Chapter 244

The ballista.

Vaien hadn’t thought much of it.

Because he had never encountered one before.

A Vampire Lord wouldn’t normally face a ballista in battle.

That’s why he had underestimated its power.

His perception shattered the moment the ballista’s arrow was about to be launched.

A sudden wave of unease sent chills down his spine.

An eerie feeling that made his skin crawl.

What was this?

As he wondered, he heard a sound that tore through the air.

*Whoosh!*

It was instinct.

His instinct reacted to it.

A clear sense of danger.

“Everyone, get down!”

Vaien shouted a warning and quickly ducked.

Riel and the other vampires also reacted instinctively, lowering their bodies.

*Whoosh!*

A sharp, powerful gust of wind tore through the spot where they had been standing just moments ago.

It made their skin tingle and their ears buzz.

An immense force.

They froze, overwhelmed by the sheer power of it.

But that was just the beginning.

*Thud!*

*Crash!*

*Thud!*

*Crash!*

*Thoooooom!*

*Craaaash!*

Deafening crashes echoed from all directions.

The skeletons, densely packed on the walls, were pulverized by the monstrous arrows, their bones shattered into countless fragments.

The arrows possessed such destructive power that even a glancing blow was enough to obliterate them.

Just five arrows.

But the result was devastating.

At least thirty skeletons had been vaporized in an instant.

And the shock was as great as the damage.

The skeletons who had been preparing for a second attack were thrown into a state of panic, their bones rattling as they stumbled around in confusion.

Even low-ranking undead weren’t devoid of emotions.

They also experienced joy, anger, sorrow, and fear.

That’s why their morale soared when they were confident, but plummeted when they were overwhelmed and demoralized, like now.

Vaien was acutely aware of the situation.

His gaze quickly swept over the human army.

*Thump, thump, thump, thump!*

The humans, having inflicted heavy casualties with their ballista, were advancing steadily.

Their movements were relaxed, as if they were confident that a second attack wouldn’t come.

*Gnash!*

Vaien gritted his teeth, a chilling sound escaping his lips.

The veins on his face bulged.

To allow the humans to approach so easily…

He couldn’t allow it.

Never.

It was a disgrace, a humiliation, something he couldn’t tolerate.

*Bang!*

Vaien slammed his fist on the rampart, his rage boiling over.

And then he roared, his voice filled with fury.

“You idiots! Don’t you know they can’t use those abominable weapons while they’re moving?! Attack! Attack them now and stop them from approaching! Now!”

“?!”

The skeletons hurriedly prepared for a second attack.

But the distance had already closed considerably.

* * *

“Want to know what we’re doing next?”

“What?”

“See that gate?”

The iron gate.

It wasn’t as impregnable as a fortress, but as their last bastion, it looked sturdy and strong.

“Of course I see it… You’re not suggesting we break it down, are you?”

Camian looked at me in disbelief.

“Why that expression? Of course we’re breaking it down.”

“But there are so many others, why us…?”

“Because when else will we get to break down a castle gate with a siege weapon? It’s a precious experience that might not come again.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Camian couldn’t argue with that.

This was their first time even handling a siege weapon.

“You know what?”

“What?”

“You have to make achievements to be recognized by people. That includes Ran. Don’t you want a new sword?”

“A-A new sword…”

Camian’s eyes lit up.

He was desperate to get a new sword from Ran, practically throwing himself at her feet every time he saw her.

But despite his efforts, he hadn’t been able to secure her approval.

He hadn’t been recognized yet.

That’s why my “recognition” attack had worked so well.

“Of course we have to go! We have to go now! Let’s smash that gate! Ten times, no, a hundred times if we have to!”

Camian shouted, his fists clenched, as if he would die if he couldn’t smash the gate.

“C-Camian’s gone crazy…”

Even Annette was bewildered.

“He’s not crazy, he’s just properly motivated.”

I chuckled.

And then I grabbed one of the handles of the tortoise battering ram.

“Camian, what are you…”

Before I could finish, Camian was already beside me, grabbing the other handle.

His eyes burned with enthusiasm.

“What are we doing? Let’s go, senior! The gate is right there!”

…Well, it wasn’t exactly “right there.”

“Ugh, whatever! I-I’ll do my best too!”

Annette clung to the battering ram.

Just the three of us.

That’s what it might look like to others, but this combination was the one that had overcome countless crises.

So with this…

“Wait, wait! I’m coming too!”

Someone rushed over and joined us.

It was Ran.

“R-Ran?”

Camian’s eyes widened.

“Wh-Why are you here? It’s dangerous…”

It was a rare sight to see him so flustered.

“Why? I made it, so I have to see how well it works in actual combat.”

That was a typical Ran response.

She had probably tested it in various ways, but she had never actually used it to smash a gate, so she was curious.

“I understand how you feel, but it’s dangerous.”

I warned her.

But.

“Don’t worry. It’s safe under the turtle.”

“Huh?”

Whoosh.

Ran crawled under the tortoise battering ram like a mole.

It did look… safe.

Ran had said she had made the shell extra sturdy, so there was no risk of it being breached by attacks.

But.

…It was incredibly distracting.

Ignoring my concern, Ran spoke to Annette.

“What are you doing, Annette? Come on in. There’s enough space for both of us, we’re both skinny.”

“Huh?”

“Come on, come on.”

Ran grabbed Annette’s leg and pulled her in.

Annette, unable to resist, was dragged under the turtle.

“E-Eek?”

The two women disappeared beneath the battering ram.

“…”

“…”

The two men who were left behind exchanged a silent look.

…She’s not going to listen anyway, so let’s just go.

…Yes, senior.

It was amazing how we could communicate with just our expressions.

“Alright, let’s go!”

I pushed the battering ram with all my might.

Camian also pushed with all his strength.

And the two women…

…Crawled diligently underneath.

“I-I don’t want to crawl anymore!”

“Just shut up and listen, it’s safe!”

“…”

“…”

And so, we filmed a sitcom in the middle of a battlefield.

* * *

“The siege weapon is approaching, Lord!”

One of the vampires shouted.

“So?”

“Huh?”

“It’s just one. What can they possibly do with that?”

Vaien said, his expression indifferent.

“Huh?”

The confused vampire just blinked.

Riel, exasperated, interjected.

“Think about it. How can they possibly breach the gate with just one of those? It’s obviously a diversion to distract us.”

“A-A diversion?”

Vaien clicked his tongue.

“That’s right, you idiot. Our main focus should be on their main force. We have to keep attacking them. That’s what they want, to divide our attention.”

The weapon Vaien was most wary of was the ballista.

It was only natural, considering the power he had witnessed.

He had been relentlessly attacking the humans, trying to prevent them from using the ballista again.

And it seemed to be working, as the humans were focused on defense and hadn’t counterattacked with the ballista.

To divide their attention in this situation?

It was a ridiculous idea.

“You’re absolutely right, Lord.”

Riel agreed, a smile on her face.

The main reason they had made that judgment.

The tortoise battering ram didn’t look particularly impressive.

Ran’s unnecessarily cute design, which she had put so much effort into, probably played a big role.

Because it was cute, it seemed even less threatening.

If it had been shaped like a ferocious beast, they wouldn’t have dismissed it so easily.

“It’s impossible to breach the gate with something like that.”

The thick iron gate was incredibly sturdy.

It wasn’t something that could be broken down with just one siege weapon.

“Hmph, of course not. Maybe if they had several…”

Vaien turned his attention away from the battering ram and shouted.

“Don’t stop! Keep attacking them!”

* * *

“Ugh, this is so frustrating! They’re completely ignoring us!”

Ran grumbled.

…Shouldn’t she be happy about that?

“Tsk, let’s just hurry up and smash it!”

…Didn’t she think it was a bit strange to say that while crawling?

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Ran’s movements became faster.

She was like a professional crawler.

What were her hobbies…?

“Senior, let’s speed up too!”

“…Alright.”

I shook my head and increased my pace.

Camian also picked up the pace.

And finally, we reached the gate.

Up close, it looked even larger and sturdier than before.

Bad memories from the past surfaced.

The gate that had taken all of our siege weapons to finally break down.

And the casualties had been heavy.

But this time,

‘It will be different.’

Ran was so confident.

I trusted her.

Ran crawled out from under the battering ram.

Annette followed, her face pale with exhaustion.

She was covered in dirt.

…You’ve been through a lot, Annette.

“I-I thought I was going to die…”

She looked like she was about to pass out.

“Safety first! As long as you’re safe.”

Ran clenched her fist.

Even though they hadn’t even been attacked…

“Now, pull it. Pull it all the way back.”

Ran pointed at the turtle’s neck.

Hmm, it was nice to have a human instruction manual.

“This thing?”

“Yes, yes, that’s it.”

I grabbed the turtle’s neck and pulled with all my might.

Ugh.

My muscles strained.

It was heavy, but the recoil was also surprisingly strong.

There must be some kind of mechanism inside.

“It’ll take a lot of strength. So let’s take turns.”

“Alright.”

It made sense.

It needed this much power to generate such destructive force.

Even Orichalcum needed speed and force to unleash its true potential.

“Now, let go!”

Ran shouted.

I released the turtle’s neck.

The turtle’s head shot forward with a powerful thrust.

The force was visible even to the naked eye.

And then it slammed into the gate.

*Booooooooom!*

“Whoa?!”

“Huh?!”

“Whaaaaaat?!”

Camian, Annette, and I gasped in unison.

We couldn’t help it.

The turtle’s head had caved in the gate, accompanied by a deafening crash.

It had dented the solid iron gate so deeply.

It was an incredible display of power.

It seemed like a few more hits would be enough to create a hole in the gate.

“Hehe, good, good. As expected of my creation.”

Ran clapped her hands, praising her own work.

She deserved to be proud.

“Now, let’s smash it! Let’s smash it to pieces!”

“Alright!”

I grinned and grabbed the turtle’s neck again.

* * *

*Booooooooom!*

When he heard the first deafening crash, his instincts had already sensed that something was terribly wrong.

But his mind denied it.

His reason denied it.

Because it had to.

Because it couldn’t be true.

But…

His heart sank as he looked at the gate, his chest tightening with fear.

Vaien’s expression was one of pure despair.

The gate, which he had believed to be as strong as an iron wall, was dented.

Pathetically.

How was this possible…?

How could this be possible…?

Why was everything going wrong today?!

“Uggghhhhh!”

Vaien clutched his head, groaning in frustration.

And then.

“Stop them! Stop them now! Don’t let them break down the gate!”

He roared, his voice filled with rage and despair.