Chapter 279: Railgun
Chapter 279: Railgun (Seeking Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
"We don't know what student Liam is doing down there, but I think he shouldn't take too long. After all, in this competition, the score is closely related to the completion time." Bagman quickly interjected to fill the silence, noticing that Liam had already completed the creation of two iron rods and had them floating at chest height. He then raised his right hand, pointing his wand at the sky and drawing a rune.
"Well, now Liam is making a move. Let's see what he does next. Good heavens, what is that?" Bagman suddenly exclaimed.
The weather today was not good, with a thick layer of dark clouds overhead. As Liam finished the final stroke of the rune with his wand, the entire rune transformed into a beam of blue light, shooting directly into the cloud cover. Thunder rumbled through the clouds, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, aiming straight for Liam on the field.
"What's going on?" Bagman's puzzled voice echoed across the arena, voicing the confusion of the spectators. Everyone was baffled as to why Liam would summon lightning to strike himself.
However, the lightning did not hit Liam as everyone expected. After all, he wasn't preparing to undergo a trial by lightning. As the lightning was about to strike him, Liam gently waved his wand, guiding the current into the Alchemical Array beneath his feet. When the current entered the Alchemical Array, the runes on its surface began to glow with electric light.
The current formed a web of blue and white lightning beneath Liam's feet, quickly transforming into a long, electric arc under his wand's direction. These arcs then began to wrap around the two iron rods, which were covered in blood-red runes, in a series of circles.
"Could this be the legendary Railgun?" Swinton, the future Earl of Glamorgan, whispered in shock.
"Railgun? What's that?" Hermione, who was not particularly interested in military or science fiction, had no idea what the third-year student beside her was talking about.
"It's a weapon that uses electromagnetic force to launch projectiles. I've only seen it in science fiction novels and movies. I heard that Muggle military researchers are working on it, but no prototypes have been successfully created yet. I never thought a Wizard could achieve this with Magic. It's simply a miracle. Go, Liam!" Swinton waved the flag with the Hogwarts crest on it enthusiastically.
Hermione found herself speechless as she watched the third-year student beside her, who was visibly excited by Liam's Magic. She couldn't understand why the Railgun was so impressive. Suddenly, a chorus of gasps erupted around her, and she quickly turned her attention back to the field.
At that moment, the light in the arena became blinding. The lightning-filled dimension in front of Liam transformed into a bright, oval-shaped light orb, surrounded by countless blue and white arcs.
Everyone in the arena could sense the power emanating from the light orb in front of Liam: they felt a breeze on their skin, heard a faint humming in their ears, and even experienced an uncomfortable sensation as if they had been caught in a spider's web. Liam's Magic robe was also flapping as if caught in a wind.
Naturally, the dragon on the other side of the field also sensed these changes. The Hungarian Tree Hornet suddenly spread its wings, as if preparing to pounce. However, it was already too late to react.
Liam had just finished his preparations. Seeing the dragon prepare to move, he waved his wand, causing the rocks beneath the dragon's hind claws to turn into small patches of mud. This caused the dragon to lose its balance and sink its hind claws into the mud, preventing it from taking off.
After another wave of his wand, Liam transformed the mud back into solid rock, securely pinning the Dragon's hind claws to the ground.
Of course, this ordinary rock wouldn't hold the Dragon for long: cracks quickly spread across the newly formed stone, and it was clear that the massive creature would break free in just a few seconds.
"Oh no, the Dragon is about to make its move. We can see sweat beads forming on Liam's forehead, indicating that the spell he's using is extremely challenging for him at this moment. Let's hope this spell is effective enough, because even a well-trained adult Dragon Keeper would struggle to face a Dragon head-on—"
Bagman suddenly stopped mid-sentence, as Liam made his move.
"Railgun!" With a loud shout, Liam pointed his wand at the Dragon, and a bright orange beam, crackling with electric arcs, shot forward with unyielding force, targeting the Hungarian Horntail. As the beam passed, it kicked up a cloud of dust, creating a violent disturbance on the grounds. The high-speed iron rune rod, traveling faster than the speed of sound, produced a short, intense explosion.
"Oh, Merlin. How did the young Liam manage this? He actually knocked the Dragon down, by Merlin's fat underpants." Bagman's voice on the platform was filled with shock.
This was a combined spell that Liam had created by integrating Alchemy with Thunder Art. As everyone knows, a Dragon's thick hide is imbued with ancient magic, and only the most powerful spells can penetrate it. Liam had only two options for directly piercing a Dragon's hide: Thunder Art or a large Alchemical Array. However, using either would reveal too much of his arsenal.
So, Liam took a different approach. After understanding the principles of the Gauss Rifle from the Radiation World and finding the runes specific to Dragon hide in the School Library, he combined this knowledge to create the Magic Railgun.
Using his Magical Eagle Eye, Liam observed that the first iron rod, carrying immense kinetic energy and runes, quickly dissipated upon impact with the Dragon's hide, but it also wore down a large portion of the Dragon's chest scales and its magical defenses. The second iron rod followed closely, piercing through the now defenseless chest and, with the help of the runes, converting the kinetic energy and magic power into a powerful explosion.
The explosion was significant. Liam even saw the force of the explosion cause the Dragon to rear up and fall backward, its body swelling momentarily. As the dust from the impact settled, he finally saw the results of his attack:
The Dragon was completely flipped over, its head leaning against the barrier, its belly facing the sky, and it lay motionless. Blood seeped from under its scales, its nostrils, mouth, and eyes, turning the entire creature a crimson red. It seemed that the Dragon's thick hide, with its powerful magical defenses, had backfired, as the tough exterior prevented the explosion's energy from dissipating outward, leaving the vulnerable internal organs to absorb the full force.
Clearly, the dust didn't affect Bagman's view from above, so he let out a shocked cry when he saw this.
The Dragon's nest remained intact, and the Golden Egg inside gleamed brightly. Liam quickly approached and picked up the Golden Egg, and the crowd, stunned by the loud noise, erupted into cheers, accompanied by Bagman's enthusiastic commentary: "Look, our 14-year-old contestant has completed the task with overwhelming power. He has succeeded."
(End of Chapter)
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