Chapter 209: Demolition Plant

***Arc 9 One Who Sent Off, Chapter 209 Demolition Plant***

General Aare Caincrus killed in action.

The annihilation of 30000 in the north.

After learning of this, the morale of the Holy Empire of Elsren's army collapsed.

The soldiers who were boldly attacking the castle wall as the Caincrus army had successfully broken through saw a pillar of blue light shining in the darkness of the night, and an explosive sound.

It was certain that something unknown inside the walls had caused the disappearance of soldiers lured in.

Soldiers, knowing that their deaths had meaning, would sacrifice themselves for a noble mission.

However, they witnessed the valiant heroes who successfully conquered the Wulfenite walls disappear without a trace.

If such anxiety were to arise, there would be no way to maintain morale.

Baszlar Lukazan, the supreme commander of the Imperial Army, immediately halted the night attack when he learned of this fact.

It was clear that the enemy possessed new, unknown weapons, and even if they were able to push through, there was a strong possibility that they would end up in the same trap.

Right now, he should try to gather information――that was the natural choice for a commander.

Even in the chaos, he remained calm and did not panic.

It could be said to be a right judgment.

However, the correct answer in terms of results was to just push through.

A simultaneous explosion that destroyed the 20,000 people that had entered the area.

The Baumje Ira that was brought to Wulfenite had been consumed in large quantities, and it was impossible to cause another explosion of the same magnitude.

The Empire Army should have blocked off information and continued the siege day and night to exhaust Verreich's forces, if they did that the fall of Wolfenheit would not have been impossible――Or so says the military historians who looked at the records left behind.

The fatigue of the defenders, who were outnumbered, was much greater.

Relentless attacks day and night——Wulfenite divided into groups for defense during this time.

Naturally, their physical strength was exhausted, and no matter how strong Alberan soldiers were, the longer they continued, the more the fatigue could no longer be ignored.

Even while they were resting, they could not rest if they were worried about a breakthrough.

Baszlar Lukazan decision to use their numerical advantage to force a breakthrough was correct, and if this situation continued for three or four days, they could have aimed for the collapse of the Wolfenheit forces due to fatigue.

However, Baszlar Lukazan's decision gave the exhausted Wulfenite forces time to recover from their fatigue and allowed time for anxiety to brew among his own soldiers.

In terms of consequences, it was a misjudgment.

——The next evening, in the front center of Lukazan's main camp.

"...This is tough."

A seasoned veteran who rose through the ranks——the old Battalion Commander Titt Calk fiddled with his white-mixed beard, squinting his one eye as he grumbled.

Looking at the walls and raising his voice, he began to feel the severity of the battle.

In the front, the eastern wall of Wulfenite was robust, about 30 shaku high.

He looked at the arrows that rained down incessantly from there, and he looked at the colors of the soldiers' faces.

Everyone's eyes were clouded not by wariness but by fear.

They were the eyes of prisoners being sent to the death row.

The order to suspend the night raid was given by Baszlar Lukazan, the supreme general.

The choice felt right at that moment, but now he knew it was a mistake.

Although they had blocked information, the breakthrough of the northern wall and the suppression of the city were transmitted to us.

It was impossible to completely cut off information, and the sudden interruption of the night raid following the blue pillars of light was easily imaginable to the soldiers.

The soldiers could have easily imagined it.

That the army that should have conquered the northern sector was annihilated by those blue pillars of light.

Even an attack on the city walls that required great courage, when the he thought of they're feeling, he could not say anything.

In the front are soldiers holding onto ladders.

He remembers that once upon a time, he climbed a ladder the same way.

Even so, it was not as high as this.

An unstable, creaking ladder against a 30 shaku high fortress wall.

The leader of each squad held a large shield above their head, catching the arrows.

Not just arrows.

Sometimes rocks were dropped, or boiling oil. They could get hit with a spear or die by an ally's trebuchet.

What was needed to climb the ladder was not ability. It was simply luck.

All they could do was pray that the oil would not be sprayed on your place.

It was too high a risk for a gamble, and no one in their right mind would do it.

Titt, too, was almost pissing his pants as he climbed up the ladder with his large shield raised, fueled by the alcohol given to him by the squad leader at the time.

He saw a famous and powerful man died tragically with burns all over his body.

He saw an old centurion who was famous for his mastery of swords fell tragically to death from a falling rock.

An ordinary Titt, who had no power at the time, happened to come out on top of the fortress wall.

Luckily, he killed the centurion that was there and consequently conquered the fortress wall.

He became a captain in one step.

He was praised by those around him as the bravest man in the century.

He received a personal reward from the general at the time, and was even able to buy a small house.

But that didn't mean Titt was brave.

Titt just happened to be able to climb up because the brave ones were targeted and killed.

It was only the enemy centurion who, in a moment of fear, plunged in and was pushed down.

He was not a noble——a superhuman who could climb over the fortress walls without using a ladder, nor did he have a brave heart or the ability to do so.

From past experiences, he had only thought about not using his subordinates as gambling "stakes."

But in this siege, that would be impossible.

Dusk——before the night, it was Titt's battalion turn to climb the ladders.

He clenched his fist, watching soldiers resembling his past self as if watching his own children.

The only thing Titt was allowed to do here was to order them to climb, or die and let someone else climb.

"...Battalion Commander"

He was tapped on the shoulder and turned around. It was his longtime comrade, his adjutant.

"What's up? Ryuga."

"It's you after all. I'm sure you want to go too. ...If so, please let me accompany youc. I'll cut in first."

He was not so different in age.

But his face was only a little wrinkled.

The reason he looked much younger than Titt was because he as from a lower class noble family and has magical powers.

He was a man who always showed respect to Titt, a first-generation noble, who rose from a commoner, he was a comrade in arms and a close friend.

Even though he could still aim higher, he still chose to stay by Titt's side.

"...I leave my wife and child to you."

"My son has grown up, too. I told him what to do that in case I didn't come back."

Adjutant Ryuga Worls smiled manly and looked at the fortress wall.

"It would be a good opportunity to make a mark, and a good place to die.... Either way, I'm with you."

Then he thrust his fist at Titt.

Titt looked at it for a while, lost in thought.

"...What an idiot."

In the end, he gave him a wry smile and bumped their fists together.

After a while, a messenger on horseback arrived.

The corps commander orders to the 2nd Battalion to prepare for an attack.

Ryuga raised his voice and sent out instructions, at the same time informing the soldiers that the two men would accompany the 1st Century squad, which would charge last.

Titt shouted that they were going to share the battle and the death, and the soldiers shouted in response with fear in their hearts.

But, luckily or unluckily——

"......That is"

——On the east wall, right in front of them as they made their resolve.

What appeared in the setting sun was a crescent moon skull with a black flag.

A soldier in black armor raises a flag, and a gigantic Suiko appeared in the distance.

And sitting on top of it was a silver-haired Alberinea.

A soldier handed her a fire arrow.

The sky tinged with dusk and indigo——the girl shoots it into the sky.

High in the sky, a sparkling streak.

Taking that as a signal, countless shadows appeared in the sky.

"T-trebuchets! Watch out!!"

It was not just the trebuchets installed on the fortress walls.

It was also coming from beyond the fortress wall.

There was a considerable number of them——probably seized from the northern army.

It was reported that the trebuchet outside had been captured in a night raid by Alberinea and Grunmeld Varkas.

But why now?

The backlight of the setting sun――was it aimed so as to produce intimidating feeling from the shadows, or was it just a test shot?

"...That's strange."

They rained down on the soldiers in front of them, and they screamed.

It was a natural scream――but it was too loud.

And the aim was random

It was no more effective than mere harassment, and were they using appropriate debris for bullets?

The countless things flying at them were irregular, but he soon realized that this was not the case.

"...!"

He ran his horse to a nearby spot where it had fallen, and finally understood everything.

What came flying towards them was a human head.

Slammed into the ground, crushed, or burst.

At first glance, he saw severed limbs and a torso.

The eyes that had been dazzled by the backlight now became clear as the sun hid behind the fortress wall.

Scattered on the ground were the corpses of people who had once been soldiers.

――Probably of the Northern Army.

Bodies stuffed into barrels were thrown from the castle walls from the trebuchets, falling to the ground and bursting into pieces.

Inside was dark blood and flesh.

What was thrown from beyond was a shredded corpse.

Ryuga, the adjutant who was following behind him, instinctively covered his mouth with his hand.

Titt was also speechless.

Even as they froze like that, numerous fragments of corpses were scattered on the ground.

"...It's not, a human deed."

The words spilled out and he looked up at the castle wall.

A black flag with a crescent skull. A Suiko that looked like a shadow puppet and silver hair.

There was a considerable distance. And it was backlit.

But strangely, only her purple eyes seemed to shone coldly.

Without giving any honor or mercy to the soldiers who risked their lives to fight.

He had heard that such tactics have been used.

But that was a story from ancient times, and it was usually the head of a messenger or commander.

There was probably no one in this world who hag desecrated the bodies of so many warriors.

The sound of the trebuchet never stopped, and the rain of bodies never stopped falling.

He looked behind him and saw that the soldiers' faces were pale.

Everyone looked back and was frightened, except for the soldier who had no choice but to climb the ladder.

The scattered corpses created a gap between the two of them.

"What's going on! What are you doing!"

A gigantic figure jumped out of the battalion, leaving behind even the horses.

He was Baszlar Lukazan, Archduke of the Holy Empire of Elsren.

"Y-Your Excellency..."

Titt, unsure of what to say, gestured to the corpse with his hand.

Baszler looked at it, his eyebrows furrowed deeply.

Contrary to his neat and elegant armor, Baszlar's face was stained with anger.

"That lass...! Give me a spear!"

He then snatched a spear from one of the soldiers.

Taking a stance, stepping forward——with extraordinary strength, he threw the spear from half a ri away.

With a thunderous roar that could rival the a castle siege bow, the spear was fired with surprising accuracy over the ramparts toward Alberinea.

Even Titt, Ryuga, and the soldiers who were watching were astonished by the throw.

Baszlar Lukazan was indeed a warrior beyond human description, living up to his name as the Archduke of the Holy Empire.

However, there was no way that a mere superhuman could be a match for Alberinea.

She lightly plucked the string of her bow.

She accurately shot the spear, which was fired at a blinding speed, killing its momentum.

She easily grabbed the spinning spear by the handle and carried it on her shoulder.

Then, leaving the arrow and bow in the hands of a soldier at her side, she jumped down from the Suiko and went under the fortress wall.

She jumped over the moat with the spear in her back hand, not minding the soldiers who was climbing up the ladder.

"Your Excellency!"

An instantaneous acceleration that seems to shrink space.

The moment she started running, the spear was already flying right in front of them.

Baszlar instantly arched his upper body, pulled out the sword from his waist, and swung it to deflect the trajectory of the spear.

However, even his sword was deflected away, and the spear turned several soldiers behind into chunks of flesh.

In an instant, Titt raised Baszlar's fallen body, and his adjutant, Linkara Walkal, appeared on the spot and shouted.

"Your Excellency! This is an opponent you should not fight head-on!!"

"Tch! That shithead...!"

Even as Baszler said this, he returned to the back of the soldiers as if being led by the adjutant general who had appeared.

Alberinea, who had received the second spear thrown from the fortress wall, turned towards them with a puzzled expression, tilting her head left and right.

Then, she slammed the spear down on the battalion commander who was in command on the wall side, easily turning him into a piece of meat.

Normally, hundreds of people, would have to risk their lives to take the head of a battalion commander.

But for her, it was simply because he was a suitable target to throw the spear at.

It was as careless as kicking a pebble off the road to her.

Then, she beckoned the Suiko, who was yawning on the fortress wall, to come down and sit on top of its huge body, and with a single leap, she flew over the wall and disappeared inside.

There were no soldiers on the fortress wall where she was at who were willing to attack her.

Treating her as if she didn't exist.

The highest-ranking enemy commander——in this battle, the one with the most merit's head was right there, but no one dared to look at her, because it meant death.

In the world of the battlefield, Alberinea was clearly out of place.

How could they kill a being who could walk up and down the fortress walls as casually as if she were taking a walk, or a monster who could turn a commander into a lump of meat with a single throw of her spear?

It was foolish as challenging Dragon.

When she disappeared, the black armored soldier who was holding her flag also disappeared.

And the same goes for the fighting spirit of the soldiers of the Holy Empire.

The enthusiasm was already distant, and they had sobered up.

On the east section——on the roof of the square.

"Hmm, looks like it's going well. The prisoners seem to have settled down and are cooperating with the work, and the flow is starting to take shape."

Krische smiled and watched the "bullet" manufacturing process.

In the north section, the corpses were collected.

The carts were used to transport the corpses from the north to the east, and the pieces of fleshes were packed in barrels, and the corpses that keep the five bodies were also prioritized in the barrels.

For slightly larger "clump," they were brought to the east and underwent the "disassembly process."

The captured item from the enemy deployed to the north was a mobile catapult.

There were about 60 of them, but their power was weak compared to the ones installed on the castle walls, and they couldn't throw very heavy objects.

Therefore, it was necessary to dismantle it and change it to a more convenient size, and it took some time to make adjustments and prepare the work area.

Basically, about 5,000 POWs were engaged in the work.

The watchdog role was taken by Grunmeld's army, and at first the prisoners were rebellious.

They rebelled several times and were put down, and now that they have gone through the "Krische's Easy Dismantling Course" using the leader of the group, they had become completely obedient.

Collection, accumulation, transportation, disassembly, and throwing——each task proceeded smoothly.

Watching the man next to the disassembly person swinging gown his axe on the corpse lying on Krische frowned.

"You, it's not good to close your eyes. Safety firstit will be bad if you cut the person who placed the corpse or your own hand."

"Y-yes...,uegh"

The man opened his eyes, looked at the body of the corpse he had mutilated, and vomited empty stomach juices.

All the contents were already been vomited out.

"Hmmt, the person next to him, please switch with him."

While giving instructions casually, Krische seemed satisfied.

The only dismantlers with blades were in pairs.

The legs were tied together to prevent escape, and physical condition was also taken into consideration so that they could take turns as soon as they get tired.

The work of the prisoner was little more than chopping firewood, and soldiers were strong to begin with.

One of person nodded his head saying that once they got used to the process, they would show more stability.

The stench was a little unpleasant, but he resigned himself to the fact that it was inevitable.

"Geez, Gururun you shouldn't eat that anymore. Krische'll give you Gururun's favorite horse okay."

She hit Gururun on the back as Gururun watched the decomposing corpse with interest, putting his nose to the body and sniffed it.

"Hmm, Gururun will stink if isn't clean it afterwards. Krische'll wash Gururun with bubbly bubble, don't run away okay."

Whether she understood or not, Gururun growled, and Krische smiled, saying good girl.

If one just looked at that, it was a truly heartwarming sight――even the soldiers who were in charge of monitoring it couldn't help but smile at them, not.

They looked in horror at the abnormality of the beautiful girl, who was completely immersed in madness.

Alberinea was a mad Cursed Child.

It was only natural she would be rumored that way. She was fundamentally different.

She was usually a polite and child-like girl, and just as she looked, she is a pretty girl.

Even many soldiers knew this.

Because she was seen here and there taking the Suiko for a walk in Wolfenheit.

Just, no matter the situation, she didn't change.

Even when she saw a scene so horrific that it would make a grown man wanted to vomit, she didn't change a single bit.

She smiled the same smile when picking flowers and dismantling human limbs.

She cut open a corpse belly and shows off its entrails.

And with a cute smile, she said this.

'The stomach is difficult because the intestines droop, so be careful. Basically, you should sever the limbs and neck.'

Alberinea doesn't understand people's hearts.

That's why everyone understood correctly that she was rightly called Cursed Child.

"There shouldn't be any problems in the north. We've got the flow for the most part, and things are going well."

The Giant――Grunmeld appeared at Krische's side and looked out at the scene below him.

He grew up in the slums and has never lived a life where dead bodies would upset him.

Still, it was an unpleasant sight, and he looked at Krische exasperated.

"Still, how nasty. It's even put me to a shame."

"If Woof Woof says so, Krische'll feel at ease. Krische's sure the enemy soldiers will think the same way."

Krische replied with a smile.

"It could cause an epidemic after the war, so Krische'd like to at least put the corpse outside in a well-ventilated area. It'll also lower morale, it's two bird with one stone."

"But, still...I don't like it very much."

Following Grunmeld, the person who appeared was a bald man with glasses――Sardan, the commander of the second corps.

The enemy has completely lost the will to fight, at least there would be no night attack today.

The east wall, which he was mainly in charge of, would also be calm for a while.

"Although it doesn't violate the Holy Spirit Covenant, it's too cruel. In this situation, I won't deny this kind of approach, but... cruel treatment could mean allowing the other side to do it as well. Please refrain from using it as much as possible. "

Under the Holy Spirit Covenant, prisoner were allowed to be put to work as long as they were given adequate rest (Maximum 12 Koku of work a day), and there were no prohibitions regarding the handling of corpses.

In some cases, battlefields were cleaned by agreement based on the Holy Spirit Covenant, but there was no rule that required mourners to mourn respectfully.

A corpse was just a corpse.

In the end, it could be said that having prisoners of war dispose of and dismember corpses was a completely legal act.

It might be just a loophole, but for Krische there was no difference.

She did not consider the law to be inadequate.

"Hmm, it's not like Krische doesn't understand what Bald Glasses is saying but"

Bald Glasses, Sardan had learned to ignore that pet name.

"It's okay. Once this war is over, no one will be able to move for about ten years."

She looked at the soldiers doing the demolition work and narrowed her eyes.

Her purple eyes give off a somewhat inorganic glow.

"In ten years, Krische will be able to create position that will make the surrounding countries no longer willing to challenge Alberan."

――Without needing to do something this stupid.

Her words were cold.

It was such an emotionless tone that the two who were listening to her felt a slight chill.