When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 701 - 659: 12-Pound Griffin Cannon

Imperial Calendar, January 18, 1447.

The morning light shone upon the mottled walls of Fraser Fortress, triggering the warning bell. Dust fell from the towering parapets, releasing crossbow arrows in a toothed pattern with every footstep.

The side gate of the castle opened, and dozens of horsemen with swallowtail flags streamed out in single file.

A cold spring wind swept across the stone bridge over the river, stirring the spider web-like hexagonal war flags upon the bridge.

Beside the river outside Fraser Castle, colorful headscarves, vests, and tattooed arms were in abundance.

Upon Louise's encouragement and requirement, all the Secret Factions both large and small from the Northern County who could arrive within three days had gathered.

Dozens of Secret Factions gathered together, numbering nearly a thousand people, though most were in thin cloaks or vests, exposing bare knees and ankles, with only a waist knife and magic staff hanging at their waists.

Some even had a grass basket with a frog at their waist which they occasionally took out to lick. Most of them were lean, even emaciated.

Those dedicated to combat, such as mages, were grouped together in advance.

They were strong, wearing iron masks and leather armor, with serrated great swords made of obsidian and hardwood on their backs, ready to unleash spells in a fierce charge at any time.

Most of the time, this charge was enough to overwhelm ordinary mercenaries and armored soldiers.

If in the forests and streams, combat mages were even bold enough to counterattack extraordinary knights, causing real harm.

However, in places like Fraser Castle, the small plains reclaimed and logged by knights and slaves over generations, knights could suppress the combat mages through mobility.

"Fraser Castle… Are they expecting us to throw our lives into it again?" A combat mage shaded his eyes, gazing at Fraser Fortress from the hillside.

Another dark-skinned wizard with a scimitar at his waist smacked his lips, "A wall six fathoms high, we can't even climb that, at least let me kill one."

"Isn't there the Saint's Grandson of the Thousand River Valley?"

"Saint's Grandson..." The Secret Faction members and combat mages exchanged looks, seeing complex expressions on each other's faces.

They respected this farmer for driving out the Thousand River Valley Church, killing Prince Kongdai, and severely humiliating the Pope.

But on the other hand, this Saint's Grandson seemed to be a fanatic, not only self-proclaiming as the Pope but also founding his own sect to drive out demons, causing much internal conflict among the Secret Faction members who traditionally opposed the church and worshiped demons.

"Even if he's the Saint's Grandson, he's not the false god's grandson, right?" A combat mage looked up enviously and complainingly at the heavily guarded black-clad soldiers on the hillside, "Can he call down divine punishment to strike the false gods?"

"I heard there's some new kind of catapult? Or that spring-driven fireball crossbow?"

"Yeah, right, what fireball crossbow can shoot three miles?"

"Who knows, don't they have spring guns?"

"I made a spring gun myself, it wasn't that powerful." A Secret Faction member raised his head, "If they invited so many people and it doesn't do much, it'd be quite embarrassing."

As if remembering something, several small and medium-sized Secret Faction leaders immediately went to the troublemakers in the team, threatening, "If Mr. Horn's new weapon doesn't succeed, whoever makes sarcastic remarks, I'll beat his mouth to a pulp, got it?"

These Secret Faction leaders were counting on Horn's relief grain, lest they face hard times if he's stingy.

Unconcerned with the Secret Faction's discussions, he stood atop a high hillside, listening to Louise talk about the past few months' strategy against Fraser Castle.

The Fraser Castle strategy proposed by the Ruo'an Faction wasn't something that came after Horn's arrival.

As early as last June, the Ruo'an Faction began dismantling the peripheral castle strongpoints around Fraser Castle, until nothing hindered their way between Long Embankment City and Fraser Castle.

With the spring guns, the Ruo'an Faction finally possessed the capability to confront knights.

Despite this, looking at the horsemen galloping back and forth on the plain, the Secret Faction army still hesitated, not daring to advance.

They were waiting, waiting for a certain Saint's Grandson to finish casting a spell.

On the hillside, several high priests of the Ruo'an Faction and elders of the Shadow Council watched as several engineers busily moved around, and the long, black, straight tube beneath the canvas.

Is this... an enlarged spring gun?

The high priests and elders exchanged glances, puzzled.

Leonardo recorded data with pen and paper while Haimodin nervously directed the artillerymen to place the spring warehouse into the rear of the cannon.

With a crisp click from the latch, several artillerymen carefully installed the ratchet firing rod and gears onto the spindle of the spring warehouse.

An iron ball slid from the front into the iron tube, making a dull sound amidst the smell of metal and lubricant. Haimodin lazily saluted Horn with a fist to his chest, "Installation and loading complete."

"Good!" Standing beside the long tube, Horn felt a deep sense of joy.

After Leonardo and Haimodin proposed the concept of a spring cannon, it took them only a month to successfully develop the first prototype spring siege cannon.

Spared no expense, this cannon was made using the lost-wax casting method and cast iron, with a 5-meter-long barrel, 8-centimeter-thick barrel walls, and a carbon steel spring warehouse as tall as a person.

The spring warehouse, covered with a bronze frame, held an 8-pound bronze spring, a task even Horn couldn't wind very far.

Supporting the massive spring cannon was a rack with a crank to adjust the muzzle's angle and direction, mounted on a double-wheeled cannon cart of iron rivets and wood.

Unlike the 3-pound hawk cannon, this Griffin siege cannon fired a solid 12-pound iron ball, designed specifically for castles.

Most castles of this era were tall, straight, and thin—specifically, thin relative to human power.

The wall thickness was roughly the width of two or three people standing side by side, thick enough for catapults and manpower, but insufficient for the siege cannon.

"Astrology complete, angle and position correct!"

"Calibration complete!"

"By order of His Eminence, move the cannon forward five centimeters!"

"All preparations complete, ready to fire."

"Permission granted." After giving the order, Horn pulled several onlookers, wizards, and the crowd back a few steps, retreating to a safe distance.

Although the spring warehouse casing was made of carbon steel, removing the tightened spring clip pin was a dangerous task, and a mistake could lead to a catastrophic explosion.

During transport, a wound 10-pound spring had shattered a poor-quality C-clip, leaving half a worker's head, which has not yet been recovered.

Hooking the pin with a hook, an artilleryman stepped back a few paces and pulled the rope in hand sharply.

Several high priests, previously dozing off, suddenly jolted awake, feeling a gust of wind in their faces before they could even open their eyes, forcing them to squint.

The thunderous roar sounded like a chariot storming through the sky. A gust of wind burst from the pressure valve, knocking nearby soldiers and Secret Faction members onto their backs.

Several Ruo'an Faction old wizards, elders from the Shadow Council, and even Louise changed expressions slightly.

The moment the pin was pulled out, the entire Griffin Cannon trembled, transmitting the rotational energy of the spring into the gears via the central axle, instantly converting it into direct energy by the firing rod.

The heavy iron ball flew out of the muzzle with a trace of afterimage, tracing a trajectory through the sky.

In the dazed gazes of the crowd, from a distance of three miles, it landed on the walls of Fraser Castle.

"Boom—"

With a tremendous explosion, Secret Party wizards tiptoed, bewildered, peering toward Fraser Castle in the distance.

A cloud of dust and smoke composed of bricks, stones, and bodies erupted from the ten-meter-high blue stone walls. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

As the spring breeze blew away the dispersing smoke, bringing cries and screams from the walls, everyone involuntarily swallowed hard.

The formerly insurmountable tall walls had been a nightmare for many Secret Faction members, having failed hundreds of frontal assaults or sneak attacks over decades to claim even a single brick from Fraser Castle.

But now, a plainly visible breach appeared on the once perfectly intact walls, with shattered stones and mortar slanting to the ground, even containing the bodies of two unfortunate knights.

"The wall... the wall has collapsed?"