Chapter 198 : Magic Missile?
Chapter 198: Magic Missile?
Conquering a nation through force was not necessarily the worst method, but it certainly could not be considered a good one.
Because many wars, at their outset, would manufacture bloodshed to establish a sense of righteousness—creating inexplicable hatred in order to justify launching the war.
And conquering a nation by force would naturally generate a massive amount of hatred. Such emotions were extremely difficult to dissipate and could even persist into the next generation, or the one after that.
That was why Mitia had been stirring up trouble everywhere, yet never directly participating as the main force. It had been like this in the Derro War, and the same applied to the dismantling of Cabansia.
The Alliance had no need to become the focal point of hatred. It only needed to intervene as a third party at critical moments.
However, the tactic of “the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind” was troublesome to execute. If one was not careful, someone else might end up reaping the benefits instead.
But there was no helping it—haste would not solve anything.
She was igniting the powder keg that was the Main Continent, seeking to plunge it into chaos so that capital could successfully rise to power and cooperate with her to completely sweep these old relics into the dustbin of history.
The world of the Magic World was vast—vast enough to accommodate several empires and dozens of nations. If her goal had merely been to become an empire, she could have easily shared this world with other races and nations.
But while other races and countries might not yet understand, she knew very clearly what the core of the Alliance’s strength was.
“Haah… haah…”
In the darkness, the dense forest rustled as several figures pushed through branches and undergrowth, rapidly advancing forward.
Behind them, over a hundred meters away, countless spears imbued with various glowing effects shot into the forest, triggering waves of violent explosions. From time to time, faint angry roars could be heard coming from midair.
“They’ll be fine, right? That attack density is way too high!”
Bratt panted as he asked. The soldiers beside him forbade him from using magic—its distinctive glow would be like lighting a huge lamp in the darkness, making concealment impossible.
“They’ll be fine. The ones staying behind are the best among us in jungle tactics. As long as we don’t expose our position, that’s the greatest help we can give.”
The soldier who replied tossed his rifle to a comrade, then hoisted Bratt onto his back and sprinted forward.
Without being able to use magic, Bratt’s physical condition was utterly frail—like a weakling who could not withstand the harsh terrain of the jungle. He could only rely on the surrounding soldiers to carry him as they ran.
Meanwhile, Betty and the other three who stayed behind hid within a disposable matrix shield, forcibly enduring the wave of saturation bombardment.
“Only two left. When is fire support arriving?” Betty flipped through her backpack and asked irritably.
Earlier, the several hundred “fire chickens” in the air had already been blown apart by the pre-set off-road vehicle booby traps, killing dozens. Then the most conspicuous group—likely led by their leader—had taken a hit from a 12.8 sniper arrow-shaped round. After that, the remaining flock had gone completely berserk, launching relentless bombardment.
In a short time, they had already consumed two disposable matrix shields. These were high-grade items made from advanced magic crystals—even Betty felt the pain of using them.
But not using them was not an option. They could rely on their exoskeleton shields to withstand such bombardment, but that would expose their position. Facing over a thousand enemies, the others would not stand a chance.
There were several hundred enemies in the air, and nearly a thousand ordinary soldiers from the Kingdom conducting a carpet-style search in the forest below. If things went wrong, they would be completely surrounded.
“Almost there! We’ve secured one heavy loitering missile, but visibility is too low—we need to set the guidance coordinates ourselves,” the soldier operating the radio while crouched replied.
“Great! Then set it right here. They’ll be here soon.”
The soldier nodded, transmitted the confirmation signal through the radio, then quickly removed the tactical backpack from his back.
From it, he took out a delicate doll-like divine statue. After laying out a prepared sacrificial magic array and placing the doll at its center, a simple altar was swiftly formed.
Several small Holy Crystals produced by the Church of Holy Light were placed on it. The moment they touched the altar, they were instantly drawn in by a powerful force, firmly fixed in place and rapidly converted into energy.
The doll immediately emitted a milky-white glow. The light converged and shot into the sky, forming an extremely thin thread of energy that was almost invisible to the naked eye.
After briefly camouflaging the area around the statue, the four hurriedly fled.
High in the sky, the pilot of the Gringol Bomber cruising in flight received the radio signal and quickly responded:
“Signal received. Adjusting flight posture and closing in on the battlefield. Preparing to launch missile.”
The co-pilot glanced at the radio as well. “Signal confirmed. Flight direction confirmed. Distance: 2.2 kilometers. Accelerating approach…”
“1.8—1.7—1.5… entering attack range!”
“Launch authorized.”
“Ignition!”
Mounted beneath the bomber’s fuselage, the long and thick missile received the ignition signal, and its mount released.
With four fins—larger in the front and smaller at the rear—and a length exceeding six meters, the missile stabilized itself after one second of free fall using its wings. Then, the delayed ignition solid propellant at its tail ignited, erupting with powerful thrust that propelled it forward.
Inside the transparent nose cone of the missile, a Holy Crystal surrounded by inert gas sensed its source. It suddenly released a large amount of milky-white Power of Faith, accumulating within the enclosure and attempting to break free.
Guided by this force, the missile in midair began to subtly adjust its trajectory, flying toward the source of power. As the distance closed, the activated Holy Crystal released increasingly stronger energy, intensifying the pull.
Badat looked up blankly at the unidentified flying object streaking toward them with a trail of flames in the distance. “What the hell is that?”
The Holy Crystal, now fully transformed into divine power, broke through the transparent barrier and joyfully surged toward the altar. The inert gas inside, now infused with fresh oxygen, instantly combusted, igniting the reserved propellant and blowing apart the outer winged structure of the missile.
The missile disintegrated, revealing tightly packed submunitions inside. A second delayed fuse detonated, scattering the submunitions across a wide area of several hundred meters in the sky.
As the submunitions lost propulsion and fell under gravity, the small rotors attached to their fuses spun rapidly in the wind, releasing the impact triggers. They drifted downward, scattering above the air cavalry led by Badat and into the forest below.
Boom!…
Each submunition detonated upon contact, explosively dispersing large amounts of gel-like fluid. The substance ignited midair as it spread, forming a vast sea of fire that clung to anything it touched.
Betty, who was retreating, heard the dense screams and couldn’t help but glance back. The “fire chicken squad” they had jokingly referred to earlier had now truly become flaming chickens engulfed in fire.
Betty swallowed. “Incendiary bombs! Move! Run!”
The air cavalry’s mount beasts flapped their burning wings, letting out sharp cries as they fell into the forest together with their equally burning riders.
The situation in the forest below was no better. The ordinary soldiers advancing in dense formation were drenched in the splattered napalm, instantly turning into living infernos.
The already dense jungle was quickly consumed by raging flames, spreading at an alarming speed.
At this point, Betty and the others no longer needed to worry about pursuers—they had to worry about whether they could outrun the spreading fire.