Episode 322: Burnstone Warhead
“Commencing bombardment experiment.”
A group of Multi-legged Tanks, deployed approximately 1 km from the Holy Capital’s outskirts, aimed their turrets at the city walls.
“First shot, fire.”
Flashes erupted from the cannons. Armor-Piercing Shells, wreathed in plasma flames, were launched towards the walls.
The steel warheads were intercepted by the deployed Magic Barrier.
Upon colliding head-on with the perfectly rigid barrier, the warheads underwent plastic deformation and shattered into fragments.
“Measuring effects. No impact observed.”
The Magic Barrier protecting the city walls completely nullified the power of the Cannon Shells.
Of course, this was a phenomenon anticipated from the start. They had conducted countless performance tests on the Barrier.
“Alright, Onee-sama, next, next!”
“Calm down, Asahi.”
Overseeing the test were Asahi, whose excitement was through the roof as she swayed her body, and Eve, who was beside her, holding her shoulder to restrain her movements.
Akane and Olive were seated at the operator’s console, observing the incoming data.
Ichigo, Utsugi, and Erika were enjoying the tea set provided by ＜Ringo＞ in the rear break area.
“Second shot loaded. Selecting Burnstone Warhead.”
And now, the highlight of this experiment.
The newly developed Burnstone Warhead.
The Burnstone Warhead was, as the name suggested, a Cannon Shell with Burnstone embedded in its warhead.
A lump of Burnstone weighing approximately 1 kg was covered with a heat-resistant coating of steel, and integrated into the tip of the warhead.
“Second shot, fire.”
With ＜Iris＞’s command, the Burnstone Warhead shot out of the cannon.
The Cannon Shell, flying at a supersonic speed of 2,000 m/s, struck the city walls directly.
The Burnstone Warhead, colliding with the deployed Magic Barrier, was crushed by the impact surface and the mass of steel at the tail of the warhead, releasing its stored heat as intended.
Flash.
The instantaneously compressed Burnstone mass emitted ultra-high heat approaching 10,000°C as it vanished. The surrounding molecules were ionized into plasma, emitting intense light.
“Impact, measuring effects.”
As expected, a single Cannon Shell was not enough to compromise the Magic Barrier protecting the entire Holy Capital.
However, its effect was completely different from that of a normal warhead.
“Confirmed partial damage to the surface of the city walls. The surface is vitrified by the heat radiated by the Burnstone.”
“Ooh!”
“We did it, Onee-sama!!”
Incredibly, it had penetrated the Magic Barrier that was supposed to block all energy, and the heat generated by the Burnstone had reached the inner city walls.
Although this had already been predicted through experiments, it was significant that the effect had been confirmed in the form of a Cannon Shell.
“It seems a considerable amount of heat passed through! The fact that the surface is vitrified means it must be at least 800°C! This is enough to cause significant damage!”
“I guess kinetic energy still can’t get through… But if this much heat gets in, it could be a good attack even with multiple hits.”
“Calculation complete. It is estimated that at least 20% of the heat energy reached the city walls.”
There, ＜Iris＞, who had been analyzing the sensor information, reported the results.
“However, the effect of the Burnstone lasts for only about 0.1 seconds, and its harmful effect on large Threat Creature is limited. Its power is insufficient to be a decisive blow on its own.”
“Hmm. Well, yeah. It’s just like roasting them with infrared rays, right?”
“Correct. Next, the Barrier endurance test.”
＜Iris＞ replied calmly and began preparing for the next test. The engine output of the Land Battleship on standby increased, and it slowly began to move into the firing position.
“We’ve done endurance tests with normal shells many times, and this is just a confirmation at first! There seems to be some error, though!”
“We’re digging it up and reusing it, so try not to break it…?”
“Normal Cannon Shells are fine, but Burnstone Cannon Shells pose a risk of collapsing the city walls.”
In response to Eve’s worried words, ＜Iris＞ replied.
With a startled look, Eve turned to ＜Ringo＞.
“Yes, Ma’am. ＜Iris＞ has already calculated everything, so there are no problems. The Monsters organizations inside the target city walls are minimal, and even if it collapses and we lose the Monster organizations in the affected area, it will not hinder the transplantation to the front line Fortress.”
“…I see. I was surprised. So ＜Iris＞, just because there’s a risk, doesn’t mean there’s a problem?”
“Affirmative. Even if all the Cannon Shells used in the test hit the city walls, the range of destruction will be limited. There will be no impact on future operations.”
“Understood. Then, let’s get this done quickly. We won’t be able to do any more tests for a while once we finish digging up the Monster organizations.”
“We don’t have any samples to check the Magic Barrier! ＜Rain Croin＞’s Juvenile is still growing and weak, and summoning a ＜Wyvern＞ would be too scary!”
Eve reacted strongly to Asahi’s cheerful voice.
“Of course not! You absolutely must not summon one!”
“Ugh… Surely Asahi wouldn’t be that reckless…!”
While Eve was pinching and rubbing her cheeks, Asahi weakly retorted.
Apparently, she was aware of it herself.
“Commencing bombardment.”
Ignoring the little skit, ＜Iris＞ calmly carried out the experimental procedure.
The Land Battleship, having received the signal to commence bombardment, began firing with the cannons installed on its port side and centerline.
“Confirmed Barrier neutralization.”
The Barrier, which had been shining as it absorbed the large number of Cannon Shells, lost its effectiveness. Through precisely controlled bombardment, the city walls were barely affected, and the Barrier was accurately neutralized.
Since it was originally a device derived from living organisms, there were fluctuations in the Barrier strength from time to time. Including those fluctuations, ＜Iris＞ had predicted its strength quite accurately.
“Confirmed results as expected. Standby until the Barrier regains its effectiveness.”
It only took a few seconds for the Magic Barrier to redeploy, but it took time to regain its maximum strength.
Moreover, it had been found that it was better to wait about 10 minutes to stabilize it, as a rebound-like phenomenon also occurred.
“This is a test to see how the Barrier’s endurance changes when we use Burnstone Warheads, right?”
“Yes, Onee-sama. Next, we plan to measure what happens when we use all Burnstone Warheads.”
“If we find a significant difference, we also plan to test how it changes depending on the ratio of normal warheads and Burnstone Warheads!”
By the way, the amount of Burnstone used in this test was half the weight of the Burnstone traded with foreign countries in the past year.
If Burnstone Warheads were to be used in earnest in the future, a massive amount of Burnstone would be consumed, enough to make the trade representative of the Repuytari Kingdom faint.
“Elapsed scheduled time. Commencing bombardment.”
And then, ＜Iris＞ pulled the trigger.
The warheads, launched with a slight time difference, struck the city walls in succession.
“Confirmed Barrier neutralization.”
In the relayed video, the Magic Barrier disappeared as if it had burst.
Multiple Cannon Shells, with nothing to stop them, plunged into the city walls. While collapsing the fragile stone walls, they released their enormous heat.
“Measuring effects.”
“Ah. It collapsed…”
The stone-built city walls did not have the strength to withstand Cannon Shells colliding at supersonic speeds. The Burnstone Warheads, being softer than normal Cannon Shells, allowed their kinetic energy to penetrate sufficiently. Furthermore, the generated ultra-high heat heated the surrounding stone materials, evaporating fine fragments and scattering some while melting.
“More Cannon Shells hit the city walls than expected. Preliminary analysis results indicate that the Magic Barrier was neutralized by approximately half of the fired Burnstone Warheads.”
“Onee-sama, Onee-sama!! Amazing, that Barrier collapsed with just this! Hey, Iris, you recorded it properly, right!!”
“Recorded. Secondary analysis results indicate that the anti-Barrier saturation pressure is fifty to eighty times greater than that of normal warheads.”
Eve exclaimed “Ooh” at ＜Iris＞’s report.
Asahi, who seemed to have received the data, also stood up with a shout of joy.
“Ooh! Ooh! This will greatly expand the range of tactics!”
Thus.
＜The Tree＞ had acquired a new weapon called the Burnstone Warhead.
I started conquering fantasy.
(Throwing mysterious fantasy substances at tremendous speed. The opponent dies)
★The cover and frontispiece of Volume 3 are available in the recent notes, so please take a look! It’s cute!