Episode 315: Asahi On Stage II (2)
Asahi passionately orates on the stage.
And the Five Sisters intently watch her words and actions.
“If we can negate magic with magic, we should use it! …Which is why, we actually have the materials to make that happen. Can anyone guess what it is, Onee-sama!”
Asahi directs the question to her sisters.
The Five Sisters exchange glances.
“…The most likely candidate is Burnstone.”
Akane answers on behalf of the group.
Burnstone is a mineral that generates heat when pressure is applied.
However, the principle behind it is completely unknown.
Through considerable time and effort, the phenomena and characteristics it produces have been identified.
“As expected of Onee-sama! Exactly! We don’t know if we, the AI Kind, can activate magical phenomena, but we already have Burnstone, a mineral that is essentially a mass of irrationality!”
Next, Asahi displays a video of someone trying to scorch a plate with fire.
“This is the ＜Big Moth＞ Armor from earlier…”
The Big Moth Armor is being heated with a burner. The material, derived from a living organism, should be very vulnerable to heat.
However, in the video, the armor shows no signs of deformation and continues to withstand the flames.
“It’s also resistant to heat! Assuming the magic acting on it doesn’t allow its own destruction, it’s obvious that it will exhibit high resistance to any kind of attack, be it striking, stabbing, or heat!”
“You’re using ‘obvious’ incorrectly.”
Asahi winks in response to Akane’s interjection.
She doesn’t seem inclined to correct herself.
“Now, let’s move on to the next point.”
The next image shows a cube-shaped mineral clamped in a vice.
It’s likely the Burnstone that was mentioned earlier.
“This is a 5cm Burnstone! If you clamp it down, it makes a nice stove, but that’s beside the point.”
The Big Moth Armor is placed on top of the cube. The words “Under Pressure” are displayed.
“And what do you know! The heat generated by the Burnstone, when brought into contact with magic…”
The Big Moth Armor, which didn’t budge when heated with a burner…
…gradually changes color from the point of contact with the Burnstone.
The discoloration quickly spreads throughout, and soon the Big Moth Armor is dyed a vivid crimson.
“The burner’s heat didn’t cause protein denaturation. However, the heat emitted from the Burnstone reliably affects the armor itself, inducing thermal denaturation of the constituent proteins!”
“…Does this mean that if we apply the heat from Burnstone, we can nullify that Magic Barrier?”
“I’m sorry, not quite yet! But there’s definitely potential! This is a more detailed observation data…”
Asahi shakes her head at Eve’s expectant question and displays another set of data.
“This is observation data of the amount of heat generated by the Burnstone! The heat output should be almost the same for Burnstones of the same size, but when it’s in contact with the Big Moth Armor, the heat output seems to be lower!”
“Could it be that the lost heat is being used to negate the magic that maintains the armor’s integrity?”
Asahi nods enthusiastically at Ichigo’s prediction.
“Exactly, Ichigo Onee-sama! I tried using regular Big Moth Armor for experimentation, which has higher strength, but the heat generated by the small Burnstone didn’t cause any denaturation! When I used a larger Burnstone and applied considerable pressure to generate high heat, the effect was confirmed! In other words, if we can successfully apply the heat from Burnstone, we can attenuate or nullify the magic effect!”
This was a very significant discovery for ＜The Tree＞.
Until now, they had been barely able to saturate the Magic Barrier by bombarding it with massive kinetic energy.
Now, by using the irrational (Fantasy) mineral called Burnstone, they might be able to break through it much more easily.
“If we could generate magical phenomena, it seems like other Magic Tools besides Burnstone would work… But among the things we’ve secured, Burnstone seems to have the highest offensive power!”
“Well, the others are just cooking stoves and measuring instruments, after all.”
As for Burnstone, they can currently obtain as much as they want. After all, it can be mined throughout the entire Afrasia United Duchy. It’s an ultra-easy raw material that’s buried in the ground no matter where you dig.
Well, to be honest, the fundamental mechanism of why that’s the case is unknown, which makes it frightening in its own way.
“For now, we’ve confirmed that hammering powdered Burnstone produces a gunpowder-like reaction…”
“Didn’t we find out that the smaller the particles, the higher the heat output or something?”
“It seems that if they’re clustered together in very close proximity, the heat output can be maintained to some extent!”
And it seems that Asahi has already begun weaponizing Burnstone.
A video of an experiment is displayed, showing powdered Burnstone being formed into pellets and then struck with a hammer. The Burnstone pellet, crushed by the hammer, emits intense light and a loud bang, and sparks fly in all directions.
“The ultra-high temperature Burnstone melted the surfaces of the base and the hammer, and the thermal expansion of the air caused it to scatter in all directions! I estimate that a heat of 3,000°C or 4,000°C is generated instantaneously!”
“Oh… So, if we do it right, we could turn this into a Cannon Shell and slam it in?”
“That’s highly likely, Onee-sama!”
Powdered Burnstone, although the heat output itself is low, generates an explosive heating phenomenon.
By slamming this into the Magic Barrier, they may be able to saturate the barrier more efficiently than before.
“At the very least, we were able to thermally denature the Big Moth Armor that was hardened by magic! And what I was experimenting with until just now was ＜Rain Croin＞’s body!”
Asahi used the corpse of ＜Rain Croin＞, which was stored in Fortress Two (Black Iron), for the experiment. It still shows no signs of decay and has maintained its appearance all this time.
“When we pressed the Burnstone against it and heated it, we were able to make ordinary blades penetrate the flesh. In other words, we can nullify the hardening caused by the magical phenomenon within the range of the heat generated by the Burnstone! ＜Rain Croin＞’s body is hard to the core, but if we can create a mechanism that can bore through it and direct the heat of the Burnstone in the direction of penetration, we might be able to penetrate it in one go!”
That means they can mass-produce pseudo-＜Penetration＞ projectiles using Burnstone.
If that can be put to practical use, ＜The Tree＞’s offensive power against Threat Creatures will increase dramatically.
“The problem is defense against attacks… As for that, all we can currently offer is a composite armor made by attaching Big Moth Armor on top of regular armor…”
“Big Moth, huh… It’s hard to secure enough of the material since it’s derived from living organisms, right?”
“That’s right, Onee-sama. The number of individuals is directly linked to the amount of material, so we can’t hunt them too much. And because of their enormous size, animal husbandry… farming? also seems difficult. Well, that’s something we need to consider as well, but for now, I’m going to complete this anti-magic warhead using Burnstone powder! What do you think!?”
Eve catches Asahi, who jumps at her with a beaming smile, and nods.
“You’ve done well, Asahi. There won’t be any problems with the development. Akane, help her organize the data. Should we have Olive help with the design?”
“Yes, Onee-sama. No problem. Data loading is complete.”
“…Leave it to me!”
Akane clenches her fist and puts in the spirit, and Olive wags her tail and raises the tension.
In this way, ＜The Tree＞ forces have finally grasped a clue to conquering the ＜Magic (Fantasy)＞ that dominates this planet.
I’m making up all sorts of reasons, but in the end, I’m just trying to roll up a mysterious substance, harden it, and throw it.
Well, that’s a bit too blunt. lol
It’s okay. It’ll probably be something like a tandem warhead.