689 Backup Power (1/2)

Clang, clang. The magic steam train ran quickly on the railway, and the beautiful view out of the windows moved backwards equally fast, dazzling Nodanielle, an elvish girl who had never taken such a vehicle before.

Wu! Wu! Wu! The siren echoed, and the magic steam train came to a stop.

”What happened?” Although it was the first time that Nodanielle had been on a magic steam strain, she had a basic understanding about the train as a girl who enjoyed listening to Arcana Voice. She knew that not stopping at railway stations usually meant accidents.

Iristine had been to the Congress of Magic a few times before. She immediately sensed the anomaly. Therefore, she cast a spell to her eyes and looked at the edge of the forest far away.

In the narrow area between the forest and the railway, hordes of crazy wildlife were attacking the human beings on the opposite side.

There were about a hundred human beings, who were in standard silver chain mail and solid helmets. They were standing in three rows, with black 'metal sticks' in their hands.

The animals that were attacking them were originally normal creatures, including tigers, wolves, rabbits and goats, but right now, bloodred scales had grown out of their bodies, with yellowish mucus flowing among the scales. Their eyes were bloodshot and full of the lust for killing.

”Demonization? A senior-rank demon snuck out of the Stroop forest?” Observed Iristine in astonishment. For her, such a scene was all too familiar. The same had happened to the animals in the Stroop forest a while before!

Nodanielle said in deep thought, ”When the abyssal gap was suddenly expanded, the elders were busy dealing with the Sovereign of Blood and the Demon Dukes. The other demons were resisted by common warriors and the adventurers in Town of the Anonymous. It's perfectly normal that some of them ran loose…”

”Those demonized animals are very dangerous. How can Holm send the soldiers only at the level of knight squires to deal with them?” Iristine blamed herself after seeing the situation. The accident could've been avoided if Lankshear's sanity weren't consumed by his greed.

She stood up and was about to open the window of the VIP carriage, ready to assist the human soldiers to deal with the demonized animals.

BAM! BAM! BAM! After a series of noises, the overwhelming bloodthirsty animals seemed to be hit by invisible hammers, collapsing and bleeding.

”What's that?” It was not until then that Iristine really paid attention to the almost identical 'black metal sticks' in the human soldiers' hands.

Nodanielle observed carefully and suddenly remembered something. ”It's very similar to the high-pressure steam rifles of the dwarfs!”

The dwarfs' steam civilization was a lost civilization, but the elves had a deep understanding about it thanks to the abundant collection of classics that had been gathered since the age of myths.

”No high-pressure steam backpacks… No smoke… Both hurt the enemy by high-speed bullets. The attack is as good as regular knights'…” Iristine identified the difference between the weapon and the high-pressure steam riles carefully.

BAM! BAM! BAM! Of the three rows of human soldiers, two squatted and one stood straight, shooting in turns and loading bronze bullets into their guns from their pockets now and then.

Iristine discovered that those bullets were engraved with simple magic pattern patterns. The vague air of alchemical matter could be felt.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Although the demonized animals were very fast, they saw nothing but the enemies in their bloodshot eyes, and they thought nothing but to tear the enemies into pieces and ate them alive. Therefore, it was easy to lock onto them. Also, the range of shooting was very wide. They could avoid one bullet but not a whole sector of bullets. So, their numbers plummeted, and dead bodies dropped everywhere.

”The bottom level of Holm has been significantly fortified by such weapons.” Iristine said in a low voice, ”They can organize more legions, and the legions that may hurt the real knights.”

Nodanielle shook her head. ”What's the point? They will be butchered irresistibly when they encounter high-level warriors, like the steam civilization in the past. They will suffer an equally heavy loss when they meet the sorcerers and knights who are capable of remote attacks.”

”High levels advance from low levels.” Watching the battle far away, Iristine said, ”If such weapons and armors can be manufactured, like the popularized alchemical items have been, the Kingdom of Holm and the Congress of Magic will have great advantages in the battles below the senior rank.”

In the past, a knight legion had five hundred knights at most, and a kingdom had only three to four such knight legions. The squires were basically useless, but if the weapons and armors could be popularized, it would mean that there were more knights. Knights were few, but knight squires were plenty. Still more were the ordinary people who could become squires!

Iristine went on. ”Also, who knows whether or not the Congress of Magic has developed weapons with higher power and precision for the middle-rank and low-rank knights?”

”If they have weapons with longer range and higher speeds, together with anti-prophecy arrangements, wouldn't they be able to blow up the head of a sorcerer who doesn't have a passive defense from somewhere far away?” Having heard 'Arcana Voice' a lot, Nodanielle was particularly fascinated by head explosions.

At this moment, the conductor who was responsible for them walked in, intending to explain the sudden stop to them.

Hearing their conversation, the conductor smiled, ”By the time such a weapon is developed, the defensive magic against it will certainly have been created. Also, it's possible that Spell Trigger and similar spells will become middle-rank spells.”

His tone was full of the unique confidence of the sorcerers in the Congress in the past decades, about the Highest Council and the prospect of arcana!

”I believe in the research abilities of the Congress.” Iristine expressed her friendliness.

Nodanielle, on the other hand, asked curiously, ”I'm told that the Congress' research in the microscopic domain has stagnated since Mr. Evans proposed the observer effect, right?”

To satisfy the curiosity of the ordinary people, 'Arcana Voice' had added new programs that were similar to Herald of Arcana and Magic.