Episode 228 Abyss Crusade – Continent Wall (4)
Those who could not sleep deeply or were awake due to the noise of the ceaseless battle, responded to my cry late, but those who were fainting from the fatigue of the long battle did not.
“Aaaah!”
“My legs, my legs!”
The thin but abnormally strong arms of the drones that rose up from the ground out of nowhere broke the legs of the soldiers who had no idea what was going on.
“Go away, damn it!”
“Save me! help me!”
The camp quickly fell into confusion due to a sudden surprise attack from an unimaginable place, including the completely unprepared rear and under the ground.
“damn! “Assemble all of Gaston’s cavalry and fight back!”
“Oh, I understand, Your Excellency the Marquis!”
This is the worst.
The reason we are able to fight against drones with strength and agility that overwhelm humans is because we have engaged in group warfare unique to humans.
Even if they had not made up for their lack of physical ability with firearms, they could have cooperated and fought against each other, but there was no way that could be possible against enemies who suddenly appeared in the middle of the camp like this.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Run away, run away… ugh!”
As the battle unfolds, the drones, which have no weak points other than their heads, are almost massacring their allies.
“Hee hee huh!”
As I used my sword to blow off the head of the drone that was targeting the soldier who had fallen on the ground, the soldier, who was shedding tears, repeatedly lowered his head.
“Thank you! thank you! “Your Excellency the Marquis!”
“Go tell Commander Mirbo! “Send the Revolutionary Guards to the rear!”
“Yes yes?”
I had to frown at the soldier who was so panicked that he couldn’t even understand.
Damn it at times like this-
“Your Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette!”
The voice of a much-needed person was heard.
“Bashe! Go tell Mirbo! Put the Revolutionary Guards in the rear and send any remaining reserves with them! “Make sure that the units fighting on the front are not shaken, but since the reserve force has been reduced, narrow the defense line inward and allow them to retreat!”
“Oh, I understand, Your Excellency the Marquis!”
“Your Excellency the Marquis!”
Hearing the urgent cries of the soldier who had fallen to the ground, I immediately swung my sword, cut off the arm that was reaching out to me, and then slashed it back down, blowing off his head.
The drone, which lost its head, slowly falls to the floor.
“Come to your senses and protect your body!”
“Ugh… I understand!”
I started running right away.
If the battle line begins to collapse due to the confusion in the rear, it is the end.
There were quite a few troops resting in the rear, but they were helpless in this situation. Can the Revolutionary Guard and Gaston suppress them?
No, I have no choice but to believe that it will be suppressed.
There is something more important now, so I must go there!
After running frantically, cutting down every drone I could see, I arrived at the door and-
“Ugh!”
He suddenly blew off the head of the drone that was trying to stab Louis with his arm.
“Thank you, Your Excellency the Marquis.”
Damn it, I almost saw Christine shedding tears of blood.
I immediately pulled out a dagger and stabbed the back of the head of the drone that was charging at another mage, and asked while taking a deep breath.
“What about the damage from the Magic Division? “Director Maxim?”
I was shocked to hear that his voice was full of irritation and impatience, but this is a serious problem.
If you make a mistake, here’s where-
“Ugh, how on earth do these things move! “I want to rip it open!”
Fortunately, Director Maxim, who pierced the drone’s head with lightning magic, came out unharmed, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
…Is now the time to say something like that?
Lewis jumped up from his seat and answered.
“Six people were hit. I’m sorry… I was unable to fight back properly because I used up almost all of my magic power to build the door.”
I put my hand on my forehead.
Since this was a surprise attack from the rear, where they believed they were most safely protected, the mages could be attacked.
However, there were 20 magicians who followed the advance team. Six of them died.
I went to Director Maxim and asked.
“Captain, how is the construction of the gate…”
“It looks like the gate is being built right now? You have to keep us safe so you don’t have to do anything! Why are the drones suddenly here? “Even if it doesn’t take 6 people, it’ll be 3 more days-”
I think I know what it feels like for the sky to turn yellow.
“I’ll give you two days. No matter what happens, it’s in there…”
“No, does that mean that’s the case? Is it safe from now on in the first place? Didn’t I trust you guys and spend all my mana and then get hit? “If I had used up all my mana without thinking, I would have suffered too!”
I was so irritated that I started to refute without realizing it.
“How can you expect an attack from underground!”
“No, so you’re saying it could be like this in the future? Is there any guarantee that something like this will not happen in the future? Are you going to dig up all the land here?”
“Your Excellency the Marquis!”
When I got angry and raised my sword, Louis was shocked and Maxim also flinched.
But I shouted as I hacked at the dirt at Maxim’s feet with my sword.
“Look! There is no such thing as a tunnel! These guys were probably buried in the ground before we even got here! I’m going to make a surprise attack like this! Drones are neither hungry nor tired, so burying them in advance would have been a perfect surprise attack! But this is just a one-time surprise!
“If they had come by digging a tunnel under our camp in the first place, there is no way we wouldn’t have felt anything. And if there were more of these guys, they would have taken them all out now and annihilated us!”
“Oh, I understand. I’m sorry. “Stop being so surprised.”
Maxim looked at me and flinched and looked away, so I sighed and turned my back.
“We will narrow the defense line as much as possible and, just in case, we will assign a separate escort unit for the Magic Division. Please do so within two days.”
* * *
The Allied forces responded as best they could.
In order to prevent the Allied forces from being shaken by the unprecedented surprise attack of drones buried under the ground suddenly jumping out and attacking, the reserve and front-line units were thoroughly separated, and elite units, including the Revolutionary Guards and Cuirassier Cavalry, destroyed all the drones that invaded the main camp. .
However, Paimon launched an all-out offensive at the same time as an internal surprise attack, and we had to pay a high price.
“Casualties are serious, Marquis de Lafayette. “The imperial army alone numbered over 6,000, and the allied forces combined already exceeded 20,000.”
said Jill von Leonhardt with a serious face.
20,000, 20,000.
The total number of troops in the advance guard is 100,000, of which 20,000.
The damage caused by Paimon’s total offensive in conjunction with the drone raid in just one day is more serious than the combined casualties of the days spent on this island.
“Well… His Excellency the Marquis. There is also a big problem with military fatigue. Because of the surprise attack, not only the shift troops but also the guard troops could not rest and fought all night. Now, even if we try to split the troops and rotate them, the defense line is pushed back, there is a noise problem, and the soldiers are so afraid of the ground below that they can’t rest properly….” “I
told you damn it! “If there were more drones underground, they would have taken them all out and finished us off a long time ago!”
Damien was cut off by me and closed his mouth.
I know it’s not Damien’s fault.
From the soldiers’ point of view, they have no business understanding such tactical concepts, so they will only be aware of the reality that their comrades who went to rest after their shifts were killed in droves.
“Tell the officers… to reassure the soldiers as much as possible that there will be no more underground surprise attacks.”
“All right.”
Damien answered hesitantly.
I know this is too much to ask.
There aren’t many officers, and they are so overwhelmed with managing the defense line right now that when they shift, they are busy taking a break. What’s the point of reassuring them?
But there is a problem, and the commander-in-chief cannot publicly admit that he has no answer.
In such desperate and dark times.
As I was rubbing my tired and stuffy eyes with my hands, General Scharnhorst of Krafte spoke.
“Is the ammunition stockpile okay?”
“…The construction of the gate has been delayed and the battle has become longer than planned, so I hope the Krafte army will reduce its consumption a little.”
Those damn Krafte guys use it like it’s not their money.
Thanks to this, the losses are minimal and it is the army with the most intact military power, but we can no longer afford to do that.
Fortunately, General Scharnhorst unexpectedly nodded willingly.
“I understand, more than that. “The consensus among our staff is that they are preparing for a final general offensive.”
“…I guess so.”
The fighting, which had continued continuously for several days, virtually stopped.
Paimon launched an all-out offensive with a surprise attack by drones rising from under the ground. Since then, he has only been sending small drones sporadically to keep us on our toes.
“Hahaha, it’s finally coming! “It will be a very glorious battle!”
Crocs stroked his fangs with his hand and burst into laughter.
I tried to smile at him, but not everyone has such tireless courage and stamina.
The soldiers’ condition, which had been maintained by taking turns resting, collapsed in a single surprise attack.
Even so, it is not easy to fall back on the defense line and sleep while listening to all the sounds of artillery fire and battle noise, and even the fear beneath the ground.
Even if we reassure the soldiers as much as possible, trauma does not go away that easily, so it is not something that can be resolved in a short period of time.
As they incur enormous losses, there is a lack of reserve forces to shift in a timely manner, and since there are no reserve forces, the vicious cycle of working hours inevitably increasing naturally accelerates.
We are clearly exhausted and our morale is dropping. We are able to endure this much because we are humanity’s most elite military.
Two days.
The Magic Division asked for three days, but all we could endure was two days at best.
Will I be able to survive those two days?
But I didn’t even have enough time to think about it.
Because Giselle Darby shouted as she rushed over.
“It’s an enemy attack! Judging by its scale, it is an all-out offensive!”
I suppressed the urge to sigh and stood up with my sword in hand.
“This will be the last offensive. The end is not far away. We have done our best and will do our best until the end. “To each person’s location.”
* * *
When I went outside, for some reason the fog that had been so thick today had lightened.
Thanks to this, our field of view was much wider than usual…
and we were devastated.
“Is there… an end to that?”
“What the hell…”
I let out a laugh.
Drone drone drone drone and drone.
It was as if the offensive so far had been a joke.
Near-infinite waves are crashing in.
I let out a sigh.
“…Wake up all the troops who went to shift and gather them.”
“I understand, Your Excellency the Marquis!”
I know that this is a terrible decision for us as we have to endure it for two days.
However, it is very clear that we will not be able to stop such a wave of attacks without drawing all of our current troops and squeezing all our remaining strength.
Is it possible to stop it by squeezing it out?
“Artillery fire!”
“Feuer!”
“All guns fired!”
At the officers’ instructions, a shell flies out with a roar and hits a swarm of drones.
The explosion caused by the explosive shell sweeps across the ground, crushing the drones, and heavy metal bullets pass by, crushing the drones in a line.
However, the destroyed drone was soon buried by waves of other drones. As if our feeble resistance would be buried just like that.
The light infantry’s fire and the line infantry’s fire.
It is impossible to block the waves of drones that surge like a tide.
As I watched the endless waves of drones eventually attack our camp, I had a hunch that this was the end.
“Your Excellency the Marquis.”
Nevertheless, I drew my sword.
“…There is no place to retreat to. Deploy all troops.”
Even if he is defeated by heavy losses, he fights until his last breath.
I can’t repeat the frustration and guilt I felt when I finally gave up in Iberica.
“We are the bulwark of humanity, so defeat is not acceptable! Allied Forces, follow me!”
“Follow His Excellency the Marquis!”
I kicked off my horse and started galloping to the front line.
Even as I race towards the overwhelming wave of drones, the Allied Forces, including the Cuirassier and Gaston, naturally follow behind me.
Is this choice of mine different from the end of the Blue Knight?
Before he could respond, the sword sliced open the drone’s throat.
While swinging the sword in a trance, I suddenly lost words.
Before I could even count how many drones I had cut down, I came face to face with a red devil with countless drones.
“Ah, it’s beautiful. So beautiful… Pierre. “To the point where I want to stuff it in its exact form.”
Paimon smiles deeply and speaks in an eerie way, as if whispering love.
I turned my head and looked at the Allied forces, who were struggling but were eventually buried by the overwhelming waves of enemies.
“It’s your loss, Pierre.”
Laughter flows.
Defeat. Defeat…
I just adjusted my sword and held it.
At least, if I don’t do my best until the moment my life ends, I won’t have to see Christine even after I die.
“Don’t be too discouraged. “It was a fight I had such an overwhelming advantage in from the beginning, so I don’t intend to belittle your efforts…”
Paimon stopped talking.
And the air changed.
For some reason, the fog that felt like it had cleared is slowly being pushed away.
what?
The moment he thought that, Paimon groaned.
“What is this…”
The ground rumbles.
Not the unpleasantly mechanically regular sound of drones.
The disorderly noise produced by countless living things.
And an echo that I have heard many times.
This is the cavalry.
The moment I thought that, the cavalry attacked from the side.
“Charge, revolutionary army! For Franzia!”
Louis Desget’s shout filled with magical power resonates throughout the battlefield, and the cuirassiers carrying the Franzian flag gallop forward, trampling the drones and crushing them.
Deje? Why am I here when I left my country behind?
“Go forward, move forward! For Krafte, for His Majesty the Great, for His Majesty Heinrich!”
The cavalry, wearing the distinctive jet-black uniforms of the Krafte Army’s cavalry, is running alongside the king’s flag, the eagle holding a scepter.
Before I could tell what was happening, a wave of cavalry was tearing the drones apart – I was running with them, and my eyes widened when I saw a person running towards me on a horse.
“This is ridiculous!”
Paimon ran at me with anger, but I struck off Paimon’s claws with my sword, pushed him away, jumped up, and got on the horse.
The long black hair blowing in front of me disturbs my vision.
“…Christine?”
Am I seeing something wrong now?
“Don’t talk to me, Pierre. I’m so angry after seeing you commit suicide again that I can’t stand it.”
Christine’s tone is cold, but she is dressed in an admiral’s uniform and is riding a horse in front of me.
“How are you here?”
Instead of answering, Christine turned her gaze back –
and the moment I turned my head to follow her, a ray of light erupted.
The light that emanates with the power to dispel all the purple fog drives away fatigue and despair from my body and the bodies of all of us that were collapsing, and breathes life into it.
The purple fog that had been tormenting us so terribly is being swept away by the storm of light.
And Eris’s voice, filled with divine power, rang out across the battlefield.
“Do not give up!”
