Chapter 00066: It Started to Spin
# It Started to Spin
Chapter 66
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 66: It Started to Spin
The position Viola's army had prepared on the beachhead was, in truth, just a defensive line piled up from miscellaneous items like wooden barrels and crates; they had not dug any trenches.
On one hand, there was too little time, and the conditions didn't allow for it.
On the other hand, warfare in their world had not yet developed to such an advanced tactic as digging trenches.
This sort of above-ground fortification was mainly used to protect against arrows and to stop the enemy's landing forces from charging directly ashore, slowing their advance to give the archers and crossbowmen more opportunities to attack.
But against an artillery barrage, it was all for naught.
You and your fortifications would be blown away in an instant.
It was precisely because Viola realized this that she ordered a retreat, abandoning the position.
The order was quickly passed down and executed.
On a nearby cliff with a higher vantage point and a better view, Audel continued to watch the sea with a calm gaze.
Even when that flash of light had swept past just moments ago, she showed no major reaction.
Though the nearest explosion was less than fifty meters away from her, she merely brushed the dust and twigs from her hair and continued to stare out at the sea like a stone statue.
Due to the darkness of the night, communicating was difficult, so Viola's army used light signals to issue commands.
Shelly had come up here to signal the scout ships on the sea to return.
When the explosion occurred, she was scared witless, immediately dropping into a crouch and covering her head.
After the sound of the explosions subsided, Shelly saw the light signals from the hillside below and hastily said:
"Miss Audel, Her Highness is telling us to retreat."
"I'm not leaving just yet. Don't mind me."
"But..."
"I will catch up when necessary."
Shelly didn't know the true caliber of a 'High-Ranking Mage', but she had always heard Zola boast about it, so she thought that perhaps Audel would be fine on her own.
So, she rushed down the hillside to rejoin the main force.
Audel, left behind, did not retreat.
Instead, she took two steps forward to stand at the very edge of the cliff.
Her silver-blue pupils watched the brilliant electric light flare up once more on the distant sea surface, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Such immense magical power... Has the Magical Convergence Cannon finally succeeded in focusing its beam?"
She recognized this weapon, and even knew the person who had created it.
The prototype of this magical cannon had many flaws, and no matter how much it was improved, shortcomings like its exorbitant cost, high energy consumption, and immense cooling requirements were impossible to overcome.
Audel predicted it could fire three shots at most, and even the second shot would be a strain.
But who knew just how many of these cannons were installed on that fleet?
Viola's decision to have the soldiers retreat was correct.
This kind of firepower was not something an army could withstand; a direct hit would cause massive casualties.
However, that didn't mean there was no solution.
Audel stared at the sea, her fingers forming one hand gesture after another as she murmured an obscure and difficult spell.
A gentle wind lifted her, causing her to float slightly above the ground.
She was preparing to cast a powerful strategic magic, one that might not be able to destroy an entire fleet, but could certainly inflict heavy damage.
"Hm? What is that?"
But just as she was in the preparatory stage of her spell, a beam of intense red light suddenly shot down from above the dark clouds.
"It's not magical power, nor is it any power known to me. But a beam of light on that scale... what on earth is it using for energy?"
The light pierced through heaven and earth, striking the sea to one side of the fleet.
The colossal beam was so large it couldn't be contained within one's field of vision, as if it were propping open one's eyelids.
Viola, who was directing the soldiers' retreat, naturally saw this pillar of red light as well.
A voice in her heart seemed to tell her something.
The Demon God has made his move.
--‐‐——–‐‐——
The red beam of light also caused panic among the sailors on the fleet.
Many ran about on the decks, as if asking if anyone knew what was happening.
The massive red beam moved slowly across the sea surface.
The word "slowly," however, wasn't quite accurate.
It was so enormous that from a distance it appeared to be moving slowly, but in reality, it was moving rapidly, just barely trackable by the human eye, until it reached the center of the fleet.
Then, without any warning, the red beam diffused, like a large stain smeared across glass.
The scattered spots of light instantly illuminated the fleet that had been shrouded in darkness.
Under the red glow, the entire sea seemed to be on fire, a single glance conjuring images of a hell from some terrifying fantasy.
Before the fleet could react in any way, the diffused light began to contract.
The scattered light spots rotated clockwise at a constant speed.
With each passing second, the blurry spots of light seemed to grow clearer, until after two or three seconds, they had formed an immense circle.
Because it was so large, the people on each ship could only see a portion of its edge, but from the shore, Audel could see it clearly.
That circular thing looked like some kind of enormous, complex magic formation.
At this point, the fleet finally reacted.
Many ships flashed light signals, and the entire fleet began a hard turn to port, attempting to escape the area covered by the light.
But while they had the wind at their backs when they arrived, making a turn wasn't as simple as just turning the rudder; the sailors also had to adjust the sails.
However, the decks were already crowded with soldiers preparing to land in small boats.
The sailors struggled to move through the crowds, which caused the fleet to fail to turn in time.
In an instant, the massive red light vanished abruptly, as if it had never appeared.
The soldiers on the decks for a moment thought they were hallucinating.
But anyone with some basic knowledge of magic knew that when a magic formation suddenly disappears, it's not because it's over, but because it has been activated.
The second after the light disappeared, the sky above was filled with constant flashes of lightning and thunder.
The roaring thunder seemed as if it would tear the entire sky asunder.
Audel, who was observing the sea with an enhanced vision spell, clearly saw a massive shadow descend from the lightning-filled sky.
It was something of indistinct detail.
Occasionally, one could see parts that were slender in comparison to the sky, like some kind of metallic object as vast as a mountain, but with considerable hollowed-out sections and relatively little solid mass.
It fell from the sky and plunged into the sea.
And then...
And then it started to spin!
The seawater churned as if boiling, forming a terrifying, clearly visible vortex.
The ships caught in it were torn to pieces almost instantly by the unseen object, with no time for anyone to even jump overboard and escape.
More and more ships were drawn in.
The vessel that had just attempted to fire the magical cannon was also sucked in.
The beam, which had already finished charging, fired again.
But this time, it was useless.
The explosion was loud enough to be heard even on the shore, but it dissipated like smoke hitting a solid object, drifting away gently.
A name immediately popped into Audel's mind.
Demon God.
That power was by no means a product of the mortal world.
No one could resist it.
Even the most advanced magic technology was as fragile as a toddler's arm before it.
The raging winds whipped up by the vortex struck the coast a moment later.
Some of the retreating soldiers were knocked to the ground, their ears filled with a terrifying howling.
Viola noticed that the seawater at the beachhead was receding, like a tide going out, but the speed was far too fast.
"Quick! Everyone get behind the hillside!"
Many soldiers had also noticed this.
One by one, they scrambled up and ran for the back of the hillside as if their lives depended on it.
The massive vortex on the sea continued to churn for nearly twenty seconds before the object that had fallen from the sky rose back into the heavens.
Just when people thought it was over, a giant arm, so massive it seemed capable of propping up heaven and earth, descended from above the clouds.
The hand appeared to be wearing a special pair of bright yellow gloves, which looked like they were made of leather, but no one could imagine what kind of animal could have contributed a hide of such terrifying scale.
With a deafening crash, the palm slammed into the sea.
Like a playful child stirring water in a wooden basin, the arm groped about.
One could even see it perform a 'small' motion like shaking its hand.
This blow shattered the spinning vortex.
The seawater instantly surged upwards, the splashing waves appearing to nearly touch the dark clouds in the eyes of the onlookers.
Then, a terrifying tsunami came rushing in.
It instantly submerged the shore encampment.
Even for those hiding on higher ground behind the hill, a large amount of seawater still washed over them, soaking Viola and her soldiers to the bone.
However, the tsunami's damage ended there and went no further.
Viola immediately led her people back up the hillside.
The giant arm that had been stirring the sea finally retracted back above the clouds, seemingly satisfied.
"What terrifying power this is...!"
Wendy, who was following Viola, had a flushed face and seemed extremely excited, even as her lips spoke of terror.
She understood now.
She understood why Reina had become a follower after witnessing the Demon God take action personally.
That power had a demonic, fatal attraction; anyone who saw it would be overcome with the urge to worship.
The soldiers who followed them also witnessed this scene.
One by one, they knelt on one knee behind Viola, praying in the direction of the sky.
And up on the hillside, Audel watched the arm retract into the sky.
She lightly patted the dust from her clothes.
Though her expression remained impassive, her eyes were filled with what could only be described as excitement...
(End of Chapter)