Vol[2]Chapter#15 Tail Whip

The scouts had explained the terrain and Tolm and Glen had come to the same conclusion. After a couple of words between the two, Glen once more gave the soldiers their orders.

First, the men transported the metallic nets with hooks and carried them to certain specific locations indicated on the map. After reaching said spots, the different groups rolled out the metal nets until they were flat on the ground. Looking at them completely rolled out, each net covered a 10X10 area. With large metal rods that were 6 feet in length and slightly thicker then Lowen's arms, they then proceeded to nail the metal nets to the ground, firmly affixing them in place. After doing this with around 20 nets, It was time for the cannons. There were 10 carriages in total and each one could carry one cannon along with a dozen or so cannon balls and two nets. The cannons were rolled to their specific locations but unfortunately, some had to be carried to the roof of some old damaged buildings. Once there though, the wheels under the cannons would fold flat, creating a small stable platform for the cannons to sit upon. In this way, the cannons would not rock or go flying backward after firing. Each cannon was set exactly 300 feet from their target location and aimed towards said target with precision. The target of course being the ruins above the Mantha. After finding the Mantha's location and knowing it was underground, the plan that had formed was a simple one, crush it. The Mantha may be incredibly strong but the hope was that it wouldn't be able to withstand 10's of thousands of pounds atop it.

Having every cannon in place and loaded up, metal hooked nets nailed down and soldiers ready and waiting, commander Tolm didn't hesitate. Raising a single hand high above his head, he threw it down and in a commanding tone, he shouted.

"FIRE!"

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

10 loud explosions echoed out almost simultaneously, causing the surrounding air to be torn apart, as 10 cannonballs shot forward with a terrible force. Not many could see because of how fast the spheres of metal were flying but Lowen's eyes caught everything. As the cannonballs flew through the sky, he could clearly see the inscription glowing and as soon as the ball made contact with the ground.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

Again a fierce string of explosions rang out, however, this time the sound was at least 3 times greater. It was easy to see that these cannonballs were definitely not normal and the effect they caused was even easier to witness. With just those 10 impacts, the ground where they had hit collapsed in on itself causing all kinds of dust rocks and other bits of debris to go flying hundreds of feet up. If it wasn't sinking into the ground then it was instead hurdling in the air before raining down like little meteors tearing apart old buildings nearby and causing walls to crumble into rubble.

Lowen's mouth was left agape with disbelief. One of these cannonballs seemed near equal to his explosive force when he used his Snake Rock Fist and yet it only cost 10-15 gold. Did this not mean that someone could potentially rival his power with a mere 15 gold. Lowen quickly shook this thought away. Yes, it may have quite the power behind it but it also had many other flaws. For example, the time it took to load was several minutes, that may be effective against a large slow opponent but if it was used against someone like Lowen, then it would practically be useless, due to his sheer speed alone.

As the smokey dust settled down and cleared, the sight revealed was a large deep hole. The ground had completely caved in with not only rocks and dirt but with a few old buildings as well, which were now rubble.

Nothing, absolute silence and no movement came from within the hole but that didn't matter to commander Tolm, he would not sit idle.

"Men readjust your aim and reload, get ready."

Because of the large firepower, the cannons may not have been knocked back or rocked but the recoil caused them all to point upward.

So, as their commander said, they readjusted and reloaded and waited for further orders.

Before Lowen could sense its aura, with his heightened senses he could feel the ground slightly trembling beneath his feet, and yet no one else could. Normally it would be the other way around but because this creature was so large, its body had to weigh 5 or 6 thousand pounds at least and not only that, with it tunneling its way to the surface, it was pushing thousands of pounds of rocks out of its way. It was no wonder Lowen could feel it coming before he could sense it. Placing a hand on the ground, Lowen could feel it even clearer. Turning back to the commander he shouted.

"It's coming!"

Tolm's brows scrunched slightly but after a few seconds, he too, as well as all of his men could feel it clearly. Not only could they feel the ground tremble slightly, but they could now also hear it. Thousands of pounds of rock was ground against more rock and was crushed beneath a heavy mass of momentum. The sound it caused aggravated the ear, as it seemed to rattle around, beating against one's eardrum. The noise was so loud and intense that some of the soldiers had no choice but to grasp their head in pain, trying fruitlessly to block out the reverberation.

Once again, Tolm shouted.

"Here it comes, men, prepare to fire."

These men were truly elites, even though it was painful, the soldiers grasping their heads in pain, once again ready them selfs as best they could.

Lowen stood up and just as he did, the Mantha made its appearance.

*CRACK BOOOOM!*

A large head pierced through the surface of the ground and extended to the sky and didn't stop for 60 feet. Seeing this creature for the first time, most of the men felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end. Looking up at this creature that left a long shadow on the ground below was truly nerve-wracking. With a head as large as a carriage and a body thicker than 3 barrels of water bound together, this snake was a sight to behold. One of the soldiers witnessing this couldn't help but utter.

"How, how can there be such a monster."

This man's words, every soldier here could relate. They had faced monsters before but none so big. Even a normal Mantha was usually only around 40 or so feet and they were rare in and of themselves. So seeing one of such colossal size was something unheard of.

Commander Tolm though was not impressed, he didn't care what size this creature was, he only cared about killing it.

"Get your heads out of your asses and fire!"

The men, as though a bolt of lightning had struck them, went into action and once more the cannons erupted.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

The Mantha, unaware of any incoming attack was completely unguarded and took the full brunt of the explosions.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

The metal shattered upon impact and flew off the snake's armor-like skin, crushing and shattering nearby buildings. The Mantha's body swayed before it heavily slammed into a building, crumbling it to bits. The men grew encouraged seeing this and hurriedly readied another round in the cannon. The Mantha though, rose up as though nothing happened. On its back there were barely any noticeable marks, only on its stomach were there small traces of blood. The snake twisted its neck in search of its enemy, flicking its tongue in search of prey and once it detected a few soldiers by a cannon, its large eyes narrowed slightly and it hissed aggressively before lowering its body instinctively and slithering its way over.

"Fire!"

Another round exploded on the snakes back but again there was no damage. The Mantha only seemed annoyed, as though a few bugs were buzzing around its head. Looking at its speed, It was indeed slow but its movement never halted for a moment. As the tail of the Mantha finally left the collapsed ruin, everyone was surprised to see its total length.

"Sir, its, its 80 feet long."

The surrounding soldiers all gulped at once, the only thing that brought them even the slightest bit of relief was the fact that this large snake was so sluggish.

Once more, another round exploded forth before shattering on the snakes back, leaving not even a mark. The snake had now closed the distance and approached a building with about a dozen or so soldiers on top. The snake began to curl itself up and the soldiers couldn't help but stare on in curiosity. Even commander Tolm and Lowen looked on questioningly. This snake had risen up earlier showing its height in an act of showing how domineering it was but now it curled itself up as though it were afraid. The men on the roof began to laugh seeing such behavior and were determined to continue doing so when it happened.

*WHOOSH KA-CRACK*

A sudden acceleration.

The men, the dozen of soldiers laughing only a moment ago were now gone. Not only them, but their armor, the cannon, the entire building they stood on had also been completely annihilated. The other soldiers standing on the other roofs and waiting in ambush on the ground never saw what happened. They only heard a loud explosion and their friends were just gone.

A drop landed on the face of a soldier a hundred or so feet away and he couldn't help but wipe it off and look at it. Surprisingly this drop of liquid was red in color, causing the man to look up and mumble a few words.

"Huh rain now..."

That, however, was all he could mutter as his eyes widened in shock at the sight above. Before he could make a move...before he could even think of making a move, a boulder slightly larger than his shield smashed into his head, crushing his skull and killing him instantly.

The soldiers near him didn't know what happened or why but one thing they knew for sure, the sky, it was raining down death.

"Retreat, retreat!"

Blood, wood, boulders, metal, as well as bits and pieces of human, rained down on top of these soldiers causing many deaths as well as destroying a few more buildings. Again a cloud of dust flew up and covered most peoples vision, so at first, no one could tell if anyone over there was alive or dead. Only after all the debris fell could the horrified screams of the injured be heard.

Commander Tolm and Glen, although separated by hundreds of feet, both yelled out simultaneously.

"What happened!?"

Commander Tolm looked at his men and nobody could answer, whether it was due to fear or just a lack of knowledge it didn't matter, for even if they wanted to answer they couldn't. Tolm grabbed one of his men by his chest armor and pulled him close.

"Didn't any of you hear me. What the hell just happened!?"

Again though, none of them could answer. Tolm's eyes wandered across his men and a slight disappointment washed over him.

(These men, they're petrified. How can they fight like this?)

Finally, Tolm's eyes landed on Lowen and he was surprised to see how calm he still was.

(Was he not affected in the slightest, this boy.)

"Lowen, did you see what happened?"

Lowen nodded and spoke in a calm tone, doing his best not to scare the soldiers around him.

"This Mantha, its speed is incredible."

Lowen had to admit, even his eyes could barely keep up with what he had just witnessed.

"It's tail, it used its flexible body to spin like a top and whipped its tail like lightning."