BXBX NOVEL Chapter 169
Athos had greatly underestimated the Simogo’s top speed. Reinforcing his body with dragon core and core at the same time resulted in an absurd speed that forced Athos to hide between the dragon’s ribs in order not to be thrown away.
The fortress had become visible in just over 12 hours, half the estimated travel time.
“Good job, Simogo. We’re almost at our testing ground.” Athos spoke as he looked at the distant silhouette of the fortress getting closer and closer. He couldn’t wait to see the astonished expressions of the soldiers on watch around the fortress.
It seemed that the soldiers had noticed them in the sky, as the mana barrier was slowly rising and Athos could see the soldiers moving back and forth inside the fortress.
The Golden bow fortress was almost the same as the Platinum Fist Fortress, only the position of some buildings changed. It seemed that the kingdom had used the same blueprint for all of the fortress, rather than spending the money necessary to make each stronghold unique.
The soldiers looked like ants because of the distance and Athos loved watching them from this height.
“Let’s circle the fortress for a while, Simogo. It wouldn’t be a real test if the targets aren’t ready.” Athos stroked the back of the dragon’s skull and Simogo slowed down, flapping his wings lazily as he watched the humans below in anticipation.
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In the fortress below, the soldiers were in full panic at the sudden appearance of what they thought was a shadow dragon. Emergency alarms were sounding throughout the fortress as soldiers rushed to their positions and readied siege weapons, but their morale was low.
Dragons were the symbol of strength and terror for humans. They were rare and most humans had never seen one in their lives, but everyone knew stories about the sheer power of dragons.
The soldiers were already tense after being informed that the expedition to the fortress of the platinum fist had failed and that they should be ready to defend themselves against a possible counterattack, but no one expected that a dragon would suddenly appear.
“Soldiers, everyone take your positions! Get the ballistae and catapults ready, I want all the archers ready when that thing goes down! Mages, get behind the inner wall and start casting a full-scale spell.” General Malti climbed to the top of the inner wall and began shouting orders while calling for reinforcements from the kingdom.
She was a woman in her late thirties with light brown hair and black, almond-shaped eyes. At approximately 1.62 meters tall and with a slim body, she looked even smaller than she actually was.
Malti was dressed in hunter clothing despite his military rank, wearing pants and a dark green shirt underneath brown leather armour. The armor was made from swamp crocodile leather and enchanted by court magicians.
She carried a magically enchanted wooden bow on her back, but no quiver or arrows.
A royal scribe answered the emergency call and the general quickly explained the situation, causing the scribe to turn pale in amazement. The scribe realized the seriousness of the situation and tried to request reinforcements for the fortress, receiving the news that the portals were inactive and it was impossible to move troops at the moment.
“Are you just going to abandon us and let that dragon exterminate us? If it’s impossible to send armies, send strong individuals with teleportation crystals! I’m sure powerful individuals will be much more useful than a bunch like meat shields!” Malti shouted at the scribe, but she didn’t take his eyes off the dragon.
She was using her hawk eye skill to observe every detail of the dragon, not that it was difficult to see with the dragon slowly flying around the fortress. Luckily, Athos wasn’t visible as he was on the dragon’s back.
“Let me see...” The scribe spoke and disappeared for a few seconds, before returning with a grim expression. “The only elite troops in the capital currently are the royal guard, but they cannot move without the king’s permission.”
“Then drag that fat ass over here and get the permit!” Malti shouted furiously, his words shocking all the soldiers who heard him. Malti was a commoner who rose through the ranks of the army thanks to her own efforts and facing many nobles who climbed positions using her family’s influence, so she had no respect for nobles or royalty.
The only reason she joined the army and not the adventurer’s guild was that Malti had a desire to protect people rather than for power, the reason why she willingly chose to join the border fortresses.
“Unfortunately that will not be possible, General. The King is currently unavailable and the Queen Consort, next in line, has said that they can only send a few royal guards and that number alone will be useless against a dragon. Her Majesty has recommended that they evacuate the fortress and save as many soldiers as possible.” The scribe spoke with regret.
“Why is the asshole unavailable? They finally fattened the pig enough to send it to the slaughterhouse?? And who does that bitch think she is to say it’s pointless to send reinforcements? She only says that because her ass isn’t in danger here!” In a few sentences, Malti managed to insult the royals and accuse them of neglecting their own soldiers.
She also broke several laws while doing so and would likely be tried for insulting royalty, if she survived the dragon attack of course.
“General Malti, please be careful with your language when referring to the royal family! I understand you are in a tense moment, but-” The scribe started to try to correct her in a panic, but Malti ended the call angrily.
“Useless motherfuckers! What are those fucking crystals for if they don’t use them when they’re needed?!” She hurled the cube off the wall while cursing furiously.
“General, the siege weapons are already ready and the archers in position. The mages will also finish the spell soon. We are just waiting for the dragon to descend.” A soldier came running over and saluted before reporting.
Malti closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself, before opening her eyes and looking seriously at the dragon. “Then let’s wait. If I’m going to die, I’ll at least shoot an arrow into that dragon’s reverse scale.”
As if it had heard her words and taken offense, the shadow dragon stopped circling the fortress and descended towards the walls.
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“I think we’ve given them enough time to prepare. Let’s start the tests, Simogo.” Athos spoke and Simogo began to fly towards the fortress.
The soldiers tensed as the dragon came closer and closer. They strained their bows to the limit as the siege weapons adjusted their sights to the dragon’s position, but they all swallowed a lump of saliva as they wondered if their weapons would have any effect on a dragon.
“Let’s start the test with a dragon’s breath.” Athos ordered the tests to begin and Simogo complied, taking a deep breath as he filled his lungs with corrupted world energy.
Once his lungs were completely filled, he moved the energy to his throat where a spark of darkness ignited the world’s energy and turned it into black flames.
The flames reached the barrier a second after SImogo spat it out, causing the entire barrier to shake. The black flames spread out after hitting the barrier, covering as much area as possible while eroding the barrier.
Simogo didn’t spit out all the flames in a single puff, but controlled his breathing and released a continuous stream of flames.
The barrier began to crack under the pressure, but the dragon was the first to run out of gas, luckily for the humans.
“Seize the gap and shoot!” Malti screamed at the top of her lungs, being the first to recover from the shock. His voice spread throughout the fortress thanks to a skill and woke all the soldiers from their stupor, causing everyone to fire their weapons amid screams, as if to mask their fears.
Arrows, giant arrows and stones rained down on the dragon, but the latter didn’t even bother to defend himself. The mist of corrupted mana that surrounded his bones condensed into a scaly pattern the moment the arrows touched him, resisting all attacks.
Dragon scales increased his physical and magical defense, so arrows and stones without mana couldn’t even scratch him.
Simogo wasted no time and cast two breaths of darkness at the cracked barrier before it recovered, increasing the pressure under the barrier. The darkness not only attacked the barrier, but it also seeped through the cracks in the, preventing the barrier from closing its cracks.
Simogo continued to power both breaths with mana and began to strike the barrier with his body. He used all four paws to attack the barrier, his claws piercing the cracks in the barrier and ripping out entire chunks of mana, forcing his way into the fortress.