Second World-Chapter 1755 New Pilots
?The eldritch beholder was trying to release itself from the mobile fortress but was unable to. The grip from the mobile fortress' arms was very firm. In the end, they ended up hitting one another without evasion. They were trading damage and seeing who ran out of HP first.
The eldritch beholder possessed higher firepower compared to the mobile fortress. The green rays from its multiple eyes had short cooldowns and it had many offensive spells that dealt high damage.
The mobile fortress' damage output was the energy guns on its arms and the siege weapons inside it. The damage from those energy guns wasn't much. As for the siege weapons, they dealt extra damage to structures but not as much damage to other targets. The attacks from the mobile fortress' four towers were useless against the eldritch beholder because they dealt magical damage.
Fortunately, the mobile fortress didn't fight by itself. Its role was mainly as an anchor to immobilize the eldritch beholder. With the eldritch beholder unable to move freely, Arlcard, Spark, Therras, and Themisphere past kings had more leeways in sending their attacks.
Therras' elevate beast effect had long ended, but it could still fight the eldritch beholder because most of the eldritch beholder's attention was on the mobile fortress.
Arlcard and Themisphere past kings who were magic users might not be able to use their offensive spells, but they could still use defensive spells. They used their defensive spells to block the attacks from the eldritch beholder, reducing the damage received by the mobile fortress.
Earlier when Arlcard saw the mobile fortress was on its way over to fight the eldritch beholder. He lured the eldritch beholder by casting multiple defensive spells on himself. The eldritch beholder didn't have the cunning of the real thing. She fought only by instinct. Hence, she cast her Greater Dispel on Arlcard, stripping him of his defensive buffs.
When the mobile fortress arrived, her Greater Dispel was on cooldown. Otherwise, she might strip the mobile fortress of its rune diagram protection.
Due to her monotonous fighting style, Arlcard and the others were able to grind the eldritch beholder to one-third of its life. With the defenders occupied by the overwhelming Allied forces, no one could help the eldritch beholder.
Even after Azzarilth's brood arrived, the mobile fortress, Arlcard, and the others continued to focus on defeating the eldritch beholder. They would help the Allied forces fighting inside the capital after they took care of the eldritch beholder.
While they expected things to continue as it was until they slew the eldritch beholder, the mobile fortress suddenly stopped moving.
"Huh…?" Pointy Tip, who was operating the war table at the roof of the keep, was flabbergasted by this turn of events.
"Hey, what's going on inside there?" He sent a message to one of the mobile fortress' pilots.
As he did, he noticed the names of the pilots were greyed. The names quickly turned back to white. He received a message from them then.
"There is an intruder inside the mobile fortress! We were killed. We are now back at the resurrection chapel inside Heavenly Citadel."
"What…?!"
The eldritch beholder felt the grip of the mobile fortress' arms weakening. Without the pilots' control, the pincer stopped applying the extra pressure needed to hold the eldritch beholder. The eldritch beholder heaved and tore its tentacles out of the pincers' grip. It was freed.
The eldritch beholder announced its freedom by casting Force Impact on the mobile fortress. Without anyone controlling the mobile fortress, the legs gave in when it was slammed by the immense power from the eldritch beholder's spell. Its back legs buckled and the mobile fortress almost tipped over as it skidded on the ground.
Seeing that, Arlcard rushed over and engaged the eldritch beholder directly. This was to prevent the eldritch beholder from attacking the mobile fortress which was a sitting duck at the moment. Spark, Therras, and past Themisphere kings did the same. They no longer fought sneakily.
"Shit!" Tip cursed. He sent messages to the players inside the mobile fortress to start searching for the intruders.
"I will go and capture that intruder!" Captain Whitebeard, who was by Tip's side, declared. The mouse then scuttled away down the stairs into the keep.
Tip sent a message to John. John, who received the news, thought about the case.
"There is no hole in the mobile fortress' barrier?" John asked.
Tip had to go to the mobile fortress' control room to check the answer to that question. He asked the pilots who had just been resurrected instead.
"The control panel didn't show any irregularity," Tip relayed the answer to John.
"… It must be that Master Thief," John said.
"Master thief?"
"We encountered a player with that special class during the battle in Aurebor. Jack's royal agent killed that player but I guess he wore the amulet of rebirth. He must somehow level up to level 80 to be able to infiltrate the mobile fortress without getting detected."
"What should we do?" Tip asked.
"His target must be the mobile fortress' power crystal. He entered the control room by mistake. Send people to guard the room. His skill to infiltrate a sealed room has a two-hour cooldown. Also, asked everyone to pair up. Master Thief has a disguise skill. If they encounter anyone alone. Apprehend that person at once. Ask questions later."
"Affirmative," Tip answered.
John then sent messages in the guild chat, asking for people who were either professional pilots or drivers in their real lives. They need substitutes to pilot the mobile fortress. The five pilots who resurrected back in Themisphere would take a long time to return here. They had no time to wait for those pilots.
"I will give it a try!" One of the players volunteered. John looked at the name. Stefan. John remembered this person was among the ones Jack recruited after the incident in the Council of Charites. From Jack's report, Stefan was a good car driver.
"Okay, Stefan. Head to the mobile fortress at once," John said. He connected Stefan with the previous mobile fortress pilots. The pilots would be instructing Stefan via messages about how to operate the control panel inside the control room.
John then looked for volunteers for the remaining four pilots.
