Ch.129129. War (5)

From the distance, the army of non-humans that had been slowly advancing approached right in front of the castle walls.

As 3-meter-tall nature giants made of soil, rocks, trees, and various plants advanced wielding clubs, wolf-humans—visibly less durable to the naked eye—followed closely behind them.

-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

These nature giants… massive structures possessed by forest spirits, moved almost simultaneously. Each time they took a step, the ground shook with thunderous noise that could be felt trembling beneath one’s feet.

“W-what are those things…?”

“…Can we even kill them?”

The morale of the soldiers witnessing this terrifying sight was rapidly plummeting, despite Baron Lefante’s earlier speech that had raised their spirits. But…

Surprisingly, the Baron himself didn’t consider the current situation particularly bad.

The height of the castle wall they stood on was about 5 meters.

Even if attacked by intermediate-level warriors or magical beasts, this ancient heritage was sturdy enough to withstand them easily. Additionally, outside the wall was a moat that, while not particularly deep, was reasonably wide.

Although its depth was only about 1 meter—not enough to be lethal on its own—it effectively increased the wall’s height to about 6 meters.

Six meters might not sound like much, but it was actually twice the height of the bulky spirit-giants, which gave the Baron reason to remain hopeful.

Moreover, there were a total of 9 intermediate-level warriors… knights currently in the castle.

Although none except himself had yet climbed onto the wall—as they were still observing the situation—9 knights would be more than enough to sweep away the enemy forces.

Thus, Baron Lefante maintained an optimistic outlook on the situation. However, no matter how optimistic he remained, he couldn’t prevent the soldiers’ morale from crumbling.

“P-please spare me…”

‘…Can we win this?’

If only there were some way to attack those spirit-giants.

The fear humans feel when faced with unstoppable violence and approaching death was unbearable for both conscripts and men-at-arms alike.

‘…I have no choice.’

Special measures were needed to maintain the soldiers’ morale.

-Thud. Step, step, step, step.

The Baron rose from his seat with deliberately showy movements, walked a few steps forward, and retrieved his beloved weapon that had been leaning against the wall.

-Shing…

It was a large and beautiful spear.

The shaft alone was over 2 meters long, and the blade—reminiscent of a longsword—was about 70cm in length.

This spear, made entirely of mythril, was the heirloom of the Lefante barony. Despite its enormous size, it was famously sturdy and unbelievably lightweight.

Of course, no matter how light mythril (true silver) might be, it was still metal. A 2.7-meter metal rod would be quite heavy, but to an intermediate-level warrior, it felt relatively light.

The combination of this lightness and the blade’s abnormal cutting power resulted in a weapon capable of dismembering warriors in medium armor with a single-handed swing.

-WHOOSH—!!

‘…No problems.’

After testing the spear with a swing through the air and confirming there were no issues, the Baron raised it skyward while looking down from the wall, then swung it with all his might toward a spirit-giant…

—SLASH!!!

The next moment, accompanied by a crisp cutting sound, the soldiers witnessed the giant’s body split in half and begin to collapse from a single strike.

“””””””””—WAAAAAHHHHH!!!”””””””””

The sight unfolding before their eyes—their lord and leader dispatching such a threatening enemy with a single blow—was truly incredible.

Courage began to well up in the soldiers’ hearts. They felt like they should jump into battle and face the enemy right away.

Just as hope shines brighter in contrast to despair, they transformed their recent despair into courage and began to glare at the enemy…

—BOOM!!!

As if seeing through the soldiers’ psychology, the spirit-giants simultaneously stomped the ground with their legs—and suddenly, the terrain began to change.

-RUMBLE—!!!

The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the terrain below the moat began to rise, forming a slope that reached about 2 meters up the castle wall.

Of course, considering the size of the spirit-giants, this slope was too small. It was so small that it might collapse immediately if they tried to use it.

And the reason was… this slope was originally formed for the wolf pack behind them.

[[[Grrrrrr…]]]

[Woof! Wooof, Woof! Wooooof!!]

[[[[—AWOOOOOOOO!!!]]]]

After howls that could be mistaken for either wolves or hunting dogs dominated the surroundings, hundreds of wolf-men who had been hiding behind the spirit-giants charged forward, running up the slope and climbing the wall.

‘…F-fast!’

The Baron, who initially hadn’t shown much reaction to their unremarkable appearance, was utterly shocked by what these wolf-men… these werewolf-like beings were displaying, far exceeding his expectations.

Was their small, shabby, and ugly appearance all a deception?

Moving with unimaginable speed, the wolf pack that instantly scaled the castle wall now turned the claws they had used for climbing against the soldiers on top.

“—!!”

Of course, the Baron didn’t just stand by watching; he swung his oversized spear in all directions, cutting down the wolf pack left and right, but…

The problem was that the Baron and the wolf pack weren’t the only ones on the wall.

Whether he liked it or not, the Baron’s spear, excellent for area destruction, risked cutting down allies along with enemies in this chaotic melee.

While a single swing imbued with aura could fell an intermediate-level spirit-giant, such destructive power couldn’t be properly utilized in this chaotic situation.

“…Hup!”

-SQUELCH!!

Thus, the Baron frantically stabbed at the wolf pack while unable to move properly. Suddenly noticing the battle situation on the wall, he couldn’t help but frown.

“Guh, gack!!”

“Kuh, uuuugh…”

-…Thud!

Amid screams echoing across the wall, the wolf pack that had somehow climbed up displayed physical abilities that belied their size as they began slaughtering the soldiers.

The claws of these werewolves—barely over 160cm tall (the average height for Western Continent humans is about 170cm)—easily tore through not only cloth gambesons but also metal breastplates and chain shirts.

Their monstrous strength could separate a human head from its body with a swing of their arm, and their speed was so abnormally fast that one had even dodged a pistol shot after seeing the muzzle flash.

Of course, their durability wasn’t particularly impressive, so some experienced veterans managed to find openings in their attacks and hunt down the wolf pack.

But… that didn’t mean the wolf pack was weak.

These wolf-men possessed combat abilities that made the Baron doubt his own judgment in having dismissed them as being manageable by ordinary warriors.

When not only the conscripts who made up more than half the wall’s defenders, but even warriors who knew how to enhance their bodies with magical power were being one-sidedly slaughtered, the situation spoke for itself.

Unable to watch his expensively trained soldiers die while he could prevent it, the Baron called for his knights.

[Knights, gather here!]

There was no time to observe the battle situation. Whatever might happen later, the focus had to be on overcoming the immediate crisis.

And just after calling for his knights, as he faintly smiled sensing eight presences rapidly approaching the wall from a distance—

“…How amusing. Do you enjoy watching your subordinates die?”

“…?!!!”

Startled by the sudden voice that appeared without any presence, the Baron turned his head…

There stood Griffin, somehow changed in appearance, with the magic user Gregory Aleinos mounted on its back.