Chapter 287.
Sh.e.l.len Fortress was built with a highly durable structure, as it was located on the neck of the road to the kingdom. Surrounded by a total of three layers of walls, the fortification also had a moat around it so that one could recklessly climb up with a ladder. In addition, the outermost walls utilized the surrounding cliffs, narrowing the area available for a.s.saulting the fort.
"Let"s see… We just need to cross one wall each day."
When I put it simply, the chief of staff laughed as if the idea was absurd. "That’s easier said than done. I didn"t know when I looked at the map, but it"s truly impressive seeing it in person."
"Even if it doesn"t work out, we have to make it work. After all, if the soldiers want to endure the great madosa’s magic, they will need the walls."
The chief of staff nodded somberly. "Then, I"ll go to my position. I wish you all the luck."
"I wish you all the best as well, Chief of Staff." I smiled and answered while withdrawing Horus"s eye and some mana stones from my pocket s.p.a.ce. After that, I immediately examined the surroundings using clairvoyance magic.
"Command headquarters speaking to the 302nd and 811th divisions. Each division is to make a detour from side to side as previously discussed."
After giving instructions through the wireless communication device, an answer was soon heard.
- This is 302nd Division; we will go right.
- This is 811th Division; we will take the left.
The 14th Army was the center of the frontal attack, so the divisions from both the 3rd Army and 8th Army were removed and ordered to take a detour to the cliff. Although it would not be easy due to the steep cliffs, narrow paths, and the enemy"s well-protected defenses, it was worth a try.
In the distance, I saw a one-eyed man on the fortress lookout tower. The face I saw definitely belonged to the troublesome Mercenary King from about two years ago who asked to be called ‘Black Knight.’
"If we last three days, it’ll be our victory!" The Mercenary King roared, pulling out a sword while the enemy forces cheered.
I also opened every channel on the wireless communication devices and shouted, "Command headquarters speaking to the entire army! Attack!"
At my cry, the trumpets’ fanfare rang out from all sides, signaling the beginning of the battle while rocks were sent flying from catapults toward the fortress.
"Youngest Master, you"re not going out?”
Mac hyung asked, sitting comfortably next to me and looking at the wall. I shrugged. "I am going to head out. It’ll be sometime on the third day."
At first, I had considered only dealing with the Curse Specialist, but after seeing the prisoners" statements, I couldn’t ignore the s.p.a.ce Specialist. Therefore, I was extremely reluctant to use mana. This is because if the fortress turned out to be too resilient and something went wrong, I could end up straining my mana circuit.
So, when the enemy"s body and spirit are exhausted, and they reach their limits, I’ll safely do something interesting. Something very interesting.
"Wow, what kind of evil thoughts are in your head for you to smile like that?”
Lancelot countered Mac hyung"s comment. "Den is not a bad person! He’s just wise!"
Leisha noona sighed as she came toward us from the medical team. "Don"t you think you need to see reality a little? The Youngest is evil enough to be comparable to the devil."
"Isn"t that evaluation too harsh, Fourth Sister?"
Fourth Sister snorted at my complaint, "Hmph, how about you remember your actions and say that while putting your hand on your chest?"
I put my hand on my chest and said, "There are few people as good as me. Right, Lan?"
Lancelot nodded energetically. "Right!"
When I looked at her like, ‘I told you so,’ Leisha noona frowned as if she had a headache. "Over my dead body."
"But what brings you here? Don’t you have to take care of the patients at the medical corps?"
Fourth Sister shrugged at my words. "There need to be patients for us to take care of them. Besides, since you said you"re going to alternate the troops in waves, the medical unit is also splitting up its members to go on rotation.
"Really? That"s good. I think there are about four or five madosas in the enemy camp. When they’re fighting with their lives on the line, won"t a couple of them cross the wall of the Magic Way?”
Leisha noona looked at me with an ill and tired face. "You want me to deal with all those madosas? You plan on killing me!"
"Ayy, why would I push you to death? Of course, I’ll send people with you- Yvain, Ovain."
At my call, the twins appeared from my pocket s.p.a.ce.
"Did you call us, Crow Prince?"
"How many madosas did you say you killed in the old days?" I asked.
The twins folded their fingers and counted.
"Was it 23 madosas?"
"No, there were 55 of them if we count the number we killed as a group."
"When we faced all the witches together, there were moments when six madosas attacked us at the same time."
"Right, it was tough back then. We were only able to kill two of them, but we were so tired that we had to flee.”
The twins weren’t called Witch Hunters for no reason, considering they killed 23 madosas with their strength alone.
"I"ll send these two with you. Go play."
"Oh, then should I come too?" Mac hyung was relaxing calmly when he also stood up and grabbed his bow.
"Oh, Hyung, if you"re going as well, you should go and destroy every siege defense weapon you see."
"Yep, all right.”
"However, you surely know what your top priority is, right?”
Their first priority was the protection of Fourth Sister. For someone from our hometown, Leisha noona had little experience in fighting, but if the three of them went with her, she should be able to come back without getting hurt.
"Of course. Come on, let"s go, Miss."
With her safety guaranteed to a certain extent, Fourth Sister seemed to be convinced.
Looking at the back of the four people heading to the battlefield, I shouted into the radio, "Command headquarters speaking to the entire army! Confirmation that the enemy is preparing for great magic on the left! 14th Army, withdraw from the left side. Catapult troops focus on the left and concentrate on besieging those walls!"
As soon as my instructions sounded, our catapults began to turn in unison.
- This is the 14th Army; can you tell us the location of the great magic and the area affected?
"The target location is estimated to be 200 meters to the right of the 1499th Regiment, and the area is approximately 500 meters in diameter. Magic completion time is approximately three minutes!"
There were as many as 80 magicians casting this magic together. Its power was expected to completely turn the 500-meter area into a pile of ashes.
- Understood! Commander of the 14th Army speaking! The entire 1409th Division on the left side, move back quickly!
The commander of the 14th Army pulled back the entire 1409th Division, which included the 1499th Regiment.
As the boulders from the catapults flew intensely toward the magicians, the enemy magicians’ casting slowed down as they blocked the projectiles. Soon after, the great magic was completed, and a huge fire rain came down, but the targeted area had already been vacated.
"Command headquarters speaking. Magic Division, put out the residual fire as soon as the great magic ends."
- This is the Magic Division. We will follow the command of the headquarters.
If the fire was extinguished by magic, the temperature would fall far enough for the soldiers to walk on it again. Upon hearing my instructions, the 14th Army commander understood my intentions and immediately gave the orders.
- The commander of the 14th Army speaking to the 1409th Division. Attack the left side as soon as the fire is under control.
In various ways, the troops moved busily and steadily attacked Sh.e.l.len Fortress.
* * *
Putting mana into his voice, Malecia bellowed loud enough to burst his throat. "Make the protection of magicians a priority! To the right, keep firing arrows so that the men who withdrew can’t come back!"
Delta encouraged the magicians as she magically intercepted the flying rocks. "Focus! If the mana gets messed up, we’ll have to start all over again! Trust your fellow magicians! They can block it!"
The magic was completed with Delta"s encouragement, but the empire’s forces had already evacuated from the scope of the attack.
"Darn it! Ridiculous! How did they know where it was going to fall!?" Delta cried out in frustration and commanded the magicians, "Prepare for the next great magic! Mu! You help, too!”
At Delta’s call, the muscular man with a snake tattoo hollered while gathering mana into his magic wand. "I"m busy, too! Ask Lambda!"
When Mu turned it over to Lambda, a middle-aged man with half-white hair grew annoyed as he retreated and yelled, "Are you kidding?! Who do you think is putting mana into the walls’ defense magic circle?"
"Then Iota! Where"s Iota?!"
Delta looked for Iota, and Beta in the castle tower answered, "Senior Iota is resting after casting a wide-area debuffing curse on the enemy’s right side!"
Unless there were ultra-rare supplies such as mana recovery potions, to use large-scale magic, mana stones had to be consumed. However, the number of mana stones in Sh.e.l.len Fortress was vastly depleted from their stores being commandeered by the vanguard troops bound for Dresden. In addition, for some reason, only a few magic resources were brought back from Dresden by the retreating troops. Because of that, mana stones had become an extraordinarily scarce strategic resource.
"Then, you come at least!"
"What? But I"m busy dealing with the imperial army’s magic soldiers!"
"Lambda"s putting mana into the walls’ defense magic circle! A little bit is fine!"
At Delta"s words, Lambda freaked out. "Hey! Are you telling me to block all those enemy magicians’ magic by myself?!”
"There"s nothing we can do about it. Senior Lambda, I’ll leave it to you."
When Beta stopped keeping the imperial magic division in check, magic hit the walls one after another. As a result, Lambda"s mana was drained without restraint.
"Hey! How can you actually leave your position!" Lambda shouted urgently, but Beta had no choice.
In the meantime, Mu performed a large-scale magic single-handedly, but the imperial army quickly avoided it. When he saw this, Malecia yelled, "Large-scale magic is a waste! Use magic that can be sprayed in large quant.i.ties and that’s low in mana consumption, like magic bullets!"
Mu protested, "The basics of siege and siege defense is great magic! I"m sure you know that such small magic can only be used to keep them in check!"
"Then don"t reveal where you"re going to cast your magic!" Malecia roared as he ran to the right and gave commands.
Delta and Mu clenched their fists as if their pride was hurt. Beta looked at them and spoke seriously, "I think the Mercenary King is right this time. At this rate, we have no choice but to acknowledge the skills of the alleged great madosa in the imperial army."
It was difficult to a.n.a.lyze where the target was in a short period of time after spotting the large-scale magic formula, but it was not impossible for a madosa. Yet, the opponent knew the magic that was hidden by the wall. This was no different from saying that by a.n.a.lyzing the flow of mana during the magic’s preparation, the opponent was capable of accurately identifying the magic.
"All right, we’ll give up on great magic! Everyone, get in groups of five!" The magicians formed a group with people close by at Delta"s cry.
"It"s less efficient than using great magic, but from now on, we"ll cast single magic in groups of five to increase power!"
Compared to great magic, which attacks hundreds and thousands of troops at a time, they chose to use magic that had a limit of attacking only dozens of people. It would be possible for enemy magicians to block the attacks, but at least they couldn’t move en ma.s.se and avoid every possible injury.
Delta was trying to reorganize the magicians and launch an attack when she was interrupted. Flying past her, a dagger landed between the eyebrows of the magician standing beside her.
"Peek-a-boo! Here comes the Witch Hunter who makes crying children stop wailing!"
"Or otherwise called, the Giant Curse Magician Hunter!"
On the wall, the brothers Yvain and Ovain had daggers in between each of their fingers and were smiling mischievously.
"Enemy! Intercept them!" yelled Delta.
The magicians fired magic bullets at the twins in unison, but the magicians" numerous attacks were blocked by three layers of barriers.
“Wow, Crow Princess, you"re pretty good.”
“Very good, Crow Princess.”
To the twins" compliments, Leisha replied with a pale complexion, frightened by the great height of the fortress wall, "Don"t call me Crow Princess!"
The twins took Leisha’s cry flippantly, and sword aura shrouded the daggers that were sent after the magicians.
"Ahhahaha! Okay! Crow Princess!"
"Ahahaha! Cheer up! Crow Princess!"
Leisha grasped her magic wand tightly and prepared to cast magic.