Once the advanced fleet arrived on Vanargand, the first thing Maria did was announce her presence by immediately launching an attack on the Lycan’s territory without any warning. The Lycans had been attacking the territories that Maria had previously conquered and were able to take them back little by little with the help of the players they allied with, though the more important areas were able to stand strong thanks to the elite soldiers that Maria had left behind to defend them. Those soldiers that were stationed in the conquered Lycan territories were those from her Imperial Army, so Maria attacked with her Dark Army and the Dire’s Army.
The full force of her Dire’s Army wasn’t present as this was only the advanced team that was moving, but with the allies that she brought with her, alongside her Dark Army, Maria was able to crush the attacking Lycans and opposing player forces, reclaiming most of the land that her nation had lost. The werewolves in those territories also rose up in rebellion because, before they had been 're-conquered' by the Lycans, their lives had been moving in a more positive direction thanks to the Dire's policies, but then it was halted because of those people that had been previously oppressing them.
The hierarchy of the Lycan Kingdom really didn’t serve the werewolves well, especially since it had divided their society at its foundation. A divided nation would never be able to win against Maria’s ironclad nation, the Dire, whose citizens practically worshiped her.
When this first attack was over, the Lycans and opposing player factions regrouped and tried to launch a counterattack, but unfortunately, they failed miserably because Maria finally unveiled the hand that she had kept hidden all this time. The weapons of war and supplies that had been shipped over to the Vanargand continent on Maria's previous secret visit were finally revealed to everyone.
The weapons of war that Maria unveiled weren’t the things that the players would associate with the medieval-fantasy theme of the planet, such as trebuchets, ramming carts, arrow towers, moving siege towers, and the like. Instead, what Maria revealed were weapons and siege weapons that were beyond what the players could have ever imagined. It was all advanced weaponry created through the combination of magic and technology, henceforth called Magitek.
The first of the Magiteks was the medium-sized magic tank that the dwarves had named Metal Behemoths. This was the first introduction of a tank into the game and this metal giant was equipped with two large magic cannons and 2 smaller magic cannons.
The 2 main cannons could fire mid to advanced level projectile-type magic spells with an effective distance of 5 kilometers and a minimal distance of 500 meters. The 2 smaller cannons were there specifically to cover the distance within the main cannons’ minimal distance and, instead of cannons, they were more like assault rifles since they could repeatedly shoot basic projectile-type magic spells until their mana batteries were exhausted.
The Metal Behemoths were manned by a team of 4 soldiers and they rolled onto the battlefield firing their magic cannons and decimating the enemy forces, harvesting their lives like wheat. Maria deployed 10 of these Metal Behemoths onto the battlefield while the foot soldiers and cavalry members were given new weapons to wield. The soldiers were issued Magitek rifles and they basically became the tank teams’ cleanup crew, killing the enemy soldiers that luckily survived from the Metal Behemoths’ attack.
The rifles weren’t too powerful, but they served as very good long-ranged weapons. They were easy to use, so even those that weren’t marksmen could use them, since all they had to do was aim and pull the trigger until the battery cartridge of the rifles ran out of mana. Reloading the Magitek rifle was also easy and, since it had a longer range than bows and arrows, it gave Maria’s soldiers a competitive edge on the battlefield.
In history, the deadliest weapons were never swords, spears, or anything that had to be used within melee-range. Instead, it was always the long-ranged weapons that were the deadliest, like bows and the like.
The first wave of the Lycan and enemy players’ counterattack was utterly decimated by the introduction of the Magitek rifles and Metal Behemoths. All Maria did that time on the battlefield was laugh hysterically as she showcased her overwhelming military might against her enemies. She found it hilarious to see them charge and only die in vain to her army’s new weapons. The soldiers that were deployed to fight this time weren’t even the elites of her army. They were just trained personnel who could pilot a tank, use a magic cannon, and knew how to shoot a rifle. There really wasn’t anything special about them at all, be it their levels or personal skills.
None of her powerful NPCs had taken the stage in any of the early skirmishes, but she was able to completely crush her opposition. Even her allies didn’t have to do anything as her army did all of the work.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Hahaha, fun! This is so much fun!”
Maria was having a blast even though she wasn’t actively participating in the battle. Lizzy was on the battlefield next to her with a bored look on her face as she complained, “Mary, you could’ve told us about this. I would’ve gone to a different battlefield if I knew this place was covered…”
“Let’s not complain about that, Liz. What we should really be complaining about is why Maria brought TANKS and RIFLES to a battlefield of SWORDS and MAGIC!” Amanda cried out.
Previously, she had been left behind from the trip to the Treasure Island, but this time around, she joined the others to participate in the Main Story Quest despite having a lot of work to do back in their guild territory.
“I just thought it would be fun~” Maria replied with a smile on her face.
Sky walked over to them and said, “Fun, huh? I knew that you were capable, Maria, but I didn’t think you were THIS capable.”
Sky had been looking forward to eagerly fighting in a chaotic battlefield like before, but this time, she had to sit it out like the rest of them because Maria was turning this battle into a test drive for her new toys.
“Hehehe, thank you for the compliment, Sky. Sorry for not telling anyone about this, but I wanted it to be a surprise!”
“Considering that your cities looked so modern despite this being a fantasy-themed planet, I guess something like this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise…”
Maria nodded and replied with pride in her eyes and tone, “Yes, it shouldn’t. I’ve been able to recreate so many of the real world’s technologies and put them inside of the game, so making modern weapons shouldn’t have been too much of a stretch if you think about it, though I will say that those things out there are really expensive.”
“Expensive, huh? I bet that doesn’t mean too much to you since you’re raking in so many gold coins on a daily basis, right?” Amanda quipped.
Maria responded with a chuckle and replied, “Hehe, I guess that’s true. Anyway, I have a few more things to test out, but I’ll have my soldiers stop here. I don’t want them to completely destroy that city when it can become our foothold to conquer the rest of the middle areas of the Lycan territories.”
“You really never do have a dull moment, huh, Mary?” Lilith asked as she appeared beside Maria and hugged her arm.
“Since you’re here, Lili, does that mean the battle is over?”
“Yup! The scouting has been finished and here’s the report. All of the Lycan and enemy player forces are retreating. We can safely occupy the city now.”
“Great! Let’s go. This was a debut for my new Magitek weapons, but after every use, my dwarves need to run thorough maintenance on them, so the next battle will be where you guys can go wild on.”
“Awesome! So will it be our turn next? I can’t wait!” One of Lilith’s party members cheered.
Sky smiled and excused herself while the others left, leaving only Amanda, Emily, Gerald, and Lizzy behind with Maria. Gerald had been silent the whole time and he finally spoke up after they left, “Mary, we need to have a talk about whatever it is you’re secretly doing with the Dire. Even me, who’s a Duke, had no idea that you were going to do this!”
“Really? But I thought I told you? Big Brother Mika knows about this though?” Maria replied with an innocent look on her face.
“Well, obviously, you only told him that since I’m here looking quite shocked by all of this!”
“You don’t seem shocked?”
“That’s because I’ve been trying to keep a straight face!”
“Oh~”
“Don’t ‘oh~’ me!”
“Hehehe~”
The first proper battle between the Dire and the forces of the Vanargand Continent ended with the former's complete victory thanks to the unbelievable weaponry that they had revealed. Even without the weapons, it was highly likely that the Dire would’ve won anyway, but Maria wanted to reveal things this soon because she wanted to make everything that would happen going forward a bit more interesting.
She knew that it was probably a bad idea on her part to reveal the Magitek weapons so early, but in her opinion, having a trump card like this revealed at the last second would be a waste, since she had plenty of other trump cards saved up for this war already. Revealing one or two of them was inconsequential to her and her nation. Maybe if the situation was different then she wouldn’t have revealed the Magitek weapons until they were needed. However, she just wanted to have fun this time around and watching those tanks along with her rifle-equipped soldiers mowing down the enemy greatly excited her since this meant that her nation’s 'experimental' weapons were actually very effective and battle-ready.
“Let’s slow down a little. I need to give the rest of the players still on Dreyra a chance to participate in the Main Story. Monopolizing all of the rewards wouldn’t be ethical of me,” Maria said with a slight smile.