“That’s an amazing number.”
Countless white shadows rush through the river, where arrows and lightning rain down.
I must have sunk quite a number of them, but it’s again evident that the enemy has an overwhelming number of soldiers that makes that hardly matter.
“Hey, can we really――stop that?”
Irina asks next to me, launching several lightning arrows into the sky in one go.
Her voice is filled with half expectation and half doubt.
“It’ll be fine; we can definitely stop it.”
For now, we quietly wait for the enemy to come within range.
“In my world――because of this, the nature of battles changed. We could completely prevent infantry from charging head-on.”
But I didn’t say “we should,” as there’s no way to say something so ambiguous at this point.
“We’ll find out if we can really do it soon enough.”
“That’s true; I’m looking forward to it――here we go!”
The enemy is just a few dozen meters away from crossing the river completely.
Now that they’ve come this close, it should be enough.
“Magic Bullet――”
Holding the pitch-black staff, ‘Black Ballista Replica,’ I aim its tip straight at the Crusaders.
I eagerly await the moment when the compressed black magic power bursts forth; I have already loaded thousands of bullets within me.
And finally, the enemy steps into the killing zone, where black bullets fly.
Every bullet is infused with the deadly intent and hatred toward the enemy, while I offer nothing but bitter, resentful words as they perish.
“Welcome to Alsace; I welcome you――barrage!”
“Preventing a large stone wall for protection――Giant Stone Shield!!”
Even before sensing the murderous intent, a warning bell rings in Norz’s mind as he instinctively perceives danger.
Having survived numerous crises thanks to that instinct, he acts on instinct alone, immediately deploying a mid-level defensive magic to protect himself.
A massive shield of hard stone rises from the riverbed, obscuring the entire figure of the large Norz.
The moment he feels the murderous intent, he also hears a deafening noise, explosive sounds, destruction noises――and then, a scream.
“W-What!?”
Several hard ‘things’ fly in, striking the stone shield.
As he feels the rock face being scraped away, Norz screams, but no one responds to his voice.
Just moments before, his subordinate who was right beside him is now a silent corpse lying on the ground.
It’s not just him; there are two, three, four corpses of soldiers――the number is increasing exponentially in a mere few seconds.
Norz finally notices the countless small black bullets flying around.
Those bullets arrive at high speed, making it hard for normal people to even see them, piercing through the soldiers’ bodies mercilessly, and in some cases, easily claiming lives with just one shot.
“This is dark attribute magic――no, is this black magic activated by the blessings of a wicked god!?”
Peeking out from behind the massive shield, he focuses on what might be the source of the mysterious bullet attack.
In his sight, two pitch-black figures are repeatedly firing bullets at the soldiers crossing the river, unleashing a rhythmic gunfire from both ends of the barrier.
(I see, those are the ‘demons’ that annihilated Kilvan’s squad!)
Regardless of the truth, to Norz, the sight of a man clad in a black robe with black hair and eyes, presenting a vicious face, alongside two others displaying nothing but skull-like faces embodies the essence of pure evil.
But what’s truly astonishing isn’t their sinister appearance, but the threat posed by the black magic capable of building a mountain of corpses in an instant.
Norz confirms that the man is shooting bullets from his staff, while the one with the skull is firing from a long iron barrel he has never seen before.
(Could it be what the soldiers who fled spoke of was true? I can’t believe they can continuously unleash attack magic that has instant kill potential…)
Countless small black bullets are flying through the air, each one easily piercing chain mail and inflicting lethal wounds.
The survivors of Kilvan’s team who returned from Irz Village certainly testified to that, but Norz only perceived it as ‘there’s just a remarkably skilled adventurer.’
While he feels regret for not having planned countermeasures against the ‘demon,’ he pushes that thought aside and refocuses on the battle.
“Preventing a large stone wall for protection――Stone Wall!”
Facing the onslaught of black bullets in this completely open area is far too dangerous, so Norz activates a lower-level but broad-range defensive magic.
A stone wall rises from the riverbed, but compared to the giant stone shield, it is quite thin and cannot guarantee complete safety.
(Did not getting the mage unit across the river backfire? I can’t protect the soldiers by myself.)
Numerous soldiers rush toward the stone wall, but no matter how capable they are, they are ultimately just one person, and the area they can cover is limited.
Some fall on the way to the stone wall, some are initially too far from it, or some are unlucky enough to be hit even while hiding behind the wall; the number of casualties continues to surge.
(Without any means of defense, stopping would only increase the damage; we have no choice but to brace for further sacrifices and charge!)
“Don’t hesitate! Charge! Charge!!
We have overwhelming numbers! Let’s settle this at once!!”
Shouting loudly, Norz gives the charge command again.
The soldiers, already resolved to jump into the jaws of death, understand that if they can’t retreat, their only option is to move forward.
“Uoooh! Let’s charge!”
“Target that black demon!”
“That’s right, if we kill that one, we win!”
“Kill the demon!”
“In the name of the gods!”
“Kill the demon race! Kill the demons!!”
Stepping over the fallen corpses of comrades who were taken down by bullets, the Crusader Soldiers cheer as they advance.
“That’s right! Push forward!!”
Norz confirms that the charging soldiers are executing the orders and steels himself to go as well.
“Avoid the solid, a strong body for protection――Defense Enhancement.”
He enhances his minimal defensive strength and just as he’s about to leave the giant shield and charge,
Zugan!
A giant something pierces the large shield, and with the impact, Norz is violently blown backward.
“Guhah!!”
In his dazed consciousness, he sees two black logs piercing through the giant stone shield, and beyond them, he clearly sees the ‘device’ presumed to be the source of the shots.
“Is that a sky cannon… Why is such a thing here…?”
“Priest-sama!”
“The priest has fallen!?”
To Norz, the soldiers’ voices feel strangely distant.
“D-Don’t panic, I’m alright…”
He can understand that two soldiers are supporting him, but his field of vision is spinning and wobbling like he’s been drunkenly dizzy, making it difficult to recognize their faces.
“Don’t mind me, go, there’s no retreat, damn it――”
In the midst of fading consciousness, he looks up at the clear sky where several shadows are clearly visible even in his distorted sight.
“——The Pegasus Knights have arrived; with this, we can win…”
With a grin appearing on his lips, Norz lets go of his consciousness there.
With the massive army of infantry charging from the ground and the Pegasus Knights attacking from the sky, now that these two forces have combined, the defense line of Irz Village protected by demons is sure to fall.
Even at this moment, Norz is confident of victory.
“Awesome! This is one heck of a weapon, really!!”
Gripping the large machine gun mounted on the cart, Mozurun excitedly fires away.
Dressed in a pitch-black robe with a skull for a face, he resembles the Grim Reaper, especially fitting for the current situation where he’s claiming countless lives.
“Hey, hey! Good job coming all the way from across the sea to die!!”
His exuberant behavior, almost shouting “Hyahha!” doesn’t quite fit the Grim Reaper image.
However, the machine gun he operates boasts deadly power like a scythe wielded by the Grim Reaper, and it can only be used by someone like him, a dark mage.
Chrono requested the creation of this machine gun on the same day he met Simon, but there’s no way to craft such a weapon from the technology and machinery not developed in this other world.
What Chrono wanted was a replacement magic for ‘Magic Bullet’, one that fires bullets not with gunpowder but with magic; a weapon like that.
In short, this is a magical staff shaped like a machine gun, and this other world’s ‘gun’ is primarily this type.
Its appearance might seem highly awkward to Chrono, as there’s only a long rectangular box with a grip from which a steel barrel protrudes, unlike a real machine gun.
However, its interior contains magic modeled after Chrono’s ‘Magic Bullet’ formula, enabling it to fire bullets in a continuous barrage.
And only Mozurun, the dark mage closest to Chrono’s black magic, can utilize the magic integrated into this machine gun.
“Uh-oh! No good, the barrel’s already overheated, hurry up and replace it!!”
“Yes!”
The two goblins quickly begin replacing the barrel of the machine gun.
Thanks to their repeated practice for this day, they perform the replacement smoothly and fluently.
The design philosophy behind this magic-type machine gun is to ‘cover the magic with a physical substance.’
For example, the barrel currently being replaced handles the firing direction and stabilizes the projectile’s trajectory.
If one intends to achieve bullet firing by magic, they must use their magical power and concentration to structure that part into a magic formula.
By preparing a ‘material’ like the barrel, they are saving on the necessary magic formula.
Magic users’ weapons, called ‘staves,’ can also reduce the user’s burden by pre-engraving magic formulas instead of being a ‘material’; this machine gun effectively serves that purpose.
Chrono’s ‘Magic Bullet’ was originally created based on the image of a gun; conversely, if there’s a certain degree of ‘form’ of the gun, a large part of the magic formula can be omitted.
The magical effects required for firing this machine gun are ‘bullet loading’ and ‘the pressure that ejects bullets instead of gunpowder’; these two.
The bullets are summoned directly into the chamber, and once the dark magical force comparable to the explosive effect of gunpowder is applied internally, the bullets shoot straight out through the barrel.
Mozurun realizes both these magical effects well, thus achieving destruction and rapid-fire power akin to an actual machine gun, just like Chrono.
Incidentally, since the crucial part for firing the bullets is replaced by magic, despite being a ‘gun’, it doesn’t have a trigger.
“Hey, how’s it going over there?”
Lily’s telepathy currently covers the area around the main gate of Irz Village, allowing free communication of thoughts as long as one is within this range.
Mozurun communicates with Chrono, who is a few dozen meters away.
“I can still keep shooting. How about you, Mo-ssan?”
“I’ve got bullets, but the barrel’s wearing out quicker than I thought. At this rate, it won’t last much longer.”
“I guess there were durability issues with a makeshift product after all. But there’s no choice now; just be careful and manage to cool it down while you use it.”
“Leave it to me! Despite how it seems, I’m good at saving resources!”
Chrono must have smirked while listening to his usual cheerful laughter.
“‘Barrel replacement done, Mozurun-san!’”
“Alright! Then let’s go back to firing with all my might!!”
Grasping the grip of the machine gun again, Mozurun begins to unleash a full burst toward the approaching massive army without hesitation.
The overwhelming number of advancing Crusaders is kept just at bay because of the crossfire executed by Chrono and Mozurun.
The original thought came from Chrono’s experience of single-handedly slaughtering nearly a hundred men from Kilvan’s squad in Irz Village.
At that time, he fell into a slight frenzy state due to the effect of the cursed blade, but the memory of that event remains vividly clear.
When Chrono became the leader of the Adventurer Alliance and desperately devised a counter-offensive strategy, he once again realized that “gunfire” had an overwhelming effect against many opponents.
The ability to single-handedly kill nearly a hundred soldiers was due to not just a difference in strength, but also the superiority of the weapon (magic) performance of sword versus gun.
Then he thought, if he could just devise one more method of attack that replicates the machine gun’s continuous fire— no, precisely, a method of attack that can shower bullets like a machine gun, it would allow for the overwhelming effectiveness of ‘crossfire’ against infantry charges.
Crossfire is a tactic involving the use of machine guns, where the lines of fire from two firearms intersect, hence the name, and it proves highly effective in defense.
This strategy surfaced during World War I, but among examples showcasing machine gun effectiveness, Chrono thought of the siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War.
And now, the sight of the infantry charges that must have been displayed back then is becoming a reality at the defense line of Irz Village, being brutally crushed.
With just over ten meters left until the opposite shore, none can traverse that short distance.
The current conditions, where the river’s flow drags at their feet and drastically reduces their running speed, only serves to widen the gap to the opposite side.
Yet the soldiers continue to advance, oblivious to the fact that they will not be able to cross the river until this rain of black bullets ceases.
Finally, the true nature of the “machine gun” has been revealed. We should perhaps call it “magic gun.”