One week into the recovery of the first defensive line.
We had reclaimed about half of the fortress.
It was a terrifying achievement. It felt like it could earn a few lines in history books.
My body was absolutely exhausted, but thanks to Principal Merlin’s magic and the Phoenix’s Blessing, I could endure it, which was a bit of consolation.
“Friends won’t believe me if I tell them what I’ve seen.”
“I agree with that.”
“I never expected such a fun spectacle!”
I thought to myself while building a bizarre fortress tower mixed with black and white: Can you kindly not interrupt me while I’m working?
About 3,000 uses of skill just to construct one fortress.
With the increased stamina from the Phoenix’s Blessing and the ensuing insane grind, my skills started to develop little by little the more I built the fortress.
The construction speed improved, became more refined, and at this point, just a glance could estimate the reconstruction of the fortress. It meant I had been brutally demolishing and rebuilding it.
Now it seemed that as long as I invested time and budget, I could easily build a castle in the wilderness.
“Has there been any contact regarding reinforcements?”
“Hmmm… none.”
Lazy bastards. No wonder they get wiped out in almost half of their endings. You can’t blame them for being called the worst generation.
“Given the circumstances… how about a complete focus on fewer targets?”
“What do you mean?”
“Every time you come up with a new plan, my heart goes thump-thump.”
“I feel the same way.”
What did I even do? All I did was knock down and rebuild a fortress. That’s pretty ordinary, isn’t it? Harpas probably expected at least that much.
In any case, I spoke to the veterans for faster progress.
“How about not fully restoring the fortress and just blocking the way?”
“Are you suggesting to reduce the places to defend? Ha…”
“Focusing on fewer locations will be more advantageous than spreading ourselves thin.”
“Even so, there will be some guys who will jump over the broken fortress, won’t there?”
“We can either release poison or collapse the ravine to block them. And as soon as we locate Harpas, we will dispatch an intercept unit to hunt him down.”
“I wonder if that’s too hasty.”
“Sir Kalintz, you know well that the side holding the initiative wins the war.”
Especially against Harpas. In the original story, the imperial soldiers were pushed around by Harpas’s strategy until the protagonist’s group somehow managed to defeat him, but experiencing the same in reality would be a foolish act.
Utilizing everything available to seize the initiative and chop off Harpas’s limbs was the surest path to victory. No matter how clever he was, without limbs, he’d be no more than a punching bag.
“This sounds fun!”
“We should set traps with magic.”
“I guess there’s nothing for me to do.”
“Just operate as usual. The only difference is that we won’t be reconstructing.”
“The fact that ‘reconstruction’ sounds casual is quite strange…”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Principal Merlin’s comment.
“For now, the schedule will proceed as it has until now. And, Archbishop Pierre, has the scout returned?”
“Not yet, Sir Quartz. He should be back around sunset, so they should arrive just when you do.”
Well, it’s not like we have cars or cell phones here, so it’s no surprise gathering information is slow. I packed my equipment while oddly hearing realistic updates in this situation.
“I will smash it to pieces and return.”
“Make sure you smash it well.”
Archbishop Pierre looked at me with a peculiar expression and patted my shoulder.
—————-
“This is the last fortress.”
“Haha! Let’s get this over with! It’s about time for dinner!”
“Don’t act carelessly. Harpas may have prepared something.”
It was getting time for Harpas to retaliate. Although it seemed like he hadn’t properly reacted yet because we were demolishing the fortress with abnormal speed, he wouldn’t be some fool who couldn’t even reach the final boss position in the original story.
I looked up at the largest fortress, tucked away in the corner of the first defensive line, and estimated the situation.
This time it would take quite a while.
“Let’s start by digging a tunnel.”
“Good luck. I’ll keep watch around the area.”
“I’ll take a look around here too!”
Having done this over and over, we naturally divided our roles and got to work.
“You’re starting from quite far away.”
“The fortress is large. There must be more monsters, so I plan to be a bit safer.”
The key to tunnel construction is safety above all. Digging haphazardly leaves you vulnerable to collapse, so I began to stir my shovel frantically, just like usual.
If I wanted to return before sunset, I had to dig faster.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours.
When I felt that a considerable amount of time had passed, I wiped the sweat off my brow while gazing at the tunnels that had been hollowed out.
This should be enough. I turned my head to look at Principal Merlin. He was fiddling with his wand, putting lighting spells here and there.
“I’ll draw the magic circle, so take a break for a moment.”
“Understood. Crafting.”
Having made a decent chair, I slumped down into it. If this were converted to premium services, I’d expect to earn a thousand gold coins at least. Should I seriously request that from the empire?
Honestly, I had worked that hard.
While pondering such slack thoughts, watching Principal Merlin draw the magic circle, I felt a tickle in my side. Naturally, it was Rue.
[Contractor, but why did Harpas suddenly start a war?]
“I don’t know either.”
Even in the original story, it wasn’t mentioned why that crow initiated the war. Rue, seeming like it was somewhat of an appetizer, cautiously brought out the main dish.
[I started feeling uneasy since getting close to Harpas.]
“…Uneasy?”
Does she sense something? I picked Rue up and met her gaze. Rue, squirming like a shy child, spoke to me.
[It’s like a nostalgic feeling? But it’s somewhat unsettling. It’s hard to explain in words, but that’s how it feels.]
Is it a ‘variable’?
“Will I be able to know for sure when I face Harpas?”
[Probably? But I can’t be certain. Somehow, it feels like I shouldn’t approach.]
“…Understood. I’ll keep that in mind for now.”
[Uhm, I feel bad about it. Like, I’m dousing cold water on this.]
“No, thank you.”
I needed every bit of information I could get.
“It’s done.”
“Then I’ll head out immediately.”
“Got it.”
We exited the tunnel at a brisk pace.
————
“Ha.”
It was the first utterance from Harpas, who was gazing at the world from the mountain summit.
“Unbelievable.”
A high-ranking demon renowned even in hell, but even he had never encountered such a ridiculous opponent.
‘They’re demolishing the fortress and reconstructing it in an instant? Could it be… Malphas in disguise?’
The thought of his rival, Malphas, who had the power of construction, sprang to mind. Harpas instinctively sensed that this insane operation of smashing and rebuilding fortresses would become more troublesome than he initially thought.
He wasn’t wrong; he didn’t have much time left.
‘I wasted too much energy dealing with that Phoenix. I’ll have to put my strategy for slowly recovering my strength on hold.’
Although he became stronger after making that contract, facing the extremely high-tier Phoenix, it was impossible to go unscathed.
Harpas gazed longingly at the crumbling fortress.
“If that guy hadn’t taken their side, I would have immediately made him my deputy.”
Though he was an enemy, the notion and execution of actions that a mere human wouldn’t be capable of were rather refreshing, even from the perspective of a devil who had lived for thousands of years.
It was a mad notion he hadn’t anticipated.
If he hadn’t fallen from being the ruler to the forefront in this land, he would have whispered sweet offers in their ears right away.
The crow archduke lamented that he couldn’t do that now.
‘I must call the Executors to buy some time.’
Eliminating them might be better, but the strength of those smashing the fortress wasn’t to be taken lightly.
It seemed that the Executors would only be able to buy a little time. Harpas knew there was no way to deal with the situation reliably until he fully restored his strength. He neatly relinquished any half-hearted expectations.
He couldn’t afford to be foolishly naive, risking a repeat of the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.
A colossal beast soared through the dark night sky.
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