Above The Sky
Chapter 80 - 80 76 Stalemate Situation

80: Chapter 76: Stalemate Situation 80: Chapter 76: Stalemate Situation The old knight didn’t exert himself deliberately, instead activating the flow of his Origin Quality.

Within dozens of meters centered on him, the sea was calm, impervious to the wind and waves, unable to stir even the slightest ripple within the range covered by the pale golden glow.

If Ian had been present, using Foresight View for observation, he would’ve been astounded to realize that beneath his teacher’s seemingly aged skin lay a resilient and dense musculature with a crystalline metal-like structured order, and the old man’s bones, internal organs, and the mysterious Sublimator patterns produced a tremendous amount of Flesh Essence— the purest Essence of Origin Material.

Merely by consolidating inside the body, it was powerful enough to visibly draw a Spirit Energy Field around him, radiating illusory shadows akin to metallic mountain peaks.

Before him were two thrashing sea eels, each nearly a hundred meters long, and some even surpassing that length—one emitted deep blue electric arcs all over its body while the other, merely by flicking its tail, created gigantic whirlpools in the surrounding waters.

The massive waves raised by the great storm were as harmless as the ripples a child might create in a bathtub before these Gargantuan Eels.

But facing the man as mighty as a towering mountain, they were unable to advance an inch and could only emit high-frequency squeals that humans struggled to hear.

“Was it the Natives who commanded you to use the Sea Beasts to attack Harrison Port?”

Gazing at the two Behemoths before him, blocking the vast majority of Sea Beasts and a pair of Totem Spirits, Hiliard let out a sigh, “The Totem Spirits of the Redwood Forest Natives are close to the Great Magical Beasts of the Third Power Level.

I once thought it was a sign of deep heritage, but now it seems it definitely has something to do with the energy leaked from the ruins…”

“I cannot let you pass.”

A silver light glowed in the old knight’s eyes, and countless screens of light flashed before him.

Although he had lost almost all his Sublimation abilities and less than one-tenth of his physical strength remained, facing the two eels that had not yet reached the Third Power Level, he wasn’t in any real danger.

“Is Ian safe now?”

Hiliard even had the capacity to glance back worriedly toward the continuous explosions at Harrison Port.

The silver halo seemed capable of piercing through distant space-time to verify some message, then he shook his head slightly, “Good… Being so clever, he must be able to protect himself.”

The old knight’s thoughts were indeed correct.

Only now, Ian wasn’t content to just protect himself; he even wanted to protect others.

At the very least, he had to save his family home.

“They can’t keep fighting like this—if it goes on, my house will be demolished!”

The moment Ian got home, he immediately ushered his younger brother Alan into the shelter.

The little guy didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation at all, still giggling, reaching out to pat his face, which made Ian both exasperated and amused.

In Foresight View, the blood mist around Alan was noticeably visible but far less dense than it had been two months prior.

To Ian at present, this signified safety and the improvement of his own strength.

However, there was a trend toward the red color deepening.

There was no helping it; the underground shelter had been very safe, even capable of preventing rainwater from seeping in, but according to the current script of Powered Armor battling gigantic beasts, half of Harrison Port might end up demolished by the end of the battle, and Ian’s house could hardly be an exception.

The direction that the Evil Dragon and Powered Armor were moving in was precisely toward the ‘refugee area’ that had formed at the port two months prior, during the Natives’ attacks on various villages, where many survivors gathered.

These refugees had mostly built makeshift shelters next to the original plaza and sought refuge in storm shelters built by the city hall and the merchants association, situated very close to the Viscount’s Mansion, with an extremely dense population.

And right within the most dangerous battle zone.

Viscount Grant was still in combat with the Crocodragon.

The Crocodragon had no recourse against the Aether Armament that could freely fly in the sky, but the Viscount could not prevent the Crocodragon from destroying the city, let alone kill it.

The fierce battle between the two sides was closely contested, but as long as the victor emerged, it would determine the hierarchy for the next decade.

If The Empire won, they could likely suppress the Redwood Forest Natives completely to the narrow region south of Ivorybone Mountain.

A mere wedge could tilt the balance of victory and defeat.

The problem was that there was not a second Sublimator within the city who could intervene in their fight…

Who could be that wedge?

“Only the Alchemical Cannon.”

Ian’s gaze shifted towards the tower that stood near his home.

Because he had killed the Native Elite Hunter who had attacked that tower, it remained unaffected—but for some reason, perhaps due to the distance, the tower did not fire when the Spirit of the Mountain Tide invaded the city, and thus it was spared from the second wave of Native attacks.

Narrowing his eyes, Ian took a deep breath, recalling the recent wails of the civilians slaughtered by the Native Hunter and the cries of the boy, even younger than himself, two months ago, “There might still be intact Alchemical Cannons.”

“This is the key.”

He made up his mind, “It’s time to set out.”

Thus, Ian rose to his feet.

Setting out.

The city district of Harrison Port was not large, never exceeding a population of fifty thousand even in the winter influx, but by relying on patrolling guard squads and the numerous subordinate villages and watchtowers scattered through the jungle, it managed to expand its actual controlled area to about a hundred miles around.

However, even with the highly stringent defense network, Viscount Grant still spent a fortune building independent watchtowers throughout various districts in the city, to provide firepower support for the defending troops in case the Natives managed to invade the city.

This precaution was not a waste, as everyone was aware that if the Imperial People had not negotiated peace with the Redwood People, the Redwood People would have inevitably gathered all tribes and Totem Spirits, vowing to raze what was then a wooden fortress-village of Harrison Port to the ground—the Imperial People just had to hold the town, then gradually build up the walls, establish a real fortress and castle, and at that point, the Natives’ plan to expel the outsiders would have utterly failed.

Based on this ‘final battle’ mindset, nearly all the People of Harrison Port supported the fortification efforts, even going so far as to personally carry bricks, wood, and help with the construction.

After more than thirty years of peace, the city’s tower defenses had become lax, with Natives even frequently entering the city for smuggling or to expand their connections.

But due to the sudden attack two months prior, the now under marshal law Harrison Port not only rearranged the city towers’ defenses but even equipped a few key district towers with expensive Alchemical Cannons.

The tower on the eastern seaside avenue of the city was one such tower equipped with an Alchemical Cannon.

But oddly, regardless of whether it was the Native Elite Hunter raid beforehand or the Crocodragon breaking the city walls afterwards, the tower had no response—it stood unmoved in the rapid storm, without cannon fire or bowshots, not even lighting a lamp, as silent as if it were dead.

There might be many reasons, but the truth was simple.

The Alchemical Cannon was broken.

“…No good, no good, it won’t move at all…”

A city guard dressed in leather armor was already sweating profusely as he fiddled with a cylindrical cannon of a size comparable to an ordinary person’s upper body and over three meters long, fumbling over those inscriptions on the circular base and sometimes peering into the barrel’s interior as if to locate the problem, utterly at a loss for what to do.

The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!