Chapter 40: 39

39: [STAGE 2] The Collapsed Wall

On a low hill to the far southeast Crossroad’s ramparts.

An old man was on top of his horse, looking at the situation of the defensive battle.

It was no one other than the Earl of the Frontier, Charles Cross himself.

“......”

Because he was a commander who had fought against monsters his entire life, he was able to recognize it right away.

That something was different with this invasion of monsters.

It felt completely different and foreign from the ones during his times.

Not only was it enormous in scale, but also the composition of the monsters. The monsters that invaded were not mixed in kinds, but a unified corps appeared.

‘Something’s not right.’

Not only that, but when a bard appeared from the side of the lake and played his flute, the movements of the monsters changed completely.

‘It’s completely different from the battles that I’m used to… is Prince Ash fighting this kind of battle for the third time?’

It was now understood that the newly appointed lord—the youngest prince, Ash, desperately required help.

Even if Earl Cross himself had not resigned and had continued to be the commander, he would have struggled quite a bit had the enemies come out like this.

Prince Ash was doing very well, to a point that it was hard to believe that he was a loafer back in the capital.

However, the battle was in a perilous state.

‘Should I help him?’

He thought, without realizing it.

The armor and weapons he'd been carrying all his life could be seen, kicked next to the saddle.

‘No.’

Earl Cross shook his head.

There was no need for him to join the battle. He had already retired.

He cursed this frontline. He hated this land.

He hated this barren and desolate place, that had taken his wife and made his daughter leave, and drove him mad.

He no longer wanted to protect it.

‘I just… have to die at the orchard.’

Earl Cross considered it as his atonement.

The final atonement… that he, who had abandoned his wife to protect the monster front, could serve.

He would die at the very place where his wife died.

The Earl no longer looked at the battle and turned his head.

He came to check the situation because something seemed strange, but it was too late now anyway.

There was nothing more he could do.

‘There’s no meaning to this… It’s meaningless…”

The Earl was about to return to his home, to the orchard.

But at that moment,

Ka-boom-!

The sound of an explosion rang out.

“...?!”

He looked back in surprise. There he saw the entire fort wall vibrating with a thick cloud of dust.

With thousands of rats digging under the wall.

Human screams were heard. The Earl’s eyes trembled.

‘No. No! I do not fight anymore.’

With his teeth clenched, the Earl turned the head of his horse back to the direction of the orchard.

‘I must return… To the orchard…’

In the event that the frontline falls, the whole area will be overrun by monsters after that.

And his orchard will also be overrun by the monsters soon after.

‘Wait for me, honey.’

At that moment, the image of his wife smiling brightly appeared in the mind of the Earl.

The smile of his wife who asked how the fruit tasted after putting her dirt-stained grapes into her husband’s mouth.

‘This time, I’ll protect you.’

Earl Cross thought of his wife's grave, buried beside the orchard.

He wanted to die there.

Clop, clop…

Leaving behind the collapsing frontline, the Earl of the Frontier made his way back to his orchard.

* * *

Tremble—!

The vibrations subsided.

I barely managed to get myself together and shouted toward the inside of the fort wall.

“Report the damage on the wall!”

After a while, the soldiers waiting inside the wall reported.

“It’s not completely penetrated yet!”

“But it’s only a matter of time! We can hear the rats gnawing the stone from the inside of the wall!”

I shuddered as I brushed my hair back.

“Why are they eating something like stones? Try eating something healthier, dammit…!”

The walls of this fortress were made up of several layers of stones and iron plates.

It couldn’t be penetrated all at once. The problem was that the part that had just been repaired was broken helplessly by the Ratman champion's direct charge.

In the end, they will dig a hole through the fort wall.

I covered my face with one hand and fell deep in thought.

“...Order evacuation.”

I growled in a suppressed voice.

* * *

* * *

“Pardon?”

Lucas asked back as he didn’t quite catch what I said. I repeated it in a sharp voice.

“Order evacuation of the entire city, now!”

“That means…”

“There’s a high chance that the monsters will infiltrate through the fort wall. Evacuate all the citizens to the northern side so they don’t get swept over by the rats!”

This was, of course, to prepare for the worst situation.

I must be prepared to stop them all here.

Ring-ring-ring-ring!

The sound of the emergency bell rang in my ears. It was a sound urging the citizens to evacuate.

Hoping the evacuation goes smoothly, I gave the following order.

“Except for the minimum number of artillerists and archers who will operate the cannons and ballistae, everyone capable of close combat goes down the fort wall.”

I gave a chin gesture to Lucas.

“Lucas, you are in charge of commanding the close combat units. Form a defensive line inside the fort wall. Block them with your body.”

Lucas looked at me with a concerned face.

“And Your Highness?”

“I will stay up here and command the army.”

“It’s dangerous, Your Highness!”

Lucas pointed at the wall under me.

“It is a wall that once collapsed. It may collapse again. It is too dangerous!”

Indeed, the fort wall was visibly shaking.

It was shaking to the point of making the artillerists and archers have trouble aiming their weapons.

“How do you plan on fighting against the 1500 rats with just your bodies without any fire support from above the wall?”

It was a situation where the fort wall could collapse further, but that didn’t mean giving up fire support from above was an option.

Without fire support from above, the close combat units would suffer devastating damage, which might ultimately lead to the failure of the defensive battle.

“...Understood, Your Highness.”

Lucas reluctantly nodded his head.

“But if you notice the state of the wall getting worse, you must come down without any hesitation.”

“Of course. Don’t worry about me and get down there.”

No matter how dangerous the top of the wall becomes, it will remain safer than the first floor being overrun by rats.

Lucas was worried about me instead of himself until I urged him to go. He thinks he’s my mother or something.

“Jupiter, you fight on your accord. But still, try to kill as many as you can with each strike.”

The party members were naturally gathered around me. I faced them one by one and gave out orders.

“Do not conserve your mana. If you gather enough to strike lightning, then let it all out.”

“I shall follow your command, Your Highness.”

As the situation got direr, Jupiter’s face got more serious.

“Lily, what artifacts are available to operate right now?”

“The Haste artifact, which provides speed enhancement. The gravity field and the magic-enhancing artifacts are on cooldown. They won’t be available until the end of this battle.”

“What about the flamethrowing artifacts?”

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“10 minutes until fully recharged.”

“Use the Haste artifact on the close combat units, and the flamethrowers as soon as they’re done recharging.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Lily rushed to activate the Haste artifact. Lastly, I looked at Demian.

“Demian.”

“...Yes, Your Highness.”

Demian was looking down at his feet.

He wasn’t able to shoot down the Pied Piper, and he wasn’t able to stop the Ratman champion.

He is probably thinking that this situation is all his fault.

I gathered my two fingers, and brought them to Demian’s smooth forehead, and—

Flick!

Flicked his forehead.

“Ouch!”

Demian’s head was pushed back a little, then he looked up at me with teary eyes. I grinned.

“You’ve done well so far, Demian.”

“Y-Your Highness…”

“I’m not going to scold you for one or two small mistakes. So don’t be down like that.”

A sniper who is sure to hit the enemy.

A cheat character, to be honest.

Just by having Demian as a member of my party, the range of strategies that can be utilized was overwhelmingly widened.

Demian's existence itself was a blessing to me.

“I get a lot of strength just by having you by my side.”

“......!”

“So I hope you can have as much confidence as I believe in you.”

I tapped Demian’s shoulder harder than usual this time.

“Let’s overcome this crisis together, alright?”

“Y-yes, Your Highness!”

“Alright, Demian. The role you will be taking in this battle is… the ‘last line of deterrence’.”

I swept the wall under my feet, feeling a faint vibration with the tip of my foot.

“Them breaking through the wall has already become a fait accompli. The gutter rats that penetrate through the wall will face the close combat units waiting for them on the first floor.”

“Yes.”

“However, the close combat units consist of humans. They are not a fort wall. They will inevitably have gaps in between. This means that they might let a rat or two slide through them.”

Demian and I both looked at the inside of the fort wall at the same time.

There was the sight of a perfectly peaceful city, with smoke rising from a bakery.

“I don’t know how much damage a single rat would do if it managed to enter the city. You are in charge of taking care of them if that happens.”

The boss monsters, the Ratman champions, were all dead already. The only monsters left were the 1500 gutter rats.

I believe Demian is fully capable of taking care of one or two rats that manage to escape.

‘Unless a dozen of them escape at once.’

Demian was an extremely accurate sniper, but his slow reloading speed kept on getting highlighted.

I have to find a way to fill this disadvantage of his…

“Alright, Your Highness! I’ll try!”

After replying vigorously, Demian raised his crossbow and ran to the inside of the fort wall.

Done. Now all I can do is hope that everyone gets their part of the job done well.

“Fuu!”

Taking a breath and slapping myself on the cheeks, I tried to look outside the fort wall.

It was to confirm whether the Kill Zone had been re-established.

It was at that moment.

“They’re about to break through! They’re coming in!”

A scream resounded from within the walls.

“That’s too fast, damn it…!”

I clenched my teeth and looked inside the fort wall.

The ground floor, seen from afar, had its walls tremble.

Crush-!

Rats burst out with smashed bricks and dust.

Squeak, squeak!

Finally, the rats that made it through tried to attack the humans in front with their dust-covered bodies.

Flash!

However, Lucas, who was standing right in front of the hole, decapitated every single one of them.

The 'Rat Cutter', a saw-bladed sword in Lucas's hand, emitted an eerie light.

Lucas shouted as he cut the rats into pieces without even blinking his eyes.

“The hole they come out of is narrow! Do not panic and take them out one by one!”

“Yes, sir!”

All the soldiers answered in unison at Lucas’s command.

However, there was one thing that Lucas overlooked.

The hole was indeed narrow, but our enemies were rats. They passed through the narrow hole and kept pouring out.

Not only that, but the number of rats passing through was gradually increasing as if the hole was being widened.

I, who was watching from above, muttered dumbfounded.

“What kind of gutter rats are they? Those things are as good as moles…”

The close combat units managed to stop the rats smoothly in the beginning, but as time passed they were starting to be exhausted.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

“The flamethrowing artifacts are ready to operate. I will activate them immediate— Kyaaah?!”

Lily screamed as she was about to activate the artifact. Frightened, I ran straight to her.

“What’s the matter, Lily?!”

“Th-the rats are…!”

There were a bunch of rats standing in front of the flamethrowing artifacts.

Several of the bitten alchemists were on the floor bleeding.

I sprinted and threw my fist forward.

“Here comes the Imperial Prince Punch—!”

Pow!

The moment my fist touched the rat, the Lucky Strike in my hand was activated.

Ding, ding ding!

The numbers that appeared on the roulette were 0, 1, and 5.

15 damage!

Pow!

It was a very small amount, but enough to knock out a level 5 gutter rat.

After pulling my fist back, I quickly looked to check the situation outside the wall.

“Did they climb the wall?”

I missed them because I was too focused on the rats by the hole.

A group of gutter rats was simply climbing the wall. And a few of them came to attack the artifacts.

“Eek! Hiya!’

Lily scattered the flames and burned the remaining rats.

Then she checked the injured alchemists and shouted at me.

“No one’s in a critical state! But because of the rat's attacks on the artifact, it needs to be recalibrated to activate…!”

“Do it as quickly as possible! There’s no time!”

As all the soldiers who could keep the roaming rats in check had gone to the first floor, the number of rats climbing over the wall began to increase.

Inevitably, even the artillerists and archers waiting on the wall had to draw their weapons and fight them.

“Argh!’

“My hand, my hand!”

Injured soldiers began to appear among the close combat units blocking the first floor.

The ranged interception team has to properly function in order to get rid of the rats attacking the close combat units, and the close combat units will have an easier time blocking the enemy as their burden is reduced.

But now, both sides were only increasing the damage as they blocked the rats from entering with their bodies.

‘At this rate…!’

In front of Jupiter who was out of breath preparing the next spell, I swung my fist equipped with Lucky Strike.

Demian also continued to shoot arrows with his crossbow, but it was still too slow.

‘At this rate, the damage will be incomprehensible…!’

The worst situation was pictured in my head. I tried to work my brain to find a solution. Damn it, isn’t there anything?!

It was at that very moment.

An old soldier who was finishing off a rat on the wall with a dagger suddenly widened his eyes.

He was one of the veteran soldiers who used to work for the Earl of Frontier.

He looked across the southern field and muttered softly as if he had seen a ghost.

“Earl…?”

“...What?”

I turned my head in that direction too and soon was able to find him.

Clop, clop, clop—!

From far outside the fort wall.

An old lancer wearing rusty armor was rushing this way.

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