Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Regroup! Fall in! Hold them back!"
"M-monster!"
"It's no use! Even the Anti-Arrow Cannons are useless!"
"Run for your lives! Argh—!"
In the military camp outside Griffinfort, the air was thick with the frantic thunder of gunfire, the screech of clashing steel, and a chorus of agonizing screams. The acrid stench of gunpowder and the metallic tang of blood filled the air as columns of black smoke billowed toward the sky.
Two terrifying "Dragonians" rampaged through the camp. They were utterly indifferent to blades, spears, or cannon fire. Their razor-sharp talons shredded steel as easily as they tore through the mortal flesh of ordinary soldiers.
Supporting them were over a hundred super-soldiers, each with a Doriki exceeding 500, outfitted in Offensive Exoskeleton Combat Suits that far surpassed the technology of this era. It was a slaughter of absolute, overwhelming proportions.
"Crush them! Prep the Railguns!"
"Railguns ready!"
"Engage!"
Sriya barked orders as several nearby super-soldiers activated the compact railguns mounted on their arms.
Click— Zzzt— Zzzt—
20mm tungsten-core steel slugs were chambered. Azure electromagnetic arcs danced within the barrels.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The tungsten slugs blurred into near-invisible streaks of lightning. Where they passed, they effortlessly tore human bodies in two or punched clean through heavy steel artillery pieces. Blue streaks of electromagnetic discharge flickered across the battlefield like hungry ghosts, claiming lives with every pulse.
The ground was littered with mangled corpses, their wounds cauterized black by the sheer kinetic heat of the railgun impacts.
"Captain, the high-ranking officers in the main camp are all at the castle for a meeting. This army is a headless snake!" one super-soldier shouted, swinging a massive axe to cleave a heavy-armored knight at the waist.
Snap!
Sriya expressionlessly snapped the neck of a middle-aged knight and tossed him aside like trash. Around him, dozens of knights in full plate armor lay scattered in broken heaps. The man he had just killed was the highest-ranking general currently in the camp; the fallen men around him were his elite personal guard.
"Drive the survivors toward the castle. Use them to breach the gates!" Sriya commanded coldly, surveying the corpse-strewn battlefield.
The once-massive army, numbering in the tens of thousands, had been beaten into a disorganized rout. Countless soldiers fled in terror, with a significant wave surging toward the safety of Griffinfort.
If they wanted to plunge the fortress into total chaos, there was no better way than a stampede of broken, panicked troops. The influx of fleeing soldiers would bring hysteria, allowing opportunists and thugs to incite riots, effectively crippling the nobles' defensive power from within.
…
RUMBLE—
Thunder rolled across the sky. A bolt of lightning snaked through the clouds and suddenly struck the gatehouse of Griffinfort.
BOOM!
Under the divine fury of the lightning, masonry shattered and dust erupted. The entire gatehouse collapsed, burying hundreds of soldiers and knights beneath the rubble.
"Yah-ha-ha-ha! Yah-ha-ha-ha—!"
From the settling dust, a manic, arrogant laugh rang out. A silhouette emerged.
As the haze cleared, a man appeared wearing a white headwrap, with four shime-daiko drums set into a ring on his back. He had extraordinarily long earlobes adorned with gold weights. His bare feet stepped onto the jagged debris as he twirled a golden staff, looking around with predatory excitement.
"The... the... 'Thunder God' Enel!!!"
Nearby knights instantly recognized him. In a heartbeat, dozens of soldiers collapsed, their legs turning to jelly. Enel's name had spread throughout the Bivins Kingdom like a plague; to them, he was the personification of "Heavenly Wrath," a walking natural disaster that no mortal could oppose.
"Strike!!!" Enel roared, thrusting his arm out.
CRASH—!
A massive thunderclap shook the air. Several thick, blinding pillars of lightning descended from the heavens, momentarily turning the world white.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth quaked as walls and houses were vaporized by the falling bolts. Masonry turned into shrapnel, and the death toll became uncountable in seconds.
"You bastard!"
A thunderous roar echoed across the field.
Thump, thump, thump...
Several Giants came charging forward. One of them was charred black, supported by his comrades. Their massive footfalls made the ground pulsate. They reached the gate and glared down at Enel amidst the ruins of the gatehouse, their colossal forms towering even over the fortress walls.
"Enel! We have no quarrel with you! How dare you lay a hand on my brother!" the lead Giant bellowed in fury.
"I recognize you... the Giant Mercenary, Hajrudin!"
Enel arched an eyebrow, slightly surprised to see Giants here. However, as he registered the Giant's tone and the way he was looking down at him, Enel's face darkened with divine rage.
"A mere Giant... dares to look down on me?!"
"200 Million Volts: Amaru!!!"
Zzzt! Zzzt!
Lightning flared with a deafening screech. Enel's body became a conduit for massive electrical discharge, swelling and expanding like a balloon while turning translucent and ethereal.
In the blink of an eye, a twenty-meter-tall lightning deity appeared, a rotund, glowing giant with hair standing on end. His body, composed entirely of pure electricity, stood nearly as tall as Hajrudin himself.
THUD!
He stepped onto the ramparts, causing the entire wall to groan and sway. Combined with the height of the wall itself, the transformed Enel now loomed over Hajrudin, nearly twice his size.
The Giants stood dazed. They had only asked a question, how had things escalated to this?
"Die!" Enel roared, swinging a massive palm made of pure lightning.
"Not good!" Hajrudin gasped, instinctively throwing a punch.
BANG!
Enel's palm slammed into Hajrudin, swatting him to the ground instantly. Arcs of electricity danced across Hajrudin's body as his massive frame hit the earth with a bone-shaking thud, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"Hajrudin!"
"Hajrudin-aniki!"
The other Giants cried out in horror. They couldn't believe their leader had been felled by a single strike.
"Damn you! Avenge Hajrudin!" they roared, throwing their massive fists at Enel.
"Fools." Enel didn't even flinch, his face twisted into a mocking sneer.
Zzzt— Zzzt—
The fists passed right through Enel's body as if he were made of air. Even worse, the electricity surged up their arms the moment they made contact.
"A Logia—?!"
"AAAAAAGH!"
The Giants were engulfed in blinding lightning, letting out blood-curdling screams.
WHAM—!
With a casual sweep of his arm, Enel batted the defenseless Giants to the ground. Their charred, massive bodies crushed several houses as they fell.
"H-how can this be happening?"
On the street, a hundred pirates watched the scene in stunned silence. They were mercenaries from the "Buggy's Delivery" Pirate Dispatch Organization. They had just been celebrating their narrow escape from the "Golden Ring" Aeridar, only to run straight into another monster.
Was there truly no escape today?