269. Hero Hunt (3)
The drum sounds and the siege tower moves.
Siege towers are made primarily of wood, so they are weak to fire. Saerin, who had ordered to prepare fire arrows as soon as she spotted them from afar, hastily changed her orders when she saw the flames dying out without being able to rekindle the fire.
“Fire arrows won’t do! Stones! Use catapults!”
I’ve prepared some water! Looking closer, it was also covered with fire-resistant leather. So needlessly thorough…!
Did you think we would just suck our fingers while the enemy prepared siege towers?
‘We prepared a catapult.’
Following the command, stones were immediately loaded into the catapult and a firing signal was given.
A large stone flew into the sky. The rocks pouring down, filling the blue sky, were quite spectacular. It was even more so when I saw the enemies coming in coming at me dying one by one.
The main target was, of course, the siege tower.
As the catapult is launched, boulders close to rocks fly towards the siege tower. and.
Kwaaaa!!
There was a loud noise.
“…crazy.”
“What is that…!”
“I broke the rock with a javelin!”
Dust flies and you can hear the sound of small stone chips falling down.
In addition to someone’s shouting, Saerin found Deon holding a spear in front of the siege tower and inevitably gritted his teeth.
There was no need to understand the situation. He then threw his spear at a falling rock toward another siege tower.
Wedge! A sound as if tearing the air rang through the battlefield. A spear flying at a faster speed than an arrow precisely shatters the rock. Evenly broken stone debris without any large lumps poured down again.
Meanwhile, Deon took out another spear and spoke softly.
“Keep pushing.”
Even though the voice was not loud, no one could hear it.
“Woo wow!!”
“Daeon is with you!”
“Keep pushing!”
Immediately, the morale of the demons rose. They push in like crazy, not paying attention to the rain of arrows and rocks.
I felt my allies falter. Saerin looked at our soldiers who were visibly demoralized and uttered a curse.
“You monster…”
Are you really the same person?
***
Breaking rocks with a javelin required more concentration than expected.
If you deviate from the ‘center point’ even just a little, the rock will not become crumbs but will be divided into large and small rocks. Even in the process of being hit by a spear and falling into pieces, the direction of the fall may change, causing damage to someone inadvertently, so it was impossible to do it roughly.
So I didn’t pay any attention to the communication seat in my arms.
Tuk.
“ah.”
In the process of throwing a javelin for an unknown number of times, the communication stone, which could not withstand the violent movement, flew out of the pocket. If that were all it was, I would have just picked it up again, but the problem was that it fell where my foot stepped.
Wazizik. The communication stone beneath my feet was broken.
“…this.”
At first glance, it looks like it can never be used again. After all, during the war… A faint look of despair appeared in my eyes as I looked down at the pulverized communication stone.
Moreover, before it broke, something… was shining as if there was a communication…
‘It’ll be okay…?’
It’s uncomfortable, but the war is already in full swing and there’s no turning back now. For this reason alone, he could not turn back during the war, so Deon suppressed his nervousness and aimed his spear at the falling rock.
Kwaaaang!! thud!
Another rock shattered and fell, and the siege tower, which advanced at a frightening speed, crashed into the castle wall. As soon as the leg came down, Milan, who was in charge of temporary command, continued to shout.
“Come on, let’s go!”
“Waaaa!!”
The murderous spirits inside poured out.
“blind!”
“What…!”
Naturally, there was no normal battle as people think.
While some people hesitated at the absurd action of suddenly poking their eyes with their fingers, Deon leisurely climbed down onto the castle wall.
“Let’s see… the device that opens the castle gate…”
“Whoa!”
“Where was it?”
He roughly grabbed the neck of someone nearby and bit him.
The soldier of the Mountain Country, facing bright red eyes right in front of him, trembles and struggles with all his might. Then, as if he realized that no matter what he did, he couldn’t escape this grip on his own, at some point his body relaxed and went limp.
Contrary to his actions, he looked at Deon Hardt with a rather stern look.
“Better kill me.”
“…okay?”
“…”
“Well… there are a lot of people and the devices related to the gates are in similar positions, so it doesn’t really matter…”
The gaze is a bit annoying.
It’s not just a look of loyalty, it’s this uncomfortable yet familiar feeling that bothers me.
As unpleasant emotions are revealed on his face, his voice is filled with evil, as if he senses death or is about to make a decision. The raised voice pierced my eardrums.
“Do you think there would be someone here who would tell you that? We are soldiers loyal to His Majesty the King!”
“….”
“We would rather die than bother your majesty!”
Ah, I know where I saw these eyes.
Fanatic. The fanatics’ eyes looked exactly like this. I heard that the entire country called Sanguk is a group of fanatics who only follow one king. I never thought I would see this before my eyes.
I laughed out loud. Deon threw the guy in a fit of discomfort as if bugs were crawling all over his body for a moment. I heard a loud noise, but I walked away without turning around.
‘After all, it would be better to move alone.’
Also, seeing those eyes makes me feel quite dirty.
As it happens, the crazy dogs are fighting well, controlling their distance on their own without being left behind.
“Suck.”
…The monster plants are also working hard to help, so there shouldn’t be a problem.
I swept away the monster plant that was blocking the blind attack coming towards me, as if I was proud, and kicked the ground.
In an attempt to stop the storm moving toward its destination, the soldiers of the Shan State desperately grabbed their weapons and blocked the way, but there was no one present who could slow down his steps.
The gate was opened.
The waiting demon king’s army enters, and the murderous knights manage to find Deon Hart and his group in the midst of the chaos and join them.
At that point, there was no one who could stop them.
San-guk, who had been helplessly pushed back despite desperate resistance, finally struggles as if cornered. Even though it was almost like a final struggle and the progress was going slower than expected, Deon remained calm.
‘After all, time is on our side.’
I turned to the side and watched the situation, but suddenly an ominous feeling went up my spine and stabbed my brain.
Deon frowned reflexively and grabbed his weapon. My eyes were busy rolling and looking around.
‘what? what is the problem?’
Clearly things are going smoothly.
…I thought about it for a moment and it seemed like there was some commotion in the back…
‘Oh, no way.’
As soon as I realized the commotion and turned around, a loud voice rang out.
“Proud Imperial Army!”
“…her.”
An outfit you can never recognize and a familiar shout.
As people who were not included in the calculations came into view, Deon reflexively sighed.
The imperial general, who had no way of understanding the question and absurdity in his eyes as to why you were here, stood proudly and shouted.
“Make the demons thoroughly realize the price of invading the human world!”
“Glory to the Empire!!”
The air roars and the earth shakes.
Even though it was a thing of the past, it seemed as if the glory of the past still remained, and the imperial army was advancing towards this direction, radiating a spirit that could not be ignored.
***
Just before the Empire’s support arrived.
The soldiers of the Shan State, cornered, turned to their king.
What should I do now? Please reply, Your Majesty. Please come up with
a clever plan to overturn this situation… Your Highness, Your Highness…
“… just hold on a little longer.”
Fanaticism comes with side effects.
This time, the King of the Mountain Country, who was vividly feeling the side effects, spoke calmly without showing it, even though the eyes of those who only relied on him and blindly followed him were making his shoulders heavy.
“The situation will soon turn around.”
Even if Rweche doesn’t know, the empire will definitely come. It will come before the mountain country collapses.
She clearly remembers the conversation she had with Elpidius, the current Emperor of the Empire, after the final game with Deonhardt.
I was concerned about what I heard from Deon Hardt, so even though I had finished all the important business, I asked carefully instead of cutting off communication right away. It was an extremely impulsive remark made from a mind that had withdrawn from the emotions of early morning.
[If Deonhardt had a hidden situation… what would you do?]
Elpidius’ answer was decisive.
[There is no one in the world without a story.]
[….]
[Of course, he had a story too. But it’s not just him.]
He seemed a little angry.
[I got into trouble due to his actions. No matter what happened to him, in the end, from my perspective, he is one of my few family members and the enemy who killed the world. But are you now urging me to be considerate by mentioning his situation? To the victims who lost their families?]
[That’s not what I meant. I apologize if it came across that way.]
[…I apologize if I over-interpreted it, but before that, I really want to tell you this. A needle stuck in my hand hurts more than a sword stuck in someone else’s stomach. Even more so, does what happened to me seem like nothing more than a needle?]
[….]
I don’t know much, but I know that the imperial family at the time was in harmony.
Perhaps, to them, former Emperor Edoardo was more than just a family member or protector, but also a strong protector. As he said, it would have been one world. Then, overnight, I lost that ‘world’ and was thrown into an unfamiliar and dangerous world.
[That was a question I shouldn’t have asked in the first place.]
I’m sorry.
Yeonhwa readily admitted her mistake.
The voice seemed to have calmed down a bit, as if the anger had been alleviated by the neat apology.
[…Our enemy is a warrior who goes on a rampage and seeks to destroy the human world. Don’t even wonder about the story of this guy whose crimes are worse than simple criminals. Even if you sympathize with him, the only thing you will get is hurt.]
Because you have to kill him anyway.
Even though it was only a simple voice, the cool resentment hidden behind the firmness was clearly felt. It seems like he will do anything to kill Deon Hardt, regardless of whether it is in the national interest or not. There is no reason for someone like that not to send troops here.
And as expected.
“Proud Imperial Army!”
The troops have arrived.
At the same time, a group of troops appeared at some point, as if they had come through a pre-arranged passage, and quietly approached them and greeted them. Yeonhwa smiled softly.
***
The imperial army has arrived.
Was it just the imperial army that came? Esperanes’ mercenaries also came as if it were a given.
The man who appeared to be the commander drew his sword and raised it.
“You got paid, it’s time to work!”
“With money comes responsibility!”
“Let’s do as much as we get!”
It was absurd. Deon continued to laugh.
Their slogans may be absurd, but that aside. It’s absurd that there wasn’t even a single communication from this side with that many troops moving around.
“These bastards…”
A growling curse came out.
Do you think I sent my precious troops to the empire for no reason? It was not only a simple check, but also to serve as a watchdog, sending immediate notification in case the empire did something foolish.
I got angry and tried to take out the communication seat… but stopped.
‘Oh, the communication seat was broken.’
Deon looked dumbfounded as he remembered the communication table that seemed to have made contact just before he accidentally stepped on it and broke it.
‘Then that call….’
Was it a call that Jiwon had departed?
I see you have been contacted. I just didn’t get it.
“…Fuck. Yeah, it’s fun.”
I gave up my regrets about the already late contact and raised my head to look at the situation.
Although they offered at best a choice, the King of the Mountain Kingdom found another way and chose a third option. Yes, this is how a king is. It wasn’t fun at all, but somehow it made me laugh.
“Support! Support has arrived!”
“Our King is not wrong!”
“For His Majesty the King!”
The morale of the Shan State had already boiled over, and the entrance and exit they had been pushing through were blocked by the imperial army.
In front of you is a mountain country, and behind you is an empire. If you’re not careful, it’s a perfect situation for you to end up stuck like a sandwich.
Deon, who glanced at the mad dogs who were still fighting well without any stragglers or major injuries, called a nearby demon general.
“there.”
