Ch.308Exploration Battle

After deciding to advance, Rurik had been running without rest for half a day, but he had no intention of launching an immediate attack.

To wage a siege, they needed to rest their legs and conserve energy. Even for the hardy Werebeasts, half a day’s sprint had been an exhausting march.

Following Rurik’s orders, the Baryachrus legion slowed from a run to a walk once the fortress walls came into view.

Thousands of half-bloods sighed in relief with living expressions. For half-bloods, unlike purebloods, it had honestly been a burdensome advance.

The beasts’ heavy breathing filled the air. Deep footprints were carved into the snow.

Birds, startled by the beasts’ killing intent, flapped their wings and took flight all at once.

Rurik glanced at the exhausted half-bloods and turned away with a slight smile.

Even these weak ones were his subordinates.

In his days as a mere warrior, he might have despised the weak without consequence… but now he was their king. Both the strong and the weak were equally his people.

‘So I should let them die as warriors.’

That was Rurik’s kingly mercy.

There was no greater humiliation than dying without being able to show one’s true strength due to exhaustion.

—-

“Now then, let’s think about how to conquer that fortress. Does anyone have any useful ideas?”

Rurik gathered his seven Champions around him and spoke while walking at a leisurely pace, as if out for a stroll.

He wasn’t particularly hopeful, but with seven heads together, they might come up with an ingenious strategy he hadn’t considered.

Like the operation by Abigeyl and Nazar that had been crucial in conquering the northern wall.

“Can’t we just fly in and attack like last time? That was quite impressive.”

The snow tiger, Oleg, tilted his head and joked.

Being bold, rough, and shocking, that approach had apparently suited his taste perfectly.

“Well… I doubt they haven’t prepared countermeasures. If they were that foolish, they wouldn’t have held our kind at bay for so long.”

A low, solemn voice.

The polar bear Werebeast, Vasili Cheslav, stroked his lower jaw with a dissatisfied expression.

‘In a direct fight, Your Majesty cannot be defeated. But traps are another matter. Humans have always been more cunning than us.’

If the humans had prepared countermeasures against Rurik’s aerial assault, they might end up isolating their king in well-prepared enemy territory.

Though he didn’t believe such creatures could defeat the king of Baryachrus, anything could happen on the battlefield.

“Hmph. If you say so.”

Oleg, who would normally argue with other Werebeasts, backed down without protest at Vasili’s words.

With a similar build and ten years his senior, this Werebeast was someone even Oleg was reluctant to challenge aggressively.

“Do we really need a strategy? They die if you just poke them. We can just crush those things head-on.”

Viktor twitched his long nose and snickered.

As a Werebeast supremacist to the bone, he considered it a waste of time to even contemplate strategies against mere humans.

“This is important. Our forces aren’t unlimited, so we need to use them efficiently. We’ve already lost four during this war. If our numbers decrease further, it will cause problems back home. You understand, right?”

The black wolf Werebeast, Valentin Ivanov, tried to persuade Viktor.

Though his tone sounded provocative, Viktor didn’t take offense.

He knew Valentin had always spoken that way; it was just his personality.

“I don’t think we’ll find an answer no matter how much we think about it. The only ways to attack a fortress are climbing or tunneling… but will frozen ground even be diggable?”

“I don’t like digging. It’s hard and annoying. I’m against it.”

“Why are you complaining when you won’t be the one digging?”

The striped hyena Werebeast Lyudmila and the snow leopard Werebeast Abigeyl looked at each other and laughed.

Though polar opposites in personality—Lyudmila being extremely prickly and Abigeyl excessively frivolous—the two female warriors, now the only ones among Baryachrus’s Champions, got along surprisingly well.

“Hmm… if we had enough time, surrounding them and launching sporadic attacks would be good, but I’m concerned that if we drag this out too long, their reinforcements will arrive. We should at least conduct a probing attack. We still don’t know the strength of those who have joined them, so we need to observe once.”

Nazar couldn’t think of a good solution either.

Their greatest advantages were their resilience and the overwhelming presence of Rurik.

In fact, at the northern front, they had exploited these two advantages to conduct guerrilla-style attrition warfare to reduce enemy numbers, and eventually sent Rurik flying over the northern wall to conquer it.

‘Did we use the aerial assault strategy too quickly? No. It was the best option then. Thanks to that, we annihilated the Masters on the northern wall with minimal casualties.’

That judgment hadn’t been wrong, at least in Nazar’s opinion.

If they hadn’t caught the enemy off guard by launching Rurik with a catapult, they would have had to sacrifice enormous numbers to cross the northern wall.

“A probing attack? That doesn’t suit my temperament. Like a fox cub, your strategy reeks of fear.”

“If you’re so eager to rampage, I’ll send you to the vanguard. How about going to meet a satisfying dog’s death? Just like your clan did.”

Despite Rurik’s admonition, Oleg and Nazar continued to growl at each other.

Though not to the point of drawing weapons as before.

“…Enough. It seems there are no useful strategies. Then it’s better to take the direct approach.”

Rurik cut off their conversation.

The Champions fell silent and listened to their king’s orders.

“We’ll attack once to shake them up, and if we can’t conquer it immediately, we’ll retreat temporarily. Relay that to the troops.”

With the battlefield so close, if there was no clever strategy, they had no choice but to engage in a test of strength.

If only to confirm the enemy’s strength, as Nazar suggested.

Of course, unlike Nazar’s suggestion, he had no intention of sending only a small force for reconnaissance.

In a situation where even a full-scale attack might be uncertain, sending only a few could result in them being concentrated on and annihilated before they could retreat.

‘Being a king isn’t easy…’

All his Champions were reliable fighters, but each had flaws outside of combat.

Nazar was clever for a Werebeast but too cautious and passive, while Viktor and Oleg were bold to the point of recklessness.

Moreover, Nazar and Oleg would growl at each other as soon as they spoke, whether due to clan conflicts or personality differences.

Lyudmila and Abigeyl lacked cooperation and initiative with anyone except each other, and Valentin’s sarcastic manner made enemies unnecessarily.

The only reliable one was the experienced and steady Vasili, but even he wasn’t particularly intelligent.

‘It can’t be helped. In a world where the weak don’t survive even with intelligence.’

Rurik sighed inwardly.

The harsh environment of the northern snowfields had produced powerful warriors… but as a price, those with wisdom greater than strength were trampled before they could shine.

It wasn’t a world abundant enough for the physically weak to survive and prosper.

That’s why they needed land that didn’t freeze.

The golden fertile land where their ancestors once ran freely.

Those vast plains full of warmth, abundance, and prey.

It was a longing so great that they continued fighting endlessly, even knowing it was now an impossible dream.

—-

They reached the vicinity of the fortress wall just over an hour after they began walking.

“Werebeasts! The Werebeast bastards are here! Prepare to fire!”

“All knights to battle positions! Knock down any beast trying to climb the wall!”

The humans’ urgent voices penetrated their perked ears.

Some Werebeasts with keen senses were already sniffing and licking their lips. Whether they would be predators or prey was unknown until the battle began.

“Siege unit! Prepare the catapults! The rest form ranks and wait! If arrows come, block them, don’t get hit!”

At Rurik’s command, the Werebeasts at the rear of the formation stopped.

These were half-bloods with large builds for their kind, each carrying enormous loads. They put down their burdens and began assembling the catapults they had carried in pieces.

Due to their rapid march, they had only been able to bring five catapults, and not particularly large ones, but they were better than nothing.

Even if they couldn’t destroy the fortress walls, they could shatter buildings or human bodies inside.

Despite Rurik’s warning, no arrows came flying—something he had more or less expected.

He had warned them just in case, but arrows shot from the fortress walls would have difficulty reaching the distance where they had formed ranks.

Rather than waste precious silver arrows, it would be wiser to wait until they advanced within range and then unleash a volley.

Thus, the Werebeasts were able to assemble their five catapults without any interference.

And then.

“Fire!”

The deep roar characteristic of bear Werebeasts.

At Vasili’s command, not Rurik’s, all five catapults roared and launched their projectiles.

There was no grand declaration of war or speech full of hostility.

Such things might be exchanged in wars between humans, but there was no reason for such useless talk between different species.

“The Werebeast catapults are firing! Block—no, shoot them down! They must be brought down before they hit!”

Karl, wearing a commander’s helmet over northern-style armor, shouted urgently.

Thanks to the closer distance, they could identify the nature of the projectiles.

Four massive ice boulders and one snow-white Werebeast were cutting through the air, flying toward Faelrun Fortress.

‘I suspected as much, but are they using the same method as before? Were the monsters who conquered the northern wall so foolish…?’

They had already prepared countermeasures for Rurik’s aerial assault.

Mages were gathering mana, and knights formed into javelin units raised nets attached to javelins above their shoulders.

But their countermeasures would not see use.

– SHRIEEEK!

With a tearing noise, a red flash shot like a beam of light.

Jeokseonsi.

The Karma of Murder arrow shot by Haschal pierced the snow-white Werebeast’s head and whirled like a vortex.

The dark red blade tore the beast’s body into pieces of meat.