Kaito and his team made their way to the cannon they had been allotted. The floor trembled with the constant shock of arcane fire launching out of the cannons, but the group moved steadily, keeping their heads down. When they arrived, five battle mages were already stationed at their posts. The moment they saw Kaito's Viscount title displayed, they saluted with discipline.
"Greetings, Lord Viscount," they chorused. The leading mage, who was seated near the aiming mechanism of the cannon, stepped forward. His expression was respectful but serious. "How may we be of service to you?"
Kaito studied them carefully. Among the five, one mage was clearly responsible for aiming and firing, while the other four stood around the base, their hands already faintly glowing with mana. They were the power source. He remembered this method well.
During the long years of the Abyssal War, engineering grandmasters of humanity had faced the same problem again and again. The cost of using mana cores to fire these massive cannons was crippling. Each shot drained enough cores to bankrupt an entire city. Even in war, with resources pooled from various kingdoms, empires and even dynasties, it had been unsustainable.
Eventually, after trial and error, the engineers had created a conversion system. With the help of Enchanting Grandmasters they had developed a new runic arrays which when carved into the cannons, they allowed human mages to channel their own mana into the weapons. The array converted the mana into a stable power source strong enough to fire the magic cannon.
The result was simple but revolutionary. Arcane fire powered by battle mages themselves was not only cheaper, it was stronger, because the cannons amplified the personal strength of the mages feeding it. If a Tier Six powerhouse poured in mana, the shots grew even more devastating. Of course, this came with a risk: the stronger the mage, the heavier the strain on the cannon. Fire too many shots with too much power and the device itself could crack. That was the limit even the grandmasters had never been able to fully overcome.
Still, this was what allowed humanity to survive. As mentioned before, these cannons were all Dark Gold rank devices, among the most advanced constructs of their time. Each one required the skill of an engineering grandmaster to create, and even maintaining a single cannon was considered priceless. Powering them with five Tier Six battle mages working in shifts was far more practical and cost-effective than burning through mana cores.
Kaito's gaze drifted across the cannon. Its barrel stretched outward like a colossal pipe of black metal, its surface inscribed with layers upon layers of glowing runes. They pulsed in rhythm, lines of gold and crimson interweaving in a pattern too complex for most eyes to follow. Energy rings rotated slowly around the base, humming with restrained force. Every time it fired, the entire frame thrummed as if the air itself recoiled at the release.
Even as he studied it, the cannon roared again. A sphere of condensed arcane fire launched into the distance, leaving a streak of red-gold light through the sky before exploding far across the battlefield. The shockwave rattled the entire tower.
Through the wide windows, Kaito looked down at the war below. The battlefield stretched endlessly. Lines of human soldiers clashed against waves of Abyssal demons. Beyond them, dark gates loomed, pulsing with abyssal energy, spilling more monsters by the second. His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of one massive Abyssal demon, its sheer size making it tower like a living mountain. Its single leg reached as high as the fifth floor of the mage tower, each step shaking the land.
Yet even that monster was being held back. A team of three powerful battle mages stood in its path, their spells weaving together into a storm of destruction. Kaito could barely comprehend their strength. Because, In his past life, the strongest NPC he had personally seen in action had been Tier 7, a man who wiped out thousands of abyssal monsters with a single move during a random encounter. That memory had once left him trembling with awe. Back then, he thought this game was limitless, filled with power he could never reach.
Now, remembering his tragic end, that old excitement felt naive. He let out a quiet breath, forcing his focus back. He could not afford to dwell on the past.
Kaito raised his hand and pointed. "Aim there."
The leading battle mage followed his gesture and froze. His eyes went wide.
"My lord Viscount… forgive this humble one, but…" He swallowed, his voice growing tense. "That is one of the abyssal crystals powering the abyssal gates. Even if we were to fire, it is useless. Those crystals are shielded by barriers personally crafted by Tier 9 Abyssal demons. Our cannons cannot pierce them. We have tried before. Even once, a Tier 9 commander had broke the barrier for us, but even then, the crystal itself remained untouched. Our magic cannon simply does not have the power to harm it."
The other mages murmured agreement, clearly uneasy.
Kaito listened quietly. He knew they were right at least, in reality. At this point in the Abyssal War, the engineering grandmasters had not yet created weapons capable of damaging those crystals. Only later, after years of research, would humanity develop the next generation of siege magic cannons that could actually destroy them.
But this was not reality. This was an illusion. And Kaito had long since realized the trick behind it because of the guide.
Even though the people inside the illusion appeared powerful, their actual strength was only a fraction of what it had been in the real war barely one percent. The skill effects they displayed were nothing more than illusions. The same was true for the abyssal crystal here; it was different from the true crystals that once existed on the battlefield.
But this crystal was not just a piece of scenery. It was the very core that sustained the illusion, bound to the life essence and abyssal energy the Mist Queen Demon had sacrificed. If it was destroyed, the entire illusion would collapse. The mages around him did not know this truth, but Kaito did.
"Don't worry," Kaito said calmly. "Just follow my orders."
The leading mage hesitated, but the title of Viscount weighed heavier than his doubt. In a real war, giving such a reckless order would have harmed Kaito's reputation among the soldiers. But this was only an illusion, and Kaito had no reason to explain himself further.
The leading mage exhaled, helpless. He turned back to his men. "Power the cannon."
The four mages surrounding the base placed their palms on the glowing runes. Their mana surged outward, streams of light channeling into the conversion array carved into the cannon's frame. Instantly, the runes across the barrel brightened. Golden lines lit up one by one, flaring until the entire weapon pulsed like a living heart. The floor trembled as the cannon drew in more and more energy, its core chamber glowing with dangerous intensity.
"Stabilize the array!" the lead mage barked. The others gritted their teeth, focusing to keep their mana flow steady. The hum of the cannon deepened into a growl, a low vibration that made the air buzz.
Kaito stepped forward, watching with narrowed eyes as the runes completed their sequence. The cannon was ready.
The lead mage sat back down at the aiming mechanism, sweat on his brow. He carefully shifted the cannon, its massive barrel groaning as it turned to follow Kaito's direction. Slowly, it locked onto the abyssal crystal pulsing between the gates.
For a moment, the battlefield below seemed to quiet. The mages tightened their stance. The cannon's glow built to a blinding radiance.
And then the air itself seemed to hold its breath.