Chapter 63 - An Orc Above Orcs vs. A Knight Above Knights (3)
Anyone could tell the moment they saw him.
Who the master of that great army of twenty thousand was, and who the king was.
A noble being born to be a ruler. An Orc who transcended the Orc species. The tyrant born in the Blade Mountains.
He was the Warlord.
Faced with that massive presence, the soldiers of Winter Castle felt fear. The knights had their Fighting Spirit broken, and among the terrified mercenaries, an increasing number wet themselves and collapsed to the ground.
Some even lay flat on the ground, covering their heads and trembling in fear.
The battle had not even begun, yet the atmosphere on the wall made it seem as if the castle had already fallen.
Then, the monster grabbed a flagpole. Holding a flag several times larger than a normal legion banner like a spear, he pulled his shoulder back.
A crimson gaze swept over Winter Castle. Then, it stopped somewhere.
It was atop the highest spire of Winter Castle, where the flag engraved with the symbol of Ballorhard fluttered.
The Warlord pulled his shoulder back and hurled the military banner just like that.
The red flag flew, piercing through the raging blizzard.
CR-R-R-RACK!
The sound of the wind being torn apart and the flag fluttering loudly could be heard.
CRASH!
The bright red military banner embedded itself into the spire. As if that spot had been its own from the very beginning, the red flag fluttered brazenly.
The people of Winter Castle realized it at that moment.
What the Warlord was trying to say right now.
The King of Orcs was claiming this land where Winter Castle stood as his own. The red flag fluttering atop the highest spire was his declaration.
"That bastard. What a grandiose declaration of war."
The lord of Winter Castle frowned.
He briefly glanced at the soldiers.
The brave Rangers and knights were staring at the Orc army with suppressed faces. Their spirit was so broken that it raised doubts whether they could even fight properly in that state.
It was an obvious outcome, if anything.
When even a knight of four rings felt such pressure, how much worse would it be for them?
"We received a gift, so I suppose we should return the favor."
As he forced himself to speak boldly while looking for a way to turn the situation around, one of the knights who had been staring at the spire as if bewitched shouted.
"Someone is climbing the spire!"
At those unexpected words, people looked up at the spire again. Someone who had stuck their head out through a window was scaling the wall toward the roof of the spire.
"It's His Highness the First Prince!"
A knight with good eyesight shouted.
"When did he get up there..."
The Commander frowned. It was because he could not fathom when his nephew, who had been on the wall just a moment ago, had climbed the stairs of the spire or what he was doing up there.
Having barely reached the roof amidst the raging gale, the First Prince cut the waist of the flag that the Warlord had planted.
Gripping the flag tightly, the First Prince stood with his shoulders squared. He looked just like a triumphant general who had claimed the enemy's military banner as a spoil of war.
The lord of Winter Castle was impressed.
It was because he finally understood why his nephew had done such a thing.
The broken flag of Ballorhard, the Warlord's legion banner embedded in its place. That sight alone seemed to foreshadow an ominous future. But the moment the First Prince grasped that legion banner in his hand and raised it, it became a completely different scene.
"We have captured the enemy commander's flag even before fighting, so this is a good start!"
The lord of Winter Castle let out a hearty laugh.
"I really cannot fathom why he is so obsessed with flags."
His son chimed in.
"Shouldn't the king's flag count for about 50 of them!"
"Now we won't even be able to catch up to the boss!"
The Rangers burst into laughter.
However, the faces of those laughing and chattering were still as stiff as could be. They were forcing bravado to respond to the First Prince's wit, but they could not overcome the Warlord's presence.
BWOOOOOOM!
At that moment, someone blew a horn.
Once again, it was the First Prince.
BWOOOOOOM!
The First Prince blew the horn again.
"Hmm?"
That sound, continuing in short and long bursts, felt somehow familiar.
"The snow-covered mountains, the frozen valleys, the walls soaked in red blood remain silent?"
One of the knights hummed a War Poem. That sound matched the rhythm of the horn perfectly.
Only then did the knights, realizing the First Prince's intention, circulate their circuits and sing the War Poem.
BWOOOOOOM!
It was also then that a grand mana was loaded into the sound of the horn.
The Iron Lions awkwardly sang along to that poem, and the knights of the Black Lancers who had arrived just a while ago also resonated their circuits and shouted the poem. The song sung by hundreds of knights spread throughout all of Winter Castle.
The presence of the Warlord that had been crushing their souls gradually weakened. The backs of their necks, which had stiffened rigidly from tension, became soft again.
"Ian is quite busy today."
The lord of Winter Castle's voice was filled with admiration.
Even if he had given a speech asserting the dignity of the Commander, he would not have been able to raise their morale this dramatically. Even if he had bloomed streams of Aura Blades in front of them, he would not have been able to dilute the Warlord's presence this much.
"The Commander's face wouldn't be saved if I only let Ian do the work."
The lord of Winter Castle was handed a spear. He intended to give the delayed return gift.
Four circuits rotated in unison and gathered into the spear. Taking a sharp breath, the lord of Winter Castle hurled the spear.
SWOOOOOSH!
With a momentum as mighty as the military banner the Warlord had thrown, the spear fell right into the middle of the Orcs.
Along with a loud crash, dozens of Orcs were turned into bloody pulps just like that.
Timing it right, Vincent sent a hand signal toward the bottom of the wall.
Quern Liechtheim, the leader of the Black Lancers, nodded. Then he raised his hand.
The Black Lancers, who had been on standby beneath the wall having dismounted, grabbed their short spears in unison.
"Javelins."
At the commander's quiet order, they threw their javelins.
SWOOOOOSH.
A hundred spears soared from behind the wall. Black trajectories crossed the sky and struck the vanguard of the Orcs.
CRASH!
The Orcs directly hit by the spears packed with mana died instantly. The Orcs swept up in the aftermath of the impact fell over, rolled on the ground, and tumbled about.
"Javelins!"
The Black Lancers hurled their spears several times. Each time, a lightning-like attack struck down upon the Orc camp.
However, the Orcs did not waver in the slightest.
They merely continued to pant heavily with reddened eyes.
THUD.
It was after the sound of drums rang out that those Orcs began to move.
THUD. THUD.
The Orcs stepped forward in time with the drums.
The drumbeats, which had been slow at first, suddenly began to sound as fast as a wildly beating heart at a certain moment.
And the Orcs' pace sped up as well.
"ROOOOOAR!"
"GRAAAAAH!"
RUMBLE.
Footsteps echoing like thunder.
Even the sturdy wall trembled, shaking off showers of snow.
"All shooters, nock arrows and stand by!"
The hundreds of Rangers atop that wall nocked arrows to their bowstrings.
"Draw!"
In the face of the dark green tidal wave bearing down on the castle, the Rangers gritted their teeth.
"Fire!"
They let go of their bowstrings in unison.
TWANG.
The sounds of the tautly drawn bowstrings snapping rang out one after another, and hundreds of arrows crossed the sky.
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK.
Under that shower of death, the Orcs running at the front rolled on the ground. And those who fell like that were trampled into a pulp by the Orcs surging from behind.
SWOOOOOSH!
The Rangers loosed arrows so fast their hands couldn't be seen.
"Ballistas! Ready!"
The infantrymen on standby atop the wall pulled back the cloths. Winter Castle's anti-monster ballistas, which had been covered so they wouldn't be hit by the snow, revealed themselves.
"Fire!"
The projectiles of the ballistas, massive as fair-sized pillars, struck dead center into the middle of the Orcs. Dozens of Orcs were torn apart and sent flying into the air.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE.
But despite that, the Orcs' advance didn't slow down in the slightest.
AWOOOOOO!
Just as the sound of wolf howls could be heard, Wolf Riders leaped out from within the dark green wave.
"Take care of the wolves first!"
The commanders shouted upon seeing the wolves. The crossbows turned their heads. The arrows changed direction.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH.
Hundreds of arrows rained down on the Wolf Riders.
YELP!
The wolves screamed and rolled on the ground. However, a far greater number of wolves reached the wall.
BARK!
Kicking off the ground in unison, the wolves sprinted up the wall as if it were flat land. But they couldn't climb the entirety of the frozen solid wall and plummeted at around the two-thirds mark.
At that moment, the riders kicked off the backs of the wolves and leaped up. They clutched grappling hooks in their hands.
SWISH.
They threw the grappling hooks in midair.
The waiting knights deflected the grappling hooks. However, there were far too many hooks to block them all.
THUNK.
Countless grappling hooks caught onto the wall.
The Wolf Riders climbed up the wall in an instant using the ropes.
"Block them!"
The soldiers and knights thrust their spears and swords in unison.
SHNK, SHNK.
Instead of resisting, the Wolf Riders exposed their backs. Their broad backs were turned into rags in an instant.
But even though they were hacked to pieces, they had completed their mission.
Hundreds of ladders made by weaving thick ropes together dropped limply down the wall.
The knights belatedly realized the situation and loaded mana onto the tips of their swords. However, before they could even swing their swords, hundreds of spears flew in from below the wall.
"GAAAH!"
Rangers who had been busily firing arrows were skewered by the spears and sent flying. A few of the low-level apprentice knights failed to block the spears and died on the spot.
The knights who successfully blocked the spears and cut the ladders were truly in the minority.
"Duck!"
Spears flew in again.
The Rangers who had been pressed tightly against the wall lowered their stances.
In the meantime, the Orcs that reached the wall began to climb the ladders.
The knights ran all over, cutting the ladders. The Orcs threw spears and axes, interfering with the knights.
Eventually, the Orc Warriors made it atop the wall.
"Knights, take the Orc Warriors!"
At Vincent's words, the knights charged toward the Orc Warriors that had come up on the wall.
"Rangers, keep firing! Infantry, cut the ladders!"
The Rangers precariously stuck their heads outside the wall and pulled their bowstrings. The Orcs climbing the ladders were struck by arrows and plummeted.
"ACK!"
A Ranger whose head was split by an axe flying from below the wall died on the spot. Soldiers and Rangers struck by spears and axes cropped up one after another everywhere.
"Hmm."
The lord of Winter Castle let out a heavy groan.
The situation was not good.
The Orcs' siege tactics were clearly the same crude methods as usual. The only difference was that there were a staggering number of them.
The number of flying spears and axes, the number of draped ladders—the scale of it was unprecedented.
That difference in scale was forcing casualties upon our forces.
"Pour it!"
At the commanders' shouts, the Rangers poured the oil. The Orcs pressing closely against the wall and clamoring were drenched in the sticky liquid.
"Ignite!"
The Rangers loosed flaming arrows in unison.
Flames surged along the wall.
"GYAAAAAAH!"
The Orcs engulfed in flames screamed.
In the meantime, the soldiers and knights cleared out the top of the wall. The fire spread to the ladders draped over the wall.
"It's too early."
The First Prince, who had appeared out of nowhere, frowned while looking at the flames.
"They should have used it at least when the soldiers were exhausted, when they desperately needed time to catch their breath."
It seemed he was talking about the oil poured in advance below the wall.
"Casualties were cropping up one after another, so there was no other way."
Vincent stepped forward and gave an excuse that wasn't an excuse.
"I know. But at this rate, we'll have to fight them bare-handed before even a week passes."
Below the wall, thousands of Orcs were just waiting for the flames to die down.
"This really isn't good."
At the First Prince's words, the commanders' faces darkened.
Day 1 of the battle. 48 Rangers, 34 infantrymen, and 7 apprentice knights had died in action. Also, they had exhausted 4,000 arrows and used 50 pots of oil that were laid out in advance below the wall.
The Orcs were still countless in number.
