Chapter 30: The Aetherium Crystal Cannon’s Counterattack

“Platoon Sergeant! Order all squads to immediately disperse! Put at least twenty meters between squads! Soldiers must also maintain distance! Quick! Quick! Quick!”

Sensing the danger, Morin shouted the order, waving his hands to make the surrounding soldiers spread out. Platoon Sergeant Klaus, though not understanding why, had almost blind faith in Morin by now. He immediately blew his whistle and shouted the command. The 3rd Platoon soldiers quickly complied, swiftly adopting a loose defensive formation under the confused gaze of soldiers from other companies.

After giving the order to his own unit, Morin’s next thought was to get Major Thomas to spread out the other troops as well. With time running short, he didn’t stop to think, immediately rushing to Captain Hauser, who was directing his men to prepare defenses.

“Captain! We cannot cluster here!” Morin’s voice was urgent. “The enemy definitely has the coordinates for this high ground! Their surviving artillery could blanket-fire this position at any moment!”

Captain Hauser paused. He looked at the busy soldiers around him, then at Morin’s serious face. “Your concern is valid, but we really need to prepare a defense right now. This high ground is vital; the enemy is bound to counter-attack!”

“I understand! But I hope the units can at least spread out! That way, even if the enemy artillery attacks, the casualties won’t be so catastrophic…” Captain Hauser hesitated for less than two seconds, then nodded heavily. “Alright! I’ll go remind the Major, but you must ensure your troops are ready to withstand the enemy counter-attack!”

After warning Captain Hauser, Morin returned to the 3rd Platoon’s position. After confirming that his soldiers had spread out as requested, Morin found a shell crater and hit the dirt.

His heart remained in his throat. He just prayed that his premonition was wrong this time.

But unfortunately, his premonition was completely correct.

Just as the 1st Battalion soldiers finished constructing rudimentary defenses with the help of shell craters and were preparing to catch their breath, a strange, piercing shriek came from the distant sky. The sound was distinct from the regular whistle of artillery shells—it was sharper, more grating, like the cry of some bizarre bird.

Immediately after, a blinding blue sphere of light materialized in the sky above the high ground, then violently exploded.

There was no deafening roar, only a muffled boom.

“Boom!”

An invisible, terrifying force spread outwards from the sphere of light. Countless fragments of unknown material, glinting coldly, rained down like a storm, instantly covering a large area in the center of the high ground.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

There were two more identical muffled explosions, two more blue spheres of light, bursting successively over different parts of the high ground. Morin’s ears were ringing. He clung tightly to the shell crater, clearly hearing the fragments “pfft, pfft, pfft” embedding into the surrounding earth. He didn’t know if he’d been hit by shrapnel, only that he was still alive for the moment.

After the three airbursts, the high ground instantly became a hell on earth. Piercing screams and wails of agony replaced all other sounds. Morin struggled to his feet with a sense of dizziness. After confirming he was uninjured, he looked towards the 1st and 2nd Companies at the center of the high ground.

The high ground was littered with mangled corpses and painfully moaning wounded. Blood stained the scorched earth a deep crimson. The scene of utter devastation indicated that the two companies had been almost entirely enveloped by the rain of fragments. The final explosion’s radius of effect had brushed against the 3rd Company and the Company Command position.

On the system map, the blue markers representing the 1st Battalion were flashing frantically. Even without looking at the system’s notes, Morin knew this signified an attack and suppression.

Morin quickly realized this must have been an attack from the Aetherium Crystal Cannons. He was astonished by the destructive power and accuracy of these Britannian ‘Magitek weapons’—especially their airburst capability.

“They didn’t even use a sighting shot. They immediately fired a massed salvo directly at this high ground, and every one of them hit the mark…”

“Airburst + first-shot hits… Now I know why the Aetherium Crystal Cannon can go toe-to-toe with the field howitzer.”

While Morin was marveling at the absurd accuracy, three kilometers away, a camouflaged Aetherium Crystal Cannon emplacement began preparing for its next volley. A large number of Royal Army artillerymen and Magitek technicians were carefully maintaining the Aetherium Crystal Cannons that had just fired, checking the runes and crystals on the barrel for damage.

Hovering about 200 meters above this Aetherium Crystal Cannon emplacement was a figure in a Highland Mage Corps robe.

“Suppression of Hill 127 successful. Prepare to switch targeting guide.”

“Received. Aetherium Crystal Cannon temporary maintenance complete. Please provide attack coordinates.”

“Hill 125. Target is rebel infantry cluster. Fragmentation Aetherium Crystal Shells. Begin guidance after loading complete.”

The Mage Apprentice from the Highland Mage Corps looked coldly at the position he had designated as the next target. For him, they were not just enemies but a pass to break away from his apprenticeship and be promoted to a full Mage. Although he was already an Apprentice in the Highland Mage Corps, he knew only promotion would earn him the title of Highland Mage.

He was also grateful for the poor skill of the Royal Army artillerymen. If their competence hadn’t been so lacking, preventing the Aetherium Crystal Cannon from performing to its full potential, High Mentor Eldridge would never have sent Apprentices like them to assist with the bombardment guidance.

The bracelet on his left wrist vibrated, signaling a transmission from the wearer of a corresponding bracelet on the ground. Highland Mages naturally possessed long-distance communication abilities, but those spells often had many limitations and were not flexible. Furthermore, their limited daily spell slots couldn’t accommodate too many communication spells. Thus, this short-range Magitek communication bracelet, cheaper than a ‘communication stone,’ became indispensable for guiding the Aetherium Crystal Cannons.

“Fragmentation Aetherium Crystal Shells loaded!”

“Understood. Beginning guidance…”

The Mage Apprentice locked his gaze on Hill 125, opened and raised his right hand, using the web space between his thumb and forefinger as a sight. A burst of magical energy appeared at that point. Soon, the Aetherium Crystal Cannons on the ground roared again. The shells, arcing across the sky, began to descend after reaching their apex. Then, an invisible force began to correct the shells’ trajectory, guiding them straight towards Hill 125, where they would airburst at an altitude of less than ten meters.

Meanwhile, on Hill 127.

Morin’s surprise at the Aetherium Crystal Cannon aside, he knew many things were simply unexplainable in a world with magic and Magitek.

The system had now reverse-engineered the cannon’s trajectory from the recent attack and marked the approximate position of the Aetherium Crystal Cannon emplacement. Morin immediately raised his binoculars and looked in that direction, quickly spotting the ‘escaped target.’

It was a camouflaged position hidden on a farm. Judging by the large amount of dry branches and wheat ears scattered around the cannon, the camouflage must have been excellent, which explained why previous reconnaissance hadn’t detected it. However, once spotted by Morin, the system map accurately marked its position with a unit marker.

“Messenger!” Morin waved to a dust-covered soldier nearby. As the man ran over, Morin quickly pulled out his notebook and pencil, frantically writing down the hidden Aetherium Crystal Cannon emplacement’s detailed coordinates and a terrain description. “Take this to the rear artillery command immediately! Tell them this is an enemy Aetherium Crystal Cannon emplacement that wasn’t destroyed!”

The young messenger took the note, nodded heavily, and desperately rushed toward the rear.

“Organize the defense! Prepare for combat!”

Simultaneously, the surviving officers on the high ground roared, reorganizing the still-living but shell-shocked soldiers. This was because a dark mass of Royal Army soldiers was already launching a counter-attack from the base of the hill.

“All Platoon! Report casualties!” Morin’s voice trembled slightly, knowing the 3rd Platoon had surely suffered casualties this time.

Platoon Sergeant Klaus and the Corporals quickly compiled the numbers, their faces filled with grief. “Platoon Leader! 2nd Squad is gone! Completely wiped out!”

“1st Squad and 4th Squad each have four dead! 3rd Squad has two lightly wounded! 5th Squad has one severely wounded and two lightly wounded!”

“The other squads were farther away and currently have no casualties!”

(End of Chapter 30)