723 Reactive Explosive Shield

Duke Vepar was not about to give the defenders any quarters as he brought out his prized possession. A gauntlet capable of crushing any foe into pieces. It was his family heirloom, passed down to him from his great-grandfather after proving himself worthy.

His ancestor had conducted a trial of sorts where his descendants were required to solve something similar to a Rubik's cube while fending off the enemies in the dark. For centuries, his grandfather and father had been unable to complete the trial no matter how many times they had attempted it. (Granted, Vepar's great-grandfather had limited the trial tryouts to once every six months but given their near-infinite lifespan, it was something they had spent countless years on only to fail.)

Vepar, on the other hand, had proven himself to be a rarely seen genius. He had managed to complete the trial within a year after reaching adulthood, but as a result, he had lost one of his wings to an enemy whose death evoked a lifelong curse rotting half of Vepar's body. Fortunately, healers had managed to isolate it to one of his wings, which then had to be permanently amputated, and ever since, he had been living with that consequence.

Even upon resurrection, his wing was lost forever, but for the price to be paid, it was a worthwhile deal especially when he used it on multiple occasions allowing him to ascend to Dukehood with relative ease. (Although there was no doubt, his father had pulled some strings to gain such political clout to get where they are right now.)

Upon granting his great-grandchild his prized possession, Vepar's great-grandfather finally decided to pass on to the afterlife by submitting his will to the Church of the Afterlife, indicating that he had lived long enough. Despite its name, the Church of the Afterlife was responsible for all the resurrections and remained indiscriminate to every single monster or human.

As long as enough money was given, the Church would serve anyone and everyone regardless of affinity to good or evil. Despite its name, it regulated itself more like a company for profit. So when Vepar's great grandfather sent his will, the Church would reimburse 5% of the resurrections it charged as a thank you gift for using their services back to their families.

Such reimbursements were also a small way to keep the Dungeon World from being overpopulated despite it ever-growing in size. They might not be responsible for the inhabitants, but they did care for the Dungeon World's health.

The founder of the Church of the Afterlife, one of the earliest Gravemancers, believed a little good would definitely make the world a better place. (As well as providing the Church with a bit of some renown for their reputation.) Centuries later, the Church was considered as the largest and most likely also the most powerful company ever to be created in the Dungeon World.

It allowed them to have their very own Dungeon Country, and the only one ever created in the entirety of the Dungeon World. What about King Baal and his Demon Metropolis? That was like comparing provinces to a county.

-------

Duke Vepar smashed through the magical energy barrier set up around the watchtower with ease and the One-Winged Fallen Angel discovered that inside the guard post was merely a couple of mechanical constructs shooting its projectiles down at the enemies.

\"Hah! Easy game.\" Duke Vepar thought himself as he recoiled his fist for a full punch. Seeing how bulky and slow the mechanical constructs looked, the One-Winged Fallen Angel thought this would pose no problem.

The Fortress Golem, on the other hand, had crushed his expectations with one fell swoop as it raised its shield that had been left at the side of the watchtower. Duke Vepar's punch impacted hard with the Fortress Golem's shield but he was shocked when the shield endured it, only to explode right in front of him.

Using the technology of explosive reactive armour was quite common in modern tanks, and the Fortress Golem's shields were packed full with it. Its design structure was meant to be heavy-duty and bulky, so the goblin pilot knew exactly how much hurt it could take before its destruction. Hence, protecting the golem was of the utmost priority.

And considering the battle had already stretched for more than four hours, it was even more vital to keep every golem alive as long as possible.

Vepar quickly flew backwards but not without suffering some external injuries and spitting out some blood from the explosive reaction. Before the smoke was cleared, a hail of bullets emerged from it, aiming specifically at the Duke's vitals.

If not for Vepar's sharp battle instincts leading him to bring out the magical shield inherent to his gauntlet, he would have been pierced multiple times by the incoming metal pieces. While his instincts were present, his body was no longer used to following them. He wasn't quite fast enough, enabling a few bullets to go through and had damaged the side of his torso despite the new expensive armour he had donned.

Vepar could fathom what would have happened if his reaction had been delayed by just one additional second.

\"What is up with these projectiles? And how was Moloch able to obtain such responsive constructs?!\" Vepar thought to himself as he heard a few agonizing shouts from the surrounding watchtowers. His personal regiment of Fallen Angels literally fell from the sky after taking similar actions against the other constructs.

\"We have to find the mages controlling the constructs!\" Duke Vepar cried out as he once again rushed in by flying straight into the tower yet this time taking extra precaution not to strike against the construct's shield.

Unfortunately, Vepar did not know that the Fortress Golems possessed more than one pair of arms. A third arm which was meant for reloading purposes had since been outfitted with a spear which the goblin pilot used to stab Duke Vepar in his injured side.

That itself it would not be enough to cause any damage at all, but because of the initial wound Vepar received, he was way too cautious, and his reflex caused him to move sidewards, accidentally hitting another Fortress Golem appearing from the side of the watchtower that was carrying yet another reactive explosive shield.

The impact from the reflex dodge caused the reactive shield to activate, but Duke Vepar was able to use his wing to block the explosive before it could severely damage his face. \"Damn it, I should have worn a better helmet.\" He cursed with a pant while holding on to his gauntlet for the impromptu magical shield.

\"Yeah, he should totally wear a helmet.\" One of the pilots chuckled within the Golem intercoms and the other three within the watchtower could not help but laugh along too. According to Moloch's prior information, the pilots had a hard time believing that a Duke who was famed after earning multiple accolades from past results could easily be overpowered by their Fortress Golems. If King Sol had these kinds of Golems en masse… the Goblin Kingdom would be able to take over the world!

\"Alright, let's not waste any more time and kill him before his reinforcements come in.\" The most senior one among the pilots spoke out, and the rest acknowledged his decision. They readied their shotguns and aimed towards Vepar. In a moment they would learn that the Duke still had a trick under his sleeve. It was just too bad that he had to reveal his trump card so quickly.

As the Fortress Golems sprayed their shotgun pellets towards Vepar, the One-Winged Angel unlocked his gauntlet, and with a grinding click noise, the gauntlet enlarged rapidly to the extent it nearly pushed the Fortress Golems out of the watchtower. It suddenly made it look like Duke Vepar was a tiny figure with a colossal gauntlet on his arm. With a swing, those Fortress Golems could have been thrown out of the watchtower except they held on tight with deployable spikes from their golem's soles.

Yet, the scene from the perspective of others was horrifying and perhaps jaw-dropping too. The rest of his regiment let out a series of war cries seeing how their Duke had unleashed his trump card. (Too bad, they had ignored the fact they were in enemy territory, and the other Goblin pilots took the awe of their lord to gain the advantage.)

\"Don't think we will be easily taken out!\" The Goblin Pilot of Fortress Golem #045 said as he continued to cling onto the gauntlet.

\"Heh, and here I thought I was the only one clinging on to it.\" Goblin Pilot of Fortress Golem #046 replied as he pressed a button and the backpack of the Fortress Golem released a bag of C4. They were meant to be used for self-detonation in case they were massively swarmed by enemies, but this seemed like a decent situation to use them too.

\"Ignore that stupid fist thing! Continue firing at your position! Do not stop applying pressure against the enemy!\" The Orc Captain for the Orc Artillery Company relayed the information.

\"Wyvern Goblin Knight, Tomas! Going in to annihilate the target!\" Tomas, who had experienced the Orc Goblin War as a fresh knight, had been wanting to prove himself and this seemed like an opportune chance to do so.

\"Tomas! Don't be foolish!\" Wyrstriker warned but the foolhardy knight ignored direct orders and overburst his air boosters to combat Duke Vepar before he could inflict serious damage to the sky bridge or the surroundings.