Chapter 322: Burning Stone Warhead
“Commencing Bombardment Experiment”
In the outskirts of the Holy Capital, a formation of multi-legged tanks deployed approximately 1 kilometer away aimed their turrets at the castle walls.
“First shot, fire!”
A flash of light erupted from the cannon’s mouth. An armor-piercing shell enveloped in plasma flames was launched toward the castle walls.
The steel warhead was halted by the deployed magical barrier. The warhead collided head-on with the perfect rigid body of the barrier, causing it to undergo plastic flow and shatter into countless pieces.
“Measuring effects. No impact observed.”
The magical barrier protecting the castle walls completely nullified the shell’s power. Of course, this was a phenomenon anticipated from the start. Extensive performance tests of the barrier had been conducted previously.
“Come on, Ma’am! Next one, next one!”
“Calm down, Asahi.”
Watching the test were Asahi, who was bouncing with excitement, and Eve, who gently restrained her by holding her shoulder.
Akane and Olive were seated at the operator’s station, observing the data streaming in.
Ichigo, Utsugi, and Erika were in the back relaxation area, enjoying the tea set provided by RINGO.
“Second shot loaded. Selecting Burning Stone Warhead.”
And now, the highlight of this experiment.
The newly developed Burning Stone Warhead.
The Burning Stone Warhead was literally a shell infused with Redstone.
A roughly 1-kilogram chunk of Redstone was encased in a heat-resistant steel coating and integrated into the tip of the warhead.
“Second shot, fire!”
With Iris’s command, the Burning Stone Warhead shot forth from the cannon’s mouth.
The shell soared at a supersonic speed of 2,000 m/s, striking the castle walls directly.
Upon colliding with the magical barrier, the Burning Stone Warhead was crushed by the mass of steel at the impact surface and the tail, releasing the heat contained within as per its nature.
A brilliant flash.
The compressed Redstone chunk vanished while emitting temperatures nearing 10,000°C. Molecules in the vicinity were transformed into plasma, glowing fiercely.
“Hit confirmed. Measuring effects.”
Naturally, a single shell could not possibly compromise the magical barrier protecting the entire Holy Capital.
However, its effects were entirely different from those of a standard warhead.
“Damage detected on the surface of the castle walls. The heat emitted by the Redstone has caused surface vitrification.”
“Oh!”
“We did it, Ma’am!!”
Incredibly, the Redstone had penetrated the magical barrier, and the heat generated had reached the interior of the castle walls.
Although this was something anticipated from the experiment, confirming its effectiveness in the form of a shell was significant.
“It seems quite a bit of heat passed through! The surface being vitrified means it must be at least around 800°C! That should be enough to cause damage!”
“Looks like the kinetic energy didn’t get through, though… But with this much heat, hitting multiple times could still be a solid attack.”
“Calculations complete. It is estimated that at least 20% of the thermal energy reached the castle walls.”
At that moment, Iris, who had been analyzing the sensor data, reported the results.
“However, the effect of the Redstone lasts only about 0.1 seconds, and its harmful effect against large Threat Creatures is limited. It lacks the power to be a decisive blow on its own.”
“Hmmm. Well, that makes sense. It’s just heating it up with infrared, right?”
“Correct. Next, we will conduct a durability test on the barrier.”
Iris replied calmly and began preparing for the next test. The land battleship that had been on standby increased its engine output and slowly began moving to the bombardment position.
“We’ve done durability tests with standard shells multiple times, so this is just a confirmation! There might be some discrepancies, but!”
“Just be careful not to break it since we’ll be digging it up for reuse…?”
“Standard shells pose no problem, but the Burning Stone Warhead carries a risk of collapsing the walls.”
In response to Eve’s worried words, Iris replied.
Eve turned to RINGO with a startled expression.
“Yes, Ma’am. Iris has calculated the risks, so there’s no problem. The monster organization within the targeted castle walls is minimal, and even if it collapses and we lose the corresponding area of the monster organization, it won’t hinder the transplant to the frontline fortress.”
“…I see. That surprised me. So, Iris, just because there’s a risk doesn’t mean there’s a problem, right?”
“Affirmative. Even if all the shells used in the test hit the castle walls, the destruction range will be limited. There will be no impact on future operational actions.”
“Understood. Then let’s get on with it. Once we finish excavating the monster organization, we won’t be able to conduct tests for a while.”
“We don’t have any samples to confirm the magical barrier! The younglings of the Rain Kroin are still growing and weak, and calling in a Wyvern would be too dangerous!”
Asahi’s cheerful voice elicited a strong reaction from Eve.
“Of course! We absolutely must not call them in!”
“Ugh… I can’t believe Asahi would even think of something so reckless…!”
While Eve playfully pinched Asahi’s cheeks, Asahi weakly protested. It seemed she was aware of her own limits.
“Commencing bombardment.”
Amidst their playful banter, Iris methodically executed the experimental procedures.
Receiving the signal to commence bombardment, the land battleship began firing from its port and centerline-mounted cannons.
“Barrier nullification confirmed.”
The magical barrier, which had been shimmering under the impact of numerous shells, lost its effect. Thanks to the precisely controlled bombardment, the castle walls were hardly affected, and the barrier was effectively nullified.
Since the barrier was biologically derived, fluctuations in its strength occurred from time to time. Including those fluctuations, Iris had managed to predict its strength quite accurately.
“Results as expected confirmed. Standby until the barrier regains its effectiveness.”
It would take only a few seconds for the magical barrier to re-establish itself, but regaining maximum strength would require more time. Additionally, it had been determined that to stabilize it, a wait of about ten minutes was necessary due to phenomena like rebound.
“So this is a test to see how the durability of the barrier changes when using the Burning Stone Warhead, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The next test is planned to measure the effects of using only Burning Stone Warheads.”
“If a significant difference is observed, we also plan to test a mix of standard and Burning Stone Warheads to see how the ratios affect the results!”
By the way, the amount of Redstone used in this test would reach half of the weight traded with foreign countries over the past year.
If the use of Burning Stone Warheads became widespread, the trade representatives of the Kingdom of Repuitari would likely faint from the sheer volume of Redstone consumed.
“Scheduled time exceeded. Commencing bombardment.”
And with that, Iris pulled the trigger.
With a slight time delay, the warheads were launched in succession, striking the castle walls.
“Barrier nullification confirmed.”
In the relay footage, the magical barrier burst apart and vanished.
With nothing to obstruct them, multiple shells penetrated the castle walls. As they shattered the fragile stone structure, they released their immense heat.
“Measuring effects.”
“Oh no… it collapsed…”
The stone castle walls lacked the strength to withstand the impact of shells colliding at supersonic speeds. The softer Burning Stone Warheads allowed their kinetic energy to penetrate sufficiently, and the resulting ultra-high temperatures heated the surrounding stone, causing fine fragments to evaporate and some to melt as they scattered.
“More shells than anticipated struck the castle walls. Preliminary analysis indicates that approximately half of the fired Burning Stone Warheads nullified the magical barrier.”
“Ma’am! Ma’am!! Amazing! That barrier collapsed with just this much! Iris, you recorded that properly, right!!”
“It has been recorded. Secondary analysis results indicate that the saturation pressure against the barrier is determined to be over fifty times that of standard warheads, but below eighty times.”
Eve exclaimed in surprise at Iris’s report.
Asahi, who seemed to have received the data, also jumped up in excitement.
“Wow! Wow! This will greatly expand our tactical options!”
And thus, The Tree acquired a new weapon in the form of the Burning Stone Warhead.
Fantasy Strategy Commenced.
(Throwing mysterious fantasy substances at high speed. The opponent dies.)
★ I’ve released the cover and illustrations for Volume 3 on my recent notes, so please take a look! They’re adorable!