/
Chapter 113
Chapter 113 – It seems to be a Defensive Battle and Breakthrough Battle 2
Suddenly a red dragon peeks out its head from the top of the city’s outer wall.
Once it has widely opened its mouth, a deep crimson flame wells up and is spit out after having transformed into a fireball.
Without even confirming the path of that fireball, the red dragon once again hides its head behind the wall.
Shion traces the route of the fireball with her eyes as she jumps around on top of the wall and cuts ropes with grappling hooks attached to them which were thrown one after the other. The fireball, while maintaining its initial force, crashes into a part of the enemy’s army that was swarming at the base of the wall, and blew up into a violent blaze.
Several soldiers that suffered a direct hit fall down within the flames without being able to make any noise. The heatwave of the fireball burns the bodies of the soldiers in the surroundings, making them roll on the ground while screaming.
The dragon that hid its head changes its location a bit and once again reveals only its head above the wall all of a sudden. Moreover, after firing yet another breath, it hides again.
“Somehow… that’s cheap.” (Shion)
Slashing at a soldier, who was climbing a rope she wasn’t able to cut off in time, with her longsword before he arrives atop the wall, Shion knocks the soldier directly towards the ground by kicking him as he flinches.
The soldier, who fell while screaming, fell on top of the soldiers waiting below and got several of them involved in the landing. But without faltering, the soldiers kept on clinging to the ropes and tried to climb the wall once again.
“Even if you call it cheap… he’s the dragon mount of a treasured dragoon. Besides, for better or worse, this is also Renya-san’s order.” (Liaris)
Liaris says in protest as she pours bucketfuls of oil on the heads of the soldiers directly below the wall.
The bubbling hot oil is supplied via a bucket relay. The soldiers, who have taken up position on top of the wall, make sure the oil pours down on the enemy’s heads one after the other.
Shion cannot help but feel that it’s extremely wasteful, but oil that can achieve a much higher temperature than water far surpasses water in the damage efficiency when used against the human body. Moreover, since one can expect the additional effect of making the soldiers’ limbs slippery once it’s poured on them, she persuades herself that it’s absolutely necessary.
Liaris had been urgently summoned from Kukrika as one of the Trident Principality’s treasured combat forces.
Of course her dragon Dra-kun came together with her.
At first Liaris was thinking of spectacularly burning the enemy soldiers to smithereens with Dra-kun’s breath while flying above the enemy army. As a matter of fact, the Trident Principality’s side had planned to make use of her in such way as well. However, that was easily stopped by Renya.
“You are going to throw your treasured combat force in front of the hero’s eyes? Are you idiots? She will be shot down with maximum priority.” (Renya)
With these brief words, Dra-kun shifted to a deployment method of acting as battery that carries out sporadic breath attacks against the enemy army by only peeking out his head while hiding his body behind the wall.
Since there’s absolutely no meaning in Liaris riding on Dra-kun’s back in this case, she goes around helping the defending soldiers on the wall.
Given that the opponents will concentrate their attacks on her if they find out that she’s a dragoon, the current Liaris wore the same equipment as the Trident Principality’s soldiers.
By the way, because Az has been assigned to Kukrika’s defense unit, he wasn’t accompanying her.
Keith’s unit, which was trained by Renya, also stayed back in Kukrika.
Even though it would be much easier if they were here, Shion thinks. But as the cities will transform into hell if even a small part of the enemy army goes around to attack them, it’s impossible for the Trident Principality to take away all the soldiers needed for defense.
Dra-kun spit out yet another fire breath.
If a human’s body is directly hit by his high temperature flame, it will transform into a lump of charcoal in a flash.
The equipment they wear will heat up as well, the metallic parts will become bright red or melt, and the remains will blend with the charcoal.
The fact that there were no arrows coming from the enemy’s army is due to there being already a considerable amount of enemy soldiers that have arrived before the outer wall.
It’s only natural that the enemy finds it impossible to choose an attack method that would probably hit their allies. But Shion frowns due to the inexhaustible supply of soldiers climbing up one after the other.
“This might be bad.” (Shion)
“Why? To me it feels like we are repelling them at quite a good pace though.” (Liaris)
While asking, Liaris once again pours down a bucketful of oil.
One more soldier, who had his skin burned with a sizzling sound, fell down.
“You will understand once you look down.” (Shion)
Shion says while thrusting away a soldier, who came climbing up another rope ladder, towards the ground.
Being told that, Liaris secretly peeked at the wall’s base and immediately understood what Shion meant.
Down there, the soldiers’ corpses, who were pushed off, had stopped moving and died, began to pile up.
“A hill of corpses…?” (Liaris)
“No matter how tall the wall might be, if several hundred corpses are piled up on top of each other, it will become a foothold that allows surmounting the wall. Though I think that an army usually pulls back before that happens due to the huge amount of losses they’ll have suffered by that point.” (Shion)
An allied soldier stabs another enemy soldier, who had climbed up the wall, to death.
With the passage of time, the number of enemy soldiers coming atop the wall seems to have increased thanks to the scaffold of corpses, resulting in the distance they had to climb on the rope ladders gradually decreasing as well.
“Should we burn them?” Liaris asks.
She seems to think that the enemies will probably get burned to quite a severe degree if they are ignited, given that they have been successively pouring down oil from atop the wall.
After pondering about this method for a short while, Shion shook her head left and right.
“Staying atop the wall might become difficult due to the smoke and the burnt stench. Besides…” (Shion)
Once she turns her sight further into the enemy army’s ranks, she can see parts of the human waves randomly stirring violently.
It’s a place where lightning descends with a thunderous roar from the sky and where sometimes enemy soldier-like figures are launched high into the air.
Several flashes were generated further ahead of that place, but each time those flashes reach a certain part within the enemy army, they are repelled as if clashing with something, get scattered and vanish.
It’s very likely that Renya is around that area, Shion judged.
And, the flashes coming from ahead of Renya’s position are probably the hero’s attacks.
“It looks like Renya-san is blocking the hero’s attacks over there, but if even one shot of those slips past, something like the outer wall probably won’t last even for a second.” (Shion)
“Even if it’s reinforced by the magic soldiers of the Principality’s army?” (Liaris)
“Probably. When Renya defended against the first attack, the aftermath from it was enough to gouge out the wall. I think its power will be incomparable if it directly hits the wall.” (Shion)
“Even so, I don’t understand why that has anything to do with us not setting the enemy soldiers aflame?” (Liaris)
“The more enemy soldiers pile up outside the wall, the larger of a cushioning it will become, right? That’s what I think at least.” (Shion)
Liaris gasped due to Shion’s reply.
Even Shion herself is slightly surprised by the coldheartedness of her voice and the content of her own answer.
In addition to the wall’s natural strength, it has also been enhanced by sorcery. Even so Shion wondered whether it wouldn’t be possible to endure the hero’s attacks with just a layer of corpses.
Even Shion herself knows well that it’s not a very praiseworthy method, but it’s not like there are any other ways to strengthen the wall.
“Rather than having the wall destroyed, the option of having the number of soldiers climbing over the wall increase is still preferable.” (Shion)
“… I see. In that case it might be better to leave the enemy soldiers as they are rather than burning them unnecessarily.” (Liaris)
Catching her breath for a moment, Liaris, who comprehended the meaning of Shion’s words, nods her head.
Even while they are doing this and that, an enemy soldier receives an arrow fired by an allied soldier to his throat and falls down.
The hill has grown by yet another person.
“But, if it’s like that, our allies’ burden will keep growing as time passes, won’t it?” (Liaris)
“What’s welcome is that quite a large number of enemy soldiers are concentrating their attacks on Renya so as to prevent him from breaking through their line, but… it hurts that Renya has been restrained because of that.” (Shion)
Renya’s situation is regularly transmitted to Shion and the others through telepathy from the emerald dragon flying high in the sky.
According to that information, Renya had cut quite deep into the enemy line, but although he was making progress, it seemed that his advancing speed had fallen remarkably due to the hero’s attacks, although they are only individual shots, and a wall of flesh formed by the enemy soldiers.
Once Shion turned her gaze towards Renya’s most probable location again, she saw the moment when a figure, somewhat bigger than a person, rose high into the sky and then was tossed at a crowd of enemy soldiers with considerably force.
At the same time some thin, arm-like objects kept extending in all directions and drew several people from within the enemy soldiers’ crowd towards themselves.
Just what are those arms?
Shion believes that she really doesn’t want to know, but currently she harbored the feeling of wanting to depend even on those eerie things.
“Renya…” (Shion)
“I’d like you to hurry, I’d like you to do your best”, are things Shion can’t say.
Seeing as I burdened him with something like slaughtering the enemy army’s general all by himself, which is the same as a suicidal act if you consider it normally, it would be far too greedy to mention the previous things to him, Shion believes.
For now I have to simply trust him. I can’t do anything but devote myself to defense.
Even so, the matter of an alternative plan, which was mentioned by her mother, the archduchess, doesn’t stop clinging to a corner of Shion’s mind.
The archduchess has said that she will shift to implementing that alternate plan if Renya is late in defeating the hero.
She can’t help thinking that something very bad will happen if it comes to that.
“Even I… if I only had the power to fight next to you…” (Shion)
It’s inevitable for her to desire something she doesn’t have.
Nevertheless, feeling mortified after thinking about such a thing was unavoidable.
Shion decides to turn that feeling of helplessness into a venting of her anger against the enemy soldiers coming up the wall.
◆◇◆◇◆
Meanwhile, as time passed, Renya’s situation was getting worse.
At the beginning he even had the leeway to avoid blood sprays, but Renya, who became irritated due to his slow movement pace, started slaying the enemy soldiers standing in his way doubting whether there’s any need to mind his own appearance at this point in time.
If he’s able to create even the slightest opening in the human wave, he keeps thrusting himself forcibly into it. If he can’t create an opening, he throws the armor and then continues to forcibly advance while pushing his own body even further into the enemy line alongside the armor.
Renya, who experienced that not only the blood sprays, which he doesn’t try to avoid, but even attacks at the level of grazing him are apparently blocked by Frau’s special clothes, only dodges the attacks that seem like they would directly hit him, and focuses his strained mind on just advancing.
He splits heads apart, sends heads flying, cuts limbs and mows down torsos.
Renya keeps moving forward, weaving his way through things where he doesn’t know whether it’s blood that gushes out or something else.
Pruning countless blades that are pushed out in order to hold him back with a flash of his katana, he tosses many <Small Fireballs> at the enemies in return.
One shot after the other of the <Fireballs>, which were charged with a large amount of mana to the point where the only thing that identified them as fireballs was their name, were fired. These fireballs could steeply increase the surrounding temperature by simply materializing, but once they collided with the soldiers, it resulted in dozens of living torches appearing.
Moreover, several dozens of people fall due to <Wind Blades> which cut through the atmosphere that is wavering due to the human torches. As if to finish it off, several <Roaring Lightnings> pour down from above.
Enemy soldiers, who trample on the corpses that had turned into ashes after having collapsed into crumbles, try to flood into the opened space, but having their bodies enveloped by a strong gale that suddenly arose, they are taken away without being allowed even the slightest resistance and dance up high into the sky.
It’s the spell <Tornado> which is the common version of the spell previously used by Renya to induce a downburst.
The soldiers, who carelessly tried to shorten the combat distance between them and Renya, are caught by this tornado and launched high into the air.
The soldiers’ bodies, who were once launched up, immediately leave the tornado’s effective range and plummet onto the ground after being affected by gravity.
Even if they ended up lucky on impact, they still become incapable of fighting any longer. In case they are unlucky, it ends with instant death for them.
Renya proceeded by sliding his body into the spaces created in such manner.
The armor, from behind Renya, leaps with quite the force against the human wave trying to push Renya back again.
Countless black arms grow out of the armor that plunged into the human wave as if countering them. The soldiers who were near the armor’s landing zone, suffered a direct impact from the crashing armor, while the soldiers that were slightly further away are tightly held by those arms and dragged into the armor’s torso which had remained open.
Screams and shrieks break out just as they are pulled in.
The black something within the armor crunches bones, flesh and armor all together with munching sounds.
The enemy soldiers try to distance themselves from the armor in panic, but consequently, the armor raises its helmet‘s visor, and thin, pointed things rush out in innumerable quantities, piercing into the enemy soldiers.
Those pointy things are made out of the remains of the bones that were smashed to pieces and armor parts that had turned into fragments after being broken down in the same way.
Those parts, which had just been devoured, transformed into dangerous weapons when shot out like darts.
The projectiles didn’t possess the power to penetrate the enemy soldiers’ armor, but they messily stabbed the parts that weren’t covered by armor.
Renya, who rushed in, annihilated the soldiers, who were thrashing around unable to bear the pain, by cutting them with his blade and trampling them underfoot.
“The rest… how much is left…?” (Renya)
Renya didn’t know anymore how many he had cut down since the battle had started.
Even if Renya makes use of his techniques, gore will start to cling to the blade if he cuts such a large number of people in such a short amount of time.
He sends the gore flying with a sharp swing of his katana. Once he mutters to himself as if complaining while at the same time restraining the enemy soldiers with a wary gaze, the armor, who indifferently collected the corpses scattered on the ground while protecting Renya’s back, pokes Renya’s shoulder several times and then points at the other side of the human wave in front of Renya.
A small gap is visible in between the lined-up soldiers.
On the other side of that, he can see a really small portion of a figure.
“Oh…?” (Renya)
Although the visible part was very small, that, which was caught in Renya’s sight, was something he remembered having seen at the time when he visited the Holy City before.
Reflexively, Renya’s lips warp into a crooked smile.
“I came this far…? Yo! Don’t run away now, heeerooooo!!!” (Renya)
While shouting, he invokes the two spells <Roaring Lightning> and <Lighting> through his parallel activation skill.
Once several <Roaring Lightnings> pour down like bolts of lightning from the sky, and <Lightning>, which originally flies straight into the direction designated by the caster, scatters in all directions with Renya at the centre, the entire vicinity is filled with countless thunderbolts that produce sounds that seem to burst one’s ears.
Renya, who swept the soldiers at quite a wide range off their feet while watching the armor blocking the indiscriminate lightning attacks by shrewdly using enemy soldiers as shields at the edge of his field of view, turned a broad grin towards the sole standing figure within the space that had become empty.
“Yooo, hero-kuuun… fiiinalllyyy… I found youuuu.” (Renya)
The hero clicked his tongue quietly, but it definitely reached Renya’s ears, who spoke with a chilling voice.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!