(Song of the Day: Get Lucky by Daft Punk)
/\\//\\//\
For what felt like an eternity, multiple airships were destroyed. No matter how much they moved or tried to do evasive maneuvers, they were shot down with eerie precision.
Any movement made by the ground troops was focused on avoiding all the falling debris and corpses. The decision to bring as many troops on the airships earlier to avoid the white phosphorus and napalm was costing them dearly.
And yet, through it all, the ground forces were being told to keep advancing forward. If there was any consolation, at least the debris provided some kind of cover, for whatever it was worth.
And as they advanced, they finally saw from a distance what the white line above he horizon was. A wall. From where they were, to the wall, there was an open field, leaving them completely open to any kind of attack. There was no planning or tactics that could help them here. At one point, they'll have to try to get through that wall.
"This is insane! What do they expect us to do?! This wasn't part of what we were supposed to expect! All our airships are basically destroyed," a soldier screamed as they scrambled around, confused by the chaos and mess.
"The order is to still advance! Regroup and move forward!"
An order from an officer was shouted.
"But we can't! We have no support! You're asking us to charge forward unprotected across open land! That's human wave tactics! Do you know how many will die?!"
The soldier pleaded with the officer, hoping that there should be a better plan.
"Enough to get through! Now go! You're job is to follow orders!"
But it was no use.
The soldier clenched his fist, debating whether it was worth going through all of this after the continuous disasters of just getting through the forest.
And he wasn't the only one feeling like this. Combined with the experience of trying to get through the forest that caused morale to practically collapse, and the mystery of why they had such low supplies, with them struggling for even the basics, their frustration was about to boil over.
But they followed orders either way.
/\\//\\//\
And boom, there goes the last airship, not counting the big one where Micahel was. Now it was time for Gabiru
'Gabiru, you're up. And don't worry about that big airship, I'll divert its attention.'
'Understood, Lady Pendragon!'
Once I sent the thought message to Gabiru, I called on someone else.
'Shion, get up here now!'
With a purple flash of thunder, Shion got on my ship.
"What do you need, Lady Pendragon?"
"Turn into lightning. I'm going to throw you into the middle of them. After that, do what you do best."
"And what do I do best?"
"Combat."
"With pleasure."
Shion transformed into lightning, and the second she did, I reached out and gripped a purple lightning bolt. It felt weird. I could feel electricity coursing through my arm. It felt fuzzy, like when your leg feels numb when you sit awkwardly for a long time.
I looked ahead and saw them advancing forward. I had to make a good choice of where to launch Shion. Somewhere where it could cause the most damage and chaos. I think somewhere in the middle would be a good choice. It's not like I have to be very accurate with this.
Just as I was about to throw Shion, I saw a massive purple light coming from what seemed like a massive sphere from the left of their army. Looks like Carrera is starting.
My turn.
Like throwing a javelin, I threw Shion in her lightning bolt form in the middle of their army. It was an intense streak of purple lightning across the sky.
/\\//\\//\
"What's that?"
As Gabiru was flying, leading a large group of dragonewts and carrying bombs that contained chlorine gas, he noticed the purple lighting and the purple light. This wasn't something he was told about, but from what he saw, it was friendly, so that's all that mattered to him.
"Get ready! Remember what to do! Drop these bombs on top of them in spaced intervals for maximum coverage! The strike force behind us will use cluster bombs!"
Gabiru shouted to his force of dragonewts, who all gave affirmative responses to his order and reminder.
They all flew across the battlefield as fast as they could to their enemy. The faster they flew, the less chance there was of getting struck by magic or other attacks focused on them. And even if they did, they had potions with them. A lot of potions.
/\\//\\//\
"In the sky! Enemy attack!"
A soldier shouted. Some mages tried to hit the dragonewts in the sky, but by the time the projectile reached the dragonewts, it was behind, and the dragonets were ahead.
"You idiot! Did you learn nothing in school?! Aim ahead of them, not where they are!"
An officer shouted at their mages, but this little mistake was about to cost them dearly.
The dragonewts were directly above them, and they started dropping bombs at spaced intervals.
"It looks like one of the shells our tanks shoot. Damn it! There's nothing to use as cover!"
Mass panic ensued among the soldiers, assuming the worst after what they had gone through in the forest. But when the bombs landed, there was no explosion. Instead, a greenish-yellow cloud rapidly spread all around from where the bombs were dropped.
And due to the concentrations of troops, almost immediately, it took effect. Violent coughing was heard, and screams of pain followed, which only made it worse. Their eyes, lungs, nose, and throat were under immense irritation. A burning sensation was felt in their eyes and throat.
"I…can't….breath." A soldier barely managed to say before stumbling over, dying from asphyxiation.
Every cough from a soldier was filled with pain and difficulty. They weren't even sure if they were breathing since it felt like they were suffocating, no matter how hard they tried to breathe.
It seemed that no matter where they ran, they couldn't escape it. Except for one path. Forward.
"We…need…to…go…forward," an officer said before they also dropped dead from asphyxiation before being able to escape.
A wall of chlorine gas formed on the frontline. And any soldiers who advanced were forced to go through the same experiences. They should've stopped, but the commanding officers forced them to go through, saying that if they were quick enough, they would be fine.
How wrong they were. Even if both eyes were closed and breath was held, the energy exerted from running would force you to take a breath.
And to make matters worse.
"Dragonewts! Another attack!"
The cluster bombs were here.
"Brace for impact! Seek cover!" An officer yelled.
"There is no cover, you idiot!" A soldier screamed at his officer before continuing, "I'm tired of this! I'm not following orders from people like you!"
The soldier went to attack, but before anything could be done, the cluster bombs were dropped before they broke apart, releasing countless bomblets that fell before exploding, instantly killing countless soldiers, including the officer and the soldier who was about to attack him. Any unexploded bomblets exploded soon after small disturbances from movements.
And to make matters worse, a brilliant flash of purple lighting slammed into the middle of the army, instantly killing countless troops on impact.
And another destructive force slammed into them, killing even more.
/\\//\\//\
Well, it seems Shion, Carrera and her demons, and Rimuru as well have begun their massacre. The chlorine gas and cluster bombs won't affect them. They might be magical, but they're not meant for people on their level.
I was looking at the battlefield from my ship when I finally noticed movement from the big airship I had left.
"Who's it gonna be? That feather-winged, clove-footed, biblically inaccurate, glowing, cloud hugger? Perhaps that scaly, tail-turning, overgrown, catfish-whiskered, limp-winged slug? Doesn't matter 'casue I got a thing for them."
I summoned Rhongomyniad, and it started glowing.
"Come on. Come out, you Eastern Empire tyrant bastards."
I waited, but there was nothing.
"Alright, how about this?"
The guns on my ship started aiming below, at their army. With a single thought, they started a massive bombardment, a broadside as each gun fired. I could see them slam towards their army, killing I don't know how many, but a lot. They would have to answer eventually. Even someone who doesn't care about their troops can't ignore the casualty numbers they were taking. There is no way to justify taking the unimaginable they've taken without killing a single enemy in return. They had to act.
And act they did.
They sent the red river snake out.
Red River? I wonder how that rivalry is going.