Chapter 396
Chapter 396 Let’s Just Break It. (3)
The commander of Linderstein, Reinan, muttered in a daze as he gazed upon the massive catapults lined up in the distance.
“What, what is that? What on earth happened?”
He never imagined that such catapults would suddenly appear out of nowhere.
“Is it, is it magic?”
They said that an 8th Circle Mage, known as a grand sorcerer, could use warp magic to transport objects and people.
But there was not a single 8th Circle mage in this kingdom. It was common knowledge that one might only appear once every thousand years.
“What the hell is that!?”
He shouted in frustration, but no one could answer him.
One moment it seemed like something was being constructed, then suddenly there appeared catapults. Who could possibly explain that process?
Of course, catapults could be built on-site. But those would clearly be junk and not suitable for attacking a castle like this.
No one could guess what kind of technique went into making such a catapult.
“No way, something like that couldn’t exist. It has to be a scam. Doesn’t it look strange? Those stones must surely have been gathered for some other purpose.”
Reinan muttered, gnashing his teeth.
The shape was somewhat similar to a catapult, yet it looked ridiculous with its spindly frame. It was enormous, but with a structure like that, it wouldn’t be able to launch a strong attack.
He shouted at his agitated soldiers.
“Don’t worry! Doesn’t it look odd? There’s no way they can break the castle with that!”
At his words, the soldiers nodded in agreement. Even they thought that such a contraption wouldn’t be able to throw heavy stones.
Still, cautious Reinan added so that the soldiers wouldn’t let their guard down.
“They might be able to launch corrupted corpses or lightweight poisonous items! Everyone, be ready to clear them out immediately!”
Throwing poison and corpses into the castle is a time-honored strategy for spreading disease.
That strange catapult might not be able to launch heavy stones, but it seemed competent enough to hurl smaller items with reasonable weight.
At Reinan’s command, the soldiers hurriedly donned gloves and masks made from deer hide.
While the soldiers of the castle were busy moving, Ghislaine watched the Galbarium catapult and chuckled.
“Is this its first real battle? This should be fun.”
The power of this catapult had already been proven in his previous life. The enemies would probably be terrified out of their minds.
Just then, Dark, who had gone out for reconnaissance, sent word telepathically.
— Master! The pursuing troops have arrived at the spot we passed. You know, where the gorge is.
“They’ve reached the west vicinity.”
Given their size, they were moving quite fast. However, they would not achieve their goal.
Linderstein would fall today.
“We have enough stones.”
To break down a castle of this size, powerful, continuous attacks would be needed.
Hundreds of knights and thousands of soldiers had gathered nearby, using horses and nets to retrieve enormous stones.
Some even ventured up into the mountains to hew rocks.
“Let’s get started.”
As Ghislaine issued the command, the soldiers attached stones that would serve as weights to the catapults.
Knights also contributed their mana to fill the catapults with enormous stones. They worked together for a quick barrage.
The 4th Circle mages they brought cast spells to make the weights and stones of the catapults even denser and heavier.
This was a situation they had trained for countless times. The soldiers, moving in unison, shouted in unison.
“Catapult number one ready!”
“Catapult number two ready!”
…….
“Catapult number ten ready!”
Once all preparations were complete, Ghislaine extended his hand forward.
“Fire!”
The knight beside him took Ghislaine’s words and shouted loudly.
“Fire!”
Boom!
With an immense noise, the stones went flying. Seeing this, the soldiers of Linderstein all froze in shock.
It was no exaggeration; enormous stones were hurtling toward them. Real stones, not corpses or any other trickery.
Watching the stones fly in a parabolic arc felt like a dream.
And then their dream shattered with an enormous roar.
KABOOM!
“Uuuaaaagh!”
Kaboom! Kaboom! KABOOM!
The castle walls shattered, and the soldiers caught in the shockwaves screamed as they were thrown.
At least that was a relief. Some soldiers were completely crushed under the stones, their bodies obliterated.
“It, it’s a real siege weapon!”
“Save yourselves! Get away!”
“Everyone scatter quickly!”
The Penris army had been tightly packed against the outer walls to prevent the enemy from climbing them. However, with the massive stones suddenly flying in, they had no way to escape.
Before they could regain their senses, more stones came flying.
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!
“Uuaaaagh!”
The soldiers were turned into mangled heaps before they could even think to dodge. Several battlements had already been completely destroyed, reduced to ruined rubble.
The speed and power of the attack were unlike any catapult they had ever encountered. It was far too fast and powerful.
KABOOM! KABOOM!
The castle walls crumbled, and the soldiers’ screams echoed endlessly.
Watching the scene, Reinan trembled.
It felt like a dream. Everything appeared to move in slow motion. All he could see were the shattered remnants of the castle and the mangled bodies of soldiers.
It simply couldn’t be true.
“H-how can something have such destructive power…?”
With a standard catapult, it would be impossible to deal significant damage to this castle. Yet that strange catapult used by the Penris army displayed tremendous destructive capability.
Bit by bit, it was dismantling the massive castle walls from above.
What snapped him out of his daze was the shout from the knight beside him.
“Commander! You must issue a counter-order immediately!”
Thinking there were no siege weapons, he hadn’t prepared for this.
Only his master, Count Penris, had prepared to deal with the knights and the castle walls climbing over.
But the Count himself was nowhere to be seen. Only rocks continued to rain down, relentlessly battering the castle.
Thus, they had no choice but to sit there helplessly.
Snapping to attention, Reinan shouted.
“W-we should deploy our catapults! Attack their formation! And tell the soldiers to all take cover beneath the walls!”
With an attack like that, they couldn’t stay pressed against the walls. They needed to retreat, at the very least.
At Reinan’s command, the soldiers finally took cover beneath the walls.
Creeeaaak…
Boom! Boom!
Roderick’s army launched stones toward the Penris army with their catapults.
To be honest, Reinan didn’t have high expectations for that attack’s success. After all, the Penris army was out of range.
The reason they hadn’t used them until now was that they intended to only attack when the Penris army charged.
But from far away, the catapults of the Penris army were relentlessly hammering at the castle walls.
“W-what is that range…?”
Just the loading speed and destructive power were insane; their range was barely comparable.
It was an unfair assault. They had nothing they could do from this position.
“Mages! Can the mages do anything!?”
The mages of Roderick’s army all shook their heads.
The highest-ranking mage left in the area was only a 4th Circle. Below them were mages at the 2nd to 3rd Circle levels, and there weren’t that many left.
The capable ones had all been taken by Marquis Roderick.
KABOOM! KABOOM!
Reinan could only watch in despair as the castle walls slowly crumbled.
Neither the soldiers nor the knights, nor the ballistae or catapults… None of their prepared defenses could withstand this.
KABOOM!
The catapults were shattered by the enemy’s assaults.
KABOOM! KABOOM!
The large ballistae installed around the walls suffered the same fate.
These weren’t haphazardly thrown stones; they clearly targeted specific points with astonishing precision.
“How can such a catapult exist…?”
The technological gap was several steps ahead. Blocking such a catapult was impossible.
KABOOM! KABOOM!
After destroying Linderstein’s artillery, the Penris army’s attacks began to concentrate on specific sections of the walls.
And Reinan understood all too well what that meant.
“Everyone, form up and prepare for battle.”
Upon hearing the command, fear began to color the soldiers’ faces.
KABOOM!
After several hours of nonstop stones flying, several sections of the castle walls finally collapsed.
Rumble!
Under intense concentrated fire, a section of the wall that had been hole-punched crumbled entirely. The debris piled up but was low enough for cavalry to jump over.
As he watched that scene, Ghislaine wore a chilling smile and reigned in Black King.
“Let’s go.”
Neigh!
The Black King surged forward, howling joyfully. The knights and soldiers of Penris followed closely behind.
Thud thud thud thud!
Reinan could only watch. Climbing the walls to stop them was something only possible in a dream.
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!
The remaining Penris army continued to pelt the walls with stones in an attempt to suppress.
The preparations were all in tatters, and they couldn’t even get on the walls. Ultimately, Reinan’s complexion turned ashen.
“Th-this is the strongest Penris in the North…”
When he had only heard of it, he scoffed. He thought the poor villagers were just making a fuss.
But it had been his own misjudgment.
That army, having survived countless battles in the desolate North, had accumulated skills that he could only dream of matching.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
As near to ten thousand cavalry moved, the earth shook. The soldiers of Linderstein began to tremble and breathe heavily.
The army known in whispers was coming. The army that mercilessly slaughtered enemies.
Unbeknownst to themselves, they began to step back slowly.
And at that moment.
Neigh!
With a booming neigh, a man bolted through the gap in the crumbling castle wall.
KABOOM!
“Uuuaaaagh!”
Ghislaine pierced through the enemy ranks in an instant. As he swung his spear, the formation of Roderick’s army broke apart in an instant.
KABOOM! KABOOM!
The catapult’s fire from the Penris army had already ceased. Yet the soldiers of Roderick’s army were now too busy dodging the attacks of the Penris army to put up any resistance.
Every time Ghislaine swung his spear while pouring out mana, it sounded as if thunder was ringing.
It was as if he released so much mana that just cutting through soldiers left visible tracks in the earth.
“A monster!”
“That’s Count Penris! Count Penris has appeared!”
“Run! We can’t win!”
Roderick’s army recognized that the man at the forefront was Ghislaine.
With red eyes shining atop a huge black horse. There was hardly anyone in the kingdom who didn’t know who that pointed to.
The castle had crumbled long ago, and Roderick’s army had lost all fighting spirit and couldn’t mount any proper response.
In the meantime, the knights of Penris surged forward behind Ghislaine.
KABOOM!
They advanced forward, grinding down Roderick’s soldiers.
“Uuuaaaagh!”
They were soldiers who had assembled under the pretext of defending. There were no cavalry, and not even proper heavy infantry.
Thus, they couldn’t prevent the charge of the knights.
Reinan watched in disbelief as his soldiers crumbled so easily.
“Fight! I said fight! We outnumber them by far!”
No matter how much he shouted, it was useless. As the Penris cavalry came rushing in, Roderick’s army began to collapse like a sandcastle.
“Uuuaaaagh!”
“Save me!”
“Run away!”
The soldiers of Roderick’s army had given up on fighting altogether. When the castle they trusted crumbled, their spirits had all fallen along with it.
As the soldiers began to flee, all that remained was slaughter. Those unable to mount their horses fell to the Penris cavalry, falling uselessly to the ground.
Reinan, too, wept blood and fled alongside his knights.
They had lost the heart and pride of Roderick, the castle. And they hadn’t even been able to fight properly.
“Because of that catapult!”
If he had known about the new siege weapon possessed by the Penris army, he would have prepared differently. He wouldn’t have fallen so pathetically.
“Just you wait! I will certainly inform the Marquis of this…”
His words never reached their conclusion. At some point, a man with red hair approached him.
“There you are! Are you the commander?”
“Y-you! Who are you?!”
“I am Kaor. A man stronger than Gillian. Don’t forget this in the afterlife.”
Gillian had stayed back with Penris for defense. This presented a great opportunity for Kaor to make a name for himself.
However, unfortunately for Reinan, he couldn’t quite grasp Kaor’s words.
“What? The White Lion Gillian?”
“Kaor! Kaor!”
Gillian, having earned the nickname White Lion, had become quite famous in the kingdom. However, Reinan had never heard the name Kaor before.
Before Reinan could respond further, a sword flew through the air.
Swoosh!
“Gack…”
His head fell due to Kaor’s furious strike. Until his dying moment, he didn’t understand why Kaor was so angry.
“Because I’m stronger.”
The last words Reinan heard were just that.
With the commander’s head rolling away, Roderick’s soldiers felt unbridled.
They threw down their weapons and fled. Those who failed to escape threw themselves on the ground and cried.
“I surrender!”
“Please spare me!”
“I will follow Penris!”
Feeling that they could not shake off the cavalry pursuing them, they all laid down and cried out for mercy.
As the enemies all fell to the ground, the knights and soldiers of Penris raised their weapons and shouted.
“We’ve won!”
“We’ve captured the castle!”
“Waaah!”
Everyone wore expressions of joy. To think they could conquer such a famous castle in just one day.
They knew the catapult was powerful but had been a bit nervous about using it in a real battle for the first time. But to see such overwhelming power…
Ghislaine also lowered his spear and smiled, congratulating the soldiers.
However, capturing the castle didn’t mean it was over. There was still a planned battle to come.
“The pursuing army will arrive soon. We need to prepare for that.”
At Ghislaine’s words, all laughter ceased. It wasn’t from tension. Their expressions still brimmed with confidence.
Ghislaine had simply brought them to a level where they could control themselves at the mere mention of his words.
Looking around with a satisfied expression, Ghislaine spoke.
“Dismantle the catapults to create medium-sized catapults for deployment on the walls. Let’s surprise the next enemies that come.”
At his words, the soldiers hurriedly began to move. There was no time to clean up the battlefield.
