crystal into the Ash-Forge.”

Down in the courtyards, Elian tightened his grip on the thick haft of a Star-Iron reinforced Crater-Maker Plow. He rolled his shoulders, his hyper-dense muscle tissue straining against his ash-stained tunic. The alchemical mutations from the Bio-Reactor paste had hardened his skin into a dense, leather-like hide. His eyes burned with a bright teal energy as he surveyed the burning debris.

Three elite sky-knights dragged themselves from the burning debris. Their enchanted silver armor sparked with failing wards. They gripped their bent lances, coughing up blood and staring at the towering Tier 4 foundry.

The iron doors of the Crucible swung open. Elian stepped out into the falling ash. He rested a Star-Iron reinforced Crater-Maker Plow over his shoulder. Behind him, hundreds of human laborers poured out of the foundry.

The lead knight raised his lance and charged.

Elian swung the massive plow in a brutal upward arc. The Star-Iron caught the knight under the chin, shattering the silver helmet and snapping his neck instantly. The knight collapsed onto the asphalt. The rest of the human work crew surged forward.

They ignored the magical strikes of the remaining survivors. Their leather-like skin deflected the glancing blows completely. They raised their industrial plows and bludgeoned the knights into the ground.

Elian grabbed a severed gryphon wing and dragged the carcass toward the foundry doors. The human laborers began tossing the dead knights and chunks of glowing crystal directly into the inferno of the Ash-Forge. The empire required materials, and the sky gods had just delivered a massive shipment of enchanted scrap.

Thousands of human laborers marched out from the shadow of the Ash-Forge Crucible. They carried thick iron chains and massive sledgehammers. They moved with absolute mechanical efficiency.

A surviving sky-knight dragged himself out of a shattered crystal galleon. The knight wore gleaming silver plate armor and clutched a glowing broadsword. He staggered to his feet, coughing up blood, and raised his weapon at the approaching humans.

“Peasants,” the knight spat, swinging his glowing blade toward Elian’s neck.

Elian stepped into the strike. He swung the Crater-Maker Plow upward. The thick Star-Iron blade of the agricultural tool collided with the enchanted broadsword. The knight’s weapon shattered into a dozen glowing splinters.

Elian continued the arc of his swing, driving the massive iron plowshare directly into the knight’s silver breastplate. The metal caved inward with a sickening crunch. The knight collapsed onto the obsidian pavement.

Red leaned closer to the monitor in the Void. He tracked the resource counters ticking upward. “A knight of the sky beaten to death with farming equipment.”

The human laborers swarmed the crash site. They threw thick iron chains over the intact blocks of magical crystal and hooked them to the winches. They ignored the dying gryphons and focused entirely on the enchanted armor plating scattered across the streets.

Whenever a surviving rider attempted to cast a spell, the laborers simply battered them into the pavement with their sledgehammers.

“Bring it all to the Crucible,” Elian ordered, pulling his plow free from the crushed knight. “Our Lord requires the white crystal for the foundries. Strip the silver plate off the corpses.”

Up in the Void, Red opened his screen. He watched the massive influx of rare resources flooding into his storage inventory. The aerial decapitation strike had failed spectacularly, and the enemy had effectively funded the next expansion of the continental highway.

“Send a transmission to the remaining sky gods,” Red said to his terminal. “Thank them for the generous donation of building materials. Tell them I will be sending the invoice for the property damage shortly.”

No matter how they tried to attack, let it be a ground attack or an aerial attack, even without having access to the visual feed of the area, Red could still see everything happening there. His omni-web root network worked for ground, and his newly built omni-web radar worked flawlessly for the sky.

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