Swiping horizontally with her hand, tens of screens appeared before her as the cannons mounted on Asharia started to move.
Naturally, this was just the opening act and the main show was for the Orbital Rail Cannons.
Activating them for suppressive fire for now, Shiro pushed her hand out as mana could be seen erupting out from her but nothing was being created.
Of course, this was just because what she was creating was something high into the sky where no one could notice the tiny nanobots gathering to form the real cannon. When she makes the Orbital Rail Cannons, she normally just takes a small part of the overall structure which was the cannon.
Glancing towards Asharia which had all of its guns readied, Shiro couldn't help but think it looked a little like a spiked ball from afar.
Shaking her head, she swiped left before pointing at the nest.
'Let's keep this at 10% power output so that I can actually test out the Orbital Rail Cannon.' Shiro thought to herself since 10% output should be enough to force the Hydra's into regenerating while not killing them.
Snapping her fingers, she watched as Asharia's Ambient Mana Absorbers extended from the city and started collecting mana from the surroundings.
Watching the mana being fuelled into the guns, Shiro started to worry since 10% was actually a lot more than what she had expected.
*Cough
'Maybe I should dial it down to 5%' Shiro thought with worry since the blade radius might affect Asharia if she fired it now.
Dialling it down to only 3% to be safe, Shiro fired the guns.
*BANG!!!!!
The explosion was much bigger than what she had expected as her hair fluttered in the wind.
Looking at shots travelling towards the nest, Shiro stopped the construction of the Orbital Cannon and erected a barrier around her.
*BOOM!!!!
Looking at the column of fire which pierced the sky, Shiro couldn't even hear the Hydra's scream before being disintegrated to ash.
". . . ."
{Shiro, why the hell is 3% so strong?} Nimue asked as she watched Shiro casually terraform the place with a 3% powered shot.
'I'll be honest with you. This was outside of my expectations as well.' Shiro explained with a serious face.
However, this face only lasted for a moment before she paused and had an embarrassed smile.
'Ah, it seems like I ignored the amplifiers I had installed on the fortress.' Shiro explained quietly as Nimue stood still.
Shiro could almost hear her vein burst which was strange considering they're in the mana realm right now.
{What is the amplifier set to?} Nimue asked, sounding a little too calm for Shiro's liking.
*Cough
'100%' Shiro coughed.
{Are you sure?} Nimue glared at her as there was no god damn way that a 100% amplification would actually wipe out the nest off the map.
*Cough!
'500%' Shiro corrected herself as Nimue felt something snap in her.
Iziuel and Estrella immediately sensed this change as they rushed to her side and held her back.
{Why the hell is it on 500% amplification!?!?!?! ^%£%%%$!!!} Nimue cursed while trying to struggle out of Iziuel and Estrella's grip.
{Maybe you should wait outside until Nimue's calm Shiro.} Estrella forced a smile as Shiro nodded her head. She was happy that Estrella was actually calling her Shiro instead of your highness but her main priority was going back and making sure she remembers to adjust the amplification.
The reason why she had set it to 500% was because a normal portal wouldn't be able to transport Asharia in its entirety.
She had to amplify the portal so that a platform wasn't randomly left behind.
Of course, this extended to the rest of the city including the weapons.
'I should have a separate amplification for the weapons. After this shot, the city won't be able to teleport for a while since the mana used was more than what I expect.' Shiro thought to herself as she quickly routed the guns to a different amplification setting.
Looking at the giant crater at the location of the nest, she summoned Iziuel and had her assist in repairing the land.
Fixing the earth and regrowing the plant life, Shiro made her way back to the city and had it slowly travel back to the northern border.
Arriving back at the city, Shiro saw the shocked faces of everyone who were speechless at the final demonstration of Asharia's power. With just that single shot, she could wipe any city off the map if she wanted to.
While it was powerful, it had more drawbacks than just the inability to be able to teleport for a while since it drained most of the mana stored. The barriers are now a bit weaker than before and some of the camouflage functions were disabled unless she manually provided the mana herself.
That kind of power was something you would use if you had no chances of escaping to begin with. Plus, any stronger and the fortress would also be affected by the shot.
Closing off the demonstration, Shiro made her way to the mech hanger and saw Shiina next to her mech that was quite damaged from the fight.
"How was your first proper fight with the mech?" Shiro asked with a smile.
"It went better than expected but the feedback was more violent compared to the training pod." Shiina replied as she felt like her internals were being punched whenever she did a harsh movement in the mech.
"Mn you'll get used to it eventually, having that amount of feedback should help increase your compatibility with the mech since in one sense, you're still using your body to fight." Shiro smiled as the feedback was intentional as it also puts a limit of how much they can pilot the mech. Using it for extended periods of time without care would damage them heavily without them even noticing it. The feedback acts as a force stop to prevent that from happening.
"Also, if the guns on Asharia were so powerful, is there even a need for the mechs?" Shiina asked as the final attack wiped out a nest with ease.
"Mn there is. The guns only work at longer ranges. If it was any closer, it would have damaged the city. The mechs are there to protect the city. Plus, for certain operations, it is better to use the mechs than the gun on the fortress." Shiro explained as Shiina nodded her head.
As the two were talking for a while, Oran and Akhess arrived at the hanger since they had received a message from Shiro.
They had a bad feeling in their hearts but since it was a summons by Shiro herself, they couldn't reject it.
"You two have arrived." Shiro smiled as she glanced towards them.
"Now that you have seen what Shiina could do, it's time for your training session." Shiro grinned and didn't beat around the bush.
Blood drained from their faces instantly as they had an urge to run.
However, Shiina appeared behind them with her arms around their shoulders.
"We're comrades right~?" She smiled as the two tensed up.
"Yeah we are. I'm sure training with the standard units is fine." Oran swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Mn? Who said you were training with the standard units. Those are for the average recruits. You'll be using the more advanced and difficult specialised units." Shiro said, pointing at three mechs in the distance that was distinctly different to the standard units.
"I think if I crammed everything in a week you should barely be able to use it." Shiro mused to herself as both Akhess and Oran had felt like they've just been given a death sentence.
"Fufufu, I'm cheering you on." Shiina said smugly while the two could only cry silent tears in their heads.
"When did I say you were pardoned from this Shiina? You only trained with the standard unit so you also need to get used to the specialised unit. Though since you've already completed the tutorial and live combat, two or three days should be enough for you." Shiro gave her a thumbs up as Shiina's face paled in fear.
Before she could say anything, both Akhess and Oran grabbed her shoulder in retaliation.
"Say Shiina, we're comrades right? Fufufu! I'm cheering you on!" The two said at the same time as Shiina wanted to cry.
She had TWO DAYS to get used to a specialised unit while these two had a WEEK!!!! TWO DAYS!
'Oh god, did I sin in my past life for you to send this devil at me!' Shiina cried out in her mind.
If Shiro heard her, she would only laugh. Even if god arrived, Shiina still won't get mercy from her. Strike the iron while it's hot and make her part of the abnormal standard!