Chapter 68. Berenburg (6)

I remembered when I first got my artillery through Warrior’s Binding.

It was the day I defeated the Indika army that had massacred the villagers.

Seeing ‘Indika Mortar’ instead of ‘Indika Artilleryman’ in the list of bound troops, I secretly left the camp at night and tried summoning it.

‘…A crazy trait.’

Honestly, I was a little surprised.

I didn't expect not only the artilleryman but also the mortar and its crew to be summoned as a set.

Well, come to think of it, spearmen and halberdiers were also summoned with their weapons.

Anyway, with this, I had obtained a force that was not permitted to a mere mercenary band.

After that, while retaking the rebel army’s fortresses, the reason I deliberately went out of my way to handle the enemy artillery with Kashutal’s Amulet was partly for efficiency, but also a calculated move to secure more artillery power.

What was before my eyes was the result of that.

Craaash! Boom!

[The Imperial Mortar deploys [Volley].]

A mortar shell falling in a parabolic arc.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

[The Imperial Organ Gun deploys [Sequential Fire].]

The regular firing sound of the organ gun echoing through the streets.

“Take cover behind the building! It’s an organ gun!”

“There are knights too! Request support from the Rose Knights!”

The rebel army rushed somewhere in a herd.

The location where I summoned the artillery was in the northeastern section of the inner castle.

About 500 meters away in a straight line from here.

While the company-sized artillery and the 60-odd Imperial troops and a few knights escorting them were performing a wide-area taunt, I led my unit out of the building.

The street, which had been bustling with garrison troops just a moment ago, was now empty and clean.

Well, it would be strange if they weren’t drawn in when an artillery unit suddenly turned on them from inside their defensive line and started firing at their command center.

“Let’s go.”

I led my unit quietly into an alley.

I didn't need a map.

I knew the terrain around here perfectly.

I had conquered it a whopping 800 times.

The city streets between the outer and inner castles were so complex that I had only memorized them around a few choke points, but the inside of the inner castle was the palm of my hand.

The hundreds of scenarios in which the Imperial army defended this place were also stored along with it.

I turned a corner.

A low barricade blocked the way ahead.

There were no defending troops.

I waited for a moment.

Boom! Boom!

The moment the mortar fired a few blocks away,

[[Devouring Purgatory] is deployed.]

Craaash! Ruuumble… Craaash!

I collapsed the barricade along with the ground, timing it with the moment the shell reached its impact point.

“Hoo……”

I moved, replenishing the mana that had drained out like an ebbing tide with a potion.

In the meantime, the three hundred summoned troops were steadily diverting the attention of the garrison at key points nearby.

It was a little disappointing.

The fact that I couldn't directly command them because it was a feint operation.

Still, it was a great advantage that the summoned troops had intelligence and an ego, and therefore could move as I had ordered them in advance.

I had secretly summoned them one by one in my tent last night and explained the strategy.

It became easier if there was a commander-level entity like a knight.

Let’s take the Imperial army as an example.

[The Imperial Mortar deploys [Suppressive Fire].]

Cra-cra-crash! Boom!

I had ordered these artillery units to bombard the lord’s castle several times, and then prioritize pinning down the enemy with suppressive fire if they approached.

It would be enough to defend a key point in the complex city streets.

They had several organ guns specialized in anti-personnel combat, and over 60 escort troops and even knights.

[The Indika Archer Unit deploys [Fire on the Move].]

Conversely, in the case of the Indika, who were mostly slave soldiers and had little strength, I told them to draw as much attention as possible and run away.

[The Trappers deploy [Makeshift Trap].]

The mercenaries, led by the trappers, were also made to set booby traps or chip away at the garrison with long-range attacks.

As for the undead, there was one lesser vampire I had obtained during the Battle of Wolfskrig, so I entrusted the command to her.

It was my first time commanding in this way, but it wasn't bad.

It felt like playing proxy chess remotely.

Of course, unlike a chessboard, not all the troops moved as I intended.

There were some who were difficult to control even if I gave them a plan.

Gwoooooar-!

“It’s a minotaur!”

The sound of a wall collapsing.

It was the street right next to us.

The gruesome sound and screams of a person being torn apart alive echoed above the buildings.

The moon was moderately full tonight.

It was a good environment for the beastmen to be active.

By the way, we were getting close to the lord’s castle.

Although the inner castle was in chaos, the vicinity of the lord’s castle was still heavily guarded.

About a hundred meters from our destination, we encountered a group.

Red capes.

The Rose Knights.

Their number was three.

The support troops behind them were about twenty.

“Intruders! They’re here too!”

The man at the front drew his sword and shouted.

It didn't sound like a call for support.

He charged.

A burning aura formed on his sword.

Two knights followed.

From behind, crossbowmen aimed at us.

“Olif.”

“Yes.”

This was a unit carefully selected for times like these.

[The knights deploy [Aura Charge].]

Led by Olif, sixteen knights charged forward with their auras at the forefront.

[The scouts deploy [Rapid Fire].]

Swoooooosh-!!

Arrows in a gentle arc flew over their heads like rain, striking the enemy.

[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]

[You have acquired a skill.]

[Swordsmanship of the Red Bud (Level 5)]

Ting-ting-ting!

The enemy knight at the front executed a swordsmanship with a beautiful name that actually left afterimages like red flower petals, but it was only enough to protect himself.

The crossbowmen in the back were all taken down by the overwhelming hail of arrows.

He met Olif.

The red aura and the blue aura crossed.

Mana scattered like fragments as their auras collided, and blood splattered.

While Olif took on one knight and the other knights took on the other, I also took one.

[[Miracle: Dawn’s Vitality] is deployed.]

[[Miracle: Surging Strength] is deployed.]

[[Miracle: Steps of Faith] is deployed.]

After boosting my physical abilities with a miracle, I disrupted the opponent's posture with an [Explosion] spell just before our swords met.

I confused his vision with a [Shadow Blade].

I planted a [Lightning Strike] on his head.

The moment his sword was raised to block the lightning, I took a step.

[[Holy Aura] is deployed.]

[[Tuivat High Priest's Swift Sword] is deployed.]

“Ur-ghk!”

A pure white holy aura danced in the trajectory of a swordsmanship from the far south, splitting the knight’s side.

I separated the head of the fellow who was turning while clutching his spilling intestines from his body.

The knight’s head, floating in the air, had an expression of disbelief.

Almost simultaneously, the other two members of the Rose Knights also fell.

Two of our knights died.

“Move.”

There was no time to collect the bodies.

I took their swords instead of their last wills and belongings from their pockets and moved on.

The remaining distance to the destination was about eighty meters.

Three more battles broke out.

[The scouts deploy [Snipe Stance].]

[The halberdiers deploy [Spear Wall].]

[The knights and light cavalry deploy [Dismounted Wedge Formation].]

I led one surprise attack and one frontal assault.

And we were ambushed once.

In the last ambush, we lost two halberdiers, one knight, and two scouts.

Karen suffered a large gash on her chest.

I gave her first aid with a potion, but for now, she was out of combat.

It was fine.

We were almost there.

[[Pillar of Fire] is deployed.]

I dropped a pillar of fire on a group of soldiers guarding right in front of the lord’s castle.

As we passed the corpses that had been burned alive, a shout that the south gate had been breached grazed my ears from afar.

“……”

I glanced back and saw that a part of the inner castle’s defensive shield was cracked.

Was it really an all-out assault?

It was out of my hands.

I trusted that old man Brol and the 3rd Company commander, Damas, would do their part.

[The 1st Company deploys [Shield Wall].]

[The 2nd Company deploys [Free Fire].]

[The 3rd Company’s greatsword unit deploys [Wave Formation].]

[The priests deploy [Combat Healing].]

For a while now, the struggle of my allies had been continuously appearing in the corner of my vision as a monotonous string of text.

Let’s focus on the mission at hand.

We had reached our destination.

The main gate of the lord’s castle was firmly shut and magically sealed.

Originally, the Rose Knights, the third hurdle, should have been guarding this place, but for some reason, they were scattered in all directions to support the defense of the inner castle.

“Olif.”

“Yes.”

At my call, Olif stepped forward.

As he let out a shout, the aura on his sword grew to almost twice its size.

With a single blow, the shattered door fell backward with a crack.

I took the lead again and led the 53-member unit.

A soft carpet was laid from the entrance of the spacious lord’s castle corridor.

There were three places where Marquis Ricardo was likely to be.

The reception room and the banquet hall on the second floor, and the office on the fourth floor.

“We’ll check the second floor first and then head to the fourth… huh.”

At that moment.

I felt a sensation as if I had passed through a thin membrane.

It was a strange feeling, like when your ears pop when an airplane ascends.

Was it just me?

It was at that moment when I turned back with that thought.

“…Oh.”

They were gone.

Everyone.

Olif, Karen, and the unit members covered in dust and blood.

All I could see was the empty corridor I had just passed through.

[[Lord’s Unyielding Mind] is deployed.]

I tried deploying the trait, but nothing changed.

It meant that it wasn't something that affected my mind or soul.

Then there was only one answer.

The environment itself had changed.

My sixth sense, developed as I learned magic, seemed to be whispering to me.

This corridor.

Space-time was subtly distorted.

It was a trap.

“Fuck.”

This was the first time I had experienced this in my nearly 800 attempts to conquer Berenburg.

***

I calmed my breathing.

Panicking was the worst thing you could do when faced with an unfamiliar situation.

Holding my sword and staff, I looked around without letting my guard down.

I needed to check two things.

Who the enemy I would be facing from now on was.

And what my condition was for facing him.

“……”

The enemy was the magic itself that covered this space.

Marquis Ricardo must have pulled some trick.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, there was no immediate threat like a blade to my neck.

Then, next.

What was my condition?

Without letting my guard down, I checked my equipment.

Armor. Robe. Sword. Staff. I checked the state of my mana and my stamina.

I had plenty of potions, and the subspace was still there.

Good.

I was in perfect condition.

I carefully moved my feet.

I moved slowly, scanning beyond my line of sight with my sensitive hearing and mana detection.

Swish.

The carpet under my feet was still soft.

Come to think of it, this wasn't the first time I had faced magic that remodeled the entire space.

Not just in the game, but I had encountered it once after it became reality.

It was when I jumped into the [Calvenia’s Waning Moon Labyrinth], a spell cast by Count Calvenia during the Battle of Wolfskrig.

Unlike now, where the basic environment was similar, that one had completely transformed the area into a labyrinth of his own design.

Anyway, there was one thing I had learned from these many experiences.

Standing still was not the answer.

One thing I was a little disappointed about was that it wasn't a skill like last time.

If it had been a skill, it would have been easier to understand and deal with.

Was it a trait?

Or an item?

An ancient relic like the inner castle’s defensive shield?

“Kkumteuli.”

‘…….’

“Cotton candy?”

‘……Tsk.’

Even with a powerful temptation, our gluttonous Outer God showed no reaction.

It was disappointing, but this also became a clue.

It meant that there was a high probability that even a single careless word would be a breach of contract.

This spell, in that I didn't know it, was very likely content added in 4.0.

Seeing Kkumteuli’s reaction, it was probably related to the Theocracy and their Outer Gods.

Marquis Ricardo was also one of the key figures in the Theocracy.

I turned at a point where the corridors intersected.

I set foot on a gracefully curved staircase.

The second anomaly appeared.

I saw something in front of me.

A sports field.

A red track.

A similarly red sunset.

A few strands of sweat-soaked hair obscuring my vision.

[[Lord’s Unyielding Mind] is deployed.]

Pop!

The scene that had occupied my vision for a time close to an instant vanished like a mirage.

I could see a normal staircase and the landing above it.

I stopped for a moment.

It disappeared in an instant, but I was sure.

That was a scene from my past.

Something that no one in this world could ever know.

“……”

So that was it.