Overwhelming Firepower

Under the moonlight, undead creatures walked towards several towns and villages. The Lich, who had scouted the area a few hours ago, was surprised to see that a few of those villages and towns had no one in them.

Then the other towns and villages had knights, mages, and soldiers stationed in them. It didn’t take the Lich long to realize that they had noticed his presence and understood what he was about to do next.

The people had been evacuated. The Lich stared through the eyes of a skeletal crow circling above one of the villages.

A long metal carriage rested beyond the village, smoke rising from its front. This was the so-called train, one of the innovations of this era.

’I see one of them knows what kind of being I am. If I were to retreat now, I might be able to save a few of my corpses, but seeing as they evacuated a few towns nearby means they have some idea of where I’m hiding.’

The Lich remained hidden several hills away, watching everything through the skeletal crow.

Retreating would preserve some of his forces, but it would also give his enemies more time to search for him. They had already evacuated several settlements and stationed soldiers around the others. If they continued narrowing down the area, they would eventually discover his lair.

More importantly, he needed to understand the weapons of this era.

The mercenary deserter had spoken of guns and cannons, but his explanations had been crude. He only understood that the weapons were loud, dangerous, capable of killing from a distance, and anyone could use them even without their so-called aura or mastery of mana.

That was not enough. He needed precise information if he wished to slaughter every descendant carrying the filthy blood of the Golden Sun Empire.

’I’d better test the waters first. I’ll send in a few sturdy undead and see how they deal with them.’

The Lich raised one hand. Several figures separated from the larger undead horde. These were the corpses of people who had sturdy constitutions in life; they were also aura users.

They weren’t the strongest he had, but they were enough to cause enough chaos that the Lich would be able to see what the battles of this current era were like.

He also sent out the animals and monsters he had, like goblins and dire wolves. They were plentiful, meaning they were disposable.

The Lich divided them into several groups and sent each one toward a different settlement.

He did not expect them to conquer anything. Their purpose was to reveal the defenses of this era.

Through the eyes of the skeletal crow, he watched one group leave the forest. Several undead dire wolves ran ahead of the others, their movements faster than living dire wolves because they no longer cared about tearing their muscles or breaking their bones.

Behind them came the goblins, followed by the undead aura users. The blue fire within their eyes flickered as they walked.

The aura users had the same power they had in life, even more so since they would no longer hold back. The pain of going beyond one’s limit will no longer be felt.

They would destroy themselves if necessary. That did not matter to the Lich. Once their bodies became useless, he could simply replace them. Through the skeletal crow, the Lich watched the first group approach the nearest town.

This town had the fewest people present, and based on their bone structures, he could tell that most of the people here were young. Still, there were also quite a few who looked to be veterans of the battlefield. Overall, this town was the best location for his experiment.

The Lich gave the command to attack as fiercely as possible. The dire wolves increased their speed first.

Their rotten paws struck the ground violently as they crossed the open field. Some of their muscles tore under the strain, but they continued running without slowing down. The muscles that were torn were also repairing themselves.

The defenders watched the undead dire wolves charge across the open field. There were no walls protecting the town, only several barricades made from reinforced wagons, wooden stakes, and thick metal plates brought by train.

Behind those barricades stood soldiers, Royal Academy students, mages, and knights.

Through the skeletal crow, the Lich noticed several strange metal tubes placed between the barricades. They were larger than the weapons carried by the soldiers, but much smaller than the so-called Roaring Thunder the mercenary deserter had tried to describe.

Men stood around each metal tube, their movements calm and practiced. Some adjusted the angle of the weapons. Others carried heavy shells from reinforced wooden crates.

Once the shells were placed into the metal tube, the people stepped back and gripped the firing cords attached near the rear.

’I guess this should be the Thunderspear. The weaker version of the so-called Roaring Thunder. I wonder what kind of performance it will show.’

The dire wolves rapidly closed the distance. The young defenders behind the barricades calmed their breathing as they waited for the enemy. Several students raised their shields and weapons, while the mages started chanting.

Once the dire wolves were in range, the soldiers pulled on the cord of the Thunderspear. The mechanisms inside struck the ignition charges. Then the night exploded.

BOOM!

The first Thunderspear roared with enough force to shake the barricades. A tongue of fire burst from its mouth, followed by a thick cloud of black smoke. Before the sound had even finished rolling across the field, the remaining Thunderspears fired.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The explosions merged into a single deafening roar.

The earth trembled beneath the charging undead. Windows rattled inside the village, frightened horses cried out, and several younger students nearly lost their footing despite having prepared themselves.

Even the skeletal crow above the battlefield was thrown sideways by the pressure in the air.

Through its eyes, the Lich saw several dark objects tear across the open field faster than any arrow.

The first shell struck the ground directly in front of the charging dire wolves. The world turned white.

An explosion swallowed the front of the undead pack. Fire erupted outward, carrying dirt, stones, metal fragments, and pieces of rotten flesh into the air.

Several dire wolves disappeared entirely. Others were thrown backward with their bodies torn apart. One lost both of its front legs and struck the ground face-first. Another had half of its body shredded, yet its remaining limbs continued clawing uselessly at the earth.

The second shell landed among the wolves behind them. The blast broke their bones before the flying fragments tore through what remained of their flesh. Rotten heads spun through the air.

Severed paws struck the ground. Blue flames flickered inside shattered skulls before fading away.

The third shell struck an undead dire wolf directly. For a fraction of a second, the creature remained visible inside a sphere of flame. Then it ceased to exist.

Only burned pieces of flesh and bone rained across the field. The Lich was quite surprised to see the effects.

He already knew this was a weapon that needed no mana to operate; he had already heard the description of this weapon, but he thought the deserter was exaggerating.

To think this was supposed to be the weaker version, and there was the more powerful Roaring Thunder.

The destruction it caused was huge, but not comparable to the mages of his era who used draconic language. Still, the speed at which it can be used is much faster.

’Those metal balls are being propelled outward by an inward explosion, and when the metal ball hits something at the speed it explodes as well.’

As the Lich was thinking another volley thundered across the field. Fire blossomed across the night, each blast turning darkness into day. Trees bent from the shockwaves. The earth opened in smoking craters, while undead bodies were thrown high enough to disappear inside clouds of dirt.

The dire wolves that advanced first had been wiped out. The Lich then made the goblins head out first, before making the aura users come out.

He noticed that those boxes were filled with exploding metal balls. He wanted to make the other party use as many of those things as possible.

The goblins rushed forward in a wave. The Thunderspears answered. The next volley struck among them, and the field vanished beneath fire. Explosions bloomed, throwing goblins, soil, and weapons into the air.

The Lich watched the distance between each Thunderspear, the number of shells remaining in the crates, and the time the crews needed to load them. Just like everything else, these things had a limit of use.

Not to mention that the reason those people were carrying those shells carefully was most likely because it was possible to explode on their own side.

The Lich just needed to hit the storage area with a powerful impact, and those shells would explode in a glorious fire, killing a lot of them, which would then turn them into part of his army.

The Lich raised two fingers, and the undead aura users moved. They did not charge the barricades directly. Instead, they spread apart, using the smoke, craters, and surviving goblins as cover while circling toward the ammunition crates.

The Lich watched with anticipation. One successful strike would turn the defenders’ own weapons against them.

Unaware of the approaching aura users hiding their presence, the defenders kept firing as the undead aura users slipped through the smoke toward the ammunition.