Chapter 288: 151. The Approaching Darkness -1 (Part Two)

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

“I’ve already declared war on the vampires hiding throughout the continent. They are being hunted down even as we speak through the wide-scale dispatching of Paladins.”

The vampire suppression effort had begun in earnest. Never mind waging war, those bloodsuckers should probably be scrambling to hide in a deep hole somewhere right about now.

For sure, as long as Kelt and I were still around, this peace should continue. But once he was no longer with us, the vampires would no doubt rise up and fight back.

The ten thousand-strong Crusaders were meant to prevent that from happening.

These combatants were definitely not what you’d call ‘regular’ in any measure. Even when compared to regular knights, this group of fighters would easily win in an overwhelming fashion.

Vampires were terror personified. So, the best method to prevent a war with them was to scare them into giving up in the first place.

I could threaten them perfectly well even if I wasn’t the Holy King. Me being simply around somewhere in the Theocratic Empire would work wonders, too. Meaning, I might get to live a peaceful life inside a perfectly peaceful world if everything went well.

“I would love to see it, though. Lord Allen becoming the next Holy Emperor.”

I could sense Charlotte feeling rueful about it from her voice.

“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll bounce right after I ascend, you see.”

The ruling authority was already with me. Even Oscal the Sword King would follow my orders now. If a net was placed to stop me from escaping, then I could just undo it myself.

The Holy Emperor’s throne would automatically go to White, or even to Luan, in that case. Both of them possessed the traits of a wise ruler, so in a peaceful world with no conflicts to worry about, they would surely work hard for the subjects of the empire.

It was around this time that I heard someone knock on the door. It opened, and Alice, dressed like a lady-in-waiting, stepped inside before bowing her head. “Lord Hans requests you that you attend the test firing of the cannon, sire.”

‘Huh, so she chose to go with the stiff, all-business tone, eh?’

I got up from the chair. Finally, the time to spectate our new weapon had come.

**

The raising of the Crusader army was truly epic in scale. It needed to possess an overwhelming combat prowess as long as I was around.

It would be the sixth force that was fully loyal to the Imperial Family, and thus could be trusted wholeheartedly…

I ordered a portion of the Aztal Rune to be engraved on their bodies.

“The request for the assistance of Cardinals Urael and Raphael to help with the process of engraving the Aztal Rune on the entirety of the sixth force has been lodged, sire.”

Our current location was somewhere a bit of distance away from Laurensis, the capital.

We could see a hill, which had been prepared for the express purpose of training the handlers of siege weapons.

While we were heading there on horseback, Charlotte continued to report, “It seems that that task will be completed within one year, Your Majesty.”

That would make the current combat force even stronger than before, and with that, further guarantee the absolute safety of the empire’s citizens.

Combatants wouldn’t suddenly exhibit the same level of combat prowess as Cardinal Mikael just because the Aztal Rune was now engraved on their bodies, but it’d still grant them divinity amplification, as well as a regenerative ability similar to immortality.

We were using the absolute minimum number of Rune, in order to cause the least amount of backlash. If it was only that, I figured the physical and psychological toll on the combatants wouldn’t be as bad.

While reading the book [Undead Synthesis Method, Composition of Chimeras] and listening to Charlotte’s explanations, we reached the practice grounds where the siege weapons were being operated.

I headed to the shooting range under Charlotte’s guidance and eventually the figures of Hans and his fellow Alchemists and Magicians came into view.

And there it was, the huge new weapon, resting in front of them.

“…Wow, this cannon is pretty substantial.”

Rather than a cannon, it looked more like a small tank to me. The thing consisted of a main body with a gun barrel around two and half metres long, and wooden wheels supported the whole thing. Judging from the many runes plastered all over it, it seemed that quite a high level of skill was needed to operate this weapon.

I stared at the large hunk of metal. Hans was in the middle of the group of dozens of Alchemists and Magicians, busy issuing various commands.

He discovered we had arrived and walked up to us while looking completely drained by fatigue. “Welcome to the firing range, Your Majesty.”

“…How many nights did you stay up this time?”

“I think it was the whole month, sir. This product might have been invented hundreds of years ago, but we tried to create something even better by using the data from back then. How about it, sir? Would you like to see?”

I nodded in reply.

Back when I first used a musket, the sheer firepower I had experienced really shocked me. Since a cannon was expected to produce the destructive power several times, nay, several dozen times, higher than a musket, I couldn’t help but look forward to what was about to happen.

Hans ordered the Magicians to inject Mana into the cannon. Mana started spinning inside the barrel, condensing a cannon shell.

The preparation time was around ten minutes.

“Alright, then. Fire!” Hans waved his arm grandly.

Along with a smallish sound of fireworks going off, sparks gushed out from the muzzle of the cannon. Although there was some grey smoke pouring out, even they came across as lacklustre.

And that was it.

The cannon, basically a hunk of metal, didn’t even tremble once.

As for the shell, it couldn’t even hit the target waiting about five hundred metres away, simply dissipating in the air.

I became dismayed and muttered something out. “…What the… is this a puffed rice machine or something?”

“Puffed rice?” Hans made a puzzled face, only for it to be quickly replaced by a considerably satisfied expression next. “Ahaha! Yes, I’m a genius, indeed! Your Majesty, I’m sure you felt disappointed by what you witnessed just now, but this test actually served as a perfect proof, instead!” Hans placed his hand on my shoulder. “A genius calculates for every little eventuality in his head, sir. Now please use your Divine Aura next, sir! The Aztal Rune has been connected to the weapon, so the attack will become considerably more powerful.”

The Alchemists and Magicians around us furrowed their brows while staring at Hans. They probably thought that his actions were bothering on impudence.

I didn’t mind it and did as Hans told me, using the Aztal Rune. The cannon was soon upgraded.

“Alright, then! Get ready again!”

At Hans’s command, the Alchemists and Magicians put on some leather gowns, goggles, and earplugs.

“Your Majesty, I advise that you put them on as well.”

Hans pushed the goggles and the earplugs my way, so I put them on.

Meanwhile, the Magicians began injecting Mana into the upgraded cannon again. This time, the process took only around five minutes.

The golden light of the Aztal Rune was mixed with the blue light of the Divine Aura. Mana swirled viciously within the cannon, and Hans nodded his head once and shouted out loudly. “Fire!”

KA-BOOM!

I flinched in shock as my eyes threatened to bulge out of my face.

The cannon was shoved back. At the same time, a blinding flash of light exploded from the muzzle, and the shell flew out at a frightening turn of speed.

The target was struck solidly, and a massive explosion went off there. The ripples of Mana slammed into its surroundings.

The terrain rumbled ominously, and even though we were five hundred metres away, I still faintly sensed the waves containing Mana reaching us.

“To operate this weapon, we need a minimum of five high-class Priests, sir. They need to be trained intensely if they wish to hit the target accurately every single time. As for the preparation time, it’s around five minutes, sir. At the very least, if vampires or undead are hit by this thing…” Hans grinned deeply while staring at me, “unless it’s a Progenitor, everything within the five-metre radius will be dead, sir. Any others in the vicinity will be flung away by the shockwave.”

“Excellent!” I clapped my hands vigorously. This firepower was beyond my expectation.

I energetically pounded on Hans’s back.

Nicely done. What an excellent weapon this was!

The existence of a weapon like this should greatly scare the vampires. No, hang on a minute; never mind vampires, no kings in this continent would dare to look down on us now!

This weapon would prove to be a powerful card in maintaining the peace.

“Can you show me the blueprint?” I asked Hans.

He presented me with the cannon’s blueprint. After scanning it once, I realised that its structure wasn’t all that complicated, so I promptly memorised the blueprint itself.

After I was done, I called out to him again, “Viscount Hans Jerurami.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?” A happy grin was etched on Hans’s face. He must’ve found my reaction quite satisfactory.

“I shall now grant you the Title of Count.”

“…”

Hans’s jaw dropped.

I let him be and placed my hand on the experimental cannon. The weapon suddenly split apart into particles before vanishing from the world.

Actually, I just stored it in my item window.

While we were in the middle of conducting the cannon tests, a Paladin at the foot of a hill in the far-off distance waved a flag to catch our attention, then hurriedly approached us on horseback.

“It’s an emergency situation, sire!”

He was carrying a missive. He loudly called out to us while closing the distance, and quickly dismounted from the horse. He knelt down before me and presented the document to me. “Sire, a seditious activity has been detected within Aslan!”

I furrowed my brow and took the missive. Its contents were quite simple: three thousand or so Orcs, around three hundred Necromancers, and another five thousand slave soldiers were apparently stationed at the border region.

Wait, monsters?

I read the rest of the report in a daze.

“It’s civil war, sire. A civil war has broken out in Aslan!”

The feudal lords had started a rebellion.

Aslan was getting swept up in the flames of war once again…

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