Chapter 226: I’ll Spare You
When Goliaths faced infantry, the usual exchange rate was 1:100.
That was under the assumption that the well-trained soldiers had proper equipment and magic scrolls, and that they had dug traps and refused to retreat.
As always, such assumptions were almost useless in reality.
The smallest Goliath was over 7 meters tall and weighed nearly 100 tons. To the soldiers, it was a monster that they could not dare to confront.
In the past, when monster hunting was popular, it took dozens of people to face an ogre that was only about 3.5 meters tall.
But Goliaths could kill ogres with a single punch, displaying their monstrous strength.
The military commanders knew that this was absurd, so they tried not to order their troops to face Goliaths as much as possible.
However, the battlefield was an unpredictable place, and sometimes there were situations where soldiers had to stop Goliaths.
And every time that happened, a massacre ensued.
The number of 1:100 had no meaning, and the soldiers ran away from the steel giants that were immune to magic and weapons.
The mages were not much help either, because most of the Goliath production processes included adding a large magic circle.
Since they had such huge bodies, they were vulnerable to magic attacks, and the producers knew this well and put a lot of effort into adding the magic circle.
As a result, most of the Goliaths produced today did not suffer any damage from ordinary magic.
It would be a different story if multiple mages or grand mages casted wide-area killing magic, but considering the cost, it was better to deploy Goliaths instead.
In summary, Goliaths were almost impossible to deal with infantry, and the best way to counter them was with Goliaths.
But there was not no way at all.
The elves, especially the shadow elf pirates, had many battles with humans and naturally learned how to deal with Goliaths.
Of course, they could not overcome the overwhelming power gap either, and they suffered tremendous damage every time they fought.
But adaptability was a surprising thing, and the elves’ unique agility showed its power, making it possible to cope with some low-performance Goliaths in a limited way.
That’s why the Black Skull Pirates were not very afraid when they saw Goliaths standing on the coast.
“Look at that useless doll standing up!”
“It’s only one! Don’t be scared! I’ll cut off the neck of anyone who runs away!”
“I’ll give 10 gold coins, the position of vice-captain, and 5 slaves to whoever knocks down that doll!”
“Waaah! Row harder!”
The pirates whipped the slaves who were chained to the oars.
The elven galleys’ unique maneuverability came from these rowers.
What made them row smoothly was not the wage system or rewards, but whipping and torture.
The shadow elves enjoyed inflicting pain on living beings and hearing their screams.
Not everyone was like that, and Delfina tried to refrain from torture as much as possible in her direct fleet, but she could not ban it from other fleets.
The various fleets of the Black Skull Pirates had a relatively equal relationship.
Delfina had some authority, but it was not absolute.
She could not control the pirates when they attacked, and this was the result.
“Turn around!”
“Whoever gets there first is the winner!”
Hundreds of elven galleys raced in disorder.
The pirates did not see Goliaths or stakes in their eyes.
They just wanted to loot as much money as they could by selling fish or silver, and kill humans.
Then a Raum-class Goliath that arrived on the coast stretched out its long weapon.
It was a strange weapon that resembled a giant club. It was so big and heavy that it made the body sway.
“Hahaha!”
“Look at that swaying thing! Do you think bigger is better?”
“That’s nothing! It’s over if our captain calls a few monsters!”
Like some high elves, Delfina also had a special ability.
It was the ability to tame animals or monsters.
She had summoned monsters to occupy the coast of Banda’s barony before.
It was an ability that did not work on very powerful and huge monsters, but it was enough for most situations.
Squeak―
As the oars cut through the water in order, a sharp whistle sounded.
Then monsters appeared from the sea, breaking through the waves.
Some monsters were so fast that they even passed by the elven galleys. Whenever that happened, cheers erupted.
“Uhuhut! Huhut!”
“Rip those humans apart!”
When the sea monsters appeared, the soldiers and civilians who were forming the defense line became noticeably anxious.
The reason why the Ayn races could not advance to the sea in Astera was because of the shadow elf pirates and monsters.
If they went out to the sea with a ship, they would be attacked by giant monsters and could not resist.
The difference between monsters and animals was that they attacked indiscriminately, and most countries could not find a way to overcome this.
Goliaths were useless in the sea, and magic and harpoons had their limits.
And now dozens of sea monsters were rushing to the land.
‘The pirates are troublesome enough, but the monsters too…’
Granden clenched his sword hand.
He had orders from the lord, but he was thinking of joining the soldiers and stopping the pirates from landing if necessary.
But there was no chance of winning.
The number of elven galleys looked over 200.
If 15 to 20 people boarded each one, it would easily exceed 3,000. And that was excluding the rowers.
It seemed that all the pirates of the Pirate Federation had mobilized.
‘If we annihilate them, we can take over the Pirate Federation and operate freely in the sea from now on… But is that possible?’
Even to Granden, who had assisted the lord, it seemed doubtful.
If that was possible, he would be as powerful as a champion who fought in the Dragon War.
He had never met the champions of God himself, but he could not imagine a power beyond that.
Soon, the weapon held by the Raum-class Goliath changed its shape with a clank.
Hundreds of spikes popped out from the long stick.
Granden’s eyes widened at the sight.
“No, no way…”
—That sounds fun. You get to fight with those newcomers or dragons or whatever, right? But who’s going to reconfigure the ether circuit?
“You have to research that from now on.”
—Ah!
Leobold erased the seal magic circle on his chest.
He was the only all-rounder among psychers, who could use any ability that a decent psycher had much better.
He could shoot ether waves like a blaster, and also disable his opponents with a psy-field.
He didn’t show his abilities usually because there was no reason to.
Most of his abilities were meaningless against plagues, and he wasn’t interested in showing off his strength.
But sometimes he had to show off.
‘Especially in this fantasy world.’
He could also shock the shadow elves with a psy-field, but it was a huge burden for his current body.
He had no choice but to do this kind of show.
As an ether reverse field spread from the Raum-class Goliath, numerous spiked clubs floated in the air.
Leobold called this weapon a hedgehog.
Although real hedgehogs don’t shoot their spines, they looked similar.
The hundreds of spines stuck on the club were about 30cm long and shot out at over 500km per hour once fired.
He could control the direction and angle of the spines as he pleased by spreading the ether reverse field wide, making it no different from a mass slaughter weapon.
These spines could penetrate the armor of Goliath, so it was almost impossible to block them.
So it was a weapon of death that killed all living things around it when fired.
‘I didn’t want to use this weapon against the creations of the prophet…’
Shadow elves are too cruel.
They would be a hindrance to the future conquest if left alone.
There was no room for mercy, so they had to die now.
‘Farewell.’
The ether reverse field exploded and hundreds of spines were fired.
They were so fast that no one could think of escaping even after they were fired.
As soon as they heard a bang, the elven galleys were pierced and the shadow elves died.
“Ugh!”
“Kraak!”
It was the moment they were about to land, so the damage was very high.
Hundreds of people were pierced by the spines and fell face down into the water, and sometimes two heads were penetrated at once.
Delfina realized what was happening only then.
The spines fired from that damn Goliath were killing her subordinates!
“Stop it!”
No one ever stops when they are told to stop.
Another round of spines was fired and another hundred shadow elves were pierced and drowned in the water.
In just two shots, nearly a thousand shadow elves died and their formation was completely broken.
Granden opened his mouth wide at this sight.
The lord’s ability was beyond his common sense.
‘Sword dancer? They look similar, but their power is incomparable.’
Among the elite knights of Elvrande, there was a rank called sword dancer.
They were not those who danced with swords, but those who controlled several swords with their ether sensitivity and flew them around.
The more skilled they were, the more precise their sword control became, and the number and power of their swords increased.
They were so rare that they rarely showed themselves, but they had shown themselves in the war with Zaium a few decades ago.
At that time, Zaium’s high knights were shocked to see a Goliath controlling ten swords.
But today’s lord’s power was different from sword dancers in dimension.
‘It’s frighteningly fast and accurate. There are hardly any missed spines.’
The size of the spines should be taken into account, but it was not something to be underestimated when there were hundreds of them.
How did he get such power?
As Granden thought so, the shadow elves continued to die helplessly.
Even the large sea monster crab with thick shells died without being able to use its strength, with spines stuck all over its body.
It was really amazing penetration power.
What was more surprising was that he could retrieve the spines!
The spines that pierced the shadow elves moved slightly and returned to the club.
By this point, only half of the surviving shadow elves remained, and they completely lost their initial momentum and hesitated.
“Du, Duf! That Goliath is crazy!”
“It’s not the Goliath that’s the problem! It’s got a good weapon!”
“Anyway, we have to do something about that bastard!”
Delfina felt the eyes pouring on her and clenched her teeth.
Could she handle that monster? She doubted it, but she had to do it.
“Everyone! Follow me!”
As she grabbed her curved sword and started charging, the shadow elves followed her.
Spines flew again and Delfina barely dodged them thanks to her intense concentration.
But her subordinates were not.
Screams were heard from behind, but her charge did not stop.
A few more spines flew and this time she couldn’t avoid them completely and got a bloody mark.
She paid the price of the wound and got closer to Goliath.
‘If I can only give him a sword!’
Of course, she didn’t mean to scratch the armor of Goliath with her sword.
What she was aiming for was the true eye magic circle hidden cleverly on the back of his neck.
If she removed it or hit it with ether, the knight on Goliath would not be able to see ahead.
Since he was slow because of his large size, it was a gamble worth trying for Delfina.
Shit-
As the last spine grazed by, Delfina opened her eyes wide and put strength into her legs.
Her elastic body flew towards Goliath and her curved sword drew a beautiful curve.
‘Now!’
At the moment when the sword was about to hit the magic circle, something dark blocked her sight.
Delfina collided with the living metal shield that was formed in an instant and almost lost consciousness.
She barely managed to land on the ground, and then the shield stretched out and wrapped around her body.
“Ugh! What is this!”
She was tied up by a metal rope and rolled on the floor.
The pirates who were running behind her saw this and stopped.
“Du, Duf!”
“Duf is caught!”
“You stupid bastard! How can you say that!”
As the pirates panicked, more spines flew at them.
After a few minutes, there were hardly any living shadow elves on the shore.
A single man had stopped thousands of pirates.
Granden looked around and realized that this was the time to boost morale.
“The lord has defeated the pirates! Kill the survivors! Don’t let anyone live!”
“Woohoo!”
The soldiers charged with courage and the villagers followed them.
The pirates were no longer superior in numbers and had completely lost their will to fight.
They tried to hurry back to their ships, pushing aside the corpses, but the slaves refused to let them.
Some of the free slaves had taken the weapons left on the ships and resisted.
“Die! Die! Just die!”
“You filthy slave bastards! Do you want to die!”
The pirates were furious, but they couldn’t avoid the spines that flew from behind and pierced them.
Leobold didn’t kill the last few, but left them alive.
When he got off the Goliath, Granden ran to him.
“My lord! Are you all right?”
“I’m a bit dizzy.”
“Ye, maybe because you used too much ether…”
It wasn’t that, but because it was hard to use his abilities without completely erasing the seal magic circle.
It was like a car with 95% of its fuel line blocked couldn’t run properly.
Leobold staggered and Granden supported him.
“I didn’t know you were so strong, my lord… You must have gone easy on me when we sparred.”
“My swordsmanship is as you saw. I just had a little talent in something else.”
“Anyway, I’ll escort you.”
“No. I’m fine, so you should lead the soldiers to the sea right now. We can go to Pirate Island with the slaves.”
“Do you really intend to go there?”
“We won’t have another chance if we don’t go now. How are we going to find the wealth they stole if the pirates escape?”
Granden realized that he couldn’t change the lord’s mind and shouted loudly.
“Listen up! Soldiers, go back to your original positions and take over the elven galleys! Villagers, follow Carson’s orders and clean up the corpses!”
As the soldiers approached, the slaves were wary for a moment, but most of them held out their bound hands and teared up.
They were also human beings who had been captured as slaves from nearby territories.
They had to be freed and accepted as villagers, but not yet.
Leobold climbed onto an elven galley and shouted loudly.
“I speak in the name of Viscount Vandus! The shadow elf pirates are dead and you are free! But it’s not over yet! We have to kill all the remaining forces on Pirate Island to end this annoying war!”
“We need your cooperation for that! If you just get there, we’ll let you rest! How about it! Will you cooperate!”
The slaves cheered and raised their bound hands.
“We will! Let us do it!”
“Let’s kill those dirty elves!”
There were so many of them that they had to select who would go to Pirate Island.
That’s how the battle with Black Skull Pirates ended with Viscount Vandus’s overwhelming victory.
Leobold threw Delfina, who was tightly bound, into a cart.
“Ugh, kill me!”
“Killing is easy, but I have something to dig out of you. Be prepared.”
He knew well that she had forbidden her subordinates from doing things like torture or cannibalism as much as possible.
But her nature was that of a pirate, and she had committed too many crimes until now.
Even by Astera’s standards, which were relatively tolerant of violence, she was 100% sentenced to death.
And not just killing her, but stripping her naked and hanging her on a gate or stake, encouraging people to throw stones at her.
The pirate who couldn’t eat or sleep would moan in shame and pain and die slowly.
But Arma said something unexpected.
“When I scanned her body, I found some undigested paper. She seems to have contact with the upper class of Elvrande.”
“Contact? With whom?”
“It seems to be a member of the Great Council, but I’m not sure.”
“So it’s true that the shadow elves are getting support from Elvrande.”
“Do you want me to kill her?”
Leobold changed his mind.
It would be better to keep her alive and extract information from her than to kill her.
“Can you insert a biochip?”
“It’s possible, but I can’t guarantee that it will work properly in a place full of magic. And the production is limited.”
Biochips were very delicate items that could not be produced and stored for a long time in large quantities.
They had to be made and used as needed, but the production machine on Settler broke down due to the 50-year journey.
There were too many broken facilities or parts, so the schedule was constantly delayed.
The ones that were produced in advance were doubtful whether they would work properly, and there weren’t many of them either.
“Let’s try inserting it and see how it goes. She doesn’t seem to be wandering around in a place full of magic right away.”
That’s how Delfina saved her life.
When she opened her eyes, she realized that she was on a small boat floating on the vast sea.
“What, what is this? I was in prison for sure!”
She had no idea what had happened.
Fortunately, there was a bird flying nearby.
There was land near by.
Beep-
When Delfina whistled, the bird became her eyes and guided her to the nearby land.
She tore off a plank from the boat and rowed while repeating her hatred for Viscount Vandus.
“I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you for sure…”
Leobold heard her curses and chuckled.
“Just keep her alive.”
Now it was time to look at the things that the exploration ship had brought.
It was something that had been stored deep in the underwater ruins, so it wouldn’t be ordinary.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel