Chapter 970

C970

Patlok and Pibilok.

The two fortresses prepared to operate their aerial fortress function, and fortunately, Elona didn’t attack the two fortresses. She needed time to organize the information she had obtained from Gaila.

The reason the Imperial Family didn’t anticipate the Red Legend Tribe’s betrayal at this particular moment was quite simple.

First, the Imperial Family learned of Elona’s change relatively late. Only those who had gone directly to Hell, and especially those who had directly fought Kelliark, could immediately discern that she had changed.

Of course, Elona immediately followed Kelliark’s orders to eliminate the pro-Beradin forces within Zipple and announced to the world that Lutero’s power structure had changed, but it was difficult for anyone to predict that she would immediately attack the Red Legend Tribe.

Furthermore, the fact that Elona had acquired the ability of “mind control” through the Sacred Crown is something only the Vamel Alliance, possessing a Record Magician, estimates. The Imperial Family simply knew that Elona had sided with Kelliark and had become stronger.

*Whiiiiing…!*

Above the Third City, Pat and the fleet were preparing for a spatial jump.

The Red Legend Tribe’s aerial fortresses looked like giant spinning tops. They had cannon ports on all sides that surpassed battleship-class vessels, and the finely carved lower parts seemed capable of trampling any solid ground.

This might be the decisive battle for the Red Legend Tribe. They left only minimal defensive forces in the city, and all members of the Red Legend Tribe who hadn’t become immortal soldiers had boarded Pat and the subordinate fleet.

“Now, I can only hope that compatriot Shimat’s judgment is correct,” Rakiman said, and Shimat nodded with a determined look.

“The sacrifices of compatriot Gaila and the compatriots of four cities will not be in vain. We will soon be able to meet our compatriot Goddess of Battle.”

Rakiman had opposed the idea at first, calling it madness. But as events unfolded, Rakiman became thrilled by their increase in power through the sacrifices of their compatriots and the power source of Pat, which had been activated for the first time.

Pat vibrated as if it would annihilate any enemy without leaving anyone behind. It was operating at approximately 50% of its power due to insufficient blood, but it was more than enough to instill hope in the Red Legend Tribe.

“Open the dimensional portal!”

Rakiman yelled, and the central part of Pat opened like a mouth, revealing a power source that resembled a red sun.

The aerial fortress could be considered vulnerable when the power source was revealed. Aside from large-scale spatial jumps like this, the power source was never exposed to the outside.

*Paaaah…!*

A massive beam of light emanated from the power source. The beam moved like a brush and drew a square as it created the dimensional portal.

“Coordinates, Pirol. Commence the invasion.”

The fleets led by Pat began to fly through the dimensional portal. Currently, only the Red Legend Tribe, Kinzelo, and Silkia of the True Demon World had the capability to perform spatial jumps on such a large scale.

It would take much longer when attacking an area without coordinates, but 10 minutes were sufficient to move through the mid-world.

Without warning, without any sign.

The sky above the small city of Pirol turned red as if blood had been spilled. The sky turning red was a symbol of impending doom in the past when the ancient Legend Tribe conquered the underworld.

It signified that the Red Legend Tribe’s aerial fortress was appearing.

“What the hell… The Red Legend Tribe, what the hell are these crazy fellows plotting!”

Manoff Vermont.

He was one of the Imperial Family members, no different from Bibol Vermont, and his eyes narrowed as he looked towards the sky.

He wasn’t bewildered when Orgal suddenly appeared not long ago. However, this was the most shocking moment of his life, which had spanned over a thousand years.

‘I know they’ve been preparing for betrayal, but already?!’

The Imperial Family had believed they had complete control over the Red Legend Tribe. They had especially ensured that the Red Legend Tribe could never operate the aerial fortresses on their own and had meticulously controlled the distribution of blood.

‘These madmen, they used their own blood…!’

Sacrificing their compatriots to fuel the aerial fortresses was unheard of. The Imperial Family had believed that the Red Legend Tribe would only make such a terrible decision on the brink of destruction.

Manoff hurriedly jumped out of the window and ran through the city. He saw the Demon Men diligently carrying the bodies of the deceased Blue Legend Tribe members. Some of the Demon Men with egos stopped what they were doing and looked towards the sky.

‘Oh, no… If these fall into their hands.’

The Third City’s aerial fortress, Pat, was dangerously approaching. If even one of those horrifying fortresses that had terrorized the entire underworld’s history were completed, it would represent an insurmountable problem for the current Imperial Family.

Coincidentally, today was the day the Imperial Family had moved the “largest number” of deceased Blue Legend Tribe members to Pirol.

Recently, the Blue Legend Tribe member, Eltiot, was regaining his cognitive ability, so it was necessary to hide the deceased Blue Legend Tribe members from him.

As the deceased Blue Legend Tribe members would eventually need to support the Red Legend Tribe little by little, it had been decided to temporarily store them in Pirol and then distribute them to various bases after today.

In the end, this choice turned out to be the worst possible one.

The moment Manoff’s mind went blank, the Red Legend Tribe was shouting with excitement.

“The… the Blue Legend Tribe members! How much of that sweet blood of Blue Legend Tribe members do they have? Compatriot Shimat, look at that! We can’t even count them with our own eyes!”

Rakiman almost yelled like a child.

Shimat also put his hand to his chest and looked at the deceased Blue Legend Tribe members. He had thought there might be around 500 of them at most, but it was far more than that.

There were at least over 5,000 deceased Blue Legend Tribe members, and there were probably even more stored inside the city.

“I’ve heard there’s something called a lottery in the human world, compatriot Rakiman. The lottery is a rare opportunity that can bring tremendous wealth… and we’ve won that lottery.”

“Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Of course, having a significant number of deceased Blue Legend Tribe members transported also meant having a significant number of Demon Men.

However, the Red Legend Tribe paid no attention to the Demon Men who were in the midst of forming their combat formation. It might be a difficult situation if it were a close-range battle, but the Demon Men were nothing as long as there were aerial fortresses.

“High-ranking Imperial official, Manoff Vermont identified! Compatriot Rakiman, give the order!”

“You must capture him alive! He knows the power of Pat, so he won’t even think of resisting. He’ll probably want to escape somehow using the Demon Men as shields, but we’ll crush his hope immediately!”

“Red Legend!”

Just as Rakiman ordered, Manoff was preparing to escape immediately.

Pirol was one of the main research bases for Demon Men, so it was well-equipped with self-destruction devices. All he had to do was set the self-destruction and take the pre-installed dimensional portal.

However, if escaping the aerial fortress were that easy, the powerful beings of the ancient underworld wouldn’t have been so terrified.

“Ugh, gasp…!”

Manoff suddenly felt his breath being cut off as he jumped towards the dimensional portal.

The Red Legend Tribe had already successfully launched a spatial jump, and they had extended a red beam across Pirol.

This red beam had an effect similar to the pressure of Tess’s blue flame, making the affected bodies heavy and losing vigor.

Furthermore, there were two types of beams. One type of red beam had a pressure effect, while the other type disabled the enemy’s equipment, such as communication devices or dimensional portals, and forcibly cut off their power source.

Manoff was desperately pressing the buttons that opened the fortress walls. The fortress, which the Imperial Family had built in Pirol, was equipped with various mana-based devices for its operation. However, each of them had stopped functioning.

“Damn bastards!”

Manoff was aware of the aerial fortresses’ capabilities, so he knew it was over. However, he found it hard to accept the feeling of being humiliated by those he believed were leashed dogs all along.

Manoff forcibly broke through several shields and reached the room with the self-destruction device and the dimensional portal. However, these devices were no longer functioning.

It was the same even when Manoff tried to infuse mana separately. The damaged magic circuits couldn’t be repaired in an instant.

“Ha.”

Manoff couldn’t see the external situation, but he knew what was happening.

The main cannons of the aerial fortress Pat and the fleet were probably dealing only with Demon Men, without causing any damage to the corpses of the Blue Legend Tribe members.

“It might have been possible to escape if Temar Vermont were here… But Temar is in Maysil. Or perhaps it’s even better that he’s in Maysil. I don’t know by what means they activated the aerial fortresses for this betrayal, but there’s no way they’d abandon Maysil, where His Majesty resides.”

As Manoff had expected, the area outside the fortress was enveloped in a red hell. The Demon Men were being incinerated by countless red beams falling from the aerial fortress. The corpses of the Blue Legend Tribe members were being absorbed in real-time.

Pat’s power source would fill to the brim by gathering all the remaining Blue Legend Tribe members into the fortress, and there would still be some left.

The remaining corpses would be returned to other Red Legend Tribe aerial fortresses one by one.

‘Now all I can hope for is that those who attacked Maysil will suffer at the hands of His Majesty and Eltiot.’

With this thought in mind, Manoff took a dagger from his pocket.

But his hand didn’t move. It wasn’t because he was afraid of death, but because the intensity of the red beam suddenly exploded.

“No, Manoff Vermont. Could it be that a Melka, known for their tenacious vitality throughout history, is attempting suicide?”

Spoke Shimat, who had somehow come out of the fortress and was now approaching Manoff.

The Demon Men had already been annihilated. The Red Legend Tribe members had jumped from the fleet and were enjoying their blood festival.

“Shimat… I never knew you would attack us at this moment.”

“It was an even more unknown fact that Melka Tribe members dared to treat the great Red Legend Tribe members like dogs. It must have been the greatest honor of your life.”

Shimat then grabbed Manoff’s head.

“The only reason I spared you, Manoff Vermont, is one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Tell me the whereabouts of our Goddess of Battle. I promise on the honor of the Red Legend Tribe that we won’t completely destroy your Imperial Family if you tell us.”

Manoff smiled ironically: “You mean you would use us as we have used you until now?”

At his words, Shimat smiled as if dumbfounded.

“Do you think we, who have regained our strength, need the help of Melka Tribe members? It seems you have a little faith left in something. This fight is over now unless a major faction like the Vamel Alliance or the Lutero Magical Federation helps you. What I mean is, I will leave one heir of your Imperial lineage alive. Only one person will live as a slave to the Red Legend Tribe. Survival is all that matters to you, Milka Tribe members.”