Ch.143How Did I End Up in This State?

Lord Landenburg and Richard’s plan was simple.

Quickly defeat only the skeleton serpents capable of destroying the walls, then retreat and engage in a defensive battle.

The rotten patients and mixed remains that formed the core of the enemy forces had no means to climb the walls, so they calculated they could one-sidedly attack and reduce their numbers… and it wasn’t really wrong.

The Grave Eaters might be threatening, but when they clung to the walls, the Masters could step in and knock them down.

That way, they would wage a war of attrition… and when the enemy numbers were sufficiently reduced to make a full-scale battle feasible, they planned to send out knights to charge and retreat repeatedly.

Now that I hear it, it sounds like a plan that might work….

“What happened to make things end up like this?”

Looking at the current situation, it was clear they had failed.

Lord Landenburg inhaled the smoke from his cigarette deeply, as if the mere thought made him burn inside.

“Isn’t it obvious? The gates didn’t open.”

A single sentence spat out like he was chewing on it.

With a bitter smile as if mocking himself, the lord exhaled a long sigh toward the empty air.

The smoke collided with the ceiling and scattered in all directions.

“We had four thousand troops stationed inside the walls. Most were shooting arrows from atop the walls, and only two knights and fifty soldiers were in charge of the gate area. I thought no more would be needed since they just had to open and close the gates. Of all people, they….”

When the retreating forces were thrown into confusion by the firmly closed gates, the monsters attacked fiercely… and many lost their lives.

Especially the Holy Corps holding the front line suffered massive casualties.

“No, how does that make sense? What would be the point of closing the gates there?”

Once the outside forces were annihilated, those inside wouldn’t be safe either, and unless the entire inside force had betrayed them, they would obviously be suppressed soon.

“Well. Whether they lost their judgment out of fear at the sight of rampaging monsters, or whether they were acting on someone’s instructions… it’s impossible to know now. What’s certain is that more people cooperated than expected, and it took a good ten minutes to subdue them all and open the gates.”

“What a mess.”

Even for the 3rd Corps, which is a ragtag bunch compared to the 1st and 2nd Corps, the Imperial Army has really hit rock bottom.

“Prince Leopold tried to somehow manage the chaos, but after he was hit by a stray arrow from the walls and collapsed, the confusion only grew worse.”

So that shoulder injury was from friendly fire, not a monster.

“…Was it Isabella’s doing?”

She could simply claim that not opening the gates was a riot by panicked cowards, and as for the arrow, when firing in large volleys, one or two friendly fire incidents are bound to happen.

Even if Leopold died that way, she could dispel any blame or suspicion directed at her.

“I think so too… but not a shred of evidence remains. Those who rioted all committed suicide before they could be captured.”

“Of course they would. Being captured would only lead to torture…. So what happened after that?”

I could understand the heavy casualties if they were backstabbed by their own forces, but that alone doesn’t explain how the walls were destroyed.

“After retreating, we fought a defensive battle as originally planned. The enemy numbers increased as much as our losses due to the ‘Whisperer,’ but… we could manage well enough. For three days, that is.”

“Three days?”

“On the first day, it raised a large number of corpses and then disappeared. And three days later, it returned leading hundreds of new monsters…. It had surrounded this place with monsters while roaming the abandoned surroundings alone, gathering corpses.”

Certainly, this isn’t judgment possible for an ordinary monster.

The lord continued speaking with deeply sunken eyes, as if recalling that time.

=====[Ludwig, Three Days Ago]=====

A fierce battle was raging.

Seven Masters wielding spears and swords were knocking down Grave Eaters climbing the walls, while thousands of soldiers were one-sidedly attacking the rotten patients by shooting arrows and throwing bricks.

Paladins who survived the first battle were shooting Heaven’s Arrows toward the ground, and priests gathered inside the fortress were praying without rest.

So that the blessings upon the soldiers and knights would not be interrupted.

“Flesh mass entity appearing at the north wall!”

Flesh mass entity.

A large, amorphous monster made of sagging flesh, boils protruding here and there, and slimy pus.

Normally, it would just be large but not particularly threatening, but in a siege battle, things were different.

The huge mass of flesh writhed and clung diagonally to the wall.

Its body, which had been undulating like melted butter, gradually hardened, and in an instant, a ramp extending to the wall was formed.

Monsters began rushing up the newly created path all at once.

“Monsters are climbing up!”

“Pull back the troops and send in the knights! Only a few monsters can climb up at once anyway!”

Lord Landenburg shouted loudly.

“5th squad, move in! Defend the walls! For the Empire!”

“For the Empire!”

Knights with drawn swords stood against the monsters climbing up the flesh mass entity.

Blades with faint holy light cut off the limbs of rotten patients, and following kicks sent them falling below the wall.

“Aaaaargh!”

Knights hit by a mixed remains’ whip fell backward and plummeted down with screams.

Other knights rushed in to cut off its legs.

Five or six blades converged on the falling monster.

To hack it to pieces until its last breath.

“Floheta!”

Ludwig shouted, pointing at the flesh mass entity.

“I must be crazy! If it weren’t for the research funds!”

High Mage Floheta gathered mana while hysterically grumbling.

Sweat was pouring down her entire body due to the extreme mana consumption, but she still had strength left.

She raised her arm.

Above the flesh mass entity’s head, enormous mana gathered in a swirling motion.

“Get the knights out! Right now!”

“Everyone retreat! High magic incoming!”

The knights of the 5th squad quickly withdrew.

It had been a brief engagement, but four had already lost their lives.

Floheta, watching the knights withdraw, brought down her raised arm.

From the empty air, a waterfall of flames poured down.

Fierce flames covered the monster’s back.

The entire body of the flesh mass entity began to burn instantly.

As did the monsters riding on top of it.

“Graaaaaaah!”

It screamed, detaching from the wall and thrashing about.

The burning mass rolled on the ground, crushing and burning surrounding monsters.

“Amazing, so this is high magic…!”

One knight exclaimed in admiration at the sight of a large monster and dozens of monster troops being burned by a single spell.

He seemed to be witnessing the magic of a High Mage for the first time.

“I can’t use it twice more, so handle it yourselves from now on!”

Floheta, after shouting at the knights, began throwing fireballs at other monsters again.

Her mana was rapidly depleting, but there were endless enemies to burn.

‘Indeed, choosing a defensive battle was the right answer. At this rate, we can hold out sufficiently.’

Ludwig muttered to himself as he surveyed the battle situation.

The Imperial Army was almost one-sidedly pouring attacks.

Except for the flesh mass entities, there were hardly any monsters with proper siege capabilities.

At most, some monsters tried to climb the walls only to fall.

It wasn’t all advantages.

Attacking from atop the walls meant our offensive options were limited to the Paladins’ miracles, soldiers’ arrows, and magic.

While miracles and magic were certainly effective against them, arrows were barely causing any damage.

Though blessed by priests to nullify regeneration, unlike swords, the soldiers’ bows were difficult to incapacitate the monsters with.

Except in lucky cases where they severed limbs, most monsters continued moving even with a dozen arrows stuck in them.

Catapults were actually more effective.

Still, they could at least halt the monsters’ advance, and their numbers had decreased considerably.

Everyone was struck by the conviction that they would eventually win at this rate.

“Men! Fight without fear! Their attacks cannot reach us, so we shall ultimately prevail!”

Leopold kept encouraging the soldiers with his sword raised in his left hand.

Despite his right shoulder injury not yet healed, he stood straight on the wall, disregarding even the pain.

The morale, which had fallen after the first engagement, was recovering.

At that moment, the Whisperer appeared again.

With three or four hundred rotten patients.

—-

Everyone was speechless.

Since it hadn’t shown itself even once after the first day, everyone had overlooked its existence.

The fact that few new corpses had appeared since the defensive battle began also played a part.

But who would have thought it would bring reinforcements from outside?

It was a simple strategy, but no one had expected a mere monster to possess such judgment.

No one could be blamed for letting their guard down.

Even the members of the Church of Elpinel, who had exterminated countless monsters, were experiencing this for the first time.

From inside the tattered black robe, a skeletal arm emerged and pointed at the wall.

The newly reinforced monsters joined the forces surrounding the wall.

The soldiers grew restless.

The morale they had just raised was falling again.

“Don’t panic! The enemy numbers have only increased slightly, but they still cannot attack us!”

Ludwig shouted, trying to calm the soldiers, but even he was inwardly lamenting.

‘Reinforcements at this point. And we can’t even prevent it…! How many times can it do this?’

If it was just this once, they could somehow deal with it, but if repeated two or three times, they would be finished.

Neither stamina, mana, nor holy power was infinite. The same went for food and arrows.

In the end, they would slowly wither away here, waiting for reinforcements.

Even if reinforcements came, given that they would clearly be the 3rd Prince’s army, it would be the end for the 1st Prince’s faction.

‘In that case, I have no choice… I’ll have to form a guerrilla unit.’

Lord Landenburg approached Leopold with a hardened expression.

The situation could no longer be resolved by just fighting from inside the fortress.

They needed to engage in close combat to significantly reduce the monsters’ numbers.

Open the gates, send out some troops to engage, and recall them before they reach their limit.

It was a tactic originally planned for when the enemy numbers were sufficiently reduced, but there was no choice now.

The sacrifices would be much greater than expected, but it was better than being rescued by the 3rd Prince’s army.

‘Heal the troops recalled through priests, and while they rest, deploy other troops in rotation….’

At that moment,

As if mocking Ludwig who was deep in thought, a thunderous sound echoed.

Everyone’s gaze turned east at once.

And they all screamed in unison.

A sudden earthquake shook the ground.

As if lightning was surging up from the ground and boring in, deep cracks appeared all over the walls, splitting them.

“Oh Elpinel…!”

Before someone’s lament could even finish.

With a roar, the entire eastern wall collapsed.

A deafening sound like hundreds of lightning bolts striking simultaneously.

The screams of people caught in it couldn’t even be heard.

Shattered rock fragments collided with each other as they hurled toward the ground.

People who had been standing on the wall flailed their limbs as they fell like rain.

Some were crushed between piles of stones and burst in mid-air.

Knights and soldiers who fell to the ground were half-crushed and stacked up, and then the remains of the wall came down on top of their heads.

When the dust that had risen to cover the sky settled, not a single person was alive there.

Beyond the hill of debris, a skeleton serpent emerged and let out a long roar.

===============

“That’s how we lost a thousand soldiers and dozens of knights in an instant… including Sir Daniel.”

Ludwig murmured with a sigh.

“Daniel?”

“He was one of the Masters of the 1st Prince’s faction. Unfortunately, he was fighting right in the middle of the wall.”

So even a Master-level knight died.

Well, it’s natural to be crushed to death when a wall collapses, since they don’t have wings.

“But seeing that the other walls are intact, you must have managed somehow?”

“We almost faced total annihilation. The other Masters were dispersed here and there. Without Sir Gerard’s sacrifice, we would have lost the other walls too. Sir Gerard, the Master-level knight closest to the skeleton serpent, clung to its body and chased it underground… neither returned. It was truly an honorable end. May Elpinel guide him to heaven.”

Lord Landenburg made the sign of the cross.

Even for the lord, who wasn’t a devout believer, that knight’s fighting spirit seemed quite impressive.

So in the end, they lost two Masters.

“With two Master-level knights dead, you’ll be criticized even if you win.”

“Still better than losing…. Anyway, that’s the end of my story. After that, we simply established a defense line at the collapsed wall and held on. The monsters too kept attacking, retreating, and reinforcing endlessly.”

Lord Landenburg extinguished his finished cigarette in the ashtray and stood up.

“If you’ve rested enough, let’s head outside. I need to check on the battle situation too.”

I also threw my cigarette into the ashtray and left the room with the lord.

I’ve rested enough and heard plenty about how things ended up this way… now I need to think about how to win.