Episode 69 – Grave Threat (9)
“It’s co, coming. Coming!!”
Huge in size, solid in build, and appearance fitting for a monstrous charge.
As a result, the large combat troops of the Onjakgui Legion, known for their brute force, were not decimated by half as planned, but nearly 80% of them charged fully intact towards the hastily constructed barricades and defensive walls.
The bombardment continued without cease but the time given was far too short.
Finally, the moment came when the defenders clashed with the attackers.
“It’s breached!”
Though makeshift, both barricades and walls were little more than a low wall.
The Onjakguis rammed with their massive horns and trampled with their feet, breaking through the obstacles and jumping headlong into the formation of shocked Agor’s army.
“Hold your ground. If the formation breaks, it’s over…”
“Captain!”
Even elite warriors commanding soldiers were helpless in the face of such enormous creatures.
The soldiers, panicked by the immense figures of the attackers, drew their swords and stepped forward but were mercilessly trampled and crushed dead before they even had the chance to show off their refined martial skills.
Such chaos was transpiring in real time in the central forces.
“Ugh…”
“Quick, snap out of it! They’re coming!”
Moreover, the Onjakgui charge was only the beginning. The Onjakguis blindly charged forward.
After the mayhem of trampling and scattering their foes, the rest of the soldiers surged forward like waves, beginning a chaotic battle.
The surviving troops were desperately brandishing their weapons against the onrushing legion.
‘We’re almost overwhelmed.’
The queen, who can manipulate all the soldiers fighting in the current war as if they were parts of her own body, quickly and naturally, observed this chaos and was sure of her victory as everything was going precisely according to plan.
After all, when the best prepared tactics from each side directly clash, and one side falls, victory naturally flows to the other.
“Commander! This is an emergency. We need to retreat or change our plan!”
“Keh, I know that. But it’s too late to flee.”
Zumun watched all this unfolding while gritting his teeth in response to Marcela’s urgent call.
He was not stupid; he knew his prepared strategy had failed and that fleeing, thereby succumbing to panic, would only result in greater casualties.
Nothing is more fatal than an unorganized retreat.
The legion soldiers are born hunters, driven by instinct. Their true prowess is revealed when they hunt fleeing prey.
“There’s nothing to do but fight. Quickly alert all personnel. Are we going to submit to such monsters in direct combat?”
Zumun drew his large scythe, bellowing orders to his subordinates.
Having resolved to face and fight rather than retreat, even though a chaotic mêlée would prevent Onjakguis from charging, risking them trampling their own allies.
“That’s serious, huh?”
“Absolutely.”
Marcela was incredulous, but Zumun, puffing with resolve, nodded.
Though a disciplined commander, Zumun was also an Orc who favored combat.
*
“The commander has chosen to fight until the end. Indeed, at this stage, retreating after the plan failed would be impossible.”
“They’re coming this way too. Stay alert.”
The general shape of the battle was like a huge and wide wedge. My soldiers, with multiple Onjakguis positioned at the front, charged into the enemies that had positioned themselves beforehand, thus hitting them.
The moment the Onjakguis struck the central main force, other soldiers that were scattered on both the left and right wings surged forward, charging into them as well.
My clone’s position, with Kruger’s mercenaries, was among the right wing.
We have some time to observe the skirmishes in the center, but in less than a minute, my soldiers will reach the frontline to engage us.
“As you predicted, there were no Onjakguis in the flanks… But honestly, I was impressed. That huge shield nullifying our artillery fire seemed like the monsters are getting better at using and channeling mana effectively.”
Kruger seemed more experienced now; he was calm, able to watch the battle in the center and still chat with me.
Moreover, his impressions matched my expectations.
None of the demons anticipated that we could operate mana so precisely.
After all, they’d only seen simple barrier formations from alphas using mana, so this made sense.
“I told you. They keep evolving.”
“That’s right. Evolution. That’s the perfect word.”
I grinned slightly in response, prompting Kruger to nod. The concept of evolution is quite foreign to demons.
The more they are entangled with ‘us’, the more they gradually understand and grasp this concept.
“And now, we must focus on what’s ahead. Be ready.”
“Don’t worry about that. We won’t be defeated. We’re going to survive. Because I trust you.”
With the enemy approaching almost within reach, Kruger chuckled while putting on his helmet.
As he said, everything originates from what I tell him, but the battle about to unfold is real combat, not a staged fight.
I had no intention of sparing Kruger’s mercenary band. From my standpoint, only Kruger’s survival is necessary.
‘He needs to become a full-fledged hero.’
Most importantly, Kruger and his mercenary band shouldn’t settle for mere survival.
After all, my plan is to use this battle as an opportunity to make Kruger and his mercenaries even more famous and stronger.
When all factions in the Demon Realm begin to watch and fear us, another projection of myself will use them to subtly infiltrate the Demon Realm’s inner workings.
“How dare you monsters, who only cause trouble in the frontier, swarm to a place like this!”
Even as our forces continue to improve, growing larger in size and altering the composition of their bodies, it didn’t seem like the Hobgoblin detachment Ludras had trained so well posed a bigger challenge.
However, there was a clear difference. The level of power.
‘Is this the might a Count-class Orc Lord’s commander can possess? We’ve only just reached this point, yet already so many monsters of this caliber roam around.’
While intense battles raged across all fronts, I observed Commander Zumun himself wield his scythe with mana surging around him, and I was genuinely impressed.
After dismounting the mana beast he was riding, Zumun delivered a slashing attack with his enormous blade.
His target was a charging Onjakgui determined to break through the formation.
An average warrior would not dare to face such a beast with their puny swords or spears.
But someone who has reached an advanced level of skill is different. Zumun’s powerful slash was as large as a heavy truck and effortlessly cut through the Onjakgui’s large body and legs in one swift motion.
A unit of this class would certainly be considered hero-level in any game. In a sense, it also means that the target we need to achieve continues to grow ever higher.
“Fight!”
Climbing atop the body of the Onjakgui that had fallen before him, Zumun roared the command.
It was a moment of displaying the true strength of a true warrior; simultaneously, it was an excellent encouragement for panicked soldiers to regroup.
“How to put him in a bind…”
This made him as good a target as any for my plans.
As steady a pillar and beacon of hope as he has become, wouldn’t it heighten his reputation if he were gravely injured in battle and I managed to dramatically save him?
“I will go.”
“Not yet. Despite your strength, you’re still just one person. There’s still some time. So, Syla, stick to the plan and take on Marcela.”
Syla’s eagerness matched my own competitiveness.
However, I did not allow it. She should stick to the plan and engage Marcela.
Marcela, after all, is also a strong vampire dispatched from a higher-tier territory and is actively fighting on the battlefield along with Zumun.
‘Though she pretended to dislike direct involvement…’
Each time I manifested my avatar, she would boast that she had no reason to get involved.
The sight of her self-assured face being undone now wasn’t bad, I decided, and temporarily redirected my main consciousness.
Through Syla’s perspective, I could see her dashing quickly among the throng of soldiers and leaping into the air after completely reconstituting her cells into my universal cells through full-body alteration, appearing before Marcela who was fighting with her sword.
“Who… are you?”
Even Marcela felt a sense of dissonance upon seeing Syla, showing a moment of hesitation. Of course, I had already instructed her not to waste time exchanging unnecessary words.
