NOVEL NEXT Chapter 201
Chapter 201: Rebellion (1)
“How ridiculous, attacking the Grassland while we’re busy sending troops to the West.”
“Do you expect me to issue a deployment order right now? We’re still in the planning stage. That’s why I sent the message.”
“Seems likely, right?”
The Commander of the Defense Barrier chuckled at his subordinate’s words. It was just days ago that the Emperor’s command to prepare for the Grassland expedition had arrived.
For them, this was an utterly unexpected directive. It had been over several decades since they established amicable relations with the Grassland tribes.
Though this barrier was erected due to a fierce life-and-death struggle with them, a war had hardly ever unfolded here.
The tribes of the Grassland dared not attack the wall set against them, either arguing amongst themselves or being skillfully manipulated by the commanders.
“Most likely, rather than actually attempting to conquer, the message is more about warning us, as they did before. What could we possibly gain from attacking a place like that? The previous emperors never stationed troops there either.”
Using plausible reasoning and logic, his subordinate reassured him. The words sounded convincing enough that, naturally, the Commander and other officials around him nodded in agreement.
“Of course, everyone knows that his ambitions are grand, but he’s equally cautious and cold-hearted. He wouldn’t do anything that wouldn’t yield profit.”
“That’s true. The past expeditions were thoroughly calculated for feasibility, weren’t they?”
As the subordinate mentioned the Emperor’s traits, the Commander laughed in agreement. However, they were entirely unaware of a few critical facts.
Firstly, the cold-hearted Emperor they thought they knew was being overshadowed by another entity without his own awareness.
And secondly, the enemy was already mobilizing their troops to march on this place.
“C-Crisis! They’re coming with their army!”
“What nonsense is this!?”
There was no time for regrets. The Commander of the Defense Barrier, caught off guard and unable to properly don his helmet, stumbled outside in a panic.
“T-Those barbarian fiends…”
What he saw was undeniable. A vast number of cavalry, unlike anything he’d ever seen throughout his life, was gathering rapidly in the Grassland sprawling before the barrier.
The sight of countless flags fluttering in the wind left the enraged Commander speechless, overwhelmed by the scene.
While they were blissfully ignorant, spending time within the barrier, those on the distant edge of the continent had been battling for their lives and had now grown this strong.
‘Are they really bold enough to charge straight at us like this? Do they think they can win?’
With a steadfast heart that should be commanding his subordinates, the Commander couldn’t help but wonder in disbelief.
There was no doubt that the Empire’s shield, which had never been breached since its completion, faced its greatest crisis.
“Siege warfare…”
He faintly smiled as he observed the scene unfolding before him in real-time.
Fighting a siege by the wall was both familiar and unfamiliar.
Typically, the residents he’d raised were positioned to defend against Bug attacks or raids from nearby factions.
However, now they were on the offensive against a castle. It was common knowledge that attacking a castle posed inherent disadvantages for the attacking side.
‘Aren’t we a bit different?’
Yet he was not particularly worried. The various technologies and skills accumulated by the residents on their journey had evolved in ways that differed vastly from conventional wisdom.
Thanks to numerous games and programs that helped him develop strategies directly, the residents accepted and utilized those innovations without hesitation.
In truth, it was an unavoidable choice to combat the Bugs. Acknowledging this, he chose to wait and observe the residents’ decisions without taking immediate action himself.
Though they experienced sacrifices and losses, the residents had never disappointed him even once.
“Move as we prepared. Their panicked reactions suggest our strategy will likely succeed.”
Just as he’d predicted, Balun on-site grinned, listening to the reports from the druids coming back from recon missions high above the enemy’s heads.
It was their tactics that they couldn’t prevent even if they knew. If they remained utterly ignorant, it would undoubtedly become a fatal blow.
“Prepare the Grand Magic!”
A few mages stepped forward. Including Rasen and Toa, now five veteran Grand Mages, personally selected by him for their talents and trained as unique mages that had become heroes of the Defense Game.
The magic they unleashed, while demanding immense mana, was on a level incomparable to any existing spells.
If these spells fell in succession, the empire’s troops, experiencing them for the first time, would find it impossible to maintain their composure.
“Those crazy monsters somehow crawled through this, but people are different.”
Balun raised the corners of his mouth as he looked at the enormous magic circles floating in the sky.
The soldiers on the barrier, already shocked and aghast, became flustered, unsure of how to respond to the countless fire arrows pouring down upon them.
Although many mages were always stationed for their defense, it was impossible to cover every area with the maximum defense barrier they could create.
‘This isn’t looking good. I knew it.’
He sighed lightly while observing the chaotic scene on the barrier. The sight of Bugs dying is one thing; witnessing people meet gruesome fates was altogether another.
No matter how much of an enemy they were, he wasn’t some sadistic psycho who derived enjoyment from watching people burn and get pierced to death.
“What in the world is happening? Is that magic!? Something so massive?”
“It can’t be! I’ve never even heard of such magic existing…!”
Moreover, unable to even hear the sounds, the reality was far worse than what appeared on the screen; it was utter chaos.
Thanks to the mages’ protection, he remained alive, but the now dazed Commander gazed at the ravaged barrier, shaking the mage by the collar while frantically demanding answers.
However, the magus was just as bewildered. Even decades of training left them utterly clueless about how to grasp the concept of Grand Magic.
“The enemy’s formation has completely collapsed. Deploy the advance units and Transporters quickly!”
While giving orders to tend to those exhausted from casting the Grand Magic, Balun issued a command for the second phase of the siege.
Soldiers that had been lying in wait suddenly began to mobilize. Most of them were heavily armored infantry wielding large shields, and Riena was among them.
However, the core of this offensive was the hundreds of Transporters. They bore bags on their backs filled with dozens of stone blocks obtained from within the game world.
These individuals, endowed with traits upon entering the game, had grown explosively as the population increased.
“Stop them! I don’t know what they’re planning, but we have to stop them!”
The Commander urged his beleaguered soldiers to shoot arrows and cast spells toward the approaching enemy in an orderly fashion.
“This is truly pathetic.”
“Don’t let your guard down! Stack quickly and switch out!”
However, the counterattacks hindered by the Grand Magic bombardment were utterly lacking in coordination. While the soldiers defended against those attacks, the Transporters began pulling out the blocks they carried and constructing something in the emptiness of the plain.
“What? What?!”
“What in the world is this…”
It was a bizarre and surreal spectacle that stunned them into forgetting the urgency to counter. Staircases rapidly emerged from thin air, dozens of stone steps rising directly toward the barrier.
Realizing that the end of the stairs would soon reach right before them on the barrier, the soldiers gaped in horror, preparing to retaliate, but by that time, Arin Tribe warriors had already mingled among the Transporters, waiting at the staircase.
“Surrender quietly, and you may live.”
Riena, deflecting fireballs as if flicking away sparks, stood at the staircase connected to the wall, looking down on the soldiers below.
Clad in elegant silver armor that gleamed radiantly and exuded a divine aura, her appearance was worlds apart from the barbaric tribes of the Grassland they had known.
In the face of this unfamiliarity, they all flinched, taken aback.
“Is this shock still not enough?”
Of course, in such a situation, those who took pride in the Empire’s walls would never surrender willingly.
“Prepare for deployment quickly. Next time, it might not be a bad idea to place the staircase right against the wall.”
As the fighting erupted from the newly completed staircases, Balun chuckled, issuing commands for the next operation. Now that the staircase for breaching the castle had been made, all that was left was to pour the soldiers in through it.
“Charge! Keep your distance; if you’re pushed off, you’ll die like dogs!”
Soon, as the Transporters cleared the staircase, an elite team made up largely of warriors surged upward, racing toward the wall.
Their goal was to breach the inner walls. If they could open the barrier, the main force lying in wait could storm in on horseback and wipe everything out.
“I’ll be going too.”
The Paladins, including Shura, took their chance to surge forth.
Glancing at Rasen, who was recovering with a pale face, Shura laughed lightly as she swiftly ascended the staircase, approaching the barrier. The stationed soldiers, flabbergasted by her intrusion, could not get their bearings and were swept aside.
‘I think we might win this?’
At that moment, the majority of the warriors, including Shura, sensed it. The enemy had lost their will to fight; the tide was turning rapidly.
“Ahhh!”
The bright golden slash that confirmed their instinct obliterated the advancing empire knights.
To stand against Riena, who had grown strong enough to duel even the strongest Bugs one-on-one, now required the finest experts the empire could muster.
‘Once I put my spoon in, it’ll definitely be over.’
In addition, having observed everything from across the screen, he too began to take action.
Already aware of just how effective machine gun-like background smash could be against the locals, he utilized all manner of weapons to shatter any remaining hope the defenders clung to.
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
The Commander, witnessing all of this, crumpled to his knees, staring in disbelief.
No matter how hard he racked his brain, there was simply no way to turn the unreasonable situation around.
The Arin Tribe’s tactics of breaking down their defenses and scaling the wall through outlandish methods felt as dreadful and powerful to the Commander as the Bugs themselves.