Ch.163Tactical Planning

To investigate the ancient ruins located in the western hills, we need to eliminate the large group of orcs that have appeared in the vicinity.

With our abilities, it’s almost certain we’ll have the upper hand in a fight against the orcs, as long as we don’t make a reckless charge.

However, the one variable that could affect this prediction is the presence of an orc shaman who uses extensive black magic.

“The safest way to deal with that orc shaman is through long-range sniping. We take out the shaman in one shot from a distance beyond the reach of his black magic or the other orcs’ arrows.”

According to Jessica, orc shamans are rare beings born at a rate of about one in every 20-30 orcs. Due to their unique talent for black magic, they often serve as leaders of small groups or command units.

When encountering an orc group led by a shaman, if you can quickly eliminate the shaman, the remaining orcs will typically lose control, scatter, or retreat to their base.

In other words, if we take out the shaman first through long-range sniping, we can safely mop up the remaining forces and potentially track retreating orcs to discover the location of their base.

“But you know, even a rifle modified with titanium has a maximum range of only 120-130 meters. Can we really snipe without being detected by the orcs?”

“I’ve heard that the short bows used by orcs can fly at least 150 meters. Black magic has a shorter range, but it’ll be difficult for us to gain an advantage in terms of range.”

That’s right.

The biggest problem with sniping tactics is the chronic weakness of Grantis’s magic bullet guns: their range and bullet velocity.

The range of commercially available magic guns—about 50 meters for revolvers and around 100 meters even for rifles—doesn’t compare to modern sniper rifles that can shoot for kilometers, or even to rifles from the Wild West era.

Moreover, the speed of the flying magic bullets is slow enough to be visible to the naked eye, like ray guns in movies, meaning the greater the distance, the higher the chance of the target dodging.

“That’s exactly the problem we need to solve. First, Jessica, can you modify your current magic to maximize range or bullet velocity?”

“If I reduce the weight of the Stone Bullet and maximize propulsion force, the speed and distance would increase… but anything beyond 200 meters would be impossible. Besides, by the time it reaches that distance, it would just be a regular stone with no magical power left.”

“What about you, Phyllis?”

“Based on the Lightning Bolt formula, I could design magic with extremely increased range, but such magic couldn’t be used with the current rifle. Even with the mysterious metal titanium, there’s a limit to how much magical power can be contained in metal.”

“The magical capacity problem could be addressed by creating a long barrel packed with acceleration formulas to distribute the load, but if enough magical power accumulates in the chamber to activate all those formulas, it would cause a massive explosion. Not even adamantium, let alone titanium, could withstand it.”

Phyllis nods at Mina’s supplementary explanation.

So to perfect the long-range sniping tactic, we either need to find a way to use sniping magic without overloading Phyllis’s rifle, or we need a new firearm capable of handling such tremendous magic.

“What about Will? The bullets you shoot using your skill are so fast they’re practically invisible, right?”

“I’ve thought about that too, but the skill won’t activate because I recognize it as beyond my gun’s range.”

“Ah… I see. Since it consumes magical power, it has characteristics of magic, so it’s naturally influenced by the user’s perception.”

After learning how to use my skill against Crow in Seti’s village, I had briefly tested whether bullets that supposedly transcend space-time could ignore distance and obstacles—a rather overpowered idea.

But the result was failure.

Of course, since I don’t fully understand the limits of my skill, there might actually be a hidden method to ignore distance or obstacles.

But for now, I can’t rely on my skill unless I discover that method.

“What if Will shoots at Phyllis’s bullet from behind?”

“Hahaha, Seti. Even though I’m a good shot, that kind of thing is… wait a minute?”

Hitting the back of a flying bullet seemed impossible at first, but with my skill, it might actually be doable.

If I activate my skill right after Phyllis fires her rifle, time would practically stand still, and the time it would take to reach the back of the magic bullet fired from the rifle would be zero.

This is starting to feel like we’re crossing into sci-fi superhuman battle territory…

“What would actually happen? Would the pursuing bullet accelerate the front bullet forward, or would they combine to form a stronger projectile?”

“That’s quite a departure from common sense… To get to the point, Phyllis’s magic bullet would be destroyed. There’s no way to interfere with a formula that’s already been completed and activated from the outside.”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not entirely impossible. Jessica’s fragment of the Codex is a prime example.”

“But even if I could take control of Phyllis’s magic and modify it before sending it off, it wouldn’t make sense. The orc wouldn’t just stand still waiting.”

“…OK. Let’s summarize what we’ve discussed so far.”

Jessica’s attack magic can be edited to increase range, but not enough for sniping.

Phyllis can design sniping magic based on Lightning Bolt, but it can’t be activated with her current rifle.

If Mina creates a special barrel, activation might be possible, but the rifle’s durability couldn’t handle the vast flow of magical power.

Having Jessica take control of already fired magic to extend its range would cause serious delay between firing and impact.

“Alright. What I’m about to say will probably sound like nonsense from someone who knows nothing about magic, but consider it as offering a direction.”

I explained the vague idea forming in my mind more concretely to everyone.

The essential elements for long-range sniping are range, bullet velocity, stable trajectory, and power.

Stealth would be a bonus but is lower priority.

So the magic we need is Lightning Bolt, which combines power and speed.

It’s fast, travels in a straight line, has excellent penetration and power, and additionally causes electric shock effects.

The problem is how to extend the range of this Lightning Bolt to over 150… no, over 200 meters.

We need a compromise that doesn’t burden the rifle and doesn’t require stopping the Lightning Bolt after it’s fired.

“This is where Mina’s idea of a barrel engraved with acceleration formulas comes in.”

“But adding that would just make Phyllis’s rifle explode.”

“That would be true if the barrel were an integrated part of Phyllis’s rifle. But what if it were a virtual tunnel made from the Codex fragment, designed to modify the formula of the target?”

To use an analogy, it would be like a warp gate from sci-fi movies or a booster pad in racing games, dramatically increasing the range and speed of magic passing through it.

If Jessica prepares this acceleration tunnel in advance, and Phyllis fires a Lightning Bolt through it on a trajectory to hit the orc shaman—

“The Lightning Bolt, accelerated immediately after firing by passing through the tunnel, might be able to hit an orc shaman hundreds of meters away… or so I think.”

Since this idea is cobbled together from bits of knowledge from manga, games, movies, and novels, my voice gradually gets quieter.

All three except Seti are experts in magic or magical studies. What I’m doing is essentially lecturing experts on their own field.

But surprisingly, the three began to seriously consider my baseless idea.

“Using an intangible magical passage like an arcane altar—what a fascinating concept. What do you think, Jessica? Is it feasible?”

“Theoretically, it should be possible. For unfamiliar magic, I’d need complete mastery to modify the formula, but I fully analyzed Phyllis’s Lightning Bolt last time…”

“Then the remaining issue is how to handle the enormous magical power consumed in creating the tunnel and modifying the formula. To more than double the range of Lightning Bolt while maximizing velocity would require stacking acceleration formulas extensively…”

“That’s right. This time I’d need to focus all my attention on controlling the Lightning Bolt formula, so I wouldn’t have the capacity to draw magic from someone else’s body or a crystal magic tank. Unless we were casting from somewhere with an exposed ley line.”

“What? We have something perfect for that.”

Mina grinned and patted her backside, but Jessica and Phyllis didn’t understand what the gesture meant.

Similarly clueless, Seti tilted his head and asked:

“Mina’s butt?”

“…Ah!”

Only then did a memory flash through my mind.

Indeed, we did have a magical resource capable of supporting the casting of grand magic.

Right inside Ancestor’s backside.