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“Isn’t this twice as many as expected?”

The Grand Duke’s expression turned stony as he looked at the massive airships filling the sky above the Iberian Castle.

Even the initially expected enemy force of 16 airships was so powerful that Iberia would have had to defend itself with all its might. But now, the number of airships dotting the Iberian sky was twice as many as expected. 

No, there was a lot, but there was something more important and dire than the number of airships. 

“Until now, they have kept their neutrality, so why have they come now…”

The Iberian Grand Duke saw airships that glinted gold as if they had been gilded. It was the flotilla under the direct control of the Emperor. 

“Even though they are the flotilla, they most likely couldn’t stand by and watch the spirit of the Empire deteriorate any longer. It seems like they have decided to help the one who seems the strongest and most influential in order to end the civil war.”

Nothing could be more despairing than this. The aviation corps’ regular battleships would already have been difficult to deal with, but now, the flotilla’s battleships, which were considered to be the finest example of the Empire, had appeared on the battlefield.

“It may be too late, but make arrangements so that Her Highness could escape. If there are more enemy forces here than expected, then that means fewer enemy forces are heading towards our fortresses. As long as we can overcome this immediate crisis, we can still plan for the future.”

“Do you plan on giving up your main castle?’

“The real strength of Iberia does not lie in its castles. As long as the nobles and merchants are alive, Iberia can always stand up again.”

When the Iberian Grand Duke spoke, the nobles began making preparations to evacuate Princess Adelaide. However, the princess didn’t listen to the nobles’ request this time either. 

“I will not go.”

“There are 4 squadrons, 32 battleships here. Among them is the Empire’s most elite flotilla. If they were determined and shot their mage cannons, then not a single cornerstone of the Iberian Castle will remain, Your Highness.”

The nobles begged her to evacuate, but it was no use. 

“If He were to fail or something happens to me, then do not delay and quickly surrender. My elder brothers will never treat Iberia poorly.”

“Your Highness! How could we!”

“This is an order. Although things have reached this point, Iberia is absolutely necessary to the Empire. I do not want the Empire’s pillars to crumble because of one wretched woman.”

“We cannot accept it, Your Highness.”

There was no way that the nobles, who had accepted the possibility of dying and still remained by her side in the main castle, would listen to her order.

“My Lords, you are all really stubborn.”

“We do not dare compete with you, Your Highness.”

When they continued to remain divided over the issue, the nobles seemed like they had given up persuading the princess. The princess also looked like she wasn’t going to encourage the nobles to surrender anymore.

However, that was only because she knew that the situation where the nobles would have to surrender to the enemy would never happen.

Princess Adelaide turned to look beyond the castle walls. It seemed like the golden magic mount was preparing to move. 

“Please, I beg you, you are the legend of the Empire.”

As if in response to her words, the crouched magic mount began to move.

Krrrrrr.

A sound that was as harsh and ferocious as an animal’s roar - the start-up sound was fundamentally different from the latest magic mount model. 

But for some reason, the sound was hair-rising.

Perhaps it wasn’t just the princess who felt like that. The nobles had been noisily causing a ruckus, but now, all of them shut their mouths and looked at the magic mount.

Goooooooo.

In front of many people, the magic mount Goldrachen began to move. 

***

“It really is empty.”

Seeing how the commander of the flotilla spoke so apathetically, it didn’t seem like he was worried about the countless troops deployed by the Iberian Castle. 

Well, that was only natural. No matter how many soldiers were deployed, the Iberia Fleet’s warships had been the only threat. But that didn’t matter now since all of them had left the port. It also didn’t matter how many infantrymen there were since there wasn’t much they could do when the battleships stationed at the frontlines were perched high in the sky. 

“What do you plan on doing, sir?”

“It is not my nature to beat helpless opponents, but since it’s like this, it would be good to reduce the burden on our infantrymen and the Panzer Knights.”

“Shall we bombard them, sir?”

The commander nodded at his adjutant’s question.

“We’ll neutralize the walls and the ports before waiting for our allies to arrive. If there is anything that could be a threat, then destroy that as well.”

As soon as he finished talking, the adjutant sent out the commander’s orders to each of the battleships. The squadrons began to deploy their artillery. 

On the off chance the Iberian Fleet returned, their first target of elimination was the port.

“Hm?”

The commander had been watching the infantrymen bustling on the wall when he suddenly noticed an odd structure. He frowned at it.

“Did Iberia have something like that?”

It was a massive statue, about 10 meters high, that was looking up at the sky. As if symbolizing the wealth Iberia had accumulated, the statue of the Dragonian was adorned with gold.

“Magic engine noises detected, sir! It’s believed to be the heart of a magic mount, sir!”

“So it seems like they had magic mounts hidden. How many does the enemy have?”

“So far, only one enemy magic mount has been observed, sir!”

At the observer’s report, the commander looked incredulous. His expression seemed to be asking what merely one magic mount could do in the first place. 

“Locating, sir! Location confirmed, sir! At the main gate of the Iberian Castle, sir! magic mount’s movements confirmed, sir!”

Regardless of the commander’s reaction, the observer diligently did his job as he found and reported the location of the magic mount.

“Are you saying that’s the magic mount?”

When the commander realized that the object he had thought was the statue was actually a magic mount, he smirked.

“Iberia must have money to burn. Why else would they create such useless things like that?”

It was such a massive construct with an unsophisticatedly thick exoskeleton. He couldn’t help but wonder if it would even operate; it looked like it was just meant to be a decoration for displaying purposes. 

“Let’s send them a simple gift before the battle. Fire the mage cannon four times! Destroy the enemy’s magic mount!”

The commander had no doubts that Iberia’s treasure would be horribly destroyed. But the magic mount moved much faster than the time it took for his orders to be carried and his belief fulfilled. 

“Powerful magic reactions observed! Location is the enemy’s magic mount!”

The commander could see Iberia’s magic mount opening its mouth widely.

“Size of magic reaction - equivalent to or greater than than the main gun on this ship, sir!”

Even before the observer could finish shrieking, the enemy magic mount shot out fire.

Bang!

At that moment, a shock wave swept through the battleship’s bridge and the commander barely managed to keep his balance.

“Damages…”

The commander’s eyes widened as he was unable to finish his words. Through the massive window of the bridge, he saw the sight of his allies’ ships engulfed in flames. 

“4th ship, hit! 7th ship, hit! 13th ship, hit!”

“The 4th and 13th ships’ shields have been destroyed but they’re alright, sir!”

“The 7th ship was directly hit and is dropping, sir!”

The commander gritted his teeth at the observer’s belayed report.

“Those cunning, sly bastards. They must’ve disguised the cannon as a magic mount!’

 The commander judged that the ridiculous magic mount was actually a mage cannon, however, he was mistaken.

He had thought the magic mount’s legs were just a disguise to help the device withstand the recoil of the cannon, but those same legs kicked off the ground.

Until then, the commander may have been confused, but he hadn’t doubted their victory. Whether that thing was a magic mount or a mage cannon, whether it jumped or flew, he hadn’t thought it could do anything to 30 battleships. But once again, the commander’s expectations were wrong.

“Enemy…. The enemy magic mount is flying, sir.”

The magic mount continued ascending as translucent wings sprouted from its back. The sight of those wings was absurd enough to hurt his eyes.

***

“What the hell is that…”

The Grand Duke of Iberia’s mouth dropped open as he stared at the Imperial Family’s secret weapon soaring high into the sky.

It had already been surprising that an antique such as that had been hiding a mage cannon, but now, it was flying.

The translucent wings that sprouted from the magic mount’s back were ridiculously improbable and unrealistic. It felt like all the common sense and magical theories that he knew were negated.

But the surprise was only the beginning.

The magic mount soared high into the sky and began destroying the flotilla’s massive battleships. 

Soaring high into the sky, the magic mount began to destroy the massive battleships of the flotilla. Every time the magic mount stretched out a hand, the battleship’s defense magic, which was usually so powerful that even the magic of a senior mage couldn’t leave a scratch, was shredded like it was a piece of paper.

Five of the 32 battleships dropped in an instant.

“Ohh!”

The nobles had been watching the battle dazed half out of their minds, but now, they finally started cheering. The previous sense of defeat and despair was nowhere to be seen.

The same was true for Princess Adelaide as well.

“Ahh…”

She clasped her small hands together as she looked up at the sky with a face full of joy. 

“The 7th one!”

Another airship crashed and the nobles’ cheers grew.

“What on earth is with that magic mount, Your Highness? What was the Imperial Family hiding?”

The nobles had thought all possibility of victory was gone, but now, they cheered as they realized that the flame of victory hadn’t gone out yet. While the nobles were busy cheering, the Iberian Grand Duke was questioning the princess.

“Grand Duke, do you remember the legendary person who built the Empire’s foundation?”

She answered his question with a completely different question, but the Iberian Grand Duke instantly understood what she was trying to say.

“Can’t be…”

“That’s right. He is a descendant of the victorious legend who has hidden his legacy.”

The Empire’s legend that was considered to be groundless was actually not a lie. The massive magic mount currently destroying the Empire’s pride, the battleships of the flotilla, in the sky was proof of that.

Goosebumps appeared all over his body. He was thrilled to know that such a legend was fighting with them. 

“That magic mount’s name is Goldrachen. It is the secret weapon of the Imperial Family that  inherited the name of the legendary knight who was the first family of the Empire and the father of the Empire’s founder.”

“So that’s why that magic mount was so different from the current models. Tsk, and here I was, ignoring it based on its outdated appearance…”

Everything she said was a lie. This was the first time Goldrachen was appearing in the world. Everything was a prettied-up lie to cover up the existence of an unbelievable ancestor who was over 500 years old.

It was a pretty decently packaged lie. Even Adelaide herself thought it would be more believable to say that the descendant of a legendary being had stepped forward for the sake of handling the chaos of the Empire than to say that the legendary being of 500 years was still alive and had an existence of a demigod.

It seemed like the Iberian Grand Duke also believed that Kim Seon-Hyeok was the descendant of the First family.

“It isn’t a good time to talk right now. The rest of the story can be shared after the battle is over.”

The Iberian Grand Duke was planning on asking more questions, but Princess Adelaide blocked him before looking back up at the sky again.

The battle was quickly rushing towards the end. 

Of the 32 airships, only about 10 of them were in good condition and it seemed like even those would be dealt with shortly. 

“Ah…”

Princess Adelaide staggered. Now that she had lost her tension, her legs lost their strength.

“Your Highness!”

“I’m alright. I was just a bit dizzy.”

After waving back the startled and worried nobles, she looked up at the battleships covered in flames with a grief-stricken expression. She couldn’t help regret the fact that the Empire’s precious talents and battleships were disappearing in such a meaningless and fleeting way. 

She knew she couldn’t stop them, but she still wanted to. Even if it was just one, she wanted the battleships to be intact and safe. 

She shook off those thoughts with difficulty. 

Now wasn’t the time for her to show mercy or worry about the future of the Empire. That was presumptuous arrogance and a luxury she couldn’t afford.

Right now, what was important was her survival. It was the only way she could reach the throne. 

But no matter how many times told herself that, it was still painful for her to watch the Imperial battleships engulfed in flames. 

However, she still didn’t look away. She considered it her duty to see the fight she had jumped into and to end it with without running away.

“Ah…”

Even so, she couldn’t help but let out a moan as she watched the gold magic mount chasing and sinking the battleships that had turned to retreat.

“Oooh! We won!”

“We won!”

But unlike her, the nobles cheered guilelessly now that the immediate crisis had passed.

***

After returning from the battle, Goldrachen landed on a vacant lot of the Iberian Castle. The translucent wings that had lifted its massive body faded and then disappeared. A beautiful woman appeared in its place. 

“Good work, Atiya.”

It was the ancient Wind Spirit, Atiya. 

‘It was wonderful to be able to fly you again after such a long time, master.’

She was Atiya. In the 500 years she had been working with the mighty Dragon’s Contractor, she had become more than a simple Spirit. However, her smiling face showed that she was still the same loyal figure that knew only her master.

Looking at her like that, Kim Seon-Hyeok’s burning blood of the War Dragon began to cool down a bit.

“There’ll be more opportunities in the future.”

Atiya seemed to be extremely pleased with that because she giggled happily like a child as she circled him.

“Hm?”

Usually, Atiya would have disappeared after asking him to call for her again, but for some reason, she hesitated for a while and didn’t leave the place.

“Why? Is there something you want to say?”

‘Um, master.”

He tilted his head at her rare hesitation.

‘Do you remember the promise you made me before?’

“What promise?”

‘You said you would grant me one wish.’

“Ah…”

Even after hearing Atiya’s words, it took him a long time before he remembered the promise he made her 500 years ago. Well, that was only natural since 500 years was too long for someone to remember a promise they had made in passing in an instant

However, time for Spirits seemed to pass differently from humans.

‘You forgot.’

He responded hastily when he saw her pouting. 

“You suddenly thought of a wish?”

Atiya had a great personality. She quickly stopped pouting and instead, began smiling brightly.

‘My wish is…’