Chapter 108 - Episode 107: Clash
The day after news arrived that Fort Halzea at the southern tip had fallen, the Lancel Kingdom army confronting Fort Barrel showed signs of attacking once again.
Whether the units that had taken other forts had joined them or not, despite the fact that over 100 enemies had been defeated last time, the enemy force had increased by about 300, totaling approximately 700. Furthermore, since the existence of the Crossbows had been discovered, it was inevitable that they would struggle more than before.
"As I thought, the enemy is making shields from wood cut from the forest. It looks like it will be difficult to defeat them unilaterally with the Crossbows."
Frederick said, gazing down from the castle walls at the Lancel Kingdom army's infantry units advancing with hastily made large shields. Standing beside him was Yuri.
"Then, let us begin by surprising them with the Ballista again... Noein-sama."
'Yeees, I'm ready.'
This time, Noein was positioned in front of the Ballista installed inside the gate, while Yuri remained atop the castle walls, the two of them connected via "Far-Talk."
"The enemy will enter the Ballista's range in less than a minute. Before that, arrows will fly again."
'Understood, I'll be prepared.'
Atop the castle walls, beastmen of a small race lined up, leveling their Crossbows. Below them, beastmen of a large race prepared for the loading process of the Crossbows. It was the same arrangement as last time.
A tense atmosphere drifted before the battle; among the beastmen, some trembled with nervousness, while others seemed calm, perhaps having grown accustomed to the field during the previous fight.
The Lancel Kingdom army approached steadily. Rather than charging all at once, they closed in gradually while hiding behind their shields. Once they reached a certain distance, archers protected by their comrades' shields aimed for the top of the castle walls.
"Arrows are coming! Shield up!"
Starting with Frederick's words, the officers shouted "Shield up—!" one after another, and the soldiers hid behind their respective shields. Matilda covered Noein and herself with a shield, and the soldiers in charge of operating the Ballista also huddled together with shields, forming a testudo formation.
Immediately after, arrows launched by the Lancel Kingdom army rained down upon Fort Barrel. The number was nearly double that of the previous time.
"Unlike Crossbows, bows are strong because they can fire in a high arc. We can't compete in terms of range."
"However, their power is negligible."
Noein and Matilda spoke while surrounded by shields. Most of the arrows, which had lost power after being fired from below the hill, were deflected by the shields, and those that luckily pierced through did not penetrate deeply.
Atop the castle walls, Frederick kept a close formation with the surrounding soldiers while holding his shield, peering through the gaps at the enemy. The enemy seemed to have learned from their previous failure, approaching bit by bit while firing arrows intermittently so as not to show any openings.
"Chief Lieutenant, the Ballista!"
"Yes! ...Noein-sama, the enemy has entered range!"
Even within the fort, where the sound of rubbing shields and the commotion of soldiers echoed, the report via "Far-Talk" reached Noein clearly.
"Roger. Then, let's open the gate... Archers, once the gate opens, you may fire at your own discretion."
""Yes!""
At Noein's instruction, the soldiers of the Arqvist territory army moved.
Almost simultaneously with the opening of the fort's gate, explosive flame arrows flew from the two Ballistas.
One hit the enemy's first line directly, burning the soldiers along with their shields, and the other slipped between the shields the enemy had lined up, exploding in the very center of the formation and whipping up flames.
.....
"Hot! It's hot!"
"Help meeee!"
"Idiot! Don't come this way! The fire will spread!"
"Roll around to put out the fire!"
With flames scattering at the front and center of the formation, the soldiers whose bodies were on fire, as well as the soldiers around them, fell into a panic.
However, there was a voice that shouted them down.
"Calm yourselves! Those were only two shots, they will not come continuously! Do not fear, keep your shields up and advance!"
The owner of the voice was the commanding officer who had tasted bitterness in the opening battle with Fort Barrel. Beside him, as expected, a middle-aged veteran soldier followed as his adjutant.
Inspired by the commander's confident words, the soldiers of the Lancel Kingdom army began to advance once more.
"Good, we can do this! This time, we shall take that fort and make it our military achievement!"
"As long as we weather that weapon that scatters flames, the enemy will have no moves left. If we can bring it to close combat, mere beastman peasants will be no match for us."
The adjutant spoke these words to encourage the man, who was urging his horse forward while feeling the certainty of victory. Then, he glanced toward the fort.
And the adjutant noticed. Despite the fact that they had fired the flame magic tools, the enemy's gate had not been closed.
Last time, after firing the magic tool, the enemy had closed the gate immediately. That was why both the commanding officer and the adjutant believed that weapon could not fire rapidly.
However, this time the gate did not close. What did this mean?
"Your Excellency! The enemy's gate!"
"What? What about the gate?"
"The gate has not closed! The enemy intends to fire that weapon again—"
The adjutant's words cut off there. When the man looked back toward the adjutant, the head required to produce a voice was no longer there.
.....
"Standard ammunition hit the enemy! However, it didn't hit the commander, but a cavalryman who seemed to be a staff officer beside him! Seeing that, the commander dismounted and hid within the formation!"
"I missed, my apologies!"
The soldier serving as the spotter shouted, and the Ballista gunner who heard it replied.
"It's fine, taking out the commander's aide is a sufficient achievement... Now then, the other one is loaded with an explosive flame arrow, right? You may fire at any time."
"Yes! Firing!"
Told by Noein, the other gunner launched an explosive flame arrow from the Ballista. Flames erupted once again within the enemy formation.
"Yuri, how does the enemy look?"
'They're in a terrible panic, and their advance speed is slowing down.'
"That's good."
While saying so with satisfaction, Noein operated the golem to pull the Ballista's string.
Unlike the Crossbow, the Ballista pulls its string using the principle of leverage, but Noein's golem performed the task—which normally required two strong men—effortlessly with a single unit.
The next arrow was quickly loaded. To save the limited number of explosive flame arrows, the next one to be fired was a normal arrow.
"Standard ammunition, firing!"
"Firing here as well!"
The sound of the strings snapping and cutting through the air echoed, and thick arrows flew toward the enemy. Looking beyond the gate, blood sprays could be seen rising within the enemy formation.
'The effectiveness of the standard ammunition is also sufficient. They broke through the shields and penetrated the enemy, taking out several people simultaneously. The guy at the front was split clean in half.'
"The shields are meaningless. The enemy must be quite confused."
'Indeed... Oh, the enemy has accelerated their advance. Make the next shot the last for the Ballista, then close the gate. We'll handle the rest from here.'
"Okaaaay."
While answering in a carefree voice, Noein did not stop the golem's hand from pulling the Ballista's string.
.....
"Even though his aide's head vanished before his eyes, that commander is admirably encouraging his troops."
"Yeah, he's got guts, even for an enemy... Listen! Once the enemy reaches the walls, they won't be able to keep their shields up! Target the soldiers who throw away their shields to climb the walls! Shower them with arrows from directly above!"
""Ooh!" ""
Frederick shouted the exhortation, and the beastmen raised spirited voices. Since they were maintaining the advantage once again, their morale was high.
In contrast, the Lancel Kingdom army, while suffering considerable losses from the Ballista, was finally about to reach the walls of Fort Barrel.
The lead soldiers discarded their shields on the spot, and the following soldiers leaned long ladders against the walls.
From atop the walls, the beastmen fired their Crossbows, and unlucky enemy soldiers hit by arrows fell one after another.
"Push the ladders away, don't let a single soldier inside!"
Saying so, Yuri kicked away one of the ladders the enemy had placed.
Trying to imitate that, one of the beastmen approached a ladder—and took an enemy arrow to the head.
With the arrow still protruding from the head, the beastman fell inside, below the castle walls. They didn't move a muscle. Instant death.
"Hieee!"
"H-he's dead! A comrade is!"
"Don't panic! If you flinch, you'll be the next one to die!"
Agitation began to spread among the beastmen, but Yuri suppressed it with a shout. It was a voice that made the air tremble.
"Don't stop your hands! Cry later! Fight!"
Frederick also shouted as he cut down enemy soldiers climbing the ladders with his sword.
"Loaders, get up here with weapons! Lend your strength!"
Hearing Yuri's instructions, the large beastmen who had been handling the loading of the Crossbows also joined the close combat. With the numbers doubling and strong beastmen joining the battle line, the momentum of the defenders increased.
In front of the gate, Noein's golems and the Ballista personnel held back the enemy's attempts to force the gate open with their bodies. Soldiers positioned atop the gate threw stones straight down to kill the momentum of the enemy's charge.
On the other side of the gate, a fierce defensive battle was also unfolding under the command of Frederick's adjutant and Pence.
.....
The battle, which seemed as if it would continue endlessly, ended before dusk. The sound of a trumpet echoed from the rear of the enemy camp, and at that signal, the Lancel Kingdom army retreated.
Seeing the enemy withdraw, the defense force of Fort Barrel all sat down on the spot while exhaling.
Some collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
"Alright, carry the seriously injured to the headquarters' infirmary. Those with light injuries can walk on their own. After that... let's confirm the dead."
As Frederick barked orders, the soldiers who had finished catching their breath began to move again.
"Noein-dono and the officers... are they safe?"
Looking around the fort, Frederick spoke with a relieved expression. His own adjutant, Yuri, Pence, and Noein were all alive.
It wasn't that he weighed the value of lives between executives and ordinary soldiers, but it would be a great loss if Noein, who could handle golems, or the experienced officers had died.
In front of the gate, Noein was sitting flat on the ground, breathing heavily. Although they hadn't fought the enemy directly, they were exhausted from forcing the golems to use power for a long time.
"Ah... that was tough..."
"Thank you for your hard work, Noein-sama."
Matilda, who had kept her shield up to protect Noein, was also drenched in sweat, though her expression remained unchanged.
"...There are dead among our allies too. And many injured."
Looking around, there were several figures of beastmen who had fallen, bleeding and motionless.
"It seems so. However, it appears there are no dead among the Arqvist territory army."
"I see, that's good... wait, I shouldn't say that."
Noein hurriedly denied the words that had slipped out. Since the voice was small, fortunately, no one but Matilda had heard.
"Even if they aren't my own people, it's sad when comrades you fought alongside die, isn't it, Matilda?"
"It truly is, as you say, Noein-sama."
Within the fort where dust danced and blood stained the ground and walls, Noein and Matilda exchanged those words.