From Trust to Betrayal (4)
I never imagined that I would see this kind of scene with my own eyes. I had only ever seen such in war movies and cartoons.
What was more unrealistic than that was the presence of monsters constantly running towards the wall.
“Ah uh uh uh uh!”
‘There are so many of them…’
I didn’t go hunting a lot, but the ones I saw for the first time definitely stood out. These were medium-sized monsters, which were about five times larger than humans, to small monsters that were continuously being stepped on by the bigger ones.
The monsters may each have their own purpose and size, but the ones with only one purpose of crossing the walls certainly felt terrifying.
As they stood there, magic and arrows began to fall upon them.
There was a momentary yet loud roar.
Kaw-ahhh!
Kwajiik!
Kaduuuk!
An explosive sound was heard, and debris spread to the ground in all directions. The small monsters quickly got caught in the fire.
Arrows were embedded in the whole body of medium-sized monsters, and thus, they fell. Arrows with magical power on each one of them were steadily blowing the heads of the small monsters.
However, the number of monsters in the crowd was more than I had first imagined. It was ridiculous to see that they all protruded from the forest side.
‘Where are they coming from?’
It was clear that even the monsters residing within the deepest forest also popped out. As the forest was so large, their numbers would also, no doubt.
“Launch!”
When I went to speak once more, the secondary bombardment hit the ground from the wall. Once again, the same thing happened.
The monsters that ran towards us got knocked down, and the others tripped over the already fallen bodies. When I raised my hand, the wizards who specialized in handling the earth’s properties cast their spells, and spears made of soil and rocks started to pop out from the ground.
The rest of the screaming mob got pierced by the spears.
‘Good.’
Though it didn’t show off very much, it proved to be quite effective in clearing up the monsters’ forefront with a minimum attack.
‘It’s barely noticeable.’
The only thing we could do here was to use our arrows and magic efficiently. I thought about at least getting the experience by chanting spells, but I gave up on this thought immediately.
To efficiently take care of this large event prepared by the returner, it would be good to leave the common-grade monsters or rare-grade monsters to the unimportant people.
‘I have to save up my magic power in case of a formidable enemy later on.’
“It was easy.”
“Really?”
“Yes, honey. This is a good start. It is impressive that you put the brakes with earth magic. There are not many flying monsters in Castle Rock, so if you keep blocking and defending the entrance, it’ll be easier in the long run.”
“That’s good news.”
“I’m just saying this, but you’d better save your magic power. Opportunities like this are rare.”
“I know.”
I could see the reality here; the guys who had more power were taking more than those who didn’t. Unlike those under orders, setting rare-grade and common-grade monsters, who didn’t want to die, on fire, those who could be classified as commanders were saving their magic power and stamina for later.
“They’re attacking the First City Wall first.”
“Yes, they are.”
During a pre-war defense, the monsters that entered in the first wave began to bump into the city walls. Their vigor alone seemed to create some damage, but the massive walls that had protected Castle Rock for hundreds of years could not possibly fall.
At this, the monsters decided to use their fallen comrades as some makeshift staircase.
“Block them out!”
“Quuuuh-uh!”
“Shoot your arrows! Shit! Arrows!”
“Push them away with magic!”
The Little Rock Guild maintaining the front line was showing quite an impressive performance.
‘Whoa… They’re desperate.’
It would only be natural for them to feel this way. If the monsters broke through, they would die.
If I could, I would leave them to die right now, but there was no way I can do that.
We were still in the early stages of the wave, so it was only right for them to keep holding on.
Looking at Song Jungwook, who was doing his best to protect the guild members from afar, was enough to strengthen my resolve.
‘Noble guys.’
If that wasn’t a sacrifice, what would be a sacrifice?
They were guarding their hometown, but they would not be able to protect themselves.
Archers were shooting arrows constantly, as their wizards were already in danger of exhaustion.
Some priests did not miss the tension, and the warriors were trying their best to drop the monsters that have started climbing up.
Among them was Song Jungwook of Little Rock.
“Don’t let them come up!”
They might want to run away at this point. However, it seemed that they couldn’t do so because of the Red Mercenaries on the ground.
It would have been difficult even for me to throw everything away and run alone.
Considering the guild members that they cultivated and the locations in Castle Rock they had made so far, there was no way they could make such a choice. I used the hometown reason for that speech, but in truth, this was a more precious place than their real hometown.
‘Wow…’
This was different from what I had expected; I thought they would collapse in an instant. The power of Little Rock was stronger than I thought. Naturally, I was happy as a commander for their hard work.
“Support the First City Wall.”
“Yes, sir. The reserve squad should head straight to the First City Wall!”
What was needed in this situation, which may be a prolonged war, was how to use adequate physical distribution and reserve forces.
It was burdensome to have hundreds or thousands of lives in my hands, but it was more efficient to think of human lives as mere numbers on the battlefield.
The damage would definitely occur to the other city wall, but now it was efficient to give a little margin to the first wall side. I could see that the wizards included in the reserve troops were running quickly.
“Hmm…”
“What, Hee-ra?”
“Nothing… I just think you would be a competent commander.”
“…”
I didn’t answer because Cha Hee-ra seemed to understand my thoughts.
“Do you like giving people hope?”
I did not look at her. Instead, my gaze rested on Song Jungwook.
With the sudden help from the reserve forces, I could see him looking this way, even from a distance. In an instant, hope came into his tired face.
I could take this to mean that he had not given up on the First City Wall.
“The reinforcements are here! Hold on a little longer, everyone!”
“Yes, Guild Master!”
I didn’t know what he was imagining, but it was impressive that he was still doing his best as if he hadn’t gotten abandoned.
As soon as I started to focus support towards the First City Wall, the monsters’ movements that were constantly climbing up began to take a break.
“I don’t like it, Hee-ra. I think it would be better to use it as much as possible to make the most of it.”
“Huh.”
“Anyway, the First City Wall will inevitably get pierced after some time. According to Castle Rock’s pre-war defense records, there has never been a First City Wall that hasn’t been pierced during the pre-war defense that lasted for hundreds of years. Of course, the wall has never been completely pierced, but it has always sustained serious damage.”
“You studied hard.”
“It’s a simple fact you can learn just by reading the record. I don’t know what Castle Rock’s wall architects thought when building this wall, but they seemed a little bit crazy.
“Why?”
“It is made to force sacrifices on the pre-war defense itself. The man who built the wall originally designed this wall under the premise that humans in the first wall could not survive… Well… That’s why the rest of the bases surround the First Wall. For example, the background of Castle Rock, which has never collapsed until now, was based on the sacrifices of numerous people.”
“You are saying that this time, the scapegoat is Little Rock?”
“Of course. Perhaps they can withstand the offense a little more. I just need to use them through, and after I have extracted all the magic power, I can throw them out. It would be unfair for them to die with the remaining magical power, and it would be a loss to this side as well.”
“You look so trashy…”
“I thought this was the reason you said I was going to be a competent commander.”
“That’s right… Still, you’re really fucking crap.”
“These are criminals who would have had to die anyway. I gave them a chance to die like this, so they have to thank me. Isn’t it what one would call a so-called honorable death?”
It was, indeed. I could easily find evidence of the crimes they had committed. Even if he were to survive, Song Jungwook would end up dying in one way or another.
There was also a possibility of him suffering severe torture, so it would be best to die surrounded by monsters. His death would work in my favor.
“Fight them back!”
“Don’t let them come up! Never! What are the warriors doing?!”
‘They’re holding on better than I thought.’
Having the First City Wall precariously preserved was an impressive feat in itself.
Of course, these were still only rare-grade monsters, yet it was not an exaggeration to say that just by holding on was enough for their role.
If they blocked higher-grade monsters once, Little Rock would be doing more than their value, so I thought it wouldn’t be bad to support them a little more. When the arrows intensively fell on the monsters under the first wall, they screamed out and gave room once more.
Hope once again was shown on Song Jungwook’s face, and he was sending a look of complete trust to me.
‘This stupid guy.’
It seemed as if he thought Little Rock was placed on the first wall to make it active.
It was at this moment that rare-grade and higher-grade monsters appeared from the back.
‘The full-scale battle begins now.’
A distinct four-legged monster jumped out towards the wall at once, climbing up with ease. Magic intensively poured out towards it.
The primary goal was to reduce stamina by urgently integrating the reserve troops.
In the meantime, seeing that Jung Hayan’s and Hwang Jeong-yeon’s magic had mixed into the fight, it seemed to me that now was the time to take a little more action.
As the support to the First Wall was cut off due to new monsters’ appearance, our proud Little Rock had settled for fighting hand-to-hand with the monsters coming in.
‘It won’t make sense to support that.’
The thought of throwing them away had now crossed my mind.
While slowly draining the remaining troops, I continued to support the First City Wall only from a distance. Screaming had already enveloped some of the areas.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
“Help me! Help…!”
Song Jungwook of Little Rock had also started to feel impatient. I could see him staring at me with a pathetic expression, but what he saw when he turned his head was the support team already retreating.
“Lee Kiyoung, you motherfucker! Re-Retreat! Troops, head back…”
However, they couldn’t. It was impossible to turn their back against the monsters that had already flocked in. Song Jungwook only continued to scream.
“Lee Kiyoung! You motherfucker! Lee Kiyoung! Lee Kiyoooouung!”
‘Bye.’
“Lee Kiyooooouung!”
Eventually, a large number of monsters penetrated the First City Wall, and his voice got blocked out.
I opened my mouth as I memorized the numbers.
“The sacrifice of Little Rock must not be in vain!”
Tears fell down my cheeks as I spoke this.