Your war hammer is too fake

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Author's Note: I knew this chapter would be difficult to write before I wrote it, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult.

Chapter 284: Caledor's Sorrow (Part 2)

January 4, 17:6.

Half an hour after the entire fleet sounded the battle alarm, the flying fleet consisting of three Kingfisher-class frigates and four Grasshopper-class gunboats had moved from the south of the Desolate Castle to the southeast, and then the entire fleet began to change its formation. Before the change, the Shenzhou fleet formed a double-column formation, with the two types of warships arranged in two single columns, with the Kingfisher-class with thicker hulls and larger hulls arranged in the inner circle, and the Grasshopper-class with smaller ships and a preference for ground strikes and weaker air defense capabilities in the outer circle.

After the order was given through flag signals, the seven large and small ships began to turn one after another. This tactical action was not uniform. Some ships hurriedly began to turn when the flagship sent out the first flag signal, while some captains and boat captains waited until the third flag signal was sent and confirmed the order repeatedly before ordering a turn. Due to the uncoordinated timing of the turn, the Oriole, which was at the end of the inner row, almost scraped against a Grasshopper, which frightened the gunners on the deck who were waiting for orders and cursed.

On the flagship Kingfisher, An Jiyue frowned at the chaotic scene in front of her, but she didn't say anything. The girl knew that she shouldn't demand better of her subordinates. After all, the Shenzhou Fleet was formed too recently, and the acceleration function of the system city was not omnipotent.

The fleet's formation was somewhat deformed after the turn was completed, so the flagship could only send out flag signals again, issuing instructions to each ship one by one, requiring the other party to strictly follow the orders to adjust the speed, course and flight altitude, and reorganized the formation in this way that was quite like the style of a military logistics instructor.

Theoretically, the tactical maneuver could be completed in ten minutes at most, but it took more than half an hour to complete. After the formation was reorganized, the current situation of the Shenzhou Fleet was that the fleet itself was located in the southeast of the Desolate Castle, and all the ships were heading northwest, that is, the Desolate Castle. During the entire maneuver, the Shenzhou Fleet encountered a group of Caledonian dragon knights, specifically a Silver Moon Dragon and its back pendant, plus a dragon mage.

Since the [Mind Shield] had been lifted, the Caledonians spotted the shadows of the Cathay Air Force from a distance. Since Prince Imrik had given orders in advance, the two high elves and their dragon companions did not choose to fight, but immediately moved closer to other comrades nearby. The dragon mage also released a fireball into the sky to warn his comrades in the distance.

Up to this point, the Caledonians had responded correctly. However, they immediately made a serious mistake: after gathering five dragon knights and a dragon wizard, the oldest and most senior prince did not wait for the other comrades to arrive, but led the charge.

"Turn the thrusters," An Jiyue ordered calmly, "get ready to fly the kite!"

Whether it is the Grasshopper or the Kingfisher, their propulsion systems have a very unique design: the propeller itself is located outside the hull, and the marine steam engine and propeller are integrated into this structure, and then connected to the hull through a single cylindrical connector. This cylindrical connector is hollow and is used to transport fuel to the steam engine and operate it; it also has a built-in spell circuit, which can launch [Alchemy] according to preset instructions to reconstruct the connector. The performance at the macro level is that the propeller can rotate 180° on the plumb plane.

In order to support this function, the propeller and the hull can only be connected at a single point. This not only reduces the structural strength, but also requires the propeller to be recalibrated after each use to restore the central axis of the propeller to a state completely parallel to the central axis of the hull. The advantage of this is that the flying ship can fly at the same speed whether moving forward or backward, and the propulsion system can still maintain extremely high reliability, instead of having accidents like some Ospreys.

After receiving the order, the chief engineers of each warship first ordered the two sets of thrusters to stop. After the roar of the steam engine and the sound of the transmission mechanism completely subsided, the chief engineer pulled down a joystick painted bright red. The connection between the hull and the thruster was activated, and the energy extracted from the spirit stone was pumped into the magic circuit along the branch pipeline. The short and thick hollow steel pipe immediately began to reconstruct, deform, and fuse, driving the thrusters outside the hull to rotate.

In the eyes of the Caledonians, those strange flying ships slowly stopped in place, as if waiting for them to pass by. For some reason, the Caledonians were not informed of the unilateral massacre of the fleet floating on the sea by the fleet flying in the sky off the coast of Marienburg. This was the first time they saw a flying fleet.

This thing might be some kind of oversized Sky Slasher, the Caledonians thought. Arrogant as they were, the Caledonians were not bad at all in terms of military accomplishment. The six-headed dragons (and their accessories) did not go in a straight line when approaching the flying fleet. From time to time, they would suddenly turn, descend, or climb, using irregular tactical maneuvers to avoid possible long-range attacks.

The flying speed of dragons was not as fast as giant raptors such as giant eagles and phoenixes, but it was not slow either. They kept closing the distance with the enemy, while being fully alert for possible attacks. When the Caledonians were only one mile away from the flying fleet, all the flying ships completed the thruster reversal and then restarted the steam engines that had been maintaining the boiler pressure.

The flying fleet began to slowly retreat, and the speed of reverse flight was getting faster and faster. The Caledonians kept up with the irregular evasive movements, biting the Chinese tightly. The dragon mage began to gather and guide the wind of magic, and the other princes took out longbows from the saddles, put arrows on them and were ready to draw the bows at any time.

"Don't fire the rocket launcher yet," An Jiyue ordered, "fire the projectile cannon in full force!"

After some coordination with the help of flag signals, the Shenzhou fleet, with its bow pointing at the Caledonian ships that were charging towards them and its hull flying backwards, fired a salvo, targeting a Caledonian prince wearing golden armor - as far as the Jiedushi knew, although dragon armor came in a variety of colors, only the most powerful Caledonian warriors were qualified to use the golden paint.

The acceleration ring of the projectile cannon once again emitted a low and long hum. The Star Iron Harpoon drilled out of the muzzle under multi-stage pulse acceleration, piercing the atmosphere with a sonic boom. The three frigates only aimed at one person, but two Kaledo fell. One of them was the prince wearing golden dragon armor. He was extremely unlucky to be pierced through the chest by a harpoon, leaving a hole in his chest that was transparent from front to back; the other was the dragon mage. An Jiyue waited until his spell was about to take shape before breaking it.

The dragon mage's Fiery Sun Dragon companion let out a deafening roar. For a proud creature like a dragon, the death of a rider is an intolerable shame, which is basically equivalent to killing a cat in front of a shit shoveling owner.

The dragon looked down at the dragon mage who was falling motionlessly to the ground, then let out a terrifying roar and flapped its wings faster to rush over. With the help of its anger, it once closed the distance between it and the flying fleet, but the Zhendan people kept speeding up. The speed of the Shenzhou fleet's reverse flight steadily increased, and finally it shook off the crazy Fiery Sun Dragon.

The Caledonians felt something was wrong. Behind them, more Caledonians who had received the news were rushing over, and the roar of Minasnir could be heard faintly from the horizon. The battle experience gained from their long lifespans made the surviving princes realize that this was a trap... However, their mere rationality was ultimately no match for the Caledonians' inherent arrogance.

They had already lost three comrades, but the enemy was unscathed. Just as they were weighing the pros and cons, the Fiery Sun Dragon, which had gone mad because its rider had been killed and had left the formation to move forward alone, was hit by a volley of bullets and fell with an unwilling roar. Now, they had lost four comrades, and the rage that surged from the bottom of their hearts finally broke free of all restraints.

"Let's go!" said a prince, tearing off an amulet from his neck: "In the name of Caledor!!"

The amulet, made of a whole piece of top-grade sapphire, instantly glowed with a sky-blue light, then quickly dimmed and shattered into countless tiny pieces. A sudden blue air current surrounded every Caledonian and their dragons, and the four dragon riders suddenly burst out with an astonishing speed that was much faster than the phoenix.

At this time, the Shenzhou fleet had not yet reached its maximum speed, and the dragon knights, whose speed had doubled, were closing the distance between the two sides almost visibly. The three Kingfishers fired another salvo, and this time the four Grasshoppers also opened fire. Although the steam harpoons of the latter were powerful, their effective range was very short, and it was only at this time that they finally brought the enemy into their attack range.

The Cathay people did not disperse their firepower. The gunners focused their fire on a single target without distraction, ensuring that every volley would definitely achieve something. Even though the Caledonians had tried their best to evade, a prince and his dragon companion were still pierced into hedgehogs by the Star Iron Harpoon. The Caledonians gritted their teeth and endured it all. The survivors pulled their longbows, and the finely crafted arrows caught up with the flying warships, and then bounced off the shields of the projectile cannons with a "ding" sound. The elves were not discouraged, because as long as they tried harder, they could get into the range of the dragon's breath -

The sky-blue air currents surrounding the Caledonians suddenly dissipated, and the speed of the dragon knights slowed down. An Jiyue gave his opponents false hope and crushed them just when they were about to achieve their goal.

After chasing for a short distance, the three Caledor princes suddenly turned around and prepared to retreat. This was the right decision, but it was too late. They were too close to the flying fleet, close enough for the Cathay people to slow down and shoot at them, burying them and their dragons here.

Looking at the furious Caledonians rushing over from a distance, An Jiyue knew that her tactical goal had been achieved, the dragons had been lured away, and now the Butcher King could safely attack the elf coalition's retreat. The girl then gave orders to the Eagle Guards through the mental network.

The Zhendan Sky Knights began to attack.

Chapter 285: Caledor's Sorrow (Part 2)

The wooden kite spreads its wings, and the iron wings split the wind.

The ten teams of Eagle Guards spread out horizontally, forming two long and narrow horizontal formations of five teams each. Compared with the flying fleet that made a fool of itself every time it changed its formation, the air knights from the twelve left and right guards of the Central Army were impeccable in both individual skills and teamwork. They smoothly completed the formation of the attack formation as they flew out of the tunnel and headed for the battlefield.

With the help of the extensive network of tunnels, the main force of reinforcements from the south appeared to the north of the Desolate Castle. 30,000 dwarf warriors from many fortresses held ancient battle flags with clan emblems, led by clan leaders and lords, and came from north to south, vowing to take blood debts from the elves who invaded the dwarf homeland. Many ancient entries in the Book of Hatred will be settled today.

The battle in the sky attracted the attention of the Wood Elves, and a team of Falcon Cavalry was ordered to check the situation, but they met the Eagle Guard flying from the north halfway. The sharp eyes of the elves made them realize that the other side was definitely not a friendly force, but before the Falcon Cavalry made any further moves, a team of Eagle Guard opened fire.

The size of the mechanical bird is comparable to that of a giant eagle, with a built-in ammunition bay in its abdomen that can carry six standard tracking rockets, or two heavy tracking rockets that have recently been equipped to the troops and are specially used to deal with certain tough targets. Both types of ammunition are derivatives of the Divine Fire Crow, which is essentially a mechanical beast made in the shape of a rocket, with a certain degree of intelligence and the guidance ability that comes with it. The nature of the mechanical beast and its disposable use make this type of ammunition extremely expensive and can only be used against high-value targets.

The reason why An's Aurora Air Force is not good at ground attack is largely related to this "expensiveness". After all, it is a huge loss to use the extremely expensive tracking rockets to bomb ordinary Yankees. Even if it bombs Chaos Warriors, it can only be said that the loss is not too serious. However, if the target is changed to a high-value unit such as the enemy commander or spellcaster, the Eagle Guard can temporarily lick the ground. Of course, the Eagle Guard's main imaginary enemy is always the enemy's air knight.

After visually confirming the enemy's position, a team of Eagle Guards closed their eyes. With this action, the mental connection between the Sky Knights and their mounts suddenly strengthened. The originally vague mental induction became clear, and after a few seconds of darkness, the Sky Knights "saw" the world again through the vision of the mechanical bird.

As long as it is a mount-type mechanical beast, it has the ability to communicate with the rider to a certain extent. This technology is an imitation of the spiritual connection of the lizardmen by the Mohists of Anshi Zhendan. However, compared with the latter's spiritual connection, which can be called the monkey version of Kara, the telepathy of the mechanical beast is vague and hazy, and can only feel and understand the rider's general intentions, such as moving forward, stopping, avoiding attacks, etc. Most of the time, this level of telepathy is enough for the military.

However, the mechanical bird cannot do that. Although the air knights of the Eagle Guard wear heavy black iron armor, a round shield in the left hand, a spear in the right hand, and a flail hanging on their waists, they are indeed light cavalry, with long-range attacks as their core combat means. Due to cost constraints, the intelligence of the mechanical bird is not enough for it to independently complete the complex task of "using tracking rockets to attack the enemy". Just judging what kind of enemy is worth a tracking rocket is far beyond its ability.

Compared to the ubiquitous mechanical horses, the mechanical birds are equipped with enhanced telepathic components. When the specially trained Eagle Guard closes his eyes and cuts off 90% of human external information, the mental connection between him and his mount will be significantly enhanced. In this state, the Sky Knight can use the mechanical bird's supernatural vision to observe the world, and use his mind to control the mechanical bird's core weapon, the tracking rocket mounted in the mechanical bird's belly bomb bay.

As mechanical beasts, mechanical birds do not have conventional vision. Their vision is closer to what a spellcaster sees when using magic senses to perceive the world. For people who do not have magical talent, just "looking" at this abstract scene will cause strong dizziness and migraines, and in severe cases, nausea and retching. Even though the sky knights are the best of the best, they still need to go through hard training to overcome this condition.

While the Falcon Cavalry was still trying to determine the origins of these enemies and sending one person back to report the news, about two kilometers away, a team of Eagle Guards opened the belly bomb bay of the mechanical bird. One of the hooks in the built-in bomb bay came loose, and a half-meter-long rocket followed gravity and left the bomb bay. A second later, the propulsion unit ignited, and the long tail flame and thick smoke pushed the tracking rocket out violently.

"(Van-Elsalin) Scatter!" The captain of the Falcon Cavalry, a Wind Knight, noticed the rockets coming at him at high speed: "Everyone, scatter, we... <Aslai swear>, this thing is turning a corner!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the warhead of the tracking rocket was detonated, and the shock wave and fragments swept through the falcon cavalry formation, and the entire blood-related war group fell down like rain. Their experience shocked the other falcon cavalry who had just taken off. The giant eagles gave a loud cry and gathered around the falcon cavalry, flying up and down.

Although they didn't know who the enemy was, nor could they understand the principles of the strange weapons used by the enemy, the wood elves still chose to fight without hesitation. The wide view from the high ground allowed them to easily see the dwarf reinforcements that were raising a cloud of dust. There was no doubt that at the moment when the main force of the coalition was fighting fiercely inside the fortress, the small number of people left in the camp could not stop such a large army. They had to try to delay the enemy and buy time for the commanders to withdraw troops and turn around to fight.

Asrai and their raptor companions had the courage to sacrifice, but their opponents did not think they had any honor. Distance became the most irresistible violence, and the five teams of Eagle Guards in the front row of the double-row formation fired a volley, and the flying tracking rockets tore apart the weak resistance of the Asrai Air Force.

After thousands of years of continuous improvement and optimization, the mechanical bird can still fly almost as fast as the giant eagle even when carrying a heavily armored rider and covered with a hardened shell. When the forest dragon refused to participate in the battle, the small number of falcon cavalry and giant eagles would be slaughtered unilaterally when encountering the Eagle Guard.

After the two teams fired at the same time, no more Asrai flying units could be seen in the sky. The five Eagle Guards in the front row accelerated forward, ready to clear the attack path for the approaching dwarf army; the other five Eagle Guards in the back row turned southeast, and they were now just behind the Kaledo people. These Eagle Guards did not use the standard configuration of six tracking rockets, but were equipped with two heavy tracking rockets with special warheads.

In front of the Shenzhou fleet, all the remaining Caledor dragon knights and dragon wizards gathered together. Imrik was heartbroken by the casualties. Every lost subordinate and every sleeping dragon made him feel like a knife in his heart. Including the Silver Moon Dragon that was chopped to death by Morgrim Elvenbane, the elven coalition had lost a total of nine dragons before they even took down the Desolate Castle.

Rage gnawed at the Lord of Caledor's soul, but Imrik did not order the entire army to charge regardless of the consequences. Instead, he thought about the current battle situation. The enemy's equipment and their tactics made it impossible for the Caledorians to exert their advantages at all, at least in a pure air force confrontation. So...

"The enemy is turning back!" the Kingfisher's lookout shouted. "They're going to attack the dwarves!"

"We really can't expect the enemy to be fools," An Jiyue said, without any disappointment or regret in her tone, "Notify the entire fleet to prepare for [Transfer]."

While issuing orders to the flying fleet, the Jiedushi also issued orders to the Eagle Guards who were busy cutting off the retreat of the Caledonians through the mental network. The Caledonians, who had just turned around, saw a series of white smoke trails spread out like flowers scattered by a fairy, with an ominous whistling sound coming from far away.

Although they didn't know what it was, the Caledonians responded immediately. Five dragon wizards raised their staffs at the same time, trying to create a wall of fire to block it. As An Jiyue was guiding the wind of magic to cast a spell, the other alchemists in the fleet were too far away to intervene, and the Caledonians successfully released their magic.

A scorching wall of fire appeared out of nowhere in the sky, blocking the first volley of the Eagle Guards like a towering wall. The heavy tracking rockets were detonated by the high temperature after entering the wall of fire, and failed to cause any damage to the Kaled people. However, the wall of fire only existed for a short time before it went out, perhaps only about ten seconds. This spell is normally released on the ground. In the air away from the earth, in the home of the Wind of Heaven, it cannot exist for a long time.

After the wall of fire trembled and disappeared, the Eagle Guards unmovedly released the second round of volleys, using up all the ammunition. Although he had been mentally prepared, when the rockets really hit his face, Imrick realized that some ancient taboos had reappeared in the world, and the knowledge that should have been forgotten forever had been dug out again.

“It’s Thunderfire!” the prince heard someone shouting, “Asuryan, they have brought out the cursed creature again!”

After the heavy-duty homing rocket hit the dragon, it did not emit ordinary flames, but a strange green flame. This was a special incendiary made of warpstone. It first appeared in a battle of Tal Alessi during the Longbeard War (Note 1), and was powerful enough to burn through dragon scales. The method of making this thing was lost before the Longbeard War was over. It was not until an ancient runesmith returned to the world as a reforger that the mystery of thunderfire was revealed.

An Jiyue didn't have a dimensional stone, she used a deeply refined spirit stone. Although the power was lower than the genuine one, the advantage was that the nature of this spirit stone version of lightning and fire became much more stable.

Dark green flames burst out in the explosion. The Caledonians wearing dragon armor could still resist this evil flame, but their dragon companions all let out deafening roars as soon as sparks touched their bodies.

More than a dozen dragons fell to the ground with green flames all over their bodies, and gradually stopped struggling in the process. The remaining dragons were also burned and screamed, until an anxious dragon wizard suddenly had an idea and summoned a ball of ordinary fire that was completely harmless to dragons and people wearing dragon armor, and "washed" several nearby dragons from head to tail, thus putting an end to the flames.

The Caledonians, who had recovered from the thunder and fire, reorganized themselves without any orders. The Eagle Guards in the distance had run out of ammunition, but they neither retreated nor advanced, but just stood there.

"Charge!" Imrik held up the Star Lance. He clearly felt the rising anger of Minasnir: "Disperse them, and then continue to carry out my orders!"

However, just as the Kaledo received the order and prepared to execute it, An Jiyue's spell was completed. In an instant, the five teams of Eagle Guards, which had already exhausted their ammunition, exchanged positions with the seven flying ships.

The next second, the projectile cannon and rocket launcher fired at the same time.

……

Note 1: The Longbeard Wars lasted for four hundred years, of which the Battle of Tal Alessi alone was fought a full fourteen times.

Chapter 286 Goodbye, Dragon Prince

Looking at the flying fleet blocking the way ahead, Prince Imrik made a quick judgment.

Without pulling the reins, the Shining Star Dragon, which was in tune with the prince, spread its wings and leaped into the air. The other dragon knights and dragon mages followed suit. The twenty-five surviving scaled beasts, carrying their elven companions, suddenly folded their wings after a short climb and began to dive like the Stukas on the Eastern Front.

"Hmm? Pretty sharp, eh?" An Jiyue raised her eyebrows. "It's a pity it's useless... Rocket launcher, fire!"

The Kingfisher class's gun layout was exactly the same as that of a surface ship, with all projectile guns placed on the central axis of the ship, and no weapons were equipped on the lower part of the ship except for a few dwarfs. When the Caledonians began to dive, they were almost immediately out of the range of the projectile guns, and the dwarfs with range could not be hit by dragon scales, let alone good heavy armor.

However, the Kingfisher class is not the Hammer class that Grim Bloxen is designing. The latter is equipped with four 90mm projectile guns and several dwarfs, and is a pure artillery combat flying ship. In contrast, the Kingfisher class is equipped with two 75mm projectile guns and two rocket launchers. The latter is positioned as a combination of rocket launchers and missiles. It can not only launch unguided rockets for fire coverage like a rocket launcher, but also launch tracking rockets to accurately strike high-value targets.

As the first serious warship of the Shenzhou Fleet, the Kingfisher class has a very recognizable armament layout, with two twelve-tube 130mm rocket launchers located on both sides of the bridge and a platform protruding from the middle of the hull. This design maximizes the warship's firepower delivery capability when facing the enemy at the bow, at the cost of a decrease in the warship's navigation stability and wind resistance.

After receiving the order, the gunners in charge of operating the rocket launchers on the three Kingfisher-class frigates stepped on the firing pedals. Suddenly, a stream of white smoke whizzed out from both sides of the bridge, and then the trajectory quickly moved downward, chasing after the diving Caledonians.

For Asur's side, the good news is that because Thunderfire requires precious spirit stones to be made, and the process is complicated and difficult to process, the actual production quantity is very small. The Zhendan people only have the batch carried by the Eagle Guard, and the flying fleet is not equipped with this thing. Ordinary tracking rockets are not a big threat to the giant dragon covered with scales. The bad news is that although the tracking rockets cannot blow up the giant dragon, they can just blow up the Bean Sprout brand canned meat on the dragon's back.

Dragons are extremely proud creatures. They cannot tolerate the shame of their riders being killed in front of them, but this scene is happening one after another. In this world, even magic armor can hardly withstand direct hits from heavy firepower, because they are not designed to block cannonballs. Only a few special armors made specifically for this situation, such as the Noble Armor of Blake Hammerbrow, can withstand direct hits from behemoths or cannons.

Most of Prince Caledor's equipment was inherited from generation to generation in his family, and some of it could even be traced back to the era of Caledor the Dragon Tamer. Their armor could protect against the slashing of swords, the stabbing of spears, the shooting of arrows or lead bullets, and could also resist flames or magic, but they had never considered blocking cannonballs. So they died, and died like ordinary civilians, without any epic duel, and the enemy was not some legendary monster.

Imrik gritted his teeth and endured it all. The price paid by the Caledonians had exceeded his psychological bottom line, although this was not enough to shake the prince's determination to win. On the battlefield, any mistake made by the commander would cost his soldiers blood. The enemy's fighting style made it impossible for the Caledonians to fully play their advantages, but fortunately, all this was finally coming to an end.

After facing the constant oncoming tracking rockets and sacrificing the lives of several tribesmen, the Caledonians finally escaped the tracking rockets' firing range. Although tracking rockets can change their trajectories while flying, their maneuverability is quite limited. In fact, they can only make trajectory corrections within a very small angle on the firing axis.

"Climb!" Imrik shouted. Minathnir stopped shouting in time so that the prince's voice could reach every Caledonian: "We must destroy, or at least repel these damned broken ships, otherwise they will kill us one by one like target practice!"

Everyone agreed. In this battle, the Caledonians had lost twenty-one dragons and even more of their own kind. Imrik was so heartbroken just thinking about these two numbers that he almost went crazy.

Rage was flowing in the chest of every Caledonian, and the only way to quell it was to crush the enemy into pieces. Fortunately, after paying such a painful price, they finally gained an opportunity to destroy the enemy.

The Shenzhou fleet was climbing at full speed, trying to avoid the upcoming attack. The Caledonians urged their dragon companions to climb quickly, and the dragon mages began to gather the wind of magic, preparing to cast spells to support their comrades. It seemed that a moment that could turn the tide of the battle would come soon... Then the four Grasshopper-class gunboats suddenly opened their bomb bays.

From the beginning of the war to now, the grasshoppers have almost no presence, and even the elves have intentionally or unintentionally ignored these smaller flying ships. The four grasshoppers brought by the Zhendan people are all standard models. The lower part of the hull is a huge bomb bay that can accommodate 30 tons of aerial bombs. If necessary, this number can be raised to 50 tons.

However, the Grasshopper-class gunboats in front of us did not drop bombs after the bottom bomb bay was opened. Instead, a cannon mounted on a rotating bracket slowly extended downwards?

"Commander, all kinetic beam cannons are ready!" shouted the communications chief of the Kingfisher.

An Jiyue nodded: "Open fire."

Shortly after the first Plateau-25 kinetic rifle rolled off the production line, someone from the Reforgers proposed whether it could be scaled up to be used as a heavy support firepower. This idea remained in the conceptual stage for a long time until a wizard accidentally seized a Mind Engine and reverse engineered this ancient device, which truly became technically feasible.

Sitting in the basket, with mountains and air below, the gunner turned the steering gear and elevation gear, and the four kinetic beam cannons, which looked like Hollywood sci-fi style in the 1970s, slowly turned the gun body, and the gun barrel pointed diagonally downward. After about the time it took to take a deep breath, the four kinetic beam cannons successively spewed out a thin white light from the muzzle.

The first three of the four beams missed, and only one hit the head of a Silver Moon Dragon, entering from the top of its head and then exiting from the dragon's chin. Without any dazzling sound and light effects, the Silver Moon Dragon suddenly straightened its slender neck, and after a short roar that stopped abruptly, the giant beast ignored the desperate calls of its rider and fell like a piece of rotten meat that had been smashed through.

After a brief moment of shock, the Caledonians and their dragon companions were not frightened, but climbed up madly. They made the most correct choice under the circumstances: put aside all unnecessary thoughts and fight desperately!

The Shenzhou fleet began to climb after the rocket launchers lost their range, and the dragons also climbed. In this contest, the Caledonians finally won a game: the dragons climbed much faster than the flying ships, and the distance between the two sides continued to close.

After getting close enough, the dragon mages tried to use spells to directly attack the Shenzhou fleet, and then the Caledonians lost all their spellcasters. The four kinetic beam cannons fired another round, shooting down another Silver Moon Dragon, and this was the last time these experimental equipment fired. Before these dangerous weapons finished charging, Imrick and his fellow Star Dragon Minasnir finally brought a Grasshopper into the attack range of the dragon's breath under the cover of others.

Blazing white dragon breath gushed out of its bloody mouth, melting steel and burning through wood, rushing along the passage inside the boat and arriving at the engine room at the stern. The door of the engine room had been closed long ago, but the supernatural flames that could burn everything burned through the iron door, burning the anti-gravity engine and the Aurora soldiers belonging to the engine group.

Having lost the most important subsystem on the entire ship, the Grasshopper-class boat shuddered and then began to fall without any delay. Minasnir turned over lightly to avoid it, and just as the Star Dragon turned around to attack the next target, a Star Iron Harpoon pierced into the dragon's belly, causing Minasnir to let out a short scream of pain.

Yao Xinglong turned his head and looked down. A Zhendan man on the falling gunboat was operating a steam harpoon to fire at it. The next second, the flames burned through the hull of the fuel tank, and the entire gunboat was engulfed in the explosion caused by the alcohol fuel.

Under the continuous dragon breath of the dragon group, the four grasshopper-class gunboats were completely destroyed within two minutes, and the black smoke rose to the sky. This low-cost gunboat that emphasized cost-effectiveness was still too fragile in front of two dozen giant dragons.

The Caledonians, who had been beaten since the beginning of the war, now vented their anger. Some dragons that could not get a suitable attack position simply turned their heads and spit at the other three Kingfishers, but their dragon breath was all blocked by some force. It was not until this time that anyone noticed that the furnace rune was engraved on the oak planks of the Kingfisher.

Realizing that dragon breath had no effect, just as the Caledonians were preparing to let their dragon companions tear these damn broken ships into pieces with their claws, a golden light flew out from the bridge of one of the Kingfisher-class ships, and then turned into a tall figure in mid-air.

Golden helmet, golden armor, golden seal, golden whip, this 20-meter-tall giant is shining golden from head to toe, but he does not look like a nouveau riche, but rather has a solemn and majestic feeling. The giant's entire body is wrapped in golden mountain-patterned armor, and even his head is covered tightly by a helmet and a visor.

"(Zhendan language) Ariel... I will kill you in a moment," the giant in golden armor said in a voice as loud as a bell, with each syllable echoing, and it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman. "(Elsalin language) Are you ready to die, Caledonian?"

Just as Imrick was heartbroken for the casualties of his people, An Jiyue was also heartbroken by the loss of the Shenzhou fleet. The Jiedushi was ready to attack when the kinetic beam cannon fired for the first time, but just as she was about to cast a spell, an unfamiliar will suddenly intervened and tried to counter her spell.

This magic confrontation lasted less than three minutes, but it was during these three minutes that An Jiyue lost four Grasshoppers. The ships themselves didn't matter, but the crew members were all burned to death. The dragons were breathing from multiple angles at the same time, so the Zhendan people on board had no time to parachute. Of course, even if they had time to parachute, An Jiyue didn't think the Kaledo people would let her people go.

The Mage Queen's restraint caused the girl to watch helplessly as the Caledonians slaughtered her subordinates. The more anxious An Jiyue was to get rid of Ariel's spell countermeasures, the more the wood elf demigod interfered with her spellcasting. When the fourth grasshopper-class gunboat exploded in mid-air, the girl was anxious and was about to change her target to kill the Mage Queen first, but Ariel stopped trying to break the spell without hesitation, and her breath and her magic power disappeared without a trace.

At this time, An Jiyue calmed down completely. She completed her spell meticulously, and [Superior Summoning God] allowed her to transform into a 1-meter-tall golden-armored giant (Note ), floating in the air and facing the many dragon knights who were staring at her with eager eyes.

A reckless Fiery Sun Dragon and its equally reckless rider suddenly rushed out from the side, and the Fiery Sun Dragon opened its mouth and bit the left hand of the golden armored giant. An Jiyue did not react at all, but let another will in this body, a virtual personality created by magic, control this huge body to lightly turn sideways to avoid the bite, and at the same time, the golden whip in his right hand was launched later but arrived first, smashing the Fiery Sun Dragon's head into a pile of flying minced meat and broken bones.

"(Elsalin) The first one." The golden giant said. Just when An Jiyue thought that the remaining dragon riders would rush over to fight to the death, the surviving dragons looked at each other, then turned around and retreated quickly.

"Minathnir? Damn it, what are you doing?!" Imrik, who was about to lead the charge, pulled the reins repeatedly and angrily questioned his dragon partner. However, the Star Dragon did not give any response and just ran away.

The golden armored giant had just chased for a short distance when he was forcibly intercepted by several dragon knights. The latter rushed towards the three Kingfisher-class frigates regardless of anything, forcing the golden armored giant to stay where he was and fight with them. When Prince Imrick turned his head for the last time, he saw several huge figures falling, and another Star Dragon roared and grabbed the golden armored giant, and refused to let go no matter how the latter whipped with the golden whip in his hand.

After losing 27 dragons, the remaining 19 dragons abandoned the Caledorian army that was still fighting on the battlefield, ignored the strong dissatisfaction of their companions, and forcibly took the remaining 11 Caledorian princes away from the battlefield.

The Aurora lost four Grasshopper-class gunboats, and none of the air force officers and soldiers on them survived. Three Kingfisher-class frigates were damaged to varying degrees, and there were also some casualties, but overall they still maintained their combat effectiveness.