“Let me see His Majesty!”
“Ah, I’m afraid no one is allowed in right now.”
“It’s an urgent matter! His Majesty will understand!”
“Still, it’s not possible.”
Frustrated, the knight before the Emperor’s bed burst out in anger.
“Please listen to me! This is an emergency! The 1st Division’s airship has taken off without permission and is heading towards the island, confirmed to be firing gravity weapons! The airship even has annihilation cannon ammunition loaded! We must report to His Majesty immediately and get permission to attack our own airship—”
“When His Majesty comes out, you can tell him.”
“Ugh! These people are unbelievable!”
It was such an urgent matter that he rushed to the Imperial Palace right after the first report, only to be continually denied an audience with the Emperor.
The airship, having taken off from the 1st Division, was ignoring all communications as it flew towards the island.
Considering the situation, it was reasonable to suspect hijacking or treason.
However, the Empire’s army could only start responding right after the airship fired.
In other words, even if they wanted to preemptively suppress it, they needed the Emperor’s permission.
“I’ll just ask His Majesty once. Did he know about the flight today?”
“When he comes out, you can tell him.”
“Same old story since earlier!”
Anger seemed to boil inside.
If he had known this would happen, he would have brought General Roman with him.
Would someone of higher rank have been treated this way?
The knight, impatient and shaking his legs, made up his mind after deep thought.
“What are you doing… *Gah!*”
“Get out of the way!”
He decided to push through all the courtiers and officials blocking the way.
He charged down the corridor and *bang!* flung open the door.
At that moment, a blade whizzed towards his face and neck.
The Emperor’s figure was visible beyond the glinting blade, seated calmly.
“Your Majesty! This is an emergency! An unplanned airship has taken off and is approaching the island! Did you give any orders?”
“…”
“If not, please grant permission for a preemptive strike! Civilian damage could occur due to the annihilation cannon…”
Before the knight could finish, the guards grabbed him and dragged him out.
*Thud!* The door shut immediately behind him, leaving the knight with a dumbfounded expression.
The Emperor did not turn around or respond at all.
Was he asleep sitting there?
Or was he pretending not to hear…?
“*Sigh…*”
As he was dragged underground, the knight let out a sigh.
.
.
.
The annihilation cannon.
This artifact, considered the essence of the Empire’s magic engineering, is famous for piercing through any fortress in a single shot.
The cost to fire one shot is about 10% of the Empire’s annual budget.
Although they claim it aims to be the most powerful siege artillery, its firepower has long surpassed mere siege levels, and they are even working on increasing that firepower continually.
It’s a well-known fact that the annihilation cannon’s actual purpose is to kill Majins in emergencies…
At least, that represents the setting of the annihilation cannon in my story.
But now the cannon’s muzzle was opening and glowing.
And it was aimed right at me.
“*Gulp…!*”
I pushed my internal circuits to the max and strained my body, but I could only manage a few steps.
No point in this; the airship would keep adjusting its aim to target me.
Lowering the operating efficiency of my internal circuits almost made me faceplant again.
‘No way, are they really going to shoot…?’
From the fully opened cannon, a bright red light began to burst forward.
That was clearly an airship belonging to the Empire.
But why on earth was it aiming at me?
Sure, this was the outskirts of the island, but it was still a residential area.
Using the internal circuits to power up, along with ‘Selection and Concentration’ on strength and agility, I might just barely weave away from the shell.
But getting away from the explosion afterwards would be a whole different matter.
And how could we handle civilian casualties?
The moment the shell lands, this area would be leveled, resulting in unbelievable casualties.
Avoiding the shell was never an option.
I *must* stop the impact.
There was only one way to do that.
‘I must shoot it down!’
Right now, I had about 70,000 mana left.
I had used ‘Selection and Concentration’ and after the time limit expired, it had dropped from 100,000 to 70,000.
The first time I used ‘Selection and Concentration’, my mana increased to its maximum but afterward, only the max amount continues to grow, while the current amount stays the same.
So right now, the mana I could project was only 70,000.
And even now, while I was thinking, it was gradually depleting.
Using 70,000 mana to set up a barrier against the annihilation cannon would only offer protection to the level of a piece of paper.
Therefore, shooting it down was the only option.
‘Damn it, this spell is a bit clunky.’
In a hurry, I activated the wind magic spell that could achieve the highest efficiency with my 70,000 mana.
I didn’t need the powerful firepower of flash or flame magic.
Just a tiny bit of damage to the annihilation cannon would render it unable to fire.
I couldn’t afford to hesitate, so I finished my aim and shot the spell—
*Thud…!*
“What?!”
The spell was blocked in mid-air.
At the moment of collision with the air mass, a wave appeared.
‘A barrier!’
A high-output barrier protecting the airship had been deployed.
It was combined with a cleverly hidden recognition interference barrier, so I hadn’t noticed at all.
Meanwhile, the annihilation cannon began to sparkle ominously and pushed forward gradually.
[Quest: Survive for 2 minutes.]
[Difficulty: ★★★★★]
[Reward: 20 Shop Coins]
“Sigh. I’m going crazy.”
Now I finally understood the meaning of the quest.
This wasn’t a bluff or threat; the annihilation cannon would really fire.
And it was aiming directly at me.
Now that I had used up all my mana, I had no way to stop it.
Unless I deflected the shell with my hands…
[Quest Accomplished]
“Huh?!”
In that moment, I exclaimed in surprise.
The quest’s time was still meant to have 2 minutes remaining, so what just happened? A reward screen appeared.
[As a reward, a hardening function is added to the terminal parts of the internal circuits.]
The moment I read that line, a memory flickered back.
The quest that popped up shortly after I became embodied in this world.
It was certainly the reward for maintaining the top rank throughout the first semester.
Which means, I had just secured the position of top student in the Empire University’s first-year elemental magic and combat magic courses.
‘Wait a minute. Deflecting the shell with my hand…?’
I began to seriously reconsider the whimsical thought I just had.
Using ‘Selection and Concentration’ on strength wouldn’t yield as dramatic an effect as I hoped.
Of course, I wouldn’t get hurt by an ordinary impact, but I learned from Sergey that I wasn’t invulnerable.
So there’s no way I could withstand the force behind the shell of the annihilation cannon aimed at me.
My hand would clearly crumple like a crushed plastic bottle upon impact.
But what if I utilized this new quest reward?
It only said “hardening” but didn’t specify how much it would harden.
Yet, there was no time to test it now.
I had no choice but to believe.
Besides hoping that the “hardening” would provide absolute invulnerability, I was left with no other option.
‘Let’s give it a shot.’
I steeled my mind.
I maximized my internal circuits and pulled my left leg back.
Then I extended my right hand to the side of my head.
My gaze remained fixed on the cannon’s muzzle as the interminable moment passed—and
‘I shot!’
A bright light erupted from the cannon, as intense as the sun.
‘Selection and Concentration. Used 1 second on agility and strength each.’
In that moment, I caught sight of the shell’s movement that I couldn’t see before.
Still fast, but now it was within sight.
If I was fast enough, I could hit the detonator to make it explode.
If I was even a bit late, its trajectory wouldn’t change enough and it would land in a residential area instead of an open field.
Even the slightest deviation in angle would yield the same result.
Timing and angle were everything, and I had to strike with the edge of my hand.
“Damn it…!”
As the shell rushed towards me, I thrust my left leg forward while striking with my hand.
*Clank! Crank-crank-crank…!*
With a foreboding noise, sparks flew from the shell upon impact with my hand.
At the moment my hand hit the shell, it slightly altered its trajectory, and then 1 second passed.
*Whoosh…!*
The shell I had just seen disappeared.
A moment later, the wind rushed through, tousling my hair.
I stood there stunned for a second.
Soon, *boom…* the cannon fired off loudly.
The annihilation cannon had definitely fired.
What just happened was no dream.
If so, what happened to the shell I just deflected?
*Boom…!*
A bright light shone in the distance.
With that came a massive noise and wind that engulfed me like a storm.
A gigantic mushroom cloud began rising into the sky.
“I did it…”
The impact point was far from the main city of the island in a desolate field.
Not even a single sheep was caught in the explosion.
“*Sigh…*”
Meanwhile, my hand was just fine.
I had survived that immense momentum, albeit at an angle, without feeling any pain.
That meant the hardening function was either invulnerable or at a comparable level.
Well, considering the difficulty of maintaining top rank for an entire semester, it made sense they would offer a reward this ridiculous…
I sank to my knees, exhausted from the unexpected relief.
But something felt off.
The gravitational magic pressing down on me was still there.
‘No way…?’
I swallowed hard as I stared toward the cannon of the airship.
The muzzle had lost its intense glow, but a faint light was slowly rising again.
Wait, are they seriously reloading to fire again?
Two shells equivalent to 10% of an entire year’s national budget were going to rain down on the island.
These guys were severely out of their minds.
“Don’t mess with me, damn it…!”
But the real problem was that the time limit on ‘Selection and Concentration’ was running out.
I had already used my 5 seconds today.
There was no way to deflect the next shell.
Meanwhile, the ominous light spewing from the muzzle was growing stronger, taking on the form it had just before firing.
This was the end.
*Boom! Boom-boom…!*
At that moment, with a series of explosive sounds, the barrier hovering in the air was shattered.
From afar, bursts of light erupted as they struck the airship directly.
Flames billowed from where the light pierced, and the airship slowly began to descend.
Simultaneously, the gravitational force weighing me down disappeared.
The airship… it really was shot down.
– Are you safe, young knight?
Upon hearing that voice through the communication magic, I recognized it instantly.
It was the voice of the hero who would soon sit in the enemy’s seat, the second most powerful figure in the history of the Empire, and my creditor.
I relaxed, collapsing onto the ground.
