Get out of there!
"Close the folding shields!
The streets of the village, locked in solid stone, were plunged into a scene of fierce warfare. The solid fortifications shook from the explosions of dynamite sticks, and the resulting flashes of fire rose high into the sky, then quickly subsided along with their master. The situation unfolding within the labyrinth was barely under control by Kioshi's soldiers, who were unprepared for this method of warfare and were beginning to lose their minds from the constant explosions and collapses around them. Nevertheless, they deftly made their way along the paths prepared by Dagoth and stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the enemy squad, taking the blows with their military equipment. Sometimes, there wasn't even enough of that — Kioshi's typical equipment consisted of combat fans, metal shields, and katanas, and there were no blades at all among the squad at that moment. Partially isolated from their arsenal, it was simply not advantageous for them to run and fully arm themselves. Playing defensively, they already had a catastrophic advantage.
"These are the last ones," - sticking his head out from the top of the wall, where a tunnel had been dug right into the area where their enemies were trapped - well, not exactly trapped, because they had the power of technology and explosives - the breathless Kioshi warriors, led by Suyuki, exhausted from running through the low tunnels without a break, gathered their strength and jumped on the riders, silently cutting down the most dangerous part of the soldiers. They may not have had any experience in real military action, but during their time on the island and a couple of battles, they had long since figured out that soldiers on Komodo rhinos could cause the most trouble, mainly because of their mobility and lack of fear of their fighting style. Their thick, living armour didn't care how skilfully you used your tricks; their paws would crush your bones and send you to the spirit world. And the mage riders would set you on fire.
The rest were less of a problem — yes, there were a couple of explosions, which they managed to avoid, after which Suyuki breathed out wearily and listened to her surroundings. There were no more flashes of fire or orders from the enemy command; the situation had been resolved.
"Gh, that's it," she gave a brief summary to her squad, her face contorted with indignation. She accepted the fact of the attack, considering it unnecessary to blame one person, as she knew nothing about how well-known or dangerous this person was out there. But they had come here with dynamite for Dagoth, blown up the walls, and there was a very high chance that civilians would have been hurt. Her dissatisfaction was shared by her friends, who began to speak out aloud.
"What could he have done to Unagi that so many ships passed by? It couldn't have been just bad luck.
"Captain, you can't just leave him like that, make him answer for weakening our borders.
And they began to press her. Her close friends, with whom Suyuki trained daily, ran around the island, and even gathered food together, presented very reasonable arguments. No, don't kill him, Dagoth is an excellent source of information about the outside world, and he did everything he could to protect them, but making him pay for his mistakes, which included beating Unagi to the point where he couldn't help them, was something that could and should be done. Declaring that she would put Dagoth in his place, Suyuki quickly led the squad outside. The fire soldiers were lying all over the city, but they could not cause any more trouble, as all their explosives had been taken away, so when they left their makeshift castle, they saw Dagoth himself standing with his back to them, his very existence a source of fear.
"Stay here," Suyuki said quietly, leaving her friends at the entrance. She clenched her fist and approached him roughly. "Hey, Dagoth, don't you want to answer why so many ships were able to reach the island for the first time in its history?
"Hm?" At that moment, he turned around. Suyuki froze when she saw a half-dried body in Dagoth's hands, which, judging by its shape, belonged to one of the captains. From his appearance, he was obviously an old man, clearly incapable of command. What was there to talk about when the man's legs were so thin that he could hardly even stand? And this thing had been taken and thrown on the ground like trash.
"Glyth* - Suyuki blinked fearfully, but summoning her courage, she took a step forward. "You... answer why you attacked us. How badly did you maim the beast that protects our island?
"Oh... bad luck, it happens," but without any sign of remorse, Dagoth shrugged his shoulders, causing a gasp of indignation among all the warriors, including her. "Suyuki, it doesn't matter. The village may be in danger, but a good commander like me knows that he cannot betray a village of little girls," he said in a cheerful, somewhat mocking tone, which grew heavier with each word. "War is following in everyone's footsteps. When the enemy comes, will you be afraid?
Suyuki understood what this man was getting at, but she didn't accept it. They had to rely on themselves, not on some unknown factor in the form of a beast — but how could they, in isolation, oppose a large army? And apparently, that was exactly what Dagoth wanted them to ask themselves.
Dagoth approached her and almost patted her on the shoulder with his bear-like hand, but the girl did not hesitate to jump back as if from danger. At that moment, a disappointed smile appeared on his face, and his finger, as if by accident, pointed again at the black ships lit by the sun. Once again, the warriors of Kioshi had missed the invasion, only now it seemed even stranger. The ships were several times larger than ordinary frigates, with a great deal of weaponry on board and surely even more soldiers. Giant pipes emitted thick black smoke that obscured the clouds, and considering the amount of steel in this monster, it was impossible to imagine how to fight it off!
Seeing that this was not the end, Suyuki opened her mouth in disbelief and accidentally dropped her fan. Three cruisers, against which the frigates looked like toy boats. It seemed impossible to fight them without magic.
"By the way... your Unagi didn't give a shit about my blows," but at that moment, all the discontent regarding the possible brawl between Dagoth and their beast protector seemed to evaporate. The water finally parted, and the neck of a giant black snake, a dragon that the fire warriors had not yet been able to defeat, appeared.
"Ah, lucky us!" thought the warriors of Kioshi.
"That idiot only noticed the attack when three cruisers appeared?!" Dagog raged with righteous anger.
BANG*
At that moment, the squad fell into instant shock when the soldiers, apparently ready for this, took a giant stone with explosives attached to it and threw it at the snake's head. The flash and fiery sphere that appeared, capable of easily destroying even the walls of a large castle, made the ladies gasp.
"They... killed it?" Suyuki whispered, instantly hearing Dagoth's chuckle.
"Kill that creature with just one explosion? No, that's impossible.
Ra-a-a-a*
The monster made its presence known. Jumping out of the water a couple of dozen metres from the explosion, it already had its mouth open and released a stream of water that instantly hit the hull of the large ship, literally turning it around on the spot. No, it didn't pierce through, but everything on deck was completely washed into the sea. And before another blow was delivered, he had already dived into the water and fired a beam from the bottom. The cruiser reared up from the stream hitting the sky, which almost sent it and the entire crew to the heavenly islands.
"Holy dog, it's a good thing I scared him with lightning, or he would have died," Dagoth arched his eyebrows meaningfully. But to say that was the end of it would have been just as much of a mistake. While the two ships distracted the beast, the third cruiser launched its explosive-covered stone in their direction.
"Can you do it?" the girls asked tremulously, immediately noticing the abrasive disc taking shape. There was no need to ask — he appeared as a true heroic figure standing against the backdrop of the sun. It was a classic literary trope — a damsel in distress and a knight on a white horse, making vulnerable female hearts tremble. Except that he had brought the trouble upon them himself, and now he was going to save them.
"Of course. Just watch," he said without a hint of arrogance, raised his hand and accelerated the disc. After which...
Clang*
It simply pierced through, rather than cutting it in half as it had done before. It was as if it had hit some kind of hard material, and in fact it didn't even slow down, because such a machine needed a lot of momentum. It wasn't a disc, but a whole stone, preferably thrown at the same speed.
"Come on. Metal? - Danger was approaching at tremendous speed, with the city behind him, which was unlikely to withstand a direct hit. Dagoth instantly formed a picture of what was happening. Creating a simple wall would simply take time and would be useless against such a huge projectile. Continuing to throw discs to slow it down meant forgetting about his defence. There was only one way out. He managed to create a semicircular crystal shield in front of him and, planting his feet firmly on the ground, anchored himself to the solid earth. The power of magic would become the wall that would withstand the blow." Round two?
BANG*
The ball instantly touched the barrier, pushing it almost completely through. The defence broke at the moment of contact due to the excessive kinetic energy, but now, as soon as his muscles tensed and his hands turned a sickly red, Dagoth was able to slow down the projectile's approach, if only for a second. At that moment, his entire body was encased in stone armour, as if it could somehow help. His legs began to move backwards on their own to make it easier to fight the resistance, for without the ability to use magic on the core itself, there was no other way out. Then there was an explosion that turned the crystal shield into a pile of dust and destroyed the nearest wall of the castle. Dagoth himself was thrown into the collapsed wall with such force that he broke another one, finding himself in some kind of room.
"Kha," he couldn't suppress a painful cry. A little blood poured out through the cracks in his armour made by the explosion. Stuck in some wall, he looked around in confusion and saw the villagers huddled in a corner, trembling. Most of the house had been destroyed because of him, and they were already so poor. Under the ceiling were bundles of roots and captured pigeons, which the locals ate, and their clothes were all patched.
"The enemy was better prepared than I could have expected. I really brought trouble upon them... Ha!"
Breaking free from the wall of the house, he stepped heavily onto the ground and returned to the battle as if nothing had happened. The trembling villagers looked at him as if he were a real Goliath and a harbinger of trouble.
"Well, who cares. I brought this on myself, so I'll deal with it," - being arrogant enough to realise that there are no problems that cannot be solved, you create an unquenchable flame of life from willpower and courage. You begin to value yourself and correct your mistakes.
Hr-r-r-r*
Countless grains of sand began to flow towards Dagoth's body as he stared at another metal core flying from the ship, which seemed completely calm. At that moment, the armour began to transform, layering on top of each other and taking on a truly large form, which required a considerable source of qi, skill and the ability to create durable structures. He turned into a sand golem, resembling a creature from the swamps, only more geometrically correct. And so, large hands were encased in semi-plated gauntlets with a perfectly smooth and seemingly polished surface. Stone armour formed over the sandy body, attempting to mimic chain mail, protecting every single corner of the body. The helmet that formed on its head seemed to be a single structure with the armour and had small slits for eyes, which were essentially unnecessary — the giant's footsteps created vibrations strong enough to allow it to sense its surroundings perfectly.
"What the... - The girls, scattered after the first explosion, stared in shock at the creature, not immediately recognising their unwelcome guest. Before their eyes, the creature formed numerous tentacles from its back.
Gathering them all in front of itself, it formed a single, albeit very large, sphere between them, which emitted electric discharges in all directions. Heading towards the flying projectile, it instantly formed a powerful shock wave - the pressure that had been created after the opening of the third chakra, after the beginning of domination over his element, knocked the TNT projectile off course. And then these spheres headed for the ships. Unlike the previous volleys fired at the frigates, this time the ships felt a real bombardment.
Electric currents ran through the decks, preventing the ships from continuing their fire, and the hull tilted with each hit, rocking the vessels. At that moment, Unagi joined in, striking the already unstable ships with its huge body, drenching them with streams of water and creating strong waves. Feeling such a powerful attack from two creatures at once, they simply could not continue their assault.
Forced to turn around to avoid sinking, they finally retreated.
"Hmm..." At that moment, the large golem-like body suddenly crumbled into a multitude of grains of sand, revealing Dagoth. He was breathing heavily and covered in bruises. "Now I believe that with three open chakras, humans could fight the Dragons."
Adopting the calmest expression possible, ready for anything, he focused on the departing ships. It was the look of a man ready to face any threat.
***
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