Ch.257257. Senova (3)

At the forefront of the charging Holy Assault Squad stood their commander, armed with dual battle axes—an awakened Aura user who had reached the intermediate level.

Among the squad were also members from northern tribes wielding round shields and Viking axes, as well as soldiers equipped with weapons made of rare metals as rewards for their military achievements.

These men, composed of sinners who had voluntarily enlisted to atone for their crimes of fanaticism, moved without the slightest hesitation—their morale reportedly surpassing even that of the Avenger Legion.

They were men who desired only to kill the enemies of the Empire and seek forgiveness for their sins.

As they charged forward, emanating a terrifying bloodlust…

The ‘Ogre Slicer’ observed them with a cold gaze before pulling out a pistol from his breast pocket—

“Fire—!!”

—BANG!

Ratatatatat—!!!

Fwoooosh!!!

As soon as the ‘Ogre Slicer’ gave the command, the halberdiers and crossbowmen fired their pistols and massive crossbows.

Expensive flintlock pistols spat fire, sending metal bullets flying, while bolts nearly the size of small javelins shot from crossbows so large they needed to be mounted on shields.

A pistol shot to a weakly armored area could be fatal, and a direct hit from the massive crossbow bolts meant certain death.

Since both sides had enough training to imbue their ranged weapons with magical power, these Holy Assault Squad members could easily be killed by a volley of fire—

“Wings, deploy!”

At the command of the squad commander leading the charge, the Holy Assault Squad members unfolded gliders from their backs to use as shields.

Made from the wool of iron mountain goats—animals that consumed metal-rich grass and whose fur contained metallic elements—these glider wings were almost as hard as metal itself.

Thanks to this, most bullets simply bounced off or merely damaged the wing frames, while crossbow bolts became embedded in the glider wings, successfully defending against the first volley.

Of course, the impact left the glider wings tattered and non-functional. By that time, the skilled crossbowmen had already reloaded their bolts and the halberdiers had drawn fresh pistols.

They smiled as they aimed their weapons at the twelve warriors—

“—Detach!”

At that moment, as the Holy Assault Squad commander gave the order, their glider wings detached, revealing the squad members—aiming what looked like massive firearms.

‘…Huh?’

The hand cannons, roughly the size of a Zenobia cannon by real-world standards, looked almost like muskets in the hands of the large Holy Assault Squad members.

Regardless, their power was undeniable, and the ‘Ogre Slicer’ panicked, trying to issue a command, but…

“—Fire!”

BOOOOOM—!!!!

The squad commander’s order and his men pulling their triggers came faster than the ‘Ogre Slicer’ could issue his command.

As they pulled the triggers, thousands of glowing red metal fragments burst from each cannon, spreading toward the halberdiers’ formation.

Operating on the same basic principle as hand cannons but mimicking the concept of blood cannons by coating the projectiles with magical power to enhance penetration—this was the Holy Assault Squad’s secret weapon.

The thousands of shotgun fragments from the Shot-Cannons, each potentially lethal, rained down upon the halberdiers standing in formation.

Though they wore armor, it was primarily breastplates and helmets covering only vital areas. They weren’t fully equipped with plate armor, nor did the halberdiers carry shields for protection.

“AAAAARGH—!!!”

“Aah, AAAH!! My legs, my legs!!!”

“Urrrgh, AAAAARGH!!! AAAH!! AAAA—!!!”

Consequently, most of the halberdiers exposed to the merciless shotgun attack died instantly, while the rest screamed in agony.

“Trample them—!!!”

“YES!!!”

The Holy Assault Squad soldiers, holding their hand cannons like clubs, slaughtered the fallen halberdiers.

Slaughter—if one had to describe the scene before them in a single word, anyone would choose that term.

Whether using hand cannons as clubs or switching to their own weapons, they massacred their enemies.

While the Holy Assault Squad soldiers leaped into the broken halberdier formation and began their slaughter, on one side of the battlefield, two intermediate-level warriors were fiercely clashing weapons.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The ‘Ogre Slicer’ attacked with his massive two-handed axe, but the commander skillfully deflected the attacks while gradually closing the distance.

For two warriors above intermediate level, exchanging a few dozen blows was merely a preliminary skirmish, but during this simple exchange, the ‘Ogre Slicer’ realized one thing:

‘This bastard… is stronger than me!’

After just a few dozen exchanges, the Ogre Slicer’s arms were beginning to tremble, while the black-armored warrior before him clearly had the upper hand.

Lost in thought while continuing to fight, the Ogre Slicer finally reached a conclusion after nearly having his stomach sliced open by a mistake.

“I surrender! I surrender! I’ll put down my weapons!!”

To the Ogre Slicer, who was merely a mercenary, Zenobia was just an employer. There was no reason to risk his life fighting to the end for a failing Zenobia.

In this age of barbarism and violence, where knowing how to fight meant at least being able to earn a living, personal strength was the most important thing for individual mercenaries like the Ogre Slicer.

※ ※ ※

Meanwhile, at the same time as the battle on the ground…

“This way, this way…!!”

A certain despicable old man, once the chairman of the Zenobia City Council, was fleeing alone with his valuables, abandoning even his family.

Since the city’s founding, the old man’s family had held positions on the city council for generations, which is how he knew about this secret passage underground.

Of course, he had abandoned his family because the secret passage was barely wide enough for one person to pass through in a hurry, but the old man muttered nonsensical justifications that they would be happy to sacrifice themselves for him.

In reality, the family he abandoned was left in confusion, not knowing what to do.

Anyway, the old man was exerting his disproportionately fat yet wrinkled body, his mind consumed by the thought of escaping from Zenobia as quickly as possible.

Normally, he would have thrown a tantrum about “those bastards who did this to Zenobia,” acting inappropriately for his age. But even such age-inappropriate behavior—or simply being an old fogey—required one to be alive.

And so, after some time had passed…

“…Hehehehe!!”

As the explosions overhead gradually diminished and light began to appear in the distance, the old man, unable to contain his joy at the thought of imminent escape, broke into an ugly laugh.

He felt no thoughts about the situation caused by the independence movement he had proposed, nor any sympathy or guilt toward the family and subordinates he had abandoned.

Only joy—the joy of survival made him smile brightly as he approached the exit, feeling the jingling of precious metals in his pocket and inwardly rejoicing.

He had fled with only the most expensive metals, which would be sufficient to fund a comfortable retirement.

Thus, the old man joyfully opened the exit of the underground passage and stepped outside to take a breath of fresh air—

◇◆◇

“Veteran, doesn’t this old man seem to be smiling?”

“Leave him be. He must be having a pleasant dream.”

The imperial cavalry patrolling outside Zenobia to capture escapees—the Tough Riders of the Legion of Black Sun—muttered this as they observed the unconscious old man smiling foolishly.

An old man emerging from what appeared to be a secret underground passage, wearing expensive clothes covered by a shabby robe, with a money pouch at his side.

Perhaps because he looked like a person of authority trying to escape alone, the two soldiers mounted on giant spiders regarded him with distaste.

“But why did this old man faint?”

“Who knows… maybe difficulty breathing?”

After chatting about the old man who had collapsed without even being captured, they bound him to the spider’s body and continued their search for more escapees.

Thus, the chairman of the Zenobia City Council was captured.