Chapter 678 Crusaders Terror
Both men were magic using humans, they could channel mana, and presumably could use the Arrays as well as the Witches could. But they didn't have a Mana Core, so they couldn't dump a large amount of mana into it all at once.
"How does it work? I'm not familiar with the weapons of the Alchemists." The General asked.
"There are sights on top. When the front is lined up with the notch in the rear, and the top of the front sight is level with the mark for your range, you will be looking at the target. Once I prepare the weapon for you, just charge the spell on it and gently squeeze the trigger to fire. Would you like the full fifty shots? You can stop early if you're satisfied with the demonstration and I will take over." Wolfe explained.
The King cast a barrier over the rock that he was certain wouldn't be broken by Wolfe's magic, and gestured that the General could begin.
Wolfe walked him out of the enclosure of the barrier they were under, then showed him the proper way to hold the rifle and how to aim.
"Now, I will disengage the safety, and you just need to charge the spells and squeeze the trigger." Wolfe explained.
The General nodded and carefully adjusted his aim. Then he charged the spells to the strongest that he could and fired a round into the stone.
The explosion was impressive, to say the least, and even from a hundred metres away the ground shook. But it took him almost a second to prepare the spells.
The second round almost missed the target, and only caught the very edge of the barrier, but the General was focused, and began to prepare another. In total, he fired five shots, and the honour guard that had come with him was incredibly impressed with the weapon.
"It is powerful, but not to the level that I saw yesterday." The General commented.
"Only in human hands. In the hands of a Magi, it is a different situation. If you don't mind, I will take the weapon from you, and use the remaining ammunition."
The General turned over the rifle, and Wolfe flipped the switch to fully automatic as he charged the spells. This was going to be brutal on his mana storage, but it would definitely ease any concerns that they had about him being the one to attack their barrier.
Wolfe dropped to one knee for support and took careful aim before he began to fire, unloading the remaining forty-five rounds into the rock in a roaring cacophony of explosions.
That took far less of his reserve than Wolfe was expecting. The increased mana density after the King had cast [Rapid Maturity] on him was truly outstanding. He still had five full mana cores, and the nascent sixth one was the only one that was depleted by the process.
Gracefully, Wolfe returned to his feet and cleared the weapon before slinging it over his shoulder.
"General, this is the difference between the amount of burst damage a Magi can do and what a human mage is capable of." Wolfe explained.
They were both silent as they returned to their seats at the negotiation table, but the Archbishop looked like he might have been going into shock. The day was not going well for them, and the initial plan to get reparations for the damages to their units had been thoroughly shot down.
They could push the matter, but it would mean more battles, and with the Demons backing up the Magi Patriarch, it would mean a lot more casualties, especially if he had time to prepare more of those weapons.
Those things were a menace, and really shouldn't exist. The fact that a single person could use them to do that much damage was just ridiculous, even if it was limited to only Magi.
Of course, they didn't know that he could activate the spells on the bullets in advance and let just about anyone use them, but they had also missed the fact that male Demons had a Mana Core, and they could do the same thing that Wolfe had, while the females would shoot at the same rate as the General.
In a Demon city, there were thousands of middle ranked Demons who could be taught to shoot much more easily than they could learn complex magical arrays to attack. Trying to invade one that had those weapons would be suicide. For that reason alone, the Archbishop had decided that it would be best not to get on Wolfe's bad side.
Training Soldiers to be loyal to the cause, and increasing their magical capabilities, took years. Meanwhile, the Demons were born with that sort of power, but severely limited in the ways that they could use it.
"We will consider this matter settled for today, but I must warn you, that we will not accept further breaches of the nonaggression pact. If you or your people are present at the scene of a battle, you must raise the parlay flag, and we will escort you safely away." The Archbishop insisted.
"I will agree to those terms, but with one amendment. If I am in the midst of a research project that must not be interrupted, your attack on my location must wait until I am done. Having priceless ancient books, scrolls and items damaged in combat while I am in the middle of a research project is unacceptable." Wolfe replied.
That caught the General off guard. While the Archbishop was about to agree, not seeing the problem with waiting for him to leave, the General had a much better grasp of history. When the Undying Saint had come to the Demon Realm, he was said to have spent over a decade of intense study to finish the project that he was working on.
While waiting for a Magi to finish sounded fine, realistically, it simply made the town an invalid target during the crusade because he was unlikely to leave anytime soon.
So, he spoke up before the Archbishop could.
"Within reason. The Holy Crusades of the Fallen must continue." He insisted.
"In that case, I do hope that the matter doesn't become an issue in the future. Our nonaggression pact has been working out quite well, other than this one minor blip." Wolfe shrugged.
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