Chapter 180
Chapter 180 - The Battle for Tiamo (3)
3 days after we reported to the Queen that an army of 1 million magical beasts was heading for Tiamo.
The sun was well up and it was just before noon.
The Demon King's army was supposed to arrive in Tiamo in 2 days, but they didn't arrive even after 2 days.
The delay operation was a success, and we were able to delay it by 1 day.
The Thives team that was on standby to check on the progress of the Demon King's army away from the city sent up a wisp of smoke that indicated the attack of the Demon King's army.
On the outer wall, a troop of elves was already waiting in formation.
"They are here! Get into position. This is the plan! Tell the third layer to take attack positions!"
""Ha!""
The elven General instructed the troops guarding the outermost of the 3 layers of walls outside the outer wall to take up attack positions.
There was a pile of stones built by elven Spirit Wielders over a period of 3 days.
The pile reached a height of more than 5 meters, but unlike the exterior walls, there was no good scaffolding.
They were piled up haphazardly, like wave dissipating blocks on a beach.
Behind the piles of stones, Spirit Wielders and archers were waiting, peering forward through the gaps in the piles of stones.
For the past 3 days, they had been guiding refugees by Magic Ship to Nest City and bringing healed soldiers to Tiamo.
The elven soldiers, now numbering 300,000, had taken up a defensive position around the city.
Not long after the General gave the signal, a roar was heard and the ground and piles of rocks began to shake.
It was the sound of trees being broken by the march of the Demon King's army and stomping on the ground.
Rosenheim, a place rich in nature, was being trampled upon.
The Demon King's army did not divide itself into the east, west, south, and north of the city. They were coming in a straight line, aiming to break through the northern gate of Tiamo.
Immediately, the magical beasts reached the third layer of the wall, the outermost layer.
"Here they come! You must protect the Queen!!!!""
""Ooooohhhhh!""
The Demon King's army roared and headed towards the wall with all their might. The arrows of the archers rained down on the Demon King's army, covering the sunlight, but they didn't care as they advanced. I didn't know what they were so excited about, but they were charging with bloodshot eyes.
The moment the herd of magical beasts crashed into the wall, the wall shook loudly as the earth shook and collapsed in several places.
Each rock that made up the 5-meter-long pile of stones was over a meter high, but it was not that big for a B-rank magical beast. The magical beasts randomly grabbed and threw them, breaking down the stone piles.
They elves desperately tried to fight back with arrows and Spirit Magic, but it seemed that they were no match for the violence of numbers.
In less than an hour, the wall began to break down everywhere, flooding the area with magical beasts.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
The General decided that the wall would not hold and ordered a retreat. The injured were healed completely with the [Blessing of Heaven]s, and the elves began to retreat as they all split into east and west and flee while fighting back. They entered the city through the east and west gates while defending the east and west outer walls.
And the second layer collapsed in less than an hour.
The Generals and soldiers waiting on the outer wall looked on with despair as the wall defenders were easily defeated. This was the end of Rosenheim, and the violence of numbers made them wonder if there was any hope.
Even from the highest point, the army of the Demon King's army was enough to fill the horizon.
As the garrison began to fight at the last layer of wall, a huge Griffin descended from the sky right in front of the Generals.
It took a moment for them to react, but they recognized the people riding the Griffin.
"Well, we made it. That last delay was a bit unnecessary, wasn't it?"
"But that's good, isn't it? They haven't even reached the outer wall yet."
We hovered in front of the outer wall while talking.
"I'm going to join the fight. I'll try to stop the magical beast's progress as much as possible, so please return fire from above."
(This time, the magical beast isn't thick enough to pin us down.)
It was the violence of numbers that made me think that if I tried to pin them down, the outer wall might be pulled out.
"Uh-huh, but ..."
Cecile started but she swallowed the words, "is it okay to go in front of the outer wall?"
If I didn't fight from the top of the outer wall, I would be fighting the Demon King's army in a situation where there were no obstacles or other protection.
Even though they knew the situation, my friends did not look worried.
(I only have 30,000 B-rank magic stones left, but that's about enough.)
I checked once again the number of slots I could currently summon and the number of magic stones remaining. The number of B-rank magic stones that I had increased to 130,000 through Tiamo siege and our continuous harassment in 3 days was decreased due to the creation of summons and [Blessing of Heaven]s. The amount of magic stones consumed could be seen in the fierce battle during the 3 days of delayed operations.
"Alipons, Dora-dora, Kerolins, Harami, Fin, Gembu, come out!"
I summoned 20 B-rank Insects, 23 B-rank Dragons, 4 B-rank Beasts, 1 D-rank Fish, 1 C-rank Fish and 1 B-rank Fish, and 1 E-rank Bird. I felt like that was the best lineup possible for the situation.
I summoned all the summons at once, and used B-rank Insect's [Spawn] and formed a formation.
In the meantime, the last pile of stones had been broken through, and the magical beasts were closing in on Allen and the others.
"You must be hungry. Don't you have any concept of logistics in your army?"
I knew why the magical beasts were so desperate. There was no sign of any kind of supply unit in the oncoming magical beast army. The only thing we knew was that they hadn't been able to eat for the past 3 days and 3 nights.
"Here it comes! Archers, Spirit Magicians, begin your attack!!!!"
"Ohhhhhhhh!"
The Demon King's army, which was now closing in on us after destroying all 3 layers of the temporary wall, began its attack on the real city wall.
However, as if our offensive power was not enough, the Demon King's army's progress did not stop.
(Well, I'll support you.)
"Dora-Doras, fire!"
""Oh!""
After confirming that the elves who were defending the last pile of stones had evacuated, I gave instructions to my summon.
The 23 B-rank Dragon summons used their special skill [Fire Breath] without stop to prevent being attacked and reduce the Demon King's army to ashes.
"Cecile, use [Small Meteorite] well ahead of the 3 stone walls. I want to slow down the progress of the Demon King's army until the elves who evacuated the last layer of stone walls enter the city."
"All right."
I used a [Blessing of Heaven].
Unlike the last time when we fought across the outer wall, we were far enough away from the outer wall to have Cecile use her Extra Skill [Small Meteorite].
The reason I targeted a location far from the city was because Cecile's [Small Meteorite] had too wide an area of effect, and I feared for the elves on the outer wall.
"[Small Meteorite]!"
Far beyond the outer wall, a huge, red-hot rock fell. With a roar, the screams of the magical beasts spread, but the Demon King's army continued charging.
The charge of the Demon King's army was desperately held back by my summons and friends, which consisted of B-rank Dragons and B-rank Insect with their Child Alipons.
(Hmm. I think we are barely holding on. I guess the Demon King's army has about half a million left.)
I analyzed the situation.
With our tactic, it seemed like the invasion of the Demon King's army was being held back just barely. The reason I felt like l like this was because the outer wall behind us was protected, but the range of the Demon King's army's advance was too wide, and the east and west ends of the outer wall on the north side were currently in battle.
(A little more Dora-Dora, or the outer wall will collapse from both ends.)
In the fast-changing war situation, I tried to keep track of all the situations.
The B-rank Insects were amazing. With just 1 B-rank magic stone, they could spawn as many as 100 Child Alipons with half the status of themselves every day.
However, they only had half the status of a B-rank summon. Moreover, with their [Attack] of only 1,200, the Children Alipon's speed of defeating enemies was too slow. In situations where there was no time limit or no reinforcements from the enemy army, the attack of the Children Alipon was effective, but now during war.
Due to the slow speed, a significant number of magical beasts crashed into the east and west ends of the north wall, and the elves were desperately fighting back.
(Oh! I see you're fighting too.)
On the east side of the north wall, the Spirit Mage Gatoruga was sending out plush, fluffy, mystical, feathered things to fight.
He was called the strongest man in Rosenheim, and he defeated more and more magical beasts from the top of the outer wall.
I thought I was seeing a Spirit for the first time, but then I remembered that the first Spirit I ever saw was a Flying Squirrel.
(Now is not the time to save magic stones!)
It took 29 B-rank magic stones to a B-rank Dragon.
However, their special skill was more powerful than a Child Alipon's.
If I reduced the number B-rank Insects, the number of Children Alipon would also decrease at once. Thanks to this, B-rank Dragon were more likely to be targeted by the Demon King's army. And the number of magic stones I had would decrease even more since I had to re-summon them. But, eradication speed was the most important factor in war and I had no choice.
Every time a summon was defeated, I re-summoned them by using . I always had my Dragon summons to use their awakening skill [Fires of Wrath] first. If they were defeated before being able to use it, that would just be a waste.
I can feel the speed of annihilation increasing in proportion to the consumption of magic stones.
(I'll soon run out of magic stones if I continue like this. Was this also part of the Demon King's army's strategy? I'm impressed.)
I wanted to send my compliments to the enemy forces.
The number of magic stones in my was decreasing at an alarming rate because I changed the composition of my Holder to mainly B-rank Dragons.
"Kurena and Dogora, you guys should be targeting A-ranks! Cecile, Formar, Dora-dora and Alipon should be enough for B-ranks!"
""Oh!""
Cecile's magic, Formar's arrows, Dora-Dora and Alipon could handle the majority of the magical beasts i.e B-ranks.
The A-rank magical beasts, who were the one defeating my summons and unnecessarily causing me to use magical stones were given priority to be targeted by Kurena and Dogora.
And the battle of offense and defense continued without a break.
(The magic stones will run out in 30 minutes instead of my predicted 1 hour. Oh! They are here!)
The number of magic stones that I had spent like hot water was now less than 5,000.
In the midst of all this, the E-rank Bird caught sight of an elf running alongside the Demon King's army, some distance away from their march.
It looks like he's activating his Extra Skill.
His whole body appeared to be shimmering like a shimmering flame. Then he pulled a large sack from his shoulder and came frantically running towards Tiamo.