1001 Southern Capital Fortification

"Manually cranked ballistas and trebuchets? Oh come on, how do you suppose those trebuchets will hit? They won't do shit against flying creatures!" Ayse grumbled as they continued to observe from a distance. "At the very least use some sort of grapeshot projectiles instead of a piece of fiery rock, you dumbasses!" 

Unfortunately, those anti-siege weapons were the only type of defence the Southern Capital could deploy, so they had to make do with what they had. In a glance, Ayse could already see that the Black Cloaks were the ones who were commanding them. As much as they were just mercs, they seemed to have a higher status in the military.

"Aren't we supposed to help them now – now?" Keyrin questioned as his massive size was a little conspicuous to be hiding properly. He was afraid he would be targeted by the defenders as one of the monsters that came invading the city.

"I thought you are some Cardinal Guardian that Weslie made to protect the Four Regions or something? Shouldn't they know your presence?" Ayse asked but Keyrin got a little agitated before calming down to answer her.

"We are supposed to be. Until the occurrence of the Demon Rats, I had to flee deep into the mountains to prevent their capture. In addition, the news of the Demon Rats was more apparent compared to the rise of the new guardians. And that was also the time where Weslie was still grooming the power within us. You could say I would not have been stronger than I was a few years back. It was fun killing stray Demon Rats though."

"I see… Anyways, the System said that Meomi is teleporting towards the leader to make clear of our stance. You can fly into the skies and start prepping, I will follow suit when I hear enough. Perhaps, I too will make an appearance to spice things up." Ayse's side winked Keyrin which he acknowledged by charging his hoofs with electricity and blasted out of the area. The defenders within the vicinity thought that the attacks were starting and many went into alert.

"Well, that warning made them work faster so I guess that's a boon." Ayse giggled as she swiftly jumped away from the church tower and moved nearer to the Southern Capital's walls while staying hidden as much as possible.

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Leopardo noticed the very same portal that Qiu Yue had used and demanded the troops around him not to panic. There, Meomi appeared, now in her full battle gear, despite still being in human form. Like a battle cultivator, she had equipped herself with clothes suitable for her transformation like a tabard so that it would not break whenever she shapeshifted.

Propelled with magic crystals, they would be able to refill with crystals stashed in the belt of the climbing gear and those containers on their waist held guns or melee weapons each minion was accustomed with. 

Also, to other people, it looked like two rectangular suitcases but they had no idea that it was built with storage ring technology in mind, allowing them to carry ammo cartridges, more weapons and even a few goddamn mini RPG missiles. For the Mousefolks, the size does not matter as the missiles were inflicted with a minimised spell until they were activated. This meant that the Mousefolks still packed a punch despite their stature.

However, each use of the air jet booster had a limited range of 20 metres unless they pushed the crystals to the maximum and thus the quick insertion of magic crystals was available right in front of their belts. For leaders, the Research Team Armoury had given them Jin's Sludge Maqi Crystals which had twenty times more potency than a normal crystal as they knew that they would be the ones doing traversing.

Thus, seeing how oddly equipped Meomi was, Leopardo had no idea on the efficacy of her lightly armoured defensive wear and odd contraptions on her body.

"I hope you are here not to waste my time and reconsider my proposal," Leopardo said as Meomi was still emerging out of the portal. In the meantime, he was curious where such a portal would likely bring him if he tried to enter it.

"Do not even think about entering. The portal will slice you into two." Meomi raised her opinion, seeing that Leopardo was looking at the magical transportation circle floating above the ground. "Answering your question. Yes and No."

"What do you even mean?" Leopardo questioned as he heard thunder rumbling above him. It was unexpected especially when the atmosphere had already been fucked up by the presence of the Nine Oceans Phoenix with the temperature rising on a constant level. The only consolation they have right now was that the monsters' leader was staying in a position far from them to gather her own league of winged abominations to fight. Else, they might have already been burnt by her or so they feared.

But now with the skies rumbling with thunder and occasional flashes of lightning, they did not understand whether it was a monster or natural occurrence.

"What she meant is that we will help you. But on our own terms." Ayse jumped to the top of the walls and everyone instantly pulled their weapons towards her as a sort of reflex. "I see that your soldiers are well trained. Much expected for a capital always besieged with monsters. But it seemed to me that you are lacking in the anti air department."

"We will improvise if necessary," Leopardo replied as he could not phantom the company that Meomi was with. The soldiers were asked to put down their weapons even though she looked half monster with her orc features.

"So, yes. Our organisation will help you but instead of you directing the battle, we will be the ones who do it." Meomi said and that made Leopardo laugh.

"Don't make me laugh too much. And as I said, do not waste my time. You might be a secret organisation filled with…people of unknown origins but so far, I see that you have a few comrades in your midst. How can you fulfil such a demand?" Leopardo replied and decided to ignore them to give the next set of orders. He had entertained these people enough and it was time for serious business.

But before he could open his mouth, bolts of purplish lightning struck near him and Leopardo realised that it was hitting the Orc consistently. "This shows that you have much more to learn. Stop living in your well and witness powers that changed the tide of war." Ayse remarked as she turned into the Avatar of Syldra.