Ch.158Rebellion (2)

The first to start moving was the one-eyed white machine that continuously spewed gray smoke from what looked like holes all over its body.

This 4-meter mechanical-golem weapon, impressively painted blue with parts made of metal, aimed its two mortars mounted on its back and the large-caliber cannon in its right hand toward the village.

‘Are they insane… They’re really going to fire that?’

To think they would actually aim such a weapon of slaughter directly at the village. Francis, who had clearly been using the villagers as meat shields, momentarily froze in thought at this most unexpected approach to a hostage situation.

He had created an atmosphere of overt oppression and forced compliance, but never imagined the domain would simply mow down innocent civilians.

And to tell the result first, Francis was actually right in his thinking.

In other words, that one-eyed white giant never had the slightest intention of killing its own people.

-Fwooosh…!

After a sound that could be described as something popping three times, what flew from the muzzle of the white giant’s weapon was something comparable to a modern grenade.

These streamlined warheads, propelled by gray smoke similar to what was being emitted from the white giant’s body, resembled modern grenades and soon traced parabolic arcs before embedding themselves inside the village…

-Pssshhhhh…

‘…Oh no!’

The moment the warheads hit the ground and began spewing enormous amounts of smoke, Francis naturally assumed the machine was firing poison gas shells.

In a world where magic and alchemy were reasonably developed, especially in the war-torn southern region of the western continent, gas shells were by no means rare weapons.

Without modern explosive technology, these gas shells were expensive to produce and difficult to deploy, but once they hit properly, they could annihilate enemies, making them quite common—something Francis, being from the south, would certainly know.

No matter how much his self had been modified and replaced, his fundamental knowledge remained intact.

And… that white giant had once again caught Francis off guard.

-Thud! Thud!

People were collapsing left and right after just a single breath of the smoke or minimal contact with it, reminiscent of poison gas. However, Francis could see that the chests of those who had fallen were still faintly rising and falling.

In other words, contrary to Francis’s misconception, this gray smoke was merely a gas with stunning or sleep-inducing effects.

Of course, Francis, coming from a world without laws prohibiting ABC weapons, wondered why there was no poison gas inside, but realizing that an enemy’s mistake could become an advantage, he smiled at the favorable situation.

The identity of this gas, as Francis learned firsthand, was a magical stunning gas of sorts. This pepper-scented gas was highly effective at knocking out humans, but it also had clear weaknesses and limitations.

Its concentration was low and its density moderate, making it completely ineffective against mid-tier beings, and even low-tier individuals could resist it if they knew how to enhance their bodies with the mana inside them.

Thanks to this, unlike the virtual annihilation of the villagers (meat shields), the mercenaries and village leadership remained intact, allowing him to turn this crisis into an opportunity.

However, while Francis was confidently certain that the enemy’s attack wouldn’t work on his troops, there was one fact he had completely forgotten.

Namely, that the enemy wasn’t just the one-eyed white machine.

The next machine to step forward was the vermilion-colored unit standing proudly to the left rear of the white one. With its impressive reddish-orange armor, it clearly had a heavy-armored form.

The thick armor plates covering its entire body looked even thicker and sturdier than those of the white one-eyed machine. Unlike the white one-eye, its head resembled a knight’s helmet with a light-emitting visor.

It also had small oval shields fixed to each arm, while in its hands it carried a siege cannon so massive that even its 4-meter frame needed both hands to hold it.

Moreover, instead of auxiliary weapons, its shoulders featured short wing-like additional thrusters, presumably to compensate for the machine’s increased weight.

Seeing this form that embodied the ideal of heavy armor and high firepower in golem armor, Francis finally tensed up and urgently tried to step forward with an outstretched hand, but…

-KWAAAAAANG!!!

The speed at which it fired its siege-sized direct-fire cannon was several times faster than his reaction.

A massive explosion reverberated in all directions, and the palisade, hopelessly fragile compared to the large-caliber direct-fire cannon, collapsed in an instant.

The palisade in this village had been constructed with a unique structure that distributed external impacts across the entire structure, making it strong against outside forces, but once any part collapsed, the surrounding areas would quickly crumble as well.

So with the palisade around the impact point completely collapsed, the machine set down its cannon with a click! as the shell casing was ejected… and took out a hammer…?

“…?”

Though unsure how many times today he had been surprised by unexpected developments, this one was actually quite understandable when he thought about it.

In fact, it was easier to understand why it had drawn a melee weapon.

A close-combat weapon heavier than a person and enhanced with several technologies—one side resembling an ordinary hammer while the other was closer to a pickaxe structure.

Seeing it holding a melee weapon more suited for destroying materials than enemies, Francis finally realized the true purpose of this equipment.

More precisely, he could now be certain of the development purpose of that vermilion heavy-armored giant.

‘…It’s for siege warfare!’

A siege cannon too powerful and difficult to aim for anti-personnel use. Armor capable of withstanding enemy fire while approaching. And a sturdy melee weapon designed to smash through obstacles.

“Block it! Block it!”

Since it was almost certain that if that thing pushed through, the village would be completely overrun, Francis moved to deal with it personally while sending his troops to buy time.

However, once again, he overlooked something… namely, that there was a third machine.

Unlike the other two golem armors, which were characterized by their 4-meter heavy-armored forms, the last golem armor actually looked more crude on the outside.

About 3 meters tall, it was covered only with plate armor resembling a knight’s armor, over which was draped a cloth coat similar to a surcoat, making it look quite stylish.

This was a golem armor ‘exclusively for magic users’—designed solely for operation by mages and given to Lord Alzar by the Metal School as compensation for previous disturbances.

As such, this golem armor wasn’t equipped with any weapons. Or rather, such weapons weren’t necessary in the first place.

Because this golem armor could amplify magic cast from within by simply—

-FWOOOOSH!!!

Like this, it was essentially designed to expand a will-o’-wisp spell cast by the werewolf witch into something resembling a firestorm.

Of course, this amplification function minimized the reduction in magical power while expanding its range.

Normally, power would be halved while range doubled, but this allowed for 80% power with quadruple the range.

Because of this, although the reduced-power magic couldn’t penetrate even Francis’s magic armor, it was more than enough to sweep away the humans who had already lost their minds and had no way to defend themselves.

And—in the moment when Francis momentarily lost his composure at this sudden catastrophe, twelve blades fired from somewhere traced erratic trajectories as they flew toward him.

-Clang! Clang! CLANG!

These short sword-length blades flew at considerable speed targeting Francis, and notably, they were coated with aura on their surfaces.

Because of this, Francis, who had initially been defending with his hastily drawn sword, gradually failed to block the attacks and wounds began to appear on his body—

“—HAHAHAHAHA!!!”

-Slash!

As a beast seized the opening with a maniacal laugh and swung its claws, the incident was completely concluded.

-Clatter—thud.

With the victory of the subjugation party, who had meticulously prepared everything in advance.