193 The Blazing Cannon (2/2)

For an old experiment, I'd once used a magnifying glass to channel the sun's rays in hopes of burning a box of tinder in my backyard. It took me several tries to get it done, but I did manage to light a small fire this way.

The design of the machines I saw now told me they had a similar function with much more devastating results.

As soon as these war machines rolled out onto the battlefield, at least half of the enemy army followed. This slowly created a wide gap of empty space between the half of the army moving forward and the half that had remained on their side of the battlefield.

Although this was great news for me and my plan, I knew that this was a dire warning for Redbull's left army because it meant the enemy was extremely confident in their war machines.

”This Amon isn't planning to stay defensive,” I suddenly realized.

”Isn't he called the Shield of Rah?” Shanks asked. ”Why would he change up his style now?”

I shook my head. ”I think it's because everyone knows he's a defense-oriented strategic-type general, and he's taking advantage of that fact to try and overwhelm Redbull's left army early in the battle…”

”Isn't that good for us, then?” Shanks wondered aloud.

”Good for us, yeah,” I answered. ”But it might turn out bad for our left army…”

I watched as the first sign of trouble appeared.

Redbull had kept his forces back as promised, and it was working to drive the enemy army forward, but now that the unknown machines had come into play, things suddenly took a turn for the worst.

The giant magnifier at the center of their formation — yeah, I gave it a name because war machine sounded too weak a descriptor for these devices of death — was the first to activate.

Firstly, the formations in front of this magnifier split apart to create a wide corridor between the magnifier and our left army's vanguard. Then, a small group of enemy magicians gathered at the back end of the magnifier. Together, they spent a great amount of time casting an unknown fire spell which they then channeled into the magnifier's rear disk.

If you can't imagine what happened next then allow me to put it in pop-culture terms everyone can visualize.

Basically, the fire spell passed through one disk after another, with each disk focusing the flames tighter and tighter, until at last it reached the final disk and just exploded outward in a discharge that was akin to Iron Man's Repulsor Blasts if it had been fired from a giant Iron Man's glove.

Even from where we were in the rear of the enemy, the beam-like sound of an explosion reached my ears. And as this beam of flames reached our vanguard, well, even from my view up in the clouds I could see the massive explosion almost as if it was right in front of me.

After the smoke cleared, it was clear that our vanguard survived, although it was equally clear that a single shot from the magnifier had devastated our side for I could see hundreds of charred corpses littering the ground, and I could only imagine that many more had been vaporized into nothingness.

”What kind of sci-fi bullsh** was that?!” I snarled.

”You saw it?” Shanks asked, his voice carrying a hint of nervousness. ”What kind of weapon did the enemy just unleashed?”

”I saw it alright,” I answered. ”I wish I could un-see it… damn…”

I quickly explained the details to Shanks and whoever else was close by, and I could hear the anxious murmurs that followed.

”How many more times can they fire that thing?” It was Edo's voice that asked this question.

”I don't know… the spell they cast that the magnifier amplified took about ten to twelve minutes… but Edo,” my voice was almost a whisper at this point, ”they've got three more of those things…”

”If they used them in succession…” Edo began.

”Then our side won't stand a chance,” Azuma finished.

As if in answer to Azuma's and Edo's prediction, Redbull's cavalry charged forward in what looked like desperate act to reach the magnifier and prevent it from firing a second time.

That wasn't all, the entire front line of our left army suddenly moved forward, and I could tell they wanted to bridge the distance as quickly as possible. But they wouldn't nearly have enough time as Redbull had feinted well enough.

No, they wouldn't make it in time, I realized. So it was up to me and mine to ensure our victory before we lose. It was a race against time, but thankfully, we were prepared.

”Edo, send out the signal to Aura's and April's troops,” I ordered. ”It's time we started our own fire.”