Chapter 280.
The Dresden frontline was divided by a large wall that spanned across the border. The enemy tried to cross the wall and capture it, and the empire’s forces had no choice but to utilize siege defense to protect the fortification as much as possible. However, my goal was not to protect the castle from the enemy but to defeat the enemy, so I had to give up the defense advantage and attack.
"Iya, it"s a nice and trustworthy feeling to hear that the Youngest Master is partic.i.p.ating in the war, isn"t it?" said Mac, as he stood next to me with his hands behind his back.
Lancelot nodded. "Yes! Because Den is strong!"
Lancelot looked at me with sparkling eyes. He looked ecstatic to have escaped the pressure of keeping my location a secret. He then asked, "By the way, where"s Leisha noona?"
I answered Lancelot"s question, pointing backward. "Fourth Sister? She"s probably preparing to treat any of the future wounded soldiers alongside the people in the rear medical unit."
Originally, the magic corps wanted to serve as support in the battle, but I forced them into the medical unit. This decision was based on the fact that my sister’s healing magic would serve a greater user in the war than her battle magic. After all, there won"t be any magic battles for her to look forward to anyway.
"And I"m not going to attack. If I"m distracted by fighting, I can"t reduce our casualties." Most importantly, it would be annoying if our troops got caught up in my magic.
"Is that so?" Lancelot looked disappointed. At times like this, I thought he resembled the people from our hometown.
"If you want to fight, you can go to the battlefield and stir up as much trouble as you want. It"s not like I don"t have a guard." In fact, it was better if the two of them agitated the battlefield and dispersed the enemy"s lines rather than staying by my side.
Mac hyung sat next to me as if he were uninterested and said, "I don"t have a hobby of slaughtering weak people. I"ll wait here and, if there"s someone who looks interesting, I"ll go.”
Lancelot nodded and seated himself beside me as well, agreeing with Mac hyung. "If Den’s not there, I"ll just stay here."
"Do as you please. Come out, everyone." At my call, eleven knights came out of my pocket s.p.a.ce, except Percival, who was preparing to send me supplies from the capital.
"Did you call, Master?"
"Oh! It"s a fight!"
"This brings back some nostalgia."
Mac hyung"s eyes twinkled as he saw the knights appearing one by one, listening to what each of them had to say. He cried, "What! Youngest Master, there are so many interesting people right here!”
The muscular Bors and the lean Gwalchmai responded, "You also look like you’d be fun to fight. Hyung-nim! Can I have a bout with this friend?”
"Obviously, you can"t. Bors and Gwalchmai, put your swords down.”
"Tch, all right, Boss." Gwalchmai lowered his sword, lightly clicking his tongue.
I sighed and took out a Mana Stone and the eyes of the demon, Horus, from my pocket s.p.a.ce as I said, "Lion who controls heaven, I will use your eyes to see through the world. Clairvoyance."
The clairvoyance magic was simply a subst.i.tute for a telescope. However, if Horus"s eyes were used as a catalyst, the entire perspective would change, and one could survey the whole region like a satellite.
Then, I put the magic communicator in my ear and began contacting the commanders of each unit.
"This is the command headquarters. Each army, respond."
- 3rd Army, received.
- 14th Army, received.
- 8th Army, received.
The responses were heard, the sound quality as clear as if they were speaking right next to me.
"Command headquarters, received. Operation timing will be ordered by the command headquarters, so continue the siege defense at each location until given further instructions."
The enemy forces appeared to be evenly distributed, but their siege weapons were concentrated to the right. This meant that the enemy would advance towards that side. I connected a personal communication line with the commander of the 3rd Army and said,
"3rd Army Commander-nim, we"ve got siege weapons gathering in your area. I"ll send reinforcements over to you."
- All right. It’s nice that we don’t need to have a battle of wits against the enemy with you around.
I cut off communications with the 3rd Army commander and connected to the entire 14th Army. "Command headquarters speaking. The direction of the enemy’s siege weapons has been identified. Send reinforcements from the 14th to the 3rd."
- Understood. The 14th Army will send two regiments.
Shortly after, two regiments began to move below the wall towards the right. The right side of the wall had no issues now since the siege defense weapons were moved alongside the troops.
In the first place, the besieging side would be at a disadvantage during a siege. If someone was defending in a siege, they could hide behind a ma.s.sive s.h.i.+eld called the wall and shoot arrows. On the other hand, the attackers could only fight properly once they crossed the wall under the rain of arrows.
As the enemy charged in earnest, the battle became fiercer on the right side of the wall, as I expected. Compared to the left or center of the wall, the number of boulders flying through the sky was overwhelmingly higher on the right.
"Tristan, Mac hyung. Can you break the ropes on the catapults with an arrow?”
As I pointed far away at the catapults on the right front, Tristan and Mac hyung immediately nocked the arrows on their bows.
"It"s not hard to break that big rope, Master."
"It"s so thick that you can probably hit it with your eyes closed."
The target was so far from my viewing position that I could barely see the outline of the rope, but this didn"t seem to be the case for the two of them. Yet, Mac hyung could hit the string on my mask from a distance of 2km, so was my request really that difficult? And Tristan was definitely not any worse of a shot than Mac hyung, perhaps being even better.
"Then, just shoot the ones over there and cut the ropes."
As soon as I finished speaking, Tristan and Mac hyung released their arrows and began to cut the catapults’ ropes. When dozens of catapult ropes were suddenly broken, the leaders of the enemy army seemed to be thrown into disarray and began to move busily.
"Master, the catapults are starting to move from the center and left to the right. Should I shoot them?"
I shook my head when Tristan inquired as he nocked another arrow. "No. Let them move to the right. Instead, shoot an arrow into the cannon just as it’s about to fire and destroy it from within."
If an arrow full of mana is fired into a cannon just before the cannonball is fired, the barrel of the cannon will become cracked or destroyed from the shock.
"All right."
At my instruction, Tristan and Mac hyung began to destroy the cannons one after another. I couldn"t help but admire their skillful movements.
If the cannonball inside were TNT or a bomb, it would have exploded and caused a large blast in the middle of the enemy’s ranks, but unfortunately, the cannonball was just an iron ball. Of course, even an iron ball by itself was a threat to the walls.
As the catapults and cannons were destroyed, the siege weapons naturally began to move to the right. And as antic.i.p.ated, the troops started to move to the right as well.
"Command headquarters speaking. Enemy troops are beginning to move to the right front. The 8th Army is to support the 3rd Army."
- Understood. 8th Army will send a brigade.
Since it was almost impossible for soldiers to break through the castle without siege weapons, it seemed that they had chosen to gather all their forces and have troops cross the wall simultaneously.
As our troops moved to the right, the battle on the right wall began to intensify.
"Command headquarters speaking to the entire army. We"re starting the operation now! Black Water Buffalos, 8811th Cavalry Regiment, 98th Sniper Unit, prepare to sortie!"
- Oh! Prepare to sortie!
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y shouted in a pleasant voice.
This was a public announcement currently, so I didn"t want him to say anything personal, but I let it slide since it"s Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y.
I said, temporarily handing Horus"s clairvoyance magic over to Caradoc, "Bors, Gwalchmai, and Agravain, move with the Black Water Buffalo knights and attack freely."
"Oh! It"s a fight!"
"I"ve been waiting!"
"I receive your orders, Master."
Bors and Gwalchmai ran excitedly, and only Agravain followed them calmly after saluting.
"Palamedes, Lionel, and Bedivere, move with the 98th Sniper Unit to guard them."
"I, Palamedes, receive Your Highness’s command."
"I"ll be back, Master." Unlike the other two, Bedivere nodded silently with a serious face.
The three jumped off the wall and headed toward the gate.
“Master, is there something for me to do?”
I dismissed Tristan"s hopes. "Cut the catapult ropes when I give the order."
Leaving a disappointed Tristan behind, I handed out fist-sized magic tools to Yvain and Ovain.
"What"s this, Crow Prince?"
"This is a Magical Pulse Effecter or MPE. It’s a magic tool that generates a powerful mana-resistant field that prevents magic from being used. Simply put, it"s a tool that temporarily turns the area into Olympus Forest.”
In reality, although I called it a powerful mana-resistant field, it was weak compared to Olympus Forest. For people who were familiar with Olympus Forest’s crazy mana flow like me or Leisha noona, it wouldn’t have much effect. However, it was the worst development for someone who had only used magic in the calm mana outside the forest.
"Wow! This will cripple all of the enemy magicians."
"It"s perfect for us, who are called the Witch Hunters.”
Cold killing intent hovered between the two brothers" playful smiles.
"Based on the flow of mana, I think the magicians will shoot a pretty powerful great magic at the walls. Take care of the magicians over there first, then go around and take care of any other magicians if you find them,” I instructed.
Yvain and Ovain jumped off the wall with a high five.
"Yahoo! I"ll be back, Crow Prince!"
"Yahoo! I"ll be back, Crow Prince!"
I called out hastily, leaning against the wall, "If you can, pull out any mana stone or magic materials that are usable! Got it?!”
Whether they heard me or not, the two brothers waved their hands over their heads and quickly disappeared among the enemies, hiding with concealing magic.
My order to collect mana stones and magic materials wasn"t just my greed talking. Mana stones were a vital strategic resource. Taking mana stones not only hinders the enemy magicians’ power but also allows our troops to use them. Of course, I"ll be taking half of them.
"Master, arrows from afar may reach us. Let"s go inside,” Gwalchavad advised anxiously, and I withdrew, smacking my lips.
"If it"s important, how about relaying it again with thought transmission, Commander-in-Chief?"
When Caradoc smiled and asked as he overviewed the entire frontline with the Horus"s clairvoyance in my place, I waved my hand. "No, it"s okay. It"s a priority to cut down their magician force; doing so could cause chaos. How do the frontlines look?"
Caradoc bobbed his head. "They are gathered to the right."
I nodded and turned on the magic communicator again and said, "Headquarters reporting! Open the gates! Black Water Buffalo, 8811th Cavalry Regiment, 98th Sniper Unit!”
- Open the gates! Move out!
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y shouted excitedly.
Soon after the gates opened, the Black Water Buffalo knights led by Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y ran out energetically on horseback. Seeing this, I pulled out a magic wand from my pocket s.p.a.ce.
"Now, time to watch the show."