This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 386 - 359: The Empire’s Air Force

Chapter 386: Chapter 359: The Empire’s Air Force

The performance of the Black Tide in battle was nothing short of perfect; it completely crushed a group of harpies.

That said, it wasn’t without loss.

The hit rate of the Pseudo-Soul artillery was really not very good, less than a mere thirty percent.

This resulted in excessive consumption of ammunition, necessitating a switch to only using bone projectiles that could proliferate automatically.

The next issue was the insufficient flexibility of the unmanned drones’ jet engines, likely because the parts were not finely machined during manufacture, and were a bit shoddy.

This meant a reckoning was needed with Gustavo Flint, as the parts were all custom-ordered from him.

If even the product quality can’t be controlled by the current Alchemist Guild, what good is the Guild leader?

Having dealt with the harpies, Amberser casually collected some souls and corpses.

Besides the Mana Power Furnace, the Black Tide also had a chamber that provided dark energy; both corpses and souls could supply dark energy, which was quite a fuel-efficient design.

After replenishing some fuel, Amberser once again set off towards the Emerald Dream Forest, and this time too, he would need to cross the Laine territory.

And this time, Amberser made an even bigger commotion.

The noise the Black Tide made was almost like thunder, audible from tens of kilometers away.

Therefore, upon entering Laine territory this time, Amberser immediately encountered interception.

The soul of the Black Tide reported, "Master, the Laine Empire Airship Fleet has appeared ahead, number unknown, approximately one hundred and seventy kilometers from us."

"An Airship Fleet? The Laine people are too naive,"

Amberser found it amusing. The market’s airships were all products of Alchemy City, and most likely the Laine people had bought a few just for show. They had surely never thought they’d one day need to employ these lumbering airships in actual combat.

Amberser shook his head, remarking, "An airship with a top speed of forty kilometers per hour trying to intercept my Black Tide is simply overestimating its capabilities."

"Master, should we annihilate the opposition completely?"

"No, we need witnesses. Leave one or two of them intact."

"As you command, Master!"

The Black Tide accelerated, rushing towards the Laine airships.

At that moment, a total of forty Laine airships lined up in the sky, trying to form an encirclement that would block the Black Tide’s path.

The commander clearly didn’t understand air combat; in such a vast sky, encirclement was implausible.

But you couldn’t blame the Laine people; since the establishment of their nation, when had they ever experienced air combat?

Had it not been for Amberser’s previous passage over Laine airspace, the Laine people wouldn’t have bothered to pull those airships out of the storeroom for refitting.

A few Magic Conduction Cannons had been installed, but the accuracy during test fire was touchingly poor.

However, it looked like there was only one opponent, forty against one. The advantage was ours, right?

Even if the advantage was not... worst comes to worst, I could just jump down. As a Light Priest, I shouldn’t die from a parachute jump.

So thought Kaid Watson, the commander of the airship.

Such thoughts went against the cultural norms of the Laine Empire; being labeled a coward would ruin one’s prospects.

However, Kaid Watson didn’t care anymore. Ever since his brother Allen defected and his father James resigned, Kaid Watson had been implicated.

Being the second son, Kaid Watson had not publicly and firmly distanced himself from his family as his elder brother had. He was always the least noticeable in the family and not so resolute in will. Originally intending to live an unremarkable life, the turmoil within the family left Kaid Watson helpless.

Originally a well-paid supervisor at the Court of Judgment, now he had been reassigned to guard a warehouse, holding the title of Airship Commander.

But everyone knew that airships weren’t really used for combat; most of the time, they were just for ceremonial purposes, which was a blatant demotion.

As a result, not long after he was transferred, the Empire suffered a defeat, and the aerial superiority of the giant dragons caused the Laine People heavy losses.

Their legendary warriors couldn’t fly, so they could only passively take hits. Using the flight spell to fight the giant dragons in the air was essentially making oneself a living target.

An air force had to be established, but no one had experience; they had to try a bit of everything. Since airships could fly, weren’t they ripe for some retrofitting?

The Magic Conduction Cannons were mounted, but how effective were they in actual combat?

"All units, fire as soon as the enemy enters range," was the order.

The tactics of this air force were saturation attacks; after all, their mobility was virtually non-existent and their accuracy quite touching. Other than this tactic, there was no alternative.

The Black Tide was rapidly approaching, much faster than Kaid Worson had anticipated.

But despite the surprise, Kaid Worson immediately gave the order, "Fire!"

The Magic Conduction Cannons fired in unison, with dozens of shells soaring towards the Black Tide, most of which missed their marks.

Firing in the air meant the recoil would shake the airship, and whether the shells struck their target was left in the hands of fate.

When faced with these attacks, the Black Tide simply ascended sharply, dodging all the shells.

Then came the Black Tide’s counterattack, and their cannons were much more accurate.

After a volley of fire, more than half of the Laine People’s airships were hit, and massive Bone Coral grew over them, enveloping the vessels.

With the gasbags that provided buoyancy punctured, these airships rapidly fell towards the ground.

The Laine People on board could only frantically abandon ship and choose to parachute from high altitude.

Kaid Worson hadn’t expected to lose so quickly, and could only sigh before telling his subordinates, "Abandon ship, we can’t win this."

Kaid Worson was about to escape when suddenly a blade thrust towards him.

Blocking the blade with the hammer in his hand, Kaid Worson avoided the sword’s edge. When he looked closely, he realized his assailant was a young Paladin. Superficially, the boy was Kaid Worson’s protector, but in reality, he was a spy sent by others to monitor Kaid Worson, preventing him from betraying his country like Allen had.

This youthful-looking Paladin angrily said to Kaid Worson, "You traitor, ready to surrender without a fight to the death; do you think you deserve our Deity?"

Kaid Worson shrugged his shoulders and said, "The Lord of the Dawn didn’t teach me to go to my death. I’m not a Paladin; I don’t need to honor any vows. Besides, a Priest’s power comes from the generosity of the Deity..." A sacred luminance began illuminating from Kaid Worson.

"See, the Lord of the Dawn thinks I am right; this Holy Light is the proof."

Priests were the most devout followers of the Deity, their ability to use Divine Arts was totally dependent on Divine permission; Kaid Worson’s explanation was truly impeccable.

The young Paladin was so angered by Kaid Worson’s words that he trembled with rage, shouting, "Don’t you dare insult the Lord of the Dawn!"

A Holy Slash was about to finish off this traitor, but suddenly a violent explosion sent both of them flying.

Kaid Worson’s body spun dozens of times in the air before falling to the ground.

As Kaid Worson fumbled in panic trying to open his backpack parachute, a large robot arrived beside him, grasping his arm, and suspending him midair.

"You are the commander of this fleet? My master wishes to see you."

"Master?" Kaid Worson asked in surprise, looking at the oddly shaped robot, "Who is your master?"

The robot replied, "The great and merciful, the wise and learned, the savior of the world, Master Tiga Ultraman."