"They’re coming!"
The marquis wiped away his thoughts and pressed close to the castle wall, staring intently into the darkness beyond.
The mages and priests who had come as reinforcements also took positions behind him, preparing for the battle
that was soon to unfold. A groan escaped the marquis’s lips.
"Damn it. There are so many of them."
The orc army surging through the darkness like a tide was immense at a glance.
It was a host so vast that even Marquis Iramus, a veteran hardened by countless battlefields, could not begin to estimate its scale.
Yet he was not the least bit afraid. He knew well that when it came to taking a castle, the number of troops was not
what mattered most. His first priority was to inspect the enemy’s siege equipment.
After sweeping his gaze through the darkness, a somewhat relieved look appeared on his face.
"A blessing amid misfortune. I don’t see any catapults among them……."
At a cursory glance, most of those advancing were orc infantry wearing their characteristic light armor.
Though many wolf rider units could be seen on both flanks of the army, Marquis Iramus paid them
not the slightest attention. Wolf riders, mounted on wolves and making use of their mobility, were certainly
a threatening force. But he knew that they were useful only on wide plains and utterly useless in a siege.
Instead, he focused on the ogres positioned at the rear of the army. They were low in intelligence, but possessed monstrous strength,
and Marquis Iramus knew well that it was they who posed the greater threat in a defensive battle.
"If they attack the gate, we’ll be in trouble."
Ogres were monsters of low intelligence. In the past, they had been the most powerful
land monsters on the continent of Arcadia. But now, they had long since fallen to the status of prey most favored by knights.
That was because bringing down an ogre was the surest way for a knight to prove his skill.
Of course, countless knights had been caught and killed by ogres, but just as many ogres had been hunted in return.
As a result, on this side of the Pellucia Mountains, ogres could scarcely be seen anymore. And yet, to think that a group of such ogres could be seen within the orc
legion……. Marquis Iramus shook his head.
"They must have borne such a grudge against us that they allied themselves with the orcs."
Though their movements were somewhat slow, ogre hide was extremely tough. If they could not be killed completely
by arrow fire, there was a chance the gate might be smashed apart by their attacks.
After all, their strength alone was utterly monstrous. The marquis immediately ordered his adjutant
to prepare countermeasures.
"If they charge, have the archers single out only the ogres and concentrate fire on them. Also,
select a considerable number of the catapults and order them to aim solely at the ogres."
"Understood."
The Kanduras soldiers, having fought for many years, were well prepared. The Hartmos
garrison began to ready themselves for battle in perfect order according to the marquis’s command.
"Crossbowmen, to your positions!"
At the orders of their unit commanders, crossbowmen with quivers slung over their backs were deployed along the castle wall. They
hid themselves behind large shields reinforced with leather and cocked their crossbows.
Behind them, catapults and ballistae were preparing to fire. They had finished readying
huge stones and great bolts to rain down upon the orc troops.
Having completed all preparations, the Hartmos garrison held its breath and waited only
for the orc legion to come within range. But then something strange happened.
"Hm?"
A puzzled look spread across Marquis Iramus’s face. The orc legion, which had been charging as if it would smash into the walls at any moment,
suddenly came to a stop on the spot.
It was a strategy they had never seen before, and so the soldiers of the garrison were greatly perplexed as well.
"What are they doing?"
"Why?"
Usually, orc soldiers attacking a castle would run in from a great distance and attempt to
break in. Using the momentum of their charge, they would set scaling ladders against the walls
and climb up all at once. This was the only siege method available to orcs, who lacked proper siege equipment.
At times, they would fire into the castle with hastily made catapults, but their accuracy was so poor
that they were not much of a threat.
"What on earth are they planning……."
As Marquis Iramus stared at the halted mass of orcs, his face suddenly stiffened. It was because he had confirmed
that the orc soldiers who had stopped did not carry even a single scaling ladder.
He sensed that something was strange, but he could not for the life of him understand the reason.
Orcs heading into a siege without carrying scaling ladders…….
At that moment, a cry of shock rang out behind him.
"W-what is this?"
When he turned his head, he saw the face of a mage gone deathly pale. With his face as white as paper,
the mage was trembling all over.
"What is it?"
Even at the marquis’s question, the mage gave no answer. He merely stared rigidly, intently examining something.
The marquis, growing curious, asked again. Only then did the mage seem to come to his senses, turning his frightened eyes to the marquis.
"This is disastrous."
"Disastrous? What in the world is happening?"
"We must evacuate all troops outside the castle immediately. Right now."
At the unexpected answer, the marquis was stunned.
"Are you in your right mind? Telling us to go outside the castle in this situation……."
"But if we do not, every last one of us will be massacred here.
Because……."
The mage could not continue. Before he could finish speaking, a thunderous roar resounded from the sky.
Ruuuumble.
It was followed by the mage’s scream, like a shriek of terror.
"Meteor Storm—no, this should be called Meteor Swarm.
Someone has cast this dreadful magic upon Hartmos Castle. Evacuate the soldiers at once.
Soon, this Hartmos Castle will turn into hell."
Unfortunately, however, the mage’s warning came one step too late. The attack by Meteor Swarm
had already begun.
Countless flaming stones were plunging down from the sky,
targeting Hartmos Castle. The death cries of soldiers struck by the meteors began to fill Hartmos
Castle.
"Save me. Aaaagh!"
"Kraaaagh!"
Hartmos Castle, where twenty thousand soldiers had gathered, was transformed into pandemonium in an instant.
Even the walls, upon which all kinds of protective magic had been cast, had no way
to withstand the meteors’ assault.
Ruuuumble.
Walls collapsing absurdly, soldiers being slaughtered en masse. Watching the scene, Marquis Iramus
was trembling all over. From the corners of his eyes, tears of blood had already begun to flow.
"D-Dragons. It was the dragons. Those bastards……."
He could not finish his words. A meteor that came plunging straight down struck him directly.
The body of the aged veteran was crushed beyond recognition. Only the adjutant, who had barely survived,
managed to witness the old general’s final moments. Realizing that they could hold out no longer, he shouted at the top of his lungs,
tears streaming down his face.
"Everyone, abandon the castle and escape! Retreat!"
The soldiers were already leaping from the towering walls in search of a way to live. But for them,
there was no path to survival anywhere.
There were two eyes watching Hartmos Castle, which had turned into a gigantic ball of flame.
The one gazing at the scene of screams and chaos without so much as twitching an eyebrow was a young man with a pale complexion.
With burning red hair, he stared for a while at Hartmos Castle, now become a sea of fire,
then suddenly grumbled and laughed.
"It really is tiring. Casting Meteor Swarm three days in a row
is no easy task after all."
At his words, the orcs lined up beside him all wore expressions of utter horror. Just what kind of castle
was this Hartmos Castle now burning? Was it not an impregnable fortress built with painstaking effort by humans
who had considerable expertise in fortification? No, leaving Hartmos Castle aside, they had not even managed to properly capture Milton
or Harmel Castle until now. Though they had fought countless sieges over fifty years,
the reality was that they had not brought down even a single section of wall.
And yet now, to think they had captured two castles in just two days and were collapsing even Hartmos Castle like this…….
At least to the orcs, the situation was not easy to believe. But it was true.
And what had made it possible was the great being standing beside them—
a dragon. It was because of him. Verkis glanced to the side and gave a cold sneer
at the orc commanders standing blankly nearby.
"What are you doing? Send out your men and wipe out the surviving remnants."
"Y-yes, understood."
The orc commanders began moving in a hurry.
"All forces, march! Conquer the humans!"
"Rider units, cut off their rear so they cannot escape!"
Ruuuumble.
As soon as the orders fell, the orc infantry lined up in formation began to run all at once. They were ones
who had been forced to hide for so long in the barren Pellucia Mountains because of humans.
Now that they had finally seized an opportunity for revenge, their eyes all gleamed with rage.
"Waaah! Smash them!"
"Krrrk. Kill the human bastards!"
The orc infantry corps, said to have no equal on flat ground, began a fierce charge.
The rider corps, making use of their swift mobility, took the lead. Behind them, clouds of dust rose thickly.
"Hah!"
The survivors who had barely escaped the castle turned deathly pale upon seeing the sight. Since they had fled in utter confusion,
there was no way any of them could be properly armed. In the end, they did not even dare
to fight back and began turning to flee.
But the wolf riders were already cutting off their retreat. The shadow of death slowly began to fall
over the faces of the human soldiers.
Having vividly witnessed the situation through the magic stone, Dokgo Seong’s expression had become rigid before he knew it.
Seeing the first defeat of the Third War with his own eyes, fear naturally surged within him.
Even Dokgo Seong, who possessed countless battle experiences, could tell at a glance that this crisis
would not be easy for the humans to overcome. In particular, the existence called a dragon, which so easily
unleashed the tremendous arts known as magic, shocked him the most. To him, a martial artist,
this continent called Truvenia was truly a mystery in itself.
"Truly terrifying. The orcs, boasting countless numbers. And the beings called dragons,
who possess fearsome destructive power. They are more than capable of complementing each other.
It means they have a mutually beneficial relationship, each fully making up for the other’s weaknesses."
"That is correct. Because of that, our continent of Truvenia is in a crisis as precarious as a candle in the wind.
Already, more than half the continent has fallen into their hands. The remaining kingdoms have gathered their strength together,
but it is already insufficient."
Suddenly, something incomprehensible occurred to Dokgo Seong.
"Then why did you not ask the continent of Arcadia for aid? From what I have heard from you,
this person called Grand Duke Crosen seems likely enough to help……."
A light of anger suddenly fell over Shreckheimer’s face. It was pure anger directed at the monarchs of the various kingdoms
who had brought matters to this point in order to preserve their own positions.
But no matter how petty they were, they were still his monarchs. He could not curse them
in front of Dokgo Seong, an outsider.
"That was because of the opposition of the monarchs of each kingdom. They could not tolerate the shadow of Emperor Crosen
falling upon this place again. They used the emperor’s advanced age as an excuse and mercilessly suppressed
the opinion that we should request support."
At last, Dokgo Seong’s anger exploded. To his simple and violent personality, the petty conduct shown by the monarchs of the kingdoms
was, quite literally, the worst.
"As Emperor Crosen said, they really are damned bastards."
At the sudden curse, Shreckheimer’s eyes grew round. But was it simply his imagination
that he somehow felt refreshed, as though a blockage in his chest had been cleared away? Looking around, he cautiously dissuaded Dokgo Seong.
"Please do not do that. The ones who made arrangements to bring you here
were those very monarchs."
"Those bastards did?"
"Yes. Because of the monarchs’ stubbornness, we in Truvenia missed the time to request aid
from Arcadia. The ones leading the Third Crisis are the dragons. In particular,
their lord is a silver dragon who governs water. Because of that, he would not have welcomed
our seeking assistance from Arcadia. Thus, the sea route between the two continents was soon severed."
At those words, Dokgo Seong’s eyes widened sharply.
"Th-then you mean they blocked the way between this place and Arcadia?"
"That is correct. The silver dragon Kranus is none other than an absolute being who governs water. He
arbitrarily manipulated the currents located beneath the sea between Truvenia and Arcadia. As a result,
a new multitude of whirlpools arose between the two continents, through which not a single ship can pass.
No matter how large a vessel may be, it cannot break through those whirlpools.
And that is not the only problem. Along with the whirlpools, Kranus installed an unimaginable
spatial distortion magic field over the sea. Therefore, even through spatial transfer,
it is now impossible to cross over to Arcadia. In other words, Truvenia and Arcadia are currently
perfectly isolated in the literal sense."
The facts relayed through Shreckheimer’s mouth were, to Dokgo Seong, truly shocking.
"I-I simply cannot believe it. Even if they are dragons,
to think they can display such power……."
At Dokgo Seong’s reaction, Shreckheimer gave a bitter smile.
"The dragons of your world are probably different beings from the dragons of our continent.
Dragons are living creatures that can proudly be called the strongest of the age, beings that cannot be matched
by any single individual."
"I want to know more about these beings called dragons."
"I will explain."
Without hesitation, Shreckheimer began his explanation about dragons.