novelraw Vol 3. Chapter 671: Participation in the Battle
Vol 3. Chapter 671: Participation in the Battle
“So they really can control even Wyverns.”
Prince Ryun muttered with a bitter expression.
They had expected it.
They had, but it had also been one of the worst possibilities they had anticipated.
Naturally.
Wyverns were completely different from Goblins and Orcs, and even from Ogres.
It would not ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) have been an exaggeration to say that they were of an entirely different rank as monsters.
Prince Ryun looked toward one corner of the main camp.
His attendants and staff officers were there, but the person he was most looking for was already gone.
It seemed that she had moved the moment the Wyverns were confirmed.
“Lu Yao, I’m always causing you trouble.”
Prince Ryun’s murmur was heard by no one.
The instant it was confirmed that the flying objects taking off from Shuntai Fortress were Wyverns, Captain Lu Yao moved.
Naturally, so did her magical bombardment unit.
The place they headed for was an alchemy tool set in one corner of the main camp, covered with a large cloth.
Naturally, that movement did not escape Ryo’s notice.
“Abel, it’s finally happening!”
“Hm?”
“Look, that alchemy tool. The one Captain Lu Yao and the others were adjusting. It was under a cover the whole time, so you couldn’t see it from outside.”
“Ah, that huge thing. It’s about the size of a whole wagon.”
“A wagon-sized battlefield alchemy tool... this reminds me of the Long-Range Diffusion-Type Panakeia Breath of Mercy! It played a major role in the decisive battle against the Demon Men, didn’t it?”
“It did. Thanks to that, a great many soldiers’ lives were saved.”
“Ohh!”
The Long-Range Diffusion-Type Panakeia Breath of Mercy was an alchemy tool created by Ryo and Viscount Kenneth Hayward, one that spread light-attribute
Ryo himself had not been there at the time, but Abel had later told him all about it, how the results had been extraordinary.
That same Long-Range Diffusion-Type Panakeia Breath of Mercy had been about the size of a wagon, so Ryo was intensely curious what this new device, roughly the same size, might be.
The cover was removed, and it was pulled forward.
“A giant chair?”
“With a cannon on it?”
Neither Abel nor Ryo could quite make sense of it.
But after a moment, something flashed through Ryo’s mind.
That was probably because he had knowledge from Earth.
“An anti-aircraft machine gun, was it?”
The gunner sat in the chair, and in front of the seat was a rapid-fire gun pointed toward the sky.
The chair and gun rotated together as one, intercepting whatever came flying in from above...
There had been weapons like that during World War II.
Of course, this one was not nearly that refined, and instead of multiple protruding barrels like a true anti-aircraft gun, it had only a single long barrel extending forward.
Captain Lu Yao was already seated in the chair.
The “gun” that had been pulled forward was fixed to the ground at its base.
Naturally, the seat and the gun section seemed able to move freely, and Captain Lu Yao was taking aim.
Around it...
“Are there about fifty of them?”
“Yes. They’re from the magical bombardment unit.”
Even from where Abel and Ryo stood, it was a strange sight.
Every one of them was gripping a cord extending from the “gun.”
“That mechanism...”
“The magical bombardment unit is holding cords. Come to think of it, with Breath of Mercy, the priests also held the cords extending from it.”
“Yes. They transmit magic power to the device through those cords. After Kenneth and I tried all sorts of methods, that turned out to produce the least magic-power loss... so I think those cords are attached to that ‘gun’ for the same reason.”
“That’s incredible.”
“Perhaps the wise walk the same road.”
Ryo nodded deeply.
Viscount Kenneth Hayward was such an excellent alchemist that Ryo had practically decided on his own to think of him as a master.
Captain Lu Yao, meanwhile, was such an excellent alchemist that Ryo felt he could give her Friendship Token No. 2.
From Ryo’s point of view, both of them were alchemists worthy of being called wise.
“Lu Yao, attack as the occasion demands!”
“Understood!”
Prince Ryun’s order rang out, and Lu Yao nodded.
She adjusted the “gun” slightly... and fired.
BOOM!
It produced an astonishingly massive sound and fired a single white fireball.
Just as intended, the white fireball struck the head of the Wyvern flying at the front and instantly engulfed the entire head in flame.
The Wyvern’s head vanished.
Naturally, the Wyvern that had taken a direct hit plummeted.
“Ohhh!”
“Incredible!”
Cheers erupted throughout the Darwei main camp.
But Prince Ryun did not join in the cheering.
“Wyverns that large can’t be protected by curse talismans. Even so, that power is incredible.”
“Yeah, the power’s too great.”
Ryo praised it, while Abel frowned.
“Is this one of your usual lectures from the nagging swordsman again? You could praise something honestly once in a while.”
“No. A device that fires an attack that strong... how many shots can it fire?”
“Eh...”
At Abel’s words, Ryo realized it too.
Yes, the durability of the “gun.”
When he looked at Captain Lu Yao and the others, they were already aiming at the next Wyvern and firing again.
Many people in the main camp were cheering, but only Prince Ryun kept frowning.
“Prince Ryun already understands that the ‘gun’ won’t hold out?”
“Looks that way. That’s why he’s making that face.”
“Could it be that once that ‘gun’ breaks, they haven’t prepared a next measure?”
“They haven’t, I’d say. The enemy’s Wyverns. In the kingdom, they say it takes more than twenty C-rank adventurers to bring down even one...”
“When you think about the fact that that alchemy tool is killing them in one shot, it really is an incredible device.”
“That much is certain.”
By the standards of the two of them, who had lived in the Central Countries until now, it was performance that could only be called abnormal.
Still, the logic behind it was not complicated.
Even in the Central Countries, people said, “Prepare more than twenty C-rank adventurers, and make sure to include plenty of magicians.”
And right now, fifty magicians were pouring their magic power into this alchemy tool...
“There were around fifty Wyverns in the air, right?”
“About that many.”
“How many can that ‘gun’ bring down...”
“If they had enough time, they might have managed somehow.”
“Yes, that’s the difficult part with weapons, isn’t it? Their durability under repeated use. Even swords are like that, aren’t they?”
“When swords clash repeatedly, they heat up. And when they heat up, they weaken. That alchemy tool too...”
“It’s firing fire-attribute magic, after all. And doing it continuously, without enough time to cool.”
At Ryo’s words, Abel tilted his head and asked:
“What if you cooled it with your water-attribute magic, Ryo?”
“Ah... I understand what you mean, but if you cool it too suddenly, it’ll probably crack.”
“Is that so?”
“I think it would need to cool naturally, slowly. But right now, they don’t have that kind of time.”
“So Captain Lu Yao and Prince Ryun understand that it won’t last to the end.”
In the extreme environment of war, many things became a contest against time.
Choices that would never be made in peacetime, actions that would never be taken in peacetime, had to be taken.
And later, historians would analyze them and criticize them...
Yes, that would be correct.
Yes, that would be rational.
But what ought to be pursued was the reason that choice had not been made.
Ryo, who had taken one step... no, only half a step onto the path of historical study, could not help thinking that way.
“I ask King Abel of the Knightley Kingdom.”
“Permission granted.”
“Huh? I haven’t even asked anything yet.”
“You’re asking whether, if it comes to it, you may intervene, right?”
“Yes...”
“Of course I grant permission. Even if that causes the Choouchi Empire and the Phantomkin to hold a grudge against the kingdom, I do not care. As Premier Duke of the Knightley Kingdom, I authorize your intervention.”
“Yes!”
Instant judgment. Instant decision.
This was exactly the sort of moment that made Ryo think so highly of Abel.
As king, as the highest official responsible for administering the kingdom, he granted permission with the resolve to bear all responsibility himself.
Ordinary people could not do that easily.
But no, precisely because of that, Ryo understood.
Because he could do what ordinary people could not easily do, he was king.
When they had shot down thirty Wyverns, the barrel split apart.
“Damn, is this the limit...”
Captain Lu Yao’s frustrated voice could be heard, and the members of the magical bombardment unit surrounding the “gun” to pour magic power into it lowered their heads.
Prince Ryun frowned more deeply than ever, shut his eyes for a moment, then raised his face as though he had made up his mind.
And then he addressed Emperor Tsuin.
“Your Majesty, let the Forbidden Army deal with the Wyverns—”
At that moment, another voice cut in from the side.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, may I be permitted to offer my counsel?”
It was Duke Rondo, Ryo, bowing politely, speaking in wording unlike his usual manner.
“Hm? Duke Rondo? Wait a moment. Ryun, state your next measure against the Wyverns.”
It was the main camp on a battlefield, after all.
And they were in the middle of battle.
As the supreme commander, Emperor Tsuin first tried to hear the opinion of Prince Ryun, who bore responsibility for operational planning.
“Your Majesty, there is no other effective means. If Duke Rondo has an effective measure, then I, too, would very much like to hear it.”
“Ryun says as much. Duke Rondo, do you have something?”
“Yes, I do. In fact, I happen to be rather good at hunting Wyverns.”
As he said it, Ryo smiled brightly.
“All right, Abel, let’s do this.”
“R-right...”
“This time, once they’re shot down and fall to the ground, you don’t need to go finish them off. Cutting straight through areas where the Forbidden Army is fighting would just get in the way.”
“Ah, yeah... I hadn’t thought about that at all.”
“Why not? Usually I shoot them down, and then you go in and finish them off. That’s always been our division of labor, hasn’t it?”
“On the way back from the Demonic Mountain to Rune, sure. But your magic can probably finish them off too, can’t it?”
“Well, I’ve never tried it, so I can’t say.”
Ryo answered with deliberate exaggeration.
Of course, he was brimming with confidence.
“Then here we go!
The instant Ryo chanted it, countless ice lances formed in the sky above and assaulted the Wyverns.
Their wings were pierced, pinning them to the ground, and then more ice lances stabbed through their bodies and heads.
In an instant, a graveyard of Wyverns was born on the ground.
Seeing the result, Ryo nodded in satisfaction.
Abel shook his head slightly, as if to say he was the same as ever.
But everyone else in the Darwei main camp was too stunned to say anything at all.
Those who were stunned were not limited to the Darwei main camp. The Choouchi Imperial main camp, set atop the fortress walls, was even more shaken.
Especially Emperor Wangshan Ku...
“What is that... what in the world is that...”
He could do nothing but repeat it like a delirious man.
But there was one man, standing a little apart, whose reaction was completely different.
“Ice lances? Those are ice lances, right? Ice lances that punch straight through Wyverns like it’s nothing. And hundreds of them, all in an instant. No mistake about it. No mistake at all. That bastard Duke Rondo is on the battlefield.”
The Phantom King grinned in ecstatic delight, joy mixed with astonishment.
Naturally.
He had joined the war against Darwei because he wanted to fight Duke Rondo.
If not for that, he would have gone to open the Wall to the Central Countries with his own hands.
The Phantom King was fully aware that he was a battle maniac.
“Good. I’m going to the front. Taoran, carry things forward according to plan.”
“As you command.”
The Phantom King spoke with a laugh, and Taoran accepted the order.