New chapter of Demon King is out! (1/1 chapter)

Silent Hill*

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(POV switch – Liao Rube)

He came.

Liao Rube saw Yuri push the army forward and sensed it. Contrary to their expectations, Yuri, who moved the army north, was advancing the entire army at once in a way that enveloped the range of the cannons.

No problem. Orders had already been given to the batteries. There was no need to support the Papal States side. Anyway, the plan was to retreat to this side of the river in order to carry out that dam-destruction operation. Deploying an encirclement formation was an action outside the initial assumption, but it did not mean the dam-breaching plan had collapsed.

No problem. It should be no problem.

An eagle took off from the enemy camp and came toward them. As expected, they intended to attack from the sky. This was also according to plan.

Since the cannons were armored, there was no problem with something being dropped. However, if they were left to do as they pleased, and the place became a sea of flames, the firing would be hindered. They could not be left unchecked.

“Enemy intends to use incendiary bombs. Have the Heavenly Knights take off and hinder the dropping!” (Liao)

“Yes, sir!” (Messenger)

The messenger who received the order immediately gave the signal with semaphore flags. This was a tradition of the Rube Household.

Less than a minute after the order was issued, the eagles took flight. Liao could not help but feel proud. His soldiers moved like the limbs of the general. Their training was splendid. The eagles engaged in aerial battle, and on the ground, the enemy soldiers’ firearms began to roar.

*Papapapapa*

Irregular bursts of gunfire rang out intermittently. Amidst the music of the battlefield, Liao had question marks floating in his head. They were firing too early. At that distance, they could not possibly aim, and even if the bullets reached, they would have no killing power.

What kind of plan was this? Was it simply that there were many new soldiers mixed in, making control difficult? If so… If so, striking out from here might break through the enemy.

Liao hesitated over whether to advance his soldiers. If he gave a rallying cry here and ordered an offensive, morale would also rise. However, if they struck out from their side, they would be discarding the advantage of the cannons themselves. If possible, he wanted to first repel the enemy offensive once and then attack in the form of a counterstrike.

At that moment, among the music of the battlefield, a particularly loud roar resounded. From behind came a *doon* sound. It was a deep bass that resonated through the skin, echoing across the battlefield. The huge lump of iron that had been fired landed in the enemy camp about five seconds later and exploded. It was the kind of sight where one could easily imagine the blood and flesh of the enemy soldiers scattering.

A few minutes later, the second roar thundered across the battlefield. That sound was heard especially loudly, like a song of triumph. Once again the shell landed, and the soldiers of the Hou Household became chunks of meat. No matter the army, it would be impossible to continue a fierce offensive in such a situation.

This battle was theirs.

Liao could vividly feel the sensation of victory in the fist he had clenched without thinking. At that moment, from above his head came a long trailing “Aaaaaah” sound. Before Liao could raise his head toward the sky, it passed by his ear along with the sound of slicing wind, then changed to a sound from below his head. There was a splat. It was the sound of flesh being slammed into the ground.

When he looked over, there was a Heavenly Knight of the Rube Household on an eagle. Slammed into the ground, the knight seemed to have been cushioned by the eagle, remaining mounted on the instantly-dead eagle while writhing in intense pain.

Something was strange. Even when trying to get away from the eagle, it seemed he was entangled in something and could not move. Like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web, the more he struggled, the worse the situation became.

Looking closely, it seemed that thin threads like a fishing net were tangled around him. This was a weapon to bring down eagles.

Impossible. That man had less than a month to prepare. After it became a battle against an enemy that also used eagles, could he have developed a new weapon in under a month? That was absurd. No matter how high his ability, such a thing was impossible.

No. Wrong. A dragon. That was it. When he had once again faced a dragon on the battlefield, he had been seeking a way to bring it down in the air. And now, one such answer was being used on his comrades before being used on the dragon.

Looking up, under the cloudy sky, the eagles were fluttering and crossing paths here and there. From time to time, as if giving up resisting gravity, an eagle fell toward the ground. Whether they had prepared only a small number, or whether it was not an absolutely dominant weapon, the Heavenly Knights of the Rube family were fighting well.

“Hey.” (Liao)

“Yes, sir! What is it?” (Subordinate)

“The signal from the batteries? What on earth are they doing? The cannons have been silent this whole time.” (Liao)

The cannons had ceased firing since the first two shots. Normally, he would want them to fire as fast as possible with *dokadoka* continuous shots.

“Nothing.” (Subordinate)

“Then, tell the messenger to fire even if the aim is a little off. Just the sound can intimidate the enemy army.” (Liao)

The enemy camp was now approaching even closer and had begun full-fledged firing. Since they had also begun returning fire, the smoke from burning black powder was beginning to envelop the battlefield in white.

Still, the smoke was thick. Such gunpowder smoke would normally be blown away by wind, but today the wind had stopped. For that reason, the smoke stayed on the front lines, acting like a smokescreen that concealed the formation. Perhaps the batteries were hesitating to fire because they could not observe the front lines accurately due to that. However, even if they could not aim precisely, they needed to fire.

“No response!” (Messenger)

“What?” (Liao)

During clashes, they were supposed to maintain constant close communication. Signalers were always stationed on the watchtower, ready to send and receive messages at any time. The one entrusted with the batteries was one of his most capable subordinates, so it was unthinkable that he would neglect communication and leave the signaler’s post. That meant some abnormal situation was occurring.

“I am temporarily delegating command. You take command.” (Liao)

Liao spoke to the general standing by at his side.

“Your Excellency, surely you do not intend to go to the batteries yourself?” (General)

“I must go. That is the linchpin of this war.” (Liao)

“Allow me to go instead.” (General)

“No. I will go. If the batteries are not functioning, we must strike back. That decision is important.” (Liao)

Liao put on his flight jacket.

“If I do not return in fifteen minutes, strike back at your own judgment. Understood?” (Liao)

“Understood. Please take care.” (General)

Liao headed briskly toward his beloved eagle. Even in such a time, a general should not run. That was his father’s teaching.

 

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When he ascended into the sky, he saw one of the batteries charred black. Perhaps due to an intense bombardment, beyond the thick white smoke that had spread, the whole area was pitch black and burned. The cannons were silent.

Eagles were swarming in the sky above.

What on earth had they done?

An eagle in a steep dive at high speed grazed right past the flying Liao. It dropped something and escaped along the mountain slope. What was dropped looked like a bomb, but the moment it hit the roof of the battery, it shattered, scattering black dust. It seemed that the same thing had already been dropped multiple times, as the surroundings were blackened as if soot had been spread all over.

Then, a firebomb dropped by the next eagle broke, and flames appeared licking from the edge of the roof. In that instant, the entire battery shone like the sun. At the same time as the dazzling flash, a wave of heat that could be felt even through a thick jacket assaulted Liao. His eagle, confused by the sudden heat, was held down only by Liao’s reflexive reins. Having been with it for four years since purchase, the well-trained eagle barely avoided crashing into the ground and regained altitude.

When he looked again after calming down, the place where the battery should have been was shrouded in thick, milky fog. It was a fog very familiar to Liao, one he had often seen. When a line of riflemen fires in unison, such a fog appears. In other words, the black something scattered was gunpowder. Scatter a large amount of gunpowder around and ignite it. That way, the soldiers inside are burned to death.

He looked at the other batteries. Perhaps because the quantity had not yet been sufficient, ignition had not occurred, but gunpowder was piled up around them. The knights were trying to remove the gunpowder with brooms. They must have been afraid of it igniting from firing.

Liao immediately began organizing in his mind the troublesome aspects of this tactic.

If you cannot crush it in one blow, then you pile up firepower.

Yuri’s idea was exactly that.

If you gather firepower in the form of gunpowder around it, igniting it all at once could destroy the battery. Therefore, that gunpowder must be removed.

Liao brought his eagle closer to the battery to observe the situation more closely. He saw the black powdery gunpowder being blown about.

He immediately understood what caused it. It was like blowing finely ground flour with one’s breath, the wind pressure from wingbeats scattered it. The gunpowder seemed light enough to be blown away by the eagle’s wingbeats.

In that case, there was only one thing to do. If they concentrated eagles there and gained superiority, the cannons might recover their function. Even if a small amount ignited, the soldiers would probably not be killed or injured. He had to return to headquarters quickly.

Just as he thought that and manipulated the reins, he saw a Heavenly Knight of the Hou family approaching from above, aiming something like a tube at him. Liao grabbed the helmet strap he had already untied, twisted his upper body, and threw it.

If it spread like a casting net, then closing it before it reached him was enough. As intended, the fired net shrank as it wrapped around the incoming helmet right after being launched.

What a troublesome weapon to come up with.

However, such a weapon would be useless if there were wind. Even hitting the target would be extremely difficult, and in the intense crossing of aerial combat, it would be impossible to read wind direction. The same applied to the gunpowder. If it could be scattered by eagle wingbeats, then in strong wind it would naturally disperse, and the tactic would not work. However, unfortunately, today there was no wind. The strong winds that had been blowing until yesterday had completely stopped.

Why does the heavens side with him?

The moment his head was filled with hateful feelings, a realization struck Liao’s mind. He had been waiting for this. The time when the wind stopped. He had wondered why Yuri did not attack. There was no way to understand it because all he had been waiting for was for the wind to stop.

If the wind does not blow, then he would have to make wind.

Liao steered his eagle toward headquarters.

 

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