Chapter 176
Chapter 176: The Resisters
The premature fall of Seaborn Fortress caused turmoil among the allied forces.
Under normal circumstances, even if a fortress fell, there would be a time lag for the message to be confirmed by messengers. However, there was a barrier of “Myth Reenactment” on this battlefield. Because the Sacred Great Tree’s protection was so reassuring, its disappearance as such an obvious sign of defeat dealt a psychological blow greater than anyone had anticipated.
“What the hell… That jerk June…”
For Hessel, the Sword Saint known as “Frontline Leveler,” fighting bravely at Niban Fortress, this was a shock that made his hands instinctively stop.
June—a young sword saint who had transcended physical laws at just 19 years of age.
They had only crossed paths a few times, but despite being a former soldier, he was serious about the sword and showed promising potential.
At Seaborn Fortress, young talents like June were deployed alongside numerous experienced priests, upper-tier Forest Elf magicians, Forest Elf archers, and seasoned soldiers. The balance of veterans and newcomers provided a sufficient fighting force both quantitatively and qualitatively. They had been expected to fare well against the mid-ranking demon race likely to attack the area.
But…
The barrier of Seaborn Fortress had vanished. With the barrier breached and the prayer chamber entered, those fighting at the front line could hardly have come out unscathed. The young heroes, including June, had a very high chance of being slain in battle.
That young genius swordsman…
If he could gather more experience, he could have become a beacon of hope for humanity…
Of course, Hessel was not an optimist. He hadn’t thought that all the fortresses would hold out indefinitely.
Yet still, this was far too soon. The branches of the Sacred Great Tree were supposed to last several days to weather the storm, thinning the demon forces before dragging them into urban warfare for further attrition—this had been the plan.
At that time, he’d hoped to fight alongside June again. That was his wish, provided he wasn’t dead by then.
But with a corner of the barrier crumbled, the demon race and other general forces would likely pour into Seaborn Fortress from the direction of the capital—
“Hahaha! What’s wrong, humans? Your faces are all pale!”
A muscular demon soldier who climbed over the new wall mocked while raising a weapon resembling a butcher’s knife.
“Shut it!”
Hessel swung his great sword in a horizontal slash. The demon soldier reflexively tried to block with his butcher’s knife, but with a satisfying <Crack!> the knife was split in two.
“Ahhh!?”
In that instant, the upper half of the demon soldier was cleaved by Hessel’s great sword. Hessel kicked the lower half across the wall, sending it tumbling.
With a bang, the demon soldier’s corpse exploded, scattering magical energy, vanishing without a trace.
“Heh, the one good thing about demons is they don’t sully their death spots.”
Even in jest, his usual sharpness seemed dulled. The soldiers around remained silent.
Clearly, the shock of the fall of Seaborn Fortress still lingered.
(What’s going on with the battle situation…!?)
Glancing far back at the lit bonfires scattered through the streets of the capital. It was still safe, but it wouldn’t be strange for flames to break out at any moment.
What was the command center doing? Had they sent reinforcements to Seaborn Fortress, or was retaking it deemed too difficult?
(I don’t know…!)
No messengers had arrived yet, and even if one did, Hessel had no idea if the information would reach him. Hessel was a Sword Saint. He pretended to be a field commander, but fundamentally, he was a decisive weapon against demons—a sword in its own right.
Receiving commands from a commander like “Go fetch that demon’s head!” and responding with “Yes, sir!” to slaughter—that was his role. In that regard, he resembled a hero; even a former comrade had said similar things—no need for detailed situation reports, nor did he have the rights or abilities to make decisions based on them.
Yet still, at times like this, he couldn’t help but feel an itch of curiosity.
While there was nothing he could do, he wanted to at least know what was going on—
“Haah, distracting thoughts, distracting thoughts…”
—Thinking any further was pointless. He slapped his cheeks lightly and focused on the battle before him.
For now, Niban Fortress was holding up remarkably against the demon lord army’s furious onslaught.
The early coordinated attacks by the demon race had been weathered thanks to the three priests, the highest forces available, holding strong.
“Rot away!”
“Explode!”
“Be terrified!”
Even now, magic and curses occasionally flew from below the walls, but thanks to the elder elf priests’ protective blessings, they could easily fend them off with shields and swords.
Hessel countered the initial attacks from the beastman soldiers and demon soldiers as a single swordsman, having kept his Sword Saint powers at bay, so when the demon warriors finally surged in, he successfully took down several of them in one strike. A great achievement.
Moreover—
With a whoosh, an eerily beautiful blue glowing meteor was shot down from the top of the fortress.
No, it was not a meteor.
It was a magical arrow.
Demon warriors, having breached the barrier of Niban Fortress’ Sacred Great Tree, were instantly decapitated and killed.
“Ohhh!”
“We did it!”
“Just as expected of the Master Priest!”
The previously dispirited atmosphere at the scene lifted a bit.
The Forest Elf Priest’s vigilance from the watchtower was clearly on display. A definitive shot that even demons could not defend against. The Night Elf Soldiers had attempted sniping several times, but one by one, they were taken down by another priest’s moderately powered magical arrows, leaving them all to expose their gruesome corpses.
The demon soldiers now at the base of the city wall had managed to cling to the wall during the initial assault, but thanks to the sniping, they had become unable to move carelessly.
(The priests are amazing…)
Feeling both awe and gratitude, Hessel realized they were indeed powerful enough to rival High Elves.
However—neither the priests’ magical power nor their capabilities were infinite. They were still fighting now after using advanced barrier spells. It wouldn’t be strange for their limits to be reached soon.
(At least, let them maintain the blessing of barriers…)
Hessel thought, while they were doing their best. Thanks to the priests’ efforts, Hessel’s position had thus far not suffered significant losses.
They could still keep fighting. For a few more days, if they took turns.
“…”
His irritation remained with the rear. Even if they held out…
What if even one of the priests had been stationed at Seaborn Fortress? Would it have fallen so soon?
“Damn!”
Stop it, stop it. It’s too fruitless. Playing with hypothetical situations in war is forbidden. First of all, if there weren’t three priests, Niban Fortress could have fallen much earlier.
The bottom line was, they had to continue dealing damage to the demon race.
“Alright, let’s do this!”
Shaking off his mood, Hessel called out to a nearby soldier.
“You guys, when I give the signal, pull this rope.”
What he held out was—a rope.
The end of it was tied around Hessel’s waist.
“What, really…? Now?!”
“Yeah. Because there’s a perfect target down there, right?”
Hessel gestured quietly to the space below the wall, drawing wary looks from the soldiers.
“I… I understand.”
“Right, then.”
Shouldering his great sword, Hessel leaned over the wall.
Looking down—he made eye contact with one of the demon soldiers huddled beneath.
“—Huh?”
The demon soldier stared wide-eyed at Hessel, who was falling from above—
“See ya!”
Hessel swung his weapon high above his head and struck down in earnest.
The earth cracked.
Vertically. Following the wall’s shape.
Cracks ran along it, extending long distances even where Hessel’s blade clearly hadn’t reached.
Naturally, the demons waiting directly below the wall, as well as both the demon soldiers and beastman soldiers, were all cleaved in two.
“Alright, is the wall intact?”
Landing atop the vertically halved demon corpses, Hessel first checked the defenses. Fortunately, because he had cut just a few steps away from the wall itself, it showed no damage at all.
“…What the hell was that?!”
“It’s the Sword Saint! He came slicing in!”
“Kill him!”
The remaining demons outside of range, along with the few survivors, charged despite their agitation. Hessel shouted, “Help me out!” and pulled the waist rope quickly.
“Yahh!!”
The soldiers on the wall, having waited, pulled the rope with all their might like a tug-of-war. Hessel dashed up the wall, deflected arrows from the Night Elf using his great sword as a shield and managed to return safely.
“Haah, haah… I took down three demon bastards.”
“Congratulations… but that was just reckless!”
“Ah, it’s fine. I won’t do it again for a while.”
Heaving heavily, sweat pouring down like a waterfall, Hessel involuntarily knelt. That last strike could be considered his trump card, but it was exhausting enough to feel like swinging a great sword a hundred times at full power. He couldn’t pull off another one.
If used on level ground, that attack could literally annihilate the enemy army, but it also held the risk of involving allies, making it extraordinarily dangerous. He had thought it wouldn’t be viable to intercept the Demon Lord army from above the wall, but thanks to the priests’ sniping keeping everyone at bay, things had come together perfectly.
(But, for a while, those demon bastards might not come to our fortress.)
Hessel mused while accepting a water flask from a soldier.
Niban Fortress had strong defenses. They were inflicting substantial losses on the demon warriors. If that was the case, even the Demon Lord army might reconsider attacking from the front.
Based on that assumption—forces like Hessel and the priests would…
Just as Hessel predicted, Niban Fortress began to see a decrease in the Demon Lord army’s attacks.
Almost simultaneously, a new order arrived from the command center for Hessel.
Retaking Seaborn Fortress is deemed difficult.
There is a fear of Demon Lord army’s incursion into urban areas.
Sword Saint Hessel, unite with elite forces and engage the enemy.
—Exactly what he wished for.
