Returning home (2)
The next day I was in front of the Knights with my Father. Today we are going to liberate a monster territory around the Capital.
Normally, an army would need more time to move, but that’s where Arland’s hipness comes into play.
Because Arland is facing foreign invaders all the time, the Knights Order is always under the King’s command, so they are able to conduct military operations to some extent without going through the nobles parliament.
So today an operation was issued to liberate a monster territory near the Royal Capital.
Since it is located in a place that hinders the distribution of goods to and from the Capital, it seems that a cleanup operation has been in the works for some time, and the Knights, soldiers, and magicians were going to subjugate it with as many people as they could.
When a large number of people enter a monster territory, the monster rush out all at once. In this case, about 1,000 monsters were said to be coming our way. The strategy this time was to fight them off and defeat the dragon at the top of the food chain.
Originally, the plan was for Father to defeat the dragon by himself, but the monsters were in the way, and thus Father would not be able to maintain his strength, unless a military action, like this one, was taken.
“Alicetia, don’t be shy today. Use whatever you made as you please.”
“Alright. I will take the lead then.”
“Wha!!”
Without waiting for a reply, using Flight, I flew to the vanguard, and opened the door.
“Development number 0, Army Golem Legion. Gun development number 2-1, minigun.”
Coming out of the door was a skeletal frame of a golem. It was still in the development stage and I had just learned to operate it from a grimoire, so its movements couldn’t be more dull. However, it was holding a magic tool that looked like several tubes attached together. It was modeled after the model M134, and unlike the one in my previous life, it could fire only about 1,500 rounds per minute, but it still boasted more than enough firepower for this world.
However, this one also had its drawbacks. As a result of using explosive magic in place of gunpowder, it consumed an enormous amount of ammunition in the form of magic power, extinguishing the used magic balls and magic stones that were used for bullets in just several seconds, heavily damaging the conductor wires that were made from mithril, and consuming tons of magic power that was supplied directly from me.
I have marched on top of a golem for a while and finally saw a swarm of monsters in front of me. I was at the front lines, so I aligned 20 of these golems in a horizontal line. The output of the secondary golems was still low, so the miniguns had to be placed in their dedicated carts in front of them, before the golems intercept the monsters. Today, Coote and I were wearing earplugs, so that we could stay nearby. Were it not for the earplugs, Coote would dash away with me.
“Begin the offensive.”
The miniguns sputtered fire with a distinctive continuous sound. The soldiers behind were on standby because they planned to charge after my attack, but when I looked at them, they were all staring at the monsters with their mouths agape. The monsters charged towards us, unafraid of the barrage, but the miniguns kept hammering away at their numbers.
In the end, the monsters could not even reach Arland’s army. After being fired at once with the barrage of 20 miniguns, their numbers quickly dwindled, and I also helped by shooting area of effect magic, and in the end, they were all destroyed in about 2 hours.
“It’s over.”
“… This is terrible. They all turned into minced meat.”
Well, the damage to the other side was extraordinary, but the damage to us was also great… especially to my wallet…
Not only the cost of bullets, but by the time it was over, both the golems, and the miniguns were broken. Apparently, the cooling was not good enough. But I had been shooting constantly for two hours, so I guess that is to be expected.
I was also sickened by the sight, but I am not so weak as to be brought down by this. It made me want to go home and shut myself away, but I will not forget this scene. This is my sin. I used these weapons with the understanding that they will eventually be directed at human beings.
Then, about 10 minutes after the sweep was over, I heard a roar from the forest. Apparently, the Earth dragon was angry.
Earth dragons do not fly. They look like lizards no matter how you look at them. Moreover, they sometimes send clumps of soils at you.
Their scales are hard, so even adventurers usually avoid them. Winning against dragons-type enemies is difficult. However, I will take on even the Earth dragon if needed.
“Gun development number 3-1, objective rifle.”
When I collected the wreckage of the golems and the miniguns, I used earth magic to create a simple elevated platform. I place the objective rifle with a tripod attached on it, and took a stance.
The objective rifle was equipped with magic to increase its power and suppress the recoil, so even I can shoot it. Moreover, the bullets were made of the same material as my Big brother’s sword, and it had already been proven that it could easily pierce the scales of a dragon. Well, it would be tough with an Ancient Dragon.
“Point out the way for my magic bullets to hit. Infallible Bullet, Prediction of the Point of Impact.”
I cast a spell on me that showed me the point of impact. Then I pointed the gun in the direction of the roar and looked through the scope. I will let you know, scopes were plainly troublesome to make.
A few moments later, the Earth dragon appeared, smashing the trees in the forest on its way. The army retreated back to avoid taking unnecessary damage. Since olden times, the best way to deal with dragons was a small team of elite warriors.
This time, it seems that my Father, Mother, Mr. Albert, and a few other knights were going to take charge.
I decided to take out the dragon’s right eye before it came in contact with Father and the others. I couldn’t shoot the left eye because it was in the shade, but the bullet seemed to hit the right eye perfectly.
Suddenly having lost its eye, the dragon’s left leg got crushed by Father’s war hammer. The dragon swung its tail and attacked Father and the others with its remaining limbs and fangs, but the group managed to avoid it with minimal movement. Mr. Albert moved around in front of it, disrupting the dragon’s concentration. Moreover, the dragon tried to defeat Mr. Albert because he would immediately attack it if the dragon ignored him. The Knights also seemed to be attacking the remaining legs.
I took posture behind my gun again and this time, I shoot it straight in the head. But the skull was too hard, so it didn’t seem to have much effect. As expected of dragon species, I had no choice but to go for it seriously, not use a toy like this.
I activate my flight and flew around the dragon. The dragon turned its head toward me and spat out clods of earth, as if saying I was in its way.
“Formula release, Aegis Shield.”
A glowing shield appeared in front of me and blocked the clods of earth.
“Alicetia.”
“I’m fine.”
While I was flying in the sky, I was looking for its weak point when it fell down. I wondered if the Knights had done something, but I saw them running away from the falling Earth dragon. It appeared to be Mother’s doing. Mother was searing its tail with fire magic. She must have found it annoying.
“Devastating blade of wind, Wind Cutter x5; Synthesis, Scythe of the Grim Reaper.”
Five invisible blades… and a super huge invisible blade appeared and dropped at the head of the Earth dragon. That was the end. The head was chopped off and the Earth dragon stopped moving. I went down to where Mother was.
“Now I can fight, too.”
“Indeed, I will give you that. Do your best.”
It seemed that my Mother also approved of my skills. She patted me on the head. However, there were so many monsters that it was frightening. Going by the usual template, there should be fewer of them, or this happens to be the first sign of something big… I felt that there were a little too many monsters in this monster territory.
Anyway, I guess this proves that I can handle at least this much. I was able to show that I have the strength to destroy thousands of monsters.