Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 107 Magic Gun

"Prepare to lift!"

A man whose left side of his face was burned off shouted.

As the training officer of the Black Sand Territory's magic gun unit, Hardy watched with satisfaction as his nearly thirty strong and elite soldiers, wearing heat-resistant gloves and glass goggles, split into groups of three, opened maintenance boxes, and steadily took out ten streamlined iron-gray magic guns.

Although they weren't the best magic gunners he had ever trained, in Exter, where the use of magic guns was generally underestimated, the magic gun squad under the Black Sand Duke was already a rare breed of skilled fighters.

This reminded Hardy of his own experience as a recruit, when he first touched the old, worn-out Siegel Type 5 magic gun.

But looking at these young men, Hardy sighed: Look at the things they're holding.

The Siegel Type 7 Magic Gun features a sturdy barrel forged with the rugged craftsmanship of the Iron Grey Mountain dwarves of the Eastern Continent, a barrel crafted from carefully selected crystals from the Serpent's Belly Mountains, the border between the Hambul Dynasty and the Ligudan Alliance, an oil tank made from dark copper mined from the seabed by Crystal City, filled with high-quality Eternal Whale Oil hunted by the Trade Federation from the South End Sea, and a sealed core of mysterious origin.

The gun body is hard and wear-resistant, the barrel can withstand high temperatures, the ballistic focus is high, and aiming is easy. Even the rate at which the core is depleted is only half that of its predecessor, the Siegel VI, which was released twenty years ago. The magic energy focus will not disperse within two hundred meters. It can withstand two shots within half an hour and only needs two hours to cool down. Apart from the still frustratingly exaggerated weight and heat leakage problem, Hardy thought it was simply perfect.

Compared to this, those inferior magic guns that flowed into the underground black market through the national arms trade without proper maintenance and repair, and whose cores would only be depleted after a few months, were like wooden sticks compared to steel swords.

"Target in sight, aim and prepare!"

A strong, supporting hand, kneels down on one knee and uses his shoulder, clad in special shoulder armor, to steadily support the heat-insulating base at the front of the gun.

A skilled aiming optician quickly calculates the distance and direction, then rotates a button on the side of the gun to adjust the focus and energy level.

A decisive operator skillfully checks the gun's status, confirms the core is stable, unlocks the safety, and grasps the firing handle.

One day… Hardy thought silently: it will no longer be heavy, and two people or even one person can hold it.

It's no longer complicated; one person can complete both aiming and firing.

No longer dangerous, the core will no longer be a prison river ferry bell that could endanger the gunman's life at any moment.

No longer expensive, it will be equipped for every soldier in combat, rather than being limited to small squads of a few dozen people.

No longer a mystery, the core is no longer a mysterious item sourced through special channels; everyone will know its origin and principles.

Someday… Hardy looked tenderly at the magic gun beside him, now ready to fire, and subconsciously touched his left arm, severed at the elbow. Feeling the throbbing pain in his left cheek, he thought:

It will become the king of war, taking away the pride of the power of termination, and completely eliminating metal weapons and hand-to-hand combat from the world.

Even in the North.

It will tell people how devastating the cost of war is and how precious peace is.

It's a pity I won't be able to see it.

"Attack in position!"

Hardy solemnly raised his right hand and called out the penultimate number.

Ten firing hands pulled hard on the spring-loaded handle, and the mysterious core at the back of the gun began to vibrate and make unsettling noises.

Hardy looked at the group of Star People who had just broken through the light infantry encirclement.

I heard that their newly found prince is inside.

Is it.

Hardy smiled.

Lucy, my daughter.

You will always be the pride of me and your mother.

No matter how dire the situation, you must live on with strength.

The next moment, this weathered man with only half a face slammed down his right arm with all his might, roaring with a contorted expression:
"Fire!"

----

The soldiers erected a dense array of shields, blocking a large section of the field of vision ahead, while the rest of the soldiers hid behind the shields.

"Arc Shield, distribute it evenly!" Alaka roared. "Don't miss any spot!"

Thales was pinned to the ground by Putilai and couldn't lift his head at all.

“Regardless of anything, hiding behind others,” Putile said stiffly, “Rumba must be insane!”

Thales gritted his teeth, but couldn't suppress the doubts in his heart.

Is that... a magic gun?
He remembered that not long ago, Maurice of the Brotherhood had gotten two of them from the army at a high price... but they had both turned out to be "impractical junk".

At least that's what Leyok said.

Thales had always thought it was a weapon similar to the one he had in his previous life, except that it used mysterious energy, and that he would raise it and "bang bang bang" at the enemy.

But now it seems rather complicated.

Judging from the way Alarca and his men were on high alert, it seems...

"Fire!" At that moment, Arakka roared wildly.

The soldiers gritted their teeth, trembled, and gripped their metallic arc shields even tighter.

A bright red light shot out from the front!

The light penetrated the shield array.

It was cold, but at that moment it felt like being bathed in sunshine, with a gentle warmth spreading around us.

"Hold on, scatter them away..." Before Alaka could finish speaking, a strange change occurred around these Star People.

"Shh..."

The moment the red light touched the snow beside them, the snow instantly shrank, melted into water, and then evaporated into thin air!
Thales frowned slightly... What is this?
A red glow spread across a small tree on the snow.

Thales stared in disbelief as every inch of the tree turned black in an instant, then burst into flames.

The next moment, the sapling suddenly exploded, spewing out countless sparks!
"boom!"

Sparks flew and hit everyone, causing many soldiers to scream in pain, and the shield formation trembled.

"Hold on!" Alaka roared, "Just a dozen seconds is enough!"

Thales felt a chill run down his spine as the air around him seemed to be getting hotter.

It's getting hotter and hotter!

Until that warmth turned into relentless scorching heat!
As a result, his body temperature also rose.

what happened?

Thales panicked, wondering: What exactly is the Magic Gun? Why does it have this effect?

“No… the heat from the shield…” A veteran of the Fury Guard pressed against the shield; his clothes, which were pressing against the shield’s shoulder, were already turning black and shrunken, emitting smoke.

He closed his eyes tightly and answered in a trembling voice, "At least five were firing at us simultaneously! Our anti-magic weapons... Arc Shields aren't enough!"

"We have to hold on!" Alaka roared, pulling the unstringed bow from his back. "I'll take care of any excessive attacks!"

Just then, flames suddenly erupted from the hand of a soldier gripping the Arc Shield!
He screamed and stumbled back a step in front of Arakka's shocked gaze.

The soldier's shield flickered, and a beam of red light pierced through the gap, shining onto him.

"No..." Before Alaka could utter his cry of alarm and anger, the soldiers' screams of agony erupted before he could finish:
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Within seconds, the soldier trembled violently, and smoke began to billow from his clothes.

The red light shone on his feet, and the snow instantly evaporated into gas!
Thales felt a chill run down his spine as he watched the soldier's skin begin to melt. The next moment, his entire body erupted in flames.

A second later, the soldier exploded like that sapling, sending countless sparks flying!
"boom!"

Thales watched in horror as this life vanished.

All that remained of the soldiers were charred, mummified corpses.

But his death had irreversible consequences.

"Block the breach..." Before Alaka could finish shouting, burning pieces of the corpse flew around the shield formation, setting many soldiers holding shields ablaze.

"Ah!" "No!" "Hold on!" "It's so hot..."

Screams rang out one after another!
The shield formation immediately dispersed!

The red light shone into the crowd without any obstruction.

The surrounding temperature suddenly soared!
The snow evaporated inch by inch.

Thales felt a chill run down his spine.

No.

Oops.

Just then, Arakka roared as he stood up and charged forward, blocking everyone's path.

With a "bang," his hair instantly caught fire.

The Wrath of the Kingdom resolutely raised its immovable bow toward the direction of the red light—towards the small group of Exter soldiers.

The bow trembled slightly.

Then it emitted a bright silver light that was no less powerful than the shot from a magic gun!
When the red light of the magic gun met the silver light, it suddenly weakened and then scattered in all directions.

It was as if that silver light had completely blocked the path of the red light from the magic gun.

Arakka roared, and smoke began to rise from his right hand, which was holding the unmoving bow.

But he persisted.

However, the area covered by the silver light was not large enough. Alaka only managed to shield the people in the center, while many soldiers on the periphery were still hit by the red light of the magic gun.

"Boom!" The second soldier turned into a giant fireball and then exploded.

"No, no, no... Boom!" The third one.

"Ahhh!"

Jenard clutched his right shoulder in pain as Willow dragged him back into the area protected by the silver light. During the process, one of the black-haired soldier's pistols suddenly exploded into countless sparks.

“He won’t last much longer!” Ada shouted through gritted teeth.

"I can't die here!" That's Ramon.

"Lead His Highness out of here!" Wyman said, sweating profusely.

“No, there are too many magic guns,” Putila said with difficulty, “We can’t escape!”

While everyone was in a state of chaos, no one noticed that the second prince of the stars was in a strange state.

The moment the silver light burst forth from the immovable bow, Thales experienced that electric shock-like sensation once again.

It was even worse than what had happened on Arakka's back, as if the silver-black metal bow that shone with a silvery light was repelling every corner of his body.

Thales lay prone on the snow, his face contorted and trembling.

No.

Legendary anti-magic forces... Do they really reject me that much?
The silver light suddenly dimmed.

Arakka's right hand began to catch fire.

Despite the endless scorching heat, Kingdom's Wrath still grits its teeth and endures the agony.

A few rays of red light leaked in and shone on Thales.

In that instant, Thales shuddered violently, and his clothes began to smoke. He felt his cells suddenly heat up.

So hot.

It was as if it was on fire from the inside out.

That familiar wave surged through my body, and time seemed to slow down again.

Within the field of vision provided by the fluctuations, the red and silver lights resembled two pairs of enemies locked in a fierce struggle, dissolving each other. However, at the point where the lights intersected, the silver light clearly had the upper hand, although there was a greater quantity of red light.

But at the same time, Thales felt his body getting hotter and hotter.

No.

So hot.

Thales closed his eyes in despair, opened his mouth wide and howled, feeling the heat that was almost burning him up.

He reached out his hand and screamed in agony.

So hot!

Then, his heart skipped a beat.

"Boom!"

An unprecedented feeling washed over me.

At that moment, Thales felt as if his vision had pierced through the distance, and he saw the origin of the red light—the magic guns held in the soldiers' hands.

At the rear of each of those magic guns is a core that emits a yellow light and rotates continuously.

That was the true nature of the magic gun—that was the feeling Thales had.

but……

These damn red lights... please disappear!

So hot!

At least……

Stay away from me.

So hot!

Just as he was thinking this, the next moment, in the vision given by the mysterious fluctuations, the whole world in front of Thales seemed to suddenly tremble!
In his field of vision, unseen by others, the crimson light of the magic gun suddenly seemed to scatter consciously, curving in the air to avoid the people of Xingchen and shooting towards their backs.

"Shuh-huh--"

The snow on the ground hundreds of meters behind the Star People evaporated instantly!
The next second, the red light emitted by the magic gun disappeared from everyone's sight.

Arakka knelt down with a thud, but he still fiercely raised his burning right hand and slapped out the flames on his head and hand.

The people of Xingchen seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

In the scorching air, many soldiers had already turned into charred corpses or were burned alive.

“The round of fire is over. Looks like their aim wasn’t very good…” Alaka gritted his teeth, getting up to say, “But what if they were using the Siegel 7…”

Just then, a mournful horn cry rang out across the sky!
"beep--"

Alaka frowned.

Putila and the other veterans shuddered!
"We survived!" Putila, a survivor, trembled as she closed her eyes tightly.

"This is...this is Ext's retreat bugle!"

The sound of rapid hoofbeats came from afar.

A knight wearing a gray helmet galloped towards them.

"Enough! Wrath of the Kingdom!" the gray-helmeted knight shouted from afar. "Enough fighting and death!"

Alakka raised his head and laughed mockingly, "Tuleha! The Fiery Knight!"

“Come on!” He raised his almost charred right hand and the nearly brand-new, immovable bow on it, gritting his teeth, “Step over my corpse and take it!”

"Come and take the Immovable Bow that I stole from you twelve years ago!"

"Our battle is over!" Lord Tuleha said with a somber expression from his mount. "One of the ten co-rulers of Exter, the esteemed Grand Duke of Black Sand, Lord Chaman Lumba, invites His Highness Thales Starlight, the second prince of the Star Kingdom, to a meeting!"

Arakka was taken aback: "Are you kidding me?"

Just then, Putila exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness!"

Thales had no idea what happened next.

He only has one feeling right now.

pain.

The pain was so intense it made me numb.

The pain is like numbness!
This is a lingering effect of the previous "out-of-control" incident, which has now struck again.

Excruciating pain erupted from all over his body in waves.

It's even worse than last time!
It felt as if every molecule was breaking down and collapsing, then transmitting that pain to every nerve.

"what happened to him?"

Thales strained to open his eyes, looking at a gray-armored knight in the distance, and Alakka, who stood in front of him, looking wary.

“He’s probably exhausted, after all, it’s been such a long journey…” This was Putila’s anxious voice.

"Oh my god, His Highness is bleeding... No, no, his breathing is weakening!" This was Wyatt's panicked cry.

"Where's the doctor? Have him come over here!"

The last thing Thales saw before losing consciousness was Rolf rushing frantically toward him, and Ramon being dragged along by Ada.

----

Those two voices again… Thales thought groggily: It’s like a dream.

I'll probably forget about it when I wake up.

"Oh, it's that again? How long has it been? Not even a few minutes? Oh well, at least it can stay this time, right?"

"Hmm, although the buoyancy of the soul is still strong, I can feel that its body is almost collapsing... Wait! Someone above is stimulating its potential and repairing its life... and its own vitality seems to be very strong, too strong."

"No way, when was the last time we encountered such a tough guy? Was it thousands, hundreds, or decades ago? I can't remember exactly. Was it that arrogant knight and mage? Sigh, what does Mother think?"

"...Mother made a decision: it's not the right time yet."

"All I can say is, its vitality is just too strong..."

"There's no point in overthinking; Mother has always been fair."

“Speaking of life, do you remember the Lord of Annihilation? He even had three hearts destroyed by that calamity... Tsk tsk, that scream was so loud that even we on the lowest level could hear it clearly. Mother was about to take him in, but he actually struggled to crawl back…”

"Silence! Prepare to open the reverse flow gate... it's going to rise back up."

"Sigh, hopefully it won't rise again next time it comes down..."

----

In a dimly lit thicket of trees with an unknown address.

A frail young girl slowly stood up from under the tree.

“I thought Black Orchid would be the first to arrive.” Giza Trillman, the Blood Mage, smiled and said softly without turning his head, “After all, I’ve caused quite a commotion.”

"After all these years, it seems she's become lazy too."

As soon as she finished speaking, a man slowly stepped out of the bushes behind her.

"Do you know who I am?" Giza smiled charmingly, smoothing her hair.

The man said nothing.

"If they had known, why would they have dared to follow us all this way?"

Giza smiled and turned around.

The man remained silent.

It was as if they hadn't heard.

This is an ordinary man in every way.

Ordinary appearance, ordinary clothes, ordinary figure, ordinary temperament.

It's hard to leave any impression on anyone.

Except for his left side waist.