Chapter 393. The Outbreak of War (7)
Chi-Woo didn’t know much about war, and he was completely ignorant about war tactics and strategies. Yet he knew one thing, which was that keeping high morale was very important in a war. Having a high morale meant brimming with determination and confidence, and it was an unstoppable force. All the famed and praised generals in history considered their soldiers’ morale a great priority.
Of course, an army’s morale wasn’t everything in a war, but it was one of the most influential factors in determining the victor. When the coalition army first appeared, humanity and the Cassiubia League’s morale had dropped to the gutters. It had already been low before, where nine out of ten people fighting didn’t expect to win. They joined the battle all the same because they couldn’t go down with a fight, but they didn’t have high hopes. These feelings were clearly portrayed through many of the members’ words and actions, and this dread reached their peak at the appearance of the coalition army.
People’s morale really hit rock bottom then. Chi-Woo didn’t like the loser mentality many of them had. They had to fight with all they had, but they were already predicting their defeat before the battle started. That would increase their chance of losing, and Chi-Woo wanted to give his comrades strength. He wanted to instill bravery in them and pull them out of their despair. He wanted to show them hope that they could put up a proper fight and win.
That was why Chi-Woo had jumped into the battlefield from the beginning of this war. He wanted to crush his enemy’s morale while lifting his allies’. And in the end, he achieved the results he wanted and defeated three great demons in a row. Humanity and the Cassiubia League cheered and celebrated when they witnessed his amazing feat. They began to think differently. Their despair lessened while hope bloomed. Chi-Woo, on the other hand, still felt like something was lacking despite having achieved his goal. He still hungered for more. And like striking the iron while it was hot, he wanted to push the current momentum further.
Thus, he was going to get Balaam while he was at it when someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder and told him to wait. Chi-Woo turned around and saw a large hybrid beast with a flowing mane. Given how much larger and sturdier looking his physique was, he appeared to be the lion tribe’s chief.
“I think it’s better to let that one go for now,” the lion tribe’s chief said. Chi-Woo frowned. It was true that Chi-Woo was planning to go after the remaining enemy. Balaam seemed to have also realized the situation and was pulling his army back quickly. Chi-Woo could still chase after and catch him.
“There’s something strange about the Demon Empire’s movements,” the lion tribe’s chief explained. “They aren’t showing much response even after suffering such a great blow.”
Hearing this, Chi-Woo glanced toward the head of the Demon Empire’s army.
“They are way too quiet.”
Now that the chief of the lion tribe mentioned it, this was certainly the case. It was as if his enemy had expected this to happen, and they looked like guests watching a show play out. The demons from the Demon Empire’s main camp seemed to be looking in his direction. It appeared something big was going to happen, and Chi-Woo had to admit that the lion tribe’s chief was right. On a battlefield, a single judgment could decide one’s survival. Thus, Chi-Woo nodded and turned around.
After Chi-Woo and the lion tribe’s chief retreated back to the mountain range again, strange signs began to appear near the gate’s entrance. The first to realize what was happening was a member of the Garula tribe, which made up the archery unit. One garula who had been excitedly shooting their arrow flinched and turned around.
“Huh? Why aren’t they disappearing…?” They said, watching a fallen demon soldier on the ground. Since the great demon that commanded them was extinguished, they should have also disappeared. Yet the soldier’s body remained, which was unusual. It was then the soldiers of the demon legions gradually lost shape and began to scatter into pieces.
‘Ah, they are disappearing now.’ The garula nodded in relief, but their relief was short-lived. They noticed that demon soldiers who shouldn’t have died yet were turning into ashes as well. Their armor and figure crumbled, and their dust swayed in the air until they became skeletons like an undead.
“Are they trying to salvage the survivors?” someone murmured. Legions who lost their commander could be taken over by another great demon. That speculation was only half right. Though another entity had taken control of these legions of demons, it wasn’t to take them under their wing.
All the demon soldiers who had turned into skeletons began to move. No, it was more accurate to say that they were being dragged away or quickly sucked in. They didn’t walk with their own feet, but were instead swept to a particular place as if an invisible hand was organizing a messy pile of lego pieces. The same happened in a total of three places, specifically the three areas where legions had lost their commanders.
The archers watching the scene looked a bit dazed. The skeletons continued to gather in one place. Everywhere legions used to be, demon soldiers turned to skeletons and piled up into a tower. A total of three legions had lost their previous leaders, so the number of skeletons surpassed tens of thousands and combined to create three separate towers. The garulas gradually raised their heads. Considering how tall the gate was, it was unbelievable that they had to look up, but soon the towers of skeletons became high enough to loom over the gate walls.
If one only considered their sizes, they were more like mountains rather than towers. And these towers made up of corpses gradually got closer to the gate. They were crawling forward so they were slow, but they had an overwhelming presence with their immense sizes.
“S-Shoot! Shoot your fire arrows!” The garulas barely managed to regain their senses and pulled their bowstrings. Soon, arrows simultaneously flew across the air and covered the battlefield with a rain of fire. Yet the fire immediately went out after hitting their targets. The arrows had no effect on the towers of corpses, let alone creating a path of fire. What little damage the enemies received was akin to a human getting bitten by a small mosquito.
“Fufu. You can’t think of these as any ordinary siege towers,” Glasya-Labolas said with a chuckle. “Even if you kill them again and again, the towers of the dead would regenerate ceaselessly. No matter how high the castle walls are, they would have no trouble occupying them!” As the great demon said, the towers of the dead resisted the fire arrows and continued to slowly advance until one of them reached the castle walls.
When Chi-Woo hurriedly returned to the gate and climbed up, he saw the peak of the tower crumble down and blanket the top of the walls. A great mass of them poured down, and the garulas had to stop shooting to make their retreat. Chi-Woo hurriedly ran. A white ghost-busting club formed in his outstretched hands. The skeletons burst away every time he struck them, but there were way too many of them. It felt as if more skeletons were falling on top of the walls than the ones they were destroying.
Furthermore, the biggest problem was that there was not just one of these towers, but three. If they were in a mess when only one tower had reached the walls, what would happen if the other two followed? The gate walls would be taken down in an instant. Chi-Woo couldn’t let that be, and he looked up at the towers, thinking he should destroy them before that could happen.
Bababam! Explosions suddenly rang out as bombs struck the skeleton tower.
“Ha. Cannons!” Glasya-Labolas still looked overflowing with ease. “Ha, they think they can bring me down with just that? That tower of the dead is…” He spoke confidently, yet the black orbs the size of a basketball that had burrowed into the tower of the dead didn’t explode. It was because they weren’t actually explosives. They dove further into the tower as it clacked and opened up.
Claclaclaaaang! Chains shot out from the exterior and spread in all directions, piercing through the pile of skeletons and spinning before wrapping around the tower of the dead like one would tie a rope around a watermelon. The chains then tightened and constricted with great force so that gaps gradually formed inside the tower. Not long afterward, parts broke off from the tower, and the base began to shake a bit with painful screeches. What followed was a great spectacle as parts of the tower twisted, overlapped, and finally crumbled down. Chi-Woo gripped his fist hard while Glasya-Labolas gaped.
“Stop playing around.” And the one who had toppled the tower of the dead, Yeriel Dulia Mariaju, snorted. “You can make all sorts of stupid things, but I will tackle it with my canon ball!” she yelled, and the buhguhbus moved at her cry.
***
“…Remind me again what you said,” Bael said, seeing that one of the three towers of the dead had crumbled to pieces. “Didn’t you say that you were worried about igniting jealousy in other army’s commanders if you captured the gate by yourself…?”
Glasya-Labolas was speechless. His face was sour, and he appeared a bit resentful. His tower was broken down by neither arrows nor explosives. It wasn’t even a ballista. Who would’ve imagined that cannonballs shooting out chains would come flying their way? Although Bael reprimanded Glasya-Labolas a little bit, she didn’t push further. It was also her first time seeing a weapon like that.
Now, they were certain that their enemies had come fully prepared. They made thorough preparations, and there seemed to be someone capable of making strange and unbelievable weapons among them. Perhaps the person was also behind the mysterious armor.
‘This could get a bit bothersome,’ Bael murmured to herself and glanced at Glasya-Labolas.
“I will give you an opportunity, Professor.”
“…”
“You can decide to change your answer, or you can correct what you said before.”
Glasya-Labolas had enough sense to understand what Bael was saying. He knew that Bael was telling him to be satisfied with what he had done so far and back off. The situation was different from before. He and his opponents had simply thrown baits at each other, but now, he really had to push. Of course, Glasya-Labolas still had some tricks up his sleeves, and the tower of the dead was only a little taste of what he was capable of. Seeing his opponent, however, it seemed that it would be difficult for Glasya-Labolas to overtake the gate by himself. Thus, he needed to borrow strength from other forces and progress this plan more efficiently. Glasya-Labolas calculated all that inside his head and bowed.
“…As you wish, I will follow your order.”
“As you should,” Bael said and heaved slightly. Then, she proceeded to make commands to the troops on standby. A commotion rose in the Demon Empire’s main camp, but soon, the troops in the front separated sideways to make path. The Abyss did the same.
“Looks like they are going to finally get serious.” The Abyss King jerked his chin with a smirk seeing the change of atmosphere among the Demon Empire’s army. Dawn soon broke, and bright light began to shine on their surroundings.
“Go!” Bael raised her head. “There’s no need to wait till noon! Let’s show them the might of the Demon Empire!”
Following her order, the three newly deployed legions separated from the main body of the Demon Empire’s army. Heavily armored soldiers stood in the front while troops holding strange siege weapons followed from behind. The Abyss also stopped being bystanders and marched alongside the Demon Empire.
Thump…thump….
The Abyss’ monsters shook the ground with every step and marched toward the mountain range. After a temporary stop, the dark flood of enemies began to move again. Their target was the gate that blocked the pathway leading to Shalyh. Sensing the change of atmosphere in the air, humanity and the Cassiubia League stared at the black waves of enemies coming toward them. In the future, this moment would be known as the most pivotal point throughout Liber’s history: The Great War at the Last Gate. Finally, a full-fledged war broke out.
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