Knights & Magic - Book 8: Chapter 112: Wind Knights vs Metamorph

A horn sounded suddenly over the quiet forest.

“Emergency signal from the reconnaissance aircraft!”

The source is the center of the Silver Phoenix Knights and The Flying Fleet. The flagship of the Wind Knight Carrier group, the Izmo.

“Message warns of the approach of a Demon Beast, the number is… What the hell? One?”

“We’ll be sending a platoon out to meet it!”

“I’ll take care of it.”

David, who takes the captain’s seat, nodded to Takaage. (?) Since they’d reached this area, Demon Beast attacks had become a daily occurrence. Responding to this monster was an elite Wind Knight, the Tuediane. Besides, a single platoon is hardly an enemy. Yes, he was comfortable.

“……!? Continue using visual comms! Ah, the demon beast is approaching! …… It seems to have been missed?“

“Hey, I’m not sure about this one.”

Everyone on that bridge, not just Izmo’s master, were suspicious of the reports they were receiving.

“By any chance, is it a bug type?”

“No, there is no signal indicating the bug type. I mean, the type is unknown.”

Edgar, the captain of the 1st Company groaned, arms crossed.

One of the strongest enemies they’d encountered in this region so far was the worm-type Demon Beast, which also had a soluble body fluid, though different than the bug-type. If it wasn’t one of these, it must have been a new kind of monster. Even if it was alone, vigilance was necessary.

“Hey Edgar, what are you going to do? You’re headed this way, but after all, there’s only one of these things.”

“Think of me as moral support, or perhaps I’m going along just in case. I’m a flying knight, too. I’ll take your Tuediane. 1st Company, prepare to launch.”

“Just for one of them, huh?” another squadron leader, Dietrich, called out a question to Edgar, whom was about to leave bridge.

“I don’t know what kind of beast it is, but I don’t think there’s ever been a time where a single enemy attacked, as opposed to a group of them. I don’t think these Demon Beasts are quite that stupid.”

“I’ll tell the ships around you to keep their eyes open, hey?”

“Well, I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

“Just make sure you bring my Tuediane back, okay?”

Dietrich remained leaning against the wall and waved. Edgar shrugged once and then headed off to the ship’s hold. Wind Knights were struggling in the sky while such an exchange took place on the flagship.

“This guy… He’s fast!”

“Damn, he make it look easy to attack us!”

Silhouette Knights with a half-human, half-fish design were fighting in the sky. They had a human-shaped upper body and fish-shaped lower body. The flames from the Magi-Jet thrusters spewed out violently as they feverishly tried to outpace the speedy Monster in their midst. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to catch up with, let alone surpass, the speed of the other party. If the other enemies were Demon Beasts, surely this one was a Demon personified!

“But… What is that? Are we facing a demon beast or a Silhouette Knight?!”

“Don’t say stupid things. As if there could be a Silhouette Knight in a place like this!”

“But, look closely… what does that look like to you?”

A platoon of flying knights on the recon-duty encountered the enemy they were currently referring to as “Sole” in the air. After sending a signal of the encounter warning to the fleet, they tried firing off a warning shot. Then Sole approached at an unusual rate, quickly overtaking the recon-company. In addition, it seemed that Sole was flying toward the center of the convoy in a clear, unwavering line. Thus it was quite clear: this enemy couldn’t possibly be left to do as it pleased.

“Oorah! I hit him!”

The shot released by the flying knight drew a tail of light in the sky, but the pilot spoke a bit prematurely. Sole easily avoided the bullet, it’s remnants scattering. It moved exactly as if it had eyes in the back of it’s head and it continued flying without slowing down even a little bit.

“If we keep going like this… We’ll be back to the Izmo!”

“No, I’ll not be letting that happen. Look, it’s a light signal!”

From under the flying convoy floating in the distance came light flashes. A fixed pattern of flashing light conveyed a hopeful message.

“First… Company! Captain Edgar is coming?”

“This is the end of that beast.”

A flame seemed to have lit up in front of the fleet. This proved to be the Wind Knights of the first squadron on a direct intercept course. Granted, this was a force which seemed to be ‘a tad bit’ excessive for one enemy, but it was encouraging to see the Company in charge of preventing enemies from breaking through to the fleet.

“Well, finally. First company, permission to engage. We’re going to pinch and shoot!”

“Watch out for each one! Magic-Guided Short Spear, get ready!” (This seems to be different than their Lances, but the context is all wonky. I maybe come back to this later.)

The reconnaissance platoon ceased fire, concentrating on trying to at least maintain the current distance of, if not overtake, the enemy. While increasing speed, small twin spear-throwers were activated. From the front, first squadron’s Wind Knights were approaching; The siege against this unidentified beast was beginning in earnest.

“It’s quick but, after all, it is a monster.”

“Let’s wrap this up quickly… Magic short spear, projection!” (I feel this should be launch… Welcome to the rough draft, folks!)

Flames violently erupted from the small twin spear thrower. Silver wires on the inside held the magical commands, connected as well by a kind of sword, allowing a continual volley of spears to be released. The spears accelerate sharply and rushed toward the enemy. It felt like overkill, to use so much force against a single enemy. In front were the Flying Knights of 1st Company, from the rear came attacks by the magic guided short spears. No one doubted that this was the end of the… Boss Demon.

====================================

If it was just a beast, that might have truly been the end of it.

The thing which seems to be a demon beast, this Boss Demon that the Flying Knight Corps chased, well… it wasn’t a Boss Demon or a Demon Beast at all. This enemy was, in fact, a deformed Silhouette Knight called “Kasasagi” and was being piloted by none other than Ernesti Echeverria, the Knight Commander of the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

“Eru! There’s more spears coming up behind us!”

In the cockpit of the Kasasagi, Addy, who was currently hugging Eru happily, leaned forward. She seemed rather pleased that they were under attack. Incidentally, Eru nodded with an unclear expression on his face.

“Would you really like to use it? It’s a really good decision.”

“Is this really the time to be relaxing? I mean, they’re coming over.”

Looking at the many spears reflected in the Holo-Monitor, Eru smiled fearlessly.

“Hehehe. In fact, these are just the same magic spears we used back then, against the Levitate ships, though they have been modified. I suppose it’s safe to tell you that there are a few drawbacks to them.”

Gripping the control stick, then, Eru intervened in moving the arms left to Addy’s control. Receiving magic, they started to give off a pale light.

“Addy, if you please.”

“I’ll take care of it. Hehehe, is that the child of the Purple Swallow Knights, or is it one of our Silver Phoenix Knights?”

There were two pilots in this cockpit. Taking advantage of this, the pair of them were able to respond to a variety of attacks that would overwhelm a single pilot. As a result of each maneuver, the Kasasagi took a strange position, an arm aiming backwards while advancing with all it’s power.

“It’s a fast-fire magic weapon that lacks power, but it also has surprising advantages.”

He looked at the approaching spear as Addy fired. Rapid-fire magic weapons are great at what they do. Each one of these particular ones fired a small bullet, which can then be scattered quickly to form a barrage. The spears, in turn, are caught up in this barrage, which led to an explosion from the edge where the bullet hit, and the spear was blown up. Those that aren’t outright destroyed lose their target and fly randomly.

A hurried instruction came from a panicked Wind-Knight pilot, but it was already far too late. The barrage by the small method bullet destroyed the silver line nerve, that which was used to guide the short-spears. The magic-guided short spear, which had seemed to successfully deflect the target once, had just failed utterly.

There is one big fault in the magic spear. After all, the magic guide spear is a spear which flies at high speed and does not have any other function, such as exploding. Without the magic to guide it, it becomes a dumb-fire attack, so once you’re no longer able to be targeted then the attack fails. On the other hand, while not very powerful, the rapid-fire type magic-guided short spears functioned almost like a homing missile, making it a very effective interceptor. That said, it doesn’t take much power to disrupt it, either.

“We’re not sweet enough to just crash with only this type of attack.”

Eru laughed at her, but he was the inventor of the magic spear. Of course he’d understand the weaknesses of the weapon and how to counter it. Thus, the Kasasagi accelerated once again toward the place the spears were launched from. The little mage, supported by Kasasagi, felt a strong sense of acceleration, her whole body stiffening.

“Parl-chan, are you alright!?”

“Master Addy… I’m a giant, I don’t care about a little thing like this!”

“There’s an attack coming, be careful!”

While the pursuers were left behind, the Wind Knight squadron from ahead of them closed the distance. Next, we have to break through this.

“How can I help? I don’t think there’s much I can do, but…”

Flying through the air, knights flying in the sky, flying spears, all approaching at overwhelming speed. All of these things are beyond the experiences of the Apprentice Mage. In fairness, there is no one among the giant clans who has experience with air-to-air combat. She is, honestly, in completely unknown territory.

“It’s okay, most of this can be left to me and Addy. Parl, we’ll try to prevent them from attacking as much as possible, just do your best to defend.”

“I’ll try.”

Nevertheless, the apprentice mage looked forward once more with no signs of discouragement.

“This is where the teachers are…… I live in the west, we aren’t like the Goblin Clan.”

Because she’d heard it from Eru and Addy, she knew that these flying things came from their home to rescue them. These people whom had the power of the sky, that can even defeat the Cretvastia. Parl, the only giant there, was firmly determined to do well.

“Now, get ready, it’ll be here soon!”

The Kasasagi accelerated toward the largest ship in the middle of the convoy. The little mage looked at the group in front of her from between narrowed eyes.

“That’s… Is it a ship like the master said? If we’re few in numbers, we should be able to get inside. Hundred eyes… Look at that!”

At the same time, the massive attack was started against the Kasasagi, which continued to push forward. Though the aim of the attack was very accurate, just before it could hit the Kasasagi performed a lateral shift, avoiding it. Assuming, at first, that he’d dodged the attack, he was soon oddly pleased to find that each bullet had been exquisitely aimed, like a large net cast to try and entangle the odd looking Kasasagi.

“It looks like we’ve been taken in.”

“It’s hard to do, but this isn’t the time to be impressed!”

“Do you want to evade? However, the squadron which we’re facing is probably elite. We’d only be cornered by the next attack with just a little evasion.”

“Ah, that’s the front!”

The Kasasagi stopped evading. Quick-fire magical weapons were fired, shooting down the opponent’s weapon. They rushed into the midst of the explosive flame that blossomed in the air a brief moment.

“Wind, Vento!” The little mage used wind magic to puncture the flame. The movable armor (Flexible Coat) shifted, protecting Parl.

Despite the reckless brute force that broke through their attack, the Wind Knight pilots were calm. Three aircraft advanced in the center, prepared for melee battle while firing off another short spear attack. In addition, three platoons of Wind Knights drove in toward the Kasasagi while spreading out. Before the smooth movements, however, Eru was smiling, definitely in a good mood.

“Is this… 1st Company?”

“It’s kind like Edgar-san, isn’t it? Di’s more likely to get hands-on.”

“It’s kind of fun!”

“Moderately.”

Though not in tune with Eru’s excitement, the rainbow-colored Ether Ring Generator under Kasasagi’s torso increased in both light and diameter. It’s output had increased the Levitate field as the patchwork Silhouette Knight was lifted further into the sky. This is the major advantage of the open-type source floater. By using the ether which existed with no limit in the atmosphere, even a conventional source floater can freely adjust it’s altitude.

=====================================

Watching Sole begin to ascend, the pilots of the Wind Knights became upset. Though designed for aerial combat from the beginning, this action was beyond the limits of their machines. Chasing it, the Wind Knights were able to raise their altitude as well, but the delay of even a second was fatal. It would be impossible to defeat this Boss Demon by close-range fighting. Forced to give up on that strategy, 1st Company had to switch back to ranged attacks.

Flame spouted from the Magi-Jet Thruster of Sole in small increments, taking an unusual trajectory in order to dodge these attacks. It’s extremely difficult to kill this machine with a long-range attack. The Cavalry of the Flying Knights were growling with impatience and irritation.

“What the hell is that? It’s not moving, is it?”

“Oh, my God, Izmo is right in front of us. We can’t allow this to break through!”

Edgar was caught in a strange sense of dismay while the crew became…confused.

“It blows out flames and shoots down our spears. What’s more, that thing on the front of it… It looks like a large human…”

A terrible hypothesis passed through his mind. Unusual maneuverability, it didn’t try sneaking up on them, it knew how to cope with the flaws of the magic spears as if it knew the shortcomings in advance, and then there was that strange, extreme shape that looked like a human of sorts. This all added up to give Edgar cause to doubt.

“Nevertheless… Right now, it’s nothing more than a threat to the fleet. 1st Company, let’s hit that thing with all of our power!”

Edgar decided to kick the stirrups and accelerate Tuediane at once.

“After all, Wind Knights have a weakness in vertical movement.”

“It’s pretty hard for Shea-chan to do well, too.” (Shea-chan? If anyone knows another name…)

========================================

Kasasagi was flying and in good condition, though it had to evade the magic-spear attacks which came in occasionally. There was nothing to block them anymore. In the scenery reflected on the Holo Monitor was the Levitate ship, Izmo. It seemed to grow larger as they got closer. And then, the voice of Parl shouted out a warning.

“Master, something fast is coming from right in front of us!!”

There was a flying knight at the same altitude as Kasasagi. It rose up while they’d been fighting the other flying knights. It was yet another party not to be dismissed, having obviously seen through Eru’s movements.

“It’s amazing, and what acceleration it has! Is it Edgar or Di, do you think?”

“…… Let’s wait for it to ‘signal’ and see.”

Eru’s smile deepened. It was probably the strongest knight of the squadron to be coming in on a straight intercept like that. He was dying to know how powerful it was.

“We’ll be crossing paths just once, then the game will be over. Come on, let’s go to war!”

The Kasasagi accelerated even more. The distance between them shrank in the blink of an eye, then entered a fatal pause. It was the flying knight who took the lead. Multi-type air-to-air Lances were fired with the magic-guided short spears. A deadly spear attack, launched at Eru’s Knight. There wasn’t enough distance for quick-fire magic weapons to intercept them. Eru screamed.

“Parl!”

“Ah! Wind type, Prochylae!”

The gathered atmosphere shook the Kasasagi just a bit. In addition, the movable armor was activated, strengthening defense. Immediately after, the magic spear hit Eru’s Silhouette Knight! The protection of the wind magic diverted the tip of the spear, causing it to slid over the closed armor. While spreading sparks, the magic spear passed behind them.

“Now, Parl, attack!”

“Take that!”

With a breath, the body of the Wind Knight jumped in. A composite air-to-air spear with a complex design, a Lance, is pushed out toward Kasasagi, trying to skewer it. Just before the tip could hit the little mage, the movable armor cut in to cover her. The weight and strength were different from the magic spears they’d seen before. The spear broke through the additional armor, penetrating.

The Tuediane swung the additional armor wide with the spear that seemed to be stuck inside it. While losing that armor, the attack was deflected from the body of the Kasasagi and Parl was protected. After the spear, the body of the Wind Knight thrusts forward. He intended to use himself like steel hammer, despite any attacks he might suffer.

Staring at the approaching knight, the little mage stuck out her arm.

“Fire, come. Igniarde!!”

A flame is created in her palm. The impact of the explosion hit the Wind Knight head-on. Tuediane was blown away, unable to do anything but watch the attack coming. An apprentice mage unleashed magic at close range, while the remaining movable armor protected her body. The attack was dodged, and three people breathed as one.

“Oh, it’s dangerous. If it weren’t for the fact that there’s three of us, we might have lost.”

“It’s wonderful. All the flying knights are getting stronger; that’s my knighthood.”

“Teacher? Should the Knights have really been attacking us all out like that? Is that really ok?”

The little mage, whom was reluctant in the past, now seemed to have been having fun somehow. Then there was Kasasagi, whom dodged all pursuit and was finally approaching the fleet.

At that time, the fleet got really noisy. Wizard Style magic began to emerge, and the tip of the magic weapon was turned toward Kasasagi. If they moved forward even a little bit, the barrage from all ships would greet them.

“Well, it’s tough to deal with this.”

Despite it’s light mobility, the sheer quantity of attacks was bound to make an impact. Addy opened her mouth while Eru thought about whether to use have her use her back hands or not.

“…… Hey, you’re not gonna shoot me, are you?”

The sky remained quiet. No one is shot, and there is no sign that the Flying Knight will go further.

“Hmmm. Don’t be shy.”

Cautiously, Eru advanced.

=====================================

On the other hand, the bridge was as busy as ever, with a large number of reports coming in one after another.

“Wind Knight, ready to go!”

“Boss, we’re ready to intercept. I can go anytime, it’s almost here!”

“Dietaicho, don’t you dare launch without orders!?”

The boss remained silent while listening to his subordinates’ reports.

“Boss, shall we open fire!?”

“No, I don’t think so. Wait a minute.”

The movement of the subordinates stopped upon hearing such unexpected words from the boss. What exactly was being said was that the demon-like beast was already there, it seemed, on the tip of their collective nose so to speak. Not answering their confused questions, the boss stood up.

“We’re going to put on the kata. (No idea, this phrase might be nipped) You’re not going to move too much.”

“What! I mean, where are you? Boss!?”

The boss, who jumped up and left without a word to his subordinates, ran desperately with his short legs to the upper deck, crossed his arms, and stared at the sky.

An unusual object on a sparkling rainbow ring approached. It was like a beast, yet it was also like a machine. In addition, there was something like a huge human seen in front of it as well, and the true colors of this Demon Boss were beyond being grasped just by looking at it. However, the boss was intuitively convinced.

At that time, the door of the upper deck opened, and a familiar Silhouette Knight rose from the inside. It is a figure with twin swords and crimson armor, the Guelarinde.

“Di, wait! This is…”

“I know. There’s only one idiot who flies in the sky with a Magi-Jet thruster that can also beat off Edgar’s attack…… It’s a little too strange.”

Guelarinde turned his sword down and prepared himself for battle.

The rainbow-colored glow approached from right in front of them as they waited with tensely.

The Kasasagi finally landed on the deck of the flying mother ship Izmo.