Clack-clack, clack-clack, the arcane steam train raced along the tracks, the picturesque scenery on both sides blurring into a retreat for the first-time passenger, the elven maiden Nordaniel, who was captivated by the sight.
Woo-woo-woo! The whistle suddenly blared, and the arcane steam train slowed to a stop.
"What's going on?" Though this was Nordaniel's first time boarding an arcane steam train, she was a dedicated listener of "Voice of Arcana" and possessed a general understanding of how these trains operated. She knew that stopping outside of a scheduled station almost always meant there was a problem.
Elistine had visited the Magic Council several times and immediately sensed something was off. She cast a nature Divine Art, "Eagle Eye," and gazed towards the distant forest edge.
In the narrow strip of land between the forest and the tracks, packs of frenzied wild animals were attacking the humans on the opposite side with reckless abandon.
There were over a hundred humans, clad in standardized silver-gray chainmail, wearing sturdy helmets, standing in three rows. They held black "metal rods" in their hands.
The animals attacking them were originally very ordinary creatures—tigers, jackals, rabbits, goats—but now, their bodies were covered in blood-red scales. Between the scales, foul yellow pus wept from the gaps, and their eyes burned crimson, filled with the desire for slaughter and bloodlust.
"Demonic corruption? A high-rank demon sneaking out of the Stroup Forest?" Elistine asked, slightly stunned. To her, this scene was all too familiar, because not long ago, when the Abyssal Rift had undergone its mutation, the animals within the Stroup Forest had exhibited similar changes!
Nordaniel also applied an "Eagle Eye" to herself and said thoughtfully, "When the Abyssal Rift suddenly widened, the High Elder was preoccupied with dealing with the Blood Monarch and the Demon Dukes. The other demons were left to be resisted by the clansmen and the adventurers in Nameless Town. It's quite normal for some to slip through the cracks..."
"These demonically corrupted animals are very dangerous. How could the Holm Kingdom only send soldiers at the knight-squire level to deal with them?" Elistine had taken guarding and sealing the Stroup Forest as the elven race's responsibility. Seeing this situation, she felt a twinge of self-blame; such a thing should never have occurred, but who could have predicted that Lord Lancier would be blinded by greed.
She stood up, intending to push open the window of their VIP carriage and fly out to assist the human soldiers with her nature Divine Arts.
Bang-bang-bang! Following a series of sharp reports, the vast horde of bloodthirsty animals seemed to be struck by a colossal, invisible hammer, collapsing to the ground one after another, blood pooling around them.
"What is that?" Only now did Elistine truly notice the "black metal rods" held by the human soldiers, all appearing nearly identical.
Nordaniel looked closely and suddenly recalled something: "It's similar to the Dwarf Steam Civilization's high-pressure steam rifles!"
Though the Dwarven Steam Civilization was a lost civilization, the elves had long lifespans, stretching from the Mythological Era to the present. They had collected a vast array of documents and had a deep understanding of it.
"No high-pressure steam backpack... No smoke... Also relies on firing high-velocity projectiles to damage the enemy, comparable to a formal knight's attack..." Elistine cast another "telescopic" nature Divine Art on herself, carefully distinguishing the differences between this weapon and the high-pressure steam rifle.
Bang-bang-bang! The human soldiers formed three rows: two kneeling, one standing, taking turns to fire, occasionally pulling brass-colored bullets from their pockets to load into their "rifles."
Based on the feedback from her nature Divine Arts, Elistine discovered that simple magical runes were engraved on these bullets, which emanated a faint aura of alchemical materials.
Bang-bang-bang!
Although the demonically corrupted animals were fast, approaching the speed of a formal knight, their crimson eyes saw only the enemy before them, desiring only to tear them to shreds and consume them raw. Their direction of movement was easily locked onto. Coupled with the wide firing arc of the volley, one might dodge a single shot, but not a whole row. As a result, not long after, their numbers had dwindled drastically, and the ground was littered with corpses.
"With such weapons, the Holm Kingdom's foundational strength has increased dramatically," Elistine said, her voice a bit low. "They can organize more legions. Legions capable of harming a formal knight."
The elven maiden Nordaniel shook her head. "But what use is it? Against high-rank professionals, they would be slaughtered without the ability to fight back, just like the Steam Civilization was back then. Moreover, against mid- or low-rank mages and knights with ranged offensive capabilities, they would also suffer heavy losses."
"High-rank professionals are all promoted from the mid- and low-ranks," Elistine said, watching the distant battle. "If both weapons and armor can be mass-produced, just like those ubiquitous alchemical items, then at least in battles below the high-rank level, the Holm Kingdom and the Magic Council will hold a significant advantage."
In the past, a single knight order could consist of at most five hundred knights, and a kingdom could have at most three to four such orders. Squires were generally ineffective. But now, if weapons and armor could be made widespread, for a kingdom, that meant adding more knights—true knights were scarce, but knight squires were plentiful, and even more commoners could become squires!
Elistine continued, "Moreover, who knows if the Magic Council has developed even more powerful and accurate weapons for use by mid- and low-rank knights."
"If there were similar weapons with greater range and speed, like our clan's excellent magic longbows, combined with anti-divination measures, wouldn't it be possible to hide far away and, with a bang, blow the head off a mage who hasn't triggered a trap-type or passive spell?" Nordaniel had listened to "Voice of Arcana" quite a bit and had a particular feeling about blowing heads off.
Just then, the train conductor responsible for hosting them, a mid-rank mage, entered, intending to explain the reason for the sudden stop.
Hearing their conversation, he smiled and said, "By the time such weapons are developed, defensive magic targeting them will certainly have already been created. Furthermore, by then, perhaps triggering spells and other magic will have already become mid-rank spells."
His tone was filled with the confidence characteristic of Council mages in recent decades—confidence in the Grand Archanists, in the Supreme Council, in the high-rank Archanists, in the Magic Council's overall upward momentum, and in the prospects of arcane development!
"I trust the Council's research capabilities," Elistine expressed her goodwill.
Nordaniel, however, asked curiously, "I heard that after Lord Evans proposed the Observer Effect, the Council's research into the microscopic domain has stalled?"
"Voice of Arcana," to satisfy the curiosity of ordinary people, had also added programs similar to the "Arcane and Magic Herald."