Volume 2 chapter 8
After the catastrophic bombing of Sector Nine, the Alliance finally began to treat the Demon threat with the gravity it deserved.
In the days that followed, the nature of their advance shifted. A massive screen of aerial knights scouted ahead, with at least two Eighth-Rank Sky Knights patrolling the cloud layer at all times. The High-Rank powerhouses, having learned their lesson from the bombing run, no longer marched with the infantry but flew in high-altitude overwatch, ready to intercept.
This new doctrine proved effective. When the Demon bomber wings returned, they were swarmed by aerial knights before they could reach their drop coordinates.
However, the Type-1 Bomber was far from defenseless. Bristling with eight 25mm cannons and four 14.5mm machine guns, and protected by 25mm of magical alloy armor reinforced by a 6th-Rank Defensive Array, each aircraft was a flying fortress. It could shrug off any magical attack below the Sixth Rank.
Furthermore, the demons exploited a critical weakness: the operational ceiling of the Alliance’s Griffons and Wyverns was roughly 10,000 meters. The bombers cruised comfortably at 15,000 meters—an insurmountable altitude for anything below the Seventh Rank.
But once they bypassed the low-rank screen, they faced the elite Seventh and Eighth-Rank knights.
Against a Seventh-Ranker, a bomber could jettison its payload early and use its superior airspeed to escape. But against an Eighth-Rank powerhouse? They couldn't outrun, outgun, or out-tank them.
After several failed sorties and the loss of a dozen expensive aircraft, Commander Plum made the hard call to abandon the strategy of deep-strike bombing against the main columns.
Day Three. The Alliance Army arrived at Laptara Fortress.
Laptara was an architectural anomaly, built directly onto a mountain and encircling the peak. It was a massive hexagonal fortress. Each wall spanned 500 meters in length, rose 20 meters high, and was reinforced to a thickness of 5 meters. Watchtowers stood every hundred meters, and massive, blocky arrow towers anchored each of the six corners.
The Alliance halted their advance and set up camp 20 kilometers away. According to centuries of military doctrine, this was safely out of range of any conventional magical bombardment.
Seraphina stood on the high ground within the fortress, her eyes cold as she watched the enemy formation settling in the distance.
"Fortress Guns, ready. Wall Guns, commence bombardment!"
"Yes, Commander!"
At her order, the heavy camouflage nets on the corner towers were thrown off.
Massive twin-gun turrets were revealed to the sun. The dark, rifled muzzles of the 250mm Fortress Cannons pointed silently at the Alliance camp.
Inside the cramped turret, a Second-Rank Wolf Demon grunted, heaving a shell half the size of a man into the open breech. Six First-Rank Beast Demons followed instantly, ramming the silk powder bags home and locking the breech mechanism with a heavy clank.
They scrambled into the blast-proof safety compartment without pause. The turret gears whined as it rotated slightly, fine-tuning the elevation.
"Azimuth set!"
"Loaded!"
"FIRE!!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Two 250mm shells screamed out of the barrels, tearing through the air as they arched toward the "safe" Alliance camp.
Twenty kilometers was considered a sanctuary because Eighth-Rank Knights typically possessed an attack range of 5 to 8 kilometers—perhaps 10 kilometers with a significant height advantage. Twenty kilometers was beyond the reach of even an Eighth-Rank Grand Magus.
But for a 250mm/40 Caliber cannon with a maximum range of 22,500 meters? It was merely target practice.
CRASH! CRASH!
Two sighting shots landed squarely in the center of the camp. Dust plumes rose dozens of meters high, obliterating tents and wagons.
"Hit! Use that data! Fire for effect!" the spotter yelled, his voice cracking with excitement.
"All turrets! Rapid fire!!"
With the firing solution confirmed, all four turrets facing the enemy began to cycle at maximum speed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In sixty seconds, over thirty heavy high-explosive shells rained down on the Alliance.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The earth trembled violently. Rocks, dirt, men, horses, and supplies were blasted into the sky in a horrific slurry. Every shell left a crater five meters wide and eight meters deep.
Within a thirty-meter radius of each impact, armor and bones alike were shattered by the overpressure. Within fifty meters, even a Sixth-Rank Knight would be critically injured by the concussive shockwave.
"Retreat! Fall back!!"
A Seventh-Rank Knight shouted, taking to the air to rally his panicked men. In the next instant, he was unlucky enough to intercept a shell with his physical body.
SPLAT.
There was no resistance. With a dull explosion of mana, the knight simply ceased to exist. Only fragments of twisted, enchanted armor scattered to the ground.
Seeing this, the other knights turned pale. A fully armored Seventh-Rank Knight... erased? Just like that?
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The four turrets continued their relentless barrage, maintaining a terrifying rate of fire of five rounds per minute.
After the initial chaos, two Eighth-Rank Grand Magi stepped forward. Together, they cast a massive defensive spell. A shimmering, translucent barrier of light expanded, covering the camp and detonating the shells in mid-air.
"Destroy those towers! They are the source of the attack!" a knight screamed, pointing at the distant fortress.
The two Grand Magi nodded and began to chant in unison.
RUMBLE...
One Mage manipulated the earth. Soil and rock converged, knitting together to form a fifty-meter-tall Stone Golem.
The other Mage waved his staff. Dark clouds gathered instantly, blotting out the sun and turning day into night.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The Stone Golem strode toward the fortress, leaving craters with every seismic step.
"Target the Golem! Take it down!" the turret commander shouted.
"Target acquired!"
"Fire!"
A shell roared out, grazing the Golem's massive arm and exploding behind it.
"Missed! Adjust aim!"
Before the second volley could fire, the dark clouds descended.
CRACK-BOOM!
Golden lightning poured down like a monsoon rain, illuminating the world in blinding, jagged light.
But on the fortress walls, countless runes flared to life. A golden hemispherical barrier rose, encasing the entire mountain fortress.
A Ninth-Rank Defensive Array. Humans weren't the only ones with high-level magic.
The lightning hammered the barrier, causing violent ripples but failing to penetrate. Meanwhile, after two calibration shots, the third shell struck the Stone Golem squarely in the chest. The kinetic energy transferred instantly, shattering the construct into gravel.
"YEAAHHH!!!"
The demons roared in triumph.
"Do you see, humans?! This fortress will be your grave!" Seraphina laughed coldly from the command post.
Suddenly, a silver streak shot out from the Alliance ranks.
A knight in shining silver armor accelerated to supersonic speeds. He kicked off the ground—
BOOM!
A crater appeared where he stood, and a sonic boom echoed like thunder. A cone of white vapor formed around him as he broke the sound barrier, charging straight for the fortress wall.
Seraphina's eyes narrowed. Supersonic flight. That was the hallmark of a Ninth-Rank Knight.
"Open the hangars! Load the Rails! Obliterate that knight!!" Seraphina screamed into the communicator.
"Yes, Commander!"
At the very peak of the mountain, hidden hangar doors groaned open.
Grind... Clank.
With the heavy vibration of industrial machinery, massive barrels rolled out on rails with a 400mm caliber, a projectile weight of 1 ton, and an effective range of 33,000 meters.
And there wasn't just one.
Five of these steel behemoths rolled into position on the mountain peak, their massive barrels lowering to aim at the charging gnat below.
Below, the Ninth-Rank Knight reached the wall. He raised his lance, glowing with terrifying power, and thrust it into the barrier!
CRACK!
The barrier trembled violently, spiderweb fractures appearing on the surface, but it held.
"EXPLOSION!!!"
The knight roared. His Authority was Explosion. Terrifying fire mana condensed at the tip of his lance and detonated point-blank into the barrier.
BOOM!
A massive fireball engulfed the wall section. The heat wave swept over the entire fortress, reaching even the peak. The shockwave momentarily stunned the gunners in the wall turrets.
Seeing their comrade's success, two more Ninth-Rank Knights launched themselves from the Alliance formation, breaking the sound barrier to support him.
But in the next instant, the mountain peak spoke.
BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!
There was no calibration shot. All five guns fired a salvo at point-blank range.
Five shells, each weighing a literal ton, screamed over the wall and descended upon the knight attacking the barrier.
One of them scored a direct hit.
CRASH! CRASH! RUMBLE...
Five earth-shattering explosions merged into one cataclysmic roar that drowned out all other sound.
When the dust cleared, there was nothing left but a crater over ten meters deep and dozens of meters wide.
The battlefield fell deathly silent.
A Ninth-Rank Knight... was gone. There was no body, no armor, no trace. He had been vaporized.
"Th-this... this can't be real..."
The two charging knights slammed on the brakes in mid-air, staring at the smoking crater in horror. They gulped, their instincts screaming at them that they were next.
"Run... RUN!!!"
One of them screamed, reversing course and fleeing at full speed.
"RETREAT!!"
The Alliance morale shattered. Everyone turned and ran, abandoning armor, weapons, and dignity in a desperate bid to escape the range of the monster guns.
"Hahaha... Well done!"
Seraphina laughed heartily, the sound ringing over the smoking barrels. For the first time in history, the Alliance had suffered a crushing defeat without even scratching the Demon defenses.
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