Witch Troupe and the Undead

The city's lower district has been almost completely reduced to ruins, with simple military camps standing on the ruins. Structurally, these camps are quite complete with various facilities such as barracks, blacksmith shops, canteens, warehouses, and training grounds.

The guards operating in the military camp were also four-armed, but there were individuals who did not wear armor. They all covered their eyes with some kind of cloth strips, were muscular, and were at least four meters tall, looking extremely robust and tall.

“They are giants,” Livia recognized the true form of these creatures: the Hundred-Armed Giants. Judging from the number of arms, they were the product of multiple generations of degradation and were closely related to the Primordial Hundred-Armed Giant juvenile in the arena's iron cage.

The Founding Titan could not adapt to the environment of the Order Magic, but these giant monsters or demons could. There are many speculations in the academic community about the relationship between these giants and the Founding Titan.

Some monster scientists believe it may be a descendant of the very few Founding Titans who adapted to the magic of order. Others believe it should be a close relative or slave of the Founding Titans. Still others believe it may be some kind of creation made by the Founding Titans as a measure to try to survive in a new magical environment.

However, regardless of the differences in size, both sides share a high degree of similarity yet show clear signs of degradation. These hundred-armed giants are a prime example.

Although they are called "hundred-armed", in reality, they have at most twelve arms in the outside world, which is about the same as the number of arms of the primordial giant in the arena. The real ancient hundred-armed giant (progenitor species) may actually have dozens or even a hundred arms and be as big as a mountain.

"Most ordinary Titans worship the Founding Titan as a god and ancestor, but when the academic community studies their corpses, they find that although there are great similarities in their external structure, there is no close connection between the two in terms of details and more essential things."

"They're more like some kind of counterfeit created to imitate the Founding Titan," Livia whispered to everyone, explaining the origins of these giant guards. "These seem to have been completely degraded..."

"It could also be that the traits are more stable."

At least all individuals have the same number of arms, which in a sense means that this peculiarity has completely stabilized. Unlike the raging monsters outside, these giant guardians clearly possess order and considerable civilization, and their behavior and actions appear exceptionally restrained and composed.

Giants are classified as monsters because, like other monsters, they can be driven mad by the power of order magic and frantically attack all civilized creations and individuals. At the same time, their consciousness is also relatively chaotic. Although they have a lifestyle and cooperation similar to early tribes and have their own gods and ancestors, they are still classified as a kind of monster.

This characteristic of becoming manic due to the stimulation of the magic of order has become one of the pieces of evidence supporting the "descendants of the Titans" theory, since the Founding Titan was petrified and perished because of the magic of order, so it is reasonable for these descendants to also show sensitivity to the magic of order.

Here, these giants forge weapons and armor, train armies, and even grow crops in pits dug on the outskirts of the city using glowing crystals, creating a miniature kingdom—a practice almost unimaginable to the outside world.

It's important to know that, apart from newborn infants, most teenagers of Titans have a physique similar to Leon's, with superhuman physiques reaching level II or higher. Adult Titan warriors are generally around level III or IV.

If they weren't so lacking in civilization, or even in mutual understanding, and if these two groups of giants weren't prone to infighting like monsters, they would have become a greater threat than the orcs, or even a threat to all races on the continent.

Not to mention, if these things could also forge weapons and armor and construct buildings like the Founding Titans, then the difficulty of clearing out giant settlements would quickly increase from the level of elite adventurers to the level of a war requiring national mobilization.

This is also the view of scholars who support the "fake" theory. After all, the relics and various creations left by the Founding Titan are not only everywhere, but also widely distributed. Moreover, various written records show that the Founding Titan was quite united.

The completely different characteristics exhibited by these Titan races prove that they are not descendants of the Founding Titan, but rather creations that resemble some kind of imitation. As for whether these creations were created by the Founding Titan or by other races imitating the Founding Titan, there is still disagreement.

Basically, monster scholars have been arguing about this for hundreds of years without reaching a consensus. The only thing that everyone agrees on is that all giants can be classified as enemies of civilization, that is, within the category of "monsters".

But for some reason, none of these giant guards went to the upper city of the high platform. Instead, they were all distributed around the lower city, using the ruins of those buildings as their camps.

Upon seeing the golem approaching, the armored guards immediately stopped what they were doing, turned to face the golem, while the unarmored giants decisively knelt on one knee and did not rise until the golem had passed.

None of the giant guards made a sound as they watched the golem step onto the platform.

At the same time, the palace gates opened, and several four-armed giant golems emerged, silently surrounding the golem controlled by Livia, seemingly waiting for something.

"Are we able to communicate?"

"No," Livia shook her head. The other party was a pure alchemical puppet creation. She could command it, but the effect was not good. The witch's perception could not even hear the "voices" of those puppets.

"Then we have no choice but to fight them!" As soon as Leon finished speaking, he saw a giant golem charging towards him. Its two upper arms were wielding a greatsword and slashing at the golem's thighs, while its two lower arms were each holding a shield and using the edges of the shields to smash at the golem's feet.

However, since these golems were only five or six meters tall, equivalent to the waist of a golem, and their overall size was also shrunk, they looked like a few children waving toys and rushing over. Even the little witch didn't feel any threat and decisively raised her left fist and punched down.

"Clang!" A sound like a church bell rang out, and a golem was knocked down to its knees, but it was not destroyed. The other golems were not afraid at all, and just kept swinging their weapons to hit the golem's legs, quickly leaving pitted marks on the armor.

Meanwhile, the ordinary giants in the lower city simply watched from the sidelines, neither intervening nor stopping the fight. They seemed equally confused as to why the two sides were fighting.

"Bang!" The witch instinctively swung her arm, and one of the golems was hit by the golem's arm, flying backward and crashing into the giant's camp. She grabbed the other golem, lifted it up, and slammed it to the ground, then stomped on it.

"Boom!" Amidst the earth-shaking tremors and the faint sounds of metal cracking and twisting, two of the four golems were eliminated. The remaining two did not last long before being killed one by one by the witch. After the golems were all wiped out, the palace gates opened again, seemingly welcoming the golems in.

“It looks like some kind of trap…” Leon muttered, but Livia still steered the golem inside. Almost the instant it crossed the palace gate, several large crossbow bolts appeared in front of the golem. “Bang!” The golem suddenly leaned back, and several iron rods, which were like anti-dragon crossbow bolts, appeared on its body. Magic sparks flew from the damaged parts, and the runes in the cabin dimmed.

"..." The little witch's face showed obvious displeasure, and the chains fixed to her wrists and ankles emitted a dazzling light like the sun as she used her magic to repair the damage to the golem.

She grabbed the crossbow bolts with her hands and pulled them out bit by bit, then threw them on the ground. Sparks flew from the broken bolts, and the witch's power to distort the material world caused the deformed metal to gradually return to its original state.

As the long audience corridor slowly descended, an identical golem—or rather, a more exquisite golem—wearing a golden crown and a mask beneath its helmet that showed neither joy nor sorrow.

The golem's left hand held a shield, while its right hand held a golden longsword constructed from the same twelve-sectioned rhomboid metal structure, with bronze runes flashing incessantly. It was clearly more complete than the original, or rather, this was the genuine article rather than a counterfeit.

On either side of the golem stood two golems wielding giant dragon-slaying crossbows, standing guard like loyal protectors. More golems poured out from the hidden doors on both sides. If the golems hadn't been brought in, this formation could have wiped out a near-legendary adventure party in an instant.

"It seems that not every demon king will obediently stay in the throne room and wait for adventurers to pass through one by one." Roach said, pointing to the obvious ambush formation. In a typical adventure, the demon king and his subordinates would obediently disperse throughout the labyrinth, allowing adventurers to overcome them one by one.

Okay, that's how it is for the first half, but judging from the comments in the arena, this Night King treated the front hall as some kind of theater, just to watch the adventurers struggle with the puzzles and traps he set. But the second half is where he truly rests.

Clearly, they had made thorough preparations to deal with potential tomb raiders, aiming to kill the enemy directly at the entrance. Even the giant guards outside were set up for this reason. However, for some reason, those giant guards did not attack the golem, but instead obediently watched it pass by.

"Can you control it?" Leon asked the little witch. If she could control it, then the team would have two golems now. What was that saying again? It's my turn to play!

"Hmm~" The witch shook her head. The other party was completely out of control. A powerful consciousness was controlling the golem. The witch's control was not as strong as everyone thought. To be precise, she was not good at fighting for control with others.

She can interfere with and directly control unclaimed inanimate objects or summoned magic and creations, but it's difficult to have a sufficient effect on targets that are already under someone's control. If the controller is also a powerful spellcaster or a being with a strong will, then the witch's control can at most cause only slight interference.

"Whoosh~" The golem opposite waved its hand in a very human-like manner, signaling the golems to step back, and pointed its longsword at Livia in a provocative gesture, "Is someone controlling this thing?"

"Hmm!" The witch nodded somewhat flusteredly. She could bully those slow-witted and unskilled creatures or short puppets, but it was a bit difficult to deal with an opponent of the same level.

However, the other party did not wait for her reply. Holding the shield low, he shouted, "Get out of the way!" With Leon's exclamation, the shield slammed heavily into the chest of the golem controlled by Livia. The entire golem fell backward and crashed to the ground.

"Ouch!" The cabin tilted suddenly, and everyone except the witch who was chained up slid down to the vertical floor and crashed into the wall. "Fellowship, watch out!" Lulua caught Roche in a princess carry. He was the only one who would get hurt like that. Even the useless mermaid only screamed when he was thrown and was not injured.

Livia instinctively swung whatever she was holding to strike, but her arm was parried by the opponent's sword. "Boom!" The golem's huge foot stomped down, pressing her sword-wielding arm to the ground. "Ah!" Seeing the longsword slashing down, the witch instinctively closed her eyes and gave up resisting.

The blade shattered the arm armor, severing the entire right arm. The chains binding the witch's right wrist dimmed, and several runic structures in the cabin glowed with a scarlet warning light.

"..." The hostile golem pointed the tip of its sword at the witch's chin, as if scrutinizing her, and then thrust it downwards with force. Accompanied by magical sparks, all the lights in the control room went out, plunging it into darkness. Then came the sound of metal scraping and violent vibrations, as if the entire golem had been moved.

"Boom!" A violent feeling of weightlessness accompanied by the sound of an impact. A few minutes later, under the bridge in the outer city, a lone golem head moved, its T-shaped helmet opened, revealing Roach and his group, covered in dust and dirt.

"..." Livia looked at the golem's remains, which had been torn into seven or eight pieces and carelessly thrown on a pile of trash. Her little mouth pursed tightly, revealing a very sad expression. The fun toy she had just gotten had been destroyed.

The little witch stomped her foot and looked at Roach and Leon with teary eyes. The latter could only give a helpless bitter smile—what could she do? She was the only pilot here, and she didn't have much experience in fighting or combat. Facing equally or even more elite opponents, it was normal for her to be swept out in two moves. It should be said that the fact that the other party didn't destroy the cockpit was already considered merciful.

“The Soul Furnace has been completely destroyed…” Roach turned his head to examine the body part that had fallen not far away. The chest cavity was completely shredded, and specks of soul fluorescence kept leaking out from the broken opening.

"And it looks like we'll have to find another way to get in..." Leon looked towards the city gate above his head. Without the golem, charging in with the current number of team members and combat strength would be no different from suicide.

You'll have to fight a bunch of golems and a huge dark gold golem. Even if you let Old Ma come in at full power, he'd be beaten to a pulp in a few rounds. If there are any magic circles or similar rituals that restrain demons or suppress hellish magic, then Old Ma might be killed outright.

"It seems that this Night King has deployed all his forces in the audience hall..." Alessina said dryly. This was the first time he had seen such a cunning or unethical dungeon leader. Most dungeons and similar secret realms would not do this. As for the reason, it was unknown. It could be because there was more than one path, or it could be some kind of ritualistic setting, or even some could be due to tradition and the need for honor.

Because many of the monsters in the ruins are composed of their original owners or defensive mechanisms, they will maintain the original layout and, with a sense of honor, not concentrate all their forces at the entrance. However, this is not absolute. It is hard to say about the groups of monsters or alien races that occupy the ruins. They may indeed concentrate all their forces at the entrance checkpoint.

However, most of these ruins have more than one entrance. Adventurers usually bypass the heavy guards at the entrance and infiltrate through the back door or a hidden gap. This may be one of the reasons for this arrangement.

“At least the vast majority of our forces are positioned at the entrance…” Leon glanced at the surrounding piles of junk and the mangled golem limbs. “Can this thing still be repaired?”

“It can be repaired…” Roach inspected the damage, “but it’s impossible for us to do it on our own.” The Soul Furnace alone would take the Little Witch months to study, and the remaining damaged limbs would require casting large forgings.

"And for us, there's an even bigger problem..." How do we deal with the giant guards around here? "Hopefully they can communicate."

"I'm not too optimistic... Do you speak their language?"

The team fell silent.

"Whether we find another way in or repair the golem, we'll inevitably have to deal with these guys. There's only one way: make contact. At least these giants are easier to deal with than... those hordes inside." To be honest, these giants were indeed much easier to bully than the bunch of monsters inside.

Chapter 397 Conflict-Making Machine

It took quite a while to climb out of the garbage heap under the bridge, mainly because the little witch was the team's biggest weakness in terms of stamina and physical fitness, especially since she had just fought a battle with her golem, which had consumed a lot of her stamina.

"Huff~ Huff~" The little witch rested her hands on her knees, her face flushed, sweat dripping down her snow-white chin, and even the neckline of her dress was damp with sweat. Her light golden hair clung to her cheeks, and she looked completely exhausted.

"Let's find a place to camp. Making contact with those giants now wouldn't be a good idea." Leon looked around. They were currently near the plaza in the upper city, with the huge statue in the center.

On the base of the statue of "Eternal King XI of the Eternal Kingdom," only these few words are clearly visible, while the other texts describing his life have been completely worn away. There is a small door directly below the statue, which seems to lead to the interior.

Leon and Alessina went inside to investigate. It seemed to be some kind of exhibition hall for storing memorials, with rusted armor, decaying replicas, and a jumble of things that could only be called rubbish.

After clearing away the trash, the showroom, consisting of a circular hall and three curved rooms, was sufficient for Roach and his men.

Considering everyone was sweating profusely and the garbage under the bridge didn't smell very good, we decided to make two rooms for showering or washing up, use the remaining rooms for sleeping, and use the hall leading to the outside for night watch.

It must be said that this architectural structure is indeed a perfect campsite for adventure activities. The only drawback is the lack of water. The pools and fountains around the statue have long since dried up, and not just for a day or two, but for at least hundreds or thousands of years. The silt has turned into fossil-like things. It is really hard to believe that the building itself still looks relatively intact.

Everyone's main luggage was with Old Ma, so Livia didn't even have a change of clothes, let alone a luxury like a bathtub. The little witch had to force herself to transform the stones on the ground into a makeshift bathtub structure, and then Leon and Roach used alchemical potions and holy flames to clean away the moss and other things inside.

They poured the water summoned by the witch into the basins, and finally got two tubs for bathing. As for bathing, apart from Livia who was actually taking a bath, the others just wiped themselves with soaked cloths. If they were to actually take a bath, it would quickly turn into a big tub of muddy water—the witch didn't have the energy to summon more water.

In fact, the little one fell asleep less than a minute after lying down. Alessina could only hurriedly wipe her body clean and then, before she caught a cold, take the little witch out, dry her off, wrap her in a blanket, and place her by the campfire like a caterpillar.

Then, the clothes were washed with the remaining water, which was better than nothing, and then hung on the campfire to dry. The good news is that the little witch can also wear Lulua's clothes. The two little girls are about the same size, and even Lulua's clothes are a bit too big on her.

The bad news is that Livia doesn't have any spare clothes, Lulua only brought one set of clothes, and Alessina didn't prepare any spare clothes either, or rather, all of these belongings are with Old Ma.

It was much simpler for Roach and Leon. Leon was wearing armor, so the dirt was all on the armor. A brush would solve most of the problem. As for the sweat-soaked inner lining, they could just rinse it with water and hang it on the fire to dry.

Roach's alchemist's robe was originally designed for this kind of occasion. To put it simply, it has a hydrophobic layer formed by alchemical potions on the surface, which is corrosion-resistant, wear-resistant, and non-flammable. It is easy to clean, just like a raincoat, by rinsing and wiping it with water.

"Whoosh~" Leon blew on the fire to make it burn brighter. "It's amazing that these dead trees can still burn. I thought they would turn into stones."

The fuel was dead wood pulled from the gardens outside, which looked almost like stones. Roach initially thought it might turn into coal after a while, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't buried under high pressure and heat, so theoretically it should have completely decomposed into mud. Therefore, he could only attribute it to the strange physical and chemical reactions of the magical world.

"Master Roach, how do we contact those giants next? I don't speak the language of giants." Since it was rather awkward for two burly men wearing only underwear to be together, Leon casually started a conversation. Once his armor dried, he would go outside to keep watch.

"Since those giants seem to be civilized and in rather problematic condition, we could consider having Miss Livia communicate with them. She seems to be able to understand anyone's language without any problems," including Roach's otherworldly language. Otherwise, the little witch wouldn't be able to teach Roach his native language and script.

"If a conflict breaks out, I'm not very confident... There are too many of them," Leon said with some concern. There were too many giants. If they were all unarmored, monster-like giants, he would be more confident, but these giants who were clearly civilized and organized would be difficult to deal with.

As someone who has served in the military, I know better than anyone that organization is far more important than individual strength. Unless you are so strong that you are as different from everyone else as a dog, a slightly less skilled but well-organized individual is much more dangerous than a group of top-notch individuals fighting alone or without any coordination. In fact, if the two clash, the latter is definitely doomed.

To be so strong as to be one or even several levels stronger than everyone else, it can only mean that there is no such thing as a protagonist's halo in the real world. Geniuses who are more than one level stronger than most people do exist.

But being stronger than everyone else, the kind that dominates all ages... Unless there's a protagonist's halo and they have to cheat their way through, it can only mean that this is a completely different kind of being or being, similar to the difference between gods and mortals.

To insist on staying in this low-dimensional world after reaching this level is to say that you have a lot in common with some ancient and powerful player. Everyone plays board games, but what kind of thing is it to jump on the table and declare yourself a super-sized chess piece?

Therefore, Leon stated that even among the paladins, he was quite capable, and he was confident that he could defeat any of the giants here in a few minutes without paying any price.

The problem is that there isn't just one here, and these guys are coordinated and organized. If the number exceeds 10, he'll be in trouble. After all, even Master Ye can only fight ten, not twenty, let alone 200.

"And they also have equipment..." This issue is even more serious. Having armor or not is a completely different matter. If he is unarmored but well-organized, he can take on ten people. If he is armored but has more than three people, he will have to run away.

"The equipment isn't a big problem. After all, Miss Livia is here. Unless their equipment is all enchanted, it's hard to say whose equipment it is." Ordinary metal armor is just a mobile cage or an iron maiden in front of the witch. If she wants, the armor will extend countless blades from the inside to pierce through every unfortunate giant.

However, if it is enchanted, then it will be difficult for her to control, and the more enchantments there are, the more difficult it will be for her. Similarly, even if it is unenchanted armor, if it is made of alchemical metal, it will be difficult for the witch to control it.

As for ordinary armor, let's put it this way: if the opponent really only has that level of equipment, there's no need for such a complicated execution method. Livia could just throw out a couple of quick spells and evaporate the person and armor together—her strength as the Golden Witch is not fake. If she really goes all out with her spells, evaporating a few ordinary armored cans is a piece of cake.

Dean Elena of the academy might be even faster than Livia. In her transformed state, she could crush a tin-clad, meat-filled pancake with a single slap without even needing to use magic. However, if the opponent was wearing enchanted armor, then even if she killed them with a single slap, her hand would still have a bloody hole in it.

“I think you shouldn’t be so confident, Master. If it were alchemy or metalwork, the young lady could at most help us deal with seven or eight people. But when we came in, I estimated that there were at least several hundred giant armored warriors, not counting the children and craftsmen. We can’t handle the rest. Or perhaps…” Leon’s gaze fell on Roach’s backpack, which was placed to the side, and on the magic crossbow that had been modified to have nothing to do with a crossbow, or rather, the large weapon with the new name “Magic Orbital Launcher,” “Does this weapon have any other special uses?”

“Look at this? I haven’t finished processing this yet…” Roach showed off the two new rows of feather-like structures, as well as the brass plates that resembled the side guards of the track.

“I’m still short of materials. We need to use copper wire here, and then mix black iron and star silver to make a cladding plate, which will serve as the rune base and encapsulation material,” Roach explained to the other party, while Leon didn’t understand any of the long string of technical terms and nouns. “The warlock configuration used was designed by the young lady.”

He didn't have that ability, after all, he didn't study physics and chemistry on Earth. The good news is that he also doesn't have any intellectual barriers and won't delve into the deeper principles behind it; as long as it works, that's fine. The bad news is that this railgun-like thing is his last wave, and it's something he saw in a movie.

"Once the processing is complete, I can focus on ammunition manufacturing, instead of having to use only a few types of ammunition as before, whose power is limited by the output of the rune disk, or even firing without any ammunition at all."

It can directly transform the magic power in the magic container into a spell structure and launch it out. It is not only a kinetic weapon, but also a laser weapon that fires various spell rays, a weapon that fires various spell missiles, and when necessary, it can also be a flamethrower.

"All that's needed is to replace this part of the substrate. I plan to make it a quick-change type." This technology was inspired by the thing I made with magic capacitors in the Lost Capital, but here it's been miniaturized and micronized.

After all, while Roach hasn't made much progress in his research on moving elements and runic lenses, the Little Witch has been making rapid progress. She has already identified several basic moving element rune groups—although she hasn't found or identified the true base runes or original runes yet, she has narrowed down the scope to these basic rune groups.

The magical railgun is divided into two parts: the front part consists of a protective plate and a large number of interlaced feather-like metal plates that form an acceleration and constraint zone, which confines magical energy within this area. This allows for both activating dynamic elemental groups to accelerate physical projectiles and directly launching magical projectiles.

The entire "barrel" area is H-shaped when viewed from the front and "目"-shaped when viewed from above. The crossbeams are replaceable rune stones. By arranging the rune stones to form corresponding rune groups, you can switch between different functions.

Replacing it is also very simple. Just pry open the base part, hold the weapon at an angle, and slap it with your hand so that it slides down the groove of the base. To replace the new rune stone, just close the base, take out the new rune stone, and press it down hard from the top to lock it in place.

Its fixing structure is a latch similar to a memory slot. Pressing it down will cause it to retract inward and lock in place. Furthermore, the rune plate was specially made into a trapezoidal shape by Roach to avoid breaking himself if inserted backwards. As for whether it is the right or wrong side, there is no such thing as a ball. This is not an electronic device. As long as the rune stone contact on the central axis is connected to the magic circle node, it is fine.

The latter half of the weapon is the power supply system. Roach has reserved a slot, and once the materials are available, he will cut a small piece of the extremely expensive Titan Crystal to create a multi-layered magic capacitor. Normally, it will be connected to the rune disk and charged by the alchemical reaction. When in use, it will not be limited by the output limit of the rune disk itself.

Furthermore, Roach is considering building a new "Magic Annihilation Furnace" in the cabin and then mass-producing "Magic Batteries" and Runestones, although it can only be filled with wind, fire, and water attributes, which would be sufficient for his needs.

"Is it difficult to mass-produce this thing?" Leon watched Roach fiddling with it for a long time, but he didn't understand a word of the technical details. He only understood one thing: using this weapon did not require a sorcerer, an alchemist, or even a little bit of mysticism. Like those enchanted weapons, even untrained civilians could pick it up and use it.

The drawback is the same as that of enchanted weapons: once the magic inside is used up, the weapon is useless. Very few experts can re-enchant an enchanted weapon, and most alchemists and enchanters recommend simply buying a new one.

This theoretically allows ordinary people to possess extraordinary weapons and powers, but in reality, the cost of this is a more troublesome threshold than any talent—if you don't have enough talent, you can make up for it with hard work, but if you don't have the money to buy it, you really don't have the money.

Therefore, Leon only cared about one thing: how difficult would it be to mass-produce this thing? Because although this weapon was like an enchanted weapon, it could be repeatedly charged, and the charging only consumed some alchemical reagents and alchemical potions, which released magic power through a certain reaction between them, and were thus absorbed and charged.

Of these two items, the former might have a slightly higher barrier to entry, but the Empire already has alchemy workshops that are essentially modern factories, so this basic reagent can be mass-produced. The latter is something that any villager with a bit of courage can collect in low-danger magic-gathering areas. In other words, not to mention adventurers, even some wealthier villagers can afford the charging costs.

If mass production is easy, he really needs to consider changing careers. He won't be able to make a living as a knight anymore. The magic crossbow he encountered before already made the knight profession difficult.

Fortunately, that thing is difficult to penetrate enchanted armor, and knights can use it, even better than ordinary soldiers—because they can actually use their superhuman strength to quickly charge the magic crossbow.