“Alright, the missiles are done. Switching over.”
“B-but this one says she hasn’t fired enough yet!”
“Guided missiles are too difficult to operate, no.”
Missile weapons that fly to a locked target and create an explosion there are certainly convenient. But if the locked target moves, there’s a risk of the missile’s trajectory changing.
There’s no guarantee that a monster won’t run towards us with a missile on its back. We’re heading to the ruined castle grounds below, so the distance to the enemy will decrease, making further use dangerous.
I retrieved HD-777 and stored it in my Spatial Storage. I took out a new weapon and handed it to Beatrice.
“I wouldn’t mind more support, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”
“There are only three of us. We need to be careful even when going for the extermination.”
Barbatos said, sounding disappointed, as I picked up Raven Claw 9.
Below us spread a ruined former castle, with smoke rising from everywhere. It no longer retained its original form.
“There are still quite a few Goblins, but do they still have the will to fight?”
“If they were humans, they would have already fled. Even through the scope, it seemed many individuals were running away.”
“It depends on whether we managed to take out the monster leading them, doesn’t it? I couldn’t recognize the opponent’s position.”
“The ‘King’ or Goblins in that position, right? I was too focused on sniping.”
“Hey, you could see, right?”
Don’t underestimate Raven Claw 9’s zoom function, okay?
I switched Watcher 8000’s visual aid to magic vision. This allows me to see the positions of monsters even through walls, so I found the hidden monsters and pointed towards them.
“First shot.”
“Firing!”
Beatrice aimed the cannon in the direction I pointed and pulled the trigger.
The fired Magic Bullet landed and caused a massive explosion! The hidden Goblins didn’t even have time to scream as they were blown apart along with the surrounding rubble.
The weapon I gave her was the rocket launcher “ES-66.” It was jointly developed by the military’s weapon development department and ES Allied Company.
It excels in rapid-fire and continuous-fire capabilities, with a fast bullet speed and a very large explosion range of 38 meters upon impact.
Its range is also long, at 2,800 meters, and the scope has zoom, making it excellent for long-range operations. This also uses a Magic Core exchange reload system.
“…This is… well, more than the missile from before…”
“There are always people who get a thrill from explosions, but you’ve done test firings many times, haven’t you?”
“During training, the targets were just targets, and I was wearing headphones.”
“…Is it that different?”
“Completely different! Ufufufufufuhehehehehe.”
That’s not an expression a woman about to be married should make.
“Honestly. And we’re still in the middle of combat.”
“The person who usually laughs ‘ho ho ho’ changed to ‘kukukuku’.”
“…ho ho ho ho.”
She seems to be pretending it didn’t happen.
“Next.”
“Yes!”
“Too shallow, two follow-up shots.”
“Yes!”
I continued to confirm the enemy’s position with Watcher 8000, and Beatrice continued to explode them with ES-66. We steadily reduced the number of enemies as we advanced towards the old castle area. The ground might be unstable, so we proceeded carefully with Barbatos leading the way.
Watcher 8000 can’t capture opponents who can hide their Magical Power, but so far, no Goblin-type monsters have shown such skills. Barbatos, in her role as a guard, seemed slightly bored.
“We’ve arrived. Doesn’t seem like anyone’s hiding.”
In front of the castle, I checked with Watcher 8000. There were still monsters near the center of the castle.
“Thunderous Wolf Formula, activate.”
I tore off and threw five KIRISIMA-made talismans. Fifteen pale blue wolves, clad in lightning, were summoned as Familiars.
“Eliminate all the monsters.”
“Woof!”
Following my instructions, the wolves scattered into the castle. That should be fine for this side.
“Let’s head to the center of town, then.”
“Aren’t we going to take the castle?”
“This isn’t a war between humans.”
If the goal was to capture or defeat the leader, attacking the castle would be the objective, but this time, the goal is simply to exterminate the monsters.
With the castle and what seemed to be part of it behind us, we set foot in what used to be the town.
Fortunately, the Goblins had maintained it to some extent, so it wasn’t completely swallowed by the trees.
“I guess they cleaned up after all. There are traces of them pulling things out.”
It might have been a town swallowed by trees. There were traces of them removing those trees. There were no signs of them repairing the buildings, but it was probably enough for them to live in.
“There are quite a few tall buildings.”
“Yes. It would be best to proceed more cautiously from here.”
“For now, fire.”
“Yes!”
As before, I pointed and gave the rocket launcher instructions.
The Goblin species were hiding more in the castle town than in the castle, as it was more cluttered.
Continuous explosions occurred, and buildings collapsed. Many monsters seemed to be caught up in it.
“Around here, maybe?”
“As far as I could see from the mountain side, that tall building was slightly southwest.”
“Have we arrived already?”
We arrived at our destination. It was located near the center of this flat area, including the castle.
“That’s right. We’ll move on to the mop-up operation in a while, but let me prepare first.”
I used telekinesis to move the scattered rubble, Goblin pieces, their belongings, and everything else to secure a space.
I took out a pedestal like an altar prepared by a 3D printer from my Spatial Storage and placed it there.
In the center was a huge Magic Core. It was a masterpiece created from a huge, high-purity Magic Stone taken from a Space Squid.
There were also Magic Cores on all four sides of the pedestal. These had different roles, so they were only slightly larger than a fist, but they were still high-purity, high-quality Magic Cores.
“Okay, first press this button… then this one, and then this one.”
I pressed a few buttons and channeled Magical Power into the pedestal. The Magic Cores began to glow faintly and activate.
“Incredible.”
“What a beautiful sight.”
Small waves were generated from the Magic Cores, and those waves passed through the town. Outside the town, including the castle. The waves gradually rose into the sky and created a wall of light at a point five kilometers in radius, centered on the Magic Cores.
“Oh, wonderful.”
“So this is the Monster Ward Barrier. It’s the first time I’ve seen it activate.”
“There are problems, though.”
We no longer had to worry about monsters coming from the outside, but there were still a large number of Goblin-type monsters inside the Barrier.
“Now, it’s time for the mop-up operation. The Barrier is set to be invalid from the inside out, so you don’t have to chase after those who run away, but we have to defeat all those who remain inside the Barrier.”
“…It seems like it will take a long time with this area.”
“First, the top of the castle. We’ll check there, and if it seems okay, we’ll blast it with missiles and rocket launchers to reduce their numbers.”
“Gladly!”
“Is the security of the Barrier’s keystone alright? If this is destroyed, the Barrier will disappear, right?”
“Ah, that’s right. I have to activate the Magic Cores that protect it.”
I also activated the Magic Cores attached to the four sides of the pedestal. These were Magic Cores that created a Barrier to protect the Magic Cores of the huge Barrier.
Nice one, Barbatos.
“I’ll move with Spatial Jump.”
“Then I’ll stay in town and take care of the Goblins.”
“Huh? Missiles and rocket launcher bullets will be flying from above.”
What are you saying?
“That’s also training. As long as I’m not directly targeted, I probably won’t get hit.”
“Just being in the blast range is fatal, so no.”
Did she think she’d get permission?
“Please snipe with Raven Claw 9.”
“Muu, I suppose it can’t be helped.”
“I’ll give you Watcher 8000 to patrol later, but not yet.”
After that, I activated the Thunderous Wolf Formula and released them into the town.
We continued sniping until evening that day.
The next day, we flew aerial drones into the Barrier to confirm the monsters. It was a large town, so there were underground areas as well, and it would take another day to eliminate all the monsters.