by M Sisa
Hearing the speech of one of the strongest soldiers of the city, the soldiers gritted their teeth and steeled themselves. They roared.
“Kill the damn bastards!”
“Slaughter them all!”
“Kill them! Don’t let them inside the city!”
Shouts filled with vehement fury followed Commander Daltos’ speech. The previously quivering soldiers readied themselves for the incoming clash with the monsters.
And a surreal scenario transpired before their eyes.
Crackling sounds were heard as orbs of lightning manifested themselves on top of the towers erected near the western gate. The soldiers looked up, and to their surprise, five streaks of blue light shot towards the direction of the monster horde. Explosions were heard, followed by the cries of the monsters.
As though the towers were thirsting for the monsters’ blood, several orbs of lightning manifested themselves on top of the towers once again, before shooting out as rays of blue light. Explosions resounded and the cries from monsters intensified.
“Load the next batch of kalrane stones!”
A young man with silver hair shouted. The soldiers looked at the direction of this voice. Most of the soldiers recognized who this man was.
Lark Marcus, the Lord of Blackstone Town, the man rumored to have defeated the Third Legion of the United Grakas Alliance. These past few weeks, the man has spent most of his time supervising the creation of the towers. Although most of the soldiers and workers had no idea of the use of those towers, they diligently did their part in making it.
And now, they were witnessing with their own eyes the monstrous strength of these devices.
The workers immediately reloaded kalrane stones into the towers. After charging up, the towers shot out bolts of lightning once again, killing tens of monsters in the process. The soldiers standing on the watchtowers and those on the battlements were the ones who were directly witnessing the power of these devices. Every time a tower released a beam of light, two or three monsters were incinerated into ashes in an instant.
But despite this, the monsters were unfazed and continued their march. At the same time, new kalrane stones were reloaded into the towers and the slaughter continued at a constant pace.
Hundreds of monsters started climbing the walls. The soldiers on top of the battlements assumed their formations, ready to intercept the monsters and prevent them from entering the city. They stabbed the monsters the moment they stepped foot on the walls, pushing them off towards the ground. Several wooden devices that resembled a pendulum would swing, hit, and mow down several monsters, pushing them back down. This proved to be an effective tactic for a moment, but with the sheer number of monsters climbing at the same, several dozens of them managed to successfully climb up. Soon, melee broke out on top of the walls. Monsters roared and metals clanked. The scent of blood strongly permeated the air as the humans were slowly pushed back.
Seeing this, Lark issued out a different order. “Move the blocks inside! Now!”
The workers pushed the blocks of stones next to the towers, moving them inside, next to the magic circle. Clicking sounds were heard the moment the last blocks were moved into the center of the towers. The magic circle at the center started changing its color. From blue, it slowly assumed a green hue.
“Activate the towers!”
The workers did as they were commanded. Soon, several green orbs the size of a fist manifested themselves at the tip of the towers. After the command was activated, they shot towards the monsters on top of the battlements. The soldiers who had been struggling against the monsters were surprised at this sudden reinforcement.
“T-This is!” Big Mona, who had been watching the battlefield from afar using a scope, trembled in excitement. Lark had not told him about this particular quirk of the towers. He knew that the towers could release powerful beams of lightning from afar, but he was not aware that they could shoot out smaller, weaker orbs to strike out nearby foes.
Big Mona salivated upon realizing how amazing those devices were. Paying fifteen gold coins for each tower was definitely worth it.
Although the orbs could not kill the monsters in a single shot, the damage it inflicted was enough for the soldiers to finish them off. Furthermore, there were several dozens of orbs coming out of the tower after each charge. The ferocious beasts could not help but stagger and cower after being struck by the orbs from the towers. With several soldiers combining their strength, the monsters were slaughtered one after another.
When dusk came, over a thousand corpses of monsters were scattered on the ground. Thirty-six soldiers died in this wave – a surprisingly small amount considering the fact that the horde doubled in number than the previous siege.
The men responsible for building the obelisks – the Towers – stared at the innumerable dead bodies of monsters that filled the western area of the city. Heat surged within their chests. They had not expected that their hard work would pay off like this.
One of the Masons clenched his fists. “Men, starting tomorrow, we’ll work double time! We’ll grind our bones to dust if we have to! We’ll finish the remaining towers no matter what!”
“Yes, Sir!” all of his men enthusiastically responded.
If five towers brought such an impact in this wave, then how much more if all twenty of them were erected all throughout the entire city?
Chapter Eighteen
The next day, thousands of monster corpses were hauled and moved towards the warehouse of the Merchants Guild. Despite some protests, the officials of the city refused to burn the bodies. After all, as part of the deal, Lark now had full monopoly over the dead bodies.
Chryselle watched with dazed eyes as numerous men worked together to clear the walls and the roads of the monsters’ remains. She could still vividly remember it – that time when the monsters suddenly climbed over the walls and attacked the soldiers. Even in the library of Wizzert City, she had never read anything about these monsters – abominations resembling a gorilla and a frog.
As I thought… it must be him.
Wearing a hooded cloak, Chryselle looked at Lark from afar. Currently, the young man was giving out orders left and right.
Back in the Capital, Chryselle did not act rashly despite her speculations that Lark was the perpetrator behind the attack on Wizzert City. She simply observed him, since she did not have enough evidence to prove it.
But now, after following him and observing him for several weeks, she was sure. Lark Marcus was the one who defeated her brother and the rest of the magicians of Wizzert City – including her.
A bead of sweat started forming on Chryselle’s forehead as she recalled that dreadful night. That night when a single person boldly attacked the Tower of Wizzert.
Gravity Magic.
It was the spell used by Lark during that time. Before that fateful encounter, Chryselle and the magicians of Wizzert never knew that Gravity Magic could be used as an offensive spell. Some of their magicians were capable of using it, but they simply used it to move around goods and cargos.
But the spell used by Lark was on an entirely different realm. The spell was so strong that it forcefully crippled their magicians, rendering them unable to cast even a single spell and fight back. This was true even for her brother – the so-called strongest magician of Wizzert.
If her brother was not caught in that Grand Scale Magic, she wondered how the fight would have ended.
My brother wouldn’t lose…
Her brother was strong enough to fight two or three Royal Court Magicians at the same time. Surely, he wouldn’t lose so one-sidedly. But for some peculiar reason, Chryselle’s intuition was telling her otherwise. At the back of her mind, something was telling her that the results would have been the same no matter what.
No. Wait. This is not the reason I followed him here.
Chryselle shook her head. Her gaze landed on the two young men next to Lark. The two of them looked identical that it was easy to conclude that
they were related by blood. Chryselle came here not to seek revenge, but to know the truth behind the magic circle.
When she first lost sight of the brothers at Wizzert, she thought that she would lose the chance to unravel the mystery forever. But after coming into the Capital and seeing Lark and sensing the familiar aura he gave off, she slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together. The reason why an unknown man suddenly attacked the magicians of Wizzert. How those two young men who did not even know any magic got hold of the perfected magic circle. It was not hard to come to a conclusion after personally experiencing all these things. Her speculations were solidified the moment she saw Lark together with the two brothers together in the Capital.
The brothers must have been serving a master. A master benevolent enough to pass to his disciples such precious magic circles.
And what would happen if the disciples of such a benevolent master were suddenly attacked without any reason?
Carnage. An immediate retaliation.
It was easy to see why Lark Marcus waged war with the magicians of Wizzert that night.
Those two are so lucky.
Chryselle bit her lips as a pang of jealousy rose within her. She could not help but be jealous of those two for finding such a master. Although Lark was absurdly strong, he was obviously someone reasonable. Just the incident at Wizzert proved this: although several hundreds of magicians were defeated, none of them ended up dead.
“You’ve been staring at the Young Master for quite some time now.”
A deep voice rang out behind her.
A bit startled, Chryselle reflexively pulled her hood in. She turned around and met the gaze of a handsome man with golden hair. He easily towered almost two meters, and a sword hanged by his waist.
Chryselle knew him. Without a doubt, he was one of Lark Marcus’ disciples.
“Ah, no.” Caught off-guard, Chryselle was unable to give a proper response. “I’m just waiting for someone.”
She walked past him and disappeared amidst the crowd.
Anandra furrowed his brows. He could tell that that she was no ordinary woman. What did she want from the Young Master?
“Oi, Senior!” Austen waved at him from afar.
Lately, the brothers started calling him names like Grandpa, Senior, Gramps. This was after they were forced to run around the city several times as training. Although he was not that old, Anandra simply let it slide. There was no harm done, after all. Like they said, rashness is the mark of youth, tolerance is those of adults.
Anandra approached them. After lightly bowing his head to Lark, he turned to the brothers.
“Gramps, look at this!” George opened his palm, revealing a silver coin. “I earned this in just a day! Isn’t it amazing?!”
Austen pointed at the pile of monster corpses to their left. “George and I helped carry those corpses to the warehouse. The rotting smell of monster flesh sticks to the body, so only a few are willing to do it.”
“If it’s Gramps, you could probably do the work of five or ten men, right?” George winked. “It’s just a simple task that requires brute force. Just remember to treat your juniors later once you’ve recei—”
“—Not interested,” Anandra shot the idea down. “Young Master, I’ve received a message. The Lord of Lion City wishes to see you. Alone.”
Lark’s curiosity was piqued by the last statement. He heard a lot of things about the Lord of this City. He already expected that the man would summon him to the castle. After all, there was no doubt of Lark’s contribution to this monster wave’s victory. What Lark did not expect was that the Lord would wish to meet him alone.
Basically, he’s telling me not to involve the Merchants Guild – Big Mona – in this meeting.
“The Lord of Lion City, huh?” Lark smiled. The incompetent Lord who always chooses to hide himself during war wanted to finally meet him.
“Hey kids,” he tossed two silvers to the brothers. “Stop moving the dead bodies to the warehouse. Let other people handle it.”
“Eh? But my silver coins!” George protested.
Lark tossed another silver coin to him. Austen quickly caught it. “It’s an order from your master. Go back to the inn and wash yourselves. You stink.”
“Anandra, go to the Merchants Guild and tell Big Mona that I’ll be meeting the Lord of this City. Also remind him to load more iron ingots to the caravan going to Blackstone Town. We’ll be going home after this.”
A hint of excitement was seen within Anandra’s eyes upon hearing the words ‘going home’. He must have missed his family so much. More than two months have passed since they left home, after all.
“Understood!”
After parting with his disciples, Lark headed to the Lord’s Castle located at the Inner District. As the Lord of the City requested, he came alone. After informing the guards of his identity, a butler immediately ushered him inside and led him to a large room meant for receiving distinguished guests. Inside the room was a large portrait of a dashing man wearing a full plate armor. The man’s lips were subtly curled into a smirk, his eyes beaming with uttermost confidence.
“I was an active knight back then.”
A voice was heard near the door. An overweight man with exquisite garb had just entered the room. After seeing Lark staring at the portrait on the wall, the man added, “But no one can resist the passage of time.” The man sat down on the couch next to Lark. He gently smiled, “Look at me now, a husk of my former self.”
An awkward silence filled the room. The man, after receiving no response from Lark, coughed several times. “Ah, I forgot my manners. I should have first introduced myself.”
The man stood up, placed his right hand on his chest, then lightly bowed his head, “Valcres, Lord of Lion City.”
Lark also stood up and imitated the polite gesture of the Lord of Lion City. “Lark Marcus. Lord of Blackstone Town. It’s my pleasure to be invited by the Lord of this City.”
Unlike Big Mona, Lark did not have much information regarding this man before him. The fat merchant kept telling him that Valcres was nothing but an incompetent ruler, a bastard who refused to leave his position of power, but Lark refused to believe everything the merchant said, as the two were obviously antagonistic of each other.
“There’s no need to be so stiff,” chuckled Valcres. “Please, let us sit down.”
Lark had expected him to be crude and overbearing, but the way the man spoke was reminiscent of prudence.
The two of them sat down and Valcres lifted the teapot and started pouring tea over Lark’s cup.
“Thank you.” Lark observed the man before him. Despite being overweight, the man exuded elegance.
Valcres sipped his tea. He smiled and placed the cup down. “I heard that you’ve become business partners with Big Mona.”
There was a small pause. “That man must have said a lot of bad things about me, but I hope you’ll hear me out at the very least.”
Valcres took a stack of parchments and placed them on top of the table, pushing them towards Lark’s direction.
“I know you’re a busy man, so let me get straight to the point. Look at these.”
Lark’s read the topmost sheet and his eyes lightly shook upon reading it.
“An all-out war with the Empire?”
Valcres nodded. “That’s right.”
Lark grabbed the stack of parchments and started reading them one by one.
After their city was attacked, the Empire declared an all-out war with the Kingdom of Lukas. Two of their main armies, led by General Alvaren and General Rizel, attacked the City of Yorkshaire, successfully conquering it in merely five days. The unprecedented appearance of the Magic Knight Unit of the Empire proved pivotal in the fall of Yorkshaire City.
Lark had not expected things to turn out this way. He thought that after experiencing the might of the mana bombs, the Empire would reconsider attacking the Kingdom. But on the contrary, this single move backfired. Instead of a peace treaty, th
e Empire declared an all-out war.
After Yorkshaire City was captured, Lui Marcus and Sword Master Alexander attacked the Empire’s soldiers with hopes of taking the fortress back, but sieging the fortress proved impossible with the Magic Knights protecting the entrances. Several smaller armies from the Empire came as reinforcement and Lui Marcus and the Sword Saint had no choice but to retreat with their men.
During their retreat, the remnants of the Yorkshaire Army were ambushed by the army of General Rizel. By estimate, only a fifth of the Yorkshaire Army survived the battle.
“Lui Marcus and the Sword Saint… lost?”
“That’s right. Your brother lost the war,” Valcres sighed. “That newspaper is something available only to the High Nobility. Even Barons will have a hard time getting their hands on that. But the result of war is inevitable. The news will soon spread far and wide. The so-called undefeated War God of the Western Front lost the battle. And now, the Empire is slowly invading the adjacent cities of Yorkshaire.”
Lark did not know how strong his older brother was, but for him to be called the God of War of the Western Front, his abilities must have been extraordinary.
Still, he found it hard to believe that the Sword Saint lost the battle. He had seen how that man fought the retreating beastmen before, using the vision crystal. The swordsmanship of Alexander was akin to being one with the sword.
“How many soldiers did the Empire bring this time?”
Last time, around twenty thousand soldiers tried to capture Yorkshaire City, but they failed.
“Fifty thousand soldiers, not including the soldiers from the smaller armies. By estimate, there’s probably sixty thousand of them occupying the Yorkshaire City and the Mountain Range right now. And it will only continue to increase even further.”
Lark understood what Valcres meant. Yorkshaire City was literally the stopper blocking the advance of the Empire. Now that it was captured, the Empire now had a free pass towards the Kingdom.
