Episode 242 Crusade of the Abyss – Last Resistance (1)
Piiiiing –
Piiii –
An unpleasant roar continues.
Sparks scattered by rockets exploding in succession decorate the friendly camp, and soldiers screaming with their bodies on fire appear one after another.
However, this side was not left alone.
Dark clouds spread, fire and lightning fall from the sky, and the demons who were flying the rockets fall down, reduced to charcoal.
While the rocket batteries and wizards were wreaking havoc on each other, the demons’ artillery and our artillery were firing anti-artillery fire at each other.
The artillerymen, who were preparing to fire again by pushing back the cannons with all their might, are swept away by the cannonballs.
The eerie sound of a steel ball flying at breakneck speed crushing the fabric reverberates non-stop.
“Wow!”
Unfortunately, a cannonball hit a cannon that was preparing to fire and exploded, sending fragments flying everywhere and the artillerymen met a tragic end.
“The gun emplacement has been destroyed!”
“The damage is great on that side as well! “Don’t stop, keep shooting!”
Nevertheless, neither side stops and pours out fire.
“Your Excellency the Marquis, the loss is serious! “Already 13 cannons have been destroyed or need repairs, and artillery casualties number in the hundreds!”
The messenger who rushed in with an urgent look said, but I too am watching with my eyes glued.
What is here is not just some random army.
Both the Allied Forces and the Demon Army are elite units that draw on each other’s strengths and possess firepower that is incomparable to that of ordinary troops.
And since they are showering that excessive firepower on each other mercilessly, it is only natural that sacrifices will increase.
The battle between artillery alone is at this level, but if an all-out war between infantry soon breaks out, the damage will grow like a snowball.
Even if you know all that, there is only one instruction that can be given.
“Still, the fighting continues.”
It is inevitable that the losses of the Allied Forces, especially the revolutionary army, which is the central and main force, will suffer great losses.
But the moment we retreat to avoid immediate losses, this war ends with the devil’s victory.
The invasion force of the Eastern Empire, which we mistakenly thought was their main force, was nothing more than tribute to them.
If we leave here, that enormous army will just push into the Eastern Empire, and when the Empire collapses in an instant, the population of that vast territory will become puppets of the devil.
When that time comes, no one can stop them.
We cannot give up everything we must protect to save the lives of soldiers dying right before our eyes.
“…The number of demons is much smaller than that of us. “If we exchange the same losses, it will be a much more serious blow to them than to us.”
Of the enemy troops in front of you, less than 20% are made up of demons. The rest are all drones.
Each of them has a lifespan of at least hundreds of years, and if you think about how many people they will harm in their future lives…
Even if we all die here, it will not be a meaningless death.
I looked back at the staff who looked a little anxious and said,
“What we are doing now is not just a war. “Keep in mind that it doesn’t end when you sign a treaty and exchange territory and money.”
If there are still people who think that it is a war between countries that can end in that way and then retreat, they need to change that perception itself.
It was not empty words to say that we were the defenses of the Central Continent and the front line of humanity.
“If we lose here, we have nothing left. Even our life, freedom and future.
As the staff swallowed dry saliva, I adjusted the sheath of my sword and added.
“So, prepare to be with the soldiers, including me, until the moment we use up everything we have in our hands. That is your duty as someone who is fighting for the entire Central Continent, so you must fight until the end. Did you understand?”
“Oh, I understand!”
“good. I trust you all will do your duty. Above all, the Allies are watching us now.”
This is a struggle for the survival of humanity, but it is also a battle fought with Franzia at the center.
“We have to show something here for them to believe and follow us.”
“Then what will you do?”
In response to Chief of Staff Werther’s question, I looked at the battlefield with narrowed eyes and moved a flag on the map.
“Suppressing the momentum is also important. “If the entire Allied Forces are shaken from the beginning of the battle, we will win the battle, so let’s save it and use it before we fail.”
* * *
The front line.
The light infantry, which was supposed to break the enemy’s momentum by shooting them at the outpost, had to retreat unilaterally without even being able to engage in meaningful combat in front of the enemy armed with breech-loading rifles.
“Light infantry retreat complete!”
“Reorganize! “I will fight again!”
General Nicolas Ney, commander of the front line infantry, was pleased to see the troops flying the flag of the Revolutionary Guard joining the chaotic front line.
“Yes, General, I have come under orders from His Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette!”
Ne asked right away, accepting the officer’s salute.
“Welcome to the front lines! Command So what is a command? “What did the Marquis de Lafayette say?”
“I have received orders to deploy the Grenadier Regiment of the Revolutionary Guard as the vanguard!”
“From the beginning?”
“That’s right…”
Nicolae scratched her head.
The Revolutionary Guard, which was formed after the reorganization of the Revolutionary Army and was named an elite force, was reorganized and increased in size after the war.
Even so, it is not common to deploy the most elite regiment from the beginning.
The grenadiers are basically treated as elite troops, and among the Revolutionary Guards, the Grenadier Regiment is naturally the most elite of the elite.
“That damn guy must have an idea! Put it in!”
“ancient!”
As soon as Nicolae’s approval fell, the Grenadier Regiment of the Revolutionary Guard began to advance, playing cheerful music to soothe the anxiety of the battlefield… or to deceive.
What you see in front of you is a musketeer of demons walking triumphantly, and what follows behind them is a swarm-like procession of drones that never ends no matter how much you turn your head to the side.
A shell flies overhead with a loud noise and falls on the approaching demons, causing an explosion.
“Aaaah!”
“Hahaha!”
Ironically, the screams that demons made as they were torn apart by cannonballs were not that different from humans.
The grenadiers gained momentum at this sight and advanced further.
“launch!”
As they got closer, the demons immediately started shooting rifles.
Unlike the line infantry, which lines up in an orderly line and fires as much as possible at the same time, some stand and some sit and fire sporadically, but the bullets fly much faster than muskets.
However, the bullets that flew in like that were blocked by the magical barrier erected by the Revolutionary Guard and fell.
“What!”
“Inferior humans have a magical barrier!”
“Don’t panic! Get down! Take cover and keep shooting!”
The demons were a little embarrassed, but following the commander’s instructions, they immediately crouched down to take cover to avoid shooting and continued shooting.
“Forward, forward, forward!” There is no fear in the Revolutionary Guards!”
However, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards Grenadier Regiment, who was opposing him, shouted loudly and the grenadiers ran hard instead of shooting.
“Huh?”
The moment when the demons were embarrassed by the unexpected situation.
“Prepare grenades!”
“Prepare grenade-!”
The grenadiers all took out grenades and lit the wicks. The demons fired their guns frantically to somehow prevent catastrophe, but the magic barrier of the Grenadier Regiment, the elite of the Revolutionary Guards, did not break down so easily.
“Uh huh! “Avoiding the sashimi-”
If you react too late, there is no way the demons who were busy lying down and shooting will be able to get up and run away right away.
“Grenade to the front!”
“Grenades!”
“Eat this!”
While they were struggling, grenades fired by the grenadiers all flew sideways and above them – and a
series of explosions erupted.
In the storm of debris flying in all directions and scraping the floor, humans and demons were no different.
Likewise, the fabric is torn to pieces and screams of pain erupt.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The morale of the demons, who were at the forefront and defeated the light infantry with the power of superior weapons and raised their spirits, was shattered by the explosion of grenades.
Rather, because they believed in their superior technological prowess and the power of their race, the shock from the unexpected and terrible sacrifice was even greater.
“Run away too!”
“Don’t run away on your own!”
“Now wait a minute. What is this-”
The demons, suddenly confused, threw away their proud breech-loading rifles and jumped up to try to run away, which led to further destruction.
“Ouch, get out of the way!”
“Damn it, dolls of an inferior race!”
What was behind them were not living creatures that could judge the situation, but drones that simply carried out given orders.
There was no idea of clearing the way for the demons trying to retreat from the drones, and only chaos was caused by the drones trying to advance and the demons trying to run away.
If the demons had stepped aside and let the drones jump in first, they would have been able to catch the bullets instead, but in the face of the shock of seeing my comrades cut to pieces by a barrage of grenades I had never imagined, there was no such thing as rational judgment left.
“Ready to fire!”
“Aim-”
“Fire!”
The grenadier regiment raised the muskets already loaded with bullets and fired mercilessly at the backs of the demons who were busy running away.
“Ugh!”
“Oops!”
If they had fought proudly from the front, even low-level demons would have been protected by a weak magical barrier, but there was no such thing as a bullet hitting them in the back while running away.
“Good job! “Grenadier Regiment, get down!”
“Grenadiers down!”
The officers immediately reacted to the sound of General Nikolay shouting excitedly, and as the grenadier regiment quickly fell down, the light infantry that followed closely behind them fired their muskets all at once – and the
demons who were still trying to escape the drones were almost exterminated.
“Okay retreat! Retreat! “Retreat quickly!”
As soon as that happened, the revolutionary army under orders from General Nicolas began to retreat without even looking back.
* * *
A breech-loading rifle.
Demons carrying weapons that could show off their superiority in cover and rate of fire thanks to their overwhelmingly easy reloading seemed to overwhelm the enemy light infantry, but were tragically defeated by a barrage of grenades from the enemy troops with magical barriers.
Bael looked down at the battlefield with his arms crossed, and while trying to fight his way through the drones, he was shot in the back and frowned at the sight of the demons being killed in droves.
“It’s ugly.”
They are nothing in Bael’s army.
At best, a minnow among minnows among demons.
They are nothing more than low-level demons with nothing to boast about other than the fact that they belong to a faction loyal to Bael.
Nevertheless,
the sight of those who should naturally be superior to humans collapsing into no different from or worse than weak humans… was enough to twist Bael’s heart.
“The peace lasted too long.”
Bael narrowed his eyes when he heard Paimon’s voice laughing next to him.
In the past, he defeated the Demon King and ended the war.
The devil was incompetent and greedy.
Even that war wasn’t for the demons. Bael has no regrets whatsoever about defeating the Demon King and ending the war.
In the war that lasted for 100 years, the demons, which were lacking in population, died countless times and senselessly.
However, at least the demons of that time were strong warriors who could not be compared to such insignificant scum.
At least the reason Bael gave them peace was not to see them as inferior to such an inferior race.
“Drones, on the other hand, are extremely efficient. “It’s not so-called devilish or proud, but at least unnecessary emotions have been castrated.”
Paimon spoke as he watched the drones running in pursuit of the revolutionary army, completely unfazed even though the demons had been wiped out.
“joy.”
Bael snorted – and
even Paimon couldn’t help but laugh at the scene that unfolded in the next moment.
The drones that were running after the revolutionary army, who fled immediately after annihilating the demonic soldiers, naturally protruded – and
almost melted as soon as they hit the defense line that had been prepared in advance to deploy double or triple fire nets along the hills and trenches.
The musket’s lack of firepower is compensated for by a position built so that multiple rows can fire at the same time, unleashing overwhelming firepower.
Even if the drones were wiped out, the next drones jumped in, but then the concentrated barrage of magic and the concentrated bombardment of the howitzer wiped out the drones again.
The drones flowed again into the area where the crazy rain of magic and shells had swept away, but this time, the reloaded muskets formed a fire net again and unilaterally slaughtered the drones.
As Paimon watched the scene, speechless, Bael laughed.
“Make up for the lack of technology with tactics. They seem more innovative than you, Paimon.”
“If there was time to improve drones after this Iberica, it would be like this…!”
Paimon gritted his teeth and protested, but Bael just laughed.
That time was not given to me because I let my guard down in Iberica and was defeated by the Marquis de Lafayette.
In the end, this guy and that guy were all foolish people who were not worthy of being demons.
Only he can become a symbol and a savior guide who can properly use the power of the superior race called demons.
Bael pulled out the sword from behind his back.
As soon as he concentrated his mind, all the mana in the air was sucked into his sword body – and
Bael, who was able to bear the weight of the enormous magical power with overwhelming strength, soon cut the sword wide horizontally.
The atmosphere itself is cut.
An overwhelming slash splits the air, and waves of crazy aura spread along the empty space.
Bael smiled arrogantly as he watched the slashes he launched rush towards the Allied Forces’ carefully planned defense line, slaughtering the drones.
In the end, no matter how much wisdom the inferior races exerted, in the face of overwhelming power –
that’s the moment I thought.
With a blinding light, a golden barrier spread out and blocked Bael’s sword strike.
