Chapter 192 – Raging Kraken
“What’s wrong, Demon King?”
“I’m sorry, McKin-dono, but I have to replace the guard’s equipment somewhere…”
As much as I’d like to replace them, I don’t have any alternative equipment. There was no way I was going to let them dress up in the assorted gear I took from pirates and bandits, and there was no equipment other than what the Kingdom’s army could provide in terms of quality and quantity.
“Enemy attack!”
Oh, crap. If we don’t destroy the enemy first, it’s not enough to clear up the misunderstanding. Nodding to each other with eye contact, Myrril and I step out of the vehicle with our RPK equipment. The ammunition and magazines used are the same, but with more than 30 times the number of soldiers on both sides, a light machine gun is better suited for rapid-fire shooting than an assault rifle.
“Battlecry, please escort McKin-dono.”
“””Yes!”””
About thirty light cavalrymen of the Imperial Army are coming toward us. I thought it was common knowledge, even in this world, that it is suicidal to deploy a small force. The fact that they were equipped only with leather breast armor and hand spears suggests that they might have been thinking that they had won the battle and were hunting the remaining enemies.
“Cassmeer Guards, these are your prey. Kill them to your heart’s content.”
“””Ooooh!”””
Firing a volley of arrows in abundance, the guardsmen bloodied the Imperial Guard cavalry unit. Shot dead before they had time to escape, the Imperial troops rolled on the ground like a pile of swords. I had prepared a backup just in case, but there was no time for me.
“Well, thank goodness you didn’t kill the horse.”
“Yes, the horse was innocent.”
“Oh, yes, you’re right.”
Ah, yeah. Okay, okay. Mir-san, don’t look at me. I don’t have anything against horses, either. I just don’t have the skill to kill a mounted enemy.
“Demon king, I’d like to find a few more enemies. Can you handle them?”
We’re away from home, we don’t know the area, and we don’t have much strength, so it would be risky and inefficient to repeatedly destroy them individually in the city. Since I have such a conspicuous Griffon, I’ll use it as bait to lure the enemy in.
“No problem. After we have reduced the number of enemies to about 200, we should head for the council chambers.”
“I’ll leave it to you.”
“Deputy Captain. How much more until 200 enemies are left?”
“Assuming a total of 700, I’d say we have about 300 to go.”
“Two hundred.”
A discouraged-looking elf in the backseat turned his head to the other side and said.
“I’ve already burned down about a hundred mages and light infantry in the Mage Academic District.”
“Oh, I see you’re more useful than I thought.”
“What!?”
“Stop it, Mir-san; you’re not being very nice. You, too, if you want to be part of the attack, why don’t you stop sulking and just do it?”
“I-I’m not sulking! I’m the newest member of the “Magic Academic District!?” I’m not so weak that I can’t fight a bunch of mundane people in a place like this!”
“Suit yourself.”
From the far end of the street, there were signs of a gathering of people. Although it is not well controlled at the moment, there is light infantry from the northern and eastern territories mixed in with heavy infantry from the imperial army. The number exceeded one hundred and fifty, but the exact number could not be determined.
“It may be a little short of two hundred.”
Myrril, who has replaced the boxed magazines, pulls the bolt of her MAG with a clang. Exhaling with a huff at the gun emplacement, she looks back at the deputy captain on the side deck.
“Cassmere Guards, I concede you the honor of first strike, so do as you please. But if their leader crosses the barrels lying seventy feet away, it will be my target.”
“Yeah. Roger that.”
The elite of the guard was on fire with the will to fight. The deputy captain stared at the enemy with steely eyes and laughed in an agitated voice.
“…Hey, Jou-chan. You don’t mind if I take your place, do you?”
“That’s the spirit. Show me your mettle!”
“””Yes!!”””
With a flash of spirit. The huge number of arrowheads fired by the sixteen archers reap the enemy with tremendous density.
Wow, what’s that? The longbow can shoot at such a speed… it pierces not only the breastplate of a light infantryman but even the breastplate of a heavily armed cavalryman.
“It’s amazing. It really looks like it’s going to kill them all.”
“Not quite as good as the elves, though.”
“Huh?”
The unnamed kid elf is interested in something and comes to the cockpit and peeks at the battle scene through the window.
“We can do that much with a short bow…”
“Shut your mouth. I’m not going to go easy on you this time.”
“…..Ah.”
Oh, so you were going easy on him, huh? That’s it. Well, if this kid isn’t dead yet, maybe she was taking it a little easy on him.
“They avoided the thick armor facing forward and went for the thin planes at the joints and where the material was bent. That was, by the way, a good shot.”
“Oh? You’ve got a good eye, kid.”
“I told you! That’s why I’m the newest talent in the Magic Academy Special Zone.”
“Shut up!”
Just as he was about to emerge from the roof to complain to Myrril, the MAG machine gun started firing. The elf child tumbled into the car with a roar and a burnt shell casing.
“My ears! …Ugh, hot, it hurts!”
“It’s dangerous; stay back; it won’t take long.”
In less than three minutes, the rebel army was engulfed in a cloud of blood.
“Takifu, there is no follow-up. The rest of them should be waiting for us in the council chambers.”
The deputy captain reported nonchalantly, not particularly pleased, and the guards prepared to move out on the side decks.
“…That’s no way. There were 120 of them.”
“Only one hundred and twenty. It would take at least five times that number to stop us.”
“…Six hundred? With that many, there is no way even a small army could win a real fight…”
“No one is asking you to do that right now. You may be hailed as the new talent, but that’s only in the small countryside.”
“…Guh.”
“Even if you are not in such a hurry, you will eventually learn your lesson if you look at the world from a broader perspective. The magic you’ve shown us is more than enough for your age. Do not be conceited, but work hard.”
“…..”
“You don’t look happy, kid.”
Lord McKin, who was in the backseat and protected by the “Battlecry,” spoke to the child elf.
“I don’t know how good a mage you really are, but there they are, the “Demon King of Casemaian” and his queen, the one who destroyed the kingdom and shook the empire to its very core. Isn’t it an honor to receive such a compliment?”
It would be troublesome to have to explain about the Demon King again, but there was no response from the child elf. He had a depressed look on his face and was thinking about something, but then he raised his head and looked at me.
“I knew it, that’s right.”
“Of what?”
There was a flicker of anger in his eyes. I had a bad premonition. It wasn’t a premonition at all; it was a vision of the worst possible future.
“The Imperial Army had told the adult mages that the “Angry Sea Monster Giant Octopus” is going to join forces with the Demon King and destroy the Republic.”