Chapter 89
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 089
Chapter Title: Night Siege
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Enemies were closing in, but Woojin first glanced sideways to check on his allies atop the barricade.
The atmosphere was utter chaos.
They had won several skirmishes up to now and thought the enemy forces had weakened. Then suddenly, a bunch of unfamiliar new foes appeared out of nowhere.
Braknack bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Focus up! You're not seriously thinking of handing this barricade over to those damn snakes, are you?!"
The naga and troll clans were sworn enemies.
That fact hadn't changed, even if the nagas had turned into abominations. At his words, the troll warriors bared their fangs and fixed their gazes on the approaching enemies.
Perhaps influenced by the mood around them, the Church Alliance troops snapped back to their senses as well. The Holy Knight in charge of on-site command issued orders to the soldiers.
"Activate the ballistae!"
The soldiers hurriedly took up positions in front of the massive ballistae. Soon, a sharp mechanical whir rang out, and the amethysts embedded along the ballistae sides began to glow.
It was a weapon they had deliberately held back on using until now. Silver arrows infused with holy power were prohibitively expensive, and prolonged operation required swapping out the mana stones known as beast gems.
Beyond the cost issue, these large ballistae had one other major drawback.
'It takes a bit of preheat time to get them running.'
But the naga abominations were bearing down at frightening speed. Every time their serpentine tails coiled in spirals, their bodies surged forward in bursts.
They had to slow them down.
"Fire the bolts!"
The soldiers pulled their triggers in response. Silver arrows rained down relentlessly over the enemies' heads like a downpour.
However, before the arrows could land, the naga abominations yanked bone spears from the dirt where they were lodged.
Flick, fli-flick—!
The spear hafts whipped through the air with crisp swings, issuing shrill whistles one after another. The nagas deftly batted away the arrows. Even so, they didn't stop, slithering closer all the while.
'Nagars are used to wielding weapons.'
The trolls hunted their foes with their superior physical prowess, but the nagars took pleasure in overwhelming enemies with precise weapon mastery.
For some reason, these abominations had lost their original signature weapons. They were scavenging and using whatever was at hand.
The bone spears the trolls had hurled earlier to subdue abominations. With no time to retrieve them, they'd been left behind—and who knew the enemy would recycle them like this.
"......Shields up!!"
Woojin shouted as he watched the situation unfold. His voice cut through the battlefield clamor like a knife.
Right then, the naga abominations kicked off the ground with all their might. Using their snake tails like coiled springs, they leaped high toward the barricade, then hurled the spears clutched in their hands with every ounce of strength.
But the heavy infantry in the front line had already risen and raised their shields. Full-body shields forged from thick steel. And these heavy infantry were elite soldiers who could wield mana.
Clang!!
The onslaught of spears hammered the shields. The impact was so fierce that the heavy infantry nearly toppled backward. But the soldiers they were shielding pressed hands to their backs, lending extra support.
Thanks to their rigorous training, it was a flawless response. No casualties resulted.
The troll clan appeared largely unscathed as well. They'd clashed with nagars in countless local skirmishes before, so they knew their signature tactics inside out.
'Even turned into abominations... they can perfectly recreate the skills they honed in life.'
Spotting it quickly had prevented any damage. They'd traded blows once or twice apiece, but neither side had landed any meaningful hits.
Braknack issued orders to the troll warriors.
"Stop throwing spears! We have to cut off their weapon supply."
The trolls reluctantly halted their spear throws. It created a firepower gap, but it was fine. The on-site knight took command of the soldiers.
"First row, fire! Second row, reload and hold!"
An arrow was useless without a bow. Even if the nagars picked them up, they couldn't easily use them as weapons.
The soldiers unleashed a torrent of silver arrows without restraint. While the first row hunkered down to crank their crossbows, the second row fired. Sequential shooting that minimized downtime.
This pinned the naga abominations in place. If they assumed a throwing stance to lob spears over the barricade, they'd be turned into pincushions by silver arrows on the spot.
Stalling like this played to their advantage.
'The ballistae preheat's almost done.'
Snipers with exceptional night vision were perched before the ballistae, itching for action.
No matter how agile nagars were, they couldn't deflect every incoming arrow. Damage piled up with every volley. At this rate, they'd suppress the enemy without much trouble.
The abominations seemed to realize it too.
Suddenly, the front-line nagas abandoned all defense. They took silver arrow hits head-on while scooping up spears and hurling them.
Thud, kwakwak—!
The spearheads slammed harmlessly into the barricade. The heavy infantry stood idle with shields raised. It looked like a desperate, do-or-die barrage.
Immediately after, the naga abominations charged the barricade en masse. Now that they were closer, their forms came into sharper view.
"Fire! Don't bother aiming—just hose 'em down!"
The commander roared nonstop. Soldiers yanked triggers without catching their breath.
The nagas ignored the barrage, spreading out wide as they closed on the barricade. They looked like moths drawn inexorably to flame.
At this rate, they'd reach it soon. Woojin made the call.
"Prepare for melee!"
The waiting knights drew their swords. But they felt a twinge of doubt deep down.
Could those things actually scale the barricade?
It was quite tall, and a deep moat ringed the base. Without the ability to fly, climbing was impossible.
Nagars had no wings. But their movements were feather-light.
Taat!
The naga abominations sprang high toward the barricade using their tails. Nothing surprising, since they'd done it before. The real problem came next.
Sruk, sruk—
Smooth motions, like snakes slithering over a wall.
Naga hands and tails latched onto the spears they'd embedded earlier. Using them as footholds, they clambered up the barricade.
Their wails grew louder by the moment. The abomination nagas were shockingly fast and came in solid numbers. Their pitch-black, rotting eyes fixed on the allied forces atop the wall.
'It's only a matter of time before they overrun us.'
Stuck flush to the barricade, shooting angles were poor. Silver arrows couldn't stop them effectively now. Melee was unavoidable.
This wasn't a job for regular soldiers. Ordinary folk couldn't stand against such monsters.
"Retreat! Fall back!!"
The moment Woojin mentioned melee combat, the soldiers had already begun pulling back. They descended ladders and ropes. Frequent drills made the withdrawal swift and orderly.
They planned to hold the line at the wooden stockade inside the barricade against enemy breakthroughs.
Soon the naga abominations crested the top. Holy Knights stepped up to shield the retreating soldiers. The knight facing one off felt a jolt of alarm.
'......It's huge.'
Up close, the foe looked even more massive. With a snake for a lower body, its overall length was immense.
'Where do I even hit it?'
The naga ceaselessly swayed its upper body side to side. The eerie motion seemed almost hypnotic. Suddenly its serpentine trunk twisted, sending the spear tip arcing in an unpredictable path.
The Holy Knight frantically swung his sword to parry the incoming thrust. The enemy's techniques were so alien he couldn't gauge a proper counter.
The other knights faced similar struggles. They wielded weapons somewhat like humans, but their forms and systems were worlds apart. Unfamiliar opponents were tough to handle.
......The troll clan was the exception.
"This is the warriors' time!"
Braknack bellowed. The troll warriors cheered and charged the foe.
The nagas twisted their bodies erratically just as before, thrusting their bone spears. The trolls' response was straightforward.
Kwajik!!
A troll's iron jaw crunched through the incoming spearhead. The naga abomination recoiled in shock. The troll pressed forward, grappling wildly with the foe.
The bone spears in the nagas' hands were weapons the trolls had personally carved with claws or gnawed into shape with teeth. Such crude tools couldn't inflict serious harm on trolls.
'Without their proper weapons, they're not that threatening in a fight.'
Nagars grew by shedding their skin, like snakes.
Freshly shed skin was soft as silk, but it gradually hardened over time, surpassing steel in durability. They processed this shed skin into their signature weapons.
'Scale weapons.'
The pride of their race. Every nagar possessed one crafted from their own shed skin.
They shed with each growth spurt, layering the skin onto their weapons to make them stronger. Thus, the more skilled the warrior, the tougher and heavier the weapon.
In essence, a race that grew alongside their weapons. Nagars needed their scale weapons to unleash their full potential.
'Looks like they lost them in the process of turning into abominations.'
Either misplaced or deliberately discarded.
The latter seemed more likely.
Nagars cherished their scale weapons. They wouldn't let them be taken even in death. They had probably hurled them far away just before corruption set in.
'We can mop them up without heavy losses.'
No way the trolls would fall to these half-assed nagas. Led by Braknack, the troll warriors smoothly picked them off one by one.
Woojin wasn't standing idle either.
A naga abomination thrust its spear at him. Woojin seized the tip in his left hand and wrenched upward with a twist of his wrist.
The naga's entire body was hoisted into the air. It looked like picking up food with chopsticks. Woojin swung the spear sideways.
"Gerrraaak—!"
The naga's scream trailed off as it lost its grip. It plummeted from the barricade. Woojin snatched up the bone spear he'd just acquired and hurled it, bursting the thing's head open before it hit the ground.
From there, Woojin dashed along the barricade top, slashing or kicking any nagas he spotted over the edge. Occasionally he'd lob incendiary rounds to torch clusters tangled up below.
As he culled the enemy...
......Keeiiing!
The ballistae let out a deep roar. Preheat complete. A Holy Knight locked in combat yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Fire!!"
The five ballistae unleashed a barrage of silver arrows. Silvery trails streaked across the battlefield.
As the trajectories swept the ground, abominations melted away one after another, shrieking wildly. Even nagas couldn't shrug off large ballista bolts easily.
Naga bodies lurched with every deflected shot. Ballista arrows dwarfed crossbow bolts in size and weight.
"Grak, geeeerrk!!"
A naga pierced by a silver arrow writhed and screamed. It looked pitiful, like a worm impaled on a fishhook.
Did they decide victory was impossible?
The naga abominations turned tail and fled into the forest. Few made it out alive. Enough to count on one hand, by eye.
'Roughly... a dozen survivors.'
They'd wiped out at least nine in ten of the enemy force. An unquestionable rout. Satisfied, the troll warriors unleashed triumphant roars.
But Woojin wasn't pleased with the situation.
'......Why'd these guys show up all of a sudden?'
He'd need to get a read on things.