Chapter 15: Annihilation

Two dazzling beams erupted from the barrels and rapidly expanded. In that brief flash, the two beams swept across the sky—several kilometers away seeming as if just a step away—as they crossed that distance in an instant.
Komer andFranlan both raised their Thousand-Mile Mirrors, staring intently at the situation in the opposing camp. This was the first time the Magic Armored Cannon had been used in land combat. Its immense destructive power had already been fully demonstrated in naval battles. It was with this ace weapon that the Gray Skulls successfully drove away Katrina K’s fleet, known as the Empress of the Land Seas, from the Northern Land Seas, rising to become the new dominator between the Land Seas and the Abyssal Seas. But when the Red-Haired Witch Katrina also obtained such a weapon from Komer, the Gray Skulls’ advantage vanished instantly, and they were brought down from their pedestal. Katrina K’s fleet regained absolute control over the entire Land Seas.
Komer also knew that these Magic Armored Cannons were not really suitable for land warfare. These devices, which relied primarily on fire-type magic metals and fire-type magic crystal powder as sources of magical power, emitted mainly fire-based forces. This was undoubtedly a deadly threat to wooden ships used in naval battles. However, in land warfare, where the focus was on killing enemy soldiers or destroying stone-built walls, their effectiveness might not be as significant. But Komer had no choice. A loss in this battle could mean everything had to start over. He couldn’t afford to lose. As for attacks in this dense formation, fire-type magical power could still exert considerable destructive force, especially when hitting elite knights or key forces, delivering a huge psychological and morale blow to the enemy.
Through the Thousand-Mile Mirrors, as the two beams like rainbows crossed the sky and struck the enemy camp, Komer noticed a slight spatial disturbance immediately arise there.
The intense magical power struck the ground at that moment, and the scorching heat wave instantly turned dozens of soldiers in the center into charred corpses. They lay curled up on the ground, blackened like wooden stakes burned by fire demons. A strong smell of burnt flesh filled the air, and the temperature on the ground was astonishingly high. The white steam rising from the ground was instantly swept away.

The soldiers around the center of the attack were in equally dire straits. Many unprepared soldiers writhed on the ground, their eyes covered in pain as they screamed. The intense light caused severe eye pain, leaving them temporarily blind. Those who were closer suffered burns to their exposed skin from the extreme heat, crying out in agony as they dropped their burning weapons and scattered in all directions.

The entire advancing formation trembled violently as if struck by a giant fist. Soldiers in the distance had no idea what was happening, but it was clear that the light could not possibly be a blessing from a god of light—the soldiers’ agonized screams proved this. Although it didn’t stop the formation from advancing, it clearly dealt a significant blow to their morale.

Even the experienced magicians and church knights were stunned by this sudden assault. A light magic array? Unlikely—the soldiers seemed more like they had been harmed by fire demons. A fire magic array? Also unlikely, as there was no warning, not even any signs of concentrated fire elements around. It was simply a sudden burst of fire power. A star magic array? Slightly similar, as it involved magical attacks from the air, but the white light clearly came from the enemy camp, not from the release of star power. Moreover, such a release of star power had never been seen or heard of before.

What on earth was going on?

Trajan leaped wildly into the air to observe the enemy. Their formation remained firmly intact, advancing toward his forces as if nothing had happened. Filled with rage, Trajan was almost driven to spit blood by this sudden attack. Three Sky Roc knights had been reduced to ashes silently, without even knowing who the enemy was or how they died. How could this not fill Trajan with frustration and anger?

Such attacks that appeared out of nowhere were utterly incomprehensible. If the enemy continued to launch such attacks, there was no need to continue the battle—his forces would only be able to flee in disarray.

With a gloomy and serious expression, Susinov continuously issued orders to ensure that the army, whose morale had been severely shaken, maintained its formation. The enemy’s sudden attack had disrupted their plans, claiming the lives of three Sky Roc Knights in that bizarre aerial strike. The eerie sight of soldiers turning into charcoal also greatly frightened the surrounding troops. After the magicians ruled out a magical attack as the cause, the experienced Susinov already guessed that it must have been some kind of magical device at work—only such a device could launch an attack from such a great distance in such a strange manner.

The magicians unleashed ice magic and white magic to help heal the wounded soldiers. The combined forces, with their powerful magical capabilities, demonstrated their strength in this regard. Hundreds of soldiers injured by burns were quickly restored through successive spells of white and light magic and rejoined the ranks. Aside from dozens who died on the spot, the Magic Armored Cannons caused little damage to the combined forces—though this was merely superficial.

Komer reluctantly put down the Thousand-Mile Mirror. The combined forces had not been disrupted by his preemptive strike. Their commanders and magicians had performed exceptionally well, managing to control the situation and quickly help the wounded return to battle in such a short time, which showed their overall competence. This would be an extremely brutal fight.

The Magic Armored Cannons might still be usable once more. The Thousand-Mile Mirror revealed that their magicians were beginning to gather in small groups, clearly aware of the threat posed by their secret weapons. Once the cannons were reactivated, the enemy magicians would surely use their perception magic to pinpoint their location and launch immediate magical attacks. Against such precise strikes, there was no better solution than counterattacking with magic, but with weaker magical powers, it would be nearly impossible to protect the cannons.

Sighing in regret, he realized he would have to abandon those two Magic Armored Cannons. In such a situation, he hadn’t expected that such a fierce attack still wouldn’t achieve the desired result, while the enemy’s response had been so swift.

Once again, magic was used to convey messages to Fran, and Komer also began ordering the messengers to wave the large flags behind them to signal the Thunder Roc Knights in the air to prepare for an attack. Once the enemy mages gathered to launch a strike at the magic-powered cannons, it would also provide an excellent opportunity for the Thunder Roc Knights, who had been circling in the sky looking for an opportunity. The best time to deliver a fatal blow was when these mages were fully focused on casting their magic attacks.

When the magic-powered cannons fired again, the mages of the Light Church, who had been closely monitoring Homer’s camp, immediately identified the locations of the two sources of light. The prepared lightning magic erupted in the air right away, with intense energies of lightning, wind, and fire spreading throughout Homer’s camp. The mages were already filled with rage at Homer’s camp’s defiance of the power of the Light Church mages. They mobilized everything they had to unleash a devastating attack at that moment. They aimed not only to strike the magical weapons that had dared to launch a sneak attack but also to use this opportunity to completely disrupt Homer’s army’s formation.

The mages rushed out of their camp and headed toward Homer’s camp to engage in combat. The distance between the two sides was too great for magic arrays or spells to be effective from thousands of meters away, so they had to close the distance to achieve their goal. This was extremely dangerous, especially since Homer’s camp also had hidden knight forces that could launch deadly attacks at any moment. Yet this did not seem to frighten the mages, as the figures emerging behind them proved that they were not alone.

Trajan and Kent certainly knew that attacking from such close range was very dangerous. These mages, with their weak close-combat abilities, were likely to face attacks from the enemy’s assault forces. But this time, with the Thunder Horse Knights and Sky Roc Knights standing guard, along with the Resurrection Knights following closely behind, such formidable forces made Homer’s knights’ meager strength insignificant. Even if Komer had some hidden assassin forces, Kent and Trajan didn’t think anyone would dare to launch a reckless attack right under their noses.

However, they seemed to forget one thing: many of these barbarian soldiers came from the Cordillera Wasteland. Besides having physical advantages far beyond those of ordinary people, they also brought many things that did not exist in the mortal world—such as Thunder Roc Knights!

After firing its second shot, the Magic Armored Cannon faced a deluge of magical attacks. Although the combined forces of the mages did their best to resist this intense barrage, with little success. Komer also did not deliberately concentrate the mages’ power to protect these Magic Armored Cannons. In his view, they would be destroyed sooner or later, and it was more worthwhile to protect his own soldiers’ formation from excessive damage rather than risking everything to save them.