Release that Witch

”Targets confirmed. The demons are coming!”

”They’re heading this way!”

”They’re coming from two directions. Demons also spotted at 12 o’clock!”

The observers of the different squads took turns watching their targets through the telescope, giving warnings continuously. Fish Ball’s eyes were glued to the second group of enemies that appeared in the shooting area he was assigned to.

The demons in his field of vision were tiny as the leaves flying in the wind, and only when the devilbeast flapped its wings could they tell the difference between them and regular birds. Having learned by heart the firing procedures, Fish Ball placed one of the demons in his aiming reticule and then adjusted the heading indicator of the aiming tool.

The new aiming tool on top of the gun looked very odd. It contained two concentric rings: One was equipped with a Devilbeast model that could spin; the other consisted of several paratactic tiny holes that could rotate with the model.

Fish Ball knew nothing about the principles behind this aiming tool, but he knew that since His Majesty had designed it, it would be as fabulous as any of the other ingenious things the King had made. He spent a whole night memorizing every step he needed to go through before firing the weapon. The first step, he remembered, was to move the heading indicator, the Devilbeast model, to where it was parallel with the target.

In a short amount of time, the enemy in the air as aligned with the tiny hole in the aiming ring.

Right after that, he glanced at the model and shouted to his partner beside him, ”A quarter!”

That meant the area of the target to that of the model was four to one, indicating that the demon was in the shooting range of the Mark I HMG.

Lord Astrologer of the Dispersion Star, who assisted in training the squads, had hammered it into them that any distances judged by the naked eye were bound to result in inaccuracies; it could only serve as a rough estimate of the range to the enemy. To ensure maximum effectiveness of the Mark I, it would be safer for them to round the distance up.

That sounded easy enough for Fish Ball to understand. A premature spray from the Mark I would be guaranteed to hit the target while firing too late might just waste bullets.

After making the call, Fish Ball only needed to wait for his partner to find the corresponding number on the shooting table before he would pull the trigger.

It only took a few seconds to finish this procedure, but the process felt excruciatingly long to him. As this was happening, everything around Fish Ball seemed to slow down for him, and the shouting sounds of his fellow soldiers in the background started to fade away. For a moment, he even heard his own rapid heartbeats and heavy breathing clearly.

He could feel a slight amount of moisture in his palms. He knew that the cowardly Fish Ball was still inside him somewhere.

But that only helped him steel himself for what was to come.

As the demons flew steadily towards the wall, they gradually rose, going for the same pattern they executed five days ago. Now that they were at least 800 or 900 meters away, they fully extended their wings so that their bodies were as stretched out as possible. This made them such thin targets that even marksmen of the sniper team would be able to guarantee a clean shot on them.

”But we are different,” Fish Ball thought.

The scholar had told him of many principles, most of which was beyond Fish Ball’s understanding. But he had remembered one point very clearly.

”Once the enemies are close enough to throw spears, you’re free to aim and fire. But before they get in that range, you don’t need to worry about hitting the enemies but rather just send as many bullets as you can in their path and wait for them to fly into the bullets.”

”Use the fifth hole!” At this moment, his squadmate behind him shouted.

Fish Ball took a deep breath and raised the muzzle, ”placing” the Mad Demon that he was aiming at in the fifth hole and pulled the trigger as hard as he could.

Suddenly, a gush of flame flashed out of the muzzle.

The sound of gunfire was ear-piercing, and it seemed to have resumed the flow of time which had previously appeared to slow down. Almost simultaneously, the other squads had also started to open fire. The area atop the city wall instantly heated up.

This all felt rather bizarre to Fish Ball.

The muzzle of the Mark I was not aimed at the demons but a vacant space in front of them. No one knew if they would hit the target. All they could do was keep their fingers tightly on the trigger, and pray for the best as the cartridge box was emptied one bullet after another.

Fortunately, this did not last long.

After three seconds or so, a ”flower” of red bloomed among the group of demons at their 12 o’clock.

Along with the explosion of red, Fish Ball could also see a half-broken wing and body parts flying everywhere.

The Devilbeast that had been shot were jolted and spun in mid-air, like pieces of thin paper being crumpled up. It was only then that Fish Ball got a rough view of the demon’s appearance. However, from the scattering limbs, he did not spot any body parts resembling those of the Mad Demons. This unlucky devilbeast must have been one of the ones who were responsible for carrying the red mist canisters.

Subsequently, two Devilbeasts swayed away midair and dropped down like stones. Fish Ball could not tell from their movement whether they had been urgently dodging the bullets or seriously injured. But they failed to recover their speed and smashed directly onto the grassland.

Apparently, the sight inspired the soldiers, who started to cheer rapturously.

”And another one! Partner, well done!”

”Air Defense Squad, it’s all yours now!”

”Come on, kill those nasty things!”

”Long live King Roland!”

The demons seemed to sense something wrong. They started to disperse and accelerate, charging towards the wall without any sign of retreat!

”Three fourths!” Fish Ball grabbed the gun handle tightly and kept adjusting the shooting direction. ”No... four fourths!”

The enemy in his vision was the same size as the model, meaning that the enemy was now within spear-chucking range.

”Open Fire!” the observator shouted, ”All gunners, fire at will!”

The soldiers armed with revolving rifles also joined and opened up at the approaching devilbeasts.

All the guns were blasting away, cracking continuously at the wall. Four devilbeats were already shot down, however, ever since the enemies became aware of their attack and started to dodge the shots, few bullets succeeded in hitting them. At this moment, Fish Ball noticed a Devilbeast dart through the sky and dove towards him. As the deformed monster was snarling down at him from the air, he could faintly see that the Mad Demon on raised up a bone spear and aimed it at him.

A piercing chill instantly rose from the soles of his feet, crept through his body, and caused his hands to tremble involuntarily.

Now that the demon in his vision was bigger than the model, he didn’t have to estimate how far the demon was anymore, for this distance was short enough for the bullet fired by Mark I to maintain a perfectly straight trajectory through the air. All he needed to do now was to raise the muzzle, aim, and keep firing until the demon’s body was riddled with bullets.

But, that spear would also pierce through his body without mercy.

Flee or die.

The familiar feeling crawled up like a shadow, and the cowardly Fish Ball seemed to have grabbed him by his hands.

”Ah———!” In the next moment, Fish Ball bellowed, ”Go away. I’m no longer———!”

At the same instant, the barrel of the gun spat out flames of death toward the demon.

The bullets released from the gun whistled toward the demon, tore through its muscles, shattered its bones, and ricocheted in the demon’s body before exiting the other side. The impact was so intense that its body swelled a little as its guts were smashed to smithereens.

The Mad Demon threw the bone spear at the moment the bullets flew into him.

Fish ball had foreseen his ending when he pulled the trigger.

But he did not let go of his finger. He stood firm even though he was trembling violently with fear.

”—a coward!”

Bang!

Just one meter away in front of Fish ball, the shadow-like bone spear shattered as it flew into a semi-transparent barrier that had appeared out of nowhere. The barrier only shook a little but otherwise remained intact.

Fish Ball finally came to himself and realized that a short-haired and short witch had appeared on the battlements, and blocked the spear with her incredible power.

”What are you shouting for?” She let out a long breath and slowly withdrew her hands. Then she turned around and smiled at him. ”Of course you aren’t.”