Ch.1275Bombardment and Assault

The Great Temple of the Church of Belliona, Agnita was a mobile fortress from the Xanten era, equipped with countless fortress cannons, layered mana barriers, anti-gravity floating devices, and city-scale teleportation formations.

It was a war machine that embodied the pinnacle of ancient magical engineering—something even the Empire couldn’t replicate with current technology.

“Run until your legs break! Hell is about to descend upon us!”

In other words, for soldiers charging toward enemy lines, the fortress itself posed a threat comparable to an entire legion, not just the troops stationed within.

– Groooooooo…!

Hundreds of lights twinkled like stars in the thick darkness surrounding the floating island. Fortress cannons charged with overflowing mana vibrated, emitting a bluish magical light.

It was the prelude to a full barrage.

“Artillery incoming! Return fire!”

“You idiots over there! If you want to live, gather behind me!”

“They won’t blow up their own troops. Increase speed! Don’t fall behind!”

Warriors who noticed this quickly deployed their countermeasures.

Some attempted to neutralize with counterattacks. Others tried to advance while blocking and enduring with defensive magic, sorcery, or divine powers. Some even dove between enemy ranks to avoid the barrage.

The mixed unit, composed of various races, displayed impressive diversity in their responses. Personally, I’d give the highest marks to those who chose to dive into enemy ranks.

Neutralization or defense would be difficult with their capabilities and would drain them even if successful, but by mixing with the enemy, they could at least take some foes with them in the worst case.

Of course, even that wasn’t the best solution, and significant casualties were inevitable even if things went well.

So reducing those casualties would be the priority.

“What are you doing! Counter them!”

I charged forward like an arrow shot toward the Undead Duke’s fortress, shouting at those who had taken flight ahead of me to do something.

【 Ha, you said you wouldn’t give orders, yet you’re quick to change your mind. 】

【 I care nothing for insect lives… but I should at least get revenge. 】

Two great dragons, Balaur and Bishaf, who had been flapping their wings casting massive shadows, growled complainingly as they opened their jaws wide.

Darkness rippling with five-colored light and raging thunder. Destructive power concentrated in their gaping mouths, distorting the air and space itself.

The next moment.

– KWAOOOOOOO!

【 KRAAAAAAAAAA-! 】

【 GAHOOOOO-! 】

With a thunderous roar, countless beams of light erupted from the cannon muzzles, while two streams of breath extended outward, shaking heaven and earth.

A black river carrying clusters of light and a lightning spear as thick as a tower raced forward like a torrent, erasing the dozens or hundreds of magical artillery shells that were spreading like fireworks.

‘No, these idiots are really just doing point attacks instead of blocking or neutralizing!’

It was a magnificent and splendid sight that made my heart swell, but it wasn’t what I had wanted.

Dragon breath was certainly an unrivaled technique among a dragon’s arsenal, but because it concentrated power into a single point, its attack range was extremely narrow.

Given the dragons’ size, “narrow” still meant a width comparable to a river, but the fortress’s magical artillery barrage was an annihilation curtain as wide as a tsunami.

The attack range was too narrow to intercept and neutralize all of it.

The dragon breaths erased only about 20% of the barrage.

The rest continued on—with enough power to turn rocks to dust and heat to melt steel—extending toward our allied forces.

‘Tch, no choice then.’

There was no point in scolding creatures who wouldn’t follow detailed orders anyway. I clicked my tongue inwardly as I drew Durandal and infused it with holy power.

【 Defying Fate 】

I had planned to conserve my strength until confronting Garmerlic, but… well, I could afford to use it once.

【 Sky Slash 】

A horizontal slash that severed space and time. A flash of destruction that tore apart all matter it touched, creating a new horizon in the empty sky.

Unlike dragon breath that extended forward like a spear, Sky Slash was a technique that cut across the entire field of vision, carving a scar into the world.

With good timing, a single slash could erase a wide range of artillery fire at once.

Just like now.

– KWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG—!

A thunderous roar as if the world was collapsing, and a blinding chain of explosions that lit up the entire battlefield like daylight.

About half of the mana shells racing toward the ground were caught in that single slash and exploded all at once.

They exploded rather than being split apart, suggesting they were designed to detonate if their mana arrangement was disrupted, either to weaken the power of Sky Slash or to cause more widespread damage upon impact.

Either way, it was effective.

The only way to block a space-severing slash without spatial interference abilities was to quickly deplete the power contained in the slash through overwhelming volume and firepower.

Simply put, if you throw in enough sacrificial pawns to eliminate it before direct contact, that’s all it takes. Even a slash that cuts through anything is essentially a mass of consumable power.

Especially when they explode on contact like that, the consumption becomes even greater. Enough to gradually fade and completely dissipate before reaching the enemy.

…Of course, this applies only to ordinary space-severing techniques.

Sky Slash, which releases power compressed to the extreme, contained power on a completely different dimension from ordinary severing slashes.

– KWADEUDEUDEUDEUK!

It was powerful enough to smash through a thousand magical artillery shells head-on, pierce through the dark veil surrounding the island fortress, and still have enough power left to slice off a corner of the island.

‘The angle was a bit off…’

Even that was only because the black veil affected the trajectory of the slash; otherwise, it would have blown away at least a third of the island.

So couldn’t I just keep firing Sky Slash from a distance and completely annihilate the fortress? Well, I suppose I could. I suppose.

But did I come all this way just to demolish a fortress?

My role was to defeat Garmerlic. If I wasted that much power on a mere fortress, I might not have enough strength left when Garmerlic attacked.

So swinging my sword at the fortress would be just this once.

I had prevented the catastrophe of our troops being swept away by the first barrage, but the rest of the war would have to be handled by others.

Whether that was truly possible… we would soon find out.

– KUGUGUGUGUNG…!

As the corner of the island sliced off by Sky Slash began to collapse with a thunderous roar.

“Here it comes! Scatter!”

“Miss miss miss miss…”

“FIRE—!”

The remaining 30% of the magical artillery rained down mercilessly on our troops, while the two streams of breath—lightning and jet-black—directly hit the veil surrounding the island.

A storm of destruction swept through.

—-

“AAAAARGH!”

“GEGOOOK!”

Screams, explosions, rocks and metal fragments shattering and scattering. Beams of light collided and exploded, and bluish mana barriers shattered like breaking glass.

Ain whose internal organs were crushed by the shockwave rolled around vomiting fountains of blood, and torn flesh flew high into the sky, scattering like raindrops.

The battlefield transformed into hell in an instant. Blood from hundreds of crushed corpses flowed like rivers across the newly ravaged earth.

It was only a small portion of the total force of 40,000, but that was easy to say for someone watching rather than experiencing it.

“Am I… alive…? Am I really still alive…?”

“If you have the energy to talk nonsense, get up! Get up and run! Before the next barrage comes!”

For those who witnessed this devastating scene up close, the damage was more than enough to instill the urgent sense that they would be next if they didn’t hurry.

Still, true to their reputation as Naraka’s tough ones, no fools broke ranks to retreat after the first strike.

“Keep advancing! If we lose here, we’re all headed for the Undead realm anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to die fighting the enemy face to face?”

It seemed less about high morale and more about the futility of retreat… but well, the result was the same either way.

Whatever their reasons, they appeared brave enough just by advancing instead of fleeing.

Especially the half-beast half-demon Ain at the vanguard, who had already reached the front lines of the undead army with remarkable fervor.

These Ain, who resembled the centaurs of the original world except for their elongated horse-like heads, were incredibly fast, true to their equine appearance.

Not only were they fast, but their large bodies clad in heavy armor made them terrifyingly powerful as well.

Like a battalion of heavy tanks charging at 200 km/h.

“The enemy line is right before us! Vanguard, charging formation-! We’ll penetrate after the javelin volley!”

“””Yes!”””

As soon as the order fell from their leader in ornate heavy armor, the Ain heavy cavalry tucked their charging lances under their arms and raised the javelins in their left hands.

“Throw!!”

The next moment, two hundred javelins cut through the air and crashed into the undead spear formation.

With bestial strength enhanced by the momentum of the charge, they displayed power more like small artillery shells than mere spears.

– KWANG! PUEOK! KWADEUDEUK!

A skeleton warrior trying to block with a shield flew backward as if hit by a truck, and half-rotted monsters didn’t just get pierced—they exploded.

With power like cannons rather than javelins, it was natural that cracks appeared in the formation.

“Now! Trample them!”

“IRIRIRIRI!”

The front-line Ain with charging lances pointed forward let out sharp war cries as they smashed directly into the broken formation.

– KWAJIJIJIJIJIK!

What followed was a festival of rotten blood and bone fragments.

Armor and shields that met the charging lances shattered and scattered, and undead who fell from the impact were crushed under hooves.

With overwhelming destructive power that easily surpassed the unified charge of the finest heavy cavalry I had ever seen, the Ka’har Black Cavalry, the entire front line of the undead formation was literally wiped away as if cut by a giant’s scythe.

– KADEUDEUDEUDEUK…!

“Don’t stop! Forward! Widen the breach further!”

That devastating charge only lost momentum and halted after each Ain cavalryman had reduced at least a dozen undead to dust.

“Grr, UOOOOOOO!”

“So you’ve come, giants…!”

“Don’t face them head-on! Target their legs from the sides!”

After discarding their broken lances and continuing to advance while wielding greatswords and maces, they eventually encountered giant undead who had been lined up behind the formation.