Chapter 23: Hand Cannons and Aurora (2)

"Most of the myths are true in some way. They are either highly exaggerated or spot on. Anyway, let's stop this discussion—I'm starting to get a migraine just thinking about some of the meetings I've had with certain deities." She said, massaging her temples. From the look on her face, she clearly didn't enjoy those meetings one bit.

"Right, let's go test the gun first." I motioned for her to follow me to the testing ground.

Less than a minute later, I was in position for the test.

"I suggest you use all the magic you can to augment yourself," Serafall said with a serious look.

"You think?"

"Woman's intuition. Just do it." She crossed her arms.

"Sure thing. I was planning to use all of my magic for this." When I said that, she just rolled her eyes at me, clearly not buying it.

I really had only intended to reinforce it a little, not fully.

Nonetheless, I followed her suggestion, channeled all my magic, took a deep breath, and aimed Castor at the mannequin on the other side of the room.

"Here comes the first test of Castor MK III! Three... two... one... and... fire!" I pressed the trigger. I could feel the energy building in the gun, like a tidal wave.

A few seconds later, two white circles appeared at the end of the barrel, and a bolt of energy loud enough to sound like a clap of thunder erupted.

Bang!

In the next moment, it passed through the mannequin as if it were made of paper and slammed into the wall. A massive explosion followed, shaking the earth for a moment.

The dust was thick enough to darken the entire room.

As for my hand? I couldn't feel it at all… well, it was still there, but so numb that I couldn't sense it. Thankfully, because of my magical augmentation, I didn't dislocate my shoulder.

Nonetheless, the gun slipped out of my hand and dropped to the ground.

Cough Cough

"That was…" Serafall coughed before summoning magic circles to clear the dust.

The room had been reinforced countless times, and with the Diamond Core Heart in place, the structure didn't cave in.

But the destruction was still immense… the entire end of the room was simply gone.

"This… this is enough to kill me if I'm not prepared for it…" Serafall said, wide-eyed.

"You mean to tell me that even in the case of a surprise, you could still easily take an attack from a High-Class Devil?" I asked, wondering how magic truly worked. For example, could someone survive a fully powered attack if they were caught off guard?

"The magical power isn't really suppressed; it's more about compression. That's why, when I felt the output of the gun, I could sense the full power of that bolt.

It means you've just created a weapon that could possibly kill an Ultimate-Class Devil. And most likely, it could. Not in one shot, though. But that was still just a single bolt of magic—how rapid can you fire it?" She asked thoughtfully, her gaze returning to me.

"Every two seconds."

"…"

"Then this is definitely an Ultimate-Class Devil slayer. It's a high-Class Sacred Gear, possibly close to Longinus." She said seriously, then sighed, her shoulders sinking for a moment.

"Honestly, I should be terrified, but instead, I'm proud and even excited. I mean, I saw this coming together just as much as you did." She smiled, though I could see her wrestling with conflicting emotions.

"How's your hand?" She asked, coming over and inspecting me closely. Her blue eyes scanned me from head to toe.

"Numb…" I said, still trying to get control of it.

"Understandable. That's why you should listen to your girlfriend's intuition, especially when she's a devil! If you hadn't taken my advice seriously, you would've at least lost your hand or broken it beyond normal healing." She pointed a finger at me.

"Right… I guess you're more attuned to intuition and stuff." I said while channeling magic through my hand, trying to regain control.

"Indeed. Now let's get back to the workshop. Your hand needs some rest~~~" She picked up the weapon and took my left hand, leading me back into the main room.

"Uhh... we still need to patch up the room…"

"Don't worry~~~ Sera will fix it for you later~~~"