Chapter 128 – Monster of the Beastlands (2)

    There was no time to argue or fight over what to do as everyone was rushing to the walls, wanting to know what was happening. Sure enough, we were right in thinking that the alarms went off because of our magic system after asking the soldiers. Whatever the thing that set it off was, it was hiding in the snowstorm and was as massive as the beast we faced the previous winter.

    "Do you feel anything?" I asked, looking at Merlin, pulling my hood tighter, trying to ignore the sharp and cold winds slashing against my face.

    "Everything feels that it is jumbled up... weird... But I do feel something..."

    "And I hear something!" Father added, and it was making me anxious because I also heard it.

    It was a low hum, like some kind of jet engine slowly beginning to spin and power up. Was the beast preparing some sort of spell or attack? If so, and it hits us, we are done for... its sound alone was raising the hair on my body!

    "Fire!" I shouted, trying to overcome the howling blizzard, "Fire everything we got; I don''t care if we can''t aim at a target; just do it!"

    I bless my luck that nobody was here questioning my order. Simply, the action that my dad and Merlin also got to a cannon firing into the storm was enough for every warrior to realize something was off. Soon, all twenty-five cannons were roaring, sending orange fireballs into the storm like an angry dragon. We heard them land and explode, and the humming noise stopped, releasing the energy it had built up so far before it was ready. It seemed that we caught it by surprise.

    I was right—that thing was charging a spell. Our attacks managed to disrupt it, and it let it loose prematurely as we watched a cold, blue beam pass over above the castle towards the sky. Standing there, I could feel how cold it was, but there was no time to keep wondering what was happening; it was time to do all we could to stop it.

    "Keep firing! Raise the powers of the cannons!"

    There was no time to think or keep reserves as I ramped up my cannon to the third level, firing a blinding, orange ''missile,'' followed by multiple others alongside the long wall. As they flew into the white, blue, whirling blizzard, I could see the white snow turn orange, reflecting their color before disappearing. Then came the explosions... and a painful, deep roar echoing between the mountain walls.

    "The storm is not normal!" Merlin shouted over the wind and the roaring cannon fire, "I feel weird because the storm is interfering with magic! This is not just a blizzard; it is magically enhanced weather!"

    "Fucking hell..." I cursed, not waiting and ordering to start firing with four CCs inserted into the cannons, willing to sacrifice as many as needed to kill this thing.

    When the first few blasts rang out, destroying four of our cannons, the fire spells melted through the blizzard, acting as angry, magical firebirds, and for a moment, we could finally see the monster hiding inside of it. Well... We did not see all of it, but what I managed to glimpse reminded me of Godzilla. Whatever it was, it had silvery-blue scales and stood on two legs with t-rex-like stumps as hands.

    The fourth-level spells hurt him for real as the howls released from its mouth were louder than before, and the buzzing sound that was trying to gather energy entirely stopped. At first, I thought we killed that thing, but then the wind changed direction and began flowing towards the Pass, straight towards the monster within the blizzard.

    We watched with horror as the beast gulped down the storm with one continuous, long breath as if it were nothing. It slowly began revealing itself as the blizzard dissipated, and we could see its body towering over everything within the Pass. By my estimation, it had to be at least twenty meters high, if not taller. At first glance, the beast resembled a dinosaur, but it was much more stumpy-looking. I say this because its hindlegs were thick, supporting its upright body, while its arms were thinner compared to them. Still, those arms were as thick as train cars. The lower half of its body was wide, acting like some kind of balance, keeping it straight, and unlike Godzilla, this one had no spiky things on its back.

    I watched as our attacks continued and saw its silvery-colored, cold scales lit up in a blue light, giving the beast an otherworldly aura. Worse than that... it suddenly erected a magical shield around itself, letting the fire spells hit that, unable to reach and hurt the monster.

    "Take him in! Damn it... if another one comes..."

    "Don''t... Please, Dad... Don''t jinx us!" I groaned, feeling that we just skirted past Death itself.

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    "Captain, we are nearing the Frontier Region. Are we going to do as we were ordered?"

    Aboard the Empire''s flying ship, the Salvation, a crew of fifty were on their way towards the Atuvian League, delivering ''help'' while also ordering to sell their food at an exorbitant price. Not long after leaving their port, they received a message to skirt around the edge of the region, checking for monsters.

    "We are only flying by as ordered. If the border regions are intact, we are not going to see any beasts. Let the locals handle it; we have a much more important mission!" Answered the grizzled-looking, black-bearded man standing behind the wheel of the ship, who belonged to one of the imperial marquess families.

    "Should we use the Imaginary?"

    "And waste resources or time? No. I already received emergency news from Duke Kustov that his people are nearby at Greyback and will do our job. It is best not to steal the glory from a duke, not after what happened... If they want to do it, let them do it so they can personally visit the Frontier. If there is a problem, we will be alerted and can deal with it afterward."

    "Wouldn''t that be late?" The young, barely sixteen-year-old officer asked, making his captain laugh and shaking his head.

    "It''s fine! They are here to be the hurdle for any beast horde. The monsters will gnaw at them until spring comes, and we cannot clean up before that! Plus, we are now heavy with cargo, and our maneuverability is low. When returning, we will be in a much better position to fight—if there is anything to fight. Until then, let us focus on our job; the air up here is way too cold to my liking!"

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    It has been a day since the monster''s attack. We lost two dozen soldiers and one tower, not to mention half of our cannons were irreparably damaged. Right now, Oleg and the reinforcement from my soldiers were working on cleaning the debris and recovering any bodies we may find. To even start that, we had to wait ten hours because the ice that covered them made it impossible to get near. Luckily, they did not remain frozen forever and slowly naturalized, turning from magical to regular ice. One that could be neared and touched without dying.

    The same could not be said about the corpse outside in the Pass. It was still oozing magic, and we witnessed a group of smaller beasts approaching it just so they all turned into ice sculptures. For now, recovering remains from it had to wait, but I was glad of it. It gave us time while my forges worked overtime, creating cannons back home. The winter was far from over.

    "Any improvements?" I asked, walking into my room where Merlin was currently in a coma-like state, being cared for by my Mother.

    "His temperature is still too low. This is not like the backlash you spoke about from before."

    "It has to be a side effect of interfering with the monster''s magic. Haaah... He will be fine!" I grunted, slapping my face. I wanted to lie down and sleep, but there was no time for it. "He pulled through it before; he will do it again..."

    What I didn''t know back then was that although Merlin looked like he was sleeping, deep down, he was having a really intense dream...