A magic circle was drawn in the sky. Ottolulu inserted her windup key and turned it with both hands. Deep blue water started pouring out of it, creating a thin curtain of rippling water that covered the surrounding environment. It seemed to be a barrier defending the land from stray blows. The ripple barrier could reduce the force of most hits, protecting Second Balandias from major damage.
“Fireman, stoker, shovel all the coal as fast as you can. Set course for the middle of the enemy fleet, full steam ahead!”
“G-Got it!”
“Full steam ahead!”
Under Eldmed’s instructions, the engine room set its course, with the wheels of the train beginning to turn rapidly.
“We’re charging straight into the middle? Won’t they bombard us?” Sasha asked from the turret carriage.
“Bwa ha ha! Impossible! Not happening! Never! These snobs are looking down on us for being misfits of an ephemeral world. Do you really think they’d want to finish things off neatly with a sudden bombardment? Never! They’d rather drag it out as long as they can and slowly strangle us instead, so they can savor it.”
“That...might be true...” Sasha said.
The Demon King Express rose into the sky, heading straight for the formation of sky fortresses waiting for them.
“Protect us with the best barrier you have, Demon King’s magic. We’ll open a hole in their formation and give those who’d look down on us quite a wake-up call.”
“Got it!” Eleonore replied.
The Demon King Express accelerated, approaching the fleet of castles.
“Demon King’s Choir,” Eldmed said. “Fire at the nearest castle before you as soon as it comes within range. But make sure you use the train’s peashooter.”
“Understood!” Ellen and the Fan Union girls replied.
“Cannon One to Cannon Nine, aligned to target.”
“Ready to fire!”
“Here goes!”
They aimed the cannon at the sky fortress before them and drew a magic circle.
“Abysm!”
A bevy of broken cogs was fired from the train’s cannons in quick succession. They made direct contact with the castles, but were easily deflected by its outer walls.
“Wah ha ha! What is that, a little peashooter? We don’t even need to deploy our walls! Let’s show them what a real cannon looks like!”
“Immovable King, the general magic communication channel is still linked. We should switch to our private channel,” Zaimon’s voice echoed. Our Leaks were still connected, so I could hear everything Kaltinas and the other people from Balandias were saying.
“Let them listen. Who cares? Even if they know our plans we’ll still win. That is how the truly strong compose themselves.”
“Understood. Wasn’t it decided yesterday that Farris was to be in command?”
“Oh, we changed our mind. When a group can only fire a measly peashooter there’s no need to aim for their weakness so precisely. We’ll show those dimwits what war really looks like.”
“A cornered rat may still bite a cat. Be on your guard.”
“Would you bother drawing your castle sword just to crush an ant?”
“At the very least, have the four Camlahi ships fall back with Zeridheavens. Even if we’re strong, we can still lose if they take our firedew.”
“You’re far too cautious, Zaimon. Very well. Zeridheavens, Camlahi, fall back. The twenty Eten ships will proceed forwards and intercept them from the front.”
The five ships moved backwards as instructed. Judging from Zaimon and Kaltinas’s conversation, their firedew was apparently stored in one of those ships.
“Eten Four, open all gunports. Show them what a large cannon looks like.”
The sky fortress in the front opened its ports. The Demon King Express continued charging.
“Fire!”
The magic cannons fired with a deafening sound. Shells struck the train, one after another, exploding like fierce fireworks. In no time, the train was completely swallowed in flames.
“Cease fire! Wah ha ha, how was that? Can you still fly now—”
Kaltinas suddenly fell silent. Wrapped in a smokelike barrier, the Demon King Express charged in a straight line through the flames uninterrupted. Scattered across the barrier were countless stork feathers; Eleonore had used the spell Ennessone-Eleonore to increase her magic power beyond its natural limit, then used it to create a barrier of order and magic around the train’s body.
“E-Enemy unharmed! No damage spotted!”
“We can’t deploy the castle walls in time!”
“Evade!”
Unsurprisingly, the enemy responded quickly to this development. The ship Eten Four realized they couldn’t make a more powerful barrier in time to counteract the Demon King Express’s charge and ascended instead.
However...
“E-Enemy has changed course! They’re going to make contact!”
“They read our movements?! That can’t be! And how could a mere barrier like that withstand our attacks?!”
The Demon King Express charged straight at the gate of Eten Four.
Eldmed cackled. “Now! Now now now! Shock them out of their wits!”
“Teoboros Ijelia!”
White smoke spouted from the train’s chimney, wrapping an additional barrier around the train. The magic power of Ennessone-Eleonore augmented the order barrier of the Demon King Express Beltexfenblem, formerly known as the Cogs of Fate. The result was a powerful barrier that could block everything—even destruction magic.
It easily blew apart the impromptu barrier created by the enemy, allowing the train to crash into the castle like a runaway express. The front carriage wedged into the castle gate with a shrieking creak—before the gate gave way and allowed the rest of the Demon King Express to crash through the sky fortress. The train pierced through all the walls and emerged on the other side.
Stork feathers fluttered in the air. From the barrier room, Eleonore held up a finger in the air and smiled. “The Demon King’s barrier can break through anything!”