Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1334: Diromold, the Airborn

---Little Epsilon---

Tree Station 5, one of the early way points of Minas Marʼs attempt to create a safe trade route between Delta and Y-City, was now coined Little Epsilon and handed over to the survivors of the Epsilon District.

Although it was one of the early Tree Stations, it was far from being as developed as Little Sigma or little Gamma. The reason was quite simple. Not all Tree Stations developed at the same pace. The ones closer to population centers like Delta and Y-City had greater influx of people and as such a higher priority for development.

Like quite a few others, TS 5 had lacked a guardian and proper management. As the Tree Stations were allowed to self-govern for the most part, the places without someone to take control became a little chaotic with guilds and factions trying to gain control. They were not places that drew in many people.

All that changed when Joannnia Taggart, the tech genius, and her fleet of air ships where instated as the guardians of TS5 and brought the remaining population of Epsilon with them. Although guardian gained some privileges in exchange for protecting the city it didnʼt mean they got to be the boss of the city, or the mayor.

The reason most guardians also got to be the boss, was because they either migrated their supporters tot he stations, making them the democratically voted leader by default, or they were simply that charismatic and were able to secure the votes through their actions.

The former was true for the people of Epsilon. With the leadership of the fleet now calling the shots, TS5 became little Epsilon and started rapidly developing to became a small copy of the destroyed district, using the technology they brought along.

Although Joannia was the Fleet Admiral, she was not deeply involved with the governmental affairs. Things came as Seth promised and Joannia was able to concentrate on her passion as a scientist rather than having to try and be a great leader.

The only thing she used their new authority for after they were “given” TS5, was the creation of her very own research center, where she could experiment research, and develop various prototypes, an that was exactly what she had been doing, ever since the the Great Tournament. Only the war at Delta had been a small intermission to her business.

One would have thought she would reach a bottleneck at some point, but the Tower Master had kept blessing her with interesting projects. At first there was this exotic giant robot. It was embarrassing that she had messed up a little when researching it, almost losing its black box, but it had served her as a great inspiration to further delve into the fusion of magic and technology.
Then recently, Seth had given her another fascinating project. One that finally allowed her to use the big hangar, originally prepared for ship prototypes. Speaking into a small recording orb to keep track of her research, she looked at the result of her experiments slowly rising.

“This is test 324. I have adjusted the magic circles and connectors from the last test. Efficiency should be up by 15%. Upgrade 12a was also installed and is ready for a practical test,” she said, and looked up at the subject of her experiments, a quite scary necromancer who had dropped off a few weeks ago.

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Floating several meters above her was Diromold, the undead Koor Worm. The arcane hover pads that had been destroyed in the battle of Delta had not only been restored, but the tech genius had used her knowledge and the recent inspirations to further improve the giant undeadʼs mobility.

“Try flying a few circles, please,” she instructed the Diromold, the Airborn, to test his range and ease of movement.

The undead had gone through a miraculous transformation, as Joannia didnʼt stop at the hover pads. The massive skeleton was given a proper cleaning before Diromold was covered in futuristic armor plating, similar to the ones they used on their fleet.

Although Taggart was unable to shine through quality of materials, the technology behind the plating couldnʼt be scoffed it. She had fused her own inventions, as well as what she learned from her recent research.

“Activate the shield. Recording, the shield was successfully deployed. Stability is improved. Reading show efficiency up by 20%. 5% more than expected.” she spoke into her orb. At her command, Diromold was covered in a sturdy protective membrane, originating from the armor plates.

Diromold was not the only thing Seth had brought her after the battle of Delta. There had been a spatian shield generator in the chest of the Ancient Skeleton Dragon, to give its master absolute safety.

Although that generator was broken during the battle, it was another source of knowledge for a mad scientist like the fleet admiral. None of the arcane technology of Spatia and Chrona left in Delta after the battle escaped her grasp.

Everything she was able to glean and understand so far culminated in Diromoldʼs upgrades. With her upgrades, the Koor Worm not only became stronger and more agile by several magnitudes, she also covered the jarring weaknesses that had led to its loss.

First and foremost, the lack of protection for the hover pads, the only reason Diromold could even stay competitive outside the water. With the shield in place, it would need an attack that could wipe out a small city to even think of damaging the hover pads or the undead.

“Testing Upgrade 12a. Try activating the cannons,” she called out to the undead next. There was a lot of space inside an undead skeleton, a fact Seth could bear witness to, as they had used Python as a troop transport not just once or twice.

Joannia thought to use this negative space to cover another weakness of Diromold and fill the undead with weaponry. The Koor Worm possessed various skills, but few of them had great range or power in the air. Even if it used attacks like water jets or energy beams, they all originated from its head and could be evaded by a small or agile opponent.

This changed now. Emerging from the beastʼs vast body were the same energy weapons the fleet used in their combat vessels. As long as Diromold supplied them with mana, he would not only be able to attack from various places along his body, all cannons were able to auto target and adjust their aim.

Diromold, the Airborn, had become an undead combat vessel, a battleship in the skies.

“Good, letʼs get outside and test them.”

That day was a dark day for the beasts and invaders in the surroundings of Little Epsilon, as a new predator entered the mountain airspace. Without a proper leadership, the surroundings had gone relatively unmanaged.

When the first arrived, the fleet of Epsilon culled the herds, packs, beast nests, dungeons, and villages in the immediate surroundings, but didnʼt go any further. But the undead knew no mercy or fatigue. That day, the mountains were purged clean with fire and ice.

“Recording Test 324 as a success. I think the product is ready for a presentation,” she spoke into the recording orb with a calm voice, not betraying the wide smile on her face, watching her work, working better than expected.

She would love to keep it, but she wasnʼt a necromancer, and she doubted the Queen of the Underworld would let go of Diromold. However, the tech genius had licked blood. She had gotten a taste for giant mechs after working on Diromold and the big mech.

Maybe, if the blacksmith was happy with her work, she could get the funds to make one for herself. A massive, mechanical beast, independent of system skills needed to control it. Joannia Taggart also wanted to enter the path of making Automatons.