Chapter 871 – Swamp in the Swampwood Forest (7)
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Tirsi, who climbed the wall carrying the Nord, could understand why the escorts were looking for her.
Azwishia is a fortress city built on top of a valley resembling a slide. That’s why the monsters coming up from the fork in the gorge were reminiscent of schools of salmon running against the rapids.
A large army of monsters rushed in regardless of the fact that the retreat path was blocked in the canyons on the left and right.
〈… The ground rumbles.〉
Fran’s whispers were hidden by footsteps.
Thump, thump, thump, thump… !!
The advance of rock tortoises weighing much more than humans and fully armed mouse humans made the entire valley tremble.
Regardless of whether or not they have transcendent power, it was the advance of Comrade Gyeongcheon that made even the girls gathered on the wall give goosebumps.
The bravery of the soldiers who kept their cool even on the outside was astonishing.
〈A rock turtle that lives in a nearby canyon, and a lab planter that breeds them. Lab Flinters, in particular, deal with magic like goblins and ogres. That’s also innate.〉
When Tirsi answered Dana’s question, Nefertiti added a word.
The flying harpies did not affect Jin’s intimidation, but they sat in the canyon like crows devouring corpses or roamed around, creating unrest.
Birds with maliciously distorted faces of old women. Regardless of gender, displeasure preceded the appearance of her brazenly sticking out her droopy breasts.
Lalilura said as if she was very lucky.
〈Worried that the family will grow♡!〉
“Oh, that’s definitely a fucking serious problem.”
Dana, who was serious, relieved her tension by replying with a joke—something serious.
Now that her wife has increased a little more, they didn’t think this or that, but if it was a monster, wouldn’t it be a little different.
The 1st Guards Commander covered the manual this time and spoke.
The elevation and height difference of the valley also applies to creatures that fly in the sky.
Azwishia is blocked on the left and right by the canyon. In order to detour and aim for the sky, you would have to travel more than four times the distance to the front entrance.
‘The flapping of wings is also a kind of marching. Although there are many, the harpies who have overcome the terrain and have lost their stamina are not formidable.>
“But numbers are numbers. Wouldn’t it be too much to spread the wires on both sides of the sky and the ground?〉
Captain Ho launched the crystal ball, which he had managed through thorough regular maintenance.
─Kurrureung!!
A thunderous sound erupted, and the magic item installed in the canyon exploded.
Clouds of dirt poured down as if to bury the monsters who were about to climb up the valley. It was a precursor to a landslide. It is a trump card that blocks the only single road.
Captain Hoguk explained with pride that the budget execution was worth it.
‘Even if you can’t bury them all, you can disrupt formations and terrain. With this——〉
Let’s slow down the monster’s advance, drain more morale and health, and fight back.
It was the moment Captain Hobyeong tried to explain.
Rab Flinter, the mouse-man riding on the biggest rock turtle, leaped high.
The guy who seemed to be the boss of Rap Flinter had a strangely gigantic body and a round back, thrusting the waving greatsword he was holding into the ground.
Earth’s mana pierced the ground and crawled up the canyon.
─Rumble!!
The canyon that was about to collapse in the explosion stopped shaking as if someone had grabbed it.
And that wasn’t all. As the gorge they were sitting in collapsed, a harpy flew up with a temper and hovered in place, blowing the wind with its wings.
─Hwaaaaa!!!
The flap of the monster’s wings created a storm.
Among the dirt and stone fragments that were pouring down, the light ones were pushed by the wind and accelerated. Fragments of the landslide, which turned into dense, small arrows, penetrated the single road in the valley and rushed over the fortress walls.
A magic barrier rose in response to urgent instructions.
An energy attenuating barrier that is advantageous for wave attack and defense battles! Since it was a force field, not material, the barrier was not broken, but instead the wind that pierced the barrier rushed in like yellow dust.
─Poof. Veronica put her wand behind her.
In an instant, Veronica, her horns glowing, covered her with a barrier of runic magic.
Even the wind, which meticulously broke through the castle walls creating turbulence, could not pierce her shield.
However, she and her away from the walls of her castle, sand, dirt and gravel swarmed and harassed her soldiers. There was no protective gear to protect her eyes, so soldiers coughed and threw off their helmets one after another.
It was because even Veronica had too little time to spread her shield wider.
The ugly harpy queen looked at Veronica and bared her fangs in displeasure. Veronica fiddled with her veil over her head as she absent-mindedly squinted her eyes.
The staff member, who luckily kept an eye on him, gave instructions while wiping his face, then found millet-sized seeds smeared on his arm, and his face turned pale.
Didn’t see the process of mixing something? Fran said to him who couldn’t help but panic.
〈It was mixed in the landslide from the beginning.〉
〈… From scratch? Could it be that the lab planters secretly mixed it up at night?〉
Since it is nocturnal, Rap Planter is the only monster with bright night vision.
However, as you can imagine just by looking at the appearance of the bird and the rat, the two monster races were truly dog-like. It is mysterious that they are cooperating with each other, let alone sharing the contents of the operation?
‘… Operations?’
Captain Ho was even more surprised at the thought he had come up with.
Operations? Is it an operation? Neither Rap Planter nor Harpy were monsters with low intelligence. Even if they didn’t notice the explosives in the gorge, this level of planning was not a strategy at the level of monsters.
〈… Shake off the mandrake!! If the flowers bloom, it will interfere with battle!!
Since harpies use charm magic, magic items that protect the mind were spread, but at most the performance was only about the level of supplies.
Mandrake is a plant-type monster that drives people mad to death with its screams!
The roots that grew up in this short period of time would not kill people, but the flowers also had a hallucinogenic effect, perhaps to induce prey to pull out the roots.
It was when the soldiers hurriedly tried to remove the seeds attached to their bodies.
─Exactly!
There was a snapping sound, and the sprouting seed stopped.
The thick seeds floated in the wind like dandelions, and were blown away by monsters. The flowers that bloomed with the blood as fertilizer caused the rock turtles to scream.
When Nord, who manipulated the seed with the Fairy King’s wand, clicked his tongue, Tyrsi smiled slightly.
‘I found some guys playing tricks behind the scenes. It’s a swamp in the inner forest. The roots of the World Tree are sticking out, and there are gods there.〉
〈… It’s a story I’ve heard in rumors.〉
The commander’s face became serious. He said while watching the approaching monsters.
〈The Rock Turtle is a monster that roams vertical canyons and eats herbs that grow in the crevices of cliffs. If you cling to the wall, you’ll be able to climb up.>
“Then what are you going to do?”
He grabbed the sword tied to his waist.
〈… Anyway, wouldn’t it be better to defend against the wall?〉
〈On Mercury, if only 10 rock turtles stick to the wall, they won’t be able to withstand the weight. It is not possible to lose half of the soldiers and engage in street fighting when the walls collapse.〉
While answering, Captain Ho had a frown on his face.
Normally, the Rock Turtle does not come close to the castle walls. Although they are monsters, they are herbivores, and they rarely attack people outside of spawning season.
But now, thanks to the lab planters’ magic, they’re as ferocious as during the spawning season, and their feet are quick!
The walls of Azwishia were designed not to allow rock turtles to cling to them.
It’s not like rap planters haven’t ridden and attacked in the past, but at that time there was no problem because they were annihilated before approaching.
〈… However, it is difficult to annihilate them before approaching like before, so it is difficult for an opponent with that number.〉
Even more so, there are harpies who only care about the ground.
Even if he knew of the existence of such a large group of monsters in the first place, he would not have been able to technically build a wall that could prepare for all monsters.
〈If the walls collapse, there’s no way to stop the harpies from entering the city. It would be right for half of the troops to fight outside, and to support them from the top of the castle walls.”
Tirsi, who was reflecting on the documents she received from the battalion commander, also affirmed his words.
─Glance.
At the same time, on the other hand, he gave his eyes to Nord.
If permission was granted——no, if they set their minds to it, it wouldn’t be impossible to wipe out a large army of 30,000 to 40,000 monsters from the top of the castle wall.
If it’s a warrior, it seems like their physical strength will drop first, but they’re magicians.
In particular, as long as there is only ice, Tyrsi can use magic infinitely.
It wouldn’t be known if the enemy army was scattered, but if they were isolated on a single road, it might be possible to subdue them even considering the magical abilities that the previous boss monsters showed.
However, Nord’s answer did not change.
Tirsi asked as the subordinate commanded by the guards went down the wall in the lift.
“So, the real reason?”
“The gods who specialize in combat will follow the master class. You won’t have any powers.”
Nord shrugged his shoulders.
“Can’t you fill your stomach first with appetizers?”
Even if you defeat the enemy, if you can’t defeat the main force in the rear, it’s meaningless.
