Chapter 118. invasion (3)
As Balak left the barracks, a goblin with small shackles on his ankles followed him.
This guy acted as an advisor on behalf of the weak Orcs.
Balak asked him.
“When will the siege weapons arrive?”
The goblin rolled its eyeballs, then finished the calculation and answered.
“It will take about ten days.”
“You’re late.”
“Kiruk! That, it’s because it has a rough terrain in the middle… .”
As Balak frowned, the goblin looked up in surprise and said,
Those words reminded Balak of the terrain between the Empire and the Kingdom.
Between the kingdom and the empire, the overall terrain is rugged hills, and there is a mountain range in the middle.
For a war-hardened legion, that level of terrain was no problem for marching, but it would be a major obstacle to carrying heavy siege engines.
“Kiruk. If you dare to go over the hill, you can get over it, but the weapons could be damaged… .”
For that reason, the time was delayed to return to the flatland.
Understanding the situation, Balak nodded and murmured.
“… well, good.”
It’s a pity that there is no siege weapon, but that doesn’t change the decision.
If you don’t have it, you just fight as if you don’t have it.
If you think it’s complicated, it doesn’t matter if you fight it once.
“… I can’t believe it. Did the corps commander come up with such a tactic? Ballack.”
“what?”
Balak turned his head at the sarcastic voice from beside him.
There, a dark elf with a familiar face was approaching.
“… Luna.”
After confirming his opponent, Balak clicked his tongue and lowered the axe.
Because I was a little angry, I couldn’t kill the same corps commander.
Seeing the strength drain from Balak’s hand, she continued.
“I must be better at strategy than that goblin. Can I add a word?”
“Shut up. Because I don’t need it.”
“If you were a corps commander, wouldn’t the fate of the corps run in your hands? Can it be that light?”
Balak replied with a snort at the tone that sounded like an admonishment.
“It doesn’t matter if a soldier dies.”
“hmm?”
“It’s a young elf. They don’t seem to know that because they’re a race that claims to be a legion with numbers the size of a rat… . It’s no problem for us to die a few battalions.”
It’s simple.
When we fight, some die and some live.
Surviving orcs become stronger.
They return to the battlefield, and some die and others survive.
By repeating this process, the orcs who survived to the end grow into Orc warriors, and the strongest Orc warrior among them becomes the next corps commander.
“We get stronger that way.”
“… … .”
“I am different from the people of you who hide in the dark for fear of ending their thin and long lifespan.”
“I am Are you proud of your short name?”
“It is a great honor.”
“… what. I knew very well what you wanted to say. I made a mistake.”
Luna, who readily acknowledged it, said with a fresh and alluring smile.
Balak frowned.
It was because Ymir, the former commander of the corps, felt that they were at odds with each other due to the nature of their race, and Luna, who was good at handling and acting, did not fit him physiologically at all.
If it had been my own people, I would have put such a disgusting face away right away.
“… Tsk. Stop doing disgusting things and tell me what you’ve been up to.”
“The Empire is on the move.”
“You moved?”
“Now I know you guys have completely withdrawn. You will see it as an opportunity.”
From the Empire’s point of view, it’s been a long time since the orcs emptied their borders.
The commanders of the Empire took advantage of this opportunity to build new defensive lines in advantageous terrain and were busy building forts in key areas.
Perhaps the next time they invaded the Empire, a much thicker wall would be waiting for the Legion.
Luna asked.
“I didn’t quite understand. Ballack. Why did you clear the wire?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know very well that you treat life like straw. But that and this are a bit different, aren’t they?”
Just because they don’t fear death doesn’t mean they value their lives cheaply.
It’s how you die that matters.
So Balak’s judgment was all the more difficult to understand.
“It’s a frontline you formed over the course of decades in exchange for the lives of countless soldiers… . You lost it in an instant. If this… .”
How is this different from dog death?
Luna couldn’t tell the difference.
“Wasn’t it you who proposed the pincer attack first after being nominated as the corps commander?”
“Of course I was thinking of attacking the Empire. It was Balak’s decision to turn to the Kingdom of Teria.”
“… … .”
Balak kept his mouth shut.
As the distracted orc hardened his expression, it was a threatening atmosphere in itself, but Luna seemed unconcerned.
“Is it something you can’t talk about? Then I have no intention of asking.”
“… Whoa.”
On the contrary, Balak sighed as he spoke with a single smile on his face and gestured towards the inside of the barracks, asking him to follow him.
“scram.”
After being bitten by the guards and even the goblins.
Balak quietly opened his mouth.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?”
“yes?”
“That kingdom.”
“What? Isn’t it an ordinary kingdom of national power?”
“You think so.”
“… ?”
“Let’s talk about something different.”
The story that Balak brought up was about the death of former Corps Commander Ymir.
His death came as a shock to even Balak, who was close to his rival.
Unlike the Orc corps commander, who changes frequently due to his warlike tendencies, the Dark Elves, who have a long lifespan and are at a high level in sacrificing themselves, do not change their corps commander.
Because of that, when the empire first announced the death of the corps commander, they thought they were using a deception tactic.
“… But his death was real.”
In response, Luna frowned and thought deeply.
“It must have been bad luck.”
“luck?”
“They said they were discovered by three master-class knights. Probably because you moved too hastily… .”
“no.”
Balak replied firmly.
It can’t end with three.
“If it were all three, I would have been able to take out at least one of my own.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
As per her question, Balak doesn’t know Ymir’s abilities well.
Because they can do opposite things.
But I do know one thing.
That is Ymir’s paranoid personality.
“I wouldn’t have moved if I wasn’t sure that I could come out alive.”
“… !”
“Wrong?”
“… no. You are not wrong.”
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So, along with those three, I guessed that there must be someone ‘unknown’.
Luna spoke after a while.
“… But, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to attack the empire even more then?”
“I thought so too.”
“… ?”
I thought there was something in the Empire.
Contrary to such expectations, however, the elves who came out of the world were the first to visit the kingdom and establish diplomatic relations.
‘… … .’
So, for the first time, doubts arose.
Didn’t all of Ymir’s major failures happen in the kingdom?
The saintess was also suddenly born in the kingdom, and it was the kingdom that first organized the demons and apostates.
If you think about it, all the changes happened first in the kingdom.
That’s why I was bitten by the Legion.
“I don’t know, but I thought the World Tree knew something and acted.”
“ah… !”
“Has this been explained?”
Luna exclaimed.
I heard that his words were quite reasonable.
Elves couldn’t have chosen the kingdom for no reason.
“understand.”
Luna nodded.
Balak said as he stepped out of the barracks.
“We go out tomorrow.”
“We are not going yet.”
“know.”
It was because there was no need to tell them the location of the Dark Elves early.
Of course, even in the kingdom, they must have predicted it to some extent, but it was inevitably different from just thinking about it and seeing it in person.
“It’s enough for you guys just to watch the imperial army come over.”
“It is not difficult.”
Luna answered confidently.
To come from the Empire to the Kingdom, there is a path that must be passed through, and blocking such a narrow and rough path was the specialty of the Dark Elves.
“then. I’m alone.”
After deciding what to do, Luna left the corps.
And Balak prepared to set out.
The departure was tomorrow.
* * *
early morning.
A fortress on the border of the kingdom.
This place, with the Goul Mountains on the left side, was a battle fort installed to block the enemy’s main march.
Normally, several knights were on duty with a garrison of about a hundred or so in turn, but now that the war situation had been declared, the situation at the fortress had changed.
Almost a thousand soldiers, one Ranger unit, and one Knights were resident and entered a defensive posture.
Considering the width of the fortress walls, which were not so wide, this amount was almost a saturation point.
Seongju, who was patrolling on top of the wall, asked the commander, the leader of the knights.
“How are the soldiers?”
“All of them are strong soldiers, so there is little confusion.”
“… That’s good.”
Of course, it could be because I haven’t seen the shadow of the enemy yet.
The soldiers had never seen legionnized orcs, so if they actually encountered them, they wouldn’t know.
‘No, not just the soldiers, but everyone.’
The same goes for knights and rangers.
It has never appeared on the borders of the kingdom, so there is no way that you have any experience dealing with it.
“after. It will be fine.”
“… … .”
The leader, muttering something he didn’t know who he was talking to, moved down the wall.
And it stopped right away.
It was because the soldier who was watching the front from the watchtower blew the horn.
Woo-woo-!
At the soldier’s signal that the enemy had been spotted, the commander, who was descending the wall, hurriedly climbed the stairs again.
“soldier!! Can you see something!?”
When asked, the soldier looked down and shouted at the top of his voice.
“The orcs are approaching! … A lot of numbers!! It looks like it’s about to attack!”
“… !!!”
He said that he didn’t come out to spy as usual, but that he really came to attack the castle.
A shudder ran down the leader’s spine at the sudden situation.
However, like a knight with experience on the frontline, he quickly picked himself up and gave orders calmly.
“Move the fire to the brazier! The knights move in search of their place!”
“ancient!”
When the leader spoke, the members gathered their weapons and moved quickly, and the experienced soldiers were on the move from the moment the horn was blown.
Soon, all the braziers on the castle walls catch fire, and soldiers armed with bows and spears fill the positions left and right.
And around that time, he began to see the orcs approaching the castle.
“… ah.”
someone let out a sigh
Probably one of the soldiers.
And that sigh represented the feelings of everyone on the fortress.
‘What’s wrong… .’
too many.
There were more than I could have imagined.
It wasn’t unusual to feel like fighting already instinctively, even before the fight.
The same was true of the leader.
However, if the person in charge shows a nervous look, it spreads to the soldiers.
“Whoa… .”
So he took a deep breath, shook off his tension, and cried out.
“Everyone raise the bow! If they come within range, I will fire a volley!”
“yes! Take the bow!”
The soldiers also recited combatively, probably to shake off their fear.
Soon, guys who were one head taller than the orcs he had seen inside the kingdom came within range.
“aiming!”
What a profit… .
Bowstrings being pulled taut.
The number exceeded 1,000, and some of them became more powerful because of mana.
“… … .”
“… … .”
In an atmosphere so tense that only the sound of protests could be heard.
… Kwoaaa!!!!
In the distance, an orc let out a roar filled with speculation.
It was shortly thereafter that the commander gave the order to fire.
“Shoot!!”
