Chapter 279: A Creepy Sight
The Archbishop ran across the ground, occasionally leaping into the air to escape. A high-output Maser tracked him, subtly adjusting its angle. The ground it illuminated instantly lost moisture, dried, cracked, and then glowed red and melted. Plasma-formed molecules diffused into the surroundings, emitting a unique light.
“Aiming is difficult at this distance. The target is small and fast. The air has slight vibrations, so this may be the limit,” ＜Asahi＞’s bust, projected from the console, tilted her head while crossing her arms. The Maser Cannon was precision-controlled, but equipped with only a rudimentary vibration dampening system, making it difficult to target human-sized targets.
Originally, the beam’s thickness and energy were meant to compensate for this. Any normal creature would be charred black just by being grazed.
“＜Iris＞ requests the Multi-Stage Electromagnetic Cannon (Coil Cannon). ＜Eurytus＞ unit, select staggered attacks with the Multi-Stage Electromagnetic Cannon (Coil Cannon).”
Simultaneously with Akane’s report, a total of seven Coil Cannons fired metal Cannon Shells accelerated to 6,000 m/s. Evaporating their heat-resistant coatings, the Cannon Shells traversed the approximately 10 km distance in less than two seconds.
Hypersonic warheads struck with a time difference, blocking the Archbishop’s escape route. The impacting Cannon Shells blasted the earth, scattering shockwaves. Clods of earth turned into shrapnel and diffused around, and the Warrior Monks caught in it lost their lives without a chance.
However, even with this attack, the target Archbishop was not eliminated.
“Whoa~. Target escaped the attack range~. What’s this, invincible mode~?”
“We are pursuing with the Maser Cannon, but the barrel temperature is near its limit. It will shut down soon for emergency cooling.”
“We need to stop the other Archbishops too.”
The Archbishop at the East Gate swung a two-handed sword as long as a person was tall, wreaking havoc. He approached the Jötunn deployed on the east side and swept its Legs out from under it. He retreated from the barrage of laser Cannons that immediately followed, but that one blow had almost completely destroyed the Jötunn’s Legs. About half of the wheels equipped on the bottom were sliced and rendered unusable.
Various Cannon Shells were continuously fired to stop such an Archbishop.
At the North Gate, numerous deployed Barriers were severely hindering the Quadruped Tank’s movements. If their movement slowed, they were just sitting ducks. Unable to support other units, Quadruped Tanks were destroyed one after another by multiple Warrior Monks and Bishops.
“All Aerial Escort Ships (Titan) and Aerial Carrier (Gigantia) have entered a turning trajectory. Rear armaments are now usable.”
“Oh, finally… The Titan has a bit less armament on its belly…”
The rear armaments had been unusable because the ship’s hull was blocking them. The Titan had about 1.5 times more Cannons on its rear than on its belly, and the Gigantia had about 70% as many. By taking a turning trajectory that tilted the ship diagonally, most of the Cannons could be aimed at ground targets.
“Flight path stabilized. Commencing attack.”
Thus, a rain of Cannon Shells, adding further chaos, was unleashed upon the already chaotic battlefield.
But, in the first place, the battlefield was spread out in all directions.
“So, over here… can we manage somehow?”
“South Gate, enemy unit elimination complete. Advancing.”
The South Gate unit had succeeded in eliminating most of the enemy units. The Jötunn’s main Cannon was destroyed, but its other functions were intact. A decent number of Quadruped Tanks also remained. The Jötunn swayed its massive body and began to advance. The huge wheels crushed everything, making the constructed trenches meaningless. The enemy Warrior Monks were somehow continuing to resist around the castle gate, but they could not stop all the approaching Quadruped Tanks. Several Quadruped Tanks broke through the line of resistance and reached the castle gate, which was closed by a massive door.
But it seemed they wouldn’t be allowed through so easily. The moment the Quadruped Tanks approached, an Iron grate came down with a rattling sound. The Iron grate, falling under Gravity, was fixed by piercing its lower end into the ground.
Originally, this level of Iron grate could be easily destroyed. Reacting to the Cannon Shells that were immediately fired, a Defense Membrane intercepted all of them.
“Cannon Shells are judged as attacks. I wanted to see how it would react if we simply tried to pass through, but the Iron grate is troublesome. Destruction seems difficult.”
While this was happening, the elimination of the Warrior Monks who had been resisting at the South Gate was completed. The area around the South Gate was completely occupied by ＜Paraiso＞.
“The Bishops and Archbishops are pinned down in other battlefields. It seems we’re safe for a while. Which means?”
“Infiltration is expected over the castle walls. The Jötunn will launch equipment for scaling the walls.”
The Jötunn, approaching the castle walls, launched numerous wire ropes with hooks for assistance in infiltration. They flew over the top of the castle walls and caught nicely on the stonework there.
“They weren’t repelled.”
“Yes, Ma’am. It seems to selectively defend against offensive things.”
Here, a new characteristic of the Magic (Fantasy) Barrier was revealed. Attacks that would obviously cause damage, like shelling, were blocked, but ropes for infiltration were not targeted.
“How are they selecting them! It’s hard to believe the core Magic Stone has thinking abilities, though!”
Asahi said cheerfully, but well, the selectivity of the Barrier was an expected phenomenon from the start. If it blocked everything, it would be impossible to take in air, water, or food, and if a living being’s consciousness was doing the selecting, it would be unnatural for it to react to attacks outside of its awareness. There was a possibility that some kind of selection mechanism existed externally.
However, that consideration would not be developed further in this situation. Warrior Monks, not expecting a wall-climbing attack, hurriedly ran to the places where the hooks had been shot. The Warrior Monks on the spot tried to remove the hooks, but the metal cables were not something that could be easily cut. The Quadruped Tanks immediately attached winches to the ropes and began to climb the castle walls while winding them up.
Unfortunately, the shelling from the outside was blocked by the Barrier. The gathered Warrior Monks swung their swords to cut the cables. But, fortunately, the steel of the cable material seemed to have greater strength, and the sword broke and flew off from the middle with that one flash. However, the cable currently had a Quadruped Tank weighing dozens of tons hanging from it.
The cable, with its surface damaged, began to break from that spot with cracking sounds, and then snapped.
The flying cable swept away the surrounding Warrior Monks, and the Quadruped Tank, losing its support, slid down the castle wall without a chance.
“There seemed to be some difficulty with the cable strength.”
“It’s working properly for makeshift equipment, so it’s okay.”
＜Ringo＞ probably wanted to have more leeway in the maximum strength. But there was no time to say such leisurely things on the battlefield.
Several Quadruped Tanks climbed over the castle walls and began to rampage. The gathered Warrior Monks launched attacks, but it was on top of the narrow castle walls. Dozens of Warrior Monks were sent flying into the sky by a single Railgun shot. And, using that as a foothold, Quadruped Tanks came up the castle walls one after another.
“They’re putting up Barriers individually…”
The Warrior Monks thrust both hands forward and deployed Barriers. They advanced while deflecting the Railgun Cannon Shells. But it seemed they didn’t have the strength to defend against so many continuously fired hypersonic Cannon Shells. They managed to defend against several shots, then collapsed as if fainting. It was probably the symptom of Magical Power depletion that Asahi had mentioned before. The Warrior Monks behind them immediately covered, and approached further, but by that time, the Quadruped Tanks had already entered inside the castle walls.
“…Sorry, but. I know it’s bad, but. Isn’t this just Monsters swarming a hole?”
And the image, zoomed in to show the scene, was, no matter how favorably one looked at it, a pitiful fortress city being preyed upon by a horde of Monsters.
Thank you for your continued support of The Tree, which is increasingly becoming like a Demon King’s army.