1003 Spiky Fall
"Sir, what shall we do? Can we trust them?" One of the higher ranking soldiers asked as he still had his spear aimed towards Meomi. The scene before their eyes did not really inspire confidence towards their new 'allies'.
"Despite what they did to our Grandmaster, I can assure you that they have the best of intentions for our people! " Nightingale risked her life by putting herself between the spear and Meomi's body even though she knew full well that Meomi was more than capable of dealing with the soldiers herself. After all, the Werecat was at least as or even more powerful than her.
"I've seen them fight to the teeth against the Demon Rats and they came out victorious while ensuring that the citizens were not killed. They might be foul mouthed, yet they also have the necessary strength and capabilities to back up such arrogance!"
"Heh! You are giving us too much credit, Nightingale. We just don't want innocent people to suffer. Unlike your interim leader who is supposed to protect the masses, but instead hid the fact why you're being attacked in the first place." Meomi said.
"Your choice now, Leopardo. Ayse has already given you an ultimatum and you've felt how absurdly strong she is. She's been going easy on you, yet it left you paralyzed up till now. We have plenty more such comrades on route and none of them will show any mercy once the word comes from our leader. We can be your temporary allies or your absolute devastation."
"…Please help us. I was... wrong. Wrong to behave in such a way that does not benefit the interim leader of our Southern Capital." Leopardo did not understand why such words were coming out of his mouth. Though they were coming from the bottom of his heart, he was doing his best to resist the urge to say even more due to his pride.
No one had ever seen him, a champion who had saved the Southern Capital on more than one occasion, this pathetic before. For him to be bested so quickly and even toyed with by these agents indicated that their powers were of another level. (After all, most of the Farming World people did not have magic on their side and those who did got strictly controlled by the Scholars.)
"That's more like it." Meomi nodded as she opened up a System Channel to inform Jin.
"I got the gist of the situation based on the System's summarised update. Go ahead with the plan to protect the Southerners. Kraft has already ordered Tinda and Narris to search for the conspirators and their lackeys. Obviously, there's no need to tell them to hold back but I did recommend condemnation before killing them outright." Jin replied.
"You think the Southerners will empathise with us? They will probably think what Leopardo and Saberteeth did was right, given the harsh conditions that they were accustomed to." Meomi noted her opinion as she sheathed back her gunblade into the Climbing Gear Suitcase and picked up a sniper rifle.
"Nah. I did not mean public condemnation. You will understand when it happens. But first, let's concentrate on the giant flying army coming towards us. Let Spiky get settled in." Jin ordered.
"Aye, Aye, Master!" Meomi jokingly saluted as she instructed Leopardo to tell his people not to attack the unfamiliar monsters which are going to appear unless they have some sort of wings and are flying towards the capital. "If you think every monster you meet is one to take your life, allow us to open your eyes open and show that it's not the case."
As she finished her sentence, a large portal appeared and the southerners who were not informed were immediately taken aback by the spikes coming out of the portal. Only then did Spiky, the Giant Altered Transforming Spider, came crashing down towards the Southern Capital with absolute delicacy. Before its 'fall', Spiky had aimed his legs right outside the walls. The Southern Soldiers were scared stiff and could not help their instincts to point a weapon towards that monster despite repeated commands not to attack their new ally. After all, they had never seen a spider monster this humongous before.
However, Spiky did not care about the Southerners' reaction to him and he started to change by matching the sandy colour of the fortress walls. It turned its legs into stairs leading to defensive platforms high in the sky and the space around his legs began to create higher walls from thin air. At that moment the scared soldiers realised that the large spider had transformed into extension of the fortress walls.
"What are you bugs waiting for? Quickly get up and take up defensive positions! Interim Leader Leopardo already told us that these monsters are helping us." One of the Southern Army Captains ordered his men to make use of higher ground when given the opportunity. It would be a great boon to have against the incoming army of winged creatures.
A platoon of archers immediately picked up the caches of arrows and hurried to higher grounds, knowing that this would even the playing field a bit. Spiky had even created a gentle slope to allow the knights to push the ballistae up towards a larger defensive platform. They discovered that the floor where they had placed their defensive weapon could be turned 360 degrees with a pulley knob at the side so they would not have to consistently push the ballistae to reposition them.
That was not all. Unbeknownst to them, Spiky had already spun webs between his legs so that any winged monsters that tried to attack them could be removed by the archers or the Mousefolks who were still gearing up for their sorties.
When Jin saw the transformation, he was surprised how detailed it was. It appeared as if the spider had improved considerably compared to when it fought against the (at the time) Demon Exorcist trainees. When asked about it, the System informed the dungeon supplier that the fortress design has been created by the Super Entity on the fly and sent to Spiky to transform as such. "Wow, nice follow up. I did not expect the Transforming Spider could be used so creatively."
"Of all the captured Elder Demons which make up the so-called 'Cardinal Guardians', the Altered Transforming Spider has the most potential. System only tapped less than 5% of its current potential, thus the System does not deserve much praise."
"Only 5%?! Are you kidding me? You mean this Transforming Spider…. Huh. Interesting. I will have to have a one-to-one talk with Spiky or well with Weslie as the translator. Come to think of it, I should probably make the whole tour and also get myself more acquainted with the Burning Lion Demon and Water Snake Demon. Perhaps I could make something exciting for the Pandarens in the future utilising all four of them." Jin thought out loud as he also saw that Spiky too had already achieved the secret air base at the top of its head.
With its head high up into the clouds, Qiu Yue teleported to this improvised airbase with a small oxygen respirator attached to her waist in case she lacked oxygen. After which, she started to use her Empire Building Sub System to attach a portal regulator into it so that the System would not have to waste so much energy and resources to maintain a portal.
That allowed Jin's aerial squadrons to move into the makeshift warehouse which Qiu Yue had placed while setting up the ammunition and magic crystal stocks needed when they returned for a resupply.
Wyrstiker came through the portal regulator last, walking in with his own oxygen respirator. While the Devil Dragons were going through the augmentation with Jin, it would be Wyrstriker's duty to keep the skies above the Southern Capital clear.
With all the technology placed on the Wyverns, an extra team of Goblins followed the soldiers. They were usually working on the Supplies and Technical front and were there to ensure that the Wyverns could be refitted properly if necessary.
After a quick assessment, the Sub System deemed the access to healing magic as well as technical support satisfactory to ensure the Goblins and knowing that the Wyverns could go for a second run, it finally gave them the okay to head out.
"Goblin Wyvern Knights, let's show them who the masters of the skies really are!" Wyrstriker bellowed out through the System Channel and was met with a resounding affirmative cry from his platoon.