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Chapter 274 – Severe Light
The next day, we, the Royal Army of Merinard, left the border base riding on air boards. We were heading north at high speed and were making a reverse invasion near the border fortress of the Duchy of Dihart.
“I don’t see any particular enemy.”
“No, I see red smoke starting to rise diagonally behind it. It seems that they were keeping a watchful eye on us.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Let’s leave it there. The report from the harpies indicates that there are no ambush soldiers, so I think they are probably just trying to tell us that we are coming.”
If an ambush is placed and we are ambushed while moving, it would be a problem, but we have dispatched the harpies ahead of us, so there will be no problem there. Well, if it is known that we will come to a fort with high defensive capability, it is rational to intercept us by staying in the fort, isn’t it? It’s normal.
Since we have a long-range means of attack that cannot be protected by shields and armor, it is definitely a wiser choice to hide in a structure that has a better defense than shields and armor. If we launch a surprise attack, that defensive strength will be thrown away without a second thought.
And so, ignoring the smoke signal of the Duchy of Dihart, we continued on our way for a while. A man-made structure came into view ahead.
“Enemy divers detected!” [T/n: I don’t know what this means.”
“Divers…?”
“Never mind. Now, stop altogether.”
Using the golem communicator, I give instructions to all air boards to stop at this spot. I can just barely see the building, so… hmm, is it about 5 km? The horizon is roughly five kilometers from the height of the human eye on Earth, as I recall, but this world planet is not necessarily the same in direct diameter as Earth.
“How long would it take to walk from here to that fortress?”
“Hmm? I think it would take me less than an hour. Maybe an hour for a normal person?”
“I see. Shumel and the others have a big stride, don’t they? Well, this distance should be enough.”
There is a possibility that golems and debris from the fort will fly in, so we need a bunker to protect ourselves from them. At any rate, I should contact the harpies flying overhead.
“Pessar, this is Kosuke. Report on the situation of the Duchy of Dihart’s army. Over.”
“Yes, this is Pessar. The Duchy of Dihart’s army at the fort seems to be getting ready to intercept. Over.”
“Roger that. If you see any sign of a sortie, call me immediately. Over.”
“Copy that. Over and out!”
“Kosuke, are we going to position ourselves here?”
“Isn’t this a little far from there?”
After finishing the communication with Pessar, Worg and Noir, the commander of the magic rifle company, appeared. I heard that there was a slight dispute over whether Peter or Noir was going to come with us to blow up the fort today, but in the end, Noir won the right to go with us. I don’t know what kind of a fight they had, but I was struck by how depressed Peter looked.
“Don’t get too close, or you’ll get caught in the explosion.”
“Is it really that great?”
“If I mass-produce it, I can destroy the Holy Kingdoms. I could mass produce it, though.”
“If there’s such a thing, why don’t we just throw it in and destroy the Holy Kingdom?”
“It would be a bad idea to introduce a weapon that can blow up a fortress or a city and kill soldiers and civilians alike… and also cause serious magical pollution at the explosion site.”
“That’s not good-nya…”
Noir was stunned when she heard about the power and disadvantages of the magic sparkling stone bomb. Well, magic pollution is not something that will cause immediate and serious problems to the human body… but it’s not like it doesn’t have any advantages. Some special plants grow better in magic-polluted areas, such as medicinal herbs that are used to make potions to restore magic, and mages recover their magic faster in such areas.
However, there are too many disadvantages for people to live there, such as the abnormal operation of magical tools, magical intoxication if one stays there for a long time and the fact that ordinary plants do not grow there. We don’t even know how long it takes to decay. I think it is probably caused by the magic sparkling stone that was turned into minute particles by the explosion.
“Anyway, let’s start preparations. First, I will build a protective facility to protect ourselves from the debris from the explosion. Shumel and the others will escort me, and Worg will command the elite riflemen to prepare for the enemy attack.”
“Aiyo.”
“Roger that.”
☆★☆
Duchy of Dihart’s POV
“What is that all about?”
“Is it magic or something? It looks like they’re building some kind of defensive facility.”
“Hmm. I heard the coward Antonius say that they were going to blow up our fortress, but we will see.”
The general of the Duchy of Dihart’s army―Resnius Olaf Winteria, his face contorted with displeasure as he peered through the far-sighted tube.
After his meeting with Kosuke, Antonius went to the capital himself, reported the situation as it was, and insisted on the abandonment of the border fortress, which angered the Duke, and he was immediately demoted. He was replaced by a new general in the army of the Duchy of Dihart, who took command of the border fortress.
“What shall we do?”
“Be on the alert and keep an eye on them. Even the enemy’s new weaponry will not be able to reach us from that distance.”
“Yes… Hmm?”
“What is it?”
Concerned by the strange reaction of his second-in-command, Resnius again peeked through his far-sighted tube and saw a figure in front of the enemy’s defensive facilities. Clad in armor and holding a mace and a huge shield… no, no. That is not a person.
“W-what the hell is that?”
“Is that a golem…?”
“A golem? That thing…?”
A golem is, as I recall, a moving puppet created by an alchemist. But to make one that can be used in battle requires a huge budget and is not something that can be used in warfare… It is said that, in rare cases, it is used as a guardian in ancient ruins.
“There have been no reports of such a thing.”
“That should be――!?”
“Wha―?”
In front of the enemy’s defensive facility, the number of human figures―or rather, golems―increases. Considering the size of the enemy’s defensive facilities, the golem is probably more than three meters tall… and the fort’s walls and gates would not hold if it were swamped by such a thing.
“W-w-what should we do? If something like that… attacks us, we’ll lose everything!”
“Even if you ask me what to do.”
The second-in-command, who was pressed by Resnius, becomes confused. The Duchy of Dihart’s army is reasonably strong, but the enemies they are expecting are basically people and small to medium-sized monsters that threaten the roadways. They are not trained to fight large rock giants.
“Kuh… Right, the battering rams! Prepare the battering ram as soon as possible! Set it up around the south gate so that we can attack the golem when it enters!”
“Y-yes!”
Although Resnius was a somewhat small man, his thinking was flexible enough to be entrusted with the generalship of an army. Unfortunately, his pride got in the way of his decision to retreat immediately at this point. If he had escaped from the north gate with his entire army as soon as the golem soldiers released by Kosuke began their march and retreated at full speed, he might have escaped from the doom that awaited him later.
☆★☆
“This is Pessar. There is movement in the fort, over.”
“What is it? Over.”
“They’re probably assembling something like a battering ram. Over.”
“Roger that. Keep your eyes on them. Over.”
“Copy that. Over and out.”
A battering ram. They’re probably trying to use it as a weapon against the golem. It’s not a bad idea, but the golem isn’t slow enough to take a hit from something like that. Even if they did, they would probably end up getting reamed out with a mace along with the battering ram.
“If all we have to do is flatten the fortress, can’t we do it with just those golem soldiers?”
“It might be possible, but this is just a demonstration. If anyone tries to screw with the kingdom of Merinard, they will be in big trouble.”
“I see.”
Besides Bella, who nodded obediently, Worg and Noir looked difficult.
“The golem soldier countermeasures, huh?”
“Hmm… Who knows. What’s wrong with that?”
“The golem is just a rock, so I think we can destroy it by concentrating our magic rifle fire on the area where the core is located. We can also destroy the legs by concentrating fire on the knees. Also, I think we can destroy it by using the harpy bomb squadron to hit it with a large early-type air bomb, not an anti-personnel type.”
“Yeah, if we concentrate on those, we could take out the fort’s gates, too. Certainly, I think we can manage that.”
While I was talking with Worg, the three golems and the self-destruct golem, which were slowly advancing, stuck to the gate of the enemy fortress. Three golem soldiers are pounding on the gate with their ridiculously large maces. The sound can be heard all the way up here.
“This is Kosuke. Harpy bombing squad, disperse and return to the protection facility.”
“Copy that! Harpy bomber squadron is returning!”
Before long, the self-destructing golem will rush into the fort and explode, so I’ll call the harpies back. It would be a disaster if they were to crash due to the blast. Debris might fly.
“Welcome back!”
“We are back.”
Pessar, Capri, and other harpies are coming back. Not only the harpies but everyone takes a roll call to make sure no one is left outside of the protection facility. Safety confirmed!
“Well, is it about time?”
“Right… Oh, the gate has collapsed inward.”
Tozume, who was staring at the fortress with her naked eye, muttered to herself. It is amazing that she can see from this distance with her naked eye. She usually uses a hammer, but she’s surprisingly suited to sniping, isn’t she? I’d like to give her a large-caliber sniper rifle that matches her physique.
“All hands, brace for impact!”
About ten seconds after I shouted that, there was a flash of light from the Duchy of Dihart’s border fort, followed by an impact and a thunderous roar.
The border fort of the Duchy of Dihart was literally wiped off the face of the planet, along with all of its personnel.