Chapter 341
‘Today, I’m on a good pace.’
Simon’s current operation of the skeleton mages pursued nothing less than extreme efficiency.
He threw oil fruits from the storage to spill oil on the ground, then used Darkness-element flames to set it alight, blocking enemy intrusion through the castle gate altogether.
As Simon stuck to this arson-based tactic, the Kingdom of Karl’s response changed.
They scattered dirt pouches, or covered battering rams with water-soaked cowhide, among other adjustments, but even so, Simon’s defense—operating undead mages atop the gate—was impenetrable.
With no choice left, the Kingdom of Karl abandoned the gate and decided to focus on attacking the castle walls instead.
They brought all their siege ladders, placed them against the walls, and sent soldiers up without pause. In particular, when they sent two Keyzen students up to the wall, the entire south wall came within a hair’s breadth of being taken by the Kingdom of Karl.
However, thanks to the efforts of Dick and Maelyn, the two Keyzen students on the siege side were taken out, and now the tide at the south gate had clearly turned in favor of the defenders.
“Follow me!”
Freed from the curse, Dick led soldiers and recaptured the section of the wall the Kingdom of Karl had seized.
His feats stabilized the entire south gate defensive line.
‘Now I don’t have to worry about the south gate.’
Quietly observing the situation, Simon picked up the commander’s badge and sent a transmission.
“Dick and Maelyn, both of you did well. Until the enemy necromancer shows up, take a rest. Same for the other gates, alternate between resting and fighting to prepare for a long battle. If you need support, send a messenger or raise the flag.”
At that moment, the sound of footsteps approached. Turning around, Simon saw Maelyn coming toward him.
“Ah, Maelyn! You really worked hard!”
“Hmph, this much is just basic.”
She flicked her hair with her fingertips as she spoke. Simon pointed at the clothing draped over her shoulder.
“That’s my uniform, right?”
“!”
She suddenly realized she had been strutting around with Simon’s uniform draped over her shoulder, and the nape of her neck flushed bright red.
“...Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
She muttered a small thanks and handed Simon’s uniform back.
It was a bit of a shame. It had been a fleeting happiness, but still, enjoyable enough.
Simon shook the uniform out and spread it to put it on.
“Huh.”
“Why? Did something weird get on it?”
“No, just… I think it smells like you, Maelyn.”
‘$*@^&@!!!!’
Her face turned beet red as she let out a strangled sound and jumped back.
“I-I only wore it for a bit, so of course it does! Wha—what! You want me to wash it before I return it?”
“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that.”
Simon lifted the uniform closer for a look. One part of the shirt had a red smear, and at first he thought it might be blood, but on closer inspection, there was a lipstick mark on the jacket.
“...But why’s there a lip mark?”
‘Ugh—! Aaaagh—!!!’
Maelyn suddenly remembered burying her face into Simon’s uniform and inhaling its scent earlier. Reaching the absolute limit of bearable embarrassment, she covered her face with both hands.
“Th-that’s—!”
She had to say something! Anything!
She stammered out, shouting,
“I fell down!!”
“Huh?”
“I fell during the fight earlier and used your uniform to wipe my face! There! Satisfied? I’ll pay for the cleaning!!”
Even Maelyn thought it was an absurd excuse.
She regretted it the moment she said it. She wanted to swallow her words back immediately. Speaking without thinking obviously led to slip-ups…!
“I see. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
Simon, of course, believed it right away.
In truth, even while talking to Maelyn, Simon’s full attention was on the gate. At that very moment, he was still linked to the thoughts of his skeleton mages.
‘From the right, sequential Dark Blaze!’
A barrage of blackish-blue fireballs was launched, setting one of the battering rams approaching the gate ablaze, and Simon smiled in satisfaction.
‘Why, why is he suddenly smiling like that!’
Meanwhile, Maelyn was breathing heavily, extremely tense.
Was that smile at me? Is it meaningful? Like, “I know exactly what you did with my uniform, but I’ll let it slide this time”? Something like that?
While she was lost in that train of thought, imagining hidden meanings in Simon’s smile, he spoke again.
“Take a rest. I think I can hold the south gate on my own for now.”
“...Oh, okay.”
Maelyn nodded shyly and glanced up at him. Then, in a voice that trailed off, she murmured,
“Hey, about that time I said your efficiency or whatever—”
“If it wasn’t for your advice back then,”
Simon cut her off.
“I wouldn’t have even thought of fighting a long battle like this. Thanks, Maelyn.”
...This guy, seriously.
Sometimes, he’s almost too nice for his own good.
‘Well, as a team leader, I do like that about him…’
“Oh right, how was the note tied to the arrow?”
Simon suddenly asked.
“Ah, that was clever. Thanks. I made good use of it.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Maelyn chuckled, lifting her head.
“How long has it been now?”
“Four hours.”
They had to hold for 12 hours in total, meaning 8 hours remained.
Four hours had passed in the blink of an eye.
Of course, this was time flowing only inside the world of the card; when the siege ended and they returned outside, Dick had said only three hours would have passed.
“Then Simon, I’m going to recharge my Darkness.”
“Got it.”
Maelyn went to the edge of the wall, sat on the ground with her knees together, closed her eyes, placed both hands over her chest, and let out a deep breath.
Among necromancers, this was called “charging”.
After battle, the Darkness inside one’s body was depleted, and the Core that converted mana into Darkness was overworked to the point it couldn’t function properly.
Sitting in a comfortable position, they would draw mana into their body through breathing, gently easing the exhausted Core and reinvigorating the body.
It wasn’t drastically more effective than natural recovery, but it was still better than doing nothing.
However, since it required full focus on one’s own body, a necromancer was defenseless in this state.
Tak, tak.
Like Maelyn, most would summon skeletons from subspace to guard them. Simply connecting to an undead’s thoughts didn’t consume much Darkness.
‘Maelyn’s doing fine.’
Simon, while he was at it, checked the current status.
[Defense Team (15/15)]
[Siege Team (12/15)]
It felt like an almost ideally stable pace.
The siege team had dropped to 12, perhaps losing another at a different gate, while the defense team still hadn’t lost a single member.
No matter if there was a tenfold difference in strength, just having even a shabby castle to hold seemed to be a great advantage.
‘If everyone keeps this up, we could hold the outer walls for half the total time.’
Just as Simon began to relax a little—
[Miri Baretta eliminated.]
‘Huh?’
[Paul Sejin eliminated.]
Simon’s eyes widened. Both were on the defenders’ side.
[Defense Team (13/15)]
[Siege Team (12/15)]
“...What’s going on all of a sudden?”
“C-Commander! We’ve got trouble!”
A messenger came running frantically to Simon.
“At the north gate!”
“The north gate?”
At that moment, a new message popped up before Simon’s eyes.
[Outer north gate has been breached.]
[Outer wall collapse event triggered.]
[All troops of the Kingdom of Aoun retreat to the inner castle.]
Simon’s face turned blank with shock. Breached before even the messenger from the north gate could arrive?
‘Who.’
His head turned toward the north gate.
‘Who’s at the north gate right now?’
* * *
Huff! Huff!
One male student from the defense side was sprinting along the wall.
His name was You, the very student who had contended with Simon for the commander’s role until the end.
He had been guarding the east gate, but upon hearing a call for reinforcements, he rushed toward the north gate. Yet before he even arrived, a message announced the north gate had fallen.
‘How? The north gate had the second-best team after the south.’
Around him, beastman soldiers were fleeing in panic toward the inner castle.
It was sheer chaos.
You pushed past the soldiers and arrived at the north gate.
“...!”
The moment he arrived, an unnatural sight met his eyes.
A girl in a white uniform sat on the wall, her expression leisurely.
Even with blood splattering, weapons clashing, screams and shouts echoing, her figure seemed isolated in a world of her own calm.
‘Elisa!’
The commander herself had stepped forward. Behind her, the flag of the Kingdom of Karl was already fluttering, proof that the wall had been seized.
‘Four necromancers were guarding the north gate. There’s no way Elisa took down all four at once.’
You’s gaze darted around.
‘Who… Who could have…’
Kwooooooooom!
A deafening roar made You turn his head.
An enormous slash, as wide as a mountain, was tearing along the wall. Every living thing it touched was shredded into nothing, not even a single cell left behind, erased from existence.
‘No way!’
At the source of the slash stood a boy with an eyepatch and a blank expression. He hadn’t even drawn the longsword at his waist.
‘Jule Vincere, Special Admission No. 5!’
You’s jaw dropped. That kind of big name had come too?!
“A, aaaaaaagh—!”
This time, a scream of agony rang across the battlefield.
Turning his head, he saw a giant of a man holding the face of Bwuine, the north gate’s ace defender, in one hand.
Bwuine screamed as if his head would split apart, kicking frantically, while below him, two other students’ bodies, already defeated, were slowly vanishing.
Those huge wings, those scales, there was no mistaking it.
‘Hector Moore too!’
Hector’s hand tightened, and with a cracking, shattering sound, the barrier on Bwuine’s face broke apart.
Bwuine’s body slumped to the ground, then dissolved into the air.
[Bwuine Rodreck eliminated]
[Defense Team (12/15)]
[Siege Team (12/15)]
“Good work, everyone.”
Elisa smiled sweetly as she raised her hand.
“The siege begins now! And the start of an event calls for a spectacular firework!”
Snap!
She snapped her fingers.
Countless cannon blasts shook the air, and a dozen shells soared into the sky from outside the castle.
Kwooooom!
Kwoooom!
The bombardment rained down, blowing soldiers to pieces and toppling buildings.
‘This is insane!’
You’s lips trembled.
Beyond the burning wall, the sight of Elisa, Jule, and Hector together was threatening enough just to look at.
‘...How are we supposed to beat that combination?’
“Little fish, best scurry away now.”
Elisa spotted You and called out.
“If you want to try stopping us, how about you go fetch Simon Follentia?”
Suddenly, a chilling roar sounded above You’s head, and he looked up—shells from a ghost ship were falling toward him.
“Retreat! Fall back! Squeak!”
“Eek! Run to the inner castle!”
The beastmen of the Kingdom of Aoun were thrown into complete confusion. Elisa waved her arm with a smile.
“The rats of the Kingdom of Aoun are fleeing to the inner castle. Leave not a single one alive!”
At her order, the Kingdom of Karl’s cavalry poured out of the gate like water from a broken dam.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters