Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

Chapter 680  Artillery Maids

"Greetings, everyone. For those that don't know, I am Wolfe Noxus, Patriarch of the Noxus Magi Family. I have a proposal for you all today, one that will allow you to contribute immeasurably to the defence of the Palace, and take some vengeance upon the Crusaders that have made your workday less pleasant." Wolfe greeted the staff.

There was some scattered laughter at that. Vengeance for an unpleasant workday? They had assumed that he would put it in terms of duty and honour, loyalty to the nation, or some noble cause. But instead, Wolfe had asked if they wanted to vent about having a bad day at work.

"What did you have in mind?" The Maid who escorted him here asked.

"Do you see the rifles that the lovely Millie and Chloe are carrying? Any Demon roughly their size is capable of using them, even down to a metre and a half tall, unless you've got particularly short arms. I can create them with inscribed bullets, and you will just need to point them at the enemy and fire.

That's all it will take, and you will have the firepower equal to an entire squad of conventional armies until you run out of bullets. It will be a short offensive burst for the defence of the Palace, but it should be enough to help exhaust the Crusaders' barrier casters and allow the main force to overrun them." Wolfe explained.

"So, all we need to do is just aim weapons at the enemy and fire? None of us know how to use a bow, will we really be effective at all?" One of the maids who had been on Janitor duty asked.

"Yes. The barrier to entry is very low. Just hold it like this, look down the barrel where the sights line up, and when you see a large group of enemies, fire. If they've got a large barrier up, you don't even need to do that much. Just aim in their general direction and fire. As long as it hits the barrier, it's fine.

How many of you would be willing to head to the walls or one of the towers to try this out?"

The Maids considered that for a moment, then one had a great realization. "We could go to the top of the fourteenth spire and shoot out the windows. That would be perfect."

"What's so special about that tower?" Wolfe asked.

"It's near the wall and unoccupied. But more importantly, it's a research tower, so the walls are specially reinforced against explosions, magical attacks, and even gigantic beasts breaking loose and trying to smash it down. If there were a list of most secure places in the Palace, it would be second to the throne room, and it faces the battle." The Maid laughed.

"See, that's a brilliant idea that I wouldn't have thought of myself. Alright, let's go there. I just need a few helpers to hold the rifles as I make them, and then a few more with baskets to hold the spare ammunition."

Giving them five or ten minutes to walk there as he cast and then using the rifles to dump all that magic in the next thirty seconds would hopefully be a big enough burst to drop the barriers over the army.

The rifles were quickly distributed, as there were only ten windows in the upper levels that could see the battle, so Wolfe focused on ammunition. The longer they could sustain the barrage, the more exhausted they could make the enemy's defenders.

"Alright, here it is. Was there anything that we needed to do before we begin?" The Maid who had been escorting Wolfe asked.

"Just practice aiming the weapon so you know what to do when you start. Then, when there is a surge from our side, we will join in and try to cause chaos. If anyone has malicious ideas, and thinks that they can get through the defensive spells over the Palace, I will warn you now, these spells are visually distinctive, so everyone will know if you hit our team." Wolfe reminded them.

None of them did. They had a lot of rage at the enemy, and nowhere near as much animosity towards the soldiers. The King had retracted [Kind Intentions] again after the meeting failed, and the spire was outside its influence, as the walls had to be for the defence to effectively counterattack.

The King had joined the battle now, and there was a glowing Cleric on the other side, casting the core of the barrier over the attacking army, a spell that wrapped all the soldiers in individual bubbles of protective magic. That must be the enemy leader, and he was carefully protected by a large entourage of guards holding up armour talismans mounted on staves. They looked a bit ridiculous, but Wolfe respected their pomposity and dedication to the aesthetic.

"Alright, see those glowing idiots with staves? They're all packed together, and the spells you're using are like the ones that I used the other day, they create an area of explosions. When I give the signal, you start shooting at them." Wolfe instructed.

The ten gunners took their places, using the window ledges for support, and waited.

The Demon King began a grand spell, and a haze of dark energy settled over the battlefield, causing the glowing figure to flinch and glow more brightly, while streams of energy poured from his attendants into him.

That was only visible to Wolfe's Mana Sense, and only a few Demons would be able to tell that they were supporting their leader, but this was the perfect chance.

"Everyone, fire until the weapons are empty, then pass them to the next user.

The chatter of automatic weapons deafened everyone in the small stone room before Wolfe could cast an air spell to dampen the noise, and the barrier over the enemy leader vanished behind a wall of poorly aimed [Cluster Grenade] spells.

Few of them would have hit the leader, but they were mostly hitting the barrier, and that was close enough that it was already losing its lustre.

Just as they were running out of ammunition, the barrier began to flicker and falter. They really had managed to overload the enemy's resistance.