by Cobyboy
"Sir Feihren, could we split into non-Ranustin and Ranustin citizen groups? It would be more efficient as it is more comfortable to work with the people you know the best." One of the Bainzen citizens added with a seemingly 'innocent' smile on his face.
'Nice try, You're just trying to regroup yourselves and revise your plans' Feihren thought to himself as a grin appeared on his face. "You want to split into that kind of grouping? No, I beg to differ. If you do that, then what was the point of the team-building exercise yesterday? Alright, now, go split yourselves into the same grouping you had yesterday." Feihren rejected their proposal immediately.
The Bainzen Empire citizens could not help but reply with a bitter smile on their faces as they proceeded with the previous grouping and started scouting. The stronghold was in no way small, so they only went to the places where there were bloodstains, since that meant there were definitely people their beforehand, in order to trace the magic usage most efficiently. It took until late afternoon before they found a trace of magic usage. It was at the westernmost part of the stronghold, towards the Wolfenstein Kingdom.
Feihren then gathered everyone back together as they started inspecting the place where the trace was found. It seemed to have been the exit of the fort which was what had become of the former Coboro Village. On the other side of the fence was the agricultural land from when this was a simple village. A wooden gate was the only way out, as the fence seems sturdy enough to block a man and tall enough to prevent anyone from easily climbing over it. The fence, however, was reasonably clean, yet not spotless. The portion closest to the wooden gate had blood marks that were splattered on it, which was in contrast to the red-ish ground below the fence. It seems like only one person made it this far during that battle.
It seems that this person was the most rational among those in the stronghold. Not only did they reach the gate first, it seemed that they were also sober enough to send a distress signal towards the capital. This person might have slipped past Feihren's notice and escaped if they were fast enough, too bad bullets are really fast...
"Well, I expect that this will not become a 'surprise attack' anymore but more of an expected assault against them, where they would have ample time to prepare. But before that..."
Feihren hadn't even finished his sentence when he felt a slight tremble on the ground. No, this does not seem like an earthquake.
The other people within the party were not sensitive enough to feel this and had blank expressions on their faces as they stared at Feihren who suddenly stopped talking. Feihren then continued...
"Prepare yourselves, an army is marching towards us..." Feihren said in a solemn tone.
The ground started trembling even further as panicked expressions appeared on the entire party's faces. As General Rey muttered...
"This is gonna be really, really bad..."
Chapter 34: Plans Meant to be Dumped
Within the castle of the Wolfenstein Kingdom...
"Charles, I cannot believe that the time would come when you'd disappoint me…" A gloomy voice could be heard behind the curtains in a certain dark room within the Wolfenstein castle. Charles, who was still in deep thought, was startled by the sudden voice but returned to a somewhat calmer state as he felt a sense of familiarity with it.
"Humph, disappoint you? Is there something wrong?" Charles replied in a cold tone, but he could not hide the hint of fear that skittered throughout his body. He did have a sense of hostility towards this seemingly mysterious man in front of him, but he was not someone he was unfamiliar with, nor is he someone he dares to provoke for no reason.
A dark cloaked man slowly approached Charles within the room. The aura this shadowy figure emanated was so powerful and ghastly that Charles was having a hard time catching his breath.
"You promised me years ago that you'd be able to handle anything and everything that goes against our goals, yet you can't even get rid of small rats from the Ranustin Kingdom? And now they dared make their own move because of your carelessness…" The voice sounded even deeper as it was trying to cover up the seething anger from within.
An illusory image of the eastern stronghold appeared in front of Charles. This scene was produced through observation magic. Within the moving images was an unknown gigantic figure roaming nonchalantly within the eastern stronghold, blood was everywhere as the bodies of the slain soldiers started to disappear.
Charles' face immediately turned pale as the unknown figure's helm opened, revealing the face of a man he was vaguely familiar with, "It's him..." He could only mutter those words as he saw the man that had single-handedly wiped out the entirety of one of their strongholds. "...And it seems like you even know this man..." The cold voice of the cloaked man was heard.
"Yes, and I'll take care of him, I can handle this!" Charles replied as he hurriedly ran towards the door, but an illusory purple blob plunged towards his back! Charles had a surprised expression as he slowly turned towards the shadowy figure, "You, you can't do this!" Charles retorted as his body started to shrink and condense into an orb...
The mysterious figure grabbed the floating orb that was Charles and swallowed it whole, as he quietly muttered, "Don't worry my grandson, I'll do it myself..." King Louie, the grandfather of both Charles and Louie the 3rd, grinned as he removed his hood, revealing his abnormally youthful face as it gradually looked even younger after consuming the orb. Staring at the images that were still playing, he revealed a devious smile, "I smell abundant life within you... I'll have it for myself."
...
Destroyed Eastern Stronghold of the Wolfenstein Kingdom
"They are still roughly four kilometers away from us. We still have time to prepare."
Feihren had used [Battlefield Scan] at its maximum 5-kilometer radius, revealing that at least 30 thousand soldiers could be seen within 4-kilometers of them, but Feihren had estimated that it would total to roughly 200,000 men, more or less.
"They're like marching ants... 200 thousand people seems a little too many for a single man don't you think?"
Feihren jokingly asked the members of his party, but only one of them replied to this.
"You still want us to prepare?! Are you out of your mind! How about we run for our lives with this opportunity instead?! Huh?!" One of the Bainzen mages quickly rebuked Feihren's proposal of still engaging in battle.
"You want to back out now? But you signed up for this yourselves, did you not? A 10-man party sent against the entirety of the Wolfenstein Kingdom. Isn't that what King Samson had announced and proposed?"
Feihren had replied with a serious face, but he thought that these people are just a little push away from admitting who they were or what they were really are up to. But to Feihren's surprise, these people did not budge! They just clenched their fists as they nodded with hesitant approval.
'Oh, I have really underestimated their willpower, good! Then just make sure you stay alive until I know what you all are really up to'.
The party braced themselves as they started preparing for the inevitable combat ahead...
If anyone could see this ridiculously small amount of people standing strong against two hundred thousand soldiers of the Wolfenstein Kingdom, one might think that the King of the Ranustin Empire and the entirety of the major kingdoms on the Blaz Continent should have been confined to a mental ward long ago. The odds were at the extreme of ridiculousness. One person on the Ranustin side would have to be equal to 18 thousand soldiers for them to stand a chance!
But Feihren was confident that his party could hold on pretty well. He had already made ample preparations in case the 'Grand Assault Plan' didn't go as he expected it to, but there is no point in regretting anything. Besides, the enemy had personally come to them! They do not need to do anything complicated anymore. The plan at first was too ridiculous even for Feihren's taste anyway. So they might as well not do it if they don't have to. Feihren opened the menu that held his draft for the plan and reviewed it once more.
...
[Grand Assault Plan]
-Sneak into the capital with cool looking black robes.
-Position yourselves into strategic position surrounding the castle.
-One member makes a commotion near the doors.
-A few guards would come to stop the commotion, reducing Feihren's targets
-Go into the castle, Legendary James Bond style.
-Let another member throw Samael's rock at the people who would chase me.
-Samael blocks the entrance.
-Let the other members buy time for me until I get the essence.
-Go to the topmost part of the castle, then rain down bullets at the incoming soldiers
-Win.
...
Feihren then closed the tab that as he pressed the "Delete" button. For awhile there, he had questioned his sanity a bit. 'It sounded ridiculous when I read it out loud...'
He then instructed the party members to gather at the top of the largest fortress building within the stronghold as Feihren had positioned himself on top of the wall that was between the woodlands and the stronghold. It was illogical to face such numbers head-on.
Brawn with brains is always the best option.
Chapter 35: Selective Firing On the Highway to Hell
The sound of a marching army resounded within the Wolfenstein Kingdom. Citizens were alarmed by the sudden deployment of almost all of the military forces that their kingdom could muster.
The commotion was then silenced by the announcement of King Louie the 3rd. He said that there was an enemy attack on the eastern walls and that the situation was now under control as they have enough power to fend off the invaders. The reason for this sudden deployment of the troops was to ensure their 'victory'.
The people calmed down at that point. This should be the normal reaction for a citizen of the Wolfenstein Kingdom. They already understood that they had to trust in the strength of their military forces. They were also confident that the enemy could never infiltrate the capital because of the sheer number of people their military forces could gather.
The fact that the Wolfenstein Kingdom was a border kingdom, while still being undefeated, was the greatest proof of their prowess in regards to being able to easily defend themselves.
...
The eastern stronghold was eerily quiet when the Wolfenstein Army arrived. The commander of the front line troops took the initiative to destroy the make-shift fence that was separating the open fields and the stronghold to make way for the hundreds of thousands of soldiers to be able to battle properly.
According to the king, the enemy was alone during the seizure of the eastern stronghold, but in no way should they underestimate him. He was so formidable that the king even sent the entirety of his assault troops, including some that were assigned to defense. King Louie the 3rd indeed made it sound extremely urgent and thus was too important for them to neglect. Even the high ranking military officers and the Senate did not utter a single word about this deployment.
But not everyone in the army was in agreement to all this. For them, this was utter nonsense and a waste of everyone's time and resources. Yes, the enemy might have singlehandedly taken down the eastern stronghold, but in truth, only a few thousand soldiers were deployed to the stronghold in the first place. So it wouldn't be that surprising to hear that a single formidable person has taken them all down.
Most of the elites within the deployed troops thought alike, as they definitely have more pride to uphold; Gathering multiple elites with them was a sign that the king himself might have been overestimating this enemy.
The entire place was definitely cramped, as only 20,000 soldiers could do a proper formation within the stronghold. It was never that big in the first place, roughly 1/16 the size of the capital. As it was the former Coboro Village, they obviously didn't need that big of a space.
The other soldiers were in a messy and confusing formation outside the now destroyed fence as they were spread out in the fields. There were so many of them that they filled the whole area leading up to the wall that was facing the south. The sheer number of people gathered here were so many that they looked like water rushing down through a funnel as more and more troops steadily went inside the stronghold.
But for Feihren, this was exactly what he was aiming for. A one-way ticket to the enemies' doom. A highway to hell.
The number of soldiers sent here would never fit in the stronghold in such a way as to have a proper fight against him. They were just courting death by sending such a ridiculous number. But no matter how many there were, Feihren wasn't going to pass up this great opportunity to cripple the Wolfenstein Kingdom and acquire the Demonic essence.
Within the now abandoned stronghold, Feihren had finalized the 'new plan' with the other members. He then handed them each a few [Athena's Gift]'s for them to recuperate grave wounds. As for healing magic, he hadn't assigned any of the four mages to that position. Instead, Feihren himself volunteered to do it. The other members had odd expressions on their faces due to disbelief.
"Sir Feihren knows healing magic?" Magi Zeph did not hesitate to inquire.
"Of course I do. I may not be the 'best', but I'll guarantee your safety."
The sincerity in Feihren's reply was so evident that even the people from the Bainzen Empire could not help but agree. Obviously, Feihren knows jacksh*t about healing magic, but he could technically manipulate life-force itself via general exp. That should count as healing magic, right?
Back when Feihren had acquired the Demonic Carbine, he didn't forget the amazing effects of shooting raw general exp (or life-force as others call it). It was basically a healing gun back then. As such, Feihren had tinkered with the Demonic Carbine for some time now. After the mass production of ammunition, he naturally added certain modification to this 'bad boy'.
Selective Firing, with 4 selectable modes; Semi-automatic, Automatic, Healing, and WMD mode. Burst mode? Feihren skipped the idea of even trying to burst fire at enemies in this world. It would quickly waste a whopping 1,500 general exp in one go. On top of that the recoil of the Demonic Carbine was far from good enough to achieve a perfect burst.
Aside from the standard auto and semi-auto modes, healing could be selected. This mode would suppress the Demonic essence within the rifle temporarily, thus releasing only pure life-force. Feihren hadn't tested its effect on other living things yet. Well unless you count that time he shot a tree, and it immediately grew fruits… So remembering how that went, he decided that it could 'probably' heal.
The WMD mode was something he added on of a whim. It was basically a mode that would thin out the barrier of life-force between the first two demonic fragments and the third one which would temporarily enable them to combine. It would essentially work the same as Old Mendi's magic gun in theory. As for whether it would truly work or not, Feihren would find out soon enough.
"Just yell, 'Lord Feihren, Have Mercy!' when you need healing magic. Okay?" Feihren
Party members: "..."
...
The front-line troop had entirely gathered within the stronghold by now, the rear mages of this troop were now preparing to use detection-magic to locate their enemies. They didn't believe that a single enemy would be capable of cleaning up this entire keep in such a manner that they couldn't find even a single body. Their guess was that the enemy did not retreat and was waiting for reinforcements in order to continue their invasion.
Soon enough, a whooshing sound could be heard as a single unknown figure could be seen hovering above the walls. This grabbed the attention of those who were already inside the stronghold. After a while, four more people could be seen floating above them. But now, they were next to the former stronghold building, as they formed a perfect reverse "V" shaped formation against the horizon. The next instant, six more people came out of the building's doors, placing themselves into two separate formations facing the Wolfenstein Army.
The first-troop raised their guard as they witnessed th
e sudden appearance of the enemy, who boldly showed themselves. They looked around at their enemies as they waited for a few moments, wondering who would initiate the attack first. But a few seconds passed and it seemed that no more than these eleven people were coming out? Is this everyone in the opposing party?
"11 people? HAHAHAHA" The commander of the first troop laughed maniacally at the hilarious scene in front of him.
The other people who were close enough to witness this scene followed suit as they mockingly laughed at this sudden change in mood around the area. This was akin to a prank of the highest order. 11 people? They were expecting at least 11,000 and they would still smile about it, but this? This was just asking to be mocked!
The laughs echoed within the stronghold so loudly that they did not notice the four mages on the opposite side had already started casting defensive magic spells for themselves and the six people below. As they solemnly closed their eyes, trusting the initial phase of Sir Feihren's plan.
