“BOOM—!!!”
Another thunderous explosion rang out.
The tip of the castle's spire was struck by a fire oil barrel falling from the sky. Rubble flew everywhere, and thick black smoke billowed upward.
Although the magic shield blocked most of the damage, the vibration from the explosion still caused the hand of Victor, who was debugging equipment in the laboratory, to twitch.
Snap.
A precious magic-conduction circuit in his hand was snipped in two.
“My ceiling!”
“My waterproofing layer!”
“These flying rats who only know how to defecate everywhere!”
Victor slammed his pliers down, his face as dark as the bottom of a scorched pot.
He rushed to the window and looked up.
Through his 【True Sight Eye】, he could clearly see the arrogant figures amidst the clouds.
Hundreds of harpies were circling two thousand meters in the air as if playing with ants on the ground. From time to time, they dropped a rock or a fire oil barrel, followed by piercing, mocking laughter.
They were clever.
They knew that on the ground, there was a terrifying little girl with great scissors and a perverted doctor who could turn people into streetlamps.
So, they flew high.
High enough that Alice's great scissors couldn't reach them, and Elizabeth's blood whip couldn't strike them.
This was blatant bullying—taking advantage of the Benevolent Heart Clinic's lack of anti-air capabilities!
“Fine, very good.”
Victor laughed from extreme anger, pushing up his glasses as a crazed, cold light flickered in his eyes.
“Since you don't want to come down for a consultation...
“Then I’ll send some ‘medicine’ up to you!”
He spun around abruptly and roared at the group of employees behind him, who were also covered in dust from the explosions:
“Everyone! To the warehouse!
“Bring out all that scrap metal we stripped off those Black Iron Knights!
“Today, I’m going to install a ‘security screen’ for this clinic!”
...
Ten minutes later.
The alchemy furnace in the castle's backyard was running at full capacity.
Like a tireless laborer, Roadhog threw mountain-like piles of knight armor, broken longswords, and deformed shields into the furnace burning with Netherworld Divine Fire (sponsored by Aur).
Sizzle—
Under the extreme heat, the hundred-refined steel that once represented glory and sturdiness instantly melted into glowing red molten iron.
“Zoe! The molds!”
“Coming, Director!”
Zoe, her face covered in soot, excitedly operated the mechanical arms.
The molten iron was poured into the molds.
It cooled and took shape.
One after another, they appeared: two-meter-long tubes, thick as a thigh, with complex spiral rifling carved into the inner walls...
Seamless steel pipes.
“Alice! Carve the runes!”
“On it!”
Alice held a special diamond engraving knife, her movements so fast they were a mere blur.
She quickly carved dangerous magic symbols onto the steel pipes that hadn't yet fully cooled.
【Blast】, 【Acceleration】, 【Tracking】, 【Armor Piercing】.
As each rune lit up, the magic fluctuations emanating from the pipes grew more heart-palpitating.
“Final step!”
Victor took charge personally.
He stuffed cut pieces of universal mana batteries into the energy slots at the base of the pipes.
Then, he assembled them onto a heavy-duty base capable of 360-degree rotation.
On each base, four barrels were installed side-by-side.
The pitch-black muzzles exuded a cold killing intent.
This was Victor's creation, combining Earth's technology with otherworldly magic, specifically tailored for these "air forces"—
【Fully Automated Magic-Conduction Anti-Aircraft Cannon (Quad-Linked Edition)】.
Abbreviated as: AD-1 "Flyswatter."
“Four of them! Build me four!”
Victor acted like a crazed arms dealer, directing this impromptu arms race.
“Install them on the four corner towers of the castle!
“If we’re going to defend, we do it with zero blind spots!
“I want to turn this sky into a true no-fly zone!”
...
Half an hour later.
On the four corner towers at the top of the castle, the four hideous steel beasts had been set up.
They were entirely black, glinting with the cold light unique to metal. Their four thick barrels pointed diagonally toward the firmament, as if declaring war on the heavens.
“Hardware installation complete.”
Victor stood at the main control console, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Now, we’re missing a fire-control radar.”
He turned his head to look at Helena, who had been on standby while straddling her motorcycle.
“Helena.”
“Present, Commander.”
“Get to the roof.”
Victor pointed to the highest spire.
“Interface your nervous system with the control centers of these four turrets.
“From now on, you are the ‘eyes’ of this castle.”
“Understood.”
Helena didn't hesitate.
She dismounted, her high-tech pumpkin head rotating slightly as she walked toward the spire with heavy steps.
She reached out, and several data cables flicked out from her fingertips, plugging directly into the turret control interfaces.
Buzz—
The sound of electric current crackled.
In Helena’s cybernetic eyes, the red light surged.
Countless data streams flashed frantically across her retinas.
【Connection successful.】
【Fire control system... activating.】
【Ballistics calculation module... loaded.】
【Targeting...】
Hum—
Accompanied by a low mechanical hum.
The four anti-aircraft turrets seemed to come to life.
Under Helena's control, they slowly rotated their muzzles, locking onto the rampaging harpies in the sky with synchronized precision.
...
High in the sky.
Windwing, the leader of the harpies, was circling smugly.
She looked down at the castle, which was already blackened by smoke and fire, and let out a shrill laugh.
“Caw caw caw! Stupid ground creatures!
“Did you think you’d be safe hiding in a tortoise shell?
“Sisters! Keep dropping! Smash that red cross to pieces!”
She had no idea what was happening below.
In her view, those humans were merely making a futile struggle.
As long as they flew high enough, they were invincible!
“Watch this!”
A young, aggressive harpy grabbed a boulder the size of a millstone, tucked her wings, and began to dive.
She wanted to use the gravitational acceleration to accurately smash the rock through a castle window.
“Die, you insects!”
The wind whistled past.
As she watched the castle draw closer, her eyes were filled with cruel delight.
However.
Just as she was five hundred meters from the castle.
She suddenly felt a surge of palpitations.
It was as if she had been... targeted by something terrifying.
Subconsciously, she looked at the roof of the castle.
There, a pitch-black tube was pointing directly at her.
Deep inside the muzzle, a cluster of blinding blue light ignited.
“What is that?”
Before that thought could finish.
“BANG—!!!”
A dull, thunderous roar instantly tore through the din of the battlefield.
A streak of blue light, traveling at a speed she couldn't possibly react to, surged upward!
It was...
A magic anti-aircraft shell, engraved with explosion runes and compressed from high-purity mana!
Fast.
It was too fast.
The harpy didn't even have time to scream.
“BOOM—!!!”
The moment the blue light hit her, it detonated.
A brilliant blue firework blossomed in mid-air.
There was no flesh and blood flying.
Because under that terrifying heat and magical impact, the harpy and the rock in her hands were instantly vaporized.
They turned into ash drifting in the sky.
“...”
The sky fell deathly silent.
All the harpies froze.
They remained in their bomb-dropping postures, staring blankly at the slowly dissipating blue firework.
What had happened?
Just now... did something fly up here?
Before they could figure it out.
“BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!”
From the four corners of the castle, that same dull thud—sounding like Death knocking on the door—rang out simultaneously.
The four turrets were firing at full capacity!
Helena's calculation abilities were displayed to their fullest in this moment.
Like a most precise brain, she simultaneously controlled sixteen barrels, locking onto sixteen different targets.
Prediction, correction, fire!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Over a dozen streaks of blue light wove into a net of death, descending upon the harpy swarm.
“CAW—!!!”
“Help!”
“What kind of magic is this?!”
Screams instantly filled the sky.
The harpies, who usually prided themselves as masters of the air, were now like flies sprayed with insecticide, exploding in mid-air one after another.
Some had their wings blown off and spiraled downward.
Some were blown directly into dust.
Others were so terrified they forgot to flap their wings and fell straight down.
The once-dense bombing formation was instantly blown to tatters.
“Retreat! Retreat quickly!”
Windwing, the leader, was scared out of her wits.
She had never seen such an absurd attack in her life!
No chanting, no casting gestures, and such a long range!
This wasn't magic! This was cheating!
She shrieked as she turned around, desperately trying to gain altitude to escape this death zone.
However.
Because she was too panicked and kept glancing back at the terrifying fire, she failed to notice the towering ancient tree ahead.
THUD!
A loud crash echoed.
The once-arrogant harpy leader slammed face-first into the trunk.
Then, like a hanging scroll, she slowly slid down.
She had passed out.
...
On the castle balcony.
Victor held up a pair of binoculars, watching the black dots fleeing in disarray and the unlucky leader who hit the tree.
He blew away the faint smoke rising from a muzzle, a "kindly" smile appearing on his face.
“Running already?
“I haven't even tried yet.”
He turned around and waved to his stunned employees.
“Alice, Mia.
“Go, pick up the one that hit the tree and those that fell.
“Although some are smashed up, if we stitch them together...
“They should still be usable.”
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