279 – Live together, die together. (2)
In the report, the envoy, unaware of the situation, proudly declared success.
He began to plead, grabbing Gillian’s leg.
“Please, spare my life. If I can’t take you today, I’m as good as dead. I clearly said I would surrender, right? Haven’t you given me enough time?”
“I said I would do it if I was fully persuaded. Give me one more week.”
No matter how much the envoy pleaded, Gillian remained unmoved.
Eventually, the envoy returned with a pale face to report.
“T-there are still some who are not persuaded… Please grant me just one more week.”
Harold looked at the envoy with fierce eyes. He wasn’t a fool. Analyzing the envoy’s reaction and the time already wasted, he grasped the situation.
Swish.
He immediately drew his sword and growled.
“Thanks to your blabbering, I’ve been mocked by those insignificant fools again.”
Harold’s pride lay in his high honor and dignity. But being humiliated like this revived the anger he felt from an earlier encounter with Ghislaine.
The envoy lay face down, pleading.
“Please, spare me! I will definitely persuade them this time…”
“Persuade? You’ve already wasted an important week and smeared my face, and you want to persuade me again?”
“Yes, yes! This time I will…”
“Shut up!”
Thwack!
As an advanced knight, Harold could not contain his fury. He swung his sword down, instantly crushing the envoy’s head.
Still not relieved, he continued to slash the envoy’s body.
“You pathetic fool!”
Thwack!
“You can’t even persuade such lowly scum!”
Thwack!
“When will I have to endure this humiliation from Ghislaine and his followers?”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
No one dared to stop Harold from butchering the envoy like a demon.
They understood that his pent-up frustration and anxiety from being pressed for time were erupting.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Phew…”
Only when the body had been completely turned to mush did Harold finally stop, smoothing back his hair.
He appeared significantly disheveled, quite unlike his normally dignified and tidy self.
But in Harold’s eyes, a new glint of malice began to emerge—not directed at the envoy, but aimed at the Penris Army holed up in the fortress.
“How dare these worthless worms try such petty tricks…”
It wasn’t Harold’s fault. Even though he had preconceptions, he had to rely solely on the envoy’s report, as he had never met them personally.
Believing in the envoy’s confidence, he had granted additional time.
But ultimately, the attempt to persuade had failed. Thinking that these lowly beings mocked him and stole valuable time was simply unbearable.
The Penris Army must have used that time to recover all their wounds and stamina.
Clang.
Throwing his sword aside, Harold glared at his deputy and said,
“Immediately demolish that fortress completely.”
“Y-yes, understood.”
“And capture those fools to rip them apart.”
Now, there was no choice but to ensure a decisive victory, even if it took time. He planned to trample the fortress itself, exploiting the overwhelming superiority of his forces.
Though it was part of the process needed to capture Ghislaine, it was also a way to instill fear in those lowly, arrogant creatures who mocked him.
Gritting his teeth, Harold continued,
“I will give you three days. And tell Willow that they can’t perfect their magical defenses, so kill everyone you can.”
Following the commands of the enraged Harold, the catapults and mages sprang into action again. Though they brought siege towers, they wouldn’t use them.
There was no need to forcefully break through the narrow castle gates for a sequential infiltration. They could just demolish the castle walls and surround the place from all sides.
There was no need for a breakthrough troop deployment. Just break down the castle wall and surround them from all sides.
Calmly, I planned to use the advantage of our great army to pressure the Penris Army.
“Fire!”
As the commanders of Desmond’s Army shouted loudly, the attack began.
Boom! Bang! Boom!
The spells unleashed by the Mages and the boulders fired from the catapults relentlessly battered the walls of the fortress.
The Penris Army quickly readied themselves for battle as the enemies moved.
“Fall back!”
When Gillian shouted, everyone hurriedly climbed down from the castle wall. It was pointless to be up there when such a tremendous attack was coming.
They couldn’t counterattack anyway, and staying close would likely get them killed.
Gillian took a deep breath while glaring at Desmond’s Army.
“This works in our favor.”
The enemies seemed to plan to collapse the fortress to minimize damage. However, Gillian’s goal wasn’t to defend this fortress; it was crucial to buy time while holding back the enemy.
“I might be able to avoid direct contact for a while.”
Having already spent a week stalling while dealing with the envoy, it seemed he would gain even more time before the walls fell. This situation was undeniably welcome.
The only problem was…
There were monsters in the enemy ranks that could attack our allies who had retreated inside the fortress.
Bwoooom!
Willow soared high above, looking down at the fortress and casting spells.
Boom! Boom! Booooom!
Countless stones rained down from the sky, beginning to destroy the inside of the fortress as well.
“Damn it! That bastard is back again!”
“Shit! If only Vanessa were here, you’d be dead!”
“Don’t act so smart, you bastard!”
As the Penris Army panicked, cursing and scrambling to avoid the onslaught, Willow chuckled.
“What a bunch of bugs. Why did I waste time trying to negotiate with these fools?”
Seeing the pathetic little things acting arrogantly as if they could fight was annoying. Although it was Harold’s order not to resist negotiation, Willow secretly found it troublesome.
These little pests should’ve been exterminated right from the start.
It was regrettable that the battle’s end hadn’t been achieved recently. Back then, the capabilities of their commander Gillian and Baron Hutton were evenly matched, and Willow couldn’t even interfere if she wanted to.
But today was different. It was much easier to use magic without allies around.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
While Willow was destroying the inside of the fortress with her magic, she carefully observed the surrounding situation. The walls were gradually crumbling from the outside due to the catapults and the Mages’ attacks.
“I should leave the other side to handle itself and just catch a few bugs.”
At that moment, she noticed that some of the magic she had cast inside the fortress was disappearing.
It was the magic that had fallen near the armored knights.
Thanks to the disappearing magic, the soldiers gathered around the knights remained unscathed. The boulders were just destroying the buildings and supplies inside the fortress.
“Hmmm, interesting. They seem to have taken some preparations against magical attacks. They definitely don’t seem to be Mages, so how are they doing this? Are they carrying multiple artifacts? Not being able to see closely is frustrating.”
Willow exhibited great curiosity about the current situation like a true Mage. However, she couldn’t fathom that all the armors of the Penris Knights were artifacts.
Who would think that a single knight was wearing years’ worth of budget from a small territory?
Trying to find answers within her common sense led her to find a close answer but not the exact one.
While Willow leisurely observed the situation, Gillian gritted his teeth.
“If it weren’t for that guy, we could hold out longer.”
Those pesky Mages were always a problem. Especially high-circle Mages could steer the battle in favor of their side.
When they launched devastating attacks over a wide area, it became incredibly tough to counter.
Because it’s really tough.
Especially when you’re protected by your own side from such a distance.
If there had been another mage among our allies, we could have countered each other’s magic, but unfortunately, there were no mages here.
“Just shoot!”
At Gillian’s shout, the soldiers fired arrows. Nearly a thousand arrows flew in, ready to cover Willow’s space entirely.
But Willow scoffed as he watched the incoming arrows.
“Pathetic.”
Tatatatata-tang!
The arrows couldn’t break through the shield in front of Willow. Ordinary soldiers’ attacks had no chance against the magic power of a 6th Circle Mage.
Having thoroughly mocked the Penris Army, Willow began to gather magic power in his hands again.
“I’m getting bored just watching. It’s simple; just kill everything interesting and look for the rest. Now, try to block this.”
Large-scale area magic inherently has weaker individual attack power.
But what about powerful magic that concentrates all its mana into a single point? Could it still be blocked by such trivial tools?
He felt a bit of his pride wounded, knowing that part of his magic had been blocked, both days ago and now, and poured an immense amount of mana.
Kwajizijijik!
A powerful electric energy began to gather in one of Willow’s hands.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t use such a magic that consumes this much power. But in a safe situation protected by allies, there was no need to hold back.
Kwajik! Kwajizik! Kwajik!
Noticing the tremendous mana focusing, Gillian shouted.
“Throw the spears!”
Swaaaack!
The knights threw their mana-infused spears with all their might.
Kaaang! Kaaang! Kaaang!
“Oh?”
Willow’s eyes widened at the fairly strong attacks.
With every spear that struck, the shield’s magic trembled significantly, weakening the strength of the shield. Each attack contained considerable destructive power.
“Are they all really skilled knights of at least intermediate rank?”
To deal this much damage to his shield as a 6th Circle Mage, they needed to be at least that level. Willow was once again astonished by Penris’s power.
Soon, his gaze sharpened.
“As the Count said, I must kill as many of them as I can.”
The Penris folks were all hiding inside the fortress. No one could be killed with the attacks being launched from outside the castle walls. He needed to kill at least one more before facing them directly to minimize damage to his allies.
Kwajizijijik!
Now, the electric energy gathered in Willow’s hand had grown far beyond its original size.
“Let’s see what you’ve got?”
As Willow lightly scanned inside the fortress, contemplating his target.
Whoooosh!
“Huh?”
An axe flew towards him at terrifying speed. For a moment, he thought he would die if it hit him.
“How dare you!”
With an angry frown, he released the electric energy towards the direction the axe had come from, intending to kill the audacious attacker.
Kwaaaaaaang!
As the blue electric energy was unleashed, the axe that had been flying up from below crashed into Willow’s shield.
Immediately after an earth-shattering sound echoed.
“Kraaaagh!”
Willow screamed, clutching his left shoulder.
The shield had already shattered, and his left arm was sent flying away with the axe.
Willow fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. If Desmond’s knights and mages, who had been waiting below, hadn’t caught him, his body would have been shattered.
“Uaaaargh!”
Willow, who had always lived gracefully, was rendered unable to think due to the pain he had never felt before.
In that moment, magic, war, orders – nothing crossed his mind.
“Quickly, move Lord Willow to the rear!”
A 6th Circle Mage is a valuable presence. Everyone around rushed to carry Willow safely back to their lines.
They poured high-grade potions into him, and medics hurried to treat his shoulder.
Pouring the supreme potion, the medics busily healed his shoulder as they all clung to him.
The Penris Army inside the fortress stared at Gillian with dazed expressions.
Teeeeeek!
Gillian was not in a normal condition either. Having taken the full brunt of a 6th Circle lightning spell, steam was rising from his body.
“Guh…”
Gillian could no longer endure and knelt down.
Blisters were bubbling all over his body, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
“Instructor!”
The knights rushed over to support Gillian. But he waved them off, rising to his feet with sheer willpower.
‘Strong as ever.’
Indeed, he was a high-level mage. Seeing the tremendous magic power gathering, everyone’s gaze was drawn to him.
In a panic to prevent any major damage to the knights and soldiers, they drained all their mana to throw their axes.
At the same time, they moved forward, shielding themselves with their bodies against the incoming magic. The injury from Baron Hutton was still not healed, and he almost met his end.
If the dispel activated by the knights’ armor hadn’t weakened the magic around them, he might have truly died.
“Phew…”
Gillian’s body was no longer normal. With his chest pierced by Baron Hutton and having endured Willow’s magic, even standing upright was a struggle.
Yet, the fire in his eyes still burned fiercely. A strong determination to somehow incapacitate the enemy was palpable.
Thus, the knights around him could utter no words.
“Step back a little more. We have no tasks until the castle wall is completely breached.”
Boom! Bang! Boom!
The enemy’s attacks were still fierce. Magic and stones occasionally flew into the fortress, destroying buildings and supplies.
The number of retaliatory weapons was already few, and after the first skirmish, they had all been destroyed.
After retreating a bit more, the Penris Army took a moment to regroup.
Gillian also rested while healing his body. Not a single part of him was free from bandages now.
Boom! Bang! Boom!
Desmond’s Army continued their assault without regard for day or night; the noise was relentless, keeping everyone from sleeping properly.
‘Just hold on a bit longer…’
Gillian looked anxiously at the castle wall. The later it fell, the more time they could gain.
Before the overwhelming enemy forces, all he could do was endure and fight.
Boom! Bang! Boom!
Three days passed, and the top of the castle wall was now completely crumbled.
Nevertheless, it was still too much for the soldiers to enter easily. Harold grimaced and muttered.
“Quite solid. It wasn’t this tough when Count Cabaldy ruled. Just how much reinforcements did they add?”
Even after three whole days of open attacks without enemy weapons remaining, the wall still hadn’t fallen.
Ghislaine’s first order when extending the fortress was to enhance its durability. Especially a stronghold like Stonehaven was far sturdier than other fortresses.
Harold clicked his tongue. The delay from such an unexpected place was too prolonged.
“Keep pouring it on without rest.”
Although he thought about pushing in more troops now that the wall had lowered, Harold soon shook his head. It was clear that it would just lead to the same skirmish as the first day.
It was tough, but not to the extent of being unbreakable. Desmond’s Army relentlessly launched their offensive against the wall.
Boommmm!
Finally, as one side collapsed, other areas began to show problems too.
After pouring attacks for several more days, the fortress became a battered sight. It had held out longer than expected, but it was fated to fall.
With a fierce expression, Harold swiftly issued commands.
“All forces, seize the fortress immediately!”
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