Chapter 232
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Great Invasion (1) ༻
Due to the cold wintery environment of the north, many of the demonic beasts here were covered in fur.
War mammoth, ice troll, frost wolves, snow wyverns.
Their white fur that allowed them to camouflage in the snow made them appear like beautiful artworks from a distance, but a closer inspection would let anyone see the brutality in their eyes.
“…”
Marie gazed down at them from above.
The ones at the lead were the snow wyverns – one of the few monsters that could fly despite the weather and the environment. Not only that, but they were also well-known for their innate savagery.
In the past, there was a time when humans tried to domesticate them to allow easier travel in the snow but failed to do so.
“About 400 of them huh.”
Although they did have 3 Hresvelgrs on their side, there were still 7 times more wyverns flying towards them from the north.
“They can fly much faster than us because they’re used to the cold, milord. Unlike them, all our wyverns have difficulty flying properly,” said one of the black mages, who excelled at genetic modification.
Marie announced the strategy.
“Don’t let them come any closer. We will bring them down by force.”
She lifted her hand. The wyvern riders paused the flight and remained floating, as the mages behind them slowly stood on their feet.
56 wyverns and 3 Hresvelgrs. In total they had 85 mages flying in the sky.
“Fire.”
Marie pointed her staff at the snow wyverns at the front.
That marked the start of the bombardment.
---------!!
More than a hundred spells being cast at once created a remarkable spectacle. Fireballs, ice spears, lightning bolts and curses… all those spells were fired at the invading snow wyverns.
- KIEEEEEEEEEK!
- KYAAAAAK---!!
The bombardment of magic enveloped the wyverns. The power of 85 mages combined were enough to crumble a mountain, so it was obvious that the snow wyverns could not confront the spells head-first.
However, they weren’t stupid either – instead of continuing with their initial plan of striking down at the soldiers protecting the walls, they floated up and started an intimidating charge towards Marie and the wyvern riders.
One of the slave mages carefully shared his opinion.
“They’re faster than expected. How about we retreat slightly and defeat them with the assistance of the ballista…?”
A close combat in the air would be the worst case scenario for them. Unlike the wyverns here, the wyverns from the south weren’t used to the cold. Despite wearing the hides gathered from the nearby demonic beasts, the northern winter was not easy to overcome.
“No. Continue the attack. I will deal with the rest.”
The slave mage did not voice his opinion a second time, and showed obedience to his lord.
“I have to avoid friendly fire so…”
Marie controlled her output as much as possible. The magic circle of a grand spell, that could threaten allies if used at maximum output, was engraved in the sky.
<Frost Combination Spell>
The severe wintery environment was like a natural disaster in itself. It created a handicap for both the soldiers and the wyverns but… there were a few who weren’t included in that group.
An example was Marie Dunareff… and the mages from the Blue Cult.
For the mages of water and ice, the harsh winter of the north instead enhanced their magic.
And Marie Dunareff was the strongest ice mage in existence. The little strands of mana seeping out of her body were enough to start freezing the sky.
“Ohh…”
“T, that’s the spell that defeated Elder Surarion…”
The mages were awed and moved by the grand magic circle being engraved in the sky.
Although they were mere slaves now, they were nonetheless pursuers of magic. No matter who they were currently, that did not subtract from the awe they felt when seeing the profound truth of magic being unraveled by the greatest mage in the world.
“Snow Flower.”
The world froze in the blink of an eye.
……
…
“Ugak! Wyverns are falling from the sky!”
“From our side?!”
“No! They’re the white ones! They’re frozen solid! Be careful!”
While Marie and the wyvern riders were bombarding the enemy with magic, the army on the ground were also in the midst of a heated battle.
The dozens of ballistae located throughout the walls were finally serving their true purpose.
- Pababak!
The steel projectiles from the enormous crossbows, that were more like harpoons than arrows, drew a parabola down towards the horde of monsters.
- Kwagagak!
Many of the frost wolves in the lead were the first to fall, followed by several ice trolls losing their heads. Despite being fairly high-grade demons, even the ice trolls were unable to withstand the ballista with penetration spells supporting them.
However, even those ballistae were ineffective against demons as large as war mammoths and couldn’t penetrate the skins of the giants.
The giants weren’t just watching either.
Instead of approaching the walls, they picking up large rocks from nearby and threw them like baseball.
Catapults were magnificent ranged weapons but when performed by giants with enormous rocks, they were on a deadly level, with each successful attack threatening to crush the walls.
- Kwaang!
- Kwaaang!
What was fortunate at the very least, was that Josephine was stopping the truly dangerous rocks, and that the walls were remaining strong thanks to the recent repairs.
“Erin…!”
“Don’t worry!”
Right when one of the rocks was about to wipe away the soldiers and barbarians on the wall, Erin tapped the ground with her Silver Spear and resonated the runes that were engraved on the walls.
[ ᛇ ] --- Eihwaz
It was the rune of protection.
Thousands of letters lit up from the walls and created an invisible barrier in the air.
- Kwagang!
The rock crumbled down after coming in contact with the invisible barrier – it resulted in a deafening thud but none of the soldiers were injured.
“How long would it last?” Josephine asked.
“…That just then shattered 13 barriers. There are 80 left to go.”
“Looks like a war of attrition would be difficult.”
It’s not like they couldn’t add more runes during the war, but Korin and Erin were the only rune mages in this city, and that certainly wouldn’t be enough to defend the rocks constantly being thrown by 50 giants.
‘Besides, the real one hasn’t even begun moving yet.’
Josephine looked at the enormous giant looking like a mountain in the horizon. Sitting still, it was observing and controlling the battlefield.
Frost Giant.
As the last Frost Giant in existence, it did not fall any short of the legendary Sky Titans. It had yet to even display its history of wisdom and supernatural abilities.
“Erin. I will stop defending the rocks for the time being. Please stop them.”
“It won’t last long.”
Showing her full trust in Erin, whom she had known for a century, Josephine slapped her whip in the air.
The sky cracked open.
From beyond the dark fissure on the sky, she brought out something that shouldn’t exist in the air.
<Meteor>
The gigantic rock she had saved after cutting a portion of the rocky mountains of the east pushed its way through the fissure and came falling down.
Violence through sheer physics – it was with this attack that Josephine had destroyed the Tower of Mages 90 years ago.
Stopping this attack was impossible unless—
<Skrymir the Giant>
It was something as heavy as the rock itself.
- Kugugung!
Suddenly a giant head appeared out of nowhere. The head, which was a spitting image of the Frost Giant’s head blocked the falling rock.
- Kung!
The giant’s head did not move an inch despite being hit by the meteorite. After a shocking display of firmness, the head soon disappeared leaving behind just the momentum-less rock.
“…”
Josephine lifted her gaze and stared at the Frost Giant looking her way.
A truly mythological creature with its body covered in white. Even though it was sitting on the ground with its chin resting on one of its arms, it was several times bigger than the other giants.
Frost Giant.
That enormous existence continued simply staring at the walls.
****
In the midst of the never-ending battle, Germain was taking a short break after swapping with the stand-by troops.
“Huu… huu…”
Through the part of the wall that had crumbled down from the initial attack were thousands of demonic beasts flooding in non-stop.
When the walls that provided a landscape advantage were gone, they had to defend the monsters with their bare bodies which clearly was not an easy thing to do.
“……It’s all chipped.”
Germain looked at the sword he had been provided. After killing hundreds of demons, the blade was chipped everywhere and tainted in red.
“Germain…!”
He was eating some food to fill his stomach when someone plopped down next to him. It was the boy with golden hair, who looked at least 3 years younger than him despite being the same age.
“Ron.”
Although he was a demi-human, whom Germain used to detest the most, he had become used to the wolf boy after spending more than a year with him.
“When you’re done with the food, can you come with me to the southern gates?”
“Did something happen?”
“Korin-hyung said we will be receiving food and supplies from the south. He told us to move them to storage.”
Food.
It was a critical problem. After Korin took in 230,000 barbarians into this side of the wall, the city was rapidly being deprived of food.
Even though Marie had brought a large supply of food beforehand, it wouldn’t have lasted more than 2 days, so more food was welcome news. But it was almost too quick.
“Already?” Germain therefore asked.
“It seems like he had arranged it beforehand. He said there’ll be more coming in 2 weeks.”
“…Interesting.”
The amount of food Korin had arranged was as if he expected this to happen… Was he thinking about taking in hundreds of thousands of barbarians from the beginning?
“But… Everyone else is still fighting.”
“It’s okay! There’s a lot of people so we’re broken into 4 groups. He said we can rest after moving the food to the storage.”
“…”
Germain could see how considerate Korin was.
Even though he himself had also barely become an adult, he had a tendency to treat his juniors and even seniors like children.
That was probably why he was allocating non-combat-related tasks to the wolf siblings and him.
And yet Korin himself was fighting at the most dangerous places. His actions were always based on sacrifice, devotion and consideration, just like the hero of the new generation as prophesied by the Saintess.
He certainly was an admirable and legendary hero, but… even so, Germain couldn’t honestly admire his actions.
“More booze! Where’s the booze!”
“Huh, I’m surprised the ‘gentlemen’ of the south can fight with so little food!”
Covering the ground were groups of barbarians. They were vulgar, noisy and crude.
For a long time, the barbarians of the north had been invading and plundering the kingdom and yet Korin had taken them inside the borders.
Normally, this would have been both unimaginable and unacceptable and in the worst case scenario could also be seen as an act of treason.
[Do not forgive heretics. You must stone them to death.]
It was even mentioned in the scripture which Germain had read over and over again. The barbarians were heretics serving different gods, and wicked evil that harmed the kingdom.
He just couldn’t understand how Korin Lork accepted all of them without a problem.
Korin Lork… was like a transcendent. He ignored the conflict and strife between humans like they were nothing.
Although that might be a quality of a hero, it was very difficult for normal people like Germain to adopt the same kind of mindset.
“I’ll go there now.”
“Huh? Why don’t you finish your food first?”
Ron tried to stop him but Germain did not want to stay in the same area as those filthy barbarians any longer. He immediately headed to the southern gates that required help.
“Priest Germain Luther.”
“Huh?”
There were only a select few people that called him as such. He turned around in surprise, and found a group wearing black robes standing in one of the dark alleyways.
“Follow us.”
Germain knew who they were – they were the Chargers of Cross, the secret ops of Xeruem who served in secret in Bishop Renault.
Following them, Germain headed deeper into the alleyways and was met by Bishop Renault Lusignan.
“Sir Bishop.”
“Ohh, thanks for your hard work as always, Brother Luther.”
The chubby bishop welcomed him as if he were his son.
“W, what brought you all the way here?”
“We have come to fulfill the words of the esteemed lord.”
Germain felt uneasy for some reason.
Recently, Xeruem’s actions had not only been suspicious but also eccentric. They joined hands with the mages of the Tower to capture the Saintess, and even spread prophecies of apocalypse which caused chaos in the minds of the believers.
Plus, the revelations that were said to have been given to Xeruem through the lord were always unnaturally advantageous for Xeruem.
Them coming all the way here to the northern walls, was definitely not a good sign.
“But seriously, this city stinks of sewage. Korin Lork has committed a heinous sin.”
“Sin…?”
“Joining hands with the heretics of the north? What is that if not a great sin?”
“B, but… he is as prophesied…”
“Do not be deceived by the fake prophecy, Brother! Do you believe the words of that wicked slut?”
Germain was baffled. Although Zeon and Xeruem were on other sides, weren’t they still brothers in faith?
Saintess Estelle of the Zeon Order was widely approved as the child of god. How else could she possess the miraculous ability of all her prayers coming to reality?
Korin Lork was the one mentioned in that prophecy – he was the new Sun of hope in the apocalypse.
Of course, Germain didn’t understand everything he did either… but it was an undeniable fact that he was a hero.
“My brother. Do not be deceived, and let not your faith be shaken in this chaotic and difficult time. The true faith lies only with us, Xeruem, and everyone else are fake prophets and heretics. We are the real foundation that will be saving this world.”
“Y, yes…”
Germain found himself difficult to agree with Renault, but soon glossed over it. He was more focused and uneasy about the real reason behind their visit.
“So… why have you…”
“Normally, we would have mobilized proper Inquisitors to judge the heretical actions of Korin Lork… but unfortunately, the foolish crowd are dazzled by his fancy background and have forgotten to act in true faith.”
“…”
“We have come to make things straight, Germain my brother. It is time for you to act according to your faith.”
Renault’s lips wickedly curled up.
………
……
…
A man wearing a turban walked up to the warrior soaked in the blood of battle. The man was in an outfit that was in stark contrast to the other people on the wall, but no-one was able to perceive him through his stealthy movements. His employer was the only one who did.
“Are they here too?”
The warrior, who had been running wild in the heated battle, appeared like a wild blue beast.
Who would possibly be able to tell that he was a young man who barely became an adult?
Shaking those thoughts away, the man wearing a turban whispered to the employer.
“Observation Target 6 has infiltrated the city.”
“Hmm… I was expecting them to do something, but this is quite fast.”
“What do you want to do? Target 6 has come in contact with the boy under your wings.”
The man wearing a turban thought this beast soaked in blood would hunt those pigs down without hesitation.
However, what came back was an unexpected response.
“Let’s watch how things go. Everyone needs to be given a chance after all.”
“Hmm?”
Hearing that incomprehensible response, the man wearing a turban… the one from the Hassin race, turned back after saying that he would continue the observation.
After he left, Korin downed the booze handed by the barbarians and gazed down at the city with an indifferent look on his face.
“It’s time to make a decision, Germain.”
He believed in the goodwill and conscience of people. He still believed that most people would head in a better direction.