## Chapter 722: Brilliant Radiance

According to Roland's plan, once the shelling began, it would not stop.

First, five rounds of volleys blasted the first row of twenty-odd demonic beasts into dust. Then came the free-fire period, using the rapid firing of blank cartridges, coupled with the detonation of black gunpowder, to create the momentum of ten thousand cannons roaring.

Therefore, when the sound of shooting rang out continuously, the atmosphere at the scene ushered in a new climax. The smoke and dust and mud stirred up by the explosions were endless, and the area five hundred meters away seemed like the end of the world. Occasionally, cages were shattered by flying stone fragments, and the first reaction of the demonic beasts that could still move in the cages was not to rush towards the city wall, but to turn around and flee.

Fear overcame their bloodthirsty instinct.

However, few fish slipped through this land of death.

Under the sweeping of the strong shock waves surging from the ground, their internal organs had already ruptured and dislocated, and their eardrums and eyeballs had lost their sensory functions. Most of the demonic beasts would fall to the ground not far away, and then be swallowed by the newly detonated explosives.

"This is nothing, you haven't seen the war with the Church," Andrea covered her ears and said loudly to the stunned Wolfheart witches with a proud expression, "At that time, although there were only two cannons, there were also hundreds of repeating rifles and smaller iron cannons. The opponents were not demonic beasts locked in cages, but God's Punishment Warriors who were agile and powerful. At the most intense moment, the entire open space was filled with flying bullets. As long as you poked your head out, you were dead. Compared to that, that was the real war."

"Is, is that so..." Amy looked shocked.

"No wonder they lost," Hero sighed, "This is simply impossible for people to resist."

"Aren't you afraid at all when you see such a scene?" Broken Sword looked at Andrea with admiration.

Taking advantage of the gap between explosions, the latter elegantly straightened her fluttering long hair, "Of course, you'll get used to it after seeing it more often. I witnessed the entire process of the war and personally killed two God's Punishment Warriors!"

She completely forgot that when she first climbed the city wall, she was as surprised and incredulous as them. Now, she had a bit of a feeling of treating Neverwinter City as her second home, and even when she talked about these weapons, her tone couldn't help but carry a hint of pride.

Compared to most witches who were just watching the excitement, Phyllis's observation was much more detailed.

When the first row of demonic beasts were blown to pieces, she didn't care too much—within this distance, the Mad Demons' javelins could also threaten the warriors on the city wall. Faced with the storm of bone spears falling down, even if these weapons called fortress cannons were powerful, how long could the mortals who controlled them last?

However, when the artillery fire turned to the second row of cages, her expression finally changed.

Could it be that the mortal king's intention to arrange the demonic beasts in this way was to allow the explosions to advance towards the distance step by step? The last row of cages was almost a hundred zhang away. If the fortress cannon could hit that area, it meant that its range was almost comparable to that of siege beasts, but its killing power was far greater than the latter!

Siege beasts had always been the most troublesome demonic weapons for the Union, because their attack distance was farther than any catapult or ballista, so every time they appeared, they could only rely on the extraordinary ones to lead the Holy Guard to charge into the enemy's position. Even if they successfully destroyed the siege beasts, it would bring considerable casualties. If the witches had such long-range strike weapons, they might be able to defend the holy city of Taquila.

Could this be Neverwinter City's trump card, and also the reason why Agatha had so much confidence in Roland?

After she raised this question to the Ice Witch, the other party just smiled and shook her head.

"Putting them a thousand meters away is just to satisfy the needs of the audience... because any further would affect the appreciation of the drill. As for the range of the new cannons, His Majesty Roland said it could exceed ten kilometers, which is ten times the current range." Agatha leaned her head and said in her ear, "In other words, it can hit places that the operator can't see."

Ten times? Phyllis was stunned. Although she didn't quite understand what meters and kilometers were, ten times the current range was nearly a thousand zhang, and some of the demons' outposts were just set up at this distance. Wouldn't that mean that if the cannons were placed on the walls of Taquila, they could directly hit the demons' nests?

How was this possible?

Enemies far beyond the line of sight, enemies that couldn't even be seen, how could they ensure that the weapons could hit?

Seeing that she was a little dazed, Agatha continued, "But hitting that far is not an easy task. It requires a lot of calculation and improvement of the cannon's aiming device. I heard that the astrologers are researching this work—His Majesty seems to be planning to compile a shooting list, which can calculate the landing point of the shells based on the data before firing, so that even if the enemy is several kilometers away, they can accurately strike the target."

"Are you sure?" Phyllis gritted her teeth, "Doesn't that mean that as long as you build a few more of these cannons, the demons won't even be able to get close to the city walls?"

"Yeah, His Majesty said this kind of attack is called area denial..." Agatha shrugged, "It probably comes from the meaning of 'cleaning up the dirty things on the ground'. Although it's a bit awkward, it's quite appropriate."

"That... can you manufacture cannons?" Phyllis hesitated and asked close to her ear.

The latter gave her a deep look and waited for the new round of explosions to pass before opening her mouth and saying, "I know what you want to say. Some of the materials for the shells are indeed provided by me, but manufacturing it is far from something that one or two people can do."

"Not even witches?"

"Far from enough... do you know how many mortals there are in Neverwinter City's chemical plant? Nearly two thousand people, and still increasing!" Agatha sighed, "However, all they are doing is making explosives from acids, oils, and gases. The production of cannons is a completely different system—more than three thousand people in mines and smelters, one thousand five hundred people in processing plants, and after they are made, there must be corresponding maintenance and users. Even in the Taquila era, how many mortals did the Union have to drive?"

Phyllis fell silent. After Aniletta and Falling Star City fell one after another, human territory shrank to a corner of the plains, and the surviving population also declined sharply. By the time only Taquila remained, the Union controlled only about thirty to forty thousand mortals, but they were responsible for supporting the battle witches, logistics, and maintaining the operation of the city, and they couldn't spare so many people to manufacture fortress cannons. If Agatha wasn't lying to her, Taquila at the time couldn't do this, let alone them hiding in the underground labyrinth struggling to survive.

At this moment, the sound of artillery suddenly stopped.

The first two rows of demonic beasts had completely merged with the snow, turning into pools of blurred flesh and blood. The area around the city wall was eerily quiet for a moment. No one spoke, and everyone stared at the farthest row of cages, as if waiting for something.

Phyllis looked at Agatha in confusion, and the latter gave her a slight smile.

"The key is here."

Before she finished speaking, a dazzling light rose from the ground, like a round of tomorrow!

Ermu says

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