Ch.1238Prologue

After discussing simple tactics and dispatching a separate unit, the five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

“All troops, wake up! Rest time is over. Everyone prepare for battle!”

It was too short a rest to revitalize tired bodies, but… well, nothing could be done about it. If we tried to rest a few minutes more, we might end up resting forever.

Time is not on our side. As always.

The more we delay, the stronger our enemies become, and the narrower our path to victory grows.

Even giving five minutes of rest was a decision I made after careful consideration, fully aware of the considerable risk.

“First, Second, and Third Thousand-Unit Divisions, prepare to charge! As planned, the Fourth Division will enter from the left, the Fifth from the right!”

The forces I brought with me this time totaled ten thousand, combining Naga and monkeys.

With about two thousand troops stationed far away by the river for transport and supply roles, plus those who fell behind during the forced march, our effective fighting force was around eight thousand.

From there, another thousand-unit division had departed with Hiyalbaer as a separate unit, leaving only seven thousand troops available for the siege.

Of course, this wasn’t a force to be taken lightly despite the smaller numbers.

The weak ones couldn’t have endured this forced march in the first place and were excluded, so even the weakest among those who remained was at the level of a knight by human standards.

Even before the chaotic era, the Imperial Knights themselves numbered less than a thousand. Seven thousand knights would have been enough to overwhelm the Empire of that time one-sidedly.

“Sixth Thousand-Unit Division, follow me. It’s time to show our specialty!”

Anyway, I divided those seven thousand warriors into four groups to advance.

Caljarat and three thousand Naga warriors would charge head-on. I ordered a thousand rock monkeys to each flank to attack the sides of the fortress, and half of the remainder was assigned to Turankai with instructions to infiltrate the rear through underground tunnels.

The last thousand were kept in reserve to be deployed wherever the situation became precarious.

In a conventional siege, one wouldn’t attempt to surround a fortress with three sides blocked by cliffs, but this world doesn’t operate by such common sense.

In a world where numerous races wield all sorts of bizarre abilities, even the madness of climbing cliffs to attack a fortress was a viable option to consider.

To be frank, we’ve seen madmen riding catapults to fly over castle walls, so climbing cliffs for a siege is nothing special.

It was an ordinary tactic. Ordinary.

“…We… have to climb… this?”

“King-defeating goddess must be crazy….”

The rock monkeys who had to physically climb the towering cliffs might have different thoughts… but that’s not my concern.

For all our futures, we need to quickly capture this fortress, and no amount of whining will make the walls crumble on their own.

“…Still, we must do it. She said we need to do this to win.”

The rock monkeys had no other choice anyway.

When those above say jump, you jump. That’s the unchanging truth shared by all soldiers throughout time, regardless of era, nation, or race.

—-

And so the siege of Nirvator began.

Five thousand troops rushed breathlessly toward the walls—or cliffs—while a thousand began digging tunnels, and the rest remained in the rear as reserves, monitoring the battle situation.

I stayed with the reserve force, suppressing and concealing my power to hide my presence from the enemy.

There were two reasons I remained in the rear despite the situation calling for a swift resolution.

The first reason was that if I joined the charge, there would be no commander-level force left to lead and protect the reserve unit.

I had sent Caljarat to the front, Nigel to the left flank, Jahan to the right, and ordered Turankai to surprise the enemy from behind, leaving me as the only capable fighter.

“No, miss. I’m here too, you know?”

…I was the only capable fighter remaining.

If I left too, and a powerful enemy attacked the reserve force, a thousand troops could be annihilated in an instant.

“Miss? What about me? I’ve at least scaled walls before!”

I keep hearing some noise from somewhere.

Well, anyway, that was the first reason. And the more important second reason was…

“You blood-sucking wench who shamelessly calls herself ‘Empress’ after sending all your subordinates to their deaths! Are you listening? I, Caljarat, have come to end your pathetic life!”

We now had a powerful piece that could draw out the enemy’s demigod in my place.

“Come out and face your death! If you have even a speck of shame left, that is!”

The Orc demigod Caljarat.

This six-armed orc, who joined in place of Bergelmir who was too large to bring along, was one of the strongest cards I could play.

Strong enough that the opposing side would need to bring out their own demigod card to counter him.

“KWAAAARGH!”

Following his blatant provocation, Caljarat released the demigod power he had been suppressing with a fierce roar.

The ritual tattoos on his body glowed purple, and divine power writhed in his six gleaming great swords.

“If you plan to keep hiding like a rat, I’ll shatter this fortress into pieces!”

– KWAOOOOO…!

The transcendent divine power spread like a raging current. The purple spiritual energy surrounding his sword blades explosively expanded, distorting the space it touched.

‘He’s quite good at using techniques he stole from others. What a technique thief.’

[Look in the mirror, will you? You’ll find such a thief there too.]

No, that orc and I are different. I learned with permission, while he just copied. How can that be the same? Always picking on me for no reason.

“KRAAAAAAAP-!”

As I was grumbling and trying to refute, Caljarat leaped up with another roar and swung his great swords.

Six streams of light extended like frenzied serpents.

Though the power was somewhat diluted by being split six ways, combined they carried enough force to cleave not only the fortress but even the cliff below it in half with a single strike.

– GUUUUNG!

Perhaps judging that while provocations could be ignored, this attack could not, Nirvator Fortress responded immediately.

– KWAOOOOOOO…!

From the central tower—the tallest among the countless spires that could be described as a forest of thorns—in the heart of the fortress, an enormous energy erupted like an explosion, shaking the atmosphere.

The released divine aura. And a particularly ominous, gloomy one at that, with an unpleasant stickiness that evoked disgust—a divine power filled with malice.

‘So she’s here.’

Is this the power of Erzsebet, the Empress of Blood? As expected of someone associated with the undead, her aura is exceptionally malevolent.

A sinister presence that seemed to drip with the scent of blood even while standing still.

Just from her aura, I could guess how vicious she was.

Surely her only hobby in life was slaughter, drinking blood instead of water, with mountains of corpses and rivers filled with bodies—undoubtedly an atrocious murderer.

Only such inhuman fiends could possess such a malevolent aura. The kind that shouldn’t be left alive.

– GOOOOO….

As soon as that aura erupted, something like red mist gathered in a swirling motion above the spire, transforming into a massive blood-colored sphere.

It looked as if a red eyeball had appeared above the tower.

“Ha! I don’t know what that is, but such a thing…!”

Perhaps wary of the immense power contained in that sphere, Caljarat, who had been about to slash the fortress with his severing strike, changed course to target the sphere instead.

And then.

– KWAOOOOOO!

The surface of the red sphere boiled like lava about to erupt, and the next moment, it bloomed like a flower, firing a dark red beam of light.

“KAAAAAAAAT!”

The collision between the six slashes imbued with severing power and the blood-red beam reminiscent of a dragon’s breath.

The resulting flash shone like the sun, and the thunderous boom shook heaven and earth as the dark red pillar of light was shattered into fragments that scattered in all directions.

– CHIIIIIK!

Fragments that touched Caljarat’s body emitted black steam and began to boil.

Whether acidic, poisonous, or simply containing extreme heat—I couldn’t tell which, but it certainly didn’t look good to have it touch one’s body.

“Is that all you’ve got!”

– KWAOOOOOO!

As if to say “of course not,” another red beam was fired.

Caljarat could easily tear it apart with his severing strikes, but the endless barrage kept him pinned down, unable to advance further.

He could dodge if he tried, but then the thousands of warriors following behind him would be directly hit by those beams and annihilated in an instant.

It only looked manageable because Caljarat was blocking everything, but those beams contained tremendous power. And they were being fired repeatedly.

[Hmm, I honestly underestimated her after hearing she fled so ingloriously, but this is quite impressive. That orc alone might find this burden too heavy to bear.]

As Hersella murmured in admiration, the opponent was indeed not one that Caljarat—who had gained a new technique but whose overall power had weakened—could defeat alone.

‘Well, I didn’t send him to win in the first place.’

Of course, I never expected him to win either, and I never ordered him to fight until a victor was determined.

My instructions to Caljarat were not to win but to provoke and draw out the enemy’s strongest fighter—in other words, to act as bait.