Moto Sekai Ichi - 080a

Yeah, part 1, sorry. But the next part is about something else so I figured this would be a nice breaking point to post this sooner. 

About the blog, I'm still waiting on the editors, to post more chapters, currently all edited chapters have been posted in the blog.

80 Fallen Castle

"Are they're really attacking!? "

Noon of the next day.

After waiting for the arrival of the Mithril alloy-equipped army of Earl Lumberjack, the entirety of the combined army under the Second Prince launched an all-out attack on the Royal Castle.

"Fret not! The difference in strength will be decisive! We just need to earn some time! Hold the castle! It'll be our win if we endure until reinforcements arrive! "

The Prime Minister Val issued those commands towards the Third Knight Order's captain, Djarum, as he flustered asked him.

However, a few minutes later, the Prime Minister noticed the presence of the Mithril alloy armed soldiers.

The Lumberjack soldiers formed a line without any gap and moving in unison, they pushed back the First Prince's faction soldiers into the castle.

The difference in equipment was as clear as day. Mithril swords and spears which could defeat enemies in one blow, and Mithril armor that could withstand two or three strikes. Moreover, its extreme lightweight provided excellent mobility. And there were 2,000 soldiers equipped with such gear. Normal soldiers were no match against them.

"Magic Curtain, ready! ……Fire! "

They were not the only active reinforcements. Particularly notable were the mages of the First Royal Court Magician Division.

Taking advantage of their mobility, they moved to their sidelines and used Magic Curtain――That is, continuous 《First Form》 spells. The enemy army was shocked by the heavy rain-like 【Magic】 fire, being shot at them from diagonally in front of them. Since they didn’t know a way to combat it, they simply started to turn tail and run.

The most effective aspect of that rain of spells was the fact that it didn’t stop. Unlike the 《Second Form》 and 《First Form》 spells, 【Magic】 of the 《First Form》 spells had a very small preparation and cooldown timers. By firing in tandem and taking turns, the First Royal Court Magician Division achieved a continuous rain. It would be pointless if their spells did the same harm as a pea shot, but here, the increase of their INT became visible. As a result, the power was so serious that it simply couldn’t be ignored. In other words, the number of injured soldiers increased immediately. This, in a way, was more troublesome than a high death toll.

"Fuck! Temporary retreat! Rearrange the formations and strike at that mage division on the side! "

In such confusion, the commander of the enemy army gave those instructions and tried to rebuild the soldier lines somehow.

Then, as something fell to the ground...... Even more fear struck them.

"! ? "

As he raised his sword to issue those instructions, the commander's arm was blown away in an instant.

Nobody present understood what had happened.

"I-It's a sniper……! "

The commander yelled in a coarse voice. At this point, terror and confusion had spread all across the soldiers.

But that was only obvious. This had been an 【Archery】 attack that could blow off their arms even while being covered in armor in a single shot, and could snipe them from an unknown position......No matter how they struggled, this was hell.

They all must have been thinking this: "Next will be my head".

It was a combined attack of Grade 9 《Rook Archery》 and Grade 9 《Knight Archery》――An attack from Silvia Virginia.

"Retreat! Retreat! "

……And so, it ended. The Second Prince's faction successfully surrounded the Royal Castle.

It didn’t even take two hours since the war begun. It was a splendid end of campaign where only the minimum number of pieces were used. Probably only possible because being under the command of Windfield.

"Where did they hide such force!? And where on earth did they get this amount of mithril armor to fit this many soldiers!? "

Not being able to accept the scene in front of him, the Prime Minister held his head in an attempt to escape this reality.

He was ignorant to the fact that it had been Second the one who had collected all this mithril in just a month or so. No, he knew he had been gathering mithril. But he never expected it would be this many of it.

"Where are those reinforcements!?! "

Running out of patience, he opened his communication device. And over and over again he tried to make contact.

However......He had yet to receive a formal response to his request for reinforcements.

He waited, and waited, but no matter how long, there was no response.

"…………I see."

At this point, it finally dawned on him.

He had been abandoned.

"………………WHY……WHY DID THIS……AAAAHHHHH, AAAAGHHH……! "

His insides seethed with anger. His voice turned into not so much like a voice but a suffering and frightened wail.

If reinforcements came, they could win. If the Empire sent their reinforcements, even these mithril armed soldiers would become trivial.

And yet, even with that――!

The Prime Minister was so angry that the sound of his teeth grinding could be heard. Blood gradually dripped from his gripped fist.

"DAMN THEEEEM!! "

------

"Everyone, move."

Outside the gate, Eko called out to the people in a cheerful voice.

The besieging soldiers, complying to the words of Eko, cleared a path.

Eko then, as she readied herself to run to the gate, she prepared to activate 《Rook Shieldmanship》. This wasn’t a defensive 【Shieldmanship】 skill. It was a【Shieldmanship】 skill to attack.

This was a skill that added a multiplicative value of VIT to STR, a rushing attack made by jumping forward. And her 《Rook Shieldmanship》 was at Grade 9. This meant the bonus was 250%. Its power was unfathomable.

"Transform! "

On top of that, she used 《Transform》. Its rank was Grade 1. Making it buff all stats by 280%.

It became all noisy, regardless of them being enemies or allies. It was a shock for those seeing the 《Transform》 skill for the first time. In the case of Eko, it was Earth Attribute Transform. The appearance of Eko, dressed in rugged rock armor, was almost like seeing a demonic child clad in warrior's armor.

"Here I cooome! "

"Whenever you're ready! "

When Eko issued that signal, Silvia, who had been in a position far in the back replied. She had also used 《Transform》. The skills she was preparing were a Combine of 《Rook Archery》 Grade 9, 《Knight Archery》 Grade 9, and 《Fire Attribute・Third Form》 Grade 9, a compound 【Magic Archery】skill――This was currently, her highest firepower attack.

"Let's go! "

"Oookaay! "

Just before Silvia fired, Eko activated 《Rook Shieldmanship》 with a face full of smiles and rushed towards the gate. Their synergy was outstanding, after all they were able to do laps around the Limptfert dungeon them alone.

"This is bad"――Despite this being the attack of only two people, the soldiers of the First Prince faction intuitively sensed the danger and fired their bows all at once.

It should've been a rain of arrows that made it impossible for anybody to approach. However...... Eko's rush blew everything that hit the large shield away, turning it into dust and not stopping at all. This was the frightening 《Rook Shieldmanship》 skill.

"BAーーーANG! "

"! ? ! ? "

Almost at the same time Eko's rush hit the castle's gate, Silvia released her 【Magic Archery】 skill.

The force of the impact made the walls themselves shake......And the gate was destroyed alongside a huge roar.

That's impossible! There's no way a living person can destroy the castle gate with a single attack!

Everyone thought this, but they were denied by the terrifying sight in front of them.

Nobody of the ones present here would believe one was a former ostracized knight, and the other was a beast person shunned as a failure in the Royal Magic Academy. 

"All forces, charge! "

And thus, the castle gate was easily broken through.

Usually, it would take dozens of soldiers using siege weapon, being showered by a rain of arrows, magic, stones and boiled oil. And only after attacking the castle gate over and over again, it would somewhat break. But here, with only two people and a single attack, it was destroyed without receiving any damage.

A siege battle should've been advantageous for the Prime Minister. Whatever happened, they should've been able to hold out for a few days. However, who on earth could've expected the gate to be broken right at the start, in the blink of an eye.

……No. The Prime Minister should've taken some counter measures after seeing Second the previous day destroy the wall of the training grounds. That is, if it was even possible to take measures in just one day.

But this was a game of speed...... As Windfield had said, a super-fast battle that didn’t leave room for the opponent to make a move. Oda Nobunaga after having both fortresses of Marune and Washizu attacked, left Kiyosu Castle just before dawn, and within half a day, and taking advantage of the heavy rain, he surprise attacked the Imagawa army at Dengaku-Hazama, a lightning fast battle.

(TLN: I’m not sure on the accuracy of this as I just translated it as it was written and I’m not really versed in Japanese history)

The desperate siege battle was broken in an instant. Mithril alloy geared soldiers stormed into the castle from the large hole where the castle gate used to be located, and nobody could stop them.

Then. The castle, in the blink of an eye, had fallen――