In The Name Of Ingrad! (24)

It did not take very long to climb to the top of the tower.

However, by the time I reached the top of the tower, the Demonic Tribe had approached quite close, and I could see artillerymen who were tightly tense, apparently preparing responsive fire.

Unlike beastkin, they lacked strength and were groaning as they adjusted the cannons, but I could clearly confirm that everyone was putting in effort, and I thought the way they adjusted the cannons according to orders had quite a proper form to it.

“Demina, what do you think?”

“What are you referring to?”

“The soldiers’ movements. Though they haven’t trained for that long, don’t you think they’re doing quite well in their own way?”

“Ah, if it is that, then certainly… As far as I know, if you look at their day, they spend nearly seven hours training.”

Since these were weapons they were handling for the first time, and since they knew that if handled incorrectly, they could become a major threat to allies, it seemed they were being trained thoroughly.

I thought Wijel was drilling them strictly.

“They are being properly given rest and food, right?”

“Of course. I know that a considerable portion of the enormous funds spent on military expenses goes into food costs.”

Since they were going through that hardship, it was only natural to at least feed them well. So just as I was looking at the soldiers with a tender feeling, I saw some of the Demonic Tribe fly up into the air.

“The air, huh… They’re troublesome enemies.”

“Since there are not many of them, I believe they will respond well.”

Just as Demina said, I could see some of the riflemen and snipers adjusting their positions. After moving to places with good visibility, they built walls using shields so that those riflemen could be protected.

Unlike their cautious appearance as they waited, the Demonic Tribe seemed to be charging in without formation or anything else. So just as I found that a little strange, Demina spoke to me.

“The Demonic Tribe’s way is always like that. An unconditional charge. The Demonic Tribe is a race of battle that knows its own strengths well. That is why they trust their tough and excellent physical condition and act only like that.”

Because beastkin had also once been active in the Demonic Tribe’s camp, it seemed the Demonic Tribe’s behavior had been passed down, even if only by oral tradition.

Moreover, as Demina said, if it had been an ordinary human army, I thought that method would inevitably work.

Bows and arrows, and magic, were powerful forces, but in the end, the race that possessed bodies capable of enduring them was the race called the Demonic Tribe.

In the end, the East Continent had been pushed back like that and had even fallen.

However, I thought that then and now were clearly different, and soon, as if they had entered attack range, I saw Wijel raise a red flag.

In response, I heard signalmen in various places raise red flags and shout.

“Prepare to fire!!”

“Prepare to fire!!”

The orders were slightly delayed, but these were the hand signals established to correct the command system when a noisy battle broke out, and soon, the moment Wijel lowered the flag, I saw many magic cannons fire black spheres with the shout, “Commence firing!”

If this had been Earth, explosive roars would have resounded loudly, but interestingly, in the case of magic cannons that created pressure with magic to fire, the only sound heard was similar to popping a cork from wine. Watching the black spheres cut through the air and fly, my heart pounded.

Since the flame shells that had been used at sea had been fired, I felt nervous about what kind of result they would produce.

“There are a lot of them…”

The sight of the flame shells covering the sky in black felt like a warning to prepare for the explosion that was about to come.

A few seconds passed like that, and the moment the spheres that reached their destination were blocked by something, they caused an enormous explosion, dyeing the front in blackish red.

And a moment later, a tremendous roar resounded as if the sound of the explosion was striking my eardrums.

“So this is the kind of noise they make when they explode on land…?”

No, I had known it, but this was almost the first time such a large number of magic cannons had been fired all at once, so I was even more surprised.

Demina also nodded with a slightly surprised expression. Beastkin, whose ears were probably better than humans’, must have heard an even greater explosion.

However, the part that worried me slightly was that they had not exploded at their destination, but had exploded after being blocked by something. That bothered me a little.

“Did the attack reach the enemy?”

“That is… I do not know either. Before the bombs exploded… it seemed as though they had been blocked.”

There was no way Demina would not know what I had confirmed as well, so I thought they might have been blocked. So I looked down at the top of the wall, in other words, at the place where Wijel was, and this time I saw Wijel raise a blue flag.

“It looks like he intends to force an immediate follow-up shot.”

“Because it is something that must certainly be done.”

It was just as we were watching the situation and observing how things developed. A large number of the Demonic Tribe began appearing, flying toward us after piercing through the flames that had weakened a little.

And right on time, Wijel’s flag gave the firing signal, and with an additional order, he ordered the snipers and riflemen to freely fire on the Demonic Tribe that entered their firing range.

Was the situation about to become urgent?

Just as I looked at the battlefield with that thought, freezing shells once again cut through the air and flew, and around the time they reached their destination, I could see that the snipers also began firing.

And the sight of the Demonic Tribe floating in the air being driven into the ground by bullets that flew precisely through the air was quite impressive.

The basis for a sniper was Rad One-Star, which meant they had to be a skilled person who had won at least ten victories in the Arena.

The circumstances were a little different for the human army, but the fact that even in the human army, one had to claim at least five victories to become a sniper meant that they were by no means simply skilled people.

Even if they were not perfect marksmen, the soldiers steadily shot down the Demonic Tribe, and soon, with the might of the freezing shells that swallowed the flames and froze the entire area, the appearance of the battlefield began to clearly reveal itself.

“They’re holding up well.”

The number of the Demonic Tribe was large. It seemed to be well over one hundred thousand, and when I realized that only about one third of them had suffered damage, I thought it was unexpected.

‘It can’t be called absolute. Being ahead in technology is just an advantage. Let’s not become arrogant…’

The revealed result was regrettable, but I had no choice but to think that I would be satisfied with this much. Since the enemy was still far away and we still had strength remaining, I firmly believed they would stop them before they approached enough, and I merely examined the situation on the battlefield.

“Protect His Majesty!!”

Archduke Pearl, sprinting with all his strength through a rain of arrows pouring down like a storm, and the line of knights running with him to protect him were drawing the attention of the battlefield.

Moreover, the Archduke, who was standing upright on his horse and maintaining exquisite balance as he ran, stood out particularly well. Because of this, the fact that attacks were concentrating on Archduke Pearl began working to the benefit of Archduke Pearl’s army on the battlefield.

“Climb! Hurry and climb the wall!!”

“Knights, open the way!”

Viscount Muriel, who was looking down from atop the wall at the battlefield situation turning strangely, looked at Archduke Pearl, who had begun approaching from the front.

He was bewildered by the sudden movement of someone he had wished not to face if possible.

“…Is he trying to get onto the wall in one go?”

With the physical abilities of someone at the Master level, he expected that jumping onto the wall would not be very difficult. Since even he could do it, he thought there was no way Archduke Pearl, who had superior skill to him, could not, and Viscount Muriel found himself wishing for no reason that the “hand grenade” had been real.

That was because if one could create even a small opening, no one knew how the result between Masters would unfold.

If the difference in skill was so great that even that would not work, then nothing would work from the beginning no matter what he did, but Viscount Muriel was also one of the few people who could calmly evaluate his own skill.

“Prepare spears. If Archduke Pearl jumps up, be ready to throw them with all your might.”

Then Viscount Muriel took out the fake hand grenade he had picked up and brought before climbing the wall, and began fiddling with it.

‘The question is whether he will be fooled…’

It was an item he himself had been fooled by. He thought that if it was someone like Archduke Pearl, perhaps that clever Rex had brought him this and that and let him experience them.

Since Ingrad’s weapons system itself consisted of things outside the norm, if there was information that such things could be obtained, they would surely try to obtain them somehow. Thinking that, if this went well, he might be fooled, Viscount Muriel watched the knights line up with spears in hand and took one step back, preparing to throw the fake hand grenade.

Given the circumstances, he thought he needed to enter their field of vision later, and soon, he saw Archduke Pearl approach near the gate and crouch down on the horse’s saddle as if sitting low. Watching that, Viscount Muriel took the timing inwardly.

‘If he is fooled, I can aim for an opening.’
The enemy was going out of his way to show an opening, so he himself would also work hard to pierce that spot. Around the time Viscount Muriel’s thought ended, he felt a figure emitting a tremendous presence suddenly soar up and shouted.

“He’s coming!!”

At that moment, the tightly tense knights pulled back their spears and prepared to throw. Then, the moment something shot up as if surging upward, the knights threw their spears toward that place, and Viscount Muriel, also convinced that it was Archduke Pearl himself, threw the fake hand grenade at him.

It was a situation where he had filled it with aura and even increased its power. It was an all-out attack meant to inflict quite a large blow even if it simply hit, but the problem was that black silhouette.

“…What is that?!”

Everyone looked at the object, which had spears stuck all over it, with faces that said it made no sense, but it was not a person.

“A horse?!”

It was even visible in slow motion as the fake hand grenade Viscount Muriel had thrown pierced straight through the horse’s belly and passed out the other side. Then where in the world was Archduke Pearl?

It was just as he focused on that.

He saw one hand latch firmly onto the wall, and then Archduke Pearl quickly climbed over like a snake going over a wall, confirming that all of them had been deceived.

It seemed that at the moment he leaped up, he had grabbed either the horse’s reins or saddle and thrown it into the air.

Archduke Pearl’s monstrous strength was well known, and Viscount Muriel realized that he had been splendidly fooled and gave a hollow laugh. Then, seeing Archduke Pearl draw the famous sword called the “Sword of the Empire” and smile before him, Muriel had no choice but to greet him.

“I had hoped we would not meet like this.”

“Are you Viscount Muriel?”

“This junior greets you.”

“You have quite the spirit. To think I could face a ‘resourceful general’ like you on this battlefield; I feel this battle is quite beneficial. Am I the only one?”

Viscount Muriel’s face reddened at Archduke Pearl’s words. His true thoughts had been seen through.

“…I do not think it is very beneficial. My life is at stake, after all.”

“Do not be too frightened, junior. I will go easy on you.”

“Please… do so.”

The pressure flowing from both of their bodies could be seen forcing the nearby knights to withdraw with difficulty.

A clearing had formed on the fierce battlefield, and a clash between Masters was just about to begin.