Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 616 - 615: Breakout and Fire Support

The Steel Cavalry Brigade led by Soldrin broke camp and set off before the first light of dawn, beginning their movement towards the direction of the Gorgon River.

This team had already ventured too close to the dangerous pollution zone, even crossing the edge of the Gigantic Tree Path Entrance—this so-called "entrance" wasn’t a real gateway but a broad area on the eastern side of the Plains of the Holy Spirits, encompassing regions like The White City, Slanting Forest Valley, and Mount Yartel—In this area, the Steel Dragoon Warriors had had multiple encounters with the Crystal Cluster Giants and discovered several villages or towns completely occupied by the Crystal Cluster Legion. In addition, with the occasional rescue of the Anzu Kingdom’s military remnants, this task force had already exceeded their exploration mission, and it was time to retreat.

The true artillery bombardment should be left to the following main forces.

Knight Mitchell and his soldiers crowded inside the armored infantry vehicle, feeling the low growl and vibrations emitted by this steel Wild Beast driven by Magic Power and machinery. A vast sense of power transmitted through the operation of the gears and levers, making them feel an inexplicable sense of awe along with an unusual sense of security—even though they couldn’t understand how the Cecil Clan managed to create these incredible magical devices, a feeling of reassurance continuously surged within them.

They were being protected, shielded by a layer of sturdy framework, steel plates, and a thick magic shield. The Cecil Clan cleverly combined these common materials and familiar spells and endowed the machines with a soul using mysterious Rune Technology, allowing these steel creations to operate independently without the maintenance of a Mage. Sitting inside was akin to being inside a moving fortress of safety.

There must be some kind of Magic Spirit driving this war vehicle, that’s beyond doubt.

Perhaps it’s the Machine Spirit.

Knight Mitchell’s thoughts wandered, trying to understand the creations of the Cecil Clan with "common sense," but he ultimately failed to comprehend. He turned his head and gazed through the crystal embedded in the vehicle’s armor at the outside scenery—scenes in the wilderness were racing backward, far faster than a horse carriage.

"Are we heading straight for the Gorgon River?" An Anzu Kingdom’s military soldier sitting beside him looked at the Cecil Warrior, completely clad in black armor, seated across the cabin and asked somewhat uneasily, "Is someone picking us up over there?"

The magic warrior dressed in black light armor casually replied, "We will first go south, then west towards the riverbank."

Knight Mitchell slightly nodded, believing that it was indeed the right choice.

Directly heading west towards the Gorgon River was certainly the shortest route, but being deep in the pollution zone made lateral movement susceptible to encountering large troops of Crystal Cluster Giants. The safest route was to head south first, leaving the most dangerous area before adjusting the direction. Besides, it was said that the warship coming to pick them up was still moving north along the river, so heading south quickly took them to the rendezvous point...

But this kind of rendezvous required perfect coordination between the convoy and the warship, needing to arrive at the precise time and place; without prior agreement on time and location, it was otherwise difficult to achieve. Yet, seeing the Cecil Clan’s calm demeanor, they clearly weren’t worried about this part, and how they managed it remained unknown—did some of the Black Armor soldiers have the ability to use communication spells?

Knight Mitchell speculated, but suddenly, a violent jolt interrupted his thoughts. It was the car abruptly accelerating, followed by a sharp whining sound outside, immediately succeeded by a distant explosion from behind.

He had heard this sound before—when he and his last soldiers were about to be overwhelmed by increasing Crystal Cluster Giants, this kind of explosion descended from the sky, intercepting the Giant’s reinforcements, saving all of them.

It was something known as a "Howitzer"—equipment not mounted on the personnel and supply transport vehicle he was on, but present on the other two "Multi-Functional War Vehicles," each equipped with one that was significantly powerful.

The two Cecil soldiers in black light armor inside the cabin instantly responded, one immediately approached the observation port to assess the situation, and the other climbed up the ladder in the middle of the cabin, beginning to manipulate the beam turret on the roof to engage in combat. Knight Mitchell, after a moment of shock, also reacted; he lunged towards another observation port and saw the dreadful situation outside—

A massive number of Crystal Cluster Giants were attacking from all directions, innumerable in count, and the Arcane Arcs they created were already licking the ground not far away...

In an instant upon seeing these creatures, the security brought by the steel and shields swiftly diminished, though Knight Mitchell forcefully mustered the courage to remain calm. Meanwhile, numerous Anzu Kingdom’s soldiers were fearfully praying.

But Mitchell couldn’t blame these soldiers—they had just gone through catastrophic defeats, repeated escapades, and had barely made it out of that hell.

At this moment, another tremor struck, accompanied by the thunderous sound of a close-range explosion resonating so powerfully that several soldiers turned pale as paper: this was the sound of a powerful Arcane Lightning hitting the barrier!

Those creatures were getting closer!

The iron door separating the front and rear sections of the war vehicle suddenly swung open, and the golden-haired High-Ranked Ranger bent down and peeked in, "Looks like we’ve stumbled into an ambush—but the enemy seems to have trouble adapting to our speed, failing to completely close the ambush circle."

It was an ambush!!

Knight Mitchell gasped, speaking rapidly, "Can we escape?"

"Not easily, there are a lot of them, and they’re sticking close," the High-Ranked Ranger said with an effortlessly calm demeanor, contrasting sharply with the nervous and terrified Anzu Kingdom soldiers, but his words offered no ease, "With those creatures’ stamina, speed, and morale, we won’t shake them off any time soon."

Knight Mitchell’s face was enveloped in a shadow; he couldn’t comprehend how the High-Ranked Ranger in front of him managed to remain so light-hearted in such a situation: "Then... we’re going to die here..."

Soldrin smiled, "Don’t worry, we’re getting close to the assigned rendezvous point—about ten kilometers or so."

Mitchell was initially slightly relaxed by the "deceptive" smile, but then he almost jumped in shock—it’s still so far away!!

Moreover, he clearly remembered that the convoy was not moving directly towards the Gorgon River; it was heading south! It’s still quite a distance from the riverbank!

A continuous series of explosions and the sound of burners spewing flames came from outside, mixed with the violent boom when arcane lightning hit the vehicle’s shields, constantly reminding everyone inside the carriage: outside, Crystal Cluster Giants were everywhere, and they were getting closer!

Between the convoy and the Gorgon River, there were probably ambushed monsters. Under such circumstances, how could this team, far from the riverbank and far from the rendezvous point, survive safely?

The Royal Knight from the capital couldn’t find a way to break through the encirclement within his limited battlefield experience. Even considering the power of these peculiar war vehicles, he didn’t think they could survive the surge of the Crystal Cluster Legion. However, Soldrin did not continue to explain—the High-Ranked Ranger only casually reassured him with a few words, stating they had "excellent fire support," then turned and left the passenger compartment.

Leaving behind the "passenger" with a baffled expression, Soldrin quickly returned to the front of the vehicle next to the driver’s console, signaling the soldier controlling the war vehicle to continue moving towards the riverbank while quickly activating the onboard Magic Web Terminal.

The fact proved that setting up relay points along the path for intelligence gathering was a foresighted move.

The Magic Web Terminal was activated, with a small holographic projection floating above the armored vehicle’s dashboard. In the center of the display was the unshaven Byron and the busy warship command platform in the background.

"We’ve seen the signal flare you shot out," Byron said proactively before Soldrin could speak, "We’ll soon enter the coverage area—just run south like hell before then!"

Soldrin quickly said: "We’re being pursued. After we pass temporary relay point number 16, you can fire, just aim near the relay point. It’s okay if you destroy the relay point; I’ll fix it later..."

"So conservative," Byron said with a "you’re overthinking it" expression while somehow finding a tobacco pipe, unlit, in his mouth, "You could actually send another signal flare in ten minutes, then I can recalibrate based on the flare. It’s standard battleship support procedure, can help you take out more..."

A bright arcane arc came from afar, shattering into fragments on the vehicle’s shield, immediately followed by Scorching Ray covering the direction of the attack. Soldrin grabbed the handrail on the car roof, maintaining stability amid violent shaking while responding to the mercenary knight on the other side of the communicator: "I just fear you’ll blow up my entire team—after all, you’re using a battleship cannon!"

"My gunners have excellent scores in live ammunition, and the Pioneer’s main guns use the latest aiming devices and rangefinders. Give me a wisp of smoke, they won’t miss, I assure you—won’t you really give it a try?"

Soldrin couldn’t understand how this unreliable guy managed to survive in the army until today and still win Gawain’s favor, but he eventually chose to trust "battleship support"—mainly choosing to trust the well-trained gunners and the latest magic-guided warship.

After confirming the fire support plan, Byron on the other side of the communicator clearly became happy. The mercenary knight, now fleet commander and increasingly fascinated with the cutting-edge magic-guided warship, held the pipe and made a man’s promise with a smile: "Rest assured, if my cannons so much as scratch a bolt on your precious vans, I’ll shave my head bald and parade around Cecil Castle twice..."

The speaker was unintentional,

The listener took note.

Two veins popped instantly on Soldrin’s forehead, but the communication had already ended.

In a surge of unexplainable anger from the Steel Cavalry commander, the breakout convoy entered a smoother area, its speed suddenly increasing again.

From a bird’s-eye view, two Multi-Functional War Vehicles and two armored transporters kicked up clouds of dust, racing across the wild; countless Crystal Cluster Giants were gathering from all directions, layer upon layer, chasing this small breakout convoy. Arcane arcs crossed with the flash of orbital howitzers between the convoy and pursuers, flames from heavy burners licking the earth. In this battlefield interwoven with explosions and flames, the distance between pursuer and breakout kept expanding, then closing again.

The speed at which the giants charged was no less than that of vehicles driven by a Magic-Powered Engine.

This chase seemed destined to last for a long time, but suddenly, the top of one magic-guided vehicle opened.

A Steel Cavalry Warrior pointed a light launcher at the sky, firing three signal flares.

Two red and one white signal flare soared into the sky, exploding loudly under the clear sky, visible smoke and flashes clearly seen over the distant Gorgon River.

After firing the signal flare, the four magic-guided vehicles did not slow down at all, even accelerating slightly, as if trying to quickly escape this dangerous position. Beneath the descending path of the signal flare was the Crystal Cluster Legion of the Oblivion Association...

Over the Gorgon River, two of the four live ammunition main guns of the cutting-edge magic-guided warship "Pioneer" rapidly, finely adjusted their angles. Moments later, surging energy from the power spine was injected into the acceleration orbit.

Skyfire descended from the sky.