The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 98

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#098. Flying There

When the Japanese Government received Sung-jun’s request to send him to the United States by “flying” on an aircraft, they showed great difficulty with his request.

Since D-day, they had attempted to use air routes multiple times to restore communication networks with other countries, but not once had they ever succeeded.

Just as Sung-jun had to fight countless Corrosion Entities that appeared in the sea during his journey from China to Japan by ship, air travel was also completely unusable due to attacks from flying Corrosion Entities.

Moreover, unlike on a ship where he could cast magic on deck and fight maritime Corrosion Entities, fighting flying Corrosion Entities outside the aircraft from inside a flying plane would create many more constraints.

After receiving a detailed report about these problems from a Japanese Air Force expert, Sung-jun concluded that long-distance travel to the United States was impossible with existing aircraft.

“Then what’s left is to build a new aircraft suited for the purpose.”

The biggest problem Sung-jun identified was that existing aircraft armor was far too vulnerable to attacks from flying Corrosion Entities.

Since Corrosion Entity attacks could easily penetrate even the composite armor of the latest tanks, the thin armor of existing aircraft could never withstand them.

“Let’s add additional armor.”

Upon hearing Sung-jun’s suggestion to process Monster corpses obtained from dungeons into additional armor and mount it on the aircraft exterior to achieve the necessary defensive power, the Japanese Government officials urgently summoned Magic Tool Craftsmen and Aviation Experts.

Once this hastily formed task force was established, specialists from each field began offering their opinions.

“Let’s use the Kawasaki C-2 transport aircraft as the base. It’s a transport plane capable of flying up to 7,600km with a 20-ton payload, so if we add extra fuel tanks inside and allocate the remaining weight to additional armor, we should be able to secure the range of over 11,000km needed to reach the United States.”

“Additional armor alone won’t be enough to fly to the United States while under constant attack. We need to install turrets on the aircraft exterior to intercept approaching flying Monsters.”

“Then we’ll need to load ammunition too. Based on Air Force data from previous flight tests, if we calculate the expected attack frequency…”

“If that’s the case, we’ll also need to adjust the armor ratio according to ammunition weight.”

“Since we’re mounting external turrets, we’ll also need to install an ammunition feeding system.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to add missile pods instead?”

While Sung-jun wanted to fly to the United States as quickly as possible, he couldn’t just leap into skies swarming with Corrosion Entities without any countermeasures, so he contributed to the transport aircraft modification meeting by proposing various response measures he could implement.

He proposed loading new ammunition that wasn’t ordinary bullets but ones he could magically process to greatly enhance attack power against Corrosion Entities, and suggested ideas for magic circles that could automatically aim and fire by recognizing the wavelengths of magic stones inside Corrosion Entity bodies.

He also explained how to reinforce defensive power by adding defensive magic circles to the additional weapons made from Corrosion Entity materials to be mounted externally, and the installation of special magic circles that could replace the fuel system using magic stones instead of heavy aviation fuel.

“So instead of carrying large amounts of fuel, you can substitute aviation oil using magic stones?”

“I heard the Japanese Government is also using magic stones dissolved in water instead of gasoline. This is just an application of that method.”

To solve the problem of difficulty supplying large amounts of water to be converted into fuel in mid-air, he would activate magic circles that extract magical power from magic stones themselves to generate water.

Then inject energy extracted from magic stones once more into that generated water to transform it into a substance with properties similar to aviation fuel – that was Sung-jun’s proposal.

This would make it possible to supply enormous amounts of fuel using only magic stones without loading heavy aviation oil, so Sung-jun’s proposal was immediately adopted.

“If that’s possible, we could reinforce armor or weapons by the weight of reduced fuel. Could we possibly request technology transfer for the magic circles used in this modification?”

“Are you thinking of establishing an anti-Monster air force?”

“If possible, we’d like to do that. While Japan rarely encounters Monsters on land, overseas situations are different. We’d like to consider it as one of the forces we can use in preparation for emergencies.”

The magically enhanced ammunition, special armor engraved with defensive magic circles, and fuel supply systems using magic stones that Sung-jun proposed were technologies with infinite possibilities for other uses even if not applied to aircraft, so the Japanese Government showed great interest in the magic Sung-jun suggested.

After thinking for a moment, Sung-jun expressed his willingness to agree to technology transfer on the condition that Japan would support anti-Monster weapons produced in Japan when he requested them.

“Do you mean you’ll make troop deployment a condition?”

“That’s right. Instead, I’ll additionally provide special magic needed to manufacture anti-Monster weapons, not just the technology going into this transport aircraft modification.”

Sung-jun proposed technology transfer for various magic that could operate human technology with magical power, including magical bombs that contained magic stones instead of gunpowder to convert energy inside magic stones into explosive force, Monster defense barriers that used energy extracted from magic stones to prevent Monster intrusion within a certain range, and detection magic circles that could identify information about Monsters within range like radar using special magical wavelengths. The Japanese Government, which couldn’t help but covet the technology Sung-jun proposed, decided to accept his offer.

“However, I’ll install a kill switch.”

“By kill switch, you mean…”

“Simple contracts don’t have binding force. If the matters I’ve requested from the Japanese Government aren’t properly supported, I’ll add control magic so that all the magic I’ve shared becomes deactivated.”

“Th-that’s!?”

“If you plan to keep your promises, no problems will occur. Isn’t that right?”

While conducting additional negotiations with the government intermittently, the transport aircraft Sung-jun would take to the United States underwent rapid modification work.

Since it was work to add additional equipment to an existing transport aircraft, not many processes were needed, but because Sung-jun had newly applied magic circles that forcibly stabilized the balance disrupted by the newly added armor, the modified transport showed stable takeoff in test flights despite becoming quite massive.

“Wow, magic really is omnipotent. There’s nothing it can’t do.”

“Not everything is possible. The reason we’re modifying a transport now is because I can’t use long-distance teleportation magic to places I haven’t visited. If that were possible, I would have used teleportation magic directly to the United States instead of going through the trouble of modifying a transport.”

“Well, thanks to that, the Japanese Government side was also able to acquire good means to deal with Monsters, so that part should rather be considered fortunate.”

“Was the equipment I requested earlier definitely added?”

“Yes. That equipment you mentioned has definitely been added. We’ve completed testing multiple times, so it should be usable without problems even during high-speed flight. Though I hope there won’t be occasion to use it.”

“We’ll probably use it. Flying Corrosion Entities have the characteristic of attacking in large numbers near land rather than over the ocean.”

As Sung-jun said, the flying Corrosion Entities that blocked air routes between countries had the characteristic of using land as bases to fiercely attack aircraft launched by humans.

“Come to think of it, Japan has no Corrosion Entities active on land, so departing from Japan or arriving in Japan by aircraft shouldn’t be a problem, right? Though it would be problematic when arriving in the United States.”

“We wish that were the case, but flying Corrosion Entities near Japan emerge from the sea, not from land. Creatures that look like pterodactyls surge up from underwater and indiscriminately attack aircraft trying to leave Japanese airspace.”

The test flight was conducted in inland areas so no major problems occurred, but it seemed the risk of attack would increase when flying near coastal areas.

‘Should I fire a bunch of Void Spears into the sea before departure…’

Seeing Sung-jun’s worried expression, the official smiled and said.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ll prevent even one from approaching the transport until you reach a safe area.”

***

Finally, when all modification work was completed and the time for Sung-jun’s scheduled departure to the United States approached, Sung-jun moved to Tokyo International Airport with his disciple Yeonse-a and Shirasaki Miyu, who had declared she would follow him.

There, the special-purpose transport ‘Yatagarasu’ that Sung-jun had directly participated in modifying, and eight ‘Murakumo’ aircraft built for escort were waiting for Sung-jun to take off.

“As you requested, during flight, four Murakumo will be positioned on each side of Yatagarasu to intercept approaching flying Corrosion Entities. Yatagarasu, which your party will board, was modified focusing on defensive power, while Murakumo focused on interception capability and mobility. These can be called the essence of Japanese industrial technology, so please trust and rely on them.”

“I participated in modifying both aircraft myself. As long as we don’t encounter Corrosion Entities during flight, I think there will be no particular problems. Of course, combat itself will be unavoidable…”

“We wish you good fortune. We sincerely pray that you will become a ray of light to save humanity in the United States, just as you did in Japan.”

Seeing the Japanese Government official bowing 90 degrees to him, Sung-jun smiled.

Then he led Seoa and Miyu, who were wearing emergency parachutes, up Yatagarasu’s rear hatch.

“From now on, we execute Operation ‘Arrow of Parma.’ All Guards to positions!”

“To positions!”

Through the window next to the passenger seat, watching Self-Defense Forces members scattered across the runway simultaneously clear the runway, Seoa showed a tense expression.

Then the official who remained on the runway until the end gave a thumbs up toward Seoa looking out the window.

As if telling her to trust only him.

And finally, the special-purpose transport Yatagarasu, covered all over with tremendous special armor, began slowly crossing the runway.

Together with eight guardian knights, Murakumo, running alongside to protect him.

The moment all nine aircraft simultaneously left the end of the runway, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces’ ‘Magic Artillery Brigade’ positioned along the coastline began simultaneous firing.

-Bang! Kabang! Kababang!-

A special artillery unit dedicated to anti-Monster warfare, created by applying the magical technology Sung-jun had transferred to the Japanese Government to the previously operated Type 99 and Type 19 self-propelled artillery.

Magical wavelengths extracted from giant magic stones taken from the 95th Layer Boss of Tokyo Dungeon detected the waves of numerous flying Corrosion Entities hiding under Tokyo Bay, and aiming correction systems made with magical technology automatically adjusted the gun barrel directions.

The shells fired simultaneously from the aimed gun barrels contained explosive magic stones designed to cause magical explosions the moment they touched Corrosion Entity bodies.

-Kueeek!!-

Flying Corrosion Entities trying to rise above the water surface to chase Sung-jun’s party flying into the sky were hit by sudden artillery fire and exploded in mid-air, with countless fireballs spreading in all directions.

It was a scene that looked like fireworks made of blood and flesh exploding to celebrate Sung-jun’s party, who had risked their lives flying for humanity’s future.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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