novelraw Chapter 266 : Floating Territory (20)
Chapter 266 : Floating Territory (20)
Cr-crack—!
Along with the sound of something splitting apart, silence descended upon the surroundings.
It was only natural.
While it was a foregone conclusion—almost a guaranteed future from the moment Jang Yeong-sil began working on it—that the power of the bullet fired by U-jin would be extraordinary.
What they had just witnessed far exceeded any image they could have conjured in their minds.
The power was nonsensical.
It was so immense that it was hard to believe it had been caused by the simple, tiny action of pulling a trigger.
In the wake of the unbelievable phenomenon that had just occurred, murmurs began to rise from the previously silent blacksmiths.
—...No, what was that? Is it actually that powerful?
—At this rate, we could adopt it as a standard weapon for the Floating Territory right now.
—Wait, why has the old man been keeping something like this to himself until now...?
Though they were all saying different things, the core of their message was more or less the same.
‘If it’s this good, it can be used as a weapon for the Floating Territory.’
In a way, it was obvious.
The power had already been confirmed before their eyes, but more importantly, it was the action U-jin had shown them.
Take out a bullet, load the gun.
And pull the trigger.
A simple action that could be summarized in those two sentences had produced such devastating power.
Naturally, any person would think, ‘If it’s just that, I could do it too, couldn’t I?’
However, their thoughts were shattered by Jang Yeong-sil’s subsequent boisterous shout.
“Aigoo, you idiots! Do you think just anyone can do it just because it looks easy?”
“……”
“Shut your traps before I smack ‘em! If all of you could do this, the War against Demons or whatever would’ve been over a long time ago! Now get back to work!”
On the surface, it looked like a simple sequence of loading and pulling a trigger, but the most crucial part lay in the step before that—infusing the bullet with an ‘attribute.’
Although Jang Yeong-sil had engraved characters representing the activation circles of techniques onto the firearms and bullets, those were merely passive measures that would only function upon ‘ignition.’
Just as it is not difficult to treat or sicken a human who has already been born, but creating the lifeform known as a human is impossible for anyone.
Infusing life into that bullet in the form of an ‘attribute’ was only possible for U-jin, who could directly control his mana circuits.
In all of Jang Yeong-sil’s life experience, the only human capable of such a feat was U-jin.
As he said, if anyone could produce this much firepower just by holding a gun, he would have manufactured them long ago.
The principle of the ‘Dragun’ that U-jin had created was already in Jang Yeong-sil’s head, and manufacturing something similar wasn’t particularly difficult.
But since there was no one else who could take the controls, mass production was nothing more than a pipe dream.
“Are you not going yet?!”
While Jang Yeong-sil was shouting once more at the hesitating blacksmiths, U-jin’s gaze remained fixed on the firearm he had just fired.
The reason was simple: the power he had just demonstrated far exceeded his expectations.
‘...At this level.’
It was an old memory, so his sense of it was a bit fuzzy.
But with this level of output, it was nearly equal to or perhaps even greater than the power of ‘Delta,’ the final version of the Dragoon that Emily had created.
He would have to check the firepower of the other bullets to be sure, but given the nature of techniques that emphasize the balance of the Five Elements, it didn't seem likely that Jang Yeong-sil had modified them to have significantly different power levels.
...In the first place, considering the power the previous prototype had, it was a level of performance where one wouldn't even feel regretful even if they gave up the advantages of attributes and unified every bullet into the water attribute.
He had thought it might perform quite well, but this was beyond that level.
Heh.
‘...What should I call this?’
It felt awkward to give it the same name as Gamma, the final version from his previous life, since the form was different.
And he couldn't quite remember what letters came after Gamma.
The version names like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta hadn't been given by U-jin anyway; they were names Emily had come up with herself.
‘...Rather.’
Suddenly, the thought occurred to him: would this weapon ever undergo another modification after this?
He felt it was unlikely.
If events unfolded as they did in the first cycle, the Floating Territory would soon ascend to the Transcendence Plane. Once Jang Yeong-sil left for the Upper Plane, it would be virtually impossible for Emily to improve this firearm further on her own unless she studied the techniques anew.
“...Omega (Ω).”
If he had to assign it a version, that seemed appropriate.
It was unlikely he would ever obtain a better armament than this.
In his hands, the Gamma version of the Dragoon—which didn't even consider durability—had performed at the level of a 5-star artifact.
And if U-jin’s intuition was correct, this current weapon was something that possessed performance equal to or greater than that.
The name Omega seemed to suit the overwhelming feeling it provided.
Ssh—
By the time U-jin finished his thoughts and looked up, the blacksmiths had already scattered back to their respective stations.
Blacksmiths were notoriously stubborn and wouldn't listen to anyone, but it seemed they didn't dare defy the person in question.
...Well, Jang Yeong-sil’s personality was quite fierce to begin with.
Having sent the blacksmiths back to their places, Jang Yeong-sil approached U-jin and held out another pouch.
“...This is.”
“Twenty bullets per pouch. Minus the one you just fired to test it, that’s thirty-nine rounds total.”
“……”
“Use them sparingly. Not that you could spray them around even if I told you to.”
As Jang Yeong-sil said, drawing out this much output every time was a burden even for U-jin.
Ten times.
And that was an optimistic estimate. Considering the mana consumption required for other things during a battle, seven shots felt like the conservative limit his mind could handle.
It seemed he would have to keep these separate to load only for crucial moments and use conventional bullets for everything else.
Thump—
Puffing on a cigarette, Jang Yeong-sil walked over and placed a hand on U-jin’s shoulder.
“Don’t you forget this favor.”
“……”
“Or I’ll kick your backside.”
It felt like the roles of who should be saying what were reversed, but U-jin simply nodded instead of nitpicking.
Seeing U-jin’s nod, Jang Yeong-sil turned around without hesitation, picked up his hammer, and walked back into the inner palace.
***
At that same time.
A sudden commotion broke out within the camp of the Northern Subjugation Force.
—Flash!
—W-wait? What is this!
—You crazy bastard, get that away from here!
—Uh...? Priest, the bleeding in my arm has stopped...!
Just as Kanna Cartier was about to stand up at the sound of the simultaneous disturbances outside the tent...
Flap—
“Commander!”
Kanna Cartier’s adjutant hurriedly threw open the tent flap and rushed inside with startling news.
“The magic circles have begun to function again!”
“...!”
The magic, which had been stubbornly unresponsive until now, had suddenly started working.
Before the adjutant could even finish speaking, Kanna Cartier’s gaze shifted.
She looked through the gap in the tent that hadn't been fully closed.
The dark stripes in the sky were still there.
If her eyes weren't deceiving her, the ‘Veil of the Black Sea’ had not yet been lifted.
Clang, clang, clang.
Walking out of the tent with heavy strides, clad in her armor and clutching her Holy Spear, Kanna Cartier could see that her adjutant’s urgent report was true.
Chaotic spells were already flying here and there throughout the camp.
It seemed that the magic circles everyone had drawn just to test them when they weren't working had reacted to the sudden supply of mana and activated according to the lingering will within them.
The magic popping off in all directions was enough to make her head spin.
But such trivial things weren't important at this moment.
Kanna Cartier looked down at her hand and channeled her mana.
Vroom—
The Holy Spear reacted instantly.
“……”
When she looked up, the phantom of a massive spear appeared in the sky above the camp.
‘The magic circles are activating even though the Veil of the Black Sea hasn't been lifted.’
That meant...
“...Truly astounding.”
It meant that the words of Kim Satgat, who had taken ‘U-jin’ up into the sky promising to supply mana, were not a lie.
[I am sorry to say this, but no matter how great the Floating Territory is, it is fundamentally impossible to get rid of that thing.]
[…….]
[However, there is something I can do to resolve the situation.]
[……?]
[I shall provide my mana.]
Just as he had boasted before ascending, the unidentified flying object that appeared in the sky above the camp, ‘Floating Specter Joseon,’ had succeeded in supplying mana to the Northern Subjugation Force.
‘…….’
It was something hard to believe even after seeing it with her own eyes.
Even Ludwig had snapped that it was nonsense without a moment’s hesitation when he first heard it, as it was something so far outside the norm.
But that impossible thing had become a reality before her eyes.
No matter how much her mind refused to believe it, she couldn't deny what was happening right in front of her.
Kim Satgat’s claim that he would provide mana to the Northern Subjugation Force, which had faced a crisis due to the Veil of the Black Sea, was no bluff.
[How do you think that Floating Territory up there has stayed in the sky for hundreds of years? It doesn't have wings, nor does it have any particular physical devices.]
[The Floating Territory uses its own unique mana utilization system. It is slightly different from standard mana, but the essence isn't that different.]
[……!]
[I mean to provide that to you.]
Of course, that didn't make the miracle any less surprising.
She could clearly confirm the fact that it was happening, but even Kanna Cartier couldn't fathom how it was possible.
Calling it a ‘unique mana utilization system’ made it sound simple.
But in the long history of the War against Demons, the only ones who had ever succeeded in possessing such a thing—aside from the Church Alliance—was the Demon King’s Legion.
“...It is truly one of a kind.”
It had started as nothing more than a guess laced with a bit of a joke.
But with the proof that had just occurred, Kanna could be certain of one thing.
‘...Floating Territory Joseon.’
Whatever this mysterious group that had suddenly appeared to help them was...
They were an organization that deserved to be treated as a ‘Third Force.’
One that could sufficiently threaten the bipolar system of the Church Alliance and the Demon King’s Legion.