Future Knight

Chapter 126

New Weapon

Six months had passed since Kang Chan and Zikyon had teamed up with the dwarves to develop weapons to counter the enemy.

It was neither a long nor a short period of time.

During those six months, thankfully, there had not been a single enemy attack.

Whether that was a blessing or a harbinger of greater misfortune was unknown, but Kang Chan was grateful for the time they had gained.

During that precious six months, they had successfully completed the development of the new weapon.

And today was the day that new weapon would make its debut to the world.

It was an event significant enough to be recorded in the annals of both this world and space history.

This weapon was born from the fusion of Earth’s science and the magic of this star.

They called it a magic weapon.

Kang Chan looked around at the newly developed magic weapons in the War Factory, the pride of the dwarves.

He picked up a vest plate that shone with a brilliant light.

It was a new armor designed for knights.

Surprisingly, the material of the armor was mithril, produced by the elves known for its high purity.

The design was handled by the dwarves, the finest artisans in weapon crafting, and the armor was engraved with high-level magic by a dragon himself.

It was undoubtedly a fearsome armor, unprecedented even in the ancient magic era.

This was the birth of the Aegis armor, soon to be known as magic armor.

Kang Chan infused the Aegis armor with his mana.

Then, the metal substance of the vest-shaped armor extended and enveloped his entire body as if it were alive.

It was a transformation of his combat suit, inspired by Zikyon’s magic.

Originally designed as a full plate armor, it had been compressed into a vest plate size using spatial distortion magic.

This allowed the wearer to stay in a constant state of combat readiness without the cumbersome task of donning and doffing full plate armor, making it an innovative enhancement in combat effectiveness.

While full plate armor was excellent for defense, it was extremely inconvenient to put on and take off.

Now fully clad in the gleaming full plate armor, Kang Chan looked at his reflection in the mirror and was very satisfied.

The armor’s design was so beautiful that it could be considered a work of art.

Indeed, even a weapon designed to kill could become a beautiful piece of art when crafted by dwarven hands.

Of course, mass-produced versions wouldn’t be as finely made.

However, the primary concern was performance, and Kang Chan immediately began testing the armor’s defensive capabilities.

Kang Chan entered a specially designed testing chamber.

When he infused mana into the shield magic circle engraved on the armor, the magic circles emitted a radiant light, forming an invisible wall of mana around him.

Everyone watching gasped in amazement.

The activated magic circles on the armor were so beautiful.

Ignoring the gasps, the power demonstration began.

First, dwarven crossbows were fired at Kang Chan.

Dwarven crossbows were the most powerful long-range weapons on the Arkandor continent, second only to elven bows.

However, the renowned Quarrel bolts were deflected by the invisible shield surrounding Kang Chan, falling to the ground with a spark.

The shield engraved on the armor easily blocked the dwarven crossbows.

The next test was to block mana-infused arrows.

An elven ranger, assisting with the experiment, placed an arrow on the string and infused it with mana, causing the arrowhead to glow brilliantly.

If Kang Chan’s armor wasn’t protected by the shield, no armor could withstand an elven ranger’s arrow at this range.

Such was the power of a mana-infused bow.

However, as expected, the defensive power of the dragon-engraved shield was far greater.

Even the powerful mana-infused elven arrows could not penetrate the armor’s shield.

Queen Arteon of the elves couldn’t help but frown.

If such armor were mass-produced by humans, it would signal the end of the elves.

But there was no need to worry. The magic circle on the armor could only be engraved by dragons, and the dragons would retrieve all the armor after the war with the invaders.

Anyone attempting to hide and keep the armor would face the dragons’ wrath.

The armor was imbued with a dragon’s tracking magic.

Having blocked the elven arrows, the final test awaited the armor.

The ultimate test was its defense against a rail gun.

If the armor couldn’t withstand this, it would be deemed a failure.

The armor was designed specifically to counter the rail gun.

Erika, who had attended the experiment, stood before Kang Chan with a rail gun.

She first demonstrated the rail gun’s power to those unfamiliar with it.

She fired the rail gun at a target consisting of ten full plate mails of dwarven heavy infantry arranged in a row.

The results were astounding.

With a single shot, the ten sets of full plate mail were torn to shreds, becoming unrecognizable in an instant.

Everyone present could easily imagine the horrifying result if there had been someone inside those armors.

It would have been a truly gruesome scene…

Those witnessing the power of the rail gun for the first time felt fear at its immense destructive power.

It wasn’t magic, yet the invaders’ weapon wielded such incredible force.

“Oh… my god, is that the weapon used by the humans from that outer world?”

“How… how can it have such power!”

Amidst the murmuring crowd, the powerful rail gun was aimed at Kang Chan.

However, Erika, holding the rail gun, hesitated.

Even though it was an experiment, she was anxious about shooting the man she admired with such a powerful weapon.

Although Zikyon was on standby in case of failure, she still felt uneasy.

Noticing her hesitation, Kang Chan spoke.

“Don’t hesitate, Erika. Pull the trigger.”

“But…”

“Someone has to do it. Don’t be afraid and shoot.”

“…”

Knowing well that if not her, someone else would have to shoot him, Erika gritted her teeth, aimed the rail gun, and pulled the trigger.

With a tremendous roar, the rail gun’s projectile traced a spiraling path and slammed into Kang Chan.

Boom!

The impact, vastly different from the previous mana arrow, reverberated through the War Factory.

Dust rose and enveloped the surroundings.

Erika, who had closed her eyes tightly, slowly opened them and looked at where Kang Chan was standing.

“Kang… Kang Chan?”

Seeing a figure standing amidst the dust, Erika called out to Kang Chan in an earnest voice.

Then, from the dust, Kang Chan’s slightly agitated voice came through.

“Truly impressive, Zikyon!”

“Kang Chan!”

Erika ran towards Kang Chan, who was walking out unharmed.

Others who were watching also rushed towards him.

“How is it? Usable?”

“Yes, very usable! The armor’s protection against the rail gun is more than sufficient.”

“How many shots do you think it can withstand?”

Since the shield consumed the user’s mana with each impact, Kang Chan estimated his own mana and responded.

“Well, I’m not sure exactly, but I think I could handle 100 shots without any problem.”

“If you, a Sword Master, can withstand 100 shots, then ordinary Sword Expert knights can probably withstand around 20 shots.”

While it was possible to block hundreds of shots with enough mana, non-dragons had a clear limit to their mana.

This was even more true for ordinary Sword Expert knights, excluding Sword Masters.

But even that was a significant achievement.

Even if it was only around 20 shots, it was enough to counterattack or escape.

After removing the armor, Kang Chan handed the Aegis armor to the dwarves and looked at the next newly developed weapon.

It was a new concept of a bow, inspired by the rail gun he had given to Erika, created by the elves and dwarves.

Though it looked more like a gun, the elves insisted on calling it a bow.

The principle was simple.

A slightly larger projectile than the one used in the rail gun was combined with dwarf-made gunpowder to create a bullet, which was then further accelerated and launched by a magic propulsion device designed by Arteon.

It was the first magic weapon born from an algorithm that generated a magnetic field similar to that of a rail gun by flowing electric-type magic through the barrel.

The power of the bow, showcased for the first time, was enough to surprise even Kang Chan, who had advised on the design.

The bow they created turned ten sets of dwarven full plate mail into scrap metal, just like the rail gun from Earth.

This somewhat crude bow, reminiscent of the old matchlock guns from Earth, had the same power as the rail gun Kang Chan had gifted to Erika.

Of course, there were drawbacks.

While the power was satisfying, the limitation of the technology made rapid fire impossible.

This meant that each shot had to be manually reloaded.

This would certainly be a significant disadvantage in a fierce battle.

But just developing a cannon with the power equivalent to a rail gun was an enormous achievement.

Now, the soldiers here could fight against the Earthlings with this bow.

And as time passed, just like Earth’s old firearms, these weapons would gradually improve and evolve.

Kang Chan named the bow “musket rifle,” after an old Earth rifle.

Additionally, what Kang Chan considered most important was the artillery.

While this world had cannons, they were of the medieval Earth level, muzzle-loading cast cannons.

This meant they were cast by pouring molten metal into a mold and loaded from the front.

Applying the technology stored in his mind, Kang Chan successfully modified them to the principle of modern artillery.

He changed the loading to a breech-loading system and made the barrels by cutting and machining rather than casting.

Because the barrels needed to withstand high pressure, they had to be of the same standard.

He designed the barrels with rifling inside and added a recoil mechanism to absorb the impact.

Thus, he completed artillery equivalent to that used in World War I.

The shells utilized magic armor-piercing rounds filled with gunpowder and Explosion magic.

The chemical field here still lagged far behind Earth’s level, so integrating magic was essential for more powerful effects.

Even with this alone, he thought it would greatly aid in the war.

Since ancient times, artillery had been the flower of war.

Next, what awaited Kang Chan was his Zaid, the Red Rabbit.

“What is this?”

Looking up at the drastically changed Red Rabbit, Kang Chan couldn’t take his eyes off its beautiful exterior.

Was it a fusion of modern mechanics and medieval armor?

The combination alone might not have seemed fitting, but the Red Rabbit exuded a strangely intense individuality.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

Red Rabbit, with its towering figure a head taller than an Elven Knight and its sleek body, had a markedly different appearance from the Gigantes here.

However, its hands and feet were those of a Gigantes.

This was necessary for Kang Chan to use the Aura Blade.

“It’s really cool.”

Kang Chan was eager to try out the newly reborn and splendid Red Rabbit.

Recognizing his eagerness, Cracksion invited him to board.

“Would you like to try it now?”

Kang Chan answered without hesitation.

“Yes!”

Kang Chan hurriedly climbed into the cockpit of the Red Rabbit.

There, he found a peculiar cockpit that seemed to combine the features of a Zaid and a Gigantes.

Oddly enough, the cockpit was not a single-seater but a two-seater.

“Why is there an extra seat in here?”

“Ah! That was at Lady Zikyon’s request.”

“Zikyon? Hey! What’s this about?”

“You’ll understand later.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Kang Chan couldn’t quite grasp why the cockpit had been modified to a two-seater.

However, it was one of the methods discussed in the dragons’ meeting.

“It’s been a while, Red Rabbit. I missed you.”

As always, Kang Chan roughly patted the sensor master of Red Rabbit.

Then he started the nuclear fusion generator, causing deuterium and tritium to undergo fusion reactions inside the tokamak, generating immense energy.

Moments later, as the nuclear fusion reaction reached its critical point, Red Rabbit began to emit tremendous energy, a force so massive it even astonished the dragon Zikyon.