Chapter 372: Go Tell the Saintess
Boom, crash!
Boulders launched from catapults slammed against the walls. With every strike, the subjugation force’s soldiers prayed and cursed for the walls to crumble.
But the walls stood cruelly firm. Ten catapults had made short work of the wooden fence, but trying to bring down walls that looked rock-solid was like throwing eggs at a boulder.
"Kyahaha! Try climbing up-ras!"
"Weaklings-ras!"
On top of that, the monsters jeering from atop the walls, the Andras, made aiming nearly impossible. The same creatures that had fled without looking back when they first encountered the subjugation force were now using the rock walls as shields, hurling every manner of insult at the troops.
"Humans with dicks smaller than orcs! Your wives have all been devoured by our orcs-ras!"
"Shut uuuuup!!"
Another stone from the catapult soared through the sky. The debris from a boulder that grazed the top of the wall clipped some of the Andras. But they dodged with uncanny agility and raised their bows.
"Return fire-ras!!"
Thwip thwip thwip.
The Andras loosed arrows as if they were archers defending the ramparts. It was absurd enough that monsters were using human weapons, but what was truly maddening was that their marksmanship was anything but ordinary.
"Shields!!"
The soldiers hastily raised their shields. Mages fired spells from afar to intercept the arrows mid-flight. The arrows that slipped through lodged into the catapult frames.
"Kyahaha!"
The Andras mocked the subjugation force. Since catapults ultimately required people to manually load and launch the stones, if the crew nearby took arrow hits, the catapults would grind to a halt as well.
They needed to bombard the rock walls without a moment’s rest to have any chance of bringing them down, and now they were being harassed on top of it. The subjugation force grew anxious.
"Hmm...."
Levis Ann, naturally, was anxious too. At this rate, continuing to pound the walls didn’t seem likely to produce results. The soldiers would probably catch stray arrows for no good reason, and the troops hauling stones would only exhaust themselves.
"You there. You said you’re from that city, correct?"
"Y-Yes!"
Levis Ann questioned an adventurer beside her. The adventurer happened to be a native of Zabiyaba who had been consistently participating in the subjugation force to protect his hometown, not even caring about the pay.
"According to reports, these walls weren’t here during the second subjugation. Is that right?"
"Yes. We believe the monsters hastily constructed them."
"Hmm...."
Monsters could certainly build walls if they pushed hard enough. But the battlefield logs noted that the walls had appeared overnight.
"If some magical means were being used, I’d be able to sense it... but that doesn’t seem to be the case."
It wasn’t an illusion. When the catapults hurled stones, small fragments chipped off and tumbled down. That proved the rock walls were real.
"A monster that specializes in construction? I wonder."
She’d never seen or heard of a monster that could erect walls covering such a wide area overnight. If such a monster existed, the high-ranking Demon Kings would obviously have deployed it on the front lines.
"In that case, the possibility is...."
Levis Ann answered her own question and settled on the single most likely conclusion. It was absurd, but if she based her assessment of the enemy around that orc, it was surprisingly plausible.
Thud, thud.
Levis Ann charged straight toward the walls. The soldiers operating the catapults froze in alarm at her sudden dash forward.
"What on earth...!"
"This is something Leraje, the 14th of Solomon’s Dungeon, used to do all the time."
Levis Ann raised her hand high. Divine power erupted from her palm and began taking shape, and soon an enormous spear, three times the size of her body, materialized in her hand.
"If I hit the mark, it goes through in one shot. If not, I’ll need to throw at least four or five more, but...."
She settled into her stance. It was unmistakably a throwing posture, and the Andras scrambled in panic, leaping down from the rock wall to the inside. Levis Ann smirked inwardly at the sight.
"My instincts are never wrong! In the name of the Goddess!"
Levis Ann hurled the spear straight ahead. Before any suppressive arrows could be launched at her, the concentrated mass of divine power drove into the wall.
Crack, crumble...!!
The wall began to writhe. The boulder mass started shifting. Gravel began falling from the fissure where the divine power had pierced.
GRAAAAH!!
With a monstrous roar, something burst out from within the wall. A giant as tall as the wall itself, which had been lying dormant, came charging forward with Levis Ann’s spear still embedded in its chest.
"A... A Stone Golem?!"
A Stone Golem had erupted from inside the wall. Pierced in the chest by the spear overflowing with divine power, the Stone Golem staggered forward in agony before dropping to its knees and toppling face-first.
Hissssss.
The Stone Golem’s body began turning to ash and scattering in the wind. As a golem forged from demonic energy, no matter how solid the stone, it couldn’t withstand the power of divinity.
"Now that’s a satisfying sight."
Levis Ann dusted off her hands and smiled with satisfaction. Between the walls, a gap exactly the size of the Stone Golem had been cleanly opened. Though rubble from the golem’s stone shell remained below, the gap was tall enough for people to pass through.
"Covering the city’s original wooden fence with Stone Golems to create a fake wall. What a persistent bastard. If Leraje saw this, she’d throw a fit about plagiarism. She’s already dead, though."
Levis Ann scoffed at the enemy’s petty deception. Using Stone Golems to form a wall was certainly a commendable tactic, but Levis Ann had already encountered this strategy in the war against the Demon King’s Army.
"Catapults, back to position! Focus fire on the opening!"
The soldiers sprang back into action. The catapults swiveled toward the familiar wooden fence visible through the gap Levis Ann had created in the rock wall.
"I’ll break through another section!"
Levis Ann steadied her breathing and began drawing up divine power once more.
***
"Damn it, how did they figure it out? The plan was flawless...!"
The Stone Golem wall had been rendered useless.
The defense was solid but vulnerable to magic and divine power, so to hide that weakness, we’d glued gargoyle stone fragments together with slime secretions and disguised the whole thing as a wall.
"Could there have been survivors from the previous subjugation forces? Did they see the Stone Golems?"
"Analysis can wait. Right now, we need to defend Ras Vegas."
"Right, you’re right. ...Damn, this is driving me insane."
Even with Spica Castle captured, it didn’t end with mere occupation. We had to leave behind a minimum garrison to prevent any potential unrest and immediately march back to Ras Vegas.
"Meri! The succubus and fairy units stay in Raspica as they are. I’m leaving 200 ghouls as well. Keep watch over the residents with Lime."
"I’ll make sure not a single one tries anything funny."
Two hundred ghouls left at Raspica. Now it was time to pull back the orcs, harpies, Andras, and slimes.
"We’re heading back!"
We couldn’t move everyone through at once. Even excluding the ghouls, transporting everyone would easily take well over an hour and a half, and on top of that, the troops currently thrusting their hips for the sake of shock and awe would need even more time to return.
"Have them finish up and come straight to the baronial castle so the residents don’t catch on. Through the castle’s basement, then through the underground passage, and over through Avalon’s portal."
No matter how rushed we were, Avalon’s true nature must not be exposed. It would cost us more time, but hiding Avalon was the only way to keep Meri’s identity hidden too. I wanted nothing more than to leap across rooftops, but the people we’d gathered in the square were right in the middle of our path, making detection too likely.
"Let’s go, Lune!"
"Yes!"
I scooped Lune into my arms and sprinted toward the portal. The tunnel the Slamias had carved was still narrow.
"Clian, Nifran! Widen this path! Make it wide enough to run through!"
""Yes!!""
While the Slamias re-merged with the Slime Dragon, Lune and I began crawling through the tunnel at a high crawl once more.
"Damn it, Lune! Cast the magic spell for me!"
"Wh-What?!"
"Shout exactly what I tell you to shout at me!"
I yelled back to Lune, who was following behind. She hesitated for a moment, then shouted at me.
"I, your company commander, am disappointed in you, Legion Commander!"
"AAAARGH!!"
I squeezed out every last ounce of strength and crawled toward the portal at full speed.
***
Crack!
The wooden fence collapsed. Unable to withstand the catapults’ concentrated barrage, the fence came crashing down.
"It’s, it’s open!!"
The subjugation force erupted in cheers. The walls that had seemed utterly impassable had finally been breached after hours of pounding.
"Phew."
Levis Ann wiped the sweat from the back of her hand and took a deep breath. While she’d been taking down two more Stone Golems elsewhere, a path had finally been opened.
"...Sappers, continue concentrated fire on the fence! Open up other routes too! And!"
Levis Ann raised high a spear bearing the Goddess Church’s military banner and shouted.
"Vanguard, follow me! We’re taking back our land!"
"""RAAAHH!!"""
"In the name of the Goddess!"
"""In the name of the Goddess!!"""
The subjugation force began charging with Levis Ann at the lead. Unlike a dungeon, the streets of Ras Vegas were wide enough for a hundred soldiers to advance through with room to spare.
"Commander! The monsters on the walls!!"
A priest pointed to the top of the walls. The Andras were scrambling atop the walls, up to something.
GROOAAAH!!
The rock walls began writhing and exploding apart. The dormant Stone Golems rose to their feet in clouds of dust. The subjugation force’s soldiers gulped at the sight of the towering golems.
"Wh-What the...!"
"Mages!!"
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear to everyone!"
Levis Ann unfurled the banner and shouted.
"The Church and the barony will claim absolutely no ownership over any magic stones or spoils obtained from this battle!"
"""YEAAAHH!!"""
The adventurers’ eyes lit up with fire. Nothing fueled an adventurer’s spirit quite like hearing that their kills translated directly into personal spoils.
"We will slay them and rescue the hostages!"
"""RAAAHH!!"""
The barony’s soldiers roared with murderous fury. At last, they had the chance to avenge their families and rescue those taken prisoner.
"I’ll clear the path!"
Levis Ann swung the banner pole and leapt high into the air.
Slash, slash!
Silver arcs carved through the air, and in the blink of an eye, the fists of the Stone Golems charging from both sides were severed clean. The Stone Golems that had stepped forward to block the path staggered and toppled sideways.
Thud, crash!
Having severed the Stone Golems’ arms, Levis Ann landed with an elegant flourish. The soldiers, their fighting spirit ablaze at the Holy Knight Order commander’s overwhelming display of martial prowess, surged after her.
"Advance!"
Beyond the fence lay the city streets. Levis Ann recalled the map she’d memorized and sprinted toward the main road.
"Spread out in every direction! Find and kill the enemy, and rescue the hostages!"
The soldiers following Levis Ann scattered. Adventurers chased after the Andras, hoping to strike it rich, while conscripts dispersed to rescue captured prisoners. Priests, renowned adventurers, and squad leaders stayed attached to groups, properly leading the soldiers as they fanned out.
’Five hundred, three hundred, two hundred.’
Five hundred soldiers had entered the streets, three hundred adventurers had gone to hunt the Stone Golems, and two hundred sappers were breaking down the fence with catapults.
’The adventurers need to deal with the Stone Golems quickly.’
Levis Ann wanted to handle the Stone Golems herself, but she had far more pressing business.
’The portal. I need to find the portal.’
She had to find the portal the monsters had supposedly used to leave. She had to find it before any other soldier.
And.
"I have to shut it down...!"
She could guess where the monsters had gone through the portal. But Levis Ann had boldly abandoned the ’barony.’
She needed to close the portal and secure a defensible position to rest until the Holy Knight Order arrived. Zabiyaba wasn’t ideal for a defensive hold, but it was certainly better than spending several sleepless nights in a field camp on the plains.
’It should be right up ahead!’
Following her instincts, Levis Ann kicked off a rooftop and soared into the air. There in the open square of Zabiyaba was the ’portal’ she’d been searching for.
".....!!"
No. It was a different portal. It was a portal, yes, but her instincts told her this wasn’t the one the monsters had disappeared through.
"Hey, human, ever heard the saying? The one about how if you’re too stingy, it all goes to waste? Our boss here always insists on leaving a minimum garrison, but... when things get urgent, what can you do? Hehe."
The vulgar words were ill-suited to the elegant voice, but Levis Ann swallowed hard.
"You, don’t tell me that arrow...! No, more importantly, how can an elf...!"
"I don’t know what you’re talking about with the arrow, but as for why I’m here."
The elf, Luna, tossed her golden hair glinting in the sunlight and raised her sword.
"You ’humans’ trespassed into the Elven Forest without permission. So we elves have decided to cooperate with the ’Demon King’s Army.’"
"Wh-What...?"
Levis Ann’s heart sank like a stone.
"Th-That can’t be!"
"Oh, but it can. You absolutely did trespass. That’s why the Elder made her decision. You people...."
Luna curled her lips into a vicious smirk.
"Yesterday at dawn, you barged right into our forest without so much as asking, didn’t you? Over a thousand of you, no less."
"That was the demons who...!"
"The Demon King’s Army went around our forest, though?"
"Th-That’s impossible! I am Levis Ann, commander of the Goddess Church’s Holy Knight Order! I swear by the Goddess that we never entered the Elven Forest without permission!"
"Maybe. But...."
Luna snorted and waved her hand. From behind the portal, a group of ’white’ elves emerged with bows drawn.
"Our queen was absolutely furious that you lot waltzed onto our land without permission."
Luna’s eyes, fixed on Levis Ann, held no trace of a smile.
"You said you’re the Holy Knight Order’s commander, right? Go and tell the Saintess and the Church. The elves have decided to cooperate with the Demon King’s Army."
Luna paused deliberately, breaking her rhythm before finishing.
"Because of you."
