The demonkin warships far surpassed the Martyr’s Palace in speed. They consistently avoided the head part where the main cannon was installed and launched a barrage of attacks from blind spots.
The Martyr’s Palace also had ballistae installed on the side and back. According to the established design, the giant warship would turn into a frightening platform of firepower after its completion—one with no blind spots. Assailants would have to face the attack of at least five to several dozen main cannons.
It was just that there were only a couple of them installed at this point, and they were quickly destroyed under the concentrated fire of the demonkin fleet. The entire Martyr’s Palace was like a giant beast with its fangs plucked out, destined to become food for the wolf pack despite its large body.
Qianye was standing on the Earth Dragon’s head at this point. After merging his consciousness with the palace, the massive creature became an extension of his body. With the gradual increase in the heart’s void origin power reserves and Qianye’s own strength, the connection between him and the Martyr’s Palace became clearer, tighter, and the airship became more agile.
At this moment, Qianye sensed an additional ability appearing in the Martyr’s Palace: Intimidation. The first one was the Earth Dragon’s innate ability to shuttle through space.
This was the Earth Dragon’s power while it was alive, a natural sense of awe exerted upon all living beings by a void colossus. Qianye wasn’t clear how effective Intimidation was, but he had faced the remnant will of the Void Colossus Chaos back in the year. Even under the cover of Sky Demon’s iron curtain, he had experienced full well the indefensible power of a void colossus. The two parties were simply not at the same level of existence.
This power of the Martyr’s Palace, however, was an ability the Earth Dragon’s skeleton had regained after its gradual regrowth. Compared to the Earth Dragon’s original intimidation, the intensity was less than a hundredth.
At this moment, Qianye was too busy with the demonkin airships to study the uses of Intimidation. The giant creature was being beaten up constantly as the ferocious firepower of the demonkin fleet carpeted the Martyr’s Palace. The two ballistae installed on the sides had been destroyed and the cannoneers killed. The two engines on the flanks had also suffered damage and were no longer functional. This reduced the vessel’s speed by a bit. If Qianye hadn’t ordered the men to put away the kinetic sails before the battle, it might’ve been destroyed as well.
However, Qianye wasn’t the least flustered. Despite their firepower, the demonkin warships weren’t able to destroy the Earth Dragon’s skeleton. Even the newly grown muscle was difficult to damage.
Most of the equipment installed on the airship had been damaged, but the core installations and crew were concentrated near the heart, inside the safe protection of the rib cage.
After many rounds of firing, the demonkin warships also noticed that most of their attacks were just wasted effort. It would take several giant ballista bolts striking the same area to destroy a small piece of the earth dragon’s flesh. And those table-sized defects would require fairly good eyesight to notice from a distance.
As expected of elite demonkin forces, they began to focus their fire on man-made structures, or even attempt to fire at the interior through the gaps in the skeleton. It was just that the natural gliding movement of the Martyr’s Palace was in a curved pattern. How could it be that easy to fire into the interior?
Inside the flagship, Linken’s eyes were cold. She snorted coldly with an expression full of dissatisfaction. The marquis nearby said, “Sire, it seems only the main cannon on your airship has enough firepower to blast through that strange airship’s defenses.”
Linkin said coldly, “A bunch of useless trash. They only know to attack constantly without even looking at the effects. Main cannon ammo is expensive.”
The marquis replied, “No one has seen such a warship before. It seems to be made from the remains of a void colossus. If we can capture it, the value of the harvested materials alone will allow you to build a new fleet.”
Linken nodded. “All hands, get ready to attack!”
The three-hundred-meter airship slowly moved out—dozens of pennants waved about as the giant ship rushed toward the giant flailing beast.
The hull of the flagship opened slowly to reveal a shockingly large cannon. Dozens of demonkin cannoneers loaded a bolt—one over ten meters long and one meter in radius—into the chamber, completing the firing preparations. The massive capstan spun around amidst the grinding of countless gears and chains, dragging the cannon into alignment with the Martyr’s Palace.
This was a superweapon upon which Linken’s widespread fame was built. This main cannon’s firepower was almost beyond the limits of every known warship—even a grand duke’s vessel might find it difficult to endure a square blow. All below the level of imperial battleships would suffer great damage with a single hit, and destroyers might even be blasted away on the spot.
Purely in terms of firepower, Linken’s flagship was superior to the vice-duke grade and right on the heels of a grand duke’s warship. Even in terms of overall combat strength, it was definitely a duke-grade vessel.
This kind of flagship would naturally consume vast amounts of resources. Normally, it would take a vice-duke several hundred years of accumulation to be able to produce a basic vessel at this level, followed by an endless stream of upgrades. Like a pit that could never be filled, it would usually take a lifetime to complete. Ordinary experts would never be able to afford a keel, let alone a duke-grade airship.
Only people like Linken—born of the famed Masefield clan—were able to build such a warship with the help of their families. That main cannon alone was equal to the basic value of a duke-grade warship.
Even with the help of her family, Linken had to spend dozens of years to gradually upgrade her airship to this state.
A complacent expression drifted onto Linken’s face as the main cannon almost finished charging. Every blast of this cannon was an indescribable moment of satisfaction for her. She was highly addicted to this firepower capable of destroying anything and everything.
The large and slow Martyr’s Palace was the best type of target. Linken wasn’t in a rush to destroy the opponent. Instead, she ordered the flagship to gradually approach the opponent and maximize the main cannon’s might.
At this distance, Linken could already see Qianye standing on the Earth Dragon’s head. She was only somewhat astonished, but her subordinates couldn’t help but gasp, “Could it be that he’s controlling the entire vessel on his own? How is that even possible?”
Linken was hesitant at this point. A single person controlling such a massive airship was unheard of. One could easily imagine that there had to be great secrets to him. Capturing him alive could perhaps be the key to obtaining this giant beast-ship in its entirety.
Yet, it wasn’t that easy to capture Qianye. The Martyr’s Palace seemed incapable of retaliation but Linken understood that the damage caused by the entire demonkin fleet was negligible. And with how mysterious and unique the palace was, there was no telling whether it would possess certain special abilities.
As ruthless as she was, Linken immediately came to a decision. “Aim at the head, fire!”
The order caused all the demonkin’s expressions to change. Many people felt that it was a pity because, as they saw it, Qianye had no other choice but to surrender. Additionally, the attack from their main cannon would likely destroy half of the Earth Dragon’s skull. Every inch of a void colossus’ body was a priceless treasure.
However, Linken only felt the unease in her heart increase. She roared once again in a stern voice, “Fire!”
This time, no one dared to disobey her orders. The cannoneers who had completed their preparations immediately stomped on the pedals!
The origin arrays on the massive main cannon lit up layer by layer, and the giant bolt in its chamber erupted with a blue-green radiance. Following a loud rumble, the projectile left the chamber and blasted toward the head of the Martyr’s Palace!
However, Linken’s feeling of uneasiness rose sharply just as the cannon rumbled.
That giant bolt possessing boundless might tore through the void and shot into the vast void. Its original target was the Martyr’s Palace, but just as it was about to strike its objective, the giant creature faded rapidly and vanished into thin air.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Linken shouted immediately as the Martyr’s Palace disappeared.
Unfortunately, her subordinates couldn’t figure out what had just happened. There was no way her flagship could respond immediately, either.
The Martyr’s Palace appeared below the demonkin flagship and rushed upward like a heavenly dragon rising from the depths of the sea, cutting through the enemy vessel with its massive spines! The Earth Dragon almost seemed alive and sentient at this moment.
To the demonkin, however, this was lethal retaliation. The dozens of giant spines on the Earth Dragon’s back weren’t just masts for kinetic sails. With the movement of the Martyr’s Palace, they struck ferociously into the bottom of Linken’s ship, slicing through the hull like a hot knife through butter.
The Martyr’s Palace had, in a way, proven the strength of a void colossus. The collision of two airships thus came to an end with an overwhelming victory for the Earth Dragon’s skeleton.
In the blink of an eye, the palace had sliced through the bottom half of Linken’s airship, its many bony appendages grinding the entire hull into scrap metal. A massive defect appeared through the middle of the demonkin warship and almost cut the vessel into two.
Under Qianye’s control, the Martyr’s Palace arched its back like a true Earth Dragon and swung its tail!
With a loud rumble, the dragon tail lashed at the flagship, producing a deep groove on the ship’s body. This damage was lethal because, with its keel broken, the upper part of the vessel could no longer withstand this massive force. The flagship was sent rolling from the impact and despair-inducing creaks rang out from what remained of its body.
“No!!!” Linken’s screams filled the void, a voice full of hatred and desperation.
This was a ship she had spent endless sweat and blood to construct, yet she was unable to go against fate. Amidst rumbling sounds that reverberated through the void, the flagship finally broke down into two parts.