631
Chapter 631
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The sound of massive artillery shells echoed from all directions.
Kali shouted toward the Atlas soldiers.
"More beasts are approaching from the front! Load the shells!"
The powerful magical defense barrier that had been installed on the outskirts of Atlas had long been broken.
Because of this, they had to hold off the charging beasts with conventional weapons while the mages recovered their magical power.
BOOM!
The shells fired from atop the fortress walls fell toward the black swarm of approaching beasts.
WHOOSH!
The flying shells burst in mid-air, splitting into smaller spheres that scattered in all directions and rained down on the beasts' heads.
BOOM!
The power was considerable. These weren't simple shells, but special shells made with magic stones to inflict damage over a wide area.
They were provided to Atlas's defense forces by Nemesis, who had been improving weapons to fight beasts alongside Hades.
Besides special shells, Nemesis deployed various weapons in actual combat to prevent beasts from entering Atlas.
If it weren't for Nemesis's weapons, Atlas would have collapsed long ago.
Just then, a beast with long arms climbed up the fortress wall, avoiding the shells.
GROWL!
Unlike normal beasts, foreign species had unique appearances and types, making it difficult to find their weaknesses. This made them challenging for regular soldiers who couldn't use aura to handle.
Kali drew her sword and rushed toward the beast climbing the fortress wall.
"HAAA!"
A bright aura blade rose from her sword.
The aura blade on her sword cut off the beast's arm that was gripping the wall.
SLASH!
The beast with its arm cut off fell straight down the fortress wall.
SPLAT!
The beast's body burst and scattered as it hit the ground, purple bodily fluid spraying everywhere.
But soon the beast's corpse began to twitch again.
SCREECH!
Remarkably, the shattered fragments of the beast's body writhed and squirmed, then stuck together and began moving after reconstructing into a different form than before.
That wasn't all.
Some even merged with fragments of other dead beasts at the bottom of the wall to be reborn as new beasts.
GROWL!
The beasts that had completed their new forms tried to climb the fortress wall again.
Seeing this, Kali gritted her teeth and shouted.
"They're trying to climb the wall! Bring water!"
Following Kali's order, soldiers brought large cauldrons of water and poured it down the wall.
SPLASH!
The beasts were soaked by the pouring water.
Then the soldiers brought long metal rods and placed their tips against the wet wall.
CRACKLE!
Plasma current flowed from the tips of the metal rods held by the soldiers.
The current traveled through the poured water down to the beasts at the bottom of the wall.
CRACKLE!
The beasts electrocuted by the current were paralyzed and fell to the ground while climbing the wall.
THUD!
The beasts that scattered into fragments again lay motionless as if dead.
But once the paralysis wore off, they would merge together like before to become new beasts.
That's when something massive appeared from behind.
"Help!"
The Barbarians had come carrying baskets full of liquid-filled balloons.
Then Al and Jeff, the mischievous genius alchemists riding on King Fist's shoulders, shouted.
"Spray! Spray!"
"Throw! Throw!"
Following Al and Jeff's words, the Barbarians began throwing balloons toward the beasts below the wall.
HISS!
The balloons burst, scattering the solution inside everywhere.
The fragments hit by the solution could no longer move and completely dissolved away.
Seeing this, Al and Jeff burst into satisfied laughter.
"HAHA! Success!"
"As expected of us geniuses!"
Al and Jeff, who had been staying in Atlas making various medicines with Feinan, had urgently researched and created a trial version of poison that would work on foreign species beasts.
The soldiers nearby who confirmed the solution's effectiveness quickly grabbed balloons from the baskets carried by the Barbarians and threw them at the beast fragments.
HISS-
They were able to put out the urgent fire as the beasts that kept reviving and climbing the wall dissolved away.
After confirming the trial version's success, Al and Jeff excitedly shouted.
"Now for mass production!"
"No! Make it even more poisonous, then mass produce!"
With excited smiling faces, the two spoke to King Fist using the Barbarian language.
"King Fist! Help!"
"Go again!"
The mischievous twins and King Fist, who got along perfectly well, leaped down from the fortress wall with the two riding on his shoulders and ran straight toward the laboratory.
As the battle situation momentarily calmed down thanks to Al and Jeff's help, Kali could finally exhale and sit down against the wall.
That's when someone approached Kali.
"Lord."
It was none other than Boris, the head of Nemesis.
Though expressionless as he faced Kali, considerable fatigue could be seen in his eyes.
While Kali and Draker's knights were blocking the beasts advancing outside Atlas's walls, Nemesis was guarding invisible passages like the city's underground waterways.
Nemesis assassins led by Shadia were fighting fierce battles every day in the shadows of the city.
They had managed to hold out until now thanks to weapons created jointly by Hades, Feinan, and Gelion, but even that seemed to be reaching its limit.
Boris spoke to Kali.
"Supply materials are running low. Without external help... Atlas won't last beyond this week."
Atlas was the largest city in Midland.
As such, it had a large population and was filled with consumption facilities rather than production facilities.
Once isolated and cut off from the outside, the rate of resource consumption became too rapid.
The production facilities in the outskirts around Atlas were destroyed by beasts, and with all railways for transporting supplies blocked, there was no way to receive provisions.
Kali furrowed her brow at Boris's words and slowly spoke.
"We can hold out a bit longer if we release the military supplies stored in the Four Seasons Castle."
She decided to release all of Draker's resources for Atlas.
It was a choice that Arthur Draker, the former lord, would never have made.
While respecting Kali's decision, Boris still pointed out the lack of alternatives.
"Midland's Black Knights have been killed or gone missing, and King Rex Tourn is injured and unable to move. Even if we release Draker's supplies, it will be difficult to hold out more than three days."
When Midland was attacked by beasts, Rex Tourn, head of the Tourn family, tried to enter Atlas leading his knights as Draker's blood allies.
However, they were ambushed by mysterious groups during their entry.
Thanks to the sacrifice of Tourn knights, Rex Tourn barely made it into Atlas and was transported to 'Terra', the central headquarters deemed safest here.
Though Feinan and Naga healers were doing their best to treat him in Terra, it was unclear how long full recovery would take.
After a moment of silence, Kali asked Boris.
"Are the portals connecting to the outside still not working?"
Portals were the only way out of the isolated Atlas.
However, for some reason, the portals installed in Atlas weren't working at all.
As Atlas was a major hub city of both Midland and the Central Continent, it was connected to various parts of the continent via portals, but with these devices not working, no one could leave or enter from the outside.
Boris shook his head at Kali's question.
"There's still no sign of recovery. Feinan has been checking continuously but... based on the situation so far, he said it's not a device issue but seems like interference from an external magic field deployed to isolate Atlas."
Large-scale spatial movement portals were excavated ancient artifacts that had been modified for use.
The amount of magical power required to operate portals was considerable.
To deploy a large-scale magic field strong enough to interfere with portal operation from the outside would require an even greater amount of continuous magical power supply, but how this was possible remained unknown. Currently unable to identify the nature, location, or method of this magic power, they couldn't find a countermeasure.
Kali bit her lip hard.
"So there's no way?"
"Not at present."
Boris spoke to Kali in a subdued voice.
"Lord, before it's too late, we should break through an escape route and evacuate at least the main forces from the city."
Even if they continued to hold out while minimizing casualties in this state, food would eventually run out, making it impossible for knights and soldiers to fight.
Though they were holding out however they could, blindly persisting without external help wasn't the right move in the current situation.
Strategically, Boris judged that Kali and Draker's knights should escape Atlas and join the continental allied forces.
Kali hardened her expression and shook her head at his words.
"That's not possible."
"I understand how you feel. But at this rate, not only the Draker knights but all citizens of Atlas will be massacred by the beasts."
Rather than everyone being massacred like this, it would be better to take a risk.
Even if they failed, preserving the main forces would be better in the long run - that was Boris's thinking.
If Arthur Draker had been lord, Draker would have acted according to Boris's judgment.
But Kali had risen to the position of lord herself to improve such inhumane acts of Draker.
Therefore, she wanted to keep the responsibility of her words.
She said to Boris.
"Atlas will be defended to the last by me and Draker. Commander Boris, take Nemesis's personnel and inform the outside world of the situation here."
Thus, Kali judged it would be better for Boris and Nemesis to leave this place instead.
The role of intelligence units would become more important as the war situation dragged on.
Moreover, she remembered there was someone who could adequately replace her as Draker's lord even if she died here.
'Zeke.'
A knight among knights who best suited the name Draker.
She thought her role was to protect Atlas until the end to elevate the honor of House Draker.
Only then could Zeke, who would take the next lord position, hold justification and move the continental allied forces as Draker's lord.
Boris immediately grasped the intention hidden in Kali's words.
He realized that given the situation, she hoped to sacrifice herself so that all knights of the continent would gather around Zeke.
"Lord..."
Just then, the sound of drums echoed from the watchtower.
"Beasts! The beasts are coming!"
Kali gripped her sword again and stood up.
Turning her body toward the wall, she said to Boris.
"This is where I belong. Quickly leave this place before it's too late and report the situation. We must move as fast as possible to save Atlas's citizens."
Boris was silent at Kali's words, then bowed his head and turned around.
It was a sign of respect for the noble knight who sought to carry out her will through self-sacrifice.
Boris resolved to lead Nemesis's key personnel in escaping Atlas and delivering the situation to the continental allied forces as quickly as possible.
But that's when it happened.
TSSS! TSSS!
Suddenly, a black hole appeared in the sky above Atlas.
Everyone in Atlas looked up at the black hole that had appeared in the sky.
"W-what is that?"
"Suddenly a hole...?"
The black hole grew larger and larger until it was big enough to cover all of Atlas.
Then an eerie sound echoed from inside the hole.
ROAR!
An ominous sound that seemed to come from inside a massive cave echoed throughout Atlas.
A moment later, something began to emerge from within the hole.
SCREECH!
Grotesque foreign species beasts with wings poured out in a black swarm from inside the hole.