"Wh-what is that?"
Najenda and Hans stared at Noah's actions, feeling a wave of shock.
Judging from the shape, that object was probably...
A gun?
But if it was a gun, it was far too long.
It was not merely a little longer than Roman Artillery. It was much longer.
If that slender metal tube was the firing rail of a gun, then compared to a gun, it would be more appropriate to call that thing a cannon.
And where had he taken such a massive object from?
Najenda furrowed her brow.
Just now, she had only seen a flash of light, and in the blink of an eye, a two-meter-long heavy sniper rifle had appeared in Noah's hands.
While gripping Annihilator, Noah injected his mana into it.
The patterns engraved across the pure white heavy sniper lit up like circuit boards.
At that moment, the barrier in front of Noah was also close to breaking.
The barrier covered in cracks looked as though it would turn into fragments in the very next second.
But Noah's preparations were complete as well.
He used "Forge Iron" to create a large round of ammunition as thick as an arm, then incorporated the Bombard formula into it.
After that, instead of loading it through a magazine, he directly pulled the bolt and chambered the round.
Multiple magic circles unfolded in front of the scope, locking onto Najenda.
Bombard formula, ready.
The instant she was locked on, Najenda felt a chill shoot from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
The intense sense of danger, combined with the fluctuation of her mind, caused an indescribably powerful energy to form inside the Teigu in her hands.
She could even feel her own life force being squeezed out along with it.
Thin streaks of blood seeped out beneath her skin.
"Damn it, what's happening all of a sudden?" Najenda realized she could no longer control her rampaging Teigu and immediately panicked.
Noah, however, would not wait.
"Bombard."
Boom—!
An orange-red beam pierced across the battlefield.
With a flash of fire, Najenda, dragged down by her own Teigu, could not evade in time. All she could do was entrust her predicament to her comrade.
"Hans!"
"Yeah, leave it to me!"
Hans raised his shield.
Relying on the instincts he had honed on the battlefield, he found the path of the incoming attack and actively moved his shield to meet it.
"Watch me stop it!"
Boom!
Explosive flames expanded all at once.
The firelight illuminated the terrified expressions of everyone present.
The destruction caused by Bombard was comparable to a small sun descending onto the earth.
Hans went from using only the wrist strength of one arm to needing half his body to support the shield.
His feet dragged two retreating tracks into the ground, and those marks were immediately erased by the exploding flames.
Under the shield's pull, the enormous energy did not spread outward. Instead, it was continuously absorbed into the shield.
Whether flame or heat, all of it was swallowed into that shield.
"Well done, Hans!"
Najenda's spirit rose.
As expected of her most trusted subordinate.
Then, as his commander, she had to respond as well!
She had already understood that there was no way she could suppress her rampaging Teigu anymore.
At that moment, terrifying energy was erupting from the muzzle, already reaching its limit.
Then she would release it all in one burst!
It would be difficult to leave the enemy alive, but there was no other way.
"Move, Hans!"
Najenda aimed Roman Artillery: Pumpkin at Noah.
The instant Hans heard the order, he immediately shifted sideways. Once he moved, the golden beam mixed with black energy bloomed at once.
The Bombard formula, its power nearly exhausted, could not resist that powerful energy at all.
The small sun was actually pierced through in one shot, a large hole opened from below.
Najenda struggled to control the Teigu in her hands.
Even though all the heat dissipation vents had opened, the temperature of the gun body was still rising in a straight line.
At this rate, she would not be able to maintain it for long.
But this was the greatest output she had ever produced!
She had no doubt about the power of this strike.
Whether the opponent was human or monster, there was absolutely no way he could survive this attack!
On the other side, even the members of Oarburgh were astonished by such a powerful attack.
Even Kurome, who had considerable trust in Noah, felt that he might die.
Facing the savage torrent of energy head-on, Noah unfolded Annihilator's bipod and sat directly on the ground, his right leg folded beneath him while his left foot stretched forward.
"Clustered Strike."
He compressed three Bombard formulas into a single round.
On top of that, he amplified the compressed round three times in one go.
Thus, he obtained an extremely terrifying piece of ammunition.
[+3 Bombard]
・Creator: Noah
・Mana round: 90% flame, 10% physical
・Maximum attack range: 2.32 km
・Maximum kill radius: 19 meters
・Amplification: Base power increased by 30%
Compared to an ordinary Bombard formula, once ammunition was amplified, it was like equipment. Each amplification increased its base attributes by 10%.
Together with Clustered Strike... Bombard's power increased by 300%!
"Clustered Strike, Bombard."
"Bombard."
Boom!
The moment Noah pulled Annihilator's trigger, an explosive sound rang beside his ears.
A dark red beam surged from the muzzle.
The golden beam wrapped in black aura and the dark red beam collided between the two sides.
The moment the two masses of energy collided, they began eroding one another.
After intertwining for a brief moment, the two energies suddenly began to twist, becoming unstable.
As the two masses of energy tore at one another, a spillover stream of power fell onto the ground.
That strange light was like a paintbrush, drawing a long gully across the earth.
Seeing this, Noah muttered, "Not good," then quickly turned around and chose to run without the slightest hesitation.
As he fled, he glanced back at the twisted energy field.
[Energy Vortex]
・An unstable mass of energy formed by the collision of chaotic elemental energy and mental energy.
・Time remaining until Energy Vortex detonation: 4.14 seconds.
・The detonation of the Energy Vortex will completely destroy the surface within a radius of 250 meters.
・Defense success rate: 7%.
・Evasion success rate: 81%.
Four...
Three...
Two...
One...
Noah retreated at full speed, escaping the explosion's range in an instant.
The sharp-eyed Merraid saw Noah actually preparing to run and immediately realized something was wrong.
She directly called her people and turned to flee.
Hans did not notice Noah's actions, but the deadly aura emitted by that terrifying energy made his body make the correct choice on instinct.
Without another word, he hoisted Najenda onto his shoulder and began fleeing with powerful strides.
In just four seconds, the twisted energy mass reached its limit.
The energy that had shrunk into a single point erupted with a roar, and a pitch-black torrent of energy expanded together with a ring-shaped shockwave.
"Mana Reinforcement."
"Gravity Interference."
"Ice Barrier."
Noah swiftly escaped the explosion's range, but in the final second, he was still caught by the shockwave and was sent flying.
In midair, he adjusted his body, stabilized his posture, and landed steadily while carrying Annihilator.
The instant he touched down, he swung the pure white heavy sniper and fixed it in place again.
"Forge Iron."
Metal elements were drawn from the earth and condensed into large rounds of ammunition, all of which Noah pressed into the magazine.
Clustered Strike could not be used continuously.
However, he felt that the enemy's level of firepower should not be something they could fire repeatedly either.
Then he would take this chance to suppress them in return all at once!
"Bombard formula, loaded."
Through multiple magic circles, obstructive methods such as smoke were completely useless to Noah.
His vision pierced through the rolling smoke.
Najenda's battered figure appeared in Noah's scope.
Because the distance was too far, Noah could only see information such as a head wound and other external injuries.
However, since she was not directly displayed as a "corpse," that meant she was still alive.
By comparison, the Teigu user named Hans was in an even more miserable state.
At this moment, he had lost his entire right arm and the lower half of his left leg. The missing parts looked as though they had evaporated into thin air, without even blood flowing from them.
On one side was a shield that had lost its strength.
On the other was a sniper still capable of counterattacking.
In that case, he would eliminate the more threatening side first!
"Bombard."
Bombard—
Bang!
The sound of gunfire made the still-shaken Hans and Najenda feel as though their souls had left their bodies.
Without amplification, Bombard's range returned to its original level, which was still more than a kilometer.
And the distance between the two sides was roughly seven hundred yards.
Among Annihilator's empowerment protocols was a formula called Sure-Hit Arrow.
At this distance, it could be said that every shot would land.
Moreover, Bombard was a formula with small-area killing power.
Whoosh!
The sound of something piercing the air rang beside Najenda's ear.
She instinctively raised her head and saw a large metal round expanding endlessly in her field of vision.
Was she going to die...?
Putting aside whether this shell had the same power as the earlier attack, even an ordinary bullet was not something her mortal body could bounce away with her forehead.
And this was a "shell" of that size.
Even if it did not explode, the impact alone could smash her head into mush.
'Huey. Losser.'
'Sorry. It looks like I'm coming with you.'
Ambition dying before it could be fulfilled—you two would definitely laugh loudly if you saw this, wouldn't you?
She had thought she could change the Empire, but just as things were beginning, they were about to end.
'Sir Noah was actually this powerful.'
'Him, Esdeath, and Great General Budo...'
'Had the Empire's power truly weakened?'
'Had they been doing something useless from the very beginning?'
'Against three monsters like that, did they really have any chance of victory?'
'Ah...'
'So this is death?'
It felt as though time had been slowed without limit, as if everything had come to a stop.
Boom!
The explosion swept Najenda's body into the air like a broken doll.
In midair, Najenda's thoughts had not yet stopped.
The pain did not come immediately. Instead, it seemed to be slowly brewing.
Thud.
Najenda fell in front of the man named Hans.
The man widened his eyes, staring blankly at Najenda's ruined body before him.
Without a doubt... That was already a corpse!
Even if she still had a breath left, there was no chance of surviving such injuries.
Her usually gallant expression had fallen silent, just like her scattered pupils.
Her white hair spread across the ground, and blood stained the woman's lips red, slowly flowing from the corner of her mouth and drawing a red line.
"Najenda..."
Hans could not believe it. His entire body froze.
But after only an instant, he suddenly used every bit of strength he had left, biting onto his severed arm and shield to drag them back.
He covered Najenda's body with the shield, his eyes bloodshot as he roared, "I won't let you die!"
The energy stored inside the shield had already exceeded its limit.
Now, Hans intended to release all of that energy in one go and turn it all into life force.
"Please, work!" The man stared desperately at her face. "Don't die! Najenda!"
Bzzzz!
Ever since this battle began, the shield Teigu had stored an enormous amount of energy. Now, it displayed its ability.
That powerful energy had already materialized, forming a brilliant pillar of light that completely enveloped Najenda.
Under Hans's hopeful gaze, the woman's broken body actually began to recover as though time had rewound.
The lost blood returned from nowhere, like the descent of a miracle.
'Great. If this works, we can definitely be saved!'
But...
Bang!
The two of them were blasted away.
In midair, the expression on Hans's face froze in terror.
Seven hundred yards away, Noah expressionlessly pulled the trigger, sniping the two of them again and again with Bombard formulas.
Feelings?
The bonds between companions?
Love?
None of that mattered.
Since they were opponents in a fight to the death, seizing the opening and exterminating the enemy was the only respect he could show them.
This was real combat.
Seven consecutive Bombard formulas roared across the field.
The huge blasts tore the once-beautiful forest into an unrecognizable ruin, and in the bombarded area, not even the figures of Hans and Najenda could be found anymore.
It had only been a battle between six people, yet this place looked as though it had gone through a war.
The scorched earth was mixed with the smell of blood.
Through his scope, Noah could no longer find Hans, Najenda, or the others anywhere in his vision.
However, he did not relax in the slightest.
Dead?
And not even a body left... No. That wasn't right.
"Where did that shield go?"
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