Welcome to Hell!

Chapter 39: Fortress Siege (1)

I had been dozing lightly when the sound of approaching footsteps jolted me awake. The door creaked open, and before I knew it, I was being whisked away in a cage once more. As I was transported, I realized I was inside a carriage again.

I didn’t mind traveling by carriage, but being transported continuously like this was getting tiresome. And thinking that I was being taken to the battlefield now made me feel melancholic. Oh, I didn’t want to die.

(Countless footsteps walking around… it seems like we’re on a march now. I don’t know how far ahead the fortress in question is, but I’ll just stay quiet until I’m told to come out.)

As we continued our march, the footsteps became sparser and eventually stopped. It seemed like we had arrived at our destination. I was also taken down from the carriage, and the cage was placed on the ground with the cloth removed.

The soldiers who saw me sitting restrained in the chair inside the cage were taken aback. It was not just because I was tightly bound, but my appearance was also shocking.

“Alright, come out.”

Orvo tapped the cage with his staff, and the lock clicked open. Not only that, but the shackles that restrained my hands and feet on the chair also came off with a clank. Following the command, my body moved on its own, trying to get out of the cage.

As I stood up, contrary to my expectations, I was able to stand naturally on my two legs. It must have been an instinctive response on my human side. And despite not moving for a long time, my body didn’t feel stiff. Yeah, I can fight.

“Gu…?” I muttered.

However, I swayed a little as I walked. It was because of my tail. The thick tail that extended from my waist was appropriately heavy, and its different center of gravity for a human made it difficult to maintain balance. I quickly adjusted and moved forward.

After figuring out the knack of walking in two or three steps, I stood firmly in front of Orvo. Due to Yaro’s tall stature, I ended up looking down at Orvo.

But in reality, I was the one below in terms of authority. I remained silent, waiting for Orvo’s command. The latter smirked and placed his hands on my shoulders before whispering in my ear to go as wild as I pleased.

“I won’t tell you what to do or how to do it, okay? Even if you charge in alone, you won’t lose. If you think you can do it, go ahead and capture the fortress on your own. But if it seems impossible, just come back once the sabotage is done,” said Orvo with a lax attitude.

…Pretty lenient, huh? Well, as long as it aligns with the mission, there shouldn’t be any issues. No one told me to fight until I died or not to retreat until the fortress was captured. I can just fight as I see fit and return quickly. With that thought, I felt relieved.

Whether Orvo was aware or not of the change in my mindset, he smiled, satisfied. He then ordered me to follow him and started walking. I simply obeyed without a word.

“Hello, Commander. Where should we launch the diversionary attack?” Orvo greeted as we entered the tent, where some people were already gathered.

“Oh, Lord Orvo.”

As Orvo led me, I was instructed to stay outside the tent, so I patiently waited and eavesdropped on the conversation inside.

According to their conversation, the main force was planning to attack the fortress from the south. The diversionary unit was supposed to flank the opposite side of the main force. It seemed that I should initiate the diversionary attack from the southeast, closer to the main force.

As the conversation ended, Orvo left the tent and led me through the coalition army’s camp. We were heading towards the east from here, but wait! Wasn’t it unnecessary to cross through the middle?

As expected, we were moving through the middle, naturally drawing the attention of the soldiers. Curiosity, disgust, awe… Various emotions were conveyed through the gazes directed at me. Orvo continued to march ahead, paying no mind to the diverse gazes of the soldiers.

“This should be a good spot. Once the battle horn sounds in a while, charge in shortly after. Do your best to stay alive,” Orvo said, leaving only those words behind as he soared into the sky and returned to the camp. Left alone, I squinted my eyes towards the fortress that we were planning to attack next. I should observe it and see what kind of fortress it was.

There was a wide grassy plain with no obstructions, and the fortress stood alone on top of a small hill in the center. It was larger than I had anticipated, and it was hard to believe that it was a hastily constructed building.

The outer walls of the fortress seemed to be made entirely of metal, reflecting the sunlight and gleaming brightly. The overall shape was rectangular, with a slightly taller tower at the apex.

There were walkways on top of the outer walls, lined with what appeared to be metal defense weapons. They varied in size, but all of them were cylindrical in shape. I wondered what kind of attacks would be launched from those. If my exoskeleton could withstand their firepower, it would be ideal, but I couldn’t afford to be careless.

Boooooooooooooo!

While I was standing still and observing, a deep bass sound reverberated from the depths of my stomach as the main force from the frontlines began to advance. The frontline consisted of heavily armored infantry, fortified with sturdy plate armor and large rectangular shields, forming a massive moving wall as they advanced slowly.

Perhaps there were about ten thousand of them? Following behind were around five thousand spiritualists and archers, as well as lightly armored infantry, keeping their distance. This was the main force of the coalition army participating in the fortress siege. With such numbers, they could easily surround the fortress. Or was there a reason why they couldn’t?

Breaking through ten thousand heavily armored infantrymen wouldn’t be easy. As I thought about this, the barrels of the defensive weapons in the fortress began to glow a pale blue. Then, balls of flame of the same color as the glow were fired from the large barrels, flying towards the coalition army at high speed… and exploded violently.

The shockwave from the explosion reached my location. The scorching impact wave battered my body, but my exoskeleton was impervious to the moderate heat. It was just a strong wind for me.

However, I furrowed my brow involuntarily. That’s because, along with the shockwave, the smell of burning flesh and dense blood reached me. Perhaps due to their fighting spirit or to some sort of spiritual art, there seemed to be fewer casualties among the heavily armored infantry than I had expected, but there seemed to be a significant number of injured.

Despite taking a blow, the main force of the coalition army quickly regrouped and resumed their advance, re-establishing their formation. In order to start the siege, they had to approach. For now, they had no choice but to fortify their defense and stubbornly push forward.

The coalition army did attempt to counterattack. The archers and spiritualists behind the heavy infantry were using arrows and spiritual arts to attack. However, their attacks were not strong enough to break through the outer walls. In fact, any damage inflicted by long-range attacks were rapidly healed, as if the walls had an automatic repair function.

If only they could land a powerful spiritual attack, but it’s not that simple. There are spiritualists among the enemy forces who are more skilled than me, countering fireballs in mid-air and unleashing powerful spiritual arts of their own. Moreover, all of the attacks by the coalition army were neutralized by beams of light emitted from the outer walls. It seems the enemy also has formidable means of defense.

At this rate, destroying the walls from a distance was not feasible. It seems the only way to capture the fortress is to breach its defenses and eradicate the invading forces from within.

However, in order to do that, they need to infiltrate the fortress. And during that time, how many casualties will they suffer? How many of the forces will remain? Can they really capture the fortress with that remaining strength?

Therefore, the success of the diversionary unit in creating a breach in the wall becomes crucial. If a breach could be created, the forces could pour in like an avalanche from there. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the outcome of this battle depends on the performance of the diversionary unit.

My role is to further increase the success rate of the diversionary unit’s operation. So, I must start moving before the diversionary unit begins its operation.

“Godogodo, giguga”

Even though I intended to mutter “Shall we go soon?”, my voice still sounded like a grating noise. I’ve just started practicing, so I’ll do my best to communicate at least the minimum.

Feeling a little down about my voice, I dashed towards the fortress. Lowering my body and running made it easier to maintain balance. I approached the fortress at a speed similar to when I was a scorpion.

Running alone across the grassland, I stood out quite a bit. As expected, I was quickly spotted. Despite being the only one in the southeast, the invading army wasted no time launching merciless attacks from the fortress’s defense weapons aimed at me. My mission was to draw the enemy’s attention, so it was actually convenient for them to focus on me.

Gaga, gaga, gaga!

The invading army forces that spotted me used smaller cylindrical weapons than those aimed at the main force of the coalition army. From these weapons, small metal fragments flew towards me at a considerable speed in a continuous barrage. So, that’s how they intended to use these weapons.

I quickly hardened my exoskeleton in one breath, protecting myself from the raining metal fragments. They seemed to have a certain amount of firepower, but not enough to cause significant pain through the exoskeleton. It was not even necessary to strengthen it with my fighting spirit. Ignoring the debris, I charged forward.

Perhaps realizing that the fortress weapons were ineffective against me, they increased the number of small cylindrical weapons from one to four, raining down a hail of metal fragments. However, even with the increased number, they couldn’t stop me. The small weapons were unable to even slow down my progress.

Refusing to give up, the enemy appeared to panic as they activated the same large cylindrical weapons that were used against the main force. The inside of the cylinder emitted a pale blue light, presumably indicating their intention to unleash the same explosive attack that was still troubling the main force.

“Gogu! Gogogi!” (Ga-gahaha! Too late to stop me now!)

However, their decision was already too late. I heightened my fighting spirit and strengthened my legs, then leapt forward with all my might. Passing beneath the pale blue light, I braced myself against the explosion as I stuck to the metallic outer wall.

The wall was almost vertical and slick, making it difficult for any human to climb without a ladder. But my hands and feet were encased in my exoskeleton. The tips of my claws were sharp enough to pierce the surface of the wall and latch on.

I moved my limbs quickly, scaling the wall with a scraping sound. The cylindrical weapons couldn’t aim straight down, whether they were the larger or smaller ones. However, the tower that was one level higher than the outer wall was a different story. Metal shrapnel flew at me again from both sides. The impact was stronger than the ones on the outer wall, and I had to reinforce my exoskeleton to endure the pain.

Nevertheless, it was difficult for them to hit me, as I moved swiftly. Even when a few shots connected, it was manageable with the reinforcement of my fighting spirit. They couldn’t stop my advance.

“■■■■■!”

“■■, ■■■■!”

“Gugoouu!?” (Whoa!)

As I finally grabbed onto the edge of the outer wall, two soldiers from the invading army who were on top of the wall lunged at me with spears. I grabbed one of them with one hand and threw him off the outer wall, while I stabbed the other one with my poisonous stinger through his armor.

The one I threw let out a pitiful scream as he fell, and the one I stabbed convulsed before collapsing. With no one left to obstruct me, I had made it to the top of the outer wall.