◈ 058. [STAGE 3] Choose
! ridge-! ridge-!
Ding-deng-deng-deng-!
The sound of drums and bells resonates throughout the city.
The hastily summoned soldiers hurriedly gather their weapons and climb up the wall, and cannons and artifacts that have been repaired are installed one by one.
Carrying cannonballs, arrows, boiling oil, and braziers, workers clamor to move their loads first.
War is always imminent, but unpredicted surprises further confused the front.
In the middle of the mayhem, me and the party members arrived. As soon as I climbed the top of the wall, I shouted.
“feeler! Where are they now?”
“It can be seen with the naked eye. It’s over there!”
Looking at the location the skirmisher was pointing at, he could see a cloud of dust in the far south.
The monsters were advancing through the dust clouds and raising new ones.
thud… . thud… . thud… .
The gigantic golems stomped their feet in unison. They were coming this way in an orderly formation.
They were the guys I met in the dungeon, but the feeling of intimidation was on a different level when hundreds of machines rushed at once.
It is as if a huge wall is approaching.
“When will they come into cannon range?”
“At this rate, it will take less than 15 minutes.”
“Before that, we need to get everything lined up and ready for launch! Hurry!”
“yep!”
The soldiers were sweating profusely in preparation for firing the cannon. Load the shells, aim, and fill the gunpowder.
As I watched this process, Lucas came up behind me.
“Lord.”
“… .”
“Are you going to leave me alone?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, he bit his lip.
A stage that started unexpectedly.
Currently, the golem army has been divided into two groups.
The main unit of about 200 individuals rushing into the city right now, and the detached unit of about 50 individuals heading towards the orchard of the Marquis.
And, of course, Evangeline, who is now alone in the orchard.
‘Why… … .’
The taste of blood oozes from his lips because of his strength.
‘Why does the stage suddenly start and why do the monsters split into two groups? Why now!’
There is no way that all of these things happened coincidentally and coincidentally.
malice.
It was clear that some great malice had twisted the situation to my liking.
If it wasn’t for that, there’s no way things could have been twisted this far.
Then whose malice is it?
why… Are you impatient to ruin this game?
At that time, dozens of soldiers rushed towards me. Looking back, it was the Twilight Troops, old soldiers belonging to the Cross family.
“majesty!”
Among the old soldiers who seemed to salute in unison, the captain of the Twilight Corps stepped out and opened his mouth.
“I heard the news. Please let us go.”
“what?”
“Currently, the defense of the front line is solid. It’ll hold up well enough without our old ones. Send us to the orchard. We can rescue Lady Evangeline.”
“… .”
“There is no time, Your Highness. Soon the monsters get closer. There is not much time left to send the rescue team through the south gate.”
Listening to the old soldiers, I let out a dry sigh.
“There are two errors in your words.”
“yes?”
“The first error is that the defense of the current front is solid. Do these wires look solid now?”
I pointed to the castle wall. In front of the still unfinished artifact, soldiers were shouting and hurrying to install it.
“With the sudden appearance of them, not only the artifacts, but even the alignment of the cannons were less finished.”
“All water-based gear can be ready before they arrive!”
“So let’s say we finished preparing the equipment. If you leave the front lines here, most of the remaining soldiers are recruits. Do you think only the new recruits will be able to fully withstand the attacks of those large monsters?”
“… .”
The veterans kept their mouths shut.
It must be because neither the equipment nor the soldiers are fully aware that their preparations are not perfect.
“The second error is that you can rescue Evangeline.”
I teased my mouth bitterly.
“The Margrave’s villa and orchard do not have any defenses. It’s just low hills and plains. 50 golems, large elite monsters, flocked to such a place.”
“… .”
“Even if there is a castle wall there and we fight through it! A hundred out of a hundred of you will be annihilated. But there’s not even any defenses! How the hell are you guys going to rescue Evangeline?”
The reason why this game is established as a defense genre is that it has the overwhelming advantage of the castle wall.
However, if you go to fight the monsters head-on in a plain without a wall.
It’s just a matter of risking one’s life.
The commander of the Twilight Corps replied with a determined expression.
“Even if we all die, we will definitely rescue the lady… … .”
“That’s not a strategy, damn it!”
Surprised by my shouting, the old soldiers hesitated and retreated.
Annoyedly, I brushed my bangs back.
“I want an operation with potential. Not your futile dog death!”
“Then what the hell are you talking about? There’s no possibility, so let’s throw it away? Does His Highness the Prince intend to let Lady Evangeline die?”
“… .”
“If no one goes to rescue Lady Evangeline, she will surely die! You can’t let that happen!”
I kept my mouth shut.
As the veterans say Without support, Evangeline will surely die.
No matter how much Evangeline is an SSR-grade character with a fraudulent skill set, 50 large monsters are far beyond her ability to deal with.
There are even boss-level objects mixed in among them.
‘But to save it, I have to form a rescue team with the most elite party.’
The Twilight Corps alone is not enough. At least I have to send all of my main party members.
And while the main party cleans up the monsters, they need soldiers to block them with their bodies.
But that’s why the defense battle here doesn’t work.
Even if you save Evangeline, if the wires here collapse, it’s game over.
‘shit… .’
I closed my eyes tightly.
No matter how hard you try, rescuing Evangeline and defending the front line are incompatible. What dilemma is this?
‘Is there any other way? really?’
At that time, I suddenly remembered a conversation I had with the Marquis in the past.
– I had to choose. Will you save the wife of the frontier or protect tens of thousands of citizens inside the city?
Marqueeback was in the same situation.
The monsters were divided into two groups, and as the lord, the Margrave had to choose.
wife or city
– What do you think I would have picked?
The decrepit eyes of the Marquis, who were filled with remorse for asking me like that, came to mind.
Knock!
I gritted my teeth.
‘I think I know a little about your pain, Marquis… … .’
I tried to free Evangeline from the monster front here in order to fulfill Marshal Cross’s will.
It was a talent that had to be recruited and retained at all costs for an efficient attack, but it was an action because he believed that there is something more important than efficiency in people.
But if you stay still like this, all those things lose their meaning.
Evangeline, the last surviving member of the Cross family, is killed by a monster.
However, sending a rescue team puts the defense line and the rescue team in danger. Both sides are likely to end. No, it’s probably game over.
In the end you have to choose.
Is it a person or an attack?
is it a person
Is it an attack… … .
“… .”
I slowly opened my closed eyes. I could feel the eyes of people looking at me.
“I order!”
okay.
The answer was fixed from the beginning.
“None of you are going to the rescue team.”
At my words, the faces of the veterans all turned pale.
My party members gritted their teeth. But I didn’t waver.
“We shouldn’t waste energy for nothing. Concentrate all forces on the defense line here.”
One life and tens of thousands of lives.
There was no hesitation in the first place. It is an embarrassing difference in weight even to put on a scale.
“If the walls here collapse, tens of thousands of citizens of Crossroads will die.”
“… .”
“Not only that, but every city and town above the front line is endangered, and eventually the human world itself is endangered.”
No matter what, the line must be maintained.
No matter what happens, the attack must continue.
This is the premise.
If the game itself is over, what’s the use of saving the SSR grade character?
“I will say it again. None of you are joining the rescue team!”
Having made up my mind, I shouted loudly.
“Let’s prepare for a defensive battle or finish.”
“… .”
“What are you doing? Can’t you see the monsters are coming?”
I shouted sharply at the soldiers who were frozen in place and unable to move.
“Prepare for battle, prepare for battle! hurry!”
***
Southeast of Crossroads.
An old mansion has been built on a hill here, overlooking an oak forest in the distance.
Ivy vines grew thickly on the walls of the faded mansion, and the windows were so dusty that you couldn’t see inside.
At first glance, it is poorly maintained.
This is the villa where Margrave Cross lived during his lifetime.
A small orchard comes out just a few steps along the hill from this villa.
Unlike the villa, the orchard has clear traces of being managed until relatively recently.
However, it is the same as losing the owner and being neglected.
The fruit trees stood in rows on the soil, shivering in the occasional wind.
Spring now.
When the sun rises and the day warms, even on this land polluted with the blood of monsters, the trees will bud and ripen their fruits.
Evangeline had a new realization.
that you will never see it.
Because now he’s leaving this place forever.
“… .”
Evangeline reached out and stroked the buds of the fruit tree.
After her mother died and she left the house herself. My father said he took care of this place alone.
‘Not even foolish. really.’
The back of my father was drawn in my imagination.
Just a few days ago, my father would have been standing right here looking after the trees.
Hoping for proper fruit to be produced this year.
Even knowing that it couldn’t happen.
“… .”
Evangeline slowly removed her hand from the tree.
So what use is that now?
Even if you say that you have a heart that has not been conveyed. Even if there is an unresolved misunderstanding.
Even if there is an unhealed wound. What good is it?
Evangeline slowly looked around the desolate orchard and the villa.
‘This place is in ruins.’
My father and mother are dead and I am leaving.
‘It was ruins in the past and will be ruins in the future.’
A bitter sneer caught on Evangeline’s small lips.
at last. The ending of the Cross family who had been protecting this place for hundreds of years was such a trivial thing.
It left nothing but death and dust.
After selling the family name and remaining pride, he stuffed the gold coins into his pocket.
As the last defeated soldier, he runs away without even fighting.
Evangeline moved and stood in front of two tombstones in the backyard of the orchard.
“Dad mom.”
Evangeline, hesitating whether to keep her eyes on the grave or the tombstone, spat out slowly.
“I won’t see you anymore. I am leaving very soon.”
Though I unconsciously look forward to it, in case the unholy command falls.
There is no answer. obviously.
“There were so many things I wanted to say… I don’t even remember what it was anymore.”
shoot it… … .
The wind blew. It smelled of oak and oil in the distance.
“I’ll go.”
Evangeline suddenly felt dizzy.
My head is thumping and it feels like the ground is shaking. Am I getting wet with sentiment now?
After shaking her head to get rid of her thoughts, Evangeline smiled vaguely. I wanted to send the last one with a smile.
“… Bye.”
turn around
Evangeline hastily wiped her burning eyes with the back of her hand.
“Kuhm!”
He raised his hands and lightly tapped his cheek, then raised his head and looked ahead. It was really time to leave.
“Okay, let’s go!”
And when Evangeline got a frontal look.
Quguaguagwang-!
The stone wall fence in front of me burst right into the ground.
It was shattered at once, as if it had been hit by a huge catapult.
“… ?”
For a while, I didn’t understand the situation.
In front of Evangeline, who was frozen in surprise,
Kwajik Kwaddeuk!
Goo oh-!
A huge steam golem attacked, scattering fragments of the smashed stone wall in all directions and letting out a vicious driving sound through its entire body.
Evangeline made a dumb noise.
“uh?”
Kwajik-!
In the next moment, the golem’s huge fist struck Evangeline’s slender body.
