Chapter 617: Skyfire and Steel ( 617 )

Suddenly…

From outside the palace walls, a soldier’s panicked voice shouted out.

“Enemy attack!! Enemy attack!! From the skies!!”

Explosions rumbled through the air like thunder.

The whole palace shook as flames and shockwaves tore through the sky.

Javier’s eyes narrowed.

He turned and walked calmly toward the main gate. As he stepped into the open courtyard, he looked up and saw thousands of wyverns filling the sky.

Each one was armored and carrying riders—mages chanting deadly spells, and magic archers nocking glowing arrows. Fireballs shot from the wyverns’ mouths, burning the sky and raining destruction on everything below.

The Human Kingdom’s elite wyvern squad—the strongest flying army—was launching a full-scale attack.

But Javier didn’t show any fear.

He raised his hand casually.

Behind him, huge anti-air mana guns suddenly appeared from his storage—sleek steel barrels with rotating rings of mana-powered gears.

Each gun moved into position and was firmly mounted in the courtyard.

Next, the Mithril Puppet Knights appeared—eight of them in total, marching in perfect formation, each moving with precision. They approached the mana guns and took control.

Javier’s voice was quiet, cold, and decisive.

“Command: Target—Wyvern units. Take them down.”

The nearest puppet knight turned, its helmet glowing with runic light.

[Command received: Start the Engage Protocol.]

The mana guns spun into place. Glyph circles appeared and spun—locking onto the swarms above.

White-hot mana rounds shot out of the barrels, streaking into the sky at incredible speed.

The wyvern riders had no time to dodge.

One after another, wyverns were shot out of the sky, torn apart mid-flight by the impact. Wings shattered. Armor broken. Bodies falling in flames.

A rain of fire and dead wyverns fell on the outskirts of the dwarven capital, now in ruins.

The Human Kingdom’s wyvern attack was relentless—mages kept casting destructive spells from above, and magic arrows rained down like meteor showers.

A fireball exploded against the palace wall, collapsing the stones and setting part of the roof on fire.

But Javier didn’t flinch.

He simply raised hand.

“Deploy the remaining anti-air units,” he muttered.

Behind him, more guns appeared. The courtyard flickered with mana as ten more puppets arrived in formation—eyes glowing, weapons ready.

Javier’s gaze swept across the battlefield, cold and focused.

“…You chose the wrong sky to fly in.”

Javier raised his voice—calm and steady.

“Anti-air defense unit. Target!”

In an instant, the Mithril Puppet Knights moved into action.

The large barrels spun, clicked into place, and locked onto the enemies above. Glyphs glowed along the metal frames, lighting up in pale blue circuits.

High above, the wyvern units started to come down.

Their formation was fierce and efficient—each wyvern armored in iron plates, with a mage or archer riding on top. From the back ranks, long-range fire mages unleashed blazing infernos that rained down like falling stars. Up front, magic archers let loose volleys of glowing arrows—each exploding on impact.

Walls shattered. The eastern watchtower was engulfed in flames. Dwarves hurriedly searched for cover as rubble flew everywhere.

One wyvern swooped low, launching a huge fireball directly at the main palace dome.

Javier didn’t even flinch.

“Standby. Standby…” he said with a faint smirk, watching the red glow reflected in his eyes.

Just as the fireball was about to hit—

He raised his hand.

“Fire in the sky!!”

The mana cannons erupted in fury.

White-hot beams shot upward, tearing through the sky like divine punishment. Each blast exploded in mid-air, creating shockwaves that scattered nearby debris.

The first wyvern was hit squarely in the chest—its armor vaporized instantly. Its rider barely had time to scream before the beast exploded in a burst of fire and bone, raining blood onto the courtyard below.

Another wyvern twisted to avoid the attack—but the second cannon rotated quickly, adjusting its aim mid-firing.

The blast hit its wing joint—tearing it apart. The wyvern spiraled wildly before crashing through a warehouse roof, engulfed in flames.

Across the battlefield—

Mana arrows, shadow javelins, and chain spells rained from the sky.

But the puppet knights never broke their formation.

[Target locked.]

[Calculating intercept path.]

[Executing aerial counterattack.]

The cannons whirred and fine-tuned their aim. Every time a wyvern tried to escape through the smoke, a second or third gun was already tracking it. Explosions bloomed rapidly—like fireworks of destruction.

Two wyverns tried to do a synchronized bombing run—both swooping low together, their riders casting twin fire spells.

But before they could reach the rooftops—

Twin shots from opposite sides hit them in midair. The blasts collided with such force that their bodies were torn apart instantly, sending a shockwave that cracked nearby walls.

Fallen scales, bones, and broken weapons littered the street.

Javier stood confidently in the middle of everything—his cape fluttering, the air shaking from the blasts and shockwaves.

His eyes calmly watched the burning sky.

“Hmm,” he muttered, brushing ash off his shoulder. “Let’s see if they can keep up.”

He raised his hand high toward the sky.

A low hum filled the air. Mana quickly gathered, forming swirling rings of white and blue light around his wrist.

From above, twenty Engage Drones appeared suddenly, summoned directly from Javier’s storage magic. Each drone was sleek and deadly—oval-shaped with glowing mana cores, twin stabilizer wings, and barrels engraved with runes sticking out from both sides.

Their eyes glowed red.

[Engage Protocol: Activated.]

The drones spread out in a tight formation like a swarm of wasps. Instantly, they shot upward, using sharp bursts from their thrusters to accelerate toward the wyvern squadrons above.

Within seconds, the sky erupted again.

Mana machine guns sliced through wings and tore apart armor. Mana-guided missiles left blue trails of smoke as they homed in on riders who were mid-spellcast.

One drone swerved past a wyvern’s tail swipe and fired a missile into its side.

The beast was engulfed in flames in the middle of its scream, and it crashed into its comrades in midair.

Another drone circled a fleeing archer and then sprayed a precise line of shots into his back.

The rider went limp, and his wyvern nosedived without guidance.

The Human Kingdom riders panicked.

“This isn’t normal!!”

“What are those?!”

“Th-they’re too fast—!!”

Then, their commander yelled out:

“Retreat!! Retreat!! Pull back to high altitude!!”

The surviving wyverns hurriedly climbed higher, scattering in a broken formation. But the drones chased after them without mercy, weaving between wings, dodging spells, and picking them off one by one.

Down below, Javier watched the retreat with a cold, detached look.

( End Of Chapter )

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