Logan gazed at the magicians preparing to cast spells with eyes full of anticipation. The personnel involved were all members of the current golem tower, excluding the young Victoria. Clayton, along with his ten apprentices, including his so-called disciples Grik, Enan, and Truus, pulled out mana crystals of different sizes from their pockets. These were magic crystals, rare minerals created by the condensation of natural mana.
As they all started chanting in unison while holding the magic crystals, the mana circles pulsating from their hearts caused the surrounding energies to surge noticeably. Soon, ten high-grade magic crystals, each worth 100,000 gold, seeped into the ground from Clayton’s hands.
Rumbling.
At the same moment, ten massive golems, each standing 5 meters tall, burst from the ground, shattering the earth as they rose.
“Wow!”
Though Clayton’s golems were already famous in Maclaine, many knights and soldiers who were seeing them for the first time could not help but exclaim their astonishment. Those who had seen Clayton’s enormous golems during the previous dam construction were puzzled by the smaller size of the current ones.
‘Aren’t we using those massive golems from last time?’
Moreover, these golems had unusually large arms compared to their bodies, and their hands were flat, blunt forms resembling large shovels instead of regular hands. However, a smile crept across Logan’s face as he witnessed the scene.
‘Just by creating golems, a pit with a 10-meter radius has been formed.’
He had a premonition that the ambitious task promised by Clayton would easily come to fruition. Following that, as Grik’s golems started to appear, another eleven 2 to 3-meter golems emerged one after the other, widening the pit even further, giving Logan confidence in their success.With a nod of satisfaction from Logan, the golems began to move.
Rumbling.
“What the—?!”
“What are they doing?”
“Digging…?”
Contrary to the majority’s expectation that the golems would charge towards the enemy lines, they began to dig into the ground frantically with their shovel-shaped hands.
“What are they up to?”
As the bewildered Maclaine soldiers watched on, the magicians of the golem tower continued to summon mana. They had to assist the golems’ ‘work’ with their magic while maintaining the costly golems with the magic crystals.
“Taah!”
Sweat beads forming on Clayton’s forehead, the mana of the magicians burst out with every exclamation.
Whirring. Rumbling.
As the magicians’ magic touched the ground, it crumbled like soft tofu. The golems and magicians had begun to dig a tunnel at a distance of 500 meters from the enemy’s castle—a range beyond the reach of any arrow.
‘Now, let’s see how you react?’
Logan’s face, as he watched the enemies huddled on the city walls, was fraught with barely concealed tension.
“A magician?!”
Jerome, the defense captain, was the first to spot the change, noticing it quicker than the other soldiers. It was impossible for a few scattered arrows to cloud the vision of a high-ranking knight.
“Did they have magicians too?”
The futile attack of the enemy had temporarily eased his worry, but it was now pounding again. A group of magicians could certainly bring an unpredictable factor into the battlefield.
However, the subsequent actions of the magicians left the tense Jerome completely bewildered.
“Tunnels?”
Jerik, who had also noticed the magicians around the same time, exchanged a look of perplexity with Jerome. They quickly shared their thoughts.
“Digging underground from that distance? What are they doing?”
“Exactly. Even with magic, it would be impossible in a day or two.”
“So, what is the point of all this?”
“It seems a bit concerning, those dirt puppets…”
The brothers shared an uneasy glance but soon shook their heads in unison.
“Nonetheless, it’s not the time for us to open the gates and go out.”
“Right. We just need to stand our ground.”
The brothers reassured their anxious hearts and tried their best to ignore the variables.
However, as hours passed and the sun moved high, then began to set, and no significant movement from the enemy forces was observed, the anxiety only grew stronger. The magicians and golems that had first appeared were long gone, disappeared into the tunnels they had dug.
Moreover,
“Now they’re not even shooting arrows?”
“What’s on their minds?”
“Let them be. If they want to drag out time, that’s fine by us.”
With an attempt to conceal his unease, Jerome shook his head.
And at that moment,
Rumbling.
“Argh!”
“What’s this?!”
“The walls are shaking…”
A moment of intense trembling erupted with the soldiers’ screams, and the vague anxiety turned into a palpable reality.
“The walls?!”
“What’s happening?!”
Amid the growing commotion among the soldiers, Jerome shouted to his brother.
“How likely is it for the walls to collapse?!”
“No way, that’s ridiculous.”
“Didn’t you feel it shaking just now?”
“…Still, we can’t move. We have to hold out until the main forces arrive.”
“What if the walls collapse? What do you think they’re doing, not attacking us until now? They must be planning something!”
An unexpected tremor tore apart the brothers’ consensus.
And,
“Let’s deploy a small elite force to attack the magicians. Move out without their knowledge!”
The more anxious Jerome, who was also the defense captain of Tomodo Castle, made the decision.
“Let’s send the knights. We’ll skirt around the southern forest as quietly as possible and retreat immediately if anything feels off. Understand?”
“…Alright. Let’s give it a try.”
Eventually, the brothers decided to stop waiting and take some action.
Tomodo Castle.
While the western wall was tense with the suspicious activity of Maclaine’s magicians, the other sides of the wall, relatively calm, were guarded by a minimal number of soldiers just in case of an emergency.
Not too far from there, the southern wall, which had a forest nearby, had relatively more troops stationed. In the midst of all eyes drawn to the west, the southern gate opened, and a group of mounted soldiers emerged.
“Is the perimeter secure?”
“No issues.”
“There are no signs of the enemy.”
Nodding his head to the reports, Jerik led 20 knights out toward the south. The sound of their horses’ hooves, a mere 20 riders, would be inaudible beyond the western wall.
Jerik and the 20 knights of the surprise attack unit quickly entered the southern forest.
‘We can move through the forest to near the enemy’s rear.’
Although there was a significant distance between the enemy camp and the edge of the forest, it was much closer than from the castle.
‘Strike fast and retreat.’
If they could ambush the enemy magicians and retreat quickly as planned, it was a viable possibility. It was common sense that magicians could not stand against knights in close combat.
According to the prior reconnaissance, there seemed to be hardly any guards at the back of the enemy positions. Even if the enemy was prepared, they could retreat to the castle before the enemy knights could react. That was the calculation.
After dashing through the forest and seeing the wide entrance to the dug tunnel, Jerik became even more confident.
‘Five knights are enough.’
There weren’t many soldiers guarding the entrance of the tunnel, and they weren’t even watching the forest side. At that moment, a senior knight named Gale grabbed Jerik’s shoulder.
“Jerik, wait. Might this be a trap? The guarding forces are too light.”
Gale had a point, but that didn’t change their course of action.
“We retreat if it’s a trap, right?”
“But still…”
“If anything seems off, we flee immediately. But before that, go in with full force.”
There was no need to explain the situation in detail—the bet that most of the enemy knights were with the main force and it would take time for them to arrive required more desperate resolve than complacency.
“Let’s go.”
Quelling the slight opposition from his colleague, Jerik ordered the charge.
Rustling.
The dense underbrush shook in succession as the surprise attack unit emerged from the forest. Without any foolish shouts or calls, the charge of twenty knights quickly drew the attention of the enemies.
Unexpectedly,
“The enemy!”
“From behind! It’s a surprise attack!”
Upon spotting them, the enemies immediately fled into the tunnel without any attempt to counterattack. Considering the difference in numbers—twenty against five—this was an all too natural response, but the lack of any hesitation bothered Jerik.
‘A trap…?’
No, it can’t be. We’ve already confirmed the position of the enemy knights.
Even if there were differences, only a few knights could reach the rear in time. Besides, it was already too late to retreat.
Jerik clenched his teeth and put more strength into his legs.
“Faster!”
With his shout, the speed of the Bipros knights increased even more. Leading the charge toward the tunnel, Jerik felt something shot out from the faint darkness inside.
“Tch!”
At full speed, the threat could have been dangerous, but he did not slow down. Instead, he deflected the incoming objects with his senses alone and continued his charge.
‘Arrows?’
More precisely, they were the strange quarrels used for crossbows that had pounded the city walls at the start of the battle.
They were coming in with a terrifying force from the front, one after another. But Jerik was one of the elite knights of Bipros.
Drawing up as much Force as he could, his armor deflected the quarrels trying to pierce through, and his advancing blade swept away any projectile that came his way.
However, no matter how much Force he summoned, he could not protect his horse as well.
Whinnying. Thump.
“Damn it!”
With his horse down, the charge was halted, and nothing could stop Jerik from stepping forward. However, not all his comrades had the same ability.
Piercing. Whinnying.
“Argh!”
Screams erupted not only from the horses but also from his comrades following him. While he could not turn back to look due to the barrage of quarrels rattling against his armor, judging by the vibrations, it seemed that any standard knight unable to reinforce their armor with Force wouldn’t withstand this shower of quarrels.
‘But we must advance!’
Thinking in reverse, such an attack meant that there were no knights here capable of confronting them.
‘Now that we’ve come this far, we must capture them.’
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness in the tunnel, he could make out the silhouettes, the over 300 soldiers continuously firing crossbows, and the magicians in robes hidden behind them.
Jerik bore a grim smile as he charged toward them. By closing the gap and putting enemy soldiers between himself and the magicians, they would be unable to respond.
Additionally, the fact they were inside a tunnel that could collapse if hit with reckless magic would prevent any hasty moves from the enemy magicians. He thought that if he could handle them before the reinforcements arrived, victory would be his.
But at that moment,
“Earth wall!”
“Swamp!”
Accompanied by the shouts of the lined-up magicians, a wall of earth erected where the fallen soldiers lay, and the ground beneath their feet turned swampy, swallowing their feet like quicksand.
“What’s with this magic!”
Confounded by the unexpected magic assault from magicians he had assumed could not react, Jerik was caught off guard.
“Everything has been dealt with, horses included. Now, let’s have some fun with you.”
A relaxed voice sounded, and a middle-aged knight with streaks of white in his brown hair emerged with the five missing knights, blocking their escape.
‘A high-ranking knight!’
Jerik could instantly tell this middle-aged man was a strong opponent, on the same level as him.
While lacking in knight numbers, if they held them back while those strange crossbows threatened from behind,
‘We could be isolated here!’
Realizing this, Jerik quickly made a decision as he assessed the situation. The surprise attack had failed.
Preserving as much of their forces as possible to retreat to the castle was imperative. However, as he thought this,
– Charge, all troops!
A voice that contorted his expression came from afar, outside the tunnel.
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