Chapter 72: Attack the Weak Point (2)
“Move! Move!!”
“I’m here, help me out!”
“There’s a fire!”
“Start helping from over there! Everyone, move!”
The night had been a typical one. Everyone had finished working for the day. They returned home and ate dinner with their family. They were finally resting at home after a long day.
It was just another ordinary night in Cremo City. That would have been true if it was a normal day.
Today, however, was different. A catastrophe seemingly dropped from the sky. It was a crumbling mermaid statue that had appeared out of thin air. When the destructive mishap torpedoed the city, the normal lives of the people crumbled to dust. Thus began the disastrous night.
“I’m here! My leg is stuck! Someone get me out!”
“Hold on for a second. I’m going to get some help!”
All hell broke loose near the plaza. People under the crushed buildings shouted for their lives. Saving them proved to be a difficult job. It was because of the fire. At first, it was only an ember that spilled out of a furnace of a building. However, splinters of wood and furniture littered the area, and the fire quickly spread to them and developed into a fierce blaze in no time. The blaze then engulfed the building and started to spread, which eventually became a large fire.
“Fire!”
“Bring the water! Water!”
Civilians and guards moved hurriedly, panting. They cleaned up the debris in the building, rescued people, and brought buckets of water. The sea wind and dry winter climate made the rescue difficult.
The fire, once caught on, was tenacious. It drifted along the dry wind and spread in a flash. It was useless no matter how many buckets of water were poured over the fire. The speed at which the fire spread was much faster than the speed at which it was being put out. At this rate, it was likely that the blaze would spread across the entire city district.
“Battalion one. Focus on the rescue efforts near the plaza. Are Battalions Two and Three still not here?”
“They’re gathering up.”
“They’re late. We should be constructing the firebreak right now,” said the guard commander of the city as he gritted his teeth.
The situation was bad. It was getting worse every hour.
This is an emergency. We can’t handle this.
His lips dried. The situation was that desperate.
Why is the wind this strong today out of all days? The fire can’t be contained. And the majority of the soldiers in the force are serving the lord at sea and aren’t coming back.
The blazing fire couldn’t be contained. The guards, who were in charge of putting them out, weren’t moving as smoothly as he wanted. It was because the commanders of small units had gotten on the sailboat with the count. Making things worse, the situation outside the city was gloomy as well.
No, it was worse than gloomy. It was transcendentally despairing.
That monster has climbed up to the land… Just outside the city was the cliff near the coast. Every time he turned to look there, he felt as if he was stuck in a nightmare. The 295-foot monster could be vaguely seen, and it was going berserk under the moonlit night sky. It was the Gigatitan.
The growl, low and threatening as if it was scratching the ground, blared clearly even from where he stood. It tapped his eardrums as if it was rushing in his direction.
If that monster gets here… We’re done for.
He could ascertain it. The city was already in chaos due to the fire. If the Gigatitan came here and wrecked havoc once again, the damage would be tremendous. The guards and the count’s army could sacrifice their lives to protect the city, but that might not be enough.
And yet, there’s no news from the lord. Who knows if the monster has gotten the better of him already? The fate of my city… Is this how it falls tonight?
A shadow of despair hung over his heart. With a serious gaze, he looked at the city district. He stared at the spreading fire that started from the plaza and moved into the city district. So, he was able to see it. He saw the blaze of fire expanding. He saw the night sky glowing red. A giant pinkish water balloon shot down from the sky.
“Hamang!”
Hamang shouted and opened his mouth wide at the same time. More than 26,000 gallons of seawater gushed out of him.
The seawater splashed against the air resistance across the sky and split into hundreds and millions of droplets. The water sprayed over the plaza and the entire city district. It was like a local torrential fall. With just one move, the fire that blazed across the city district was extinguished. The spark that was starting to spread to the next building was instantly killed as well, and the heat that burned the pillars and roofs cooled at once. Hamang, now reduced to the size of a fist, fell down from the sky and landed on Lloyd’s palm.
“Hamang!”
“Good job.”
Lloyd stroked Hamang. He had wondered if this would work. He had wondered if Hamang would be able to leap from outside of the city and above the city district when he held so much seawater. It turned out that he had worried for nothing. Hamang was much more capable than Lloyd thought he was. His body bounced like a ball even when it hit the ground several times.
“You did a very good job. You saved a lot of people today,” said Lloyd.
“Hamang!”
After stroking him once more, Lloyd put him back into his inner pocket. Lloyd then shouted.
“Run faster, Ppodong! Let’s go!”
“Ppodong!”
Ppodong galloped faster as he carried Lloyd on his back. He cut across the main road, jumped over the dried fish store, and passed through the plaza. Finally, he saw.
He saw the spire that stood tall at one side of the plaza. The mermaid statue was stuck on its side. Lloyd immediately directed Ppodong toward the foot of the spire.
He then shouted, “Ppodong! Pluck it out!”
“Ppo-do-dong!”
Ppodong jumped right then, using the momentum he got from running with Lloyd. Then, he grabbed the mermaid statue that laterally protruded from the spire and dangled on it. He tensed his forearms as he wiggled his chubby butt.
The mermaid statue that was stuck deep into the building was plucked out. Lloyd’s eyes shone. The mermaid statue was badly smashed and broken, and its messed up state wasn’t anything surprising given that it flew all the way here after Gigatitan hit it.
Its outline and silhouette were somewhat visible. Lloyd spotted the broken head and two arms lying around in the area.
“Alright, can you carry this?”
“Ppodong!”
To Lloyd’s relief, Ppodong could carry the giant mermaid statue that was bigger than his body without any problem. Lloyd was also relieved that he could carry the two arms himself, though it was a bit of a struggle.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Ppodong!”
They dashed off, leaving the plaza. He was a little worried about the people left behind at the plaza, but his hands were tied. Extinguishing the fire took care of the most urgent issue, so the rest of the rescue efforts would be manageable for the rest of the guards and people. Believing that, he directed Ppodong.
“Over there! To the shipbuilding yard!”
“Ppodong!”
Ppodong shifted as Lloyd motioned. The shipyard was where he built the Caisson needed for constructing the artificial ground in the water. So he was used to the path as he frequented it to give out orders and look over its progress. Thanks to that, he arrived at the shipyard in no time. There, he easily found the object he had in mind.
I think a large cart was always put up over there… Yes. Found it.
Lloyd’s eyes shone. The shipyard had an especially large cart that carried ginormous logs or small ships to the sea from the land. The thick wheel spindles were designed to bear the massive weight of the cart. There were six wheels in total, and they were as tall as a human. Because of its sheer size, Cremo City, despite its riches, could only own two carts.
“Hey, Ppodong. Over there!”
“Ppo-do-dong!”
Lloyd pointed at the cart, and Ppodong started moving as he caught on to what he meant. Ppodong put the mermaid statue he was carrying on top of the cart. The cart tumbled once, but all was good as the monstrous cart successfully bore the weight of the statue.
Right afterward, Lloyd began to perform an emergency surgery on the statue.
Okay, it has to be as real as possible. It’s gotta look real in the eyes of the Gigatitan.
He had brought enough of the ropes for docking and tightly wrapped them around the statue’s body.
Next, he connected the two amputated arms. Its two arms were broken by joints, which meant that it was cleanly divided into sections of shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Lloyd connected all of them using the rope. The connected joints dangled like a nunchuck. The broken neck was connected in a similar fashion, but it was tightened harder than the arms. It was tightened just enough for a slight tilt and thus, the makeshift mermaid statue was completed.
It looks realistic.
This would allow the joints connected with the ropes to limply move each time the cart rattled. Somehow, it looked more real than when it wasn’t smashed apart.
Next, I gotta put it up like this… Whew!
Thankfully, the cart was designed for the bottom to have a slight slope, just like how modern dump trucks would push out the soil by tilting their open-box bed downward.
The device allowed the logs and other cargo to be spilled all at once. Lloyd turned the lever up and down without rest. The device made a squealing noise each time he turned it. The ground of the container began to slope. As a result, the mermaid statue was made to rise up on its own. At last, the corners of Lloyd’s lips rose in satisfaction.
This will do.
The angle was perfect. The statue was perfectly slanted in an upright position. Before he finished, he used the rope to firmly tie the body of the statue and cart together. It was meant to hold the statue from falling even when the cart tumbled and shook violently. With that, everything was good to go.
Since the rope can withstand ships weighing hundreds of tons, this should be enough.
Confident in himself, Lloyd tied the rest of the rope around Ppodong’s waist, which was loosely connected to the cart.
“Hey, Ppodong.”
“Ppodong?”
“Ready to run?”
“Ppodong!” Ppodong’s dark eyes were filled with determination.
“Let’s go then! Off we go!”
Lloyd tapped Ppodong in the back. His chubby body pushed forward with explosive determination. The ginormous cart got dragged by Ppodong’s dominating power.
At first, it was slow, but things started to speed up. After some more acceleration, his speed explosively revved up.
“Let’s gooo!”
“Ppodong!”
Rattle! Rattle! Rattle! Dirt flew in the sky each time Ppodong kicked the ground. The cart raced amid the violent storm of dirt. He ran out of the shipyard, and it didn’t take much time for him to leave the city. Ppodong zoomed toward the cliff in the west, where the Gigatitan was at.
“To the front!”
“Ppodong!”
He hurtled toward the Gigatitan’s face. The cart let out a strange noise as it dragged behind Ppodong on the rocky ground. The road wasn’t paved. It was rocky and rough. The cart noisily raced forward like a bumper car. It rattled and clattered and trembled as it moved. The mermaid statue violently rattled with it.
The neck of the statue cocked up and down restlessly. Its two arms flailed like it was doing a body wave. The loud clattering noise prompted the Gigatitan to shift its gaze toward this side. There, it caught sight of what was going on. It saw the mermaid, its nemesis and archenemy. It saw the intimidating mermaid that was unusually large. The mermaid was rushing toward it, fantastically hula dancing at a fast beat.
The Gigatitan shifted immediately. It instantly forgot the enemy it was trying to kill, Javier. That dancing machine mermaid charging toward it was recognized as a bigger threat. The monster reacted like a child rushing to get their hands on a free balloon from a store event or an unemployed person rushing to get a discounted meal combo. It bolted in the direction of the incoming cart, roaring out a ferocious growl. It wielded its giant, club-shaped forearm.
“Turn!”
Lloyd shouted as he pulled Ppodong’s right ear. Understanding his instruction, Ppodong instantly turned to the right. The cart that connected to him with several layers of ropes was turned to the right as well.
A blaring noise rang aloud like a bomb was exploding nearby. Lloyd almost felt the ground shaking. The area was wiped out by one stroke of the Gigatitan, but Ppodong didn’t care as he continued to gallop. Lloyd was the same on his back.
I’m so glad that I asked Javier to teach me how to ride horses!
He had learned how to ride the horse on the way to this city. He was able to remain on Ppodong’s back even when he galloped off like a wild horse. However, it was too early for Lloyd to be relieved.
“Faster!”
“Ppodong!”
The powerful mermaid statue was doing an impressive hip-hop dance. The sight caused the Gigatitan to pounce on it. Each time it did, Lloyd’s heart raced as though he was walking on a burning tightrope.
“A little faster! Run! Javier, hey! Get on with it!”
Lloyd’s shout became hurried. He had succeeded in drawing the attention of the Gigatitan. So, it was time for Javier to kill it.
This is exactly the reason why I didn’t want to play this role!
Lloyd just wanted to pay off his family’s debt. That was why he worked so hard every day. Today as well he had planned to stay quietly hidden all day.
It was beyond him how he ended up in such a risky position. Lloyd blamed his destiny as he let out a sigh that just come out.
It’s all because of you and your hero syndrome, Javier!
Lloyd gazed up with his blame-filled eyes as he busily directed Ppodong. He spotted Javier leaping in the air like a ray of lightning.
The Gigatitan had become defenseless as it pursued Ppodong. Javier charged toward its weak spot with a long sword in his arms. Once he was ready to thrust it upward, he slashed it down at lightning speed. Javier used his ultimate move. The mana blast went off.