Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Chapter 29: Beneath the Surface (2)
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Billea Castle lay five days' march northwest of Havon Castle, nestled alongside the Billomena River, which had refused to dry up even amid the brutal drought.
In the past, countless merchant ships had plied its waters, making it the bustling heart of trade where southern goods converged.
But such renown was little more than faded glory.
Once it fell to the monsters, it devolved into a breeding ground for the Ain who hadn't escaped in time.
Even with that knowledge, realistic constraints had forced them to abandon any recapture for years, content to merely watch.
After that endless wait, the moment had finally arrived.
"Cannon fire."
Temoria's third apostle and supreme commander of the Church Army's Southern Front 3rd Army Command, Greg Tembon, gave the order.
No sooner had his low voice faded than a massive flag snapped in the wind.
In unison, the fire mages aligned in the front ranks unleashed their fireballs skyward.
A colossal orb of flame arced across the heavens.
KABOOM-!
The fireball struck the walls, erupting in a ferocious blast that sprayed flames in every direction—a sight worthy of spectacle in its own right.
Amid that blaze, watching hundreds, then thousands of monsters burn alive, the years of pent-up rage seemed to melt away.
Greg swept his satisfied smile over the battlefield that Billea Castle had become.
"The right flank's in trouble. Relay orders to sync their pace and hold the line."
At Greg's command, his adjutants and signalers waved their flags with frantic energy.
With each flurry of flags, the screams and howls rising from the field grew ever more frenzied.
Yet for all their relentless barrage, the monsters pouring from Billea Castle showed no sign of thinning.
If anything, their numbers seemed to swell with time.
One might have quailed at the sight, but Greg pressed the attack harder instead of falling back.
Was he about to yield this hard-won ground after years of waiting?
And so, with every order rippling across the field, thunderous roars, agonized shrieks, and merciless slaughter piled upon one another.
By the end of the near half-day siege, the corpses of monsters and Ain had stacked so high they lapped at the soldiers' ankles.
Compounding the grim tally came unwelcome tidings.
"A general-grade entity's appeared!"
"Losses among the troops pushing the walls are mounting faster than expected!"
The voice of the aide relaying reports to Greg grew urgent.
Greg hadn't anticipated a swift conclusion in a single day.
A slight shift against them wouldn't prompt retreat.
He asked coolly,
"Which side has breathing room?"
In that instant, vast mana coalesced right before the gates.
From the battlefield's rear, where dual barriers blocked teleportation magic, hurried activity erupted.
Mages stationed to shield allies from mass spells began preparing counter-elemental incantations.
Sadly, they were a touch too slow.
"The barrier's breaking!"
The protective ward around the mages vanished before the aide's cry could fully land.
It didn't end there. Black shadows plummeted onto the clustered mages.
Their solitary movements marked them unmistakably as general-grades.
'More aggressive intervention than expected.'
Unlike the central front's Kalom Castle liberation.
There, it had taken days of attrition before a general-grade finally emerged.
'Billea Castle's resolve to hold firm?'
As if to validate Greg's hunch, fresh horrors unfolded.
"Traitors!"
The sight stirred old wounds that set his teeth on edge.
Traitors who had vanished without a trace years prior were crawling back onto the field.
'It's truly beginning anew.'
The ancient war, rife with mutual slaughter and curses.
In the blink it took for Greg and his aides to fix eyes on the traitors, dozens of spells rained down, igniting a clash among the mages.
Greg clicked his tongue inwardly, his eyes narrowing.
The mages' entanglement was far from welcome.
'We'll have to factor in friendly fire from area spells now.'
Sure enough, as if on cue, colossal roots burst skyward from near the gates.
They thrashed across the field like living beasts.
"Arrrgh!"
The soldiers impaled upon them let out piteous wails that carried all the way to Greg's hill.
Greg alternated glances between the gate vicinity and the mages' beleaguered rear, then issued orders.
"Rescuing the mages takes priority. Dispatch knights at once."
Soldiers unskilled in mana couldn't hope to stall general-grades—knights were essential reinforcements.
"Yes, sir!"
The flags whipped through the air in a frenzy.
They had to free the pinned mages without delay.
It was the surest way to stem rising casualties across the field.
Without mage support, breaching the gates and walls would prove impossible.
As Greg surveyed the chaos, he kept a sharp eye on the mages' skirmish.
Then, without warning, a blue flash erupted from the west.
Eyes locked onto the western walls.
But the spark had already winked out.
Just as doubt crept in—perhaps a trick of the eye?—another brilliant cascade lit the ramparts.
Good news followed mere minutes later.
"We've breached the western wall. Outsiders are assaulting the gates from inside!"
The siege had dragged for half a day amid fiercer monster resistance than anticipated.
Greg had braced for three or four days of grinding.
'They scaled the walls.'
Tidings he couldn't have welcomed more.
"Reform troops toward the west without delay. The moment the gates open, charge—no need to await further word..."
Before Greg could finish, over a dozen towering pillars of fire erupted beyond the western gates in rapid succession.
Then immense boulders erupted from within, pulverizing the gates to rubble.
Only then did realization dawn.
The attribute mana wielders, whose numbers had plummeted after the mages' betrayal, were surging back of late.
'Outsiders infiltrated en masse from the west.'
Most outsiders Greg had observed wielded mana so paltry it seemed laughable.
They bore attributes, yet in such scant measure that training them into true mages felt futile.
But that assessment didn't hold long.
Outsiders absorbed mana and grew without cease.
They even fortified their bodies methodically.
Unlike rear-line orthodox mages reliant on protection, they roamed the field solo with ease.
From birth, their limits unbound—unlike the rigidly capped natives.
In truth, several had blossomed swiftly enough to catch Greg's notice.
The pinnacle, no doubt, was the source of those recurring azure flashes.
"K..."
The outsider who had debuted in a form worlds apart from their first sighting.
As Greg mulled over K, an adjutant's flushed voice broke in.
"The western gate's down!"
Greg, who had awaited this very instant, knew precisely what to say.
"Signal the central forces to advance."
They would storm through the gates the outsiders had cracked open.
And halt only when black blood ran like rivers through Billea Castle.
* * *
I stood atop the general-grade corpse I'd just slain, peering down from the walls.
Moments after our party's earth-attribute tanks breached the gates, the central forces surged forward.
Once they crested the western gates, castle occupation wouldn't take long.
As I sorted my thoughts, Kim Yul poked his head up from below and hopped onto the battlements.
"All done?"
"You see it is."
"Quicker finish this time."
"Good matchup."
The thing wielded wood-affinity mana—an advanced earth strain.
Weak to fire, it hadn't put up much fight.
"Lucky break. But those guys—they're heading our way, right?"
Kim Yul nodded toward the troops marching in perfect lockstep across the field.
"Been waiting for the gates to crack."
"West side generals all dead... The rest are tangled with the mages, so they can't break free? Looks like we're wrapping this up."
I didn't contradict him.
With the walls pierced, barring some wild card, Main Scenario Act 1 Chapter 4—Billea Castle Recapture—would clear just like this.
Time was all we needed now.
Clearing the mission wouldn't end our docket, though.
"Once it's done, straight to Bontar Plains. Stay sharp."
"Got it—no sweat!"
With his jaunty reply, Kim Yul leaped from the wall's ten-plus-meter drop.
A normal human would snap something on landing.
'Guy's practically flying.'
Kim Yul had shelled out for wind-affinity AoE spells plus versatile support magic: Wind Step.
His mobility exploded afterward, easing our sub-DPS-assisted scraps alongside Yang Tae-ho.
I watched him touch down lightly and dive into mopping up stragglers, then flicked my gaze aside.
There hovered the Main Scenario window.
MISSION
[Main Scenario Act 1 Chapter 4: Secure Supply Routes]
The Church Army plans a march on Billea Castle—the vital trade hub linking south to center—for full-scale war. Players, support recapturing Billea Castle and securing onward supply lines to the center.
[Rewards]
Participation Reward: Choose one
• Mana 500, Fame 25
• Attribute Mana 250, Fame 50
Ranking Rewards: Issued by placement (1st~?)
•Victory Ceremony Participation
•Church Rewards (Medals, Gear, Bounty, etc.)
•Shop Free Use Voucher
•Achievements (Tiered by Contribution)
•God's Blessing
※ Rankings based on mission contribution.
Act 1 Chapter 4's stage was Billea Castle, where I stood now.
Per mission tiers, it rated 6-star—matching our prior Kalom Castle run.
Bontar Plains, the one I'd just name-dropped, had popped as a sub-scenario stage about two hours back.
MISSION
[Sub Scenario: Clash on Bontar Plains]
The enemy stirs against the Church Army's bold push. Vast forces mass at Bontar Plains amid rising war clouds—Players, bolster the battle there.
[Rewards]
Participation Reward: Choose one
• Mana 200, Fame 10, Main Scenario Contribution 100~300 (Tiered)
• Attribute Mana 100, Fame 20, Main Scenario Contribution 100~300 (Tiered)
Bontar Plains lay two days north of Billea Castle.
'Classified contaminated zone, but no large-scale outbreaks.'
Monsters were still flocking there in terrifying numbers all the same.
'At least two million.'
Unlike low-grade contaminated lands that spawned hives organically over time, the enemy was deliberately mustering "troops" here.
No telling how vicious the fight would get.
But surrender wasn't an option.
Bontar Plains hugged the Billomena River beside Billea Castle.
Occupying it was non-negotiable to link fresh south-center supply routes.
'Take Billea, sure—but without the plains, no launching transports.'
The enemy knew it too.
Blatant, baiting the plains the instant Church forces struck Billea.
Billea Castle and Bontar Plains—vital fronts neither could afford to lose.
Best play: throw weight into both, rack up merits where able.
Hence my breakneck schedule, zero downtime.
'Achievements tiered by contribution this round.'
Troops still assembling there, so wrapping Billea first wouldn't leave us late.
'Clear this place out.'
Turning from the general's husk, I hefted my spear anew.
To finish off the castle's lingering monsters.
One step in, and I froze.
-This won't earn my approval.
Kerax, butting in unbidden yet again.
Damn system