Chapter 244: The Clash of Smoke and Sword Light

Unlike the lead bullets in firearms. The kinetic energy provided by the cannons was far beyond what those guns could match.

One type of heavy cannon was assembled from parts cast separately from multiple pieces of metal. The muzzles of these cannons were shaped like the roaring mouths of lions. Similar to ordinary cannons, they ejected ammunition with tremendous propulsive force.

The canister shots used here were forged from the finest refined steel combined with Ice Pattern Steel. Fire Pattern Steel and Ice Pattern Steel were unique metals that only Dwarves could forge, and they were like a pair of twins.

Long ago, the Dwarves discovered the secret of Fire Pattern Steel and worked hard to create tools for forging it. This did not take them much time, and soon they created weapons and armor that adapted to the unique properties of Fire Pattern Steel. Of course, technological innovation was actually a long process; while it didn’t take much time for the Dwarves, it was enough for a Human to grow from an infant to an adult.

The most important feature of Fire Pattern Steel was its ability to conduct heat away to protect the wearer. When made into armor, Fire Pattern Steel guided heat away from the wearer, providing limited protection. Wearers of armor made of Fire Pattern Steel had a certain resistance to both natural and supernatural flames.

Weapons made of Fire Pattern Steel could also conduct heat away from the user, but this did not provide fire resistance. Instead, the weapon absorbed heat and used the high temperature against enemies. For example, if it was hit by a Fireball or heated in a torch for 6 seconds, then within the next 12 seconds, the weapon would deal extra fire damage equivalent to the Burning Hands spell cast by a beginner Mage.

If the user wore Fire Pattern Steel armor and used a Fire Pattern Steel weapon at the same time, this extra damage would increase to the damage of a Krugul Fire Arrow and last for 24 seconds. However, it was a pity that this bonus did not stack with enhancement Enchantments.

Ice Pattern Steel had the same origin as Fire Pattern Steel, but there were subtle differences in the crafting process. Instead of expelling heat like Fire Pattern Steel, Ice Pattern Steel guided heat toward the wearer. Ice Pattern Steel worked similarly to Fire Pattern Steel, except that it dealt cold damage instead of fire damage. This meant that Ice Pattern Steel was not as useful as Fire Pattern Steel, because there were not as many non-magical resources to quickly provide Ice Pattern Steel with enough cold energy to deal cold damage.

As cannonballs, the effect of Fire Pattern Steel was obviously much better than Ice Pattern Steel. But because fire played such a huge role on the battlefield, coupled with the Enchantment methods the Dark Elves were good at, the effect of fire damage was not very good. So the Gnomes had to choose the much more troublesome Ice Pattern Steel as ammunition.

But at this moment, it turned out to be a fortunate mistake! Because these Demons from the Endless Abyss, although they could ignore any attacks from fire, had much weaker resistance to cold damage. Although it couldn’t completely break through their resistance, it still made them feel quite uncomfortable.

Although the cold effect didn’t do much, the projectiles that sprayed out like rain still caused considerable damage to the Demons. Several Frostmaws that landed on the city wall were targeted by the heavy cannons, and in the blink of an eye, they were turned into sieves by the projectiles flying through the air. Their bodies, torn apart by the kinetic energy in the projectiles, fell off the city wall in pieces.

The remaining Frostmaws immediately let out ear-piercing screams, but unfortunately, the Dwarves and Gnomes defending the city had already moved away from them. This caused their innate ability attack to miss. Seeing that the surrounding defenders had moved away, the Frostmaws gathered in groups of three, chanting fanatically and dancing wildly.

The Balors, noticing how fierce the defensive weapons on the second layer were, immediately used their special ability for the day, “Summon Demon”. As portals appeared above the city wall, over 20 Berserkers leaped out and appeared before everyone.

If Frostmaws were vicious and cruel warriors, then Berserkers were true battlefield meat grinders.

The former liked to dive at enemies from the air to cause as much damage as possible. In battle, they leaped into the air and attacked with their claws. Despite their advantage in mobility, the Frostmaws’ love for battle made them very likely to choose close-quarters combat with the enemy.

Berserkers were even more fond of close-quarters killing than Frostmaws. They liked to go deep into the center of the enemy formation to let their stench take effect as soon as possible. In most battles, they were accustomed to using “Blasphemy”, and then deciding whether to use “Hammer of Chaos” or “Unclean Strike” based on the enemy’s situation.

“Damn it, that previous summoning wasn’t an innate ability! The guys in front of us are the army of some Demon Lord. I was wondering when a Balor could summon Frostmaws. Also, get the Cannons ready, attack those dancing Frostmaws, we must not let them complete the ritual.” A Gnome holding a long Spear on the second line of defense commanded.

As soon as he finished speaking, he fired a shot at the Frostmaws grouped in twos and threes with the Spear in his hand. However, what shot out from his gun barrel was not ammunition, but a ray of light as clear as the Morning Glow. This was one of the most cost-effective spells against Lower Plane creatures, the Light of Lunia. By invoking the good light of the first layer of the Seven Heavenly Realms, it dealt heavy damage to those Evil creatures. In the same series were the Light of Vinia and the Light of Merturia.

Because the person in front of him was not a Musketeer, but a Spellgunner. In the race to pursue and master mysterious Arcane power, some Mages saw the unique nature of black gunpowder. Combining this advanced technology with their exquisite Arcane abilities, they transformed ordinary firearms into a deadly force.

These Spellgunners would give up the opportunity to obtain a Familiar and instead establish a magical connection with their guns. They could fire any ranged touch, cone-shaped, linear, or ray spell from their magic guns. If necessary, the Spellgunner could infuse magical power into the firearm, providing the magic gun with additional weapon Enchantment effects.

This behavior, seen as heretical by orthodox Mages, only appeared in large numbers among the Gnome race. Because being whimsical was the nature of Gnomes. They would risk their lives to taste dishes at a Giant’s dinner table, or go to the bottom of the Abyss just to break their own drilling records, or tell a joke to a Dragon—for Gnomes, these achievements were as worthy of pride as researching new spells, obtaining a Vault rich as a nation, or overthrowing a super Evil force.

Not all Gnomes would do those crazy things mentioned above, but it seemed common among Gnomes, so it was no wonder that the world regarded Gnomes as a whole as synonymous with recklessness and slight madness. Of course, the appearance of Gnome Spellgunners, in addition to their own racial nature, had another important reason: the threat of war.

Although Gnomes rarely had a unified Kingdom, they had a considerable sense of responsibility for protecting the safety of their ethnic group. Previously, facing the threat of Dark Elves, the Gnome Mages fought. In addition to deriving the powerful ranged strike profession of Spellgunner, there was an even more astonishing monster—the Arcane Grenadier.

To many Mages, creating explosions with Alchemy was a crude act, either very dangerous or extremely terrifying. But a few Mages devoted their considerable Arcane knowledge and secret Magic power to the study of bombs. To create bombs like an Alchemist, but unlike an Alchemist, he could make the bombs deal various types of damage such as acid, fire, frost, and electric shock. These Arcane Grenadiers could quickly sacrifice a spell they had memorized to enhance the power of the next bomb they threw in that round.

Because making and using bombs was fascinating and mentally draining, and using a magic gun required strict training and attention. So Arcane Grenadiers and Spellgunners could at most learn spells from three schools—and that required the ability of a rare genius. This was why even among Gnome Mages, these two were criticized. But under the pressure of survival, they were forced to make this choice.

In addition to this support from a distance, the Musketeers who were still alive at close range took down half-cylinder-shaped firearms from their backs. This weapon could fire shot or bullets from its trumpet-shaped muzzle, making it a convenient weapon for hunting wild fowl, or an effective personal defense weapon in close combat.

However, the ammunition they projected now was not dense pellets. One could see that from the moment the bullet rushed out of the muzzle, it was constantly expanding. By the time they approached those Demons, they instantly spread into a viscous substance that splashed and trapped the Demons.

Entangling Shot: This mixture of black gunpowder and alchemically treated resin, tough enough to withstand firing, could only be loaded into Thunder Cylinders, Dragon Guns, or other scattering weapons. Enemies hit by it were likely to fall into an entangled state.

Although the Demons quickly broke free from the entanglement, this delay gave the cannoneers enough time. With the help of spells, the cleaning and reloading work, which originally took a lot of time, was quickly completed.

The ammunition loaded this time was forged from silver mixed with Chongyang True Iron and quenched with Holy Water after forging. Chongyang True Iron was produced on the fourth layer of the Seven Heavenly Mountain. This shimmering silver iron ore had excellent properties without needing to be fused with other metals. When mixed with silver, it was deadly to Lower Plane creatures like Demons and Devils.

This behavior of using extremely expensive rare metals to make ammunition could not be found anywhere else in the Prime Material Plane except among Dwarves. However, the effect was surprisingly good. The cannons on the city tower fired again. The thick smoke and fire from the cannons made all the Dark Elves and Demons feel the ground beneath their feet tremble.

From the previous situation, they already knew what would happen to them on the city wall with that thick smoke and fire. Everyone held their breath and stared at the higher wall on the second layer.

Silver cannonballs accompanied by black shadows made a terrible whistling sound, falling one after another into the ranks, as if nothing could stop these silver jumping iron balls. Once they fell into the group, a burst of screams and wails would sound. As the smoke cleared, only piles of corpses and severed limbs and flesh remained on the city wall.

When the cannonball was about to hit the ground, its speed had slowed down as if one could reach out and catch it. A violent Balor swung his beheading sword upward, wanting to knock the cannonball to the ground with the blade of his sword as if he were deflecting an arrow.

Although the cannonball failed to break the Balor’s beheading Longsword that resounded throughout the Multiverse, the huge force was transmitted to his arm through the sword body, forcibly dislocating his arm. This huge impact force also caused a large area of muscle strain on his arm, and his combat power dropped instantly for a time. Of course, for a Balor, this kind of injury only took more than ten minutes to recover.

The cannonball, which had changed its trajectory, hit a Berserker nearby and actually punched a big hole in the guy’s head. With the addition of Chongyang True Iron, the cannonball’s effect against Demons was indeed extraordinary.

When the airflow in the cavern gradually blew the smoke away from the battlefield, only then could both sides clearly see the result of this wave of attacks. Inside and outside the city wall, corpses were everywhere, and the outer third was particularly dense.

In some places, a three-inch-thick carpet of blood, like mud made of minced meat and blood plasma, covered the ground. On the city wall, and even on the outer edge of the wall, corpses were hanging everywhere, and blood flowed down the wall gurgling like black streams.

A strong smell of blood, sweat, and smoke hung over the battlefield, making people nauseous. The blood of Demons emitted the smell of sulfur, and upon contact with the flesh and blood of Dark Elves, it seemed to erode each other like sulfuric acid.

After this round of attacks, the number of Demons was reduced by a full one-fifth. Although all the dead were low-level Demons like Berserkers and Frostmaws, quite a few members of the Nalfeshnee and Balors were also injured. They immediately ignored the battle line formed by the Dwarves and Gnomes in front of them and turned their eyes to the turrets not far away.

If the first shooting gave the Demons the impression that it was nothing special, then the second bombardment now gave them a sense of crisis. However, the Gnomes also had unspeakable suffering! After all, who would normally make so many of these expensive Evil-breaking cannonballs! The firing just now had used up all the stock. They thought it would at least wipe out a small half of the Demons, but they still overestimated the power of their weapons.

Just as the Demons flapped their wings and pounced on the second line of defense, golden fire snakes danced along the city wall. These were the Rune Mages who had finished their rest, fighting against the Demons one by one. Although the effect of this golden flame was good, the Demons were also using their profane power to offset their damage.

Holy Smite, a 4th Level spell of the Priests, would not only cause damage to the Demons but also make their eyes unable to see. The following Sound of Heaven—Holy Word was the greatest nemesis of Demons. Because the physical bodies of Demons found it difficult to stay in the Prime Material Plane, this spell, although it could not cause them direct damage, could make them roll back to their old homes.

However, this Divine Arts was as high as the 7th Level, and I am afraid that only a senior Black Lead Priest close to the Bronze Rank could use it. Such a strong person was rare even in Blindstone City. Plus, the casting distance was not far, so the Dwarves certainly would not let their elders take that risk. The Scroll used just now was a bottom-of-the-box item from many years ago!

But the effect of this spell could really be called good. Actually, 8 Frostmaws and 1 Balor disappeared just like that. It could be said that the intensity of the battle dropped a lot for a time. As for the Nalfeshnee, they, who were suitable for group battles, expressed that it was more satisfying to deal with the small fry on their side.

Seeing the disappearance of a Balor, the Dwarves cheered. And the Matrons of the Dark Elves, even under their masks, could be seen gritting their teeth. Because the Abyss altar that summoned the Demons before was completely damaged by this spell. To make a new one, just the materials alone would require who knows how much effort!

If on Earth, heroes gave courage to mortals, and courage made mortals become heroes. Then in this world, heroes were the creators of history. Those who became heroes were extraordinary existences even before they became famous.

Because on Earth, the strength gap between people would not be very large, and a so-called boxing champion would find it hard to deal with ten adult men at the same time. The most brilliant mental ability user could probably only play small tricks like bending spoons or hypnosis.

But in this world, a warrior with superb martial skills could completely fight one against a hundred, and a brilliant Mage could ascend to the sky and earth, moving mountains and filling seas. Knights born of war had even accomplished the feat of slaughtering gods. The rise and fall, success and failure, were often truly tied to one or two people. The rest were mostly cannon fodder.

Therefore, as the highest-end combat power on the field, the presence or absence of a Balor was an important weight on the scales.

The flying hammers in mid-air smashed towards the flying Demons with unique trajectories. No matter how the Demons dodged, they could not avoid such deadly flying hammers.

The supporting Hammers of Moradin were elites selected from the Battle Priests. In the past, they protected the Dwarf people and ruthlessly struck against Giants, Dark Elves, and Goblins. They obeyed the call of the Church Patriarch to fight against the invasion of dark creatures that plagued the Dwarves. Now they were fighting on the front line against the Demons.

In the past, the regular army—like the Steel Guard—was famous for being competent in guarding the city. But the Hammers were active in going out to sweep away monsters located far away, bringing the Soul Forger’s righteous anger to their enemies. Only now did they discover that they were just as powerful when guarding.

It was precisely because these true elites of Blindstone City arrived at the right positions that the further deterioration of the battle situation was curbed.