CH 185

Chapter 185 – Crash & Splash

“McKin-dono, where are the council members or whatever they’re called?”

“The emergency shelter is in the capitol building. It’s the big building in front. It’s guarded by guards now, but it won’t last more than half an hour.”

The capitol is probably the huge building near the center of the city at the end of the main street that runs straight through the fortress. It is surrounded by a metal fence with spikes on the top and a high stone wall, but the view is too clear. There is no barrier around it. It was a pretty sight but too fragile to be defended from the enemy.

“Wait, Takifu!”

After advancing the Griffon a few dozen meters, Myrril tells me to halt.

“We’re not going to make it in half an hour.”

Attached to the main gate of the capitol is the Northern Territories Army, flying the Sirens’ banner. The commander has ordered his men to set up stationary battering rams. They must have realized that they could not break through the gate with their own strength, so they decided to destroy it with heavy force.

Some of the soldiers noticed us, but perhaps they thought we were still too far away, so they quickly returned to their destruction work.

“The Imperial Army is holding the service gate on the left. The defenders have been forced to split their guards into two groups. As a result of the split, it’s as if they are fighting together.”

“This is where the ’emsevennine’ comes in.”

Myrril holds up the grenade launcher hanging in front of her chest with an excited look on her face.

“Don’t hit the guards in the capitol building.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already test-fired it on the way.”

Myrril-san is in a good mood as she hangs up two ammunition belts with pouches for twelve rounds. The first round was already loaded, and when I nodded, she pointed the barrel of the gun at the enemy in front of us.

“One-eighth of a mile (200 meters) or so. It’s perfect for you, and you can go right on with the “Site” setting.”

The maximum range of the 40mm grenade is 400 meters. But for safety reasons and to disarm the safety device, I told her to keep the minimum distance at about 40 meters. The sight of the grenade, which flew in a mountainous trajectory, seemed to have been set at 200 meters.

The grenade was launched with a light pop and landed in the midst of the northern soldiers who had taken up position in front of the main gate. A muffled explosion rang out, and the blasted men screamed and rolled or were scattered as lifeless corpses. Those who escaped harm turn to face the distance, but by then, a barrage of pursuit grenades explodes, engulfing the scattered group.

“Wow… Mir, is this really your first time handling one?”

“Of course, it’s obvious. I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing before. But it is a brilliant design, simple, clear, and robust.”

The M79 is a single-shot weapon, so it takes some getting used to, but it is lightweight, compact, and reliable, and I hear it was highly regarded during the Vietnam War.

“H-hey, Demon King, what’s that?”

“What… Is it small scale, like hell?”

Although it is thrown by gunpowder, its killing power is about the same as a hand grenade, and its killing power decreases against the armored soldiers of this world.

This creates compact hellholes here and there. People in the same unit fall to the ground and roll about, splattering blood and pieces of flesh. In the midst of the screaming and shouting, even those who were uninjured lost the ability to make normal judgments due to fear and confusion.

“Where is the healing mage? There is a seriously wounded man over here!”

“More importantly, the magic barrier, hurry!”

A shot rang out, and the mage who had come running fell down. The soldiers’ despair was accelerated by the loss of their last hope.

“Attention, rebels! Lay down your weapons and surrender!”

Myrril fired her star pistol into the air and announced in a loud voice. Her clear, slightly high-pitched voice reaches far above the clamor of the crowd.

“Or you will die a horrible death!”

Dozens of arrows rain down on the hovercraft from the imperial troops deployed on the side of the service gate. The side windows are protected by a fence, but the lower skirts are made of rubber. If the arrowheads hit it, air leaks would hinder its ability to float.

“Storage.”

At the same time, I erased the arrow, and a sweep of fire from a MAG general-purpose machine gun was added. The light infantrymen who were protecting the archers with their shields were pierced by the machine gun and fell down in a heap. The archers behind them also seemed to have been hit, and after a slight delay, they remained motionless in a crumpled heap. The shields were just enough to deflect spears and repel arrows from longbows. It may have been made of a thin layer of metal, but it was no match for small-arms fire.

“This is the hammer of the Demon King! Regret your ignorance!”

No, it’s okay. I don’t know about the expression “I’m just doing the Demon King’s will on your behalf” at this point in time, Mir-neesan.

“…That, those idiots.”

Myrril muttered in a disgusted voice. Undeterred by the deaths of their comrades, the heavily armed infantrymen of the Imperial Army are coming toward us with their shields lined up. A dense formation spread out horizontally fills the wide street.

A grenade is fired into the left flank of the formation and another into the right flank, where the formation has been broken up by an explosion and has gathered around. A shot was fired at a group of men in the rear who appeared to be in command. The northern territory soldiers, who were trying to close in, were also hit once.

The broken and struggling armored men were hit by a bullet from a MAG as they tried to stand up.

In less than ten seconds, the men around the gate lost their ability to fight. Unable to move, the soldiers fought desperately or were killed trying to escape.

“No matter what happens, they will not surrender. McKin-dono, if I may ask, doesn’t the Republic take prisoners of the enemy?”

“Yes, in regular warfare. But when it comes to foreign interference, the line is crossed. It is no longer a matter of exchanging hostages for ransom. If you fail and are taken into custody, both the invaders and the people who brought them in will be beheaded in public. If information is needed, they will be tortured before that.”

“What good would it have done them to know that?”

Sitting on the sunroof and steadily killing enemy soldiers with pistol bullets, Myrril looks at McKin-dono, who is in the rear. It must have gotten through to McKin that he was speaking with a half-understanding. The southern lord shook his head.

“The story is backward. They had such a good chance of winning that they could ignore the disadvantage. The combined strength of the northern and eastern territories is more than 80% of the Republic’s sea power. Even their land forces would be a majority. If the Imperial Army were to join them, it would be enough to overrun the capital. The Koubi Clan had sent assassins to the southern territories. So, I don’t think it will fail anymore. …Normally. No one would expect a single ship and a couple of people to turn the whole thing around.”

It sounds like we did it on our own. It may be true on one level, but you guys are accomplices.

When I looked back, I saw that the Battlecry party, who seemed to be at a loose end since there were no enemies approaching, nodded their heads with dumbfounded looks on their faces.

“At this time, McKin-dono, isn’t it a foreign invasion to bring in the Demon King?”

“””Geh⁉︎”””

The fat lord and his guards were all choked up.

Oh, I didn’t even mention that part.

“Ah… That’s… it’s just that. It’s an emergency extrajudicial measure to save the central territory’s permanent councilor. We just “hired” the “adventurers” who are working with the southern territory. Yeah, no problem!”

I really don’t think it’s a good idea. The way he talks too fast, the way he talks in technical terms, and the way he puts things together in an unreasonable way after the fact.