Canyon Battle (3)
Inside the collapsed rubble of the canyon.
"Ugh…."
Margrave Kraus gritted his teeth, enduring the immense weight crushing his entire body.
In that split second when the canyon came crashing down, his instincts as a Sword Expert had pushed the mana in his core to its absolute limit, wrapping him in aura. That was the only reason he hadn't lost consciousness.
"Krrgh…. Damn it."
'That Espada brat…. This smell — he used gunpowder.'
The acrid scent of burnt charcoal mixed with the air, stinging his nostrils.
Years ago, the Imperial alchemists had created a black powder that exploded when ignited. The Tellus Empire was not unaware of gunpowder's existence.
But the Empire had never managed to develop it into a proper weapon, because obtaining saltpeter — the main ingredient for mass-producing gunpowder — was extremely difficult.
The only method the Empire, lacking saltpeter, had ever discovered was a disgusting process of gathering filth like excrement and urine, letting it rot for a long time, then extracting a tiny amount of raw material.
And even that was inferior in performance to a fireball cast by an Imperial mage.
So no one felt the need to invest enormous resources into developing it further.
Of course, he had heard rumors that the Admiral of the Navy had recently been using that same method to manufacture gunpowder and equip ships with weapons called cannons….
'But… to have amassed enough gunpowder to collapse an entire mountain!'
He knew the Espada Kingdom was rich in resources, but he never imagined they had such a massive mine for gunpowder ingredients.
'If it weren't for those damned Magic Kingdom bastards, we would have devoured that kingdom long ago.'
Regardless, not a single one of those so-called self-proclaimed Transcendents was worth a damn.
"Tch."
With his mana having recovered somewhat, Kraus clicked his tongue, finished his thoughts, and began channeling mana through his entire body.
"Move!!"
With a thunderous roar, Kraus thrust the spear in his hand forward.
-Vwoom. CRAAAASH!!
The spear, imbued with aura, pierced through the heavy boulders pressing down on him in an instant, swirling violently.
-Grinddd!
With the sound of rock being ground away by the aura in Kraus's spear, the bedrock crushing him finally shattered into pieces.
"What in the world…."
Kraus, barely freed from his stone tomb, gaped in disbelief at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
-BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!
-BOOOOM!
With each thunderous blast that shook the canyon air, and each metal projectile that flew forth, the knights of the order that Kraus had prided himself on were falling, one by one.
Those metal rods were exactly what had been described in the intelligence report.
He had believed that even if the weapon's power matched what was written in the letter, as long as a knight's toughness could withstand it, they could still win.
"What… is that spear?"
But the royal army didn't just have metal rods. They also possessed strangely shaped spears.
-Fshhht.
-BOOOOM!
Every time a knight bearing the royal army's crest pierced an Imperial knight with one of those bizarre spears, a loud report followed, and the Imperial knights' bodies exploded.
"Impossible…."
From a distance, they were felled by the metal spheres spewed from the metal rods. And even when they closed the distance with all their might, those strange spears tore the knights apart limb from limb.
-BOOOOM!
"Aaaargh!"
"Spread out!"
"No…! If we spread out, then…!"
The Imperial knights were being decimated without putting up any resistance at all.
Even as Kraus stared blankly at the surreal scene, another one of his subordinates was being torn apart, armor and all, as his body exploded.
"You bastards…! The Empire's knights…!"
Snapping back to his senses, he gripped his spear tighter, veins bulging on his face.
His mana was nearly depleted.
His entire body was covered in bruises from the falling rocks.
But as their commander, he could not just hide like a scared rat and watch his men die like dogs.
-Vwoom.
Just as Kraus was about to squeeze out his life force, staking his very life to draw forth his aura once more...
-Kyaaaah…! *Click.*
A scream pierced through the din of the battlefield, followed by the sound of metal parts locking together.
'Who's there…! Just give me a moment…!'
Urgently, Kraus lifted his head toward the sound.
A silhouette was hurtling toward him, tearing through the thick cloud of dust.
A gun barrel, aimed precisely between his eyes.
The barrel was slightly larger than the metal rods the common soldiers were using.
And behind it, an Espada Kingdom soldier staring right at him with a terrified expression, flying through the air.
Judging by the star-shaped insignia on his shoulder, he appeared to be the royal army's commander.
Panting heavily, he opened his mouth toward Kraus.
"…Found you…!"
-BOOOOOOM!!
-BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!
'Where is he?'
"Elisa. Can you see the enemy commander?"
"I do not see him, Master. I cannot sense his mana either…."
The Imperial knights, whose mana and stamina were almost completely drained, were unable to break through the firepower of the muskets and gunlances, collapsing without mounting a proper counterattack.
The tide of battle had already turned in the kingdom's favor, but….
The enemy commander, Margrave Kraus, was nowhere to be seen.
'Did he get crushed by the falling rocks and die?'
Of course, I didn't think a Sword Expert like Margrave Kraus would simply die instantly from a rockslide.
But if even his mana couldn't be sensed….
'He must be buried pretty deep.'
Just as I thought he must be buried somewhere in the rubble and turned my gaze toward the collapsed canyon, taking a step forward….
-CRAAAASH!!
The sound of rock shattering, and a swirling blue aura, came into view.
'There he is.'
I fixed my gaze on that spot and gave an order to Elisa, who was beside me.
"Elisa. Throw me over there."
"…Pardon?"
"Throw me to where Kraus is. It's the fastest way, and it minimizes casualties."
"…Yes. Understood."
Elisa hesitated for a moment at my absurd command, then nodded in agreement.
"I will cast a defensive spell on you."
-Vwoom.
No sooner had she cast the defensive spell….
-*Thump*
…than Elisa firmly grabbed me by the waist and hurled me without mercy.
"Be careful not to bite your tongue, Master."
'Uh…? Wait.'
-FWWWOOOSH!
Before the regret could even sink in, my body was tearing through the air like a bullet.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
Even as I screamed while flying, I drew the weapon hanging from my belt.
A specially crafted musket for one-time use, loaded with grapeshot.
Its name was the An-23, because I'd blown up six prototypes while making it.
The rifling was removed, the barrel was widened, and it was loaded with grapeshot and an overcharge of powder.
Since the overcharge meant significantly more gunpowder than the normal load….
Its power was immense, but with the current musket's weak durability, it could only be used as a single-shot weapon.
With these thoughts racing through my mind, I kept my eyes wide open, searching for my target even as the fierce wind rushed past my cheeks.
Fortunately, thanks to Elisa's defensive spell, even when small stone fragments scraped my skin, they didn't leave a wound.
'There he is.'
In the middle of a heap of broken rocks, Commander Kraus, his helmet gone and his armor dented, was on his knees, gasping for breath.
It looked like he was trying to shatter his mana core to squeeze out aura, using his very life force instead of his depleted mana.
'I'm faster. But…! I'm too damn fast! I'm gonna crash into him…!'
"Kyaaaaaah…!"
-*Click.*
Screaming from the velocity I was feeling, I loaded the weapon.
Then, as calmly as possible, I thrust the barrel directly toward Kraus's forehead, which was right in my flight path.
In that instant, Kraus, sensing me flying toward him, looked up with a murderous expression and met my eyes.
Seeing the gun barrel aimed at him and me screaming as I flew through the air with a face drained of color, Kraus's eyes filled with shock and horror.
Right before I would collide with him, unable to control my speed….
I opened my mouth and shouted in a trembling voice.
"…Found you…!"
Then I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled the trigger.
-BOOOOOOM!!
The brutally packed overcharge exploded all at once inside the barrel, firing the grapeshot with a thunderous roar like a cannon, echoing throughout the entire canyon.
Countless lead balls shot from the barrel engulfed Kraus.
At the same time, unable to control my momentum, I crashed straight into him.
-CRASH!
With the impact, I tumbled mercilessly across the rubble, entangled with Kraus.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
After rolling several times across the shattered rock, my movement finally stopped.
"Haa…."
'Thanks to the defensive spell, it doesn't hurt….'
"Ugh…. That's disgusting."
Thanks to Elisa's defensive spell absorbing all the recoil and impact, I wasn't injured.
But because I'd rolled around tangled with Kraus, my entire body was drenched in his blood.
'I seriously thought I was going to die.'
With a dazed expression, I dusted off the dirt on my clothes and stood up, checking the condition of Kraus, the man I had collided with.
'Kraus is… dead.'
Like with Count Kelrn, his death was gruesome beyond description.
'Well, it makes sense. He took a grapeshot blast to the face at point-blank range….'
"Haa…."
I let out a sigh of relief at our victory and looked around. The surroundings had gone quiet.
Maybe it was because of the huge explosion from a moment ago, and the sight of me flying in from the sky and crashing down.
The gazes of the Imperial soldiers and the royal army, who had been locked in fierce combat nearby, were all fixed on me.
Seeing this, I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
"The enemy commander, Margrave Kraus, has fallen! Further resistance is futile! Surrender your weapons, and I will spare your lives!"
Then, after taking a deep breath, I shouted once more.
"This battle is the Espada Kingdom's victory!"
"Waaaaahhh!!"
"Victory! Long live the Kingdom…!!"
"We won!"
The final part was a bit clumsy, but regardless, we had won.
Three days after the victory.
With Commander Kraus killed in the Canyon Battle, the Imperial army, having lost most of its knights and officers, lost the will to fight and surrendered.
The number of prisoners taken was in the thousands.
"Haa…. Winning a war comes with its own set of problems, too."
Sitting in my office chair, I let out a sigh as I looked at the mountain of documents piled up on my desk.
Of course, the battle itself had ended with thankfully few casualties.
But there were still many problems to solve — housing the prisoners, accounting for expended supplies, and the large-scale weapons factory plan I had in progress.
Just as I was tearing my hair out over the endless administrative work….
"Master. Forgive the interruption during your work."
Elisa opened the door and entered the office.
In her hands, she carried a teacup with warm steam rising from it, along with a letter sealed with wax.
"Elisa. Please tell me that thing in your hand isn't another document…."
At my pleading look, she gave a faint smile and set the teacup and the letter on one corner of my desk.
"Fortunately, it is not additional paperwork. I brought you some tea to help you clear your head."
"Thanks…."
I took a sip of tea and looked at the letter on the desk before speaking.
"So, what's this letter?"
"It is a letter sent by His Highness, the Crown Prince."
It's from my brother?
…That's even more worrisome.