Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 818: Section 547: Walden Operation (Part 2)_2

Chapter 818: Section 547: Walden Operation (Part 2)_2

"Let me handle it."

Malin gave the order, raising Fio to block the chaotic spell cast at him, the vile ray completely deflected upon hitting Fio.

Then, the knight riding the fly lifted his longsword, hoping to charge forward and settle the matter blade to blade.

Boosting his speed, Malin brushed past the chaos, the opponent’s sword slicing past his ear, while Malin’s lightsaber cleanly bisected the knight.

As the fly turned to pursue Malin, taking advantage of its loss of speed during the turn, Mana and Lorrin switched to blessed holy silver high-explosive rounds and opened fire together, their crossfire reducing the giant fly to a bloody carcass.

"We’ve broken through!" came the good news from the combat group behind, as Malin swiftly took down more than half of the targets, allowing the mages to deal with the remaining flies as they began to ascend.

"Seven have fallen," the Tower Master reported over the channel, bearing bad news.

Malin glanced at the list, unexpectedly seeing Meng Quyi’s status darken.

"Dispatch someone to confirm the positions of those who fell, see if they are still alive," Malin spoke as he turned around, forcibly elevating himself and eyeing the spears thrown from the ground, "Don’t fly too low, I confirm the presence of thrown spears."

Thus, the attack team also began to ascend—both horizontal and dive bombing were tactics they had learned.

"Confirmed, Jack Marson has fallen in battle, currently retrieving his remains," reported the squad checking on those who had fallen, the first piece of bad news.

Then the bad news kept coming; out of all who fell, four were dead in battle, one had not activated the Feather Fall Technique scroll, presumed dead from unconsciousness, and another activated the Feather Fall Technique but eventually died on the ground from the plague in his wounds inflicted by chaos.

"What about that War Witch?"

"We haven’t found her, wait! We see a flare! She’s fighting on the ground! There are Chaos Infantry units!"

The increasing snowstorm began obstructing everyone’s visibility.

"Continue your assault, the combat group will gather and disperse the chaos ground forces that may threaten the assault group, be careful, I’ll support this audacious girl," Malin glanced at the town ahead and then turned towards the direction of the flare.

Drawing closer, Malin saw Meng Quyi on the snow-covered ground, fighting back and forth against a dozen Plague Messengers with a revolver and a longsword.

"Meng Quyi, can you fly?" Malin landed beside her, flicking his hand, the mage’s power swept the blinded Plague Messengers away.

"No, the power system blocked a strike for me, but a big slit was chopped into the exhaust port," Meng Quyi pointed at her back, Malin saw it was severe, if not for the power system, the girl would likely be dead.

Since it was useless now, Malin simply pulled it off and tossed it into the Subspace, "We’ll bring this back for repair, for now, I’ll recommend a new flying device for you." After speaking, Malin whistled to Lorrin, and this little fella came up to Meng Quyi, its legs transforming into something like handlebars, Meng Quyi cast a Feather Fall Technique on herself, grabbed the handle, and then was carried into the sky by Lorrin.

"Hold on, I don’t want to go back and apologize to Lulu saying sorry, your Thanan friend didn’t hold on and fell to her death in mid-air," although the girl was protected by the Feather Fall Technique, Malin still launched a tease.

"Ha, even if you died, I wouldn’t." Meng Quyi retorted strongly.

Malin smiled and looked towards the south, confirming the fires coming from Waldin Town.

"Attack complete, the big guys are done for, My Lord."

"Any injuries or falls?" Malin asked.

"None, My Lord, all thanks to your grace," the Tower Masters spoke with profound respect.

But Malin shook his head, "I still couldn’t bring all of you home."

"No, he’s coming home with us, My Lord," answered the young man from the rescue team.

"The attack team dumped all the surplus missiles into the town; it’s completely contaminated. Let’s burn it to the ground and return," Malin commanded, and with that, the Mages in the attack team hurled the remaining missiles at the town.

Then they began to climb under the cover of the combat team.

......

After flying through the blizzard for about three hours, Malin, with Jason’s help, finally brought the exhausted Mages back above their own defensive lines. Upon descending, Malin ordered that guide fires be lit on the ground,

The Mages began to orderly descend, and logistic personnel Malin brought from Carterburg handed each Mage a cup of hot cocoa at the entrance — regarding this drink, although Malin had yet to find a living cocoa tree in the world and was using synthetic cocoa butter, it was still an excellent beverage when mixed with sugar and milk, especially after a day in the freezing wilderness.

Once the last Tower Master landed, Malin then noticed that the young Mage who had been complaining at the start was missing.

So Malin asked over the channel,

"He died in battle, Your Excellency," Tower Master Korys responded.

Malin remained silent for a moment, then eventually pulled out a checkbook and wrote two very generous figures that were quite respectable for a Mage. He handed the check to Tower Master Korys: "Your Excellency Korys, I leave the distribution of the aid for the fallen to you, and this sum... please distribute it to all the Mages who fought, it’s a gesture of my goodwill, please do not refuse."

Considering that the Tower Master might refuse, Malin preemptively blocked this possibility, not until he took both checks.

Malin then began to oversee the Half-human mechanics removing the Power Systems.

Of course, he also didn’t forget to hand over the fallen Mages’ Power Systems to the mechanics.

After removing the chest plate-type Power System, Malin also inquired several Mages about their thoughts, and they indeed found that it revolutionized the Mages’ mode of aerial combat allowing them to carry sufficiently powerful weaponry. Though cold, the Mages themselves described the experience as thrilling.

The downside primarily was that these Power Systems couldn’t completely adapt to one’s body, and even with weight-reducing Arrays, they were somewhat heavy. Quite a few Mages even applied the Feather Fall Technique to it, costing them significant energy to maintain the Spell Formation.

Malin noted all these issues and sent them to the scientific academy, simultaneously initiating a data collection on the Mages’ chests. Hearing that there would be better personalized Power Systems and combat suits next time, the Mages praised this and accepted the tailors’ data collection.

"This will cost quite a bit of money," Tower Master Korys approached Malin and remarked.

Malin nodded, "Yes, it indeed will cost a lot, but I believe it will be worth it if it can save lives."

"Your compassion, I have truly felt it, Your Excellency," the man seemed to have noticed something, he patted Malin’s shoulder, directing his attention towards the exit of the maintenance area.

Malin turned his head and saw Lulu standing there, smiling his way... although her eyes appeared quite red.

But at least at this moment, she was smiling.

After bidding farewell to Tower Master Korys, Malin walked towards Lulu, smiling as he opened his arms wide.

Then the War Witch girl raced past Malin: "I’m back!"

She shouted, then embraced Lulu tightly.

Malin, his arms still outstretched, eventually let them fall helplessly.

He looked towards several Thanan nearby; among them, an old man who bore a slight resemblance to Meng Quyi was also smiling at him.

What are you laughing at? Watch it or I’ll sell your daughter to a Frost Giant!