[Vol. 9] Chapter 38: Intrusion - The Steel Beast!
Merchants are not kind people. They risk their lives crossing the Extreme Cold Zone because they want to make a huge profit from the opportunity. For this reason, Sasha brought more than ten storage tools filled with grain. Together with the cargo on the carts, the total weight reached over 100,000 tons.
The earlier caravans could still be seen as trial runs for the Xavier Merchant Guild. But this one, led by her, was a full investment. If not to erase the negative impact of that incident in Tio Province, the guild master would never have gambled such a heavy stake. If it succeeded, this would probably become the guild’s biggest business in recent years.
That’s why they absolutely couldn’t afford failure.
With excitement in her heart, Sasha led the caravan for about another hour. She noticed the snow and wind around them had clearly softened, the temperature was quickly rising, and the outline of a castle far ahead was becoming clearer. Confirming that they had finally left the Extreme Cold Zone, Sasha didn’t rush forward. Instead, she took out her map and began discussing with several high-level members of the caravan on the spot.
“If our route hasn’t gone off course, we should now be inside the territory of the Ice-Sea Principality in the eastern snowlands. Once we pass that fortress ahead, we’ll see the legendary endless Ice Sea.”
She made a few marks and estimates on the map, then pointed at a spot after judging the surrounding environment.
“Our location… here, the Snowfeather Fortress. It’s said that this area is home to a kind of magic beast called the Ice Swan. Its feathers are pure white, flawless, and extremely valuable both for beauty and clothing. The locals collect their shed feathers, and even raise them for trade. That’s why the place is called Snowfeather Fortress.”
Speaking, the girl nodded in satisfaction.
“Looks like we’re lucky. Ice Swan feathers are not only beautiful but also rare, which makes them even more valuable. They say a coat made from those feathers can sell for more than a thousand Holy Light coins. The guild master reminded me before we left that we must stop here to buy some. I didn’t expect that right after leaving the Extreme Cold Zone we would…”
BOOM!!!!!
Before Sasha could finish, a thunderous explosion suddenly erupted from the castle in the distance!
The powerful tremor shook the caravan so badly that people could hardly stand. The frightened pack beasts let out uneasy roars, while countless piles of snow tumbled down from the shaking. The overwhelming force reminded them of the mythical dragon they had run into back in the Extreme Cold Zone.
Hey, hey, this must be a joke… Could it be that the dragon had left the Extreme Cold Zone and was now attacking the fortress of the Ice-Sea Principality?!
“Stay calm! Hold the reins tight! Stay where you are! No running around and causing chaos!”
Sasha did her best to control the panicked group. As the strongest member of the caravan, her senses were sharper than anyone else’s. This shock was indeed as strong as the blue dragon’s breath back then, but its power faded quickly. It wasn’t like an earthquake, nor like the ongoing attacks of some powerful beast. Instead, it felt more like the instant strike of some high-powered weapon, like artillery.
Judging from the direction of the sound, could it be that some force was attacking Snowfeather Fortress?
As Sasha’s mind raced and she was about to speak again, one of the sharp-eyed guards suddenly pointed toward the castle, his face full of disbelief.
“Miss Sasha, look! What is that!?”
Everyone followed his finger and looked up. At once, they froze in stunned silence.
From behind Snowfeather Fortress, huge, towering shadows were slowly emerging. So massive and awe-inspiring that words failed them.
Their bodies were as solid as steel, fully covered in heavy magic armor. Streams of glowing magic energy flowed like ripples across their hard surfaces. The fronts were shaped like giant spears cutting through waves, and several towering silver-gray gun turrets pointed straight ahead. Along both sides were rows of secondary cannons and ray platforms. Huge arrays of magic engines, like sapphires set into iron, gave off a deep humming sound as they moved forward, stirring dazzling halos of light, dreamy and unreal.
Even a hundred-meter-long dragon would look small and weak before these giants. Calling them “Steel Beasts” was no exaggeration.
Many in the caravan had probably never seen such unbelievable things, but Sasha, as the second-in-command of the Xavier Merchant Guild who had traveled far and wide for years, had some knowledge about the mighty nation in the east known as the Austre Empire. With one look, she recognized what they were.
“This is… the Austre Empire’s main navy fleet? Wait—what’s going on here? Isn’t it said that the Ice Sea is too rough, filled with icebergs and frozen islands, making it impossible for ships to sail far? So how did the Austre Empire’s warships manage to sail straight into the Ice-Sea Principality’s core territory?”
The girl was stunned. A fleet appearing on the Ice Sea was even harder to believe than an ice dragon flying across the Extreme Cold Zone. After all, what this meant was far more than just one or two ships.
And indeed, just as Sasha said, the massive iron warships behind Snowfeather Fortress were not just a few in number. Countless shadows, as thick as storm clouds, covered everything in front of them. The largest among them, the flagship, was so tall that its flying banner reached higher than the main tower of Snowfeather Fortress itself. Such a grand fleet was something not even the Snow Empire, ruler of the north, could ever possess.
After all, each of the world’s five great powers had their strengths, and the Snow Empire’s strength had never been about its military.
At this very moment, on the deck of that towering flagship at the center of the steel fleet, the black barrels of the main cannons were aimed straight at the northern wall of Snowfeather Fortress. White smoke was already rising visibly from the cannon mouths. Even a fool could see that the deafening blast earlier had come from this super weapon.
What were they doing? What exactly were they planning?
To bring their main fleet into the Ice Sea, which belonged to the Snow Empire, and even fire cannons directly at a vassal nation’s fortress, was the Austre Empire trying to start a war with the Snowland nations? But weren’t they supposed to be allies? And hadn’t the Austre Empire just signed a truce with the Holy Empire not long ago? How could they already be preparing for another war?
Before anyone could figure it out, another round of BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! shook the skies. The steel fleet’s volley felt like it was splitting heaven and earth. The small Snowfeather Fortress shivered under the power of this advanced magic technology, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Shivering too were the caravan members, dragged into this huge event for no reason. They looked at each other in shock. After the endless booming and a long, deathly silence, someone finally swallowed hard, turned to their leader, and spoke weakly.
“Um… this time, maybe we really do need to take a detour?”