BXBX NOVEL Chapter 87 - Miracles That Mortals Can Also Participate In
Chapter 87: Miracles That Mortals Can Also Participate In
The news of the coming aberration attack had been disseminated to the entire camp. But under Gawain’s intentional guidance and firm words, the panic and tension caused by this matter had been suppressed… or perhaps, it should be said that they had been shifted away. The spoils of war that were brought back previously and the good reputation of Gawain Cecil in such situations had a decisive effect.
As for this matter, Gawain was most pleased that there were no runaways in this camp as of now.
The serfs and commoners might be ignorant, but they weren’t foolish. They knew that this barren land was far away from civilization and that there was nothing but towering mountains and primitive forests. Furthermore, there were monsters roaming in the mountains, and in order for them to escape to the relatively safe Tanzan Town, they would need to travel at least three to four days. Now that the aberrations were already rather close, running away would only lead to a faster death… As such, those that wanted to flee would naturally be able to weigh the pros and cons of their choices.
On this point, Gawain had asked Heidi to specially emphasize it to the members here.
Thus, even though they had a little fear and even though the blazing flames of the Cecil territories and the innumerable monsters were still lingering in their minds, they still worked hard to gather their courage. When they heard that the hero leader that came from 700 years ago had a specialized method to deal with the aberrations and when they saw how confidently Heidi and Rebecca commanded the soldiers to prepare for battle, it allowed them to have some confidence too.
The tasks that were distributed to them were also one of the factors that boosted their confidence.
The steelworks was said to be producing ‘furnace slags’ that could be used as weapons. Tasks like the production of pedal traps, carving, and touching up of runes were all suitable for the commoners even if they were illiterate. Furthermore, when they were working, the soldiers would constantly emphasize that these things could be used to deal with those monsters. As such, the workers started to feel that the ‘ancient duke’ was rather capable, spurring them to work extra hard.
But in fact, the soldiers responsible for the ‘announcements’ weren’t very sure what those things were used for. They were only following orders and relaying the words that they heard from Gawain to the working commoners.
“Put the crystal fragments at the lowest layer then place them on the slabs that are carved with magic circles! If the slabs are damaged then change to a new one here!”
“Put the completed things over here!”
“Remember to inspect if the crystals are glowing. Those crystals that are not glowing will not be able to be used. Change them here!”
“The things you’re working on are weapons that are specialized to deal with the monsters… These are Duke Gawain’s instructions! He is the monsters’ nemesis!”
Gawain led Rebecca and Heidi to traverse across the northeast side’s empty field. This spacious land was specially used to create ‘art’. Originally, Gawain planned to name this place the Louvre and to set this place as the art vault. But no one understood the concept; hence, it was dropped.
He bent over and inspected the items that were stacked neatly and tidily. They were wooden containers that were half-feet squares with a height under two inches. The wooden boxes were filled with Rebecca Crystals, and above the crystals were black stone slabs that were carved with explosive magic circles.
But just this arrangement was unable to detonate the magical version of a ‘landmine’. It still required a rune trigger to be able to detonate.
The final step could not be handed to the commoners or serfs to complete. After considering the risk of accidental explosions, the rune trigger’s installation was left as the final step. These wooden boxes would be installed underground in the mountain pass at the southwest side of the camp. Only after they were installed underground would the soldiers and the craftsmen who were specialized in traps be able to assemble the rune triggers on the magic circles.
The rune triggers were relatively simple structures. The ‘trigger mechanism’ and the rune were isolated by a thin slab; on top, it was a layer of wooden board. After stepping down on the wooden board, the slab would be shattered, and the two runes would be connected. It would form a complete rune circuit that would activate the explosive magic circle and finally initiate the explosion.
This was the otherworld version of landmines. Even though the technical details of the landmine were entirely different from the Earth’s landmine, the train of thoughts were similar. It obviously didn’t conform with the chivalry of this era’s knights, but Heidi and Rebecca’s evaluation of this landmine was: “Don’t bother about what knight’s chivalry is. This thing looks so cool!”
In this world where extraordinary powers existed, there was a particularly convenient thing when using ‘landmines’. There wasn’t a need to worry about a ‘landmine clearance mishap’ when disarming them. Heidi would leave her magic imprint on each of the explosive magic circles. This was a ‘minesweeper game’ that couldn’t even be considered when a simple level-one spell could guarantee the rapid detection of each landmine’s position. After the battle, the landmines that didn’t explode could be easily removed.
Of course, there was a limit on the number of magic imprints Heidi could maintain. But in this battle, the number of magic imprints she could maintain would be more than enough.
After the inspection work was done, Gawain handed the defense of the camp to the two clan knights and Rebecca. Gawain then headed to the Dark Range with Heidi.
On a cliff at the north of the mountain, they installed even more Rebecca Crystals.
In fact, most of the crystals accumulated in the camp had been transported to this place. It was to ensure that the explosion would be powerful enough to cause the cliff’s collapse. Gawain didn’t dare to be stingy on the ‘quantity’.
Previously, with the help of Heidi’s Sculpture Hand, Weight-Reduction, and other spells, the workers and the materials were all transported to this place. Using some simple rope and scaffolding, the stonemasons had already carved multiple craters into the cliff. They then poured in large quantities of crystals into the man-made craters as well as the crevices that already existed. But the carving of the explosive magic circles could only be completed by Heidi personally.
Heidi, who was only level three, was still unable to use the Flight spell, like other middle-rank mages. She couldn’t even maintain the low-rank Levitation spell for long periods of time. Hence, she could only stay on the ground and use the Sculpture Hand and Telekinesis spells to draw the explosive magic circles on the cliff. She then used the Eye of the Mage to observe before making adjustments. The precise control required exceeded most low-rank mages’ capabilities, but it was fortunate that Heidi wasn’t just a low-rank mage, but an official, converted believer of the ‘Magic Goddess’. She had prayed to the Magic Goddess before working and had obtained a short-term blessing, allowing this task to make progression.
In order to ensure that this extremely large explosive magic circle would work, Gawain had invested a lot this time… He took out a large quantity of powdered mithril and purple-crystal dust from the treasure vault in the mountain. After combining with Pittman’s alchemy chemical, the history’s most expensive ‘paint’ was produced. Heidi could use these magic-guiding materials to ‘draw’ on the cliff, and this would avoid the massive carving and tiling work, allowing the time required to be reduced.
Right now, time was the most precious.
When Heidi had drawn the giant lines and runes, Amber’s figure emerged from the nearby forest shadows. She had a nervous expression and leaned towards Gawain and whispered, “Those monsters are already very close. At most, half a day away.”
“I know. I reckon that it is almost time.” Gawain nodded. “Are they moving here using the predicted path?”
“Halfway here, they had nearly taken the other path.” When Amber spoke, her tone was obviously afraid, “Right then, I boldly emerged from the shadow state for an instant and attracted them back on this path… But in return, they are now more violent.”
Gawain looked at Amber in astonishment. “…Why are you so brave this time?”
Amber curled her lips and said, “Tsk, we are already at this stage. It is useless to be a coward at this point… Why not just take a risk with you and possibly survive.”
As she spoke, her vision couldn’t help but look at the cliff in front of her.
This tall cliff was above where they fought with the four aberrations. The path below the cliff was the path they had taken. After experiencing long years of wind and rain, the cliff was indeed rather fragile and could collapse at any moment. Furthermore, there was only one path underneath it. If the aberrations passed through this path, they would definitely form a long and congested formation. When the cliff collapsed, they wouldn’t be able to dodge. This was indeed a very ideal ambush point.
If there was a high-rank Master Mage here, he would certainly choose to blow up the cliff to kill those monsters. After all, an extreme Flame Burst spell or an earth element disintegration spell would be needed from a powerful Master Mage to make the cliff collapse.
But right now, the people that were about to do everything was a level-three, low-rank mage who couldn’t even use the Ice Arrow accurately and a large group of stonemasons, commoners, and serfs.
This had made Amber feel extremely strange.
The translucent Sculpture Hand was moving on the cliff and smearing the paint that was mixed with mithril powder, purple-crystal dust, and an alchemy chemical on the surface of the cliff. Many runes had already taken shape, and the entire cliff looked like some strange religious totem. On the top of the cliff, one could also see the rope ladders and the frames that were used by the stonemasons. Those were ‘traces of construction’ that they didn’t have time nor intended to dismantle.
This was the proof that ordinary people had participated in this unfathomable plan.
Not far away, the stonemasons and their apprentices were resting. They had used a lot of energy and bravery. It wasn’t an easy task to bind themselves to a few ropes in order to dig holes in the cliff, especially under the pressure of time. Even Gawain felt it was rather incredible; he originally thought that this task would use up a lot of time and that it might be impossible for the completion to catch up with his expected timeline.
But Gawain quickly understood that this wasn’t because the craftsmen and their apprentices were inspired by some honor, nor was it mainly due to the desire to survive. It was because this era’s poor individuals always lived like this.
Was it difficult to tie oneself up with a rope to carve craters in the cliff? It wasn’t any more difficult than tying themselves up with a rope to repair the spire of the lord’s castle. It wasn’t any more difficult than picking medicinal herbs at overhanging cliffs for the lord either.
It was said that 400 years ago, in the western mountainous parts of the kingdom, when serfs had to pick medicinal herbs, they didn’t even have ropes. Because back then, ropes were even more expensive than serfs.
But in this place, they were at least able to tie their bodies with ropes. Everything they were doing wasn’t just for the lord.