Chapter 77: ~Revealed.~ (1/2)
***Norfolk, Sarn***
***Celestial***
“This is the newest rifle for my army.” Ascathon hands a short rifle to one of Jazira's soldiers. We are currently at the shooting range in front of his mansion. He built it solely to test his new designs.
We took Jazira and her entourage out here to demonstrate what our military is capable of.
There are Tjena, Sagittarius and two of Jazira's officers with us. The two soldiers from her staff voiced the wish to inspect our army's weaponry.
“The rifle is a short design with only half a metre in length. It has a range of about one thousand metres and a magazine of sixty bullets. I am using the railgun principle because it has proven itself.” He raises his own rifle to his shoulder and fires a bullet into a target dummy.
*Pft!*
The nature of the weapon eliminates the typical noise of guns and results in a rather unspectacular sound. “The recoil is quite strong, so it isn't recommendable to fire fully automatic. Single shots or short bursts are preferable.” He explains and turns towards the soldier.
The soldier nods and continues to study the weapon. Then he fires two shots of his own. He misses once and hits the second time, then he lowers the gun. “I can see the value of this artefact. If every regular soldier is equipped with one, the army's fighting power increases more than tenfold. The spell isn't flashy at all, but with this device it works without incantation. It can't break a proper shielding spell, but it doesn't have to. The more powerful mages can concentrate on destroying the enemy's shields. Once that's done, it's just a massacre from then on.”
Jazira nods and turns to me. “Don't you think that it's bad to boost this world's technology so far forward?”
I shrug my shoulders. “To be honest, I don't know. But Sarn is the best example that it works. The people here lived with magic all their lives. Science and technology are just another form of magic to them. And the public has a good opinion of the house Asceron. To them, it's simply a time of wonder. The biggest support comes from the people who can't use magic properly. The new artefacts enable them to use magic like fully trained mages. And their number is far bigger than the nobles'. It's always good to know the majority of the population is behind you.”
Ascathon nods enthusiastically. “I am currently working on some artefacts which automatically cast high grade healing magic. Once those are available to everyone, I am sure that our popularity will rise even more.”
I purse my lips and look at my husband. He is a deceitful snake. I’ve been pestering him about those artefacts for weeks. He would have been done already if he wouldn't put so much effort into researching his mana crystals.
Jazira attempts to say something, but suddenly a blinding white light appears above us. I shield my eyes against the light and look up.
The figure of a child is hovering above us.
“Behold mortals and watch me descend in awe! I am lowering myself to...”
*Pft!*
A hole appears in the child's forehead and a red cloud of blood spreads behind her. “... let you...”
*Pft!*
“... experience...”
*Pft!*
“... my godly...”
*Pft!*
“... self.”
*Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!* *click!**click!**click!**click!*
*Plomb*
The child's body turned into a bloody mess and she dropped out of the sky like a rock. Now she is lying in front of our group and a puddle of blood starts to spread around her.
All eyes wander towards Ascathon and then to the red glowing barrel of his rifle. He looks around and then at his rifle. “Okay, I admit. There is still a little issue with continuous fire and overheating.”
“You killed the goddess!” Sagittarius gasps.
Ascathon shrugs his shoulders. “This is closed airspace. She could have knocked at the door. I won't allow a maniac to fly above my property and spew nonsense.”
Tjena shakes her hand at us. “You can't just shoot a child! HIIIIIIIIII!” She screams as something grabs her ankle. It was the child's hand.
Everyone’s attention turns back to the bloody mess on the ground. A marvellous scene is unfolding there. The blood is crawling back into the child and the bullets are pushed out of her body.
“Peace! I promise to take this seriously from now on!” The child calls out to prevent further attacks.
Ascathon grabs for another magazine from his leather belt, but I snatch the rifle from his hands.