“Aila, Midir, can you hear me? Get out here! The Void Demons are coming!”
Ronald didn’t stay where he was. Instead, he dashed toward the area where Iron Man No. 23 was parked at his maximum speed. As he ran, he didn't forget to use his goggles to contact the others in the Lord's Manor.
Meanwhile, the people resting in Duke Rowena’s study heard the sky-shaking blasts of the horn from outside the window.
The first to react was Aila, whose five senses were the sharpest. When the first horn blast echoed from the distance, she jumped up from the sofa in alarm and looked toward Midir.
Midir saw her sit up abruptly, but before he could ask what was wrong, he heard the horn blasts growing louder. At the same time, Rosal and Blake were also startled awake by the clamor outside and immediately realized the situation.
“That sound... it’s an emergency notification! How could it be so sudden?”
Blake stood up sharply from his chair and walked quickly to the window, watching the crowds of people beginning to surge outside.
“I’ve received a message from Mr. Ronald through the goggles! He says countless Void Demons have appeared in the southern sky!” Rosal, who had been wearing her goggles the whole time, shouted with a pale face.
“In the sky? Weren’t the ones we encountered before ground-based combatants? Even those disgusting cockroaches could only fly short distances, right? We’re on a mountain thousands of meters above sea level! How did they get up here?”
After hearing Rosal, Aila grabbed her own goggles that she had tossed aside. Upon receiving the same confirmation, she asked in shock.
“It seems this is the Void Demons’ hidden card. Let’s get out there and prepare!” Midir stepped forward and placed his hands on the two women's shoulders, signaling them to get ready to move.
“What about me? I’m going with you!” Seeing this, Blake also wanted to step forward, but Midir barked a command at him.
“You stay in the rear! Organize the army and evacuate the civilians first. That is what a commander should do! Don’t forget your father’s trust! We will handle the situation at the front!”
Midir gave him a stern look and, without another word, immediately teleported out of the study with the two women.
Watching the three of them vanish, Blake grit his teeth and immediately summoned the guards outside the study, beginning to issue various orders throughout the city.
Under Blake’s command, the entire Azure Fortress seemed to be imbued with a new soul, instantly transforming into a highly efficient war machine.
Every corner and every department in the city began to respond with incredible speed. The interior of the fortress was filled with a tense yet orderly atmosphere.
Soldiers emerged from their barracks like an activated iron current, moving swiftly and systematically along pre-set routes. They formed long lines, rapidly flooding toward every corner of the city walls.
A second later, Midir appeared with the two women on the southern wall of the fortress. At a glance, they saw a massive black cloud formed by the gathering of countless Void Demons.
Using the magnification function of their goggles, their vision pierced through the mountain valley and reached deep into the black cloud. They saw countless Void Demons churning within, their numbers far too great to calculate.
The wings of those black, insect-like Void Demons were vibrating rapidly, producing a low, eerie, and constant buzzing sound.
Accompanied by a massive roar from behind, Ronald arrived in the red Iron Man No. 23. He sped forward and landed slowly beside them, half-kneeling and kicking up clouds of dust.
Ronald pushed open the cockpit hatch on the chest of Iron Man No. 23 and quickly jumped out, shouting urgently to the group.
“You’ve already seen those things, haven't you! It might be a bit late to say this, but I finally know what they are!”
“Then explain quickly. Looking at the situation, it probably won’t even take half an hour for that swarm to reach the defensive lines of the lower city.” Aila stared at the countless Void Demons in the distance, her brow furrowed and her eyes filled with unprecedented gravity.
“Locusts! All those Void Demons we see are locusts from the Wind-Eroded Desert that have been transformed!” Ronald said seriously, looking at the group.
“Locusts? But how could there be so many?” Rosal exclaimed, unable to connect that distant black cloud with the small insects commonly seen in wheat fields.
“Rosal, you might not know, but a massive locust plague occurs in the south of the continent every few years. Wherever the plague passes, not a single blade of grass remains... The desolate landscape of the Wind-Eroded Desert is largely due to these locust plagues,” Ronald began to explain.
“Normally, locust plagues appear after a drought. I checked the weather around Azure City-State; it hasn't rained for several months. This climate is perfect for the mass breeding of locusts. Usually, a typical locust plague would be blocked by the Korana Mountains that span the continent, but now...”
“If the locusts were simultaneously catalyzed and controlled by the Void Demons, the mountains would be virtually non-existent to them, right?” Aila answered immediately, her expression turning grim as she spoke.
“Exactly. And the number of insects in a locust plague isn't just a few thousand or tens of thousands like what we've faced before. From the current situation, there are at least hundreds of millions... perhaps even billions of them.”
After saying all this, Ronald’s brow furrowed deeply, and his face was so dark it looked as if it might drip ink.
“How much longer do your arrangements on the wall need? Are those magic crystal cannons ready? Are there any other defensive measures?” Aila glanced at the artillerymen still busy nearby and asked.
“The magic crystal cannons are almost ready, but our defensive measures—aside from the barriers on the walls—don't seem to have any other effective anti-air capabilities. After all, Azure Fortress wasn't designed with large-scale aerial warfare in mind.” Ronald looked troubled and scratched his head helplessly.
“In this situation, those Void Demons can compensate for quality with sheer quantity, right? It looks like we need to take the initiative.”
Midir squinted at the distance. The black cloud was still about ten kilometers away from Azure Fortress, but at the speed of the Void Demons, it wouldn't take long for them to reach the fortress's outskirts.
“Mr. Midir, you don't mean to go out there yourself, do you? You can't!” Rosal realized his intention from his expression and immediately grabbed his hand, shaking her head.
Midir simply reached out and patted her head. His gaze remained as firm as ever as he continued to himself.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going out there to die. While it might be unrealistic for one person to eliminate them all, I can at least stall for time.”
“Then how do you plan to get there? I’ll fly you over on Kiteclaw!” Aila also understood Midir’s meaning and immediately offered her help.
“No. Once Kiteclaw is surrounded by them, you’ll all be in danger. Ronald, I’ll have to trouble you to give me a lift with Iron Man No. 23. I have my own ways of leaving the battlefield.” Midir looked up at the metal giant beside him and spoke to Ronald.
“No problem. Get on! We’re heading out now!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Ronald jumped back into the cockpit. He maneuvered Iron Man No. 23 to extend its table-sized palm toward Midir, signaling him to stand on it.
Midir leaped lightly into the giant's palm. As he was being lifted, he didn't forget to speak to the two women below.
“Aila, take Rosal to the lower city. There might be Void Demons there that can't fly, and your combat strength will definitely be needed then.”
“Understood. You be careful! Don't push yourself too hard! Let's go then, little Rosal.”
Aila looked at the ascending Iron Man No. 23 with concern, then gave a sharp whistle toward the sky. Kiteclaw, who had been on standby nearby, immediately flapped its wings and flew toward them.
Trailing long plumes of fire behind it, the massive Iron Man No. 23 flew out of the fortress’s defensive perimeter under the watchful eyes of everyone, cutting through the sky like a bolt of red lightning.
Iron Man No. 23 sped forward with staggering velocity. In just one minute, it had crossed nearly ten kilometers, rapidly closing the gap between the two of them and that black cloud.
Rate on N.U.
