Ch.117Chapter 117 – Assault (3)

A fierce wind brushed against his face. There wasn’t even time to appreciate its coolness.

‘I hope I’m not too late…!’

Shin Jaehyuk was heading alone toward the east gate, having split up with Kwak Taewoo. If their guess about the Demon King’s army planning a feint attack was correct, then while the Death Worm that had emerged from the imperial palace was drawing attention, the main force of the Demon King’s army would be advancing toward the city walls.

Shin Jaehyuk ran at a speed that could crush bones if he accidentally collided with a passerby, thinking about the Demon King’s army’s strategy.

What made this feint attack terrifying was that the Death Worm wasn’t just a simple distraction. Demons could infiltrate through the underground tunnels the Death Worm had bored, and the Death Worm itself was essentially a massive weapon of destruction.

They needed to pay attention to both the city walls and the imperial palace. Shin Jaehyuk took responsibility for the walls, while Kwak Taewoo handled the palace. Unlike the palace where troops were concentrating due to the intense aggro, few people were paying attention to the currently quiet walls. It made sense for Shin Jaehyuk, who was stronger than Kwak Taewoo, to head toward the walls.

‘I’m worried the Duke might escape… But since his name and face have been exposed, surely he won’t cause more trouble. And Kwak Taewoo shouldn’t lose to the Duke anyway.’

They had captured Duke August on suspicion of assassination, and when he desperately insisted on going to the imperial palace, they assigned Kwak Taewoo to guide him there. It was difficult to keep an eye on him in all this chaos anyway, especially if he was going to dash to the palace.

With enhanced leg strength, Shin Jaehyuk sprinted at full speed and reached the guard post within minutes. He could see soldiers moving busily, trying to assess the situation.

Pushing through the guards who were scrambling to find their positions, he flung open the door to the captain’s office and found Marco inside. He urgently asked about the situation while Marco clutched his head, suffering from a hangover.

“Marco! What’s the situation?”

“Damn it, please keep it down… I feel sick as hell.”

But Marco had just regained consciousness and knew nothing. His adjutant, Eric, was also absent, having taken leave to return to the Rumania family estate.

With Shin Jaehyuk’s support, Marco climbed up to the top of the wall. It was dawn and dark outside, making it difficult to see far. Marco gave an order.

“Flares!”

A red light was launched high into the sky, illuminating the ground below. It was military supplies imported from Earth. Unlike fire arrows, it was much brighter and lasted several times longer. It was one of the representative items welcomed by the imperial army for its cost-effectiveness and versatility, better than stationing mages capable of using Light spells at every wall.

Red light decorated the sky like fireworks. The dawn sky became as bright as midday. It was a spectacular sight, but no one could admire it. For the light revealed the demonic army that had been advancing quietly, hidden in darkness.

“…They’ve already reached the second defense line?”

Seeing the Demon King’s army, which had reached the second outer wall beyond the town by taking advantage of the chaos in the capital and the darkness of night, Marco felt instantly sobered. He urgently ordered his soldiers.

“Activate the golems immediately! While the artillery holds back the Demon King’s army’s advance, the knights and infantry will escort the villagers into the fortress! Gunners, cover the evacuation procession-!”

The villagers, having sensed the tremors in the ground before the soldiers did, had already assessed the situation and were evacuating. They were rushing into the city gates, carrying bundles of necessities and valuables.

Watching the knights ride out through the east gate, Marco gave the artillery permission for free fire.

“Fire as soon as you’re charged-! If the gate is breached, the Empire is finished-! Stop their advance-!!”

True to its reputation as a well-planned surprise attack after years of preparation, the Demon King’s army was going all out. Their numbers were enormous. In terms of a defense game, it was like several waves of troops attacking at once. The sky was filled with winged demons, and the ground crawled with hellish worms and monstrosities difficult to describe in words.

Even the mines buried underground failed to serve their purpose. As explosions created holes in the battle line, new masses of flesh immediately filled them.

The soldiers, each terrified by the forms and numbers, activated their magic cannons. They had no doubt that, as usual, the golems’ eyes would emit deep blue beams and exterminate the demons like insects.

But the Demon King’s army, having suffered dozens or hundreds of defeats due to these magic cannons, wouldn’t mindlessly send troops forward without a countermeasure. They had already prepared one. That countermeasure was now rampaging in the imperial palace, destroying the library.

The moment the soldiers pressed the charging buttons, the mana conduits in the walls momentarily flared blue, then flickered weakly before going out completely. It resembled a fluorescent light at the end of its life. In this critical moment, the soldiers were at a loss, unable to even think about repairing the malfunctioning weapon.

“Huh? Huh? What’s wrong with this?”

“C-Captain! The golems aren’t charging!”

Marco stared grimly at the imperial palace on the opposite side of the Demon King’s army, inside the fortress. At the end of his gaze was the Death Worm, its head protruding and thrashing about, clearly visible despite the distance, defying perspective.

Marco thought about the buildings that must be crushed beneath its bulk. As the captain of the east gate guard, he knew. The imperial palace library housed the magic collector that supplied energy to the golems of the north and east gates.

Shin Jaehyuk, who had reached the same conclusion as Marco, sighed.

‘Damn it, it’s broken after all.’

***

Kwak Taewoo followed Duke August, who was guiding the way, as they ran toward the center of the commotion.

‘…Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem to be trying to escape. Just anxious.’

He observed the Duke’s expression with a glance. Running one step ahead, the Duke resembled a child in emotional distress. Forgetting his dignity, he scratched the scar on his nape out of habit while muttering anxiously.

“What on earth is happening? Is this His Majesty’s plan? He didn’t give me any indication…”

Anxiety born from ignorance hastened the Duke’s steps. Avoiding collapsing buildings, servants fleeing in all directions, and falling fireballs, they headed toward the imperial palace.

Finally, inside the imperial grounds, they got close enough to the scene that the Death Worm’s grotesque body filled their view. The mage corps was holding it in place to prevent it from moving elsewhere and causing additional damage. Soldiers were stabbing at its hide.

The Duke grabbed a knight.

“Sir! Hey!”

“Who dares? D-Duke! I-I am from the Second Knight Order-“

“Never mind that, report quickly! What’s happening here! What about His Majesty?”

For Duke August, the Emperor’s safety was more important than the dying soldiers or the collapsing palace. His true master, suppressed by the Prime Minister…

“The library has collapsed, but the palace protection magic circle is still functioning, so His Majesty’s chambers are safe! Sir Frederick is leading the palace knights and soldiers to prevent that monster from rampaging further!”

“Sir Frederick!”

The Duke’s expression brightened instantly. Frederick was the Empire’s only Sword Master and the captain of the Imperial Knight Order. The finest swordsman in Eden.

Indeed, when Kwak Taewoo raised his head and enhanced his vision, he could see a knight jumping around on the Death Worm’s rough skin. Embedding blue sword energy into the creature’s hide as he moved.

Wherever Sir Frederick passed, the tough skin split open, spraying dirty blood. Blood that had evolved to be acidic as a survival strategy to protect against predators.

“Aaaagh!” “Avoid it!” “H-help me-!! It’s melting!”

Several soldiers who failed to avoid the blood that fell to the ground melted away. But Sir Frederick couldn’t afford to consider the soldiers’ circumstances while fighting. The creature’s skin was so thick that his thirty-eight-inch blade sank completely out of sight when he pressed down with all his might, yet he couldn’t feel it touching any internal organs.

He was at a disadvantage due to type matchup. Even a Sword Master who could unleash sword energy couldn’t cut what he couldn’t reach.

‘No matter how much blood it loses, how long would it take to die from blood loss with that size? We need a powerful mage, not a swordsman…’

Sir Frederick was in a predicament. Did the Death Worm sense his dilemma? It kindly provided a solution. Though not in the form he wanted. That is, it created opponents that could be cut with a sword.

The Death Worm’s throat convulsed. Like a herbivore regurgitating grass from its stomach to ruminate, it vomited out entities hidden in its stomach lining. Countless swarms of insects.

Various types of insects that shot out of the Death Worm’s massive mouth splattered gastric juices as they attacked the soldiers.

“Damn, disgusting!”

“Don’t panic! Hold your positions-gurgle.”

Sir Frederick swung his sword energy like swatting a fly at the man-eating insects pouring like breath from the Death Worm’s mouth, but it was useless. The number emerging was greater than the number he could cut in one stroke.

Sir Frederick directed:

“Don’t fall into panic-! Use your guns as you were taught! Unlike the Death Worm, these insects are vulnerable to bullets! And mages and artillery, concentrate all firepower on this thing’s mouth!”

Thus began a full-scale melee between the imperial army and the Demon King’s army. Mages targeted the Death Worm’s mouth where demons were emerging, the insects targeted the mages, and knights protected the mages from these insects.

Each insect, being a demon, acted with demonic cunning. A few decoys deliberately died in mid-air where soldiers were concentrated, spraying acidic blood. As the soldiers’ attention was drawn there, mouths emerging from below cut off their ankles. Demons gathered like cockroaches over fallen bodies. Not even bones remained where the insects had passed.

It was chaos, with humans and insects so entangled it was hard to distinguish between them. A pandemonium of murderous shouts and terrified screams.

Kwak Taewoo, barely maintaining his sanity amid the chaos, recalled Shin Jaehyuk’s instructions. First, he needed to confirm if the magic collector was broken. If so, determine if it could be repaired. Dealing with the Death Worm would come after that…

Kwak Taewoo grabbed the dazed Duke by the scruff of his neck.

“Don’t space out, guide me! To where the magic collector is, hurry!”

“Y-yes… Right, this is no time for this…!”

At Kwak Taewoo’s rebuke, the Duke regained his senses and refocused on his duty.

***

Marco, examining the non-functioning golem with a serious expression, muttered:

“Is it completely destroyed? No, seeing how the light flickers occasionally, the magic circuit seems intact…”

Though not a magical engineer, Marco could tell this much. The internal circuit wasn’t damaged. When mana was fed into it, the golem’s power momentarily turned on then off, indicating that the device was fine but lacked sufficient energy to operate the cannon.

“The magic collector isn’t supplying enough magical power…”

“Isn’t there another way to supply magic?”

“We could change the magic supply settings to manual and provide magic directly.”

“Then give the order to do that immediately!”

Marco shook his head.

“Do you think all artillery operators are mana users? And do you know how much mana a magic cannon needs… Even a top-tier mage would be exhausted after firing for a few seconds. Do you think we can stop that volume with just a few seconds?”

Marco’s finger alternately pointed at the wall and the horizon.

They were trying to use machine guns to hold back the Demon King’s army’s advance as an emergency measure, but the effect was minimal. Just as shooting at a tsunami wouldn’t stop it. Even if some spray breaks off at the edge of the wave, it can’t stop the wave’s momentum.

Earth’s heavy weapons had clear advantages but also distinct limitations. They could easily slaughter weak monsters by pouring a rain of impact that pierced and even exploded flesh, but they were ineffective against high-ranking demons with sufficient regenerative abilities. Moreover, with limited supplies, once the ammunition ran out, they would just be useless metal clubs.

To defend against the Demon King’s army’s numbers, magic cannons were absolutely necessary. Trying to ignore the feeling of despair rising in his chest, Marco asked:

“You say Kwak Taewoo went to fix the collector? Shit, can that idiot actually fix it?”

“…Someone else went with him. A mage who might know about the charger.”

But even while reassuring Marco, Shin Jaehyuk wasn’t confident that Duke August could fix the collector. All he knew about him was that he was plotting something suspicious and used blood magic.

‘…But I have no choice but to trust Kwak Taewoo. There’s no other way.’

That meant they needed to buy time until then. Shin Jaehyuk made his decision.

As Shin Jaehyuk climbed onto the wall’s parapet, Marco grabbed him in panic.

“What are you doing?! Have you lost your mind?! If you want to die, die fighting at the front! If you just commit suicide, you go to hell, but if you die fighting demons, you go to heaven, don’t you know?”

“…I’m neither insane nor trying to commit suicide.”

“Then what?”

Before Marco could stop him, Shin Jaehyuk leaped down from the wall.

‘I’m trusting that hard-headed bastard and going to do my duty.’