Chapter 226

#226 Chapter: The Tin Knight and the Tower of Greed (6)

Bruha Lognir was a participant in the “Cat Hunt.”

“Cat Hunt” was a term used among the bloodline to refer to the battle where the Friedel Territory forces were wiped out, a name carefully crafted by the cautious Gray Old Man to avoid any formal operation titles that could invite trouble.

It meant hunting those who had connections to the lion (Lenart) but weren’t the real deal (the main branch).

“Well, for a cat, it was quite ferocious.”

After all, when it comes to fishing, the bigger and stronger the catch, the more exhilarating the experience, right?

To Bruha, the Friedel forces felt just like that.

While the mooks—nothing more than a bunch of useless thieves—burned like firewood or scampered away when he waved his hand, the Friedel soldiers kept their fighting spirit till the very end.

Even some of the knights, surrounded and battered by relentless magical attacks, broke through the siege to take down a few of the wizards.

Of course, that didn’t change the overall situation.

The basic power balance favored the Tower of Control, and not only that—the tower knew all of Friedel’s movements and tactics.

From the start, they were overwhelmingly losing, so heroic efforts from a few brave souls couldn’t sway the outcome.

While Bruha usually favored fire magic over ice like those from Lognir’s bloodline, he scorched a dozen soldiers who had bravely maintained their defensive positions, ready to sacrifice themselves, and set ablaze a knight who had broken through the encirclement.

A thrilling but ultimately predetermined fight was truly a delightful and sweet experience.

And now, another battlefield awaited Bruha, where victory was guaranteed.

“Lord Bruha, reinforcements have arrived from the Hrunal Territory.”

“Then how many troops are currently stationed in this castle?”

“23 3rd Grade Wizards, 92 2nd Grade Wizards, and 304 1st Grade Wizards. 75 knights and 1,100 regular troops. This doesn’t include the non-combat labor force or potential conscripts from the surrounding feudal lords.”

Those were absurd numbers, an outrageous force.

Sure, you could brush off the 1st Grade Wizards since many wouldn’t even qualify as apprentices in other towers, but 2nd Grade Wizards and knights could easily make a living elsewhere. That only made it worse.

A whistle escaped from Bruha’s lips.

“Impressive. Can’t we simply gather our forces and wage war against most places with this?”

“Because the troops, which were originally scattered across various regions, are now being concentrated in key locations. According to our staff predictions, we believe we can alone crush all territories below the five major cities of the Rokria Federation and below the capital of the Ionia Kingdom.”

“And the Empire?”

“Well, for smaller places, sure, but for any Count-level territories, it’s wise to join up with other units.”

“Seems like it’s not going to be a walk in the park.”

Still, Bruha’s expression wasn’t all that bad.

That’s because Bruha’s army was just one of many scattered throughout the Tower of Control.

If the currently controlling force of a quarter of the Magical Kingdom could produce this level of strength, just think how strong they’d be after swallowing all the other towers!

How incredibly sweet would a war be where they could overpower their enemies with such enhanced strength?

“If the Master of the Tower had followed his original plan to steadily grow our power, I wouldn’t have stepped onto the battlefield for several decades. They say the one who killed Giras, Skoll, and Harty was the Eastern Witch’s Apprentice? I ought to thank them.”

As Bruha erupted into a hearty laugh, his aide joined him in the chuckles.

At the castle gates where Bruha lingered, the sentinels on the tall walls noticed something strange.

“Hey, what’s that over there?”

“Huh? Where?”

“Over there! It’s moving! It looks like a ship!”

“Dude, there’s not even a river nearby, what the frozen hell could it be? It’s far off, but isn’t it just a really big wagon?”

“No, it’s definitely a ship!”

“This guy’s lost his marbles… Hey, what’s coming this way?”

Their debate didn’t last long.

Whatever they argued over—a ship or a wagon—something came barreling towards the castle they were guarding.

Only when the object got closer did the soldiers realize it was a knight on horseback.

“What the…? An envoy? But that horse is massive!”

“No, man, not just big but incredibly fast!”

Even as the unidentified knight approached the castle gates, the soldiers didn’t feel much sense of crisis.

After all, they were at a fortress guarded by thousands of troops.

The idea of a single knight busting in here to cause trouble seemed absurd.

They had to report, given that a person had come.

“Commander! A knight has arrived at the front gate! No flags or anything!”

“What? Just one?”

The commander looked puzzled but seemingly realized it could be a noble and moved to the edge of the battlements.

Meanwhile, the knight dismounted and sent his horse trotting back in the direction he came from.

The bizarre action left both the soldiers and the commander momentarily confused.

At that moment—

Drurururu!

An eerie sound like stone being carved echoed in their ears.

“What, what was that!?”

They couldn’t see it from their angle.

That dozens of large grooves had appeared at intervals on the surface of the castle walls.

The Tin Knight had quickly fashioned ‘footholds,’ swiftly scaling the wall.

As the Tin Knight reached the top of the battlement, the heads of nearby soldiers and the commander soared into the air, separated from their bodies.

But they weren’t the only sentries on the broad wall, and soon enough, other sentries shouted.

“Enemy attack! We’re under attack—”

Swish!

In an instant, the Tin Knight severed all the soldiers on the wall.

The tiny skull attached to his necklace began to sing.

“Forward! Forward! The filthy old man’s blood is up ahead!”

Following the skull’s helpful guidance, the Tin Knight charged ahead.

Naturally, the enemies wouldn’t let that go unchallenged.

“There! The intruder is here!”

Ready for battle, the soldiers were well-equipped, and their response speed was remarkable.

Charging toward the incoming horde with dozens of soldiers, the Tin Knight didn’t hesitate.

Boom!

The all-metal Tin Knight’s charge was deadly all on its own.

The soldier who collided with him flew backward with the sound of crushed bones, and at the same time, the soldiers’ spears stabbed at the Tin Knight, but without magical power, their attacks did no more than leave scratches.

Rather than wasting magical energy on those opponents with sword strikes, the Tin Knight engaged in pure hand-to-hand combat.

He swung his sword, parried with his shield, kicked, and elbowed.

These weren’t newly recruited troops just holding weapons; dozens of seasoned regular soldiers were unexpectedly butchered in a split second.

And before the blood could fully soak the ground, an array of spells rained down upon the Tin Knight’s head.

He rolled sideways to dodge.

Grabbing one of the brick fragments caused by the explosion in his hand, he gauged the direction of the incoming attack and the flow of magical power from his surroundings, then, as he stood up, he hurled the brick.

“Don’t stop the attack! Crush them completely—”

Boom!

The wizard giving orders had his head smashed to bits in an instant.

Splattered with blood and brain matter, the magicians around him panicked, wiping their faces in shock.

It was a gap.

Gaps created not from magical skill but from unfamiliarity with the harsh reality of war.

The Tin Knight’s feet slammed into the ground.

Several spirits and magical automatons tried to block the way to protect their master.

The Tin Knight’s eyes quickly scanned the enemies.

How much output was needed to chop off the neck of the magical automaton in front of him? Where was the core of the spirit? Which way would be more beneficial to confuse the battlefield—killing them outright or half-killing to make them go berserk?

These weren’t actions thought out step by step.

However, the memories etched in the Tin Knight’s body and that vast combat experience produced the most optimal and efficient actions in the blink of an eye.

Once again, enemies were swept away in a moment.

Although there were endless opponents, the Tin Knight moved more freely than ever.

Without needing to restrict his movements to protect someone, he literally stirred up chaos in the castle.

If he engaged the enemy from the west, he would suddenly emerge from the east, and when he saw a weak structure, he’d destroy it to bury the enemies while slipping away when the situation turned slightly unfavorable.

“Where the hell are you hiding?”

If this had been an open plain, the situation wouldn’t have developed this way.

Facing wizards, knights, and soldiers gathered in the fortress would have meant that even the Tin Knight couldn’t guarantee victory.

But a fight, a battlefield, isn’t just a game where the side with higher total power wins.

Even if you had thousands of soldiers, the number that could fight in one location was limited, and even if the power of the wizards was enormous, only a minuscule fraction could be directed at the Tin Knight, who darted in and out of spaces.

The death toll, which started at a mere three right after the battle began, reached a hundredfold in less than thirty minutes.

What was most terrifying for the enemies was how, despite the continual movement, the Tin Knight’s actions never slowed down.

If a human were to move like this, they would be gasping for breath or suffering some kind of injury, but the concept of fatigue didn’t exist for magical automatons.

Well, for an ordinary magical automaton, perhaps mechanical parts might creak after running non-stop, but the Tin Knight’s body had a self-repair function.

Even if joints or other parts might get strained and creak, as long as magical energy was fed, repairs could happen concurrently with combat.

It was as if, right from the moment of creation, it was designed for endless battles.

Thus, the fight continued, and exactly 30 minutes in—

“Supplies! Supplies! Front gate!”

Following the guidance of the skull necklace, the Tin Knight burst through the very front gate he had charged into.

At that moment, a girl dressed in white magician robes suddenly popped up out of thin air.

The girl, Gale, asked, “Retreat or continue?”

The Tin Knight raised his right hand.

Gale chuckled lightly, placing her hand on the Tin Knight’s back and channeling magical energy into him.

It was Dorothy’s magical energy, so familiar it was uncanny.

“I’ll throw in a little service while I’m at it.”

“Storage!” “Levitate!” “Belonging!”

Words rose around Gale, merging into a glowing orb that floated around the Tin Knight.

Then, the excess magical energy from Dorothy that the Tin Knight’s vessel couldn’t fully absorb was absorbed by those orbs.

“If you’re running low on magical energy, just break it to absorb it. The conversion efficiency is low, so you can’t use these without Dorothy’s support, but for you, this is probably the best option, right?”

The Tin Knight gave a thumbs up in approval.

Gale tipped her hat and nodded before stomping down on the castle wall’s ledge with the heel of her shoe.

At that moment, Gale’s figure vanished.

“Here! Here it is—cough!”

[‘Tin Knight’ boldly declares he’ll cap it off with a neat four-digit number!]