kscans

Chapter 235 - Episode 25: Part One, The Principle of the Weapon

I decided to start by demonstrating the principle behind that phenomenon. In truth, I already had all the necessary parts. What I had them prepare was a crimson Magic Crystal, which was a red Magic Crystal drained of its "magic" and shaped into a flat plate. A Negative Magic Crystal of the same shape. And a spiral flame magic wavelength purification cartridge. Also, three sorcerous metal mirrors of two different types, coated with a magic-reflecting catalyst. The first and second mirrors had a catalyst that completely reflected magic. The third was coated with a less effective reflective catalyst.

"I’m ready," Noel said, having set up the optical bench.

"An empty red Magic Crystal and a crimson Magic Crystal? And a cartridge to purify magic. Is this the same as charging a Magic Crystal?" Maytyl tilted her head.

"Correct. Can I ask you to do it, Maytyl?"

"I just need to draw the magic from the crimson one, right?"

Maytyl placed her hand on the crimson Magic Crystal. The drawn magic was purified by the cartridge and absorbed by the empty red Magic Crystal. Normally, you would separate the wavelengths with a dragon crystal. That method has less loss, and the magic catalyst in the cartridge deteriorates. For this experiment, however, I would ignore that.

"It’s done," Maytyl said, removing her hand. With this, the magic particles inside the red Magic Crystal were "excited" in a uniform state. In terms of this phenomenon, it was a form of magic pumping.

Using the equipment from the Purple Magic generator, I arranged the excited red Magic Crystal and the Negative Magic Crystal parallel to each other. On the contact surfaces of the red and negative Magic Crystals, I applied a barrier-forming magic catalyst to prevent magic particles from flowing freely. Just in case, I pointed the device in a direction with no buildings.

"Director, if you please." Once the red and negative crystals were as close as possible, I made my request to Fulsy.

"There must be a reason you chose me," she mused.

She was right. I had designated the magician with the lowest simple magic output among us.

Fulsy stimulated the magic particles of the red Magic Crystal. The magician’s interference with the particles inside the crystal broke through the short-range insulation. As always, crimson magic corresponding to the band gap between the red and negative crystals was generated. The magic created between the positive and negative Magic Crystals had its angle changed by mirror one, then reflected repeatedly between mirrors two and three.

Though almost nothing was done, the crimson magic became as thin as a thread and intensified its light between the mirrors. As Fulsy continued to draw out magic, that light grew stronger and stronger.

Then, a portion of it, unable to be fully reflected, shot out from mirror three.

Crimson ◇~~~~Cartridge □□~~~~Red ▱ ~~~~ ▽Mirror 1 Negative ▰ ／ Mirror 2(←………………→)Mirror 3

"Noel. Lend me the magic-sensing plate."

Mirror 2(――――――――)Mirror 3ーーーーー→ | Magic-sensing plate

I lowered the magic-sensing plate into the path of the beam. A part of the amplified magical beam pierced through the mirror. The thin crimson light struck the plate. A straight ruby flash shot from bottom to top. And then.

Karan.

The side not held between my fingers fell onto the platform. Without a sound or a puff of smoke, the magic-sensing plate had been sliced in two. I turned the cut surface so Fulsy and the others could see it.

"The magic I drew out, to have this much power…" Fulsy muttered, her hand no longer on the Magic Crystal. Maytyl’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the beam of light still remaining between the mirrors.

"You shouldn’t get your eyes too close. Especially you, Maytyl, with your high aptitude."

I cautioned her. Maytyl’s gaze turned to me.

"What do you mean?"

"To put it simply, it’s the effect of aligning both the wavelength and the phase of the waves of magic."

Magic has high directionality. The reasons are the nature of magic itself, the near absence of substances in the air that interact with it, and the fact that magic consists of a more limited number of wavelengths than natural light.

This time, by aligning the excited state of the magic particles in the red Magic Crystal, I made it produce only a single wavelength. Magic of the same energy has the same wavelength. Then, as with the Purple Magic generator we saw before, or this simple theoretical model I just made, that light reflects between the mirrors. As a result, not just the wavelength but also the phase of the waves aligns. The waves match up perfectly.

The power of a wave is determined not only by its short wavelength but also by the magnitude of its amplitude. When many waves align their phases, their amplitude increases. In other words, it becomes a wave that carries extremely high energy without decaying.

Like sunlight focused by a lens, the magic concentrated on a near-single point had enough power to burn through the magic-sensing plate. The power per unit area might even rival the time I burned a hole in the plate when measuring Alfina’s crystal. That was a tiny perforation like a needle point, so the area differs by more than a hundred times.

Still, can even magic be this concentrated?

Force-carrying particles like magic and light have a property, based on their spin value, that allows multiple particles to exist superimposed in the same location. It can't be that a vast number of magic particles are behaving as one. A visible quantum phenomenon.

For now, I’ll set aside the parts that are beyond my comprehension. There is one thing I need to understand. This is a magic laser.

I looked at the red and black Magic Crystals. Lasers are categorized by the form of their light source. By my previous life’s standards, what’s in front of me is similar to a semiconductor laser.

It might seem strange that a semiconductor could create a laser, but it isn’t. Semiconductors control the flow of electrons. And the flow of electrons produces light. To put it crudely, it’s no different from a light bulb. By joining an N-type semiconductor overflowing with electrons and a P-type semiconductor that attracts them, the movement of electrons can produce light of a pure wavelength, just like what happened now.

A normal Magic Crystal is like an N-type semiconductor full of magic particles, while a Negative Magic Crystal is like a P-type semiconductor with holes that attract magic particles. Instead of electrons, magic particles fall and create a pure magic wavelength.

"To think such a simple structure could produce such a dramatic effect," Maytyl said. Indeed, semiconductor lasers are characterized by their high efficiency and compact structure among all lasers. Well, this is a purely magical phenomenon, not sorcery. A magic laser seems like a more fitting name.

"I see, so this is the principle for the new sorcery staves…" Noel’s expression was one of sudden realization.

"That’s right. Recall the performance needed to defeat the adult Magic Insects. First and foremost is magic density, or as Maytyl would call it, magic pressure. The ultra-dense magic compressed by the laser can achieve a far higher pressure at a single point than a battering ram."

"It can break through the armor of adult Magic Insects, which is protected by strong magic pressure," Maytyl nodded.

"Next is range. With its pure wavelength and phase, the already highly directional magic can maintain its magic pressure over long distances without diffusing. And its speed goes without saying."

"So we can snipe the Magic Insects flying high in the sky, is that it?" Fulsy said, stroking her beard.

I predict the speed of a magic wave is the speed of light, or at least close to it. The Magic Insects probably sense air currents, or perhaps magic, with their sensory hairs and evade reflexively.

To evade a missile, you bounce electromagnetic waves, a radar, off it and detect the reflection. This is possible because electromagnetic waves, essentially light, are vastly faster than the missile, even accounting for the round trip. But a laser is different. To perceive it is to be hit by it.

"The last point is numbers. As we just saw, all that’s required is to stimulate the magic particles in the Magic Crystal and flip the switch. At the very least, anyone with an aptitude should be able to use it."

By placing some kind of barrier, in this case a spatial gap, between the Magic Crystal and the Negative Magic Crystal, we can control it with the step of having someone with an aptitude stimulate the magic particles inside the crystal.

"This is on a completely different level from when you expanded the number of spiral flame users by adding that interface. We could field thousands of people from both the Empire and the Kingdom."

"This structure is very simple. It doesn’t even use magic seals. We could make a lot of these."

"Meaning we can fight against the vast swarms of Magic Insects," the sorcery team finished my thoughts. Yes, the magic laser is the ideal weapon against the adult Magic Insects Craig told me about. However, there are at least two problems.

I looked at my own completely unharmed finger.