Chapter 476
“— Pardon me, your Excellency . The enemy’s offensive at the front gate is fierce . Shall we send a part of our squad for reinforcement?”
“His Majesty hasn’t given the order yet … but the extent of this situation is within our discretion . ”
I could hear such a conversation upon listening carefully .
The one who proposed sending reinforcement was Mr . Eliwood, a strong elf, the vice-captain who was in charge of commanding “Gladiator” on our side .
“I think it’s necessary to keep the third squad in close contact with the enemies . ”
“Hmm, indeed … understood, let’s mobilize some infantrymen for central support . I’ll take direct command . May I leave this position in your hands, Lord Eliwood?”
“Please, leave this to me, General . ”
“If the enemy moves, I’ll return immediately . Also, if there is something wrong with the wall, I’ll deal with it promptly — . ”
General Gesenburg went to reinforce the main gate .
For a brief moment, I was considering leaving my post, since it was only a few hundred meters ahead . Even if the Crusaders started to move, the General would have made it back here before they could approach the wall . That being the case, I decided to check enemy movements as well as their destination to confirm it with my own eyes .
As Mr . Eliwood said, it would be better to not fuss over my post rather than letting the soldiers run amok . Both the center and the left side of the southern wing were undergoing fierce battles that could use some reinforcements .
“Oh, Kurono, Grandpa Goat is coming here — . ”
Soon after, I received a telepathic communication from Lily . She reported the movement of General Baphomet that she witnessed .
“General Gesenburg is temporarily reinforcing the central . ”
“Should Lily go too?”
“No, stand by right where you are . Let’s focus on our defense here . ”
“Yeah, understood — . ”
Suddenly, Lily’s voice was cut off .
“Huh, Lily? What happened?”
I called out to her aloud, but the usual childish and cute reply never came .
“Hey, Lily? Can you hear me? The telepathy is broken off . ”
My many attempts to call out to her ended up in vain monologue .
Weird . An obvious anomaly was happening – though my intuition strongly suggested that, there were no observable changes in particular . The enemy must have attacked Lily’s post, but I could not see any skirmish going on . Lily was unharmed, and still maintaining her position .
Whether I looked to the right or the left, the appearance of Spada soldiers and adventurers waiting in vain for the Crusaders on top of the walls, remained unchanged .
Huh, could a magic that interfered with Telepathy have been utilized …?
“Ugh, what’s the meaning of this?! The communication device isn’t getting through! Hey, give me the spare — . ”
It was vice-captain Eliwood complaining about the telepathy that failed to work .
Apparently, it wasn’t because Lily’s condition had worsened, but the Telepathy itself did not seem to work .
“As expected, it’s jammed … no, wait . ”
Right then, I finally noticed the true ident.i.ty of the anomaly .
“… It’s awfully quiet . ”
Mr . Eliwood started yelling about something to his subordinates . I could still hear the chatters and buzzes around me of the adventurers and Spada soldiers .
But it was not as loud as a battlefield should be .
I could not hear anything except for the noises from my immediate surroundings .
Until just before, I could still hear the noises of the battle that started in the far center and left side of the southern wing . But right now, I just realized that I could not hear anything at all .
Telepathy was not the only thing being blocked . Sound — .
“— Hey! What is this?! I can’t get through!!”
At that time, someone yelled .
“Woah, for real! What is this …?”
“d.a.m.n! Who cast a defense spell in such a place?!”
“c.r.a.p, this is solid!”
Just like that, the adventurers began to cause a ruckus .
Apparently, transparent defense magic had been activated to block the pa.s.sage .
“D-don’t tell me — . ”
I looked carefully at my left and right again .
The roaring adventurers were banging and kicking the invisible wall . Being absolutely transparent, I thought it seemed like a Light element defense magic but … different . Perhaps that was some other kind of magic .
“Vice-captain! This is terrible . The pa.s.sage on this side is blocked by a mysterious barrier!”
In the opposite direction from the adventurers, the pa.s.sage on that side leading to the center was also blocked by a transparent wall that suddenly appeared, one Spada Knight reported .
The left and right of the pa.s.sage had been blocked .
No, it was not just the pa.s.sage .
It was subtly visible if I tried to sense it . The existence of a gla.s.s-like transparent wall that shone faintly could be detected . In front of me, on my sides, all around me .
“— Are we trapped?”
The transparent barrier seemed to form a giant rectangle .
It covered this 50-meter castle wall on all sides, including the pa.s.sages we stood on, and covered all four sides .
Since when? Without any one of us realizing, this transparent and invisible cage had been created .
“W-what is this?! What’s going on?!”
Vice-captain Eliwood exclaimed with a raised voice in astonishment . He seemed to notice the same thing I did and perfectly understood the predicament this fort Galahad had been put in .
Clearly, this phenomenon was not a barrier utilized to defend the castle wall .
If this was not a move from our side, then the Crusaders must be the one responsible for this .
As if emphasizing their point, the Crusaders began to mobilize .
“Hey, this can’t be … . ”
Though I had no clue what kind of magic they utilized, I found out what the Crusaders’ target was .
This transparent wall extended up like a staircase from the ground where the snow had fallen and piled up . It was a big staircase .
The transparent barrier started about 10 meters to my left and right . In other words, it was about 20 meters wide across, with a vertical length that covered the castle wall from the ground up, which was about 50 meters .
The stairs spanned the entire width of 20 meters .
And the final destination of the stairs was the repaired breach in the wall, between the ground where we were standing and the pa.s.sageway on top of the 50 meters majestic wall .
“Are they planning to climb on this and siege the castle directly like that?!”
Doubting my sight, I kept rechecking my surroundings again and again . To my right, Fiona was clinging to the other side of the wall . Her expression was unusually impatient .
To my left, I could see Lily in a similar state . She was sticking to the wall that blocked the pa.s.sage and seemed to be shouting something while on the verge of tears .
And when I looked ahead — .
“— All army, advance! Attack!!”
“Kill the demons!”
“Destroy the demons!”
“Sacrifice Pandora to the G.o.ds!”
“May G.o.ds be with us!!”
The Armor Knights pushed forward . The large Crusade Army began advancing violently as well . Their only opponents were us, standing on this 20-meter wide walkway . Our total number was roughly 100 or so .
A medium-size squadron . In a nutsh.e.l.l, it was about as many as the Adventurer Alliance who fought together in Alsace .
Indeed, while we were among the tens of thousands of allies in this battlefield, but currently isolated without access to reinforcements .