Chapter 28 – Jagangducheon
Simultaneous strikes from three sides instead of two sides.
The strategy of drawing attention with the cavalry from the front, dispersing the enemy forces to the detached unit in the south, and aiming for the gap where the inner defense was thinned by that, so I rode a wyvern and stormed the gate, worked correctly.
When the gate of the Hamburg Fortress, which was believed to be strong, was shattered with a single blow, the panicked soldiers roamed around on the wall, and in the meantime, the Demon King’s army poured in like a tide through the holed gate.
It is the cavalry that cannot exert great power when in front of the wall, but when the shackles disappear, it is the cavalry that exerts the greatest power.
Of course, no one could stop the cavalrymen from rushing because the magician unit to stop them was caught up in the Explosion I used and was annihilated.
What follows is a one-sided fight.
A fort is a fort originally built for military purposes.
Naturally, the design of all facilities and buildings was focused on the enemy’s interception, so the defense on the inside was relatively weak.
A fleeing soldier collided with a rhinoceros beast following him, breaking his back.
The soldier who tried to resist by wielding his sword became a target plate for the mischievous imps, and in an instant turned into a hedgehog and collapsed.
The spear, which was stretched out to resist somehow, could not even scratch the centaur’s armor, and was soon pierced through the abdomen by a swung pike and dragged along.
It was like wolves jumping in between the sheep one by one.
It means that the combat power of demons is far superior to that of ordinary humans.
Without such a large-scale fortress or geographical and strategic superiority, an equal fight could not even be established.
After destroying the castle gate, I went up to the sky again to fulfill my original role as an observer, replenished the magic I used for the Explosion with the magic stone I received from the camp, and finally checked every side of the second team that had entered the fortress.
Even from a distance, the red hair that stands out is proudly striding along the main road riding a black Cerberus.
Dorothea, the Four Heavenly Kings.
There were many charred corpses around her, but it was not because she used her hand, but because of Cerberus’ fire breath.
If she had used the magic herself, she would have turned to ashes and not even the shape of her corpse would have remained.
I moved my gaze to the direction of the scattered human soldiers, avoiding the crowding demons.
It is the most plausible building among the many structures in the fort.
It is probably the official residence of the Margrave of Hamburg.
Compared to other places, the surviving human soldiers were already waiting in the building, which seemed to be relatively well-defended.
In a sense, it could be described as a small castle within a castle.
A skinhead, Kaiser-bearded man who appeared to be a Hamburg Marshal was running around giving orders to his men.
The appearance of quickly revising a strategy plan without being swayed by internal chaos is truly appropriate for the word “Sukjang”.
“Is it the detached unit in the upper left, and the main unit in the lower right?”
The detached unit, whose purpose was to shake the enemy inside the fortress, was doing a much better job than initially thought.
It wasn’t that there weren’t a few people who died screaming in the counterattack of knights who knew how to use auras, but most of them survived intact and were steadily reducing the number of survivors on the human side even now.
In particular, the figures of prisoners hiding in the shadows between buildings and then attacking and suffocating in an instant reminded me of assassins.
With their large and strong bodies, they wrapped their sharp teeth and claws in aura, tearing armored knights to pieces like paper.
In the case of joiners with spears or bows, they were hunting, not war, by grabbing the shoulders of humans with their sharp claws, then climbing up to a high place and dropping them.
Soldiers in light armor would end up with their limbs broken if they were lucky, but knights in heavy armor would most likely be crushed to death under their own weight.
‘These guys have really bad tastes.’
If it were me, I would have shot a bow or a pike in the air to take advantage of the distance.
Anyway, the detached unit is fighting well on its own, so let’s just ignore it and observe the main unit.
Led by Dorothea’s lieutenant, Eva, the recklessly advancing cavalry quickly broke through, and in the city, dazed demon soldiers were plundering at will.
They didn’t commit arson because it was a building they would later recycle, but they were merciless towards the human soldiers they encountered.
They thought that even if they kept them alive, they would end up wasting food, and they killed those who abandoned their weapons and surrendered or those who fought to the end without distinction.
It’s a pretty brutal move, but I didn’t intend to criticize their actions now.
What they did to humans was the same as what humans did to demons.
In the end, if you look at it from a third person’s point of view, they’ll all be the same bad guy, so now it’s ambiguous to argue about good and evil.
In today’s turbulent world, the one who wins just becomes justice.
After roughly throwing away the used mana stone, I lowered the altitude of the Wyvern above the clouds.
There was a plausible justification for conserving the largest amount of power in case of an emergency, but if this continues, my performance will end with breaking the gates.
That wasn’t much to ask for.
“Yes?”
Riding a wyvern and diving, I suddenly raised my head at the powerful wave of mana I felt in an instant.
If Dorothea had used it, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.
However, the magical response was felt at the southern wall on the opposite side of this place, and that meant that at least a 5th-tier mage or higher still remained inside the fortress.
‘I thought everyone died at the castle gate earlier, but who is it?’
I don’t know what it is, but it feels like they’re openly arguing.
And, as if I wasn’t the only one who was interested in this fact, Dorothea, who was escorted by numerous troops and going to the residence of the Marquis, where humans were fighting desperately, suddenly turned.
Some of her troops escorting her hurriedly followed Dorothea, but the rest headed for her residence.
Following the momentary reverberation of mana, riding a wyvern and circling the sky south of the fortress, I finally found the wizard who openly spread mana a while ago.
It was an elderly gentleman with gray hair neatly brushed back and wearing a silk hat and tailcoat that he would wear at a party.
Even at first glance, he looks old, but the big muscles hidden under his tailcoat and his straight waist let us know that he is still in good shape.
Crucially, I knew the old man’s face.
No, I couldn’t have known.
His true identity is one of only three great mages who have reached the 6th tier in the kingdom.
It was because he was the royal torturer, Baron Louis von Bettendorf.
As far as I know, the title that Baron Bettendorf received as a mage is ‘Great Ocean’.
He was a specialist in the water element, the nemesis of pyromancers.
***
Unlike Kaldrash, who rides a wyvern and moves in the air, Dorothea, who arrived at the site a little late because she was lost in the first place she came to, found the old man standing leisurely and raised her lips in sympathy.
“This, it took a big fish.”
Her white-haired old gentleman greeted her politely as he met her gaze, took off the blue silk hat from her head.
“Nice to meet you. Beautiful lady.”
Dorothea said to Eva, who immediately followed.
“Bite all the soldiers around you.”
“Yes? Then the escort…”
When she couldn’t understand her words at once, Dorothea said with annoyance.
“If you don’t want to be left behind, get out of here. That old man. He’s a wizard on the same level as me.”
“…Yes!”
That alone explained it, so Eva hurriedly decided to run away as far as possible with the escorts following her.
Because she knew
Dorothea, her superior, how much of a devastating area would be if she started to use magic with sincerity.
Again – Again –
Dorothea’s red ruby shoes made a cheerful sound.
“Name is?”
Dorothea asked in a cheeky manner to her counterpart, who seemed to be much older than she was.
Then the old gentleman smiled and put his hand on his chest and said.
“My name is Louise von Bettendorf. What’s the name of that lady?”
“Dorotea, Dorothea Gale.”
“That’s a nice name.”
So said Baron Bettendorf, shaking her head and pointing the short staff in her hand at her.
“Wizards of equal level exchanged names without hesitation on the battlefield, meaning that you would accept a date request, right?”
Then Dorothea muttered incredulously.
“Ha, the old man is the book.”
Then her pet dog, Toto, beat her on the buttock so that she could get out of her body, and brushed her bright red hair, resembling a flame, over her shoulder.
“Come on without reservations. I’ll show you the difference in level.”
