Weekly chapters (1/2)
The land of beginning. The land of happiness.
I can"t wait to bring you readers toward the city-nation-state building arc.
Enjoy~
Translator: Raizu
Editor: Shirayuki
Chapter 79 – Miracle of Heinz 2
[OOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooohhh!!]
Darius commenced yet another a.s.sault with a loud scream. The Grants" soldiers under his command followed suit.
The demons and the magic beasts kept pouring in without any signs of ceasing. And yet, no one seemed discouraged. None of them gave up.
When any of them felt like they wanted to give up, they only need to see their commander.
Overwhelming.
Smiling excitedly.
The heart of each Grants soldiers were encouraged by such a presence that did not change no matter how many charges they had gone through. In that sense, Darius has the most important thing as an army leader.
Some people call it leadership…others call it charisma.
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When Darius attempted to mount yet another charge… An unknown huge humanoid monster appeared before him.
Its height was about 5 meters tall. It has bluish skin, dark brown hair…and what appeared to be a pair of unfocused eyes which became obvious if one took a good look.
Darius involuntarily wrinkled his eyebrows before commenting.
[Hoh… so even the giants are attacking Grants?]
[The giants normally loathe fighting… does that 『Whatchamacallit Artifact』 truly have such ability to drive them crazy?]
The lieutenant Dirk commented with a sigh.
[Interesting… it"s a rare opponent to encounter. Let"s see who is stronger then!]
Darius left his great sword to Dirk and even dismounted the bull he was riding.
The giant seemed to march forward with an empty, lifeless stare, but was soon distracted by Darius" arrival on his path.
[GAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]
It roared and began rushing to attack.
On the other side, Darius readied himself to receive the attack head on.
[Oraaa!]
Darius launched his own fist to meet his enemy"s fist.
Crack!
There were sounds of bone breaking. In the aftermath, the giant backed off as it held its right hand with its left in agony.
[What the h.e.l.l? Just that much…?]
Darius looked at the retreating giant with slight disappointment.
The giant visibly trembled.
[Since I heard that you are actually gentle in nature …then I won"t kill you today. However …I need you to sleep here.]
Darius rushed towards the giant immediately.
[Ugaa!]
Darius released his fist at the giant who was still holding his right hand with his left, trying in vain to fight back by flailing its arms around.
[Guhaaa….]
The giant involuntarily crouched, letting its head go undefended. Taking the opportunity, Darius kicked at the exposed head.
The giant fell over with a loud thud.
Darius mounted back on his bull steed as if nothing happened.
[Well then…shall we mount another charge..]
He laughed.
[Jeez, I really don"t know anymore if Boss is still a human or a monster.]
Dirk sighed as he watched Darius" back as he once more led the army to charge out with a joyful face.
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On the other side of the battlefield, charging south after exiting the west gate, Sigurd and the Black Legion rampaged around.
They were the earliest to charge outside, the first to make contact with the enemy, and yet after countless repeated charges, they still hadn"t suffered any losses.
Soldiers serving directly under Ares Schwarzer.
To be a part of this『Legion』is their greatest pride. Even such a perilous situation was not enough to deter them.
Sigurd quietly confirmed the battlefield before him. Their next opponents would be a flock of goblins. Looking closely, he discovered a [Goblin King] at the back of that flock. Upon a more thorough inspection, he noticed that there were higher versions of the species such as Goblin Masters and Goblin Generals were also amongst the crowd.
Sigurd quietly judged the situation and gave a signal. Accordingly, the Black Legion quickly entered battle formation.
[Alright…. Here we go again. The enemy is that flock of goblins. Thrash them completely for the honor of our Black Legion!]
With Sigurd"s cue, the cavalry started their charge.
[Gugya!]
[Gyaha!!]
The goblins disappeared as if being swallowed by a black tsunami.
[Our opponents are the goblins. Don"t let any of them to escape. Clean them all up thoroughly!]
Whilst saying that, Sigurd observed the goblin king"s movement and then went ahead of his troops toward the upset creature.
His steed Brad galloped fiercely at terrifying speed.
[Drop deeeeeeeaaaaaaad!]
Sigurd charged his body and weapon with magic as he rushed at the goblin king. The creature"s shield could not contend with Sigurd"s spear and neither did its armor. The spear pierced through them like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter.
[Gaaaahaaaaaaaa!!]
Sigurd slayed the goblin king in a single strike. This demoralized the remaining goblins. But Sigurd merely regrouped with the Black Legion as if nothing really happened.
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Ares who is guarding the center observed both Darius and Sigurd on both wings.
[Those two are still fighting. The problem is…]
Ares turned around. In his sight, the monsters are already trying to scale the wall.
Even if Sigurd and Darius kept reducing their number, some still managed to slip past and rush to the city wall.
Initially, Gail and the other generals were still managing to prevent the monsters from scaling the wall by dropping rocks on them. But the situation had changed.
The soldiers at the top of the ramparts were starting to get tired after the seemingly endless enemies. They"ve dropped stones and drew arrows non-stop.
[Moreover, there is this one who"ve just appeared…]
Ares line of sight turned to a lone beautiful woman standing among the monsters… No, she is…
[A demon?]
Other than her striking pink hair, she"s wearing a regal dress with a very low cut on the breast area, showing much of her voluminous a.s.sets.
[I can sense a strong magic power from her… could she be a DemonLord?]
The Demon Lords are divided into two, the high and low ranks. The high-ranking demon lords boast immense amount of magic power, and followers ranging from monsters to even low rank Demon Lords.
Anyways, she"s been launching magic missiles at the wall from time to time, creating a deep crack. If the wall collapsed, the monsters would be able to freely enter the city.
[That"s it… I just have to do something. If I lose my cool now, it"ll just end here…right?]
Ares muttered atop Saint.
[Milord, shall I bring you closer to that female demonkin?]
[Yes, please do.]
[That one is a succubus. Don"t fall to her『Enchantment Arts』, alright?]
Having said that, Saint galloped through the horde of monsters, lightning bolts shooting out with each step.
Any beasts trying to approach Saint were charred black by the lightning bolts.
Once he could clearly see the Demon Lord, Ares alighted from his steed and jumped in that direction.
The demon lord turned her empty stare to Ares but…
[Too slow!]
Saying so, Ares drew out his sword, striking the demon lord"s neck with the handle.
She fell over, unconscious.
[It"ll be for your body and us all if you let that immense magic power running rampant… So sleep until everything is over.]
Ares caught the Demon Lord"s falling body and, as he said that, laid her gently on the ground.
[Even if driven crazy, she"s still a Demon Lord… as usual, milord has a weird sense of morality. Also …being overly kind to women.]
[…..good.]
Ares looked at the wall once more, ignoring Saint"s comment.
There were no more monsters scaling the wall for the moment.
[We could"ve ended up in a worse situation… if we are late for even a moment…]
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Gail went up to the top of the wall while being supported by his two aides. For Gail who had gone through many battles, breathing the air of the battlefield once more actually sharpened his senses and his ailing body.
[I knew being on the battlefield is what fits me the most. Even if the opponents are demons and magic beasts.]
He then looked down the wall.
Defending the gate below were Ares, Sigurd, and Darius, slaughtering the enemies left and right. It"s clear from above here that those three are particularly standing out, even among the elites.
[Those two are warriors comparable to Darius…. Is this really fate…?]
Gail turned to observe the wall.
The battlefield is changing at every moment. Even with the three"s valiant efforts, there were still several monsters that managed to escape and reached the wall.
[Inform the soldiers at the east gate. Dozens of monsters are scaling the south gate. Send some men to reinforce the wall.]
[Here"s an order for the mage squadron. The gargoyles are attacking the east gate. Repel them at all cost.]
In this ever-changing battlefield, one has to deploy the soldiers properly according to the situation at hand… exactly what Gail is excel at back in his heyday.
However, even Gail couldn"t help but to feel a bit anxious.
[Sunset is about to arrive… the soldiers" endurance is nearing the limit. The wall seems to be still holding strong… should I let them to replenish their strength or…]
Regardless of Gail"s leadership and experience, anyone would feel scared when facing countless monsters. There seemed to be no end, which slowly drove the soldiers towards despair.
Any fallen monster would be replaced with another just as soon. Once the soldiers lost their morale, then it"ll be the end for them.
[Gail-sama, the defence of the east gate is about to be breached!]
[Several gargoyles managed to breach the defense line! Currently heading here! Guge!]
While listening to the hopeless report, Gail turned around, only to see the reporting soldier shedding blood from his shoulder. A gargoyle had stabbed the poor soldier from behind with its sword.
Finally, a breach…the east gate is really at their limits. When Gail thought so…
The Gargoyle stopped moving. No…
All of the monsters had stopped moving.
Time seemed to be in a standstill until the demons lowered their weapons and, along with the magic beasts, retreated back to the forest to the [Land of Demons].
The soldiers were stunned at the sight. Then a voice sounded from somewhere.
[The magic beasts are retreating…]
[Isn"t that…good?]
[We are saved…]
[We"ve won…]
[We have…protected the city!]
[We have successfully protected the city!]
And soon afterward, Heinz was filled with cheers.
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An incident happened in which Grants capital Heinz was attacked by hordes of monsters.
Why the monsters attacked in the first place and why they suddenly retreated…. Is still a mystery.
This is what was written in the history books.
[It"s not a battle to gain profits nor for selfish purposes. It was to protect the people.]
And the conclusion was as follows:
[And that day marked the beginning of how the infamous『Cursed Land』turned into the『Land of Happiness』.]