Chapter 258: The Siege of the Ice Wall
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 258: The Siege of the Ice Wall
“Charge!!! Chaaaaarge!”
“Advance! Advance!”
“For our ideals!!”
I could hear the shouts of the humans from the South and West. But I already knew that before the charging warriors reached us, the spells they had cast earlier would fall.
The presence of high-level mages is crucial in a siege. The same goes for large-scale battles and raids. A spell that can wipe out hundreds or thousands at once could be compared to a missile or a bomb in modern warfare.
It’s like opening a path with artillery before the infantry pushes in. If the Southwest Alliance's mages were inferior, their forces would suffer great losses. If our Northeast Alliance's mages were inferior, the wall wouldn't last long before crumbling.
Thinking about it calmly, the Southwest Alliance had the upper hand in magical power. The number of mages is important, but of course, their quality is important too. The mages of the North were said to specialize in ice magic, but perhaps due to the Queen of the North's influence, most of the decent powerhouses were concentrated among the warriors. Of course, there were skilled individuals like Seo Lee Ju, the master of the Frost Dragon Guild, but there was a reason I believed the Northeast Alliance's magical strength was slightly behind.
‘The King of the South.’
I’d never heard about his class or what specific skills he used, but contrary to his appearance, I knew he was a high-level mage. It was to be expected from someone skilled enough to call himself the king of a region, but he was undoubtedly a mage who would be second to none on this continent. In terms of pure firepower, he was probably incomparable to Jung Hayeon and might even surpass Choi Eunju.
“It’s coming.”
Magic was gathering above. Even with my enhanced senses, I could feel an immense amount of mana. This was definitely not a spell that could be cast in a short time.
Choi Seulgi muttered beside me.
“The promised three days, my ass.”
A sound like the air itself was tearing apart reached my ears. When I looked up at the sky, I saw a massive meteor.
“Heh…”
It was a clear sign of their intent to shatter the entire wall. But our forces didn't waver. The Green Skins waiting with me at the base of the wall also watched the falling meteor in silence.
The meteor, which had seemed small, grew larger in an instant. If it were to hit, the wall would obviously be shattered, and we would suffer immense damage. But the South wasn't the only side with a mage of that caliber.
It was debatable whether you could call her a traditional mage, but I knew a witch who had reached a higher level than anyone else.
“Jang Ye Ri.”
Before I could even speak, the empty sky tore open, and a massive, black beast began to emerge. Jang Ye Ri, positioned in the center of the wall, casually held the Reaper's Scythe and stretched a hand toward the sky.
When the black beast opened its massive maw, a disgusting number of teeth came into view. I had seen it back when I faced Jang Gi Young, but it had grown to an incomparable degree. It looked far more menacing and solid than what I had seen that day. As it opened its mouth wide toward the falling meteor, as if to swallow it whole, its form began to blur.
It was being affected by the King of the South's magic. When Jang Ye Ri raised her hand once more, the blurring figure instantly regained its form. Then, the meteor and the black beast collided head-on.
KWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
The sight of the black beast catching the meteor, accompanied by a tremendous roar, must have looked bizarre to anyone. It was only natural, as even I found it quite fascinating. The humans below were also staring blankly at the scene.
“Monsters.”
It was clearly a comment directed at both of them. Watching the scene, a dry laugh escaped my lips as well.
CRUUUUNCH
A chilling sound echoed as the beast shattered the massive meteor with its teeth. Fragments rained down in all directions, but they weren't large enough to affect the wall or threaten the troops. The sound of mages casting protective spells continued unabated.
And then came the second barrage. This time, it wasn't from the King of the South, but from the South's regular mages.
‘But we can block it.’
Since the meteor attack had been blocked, it seemed they didn't expect this attack to damage the wall either. Their real objective was likely to allow their advancing troops to approach the wall without taking any damage.
Spells rained down on our protective magic from all directions. In other words, our mages couldn't cast offensive spells.
We had to reduce their numbers as much as possible before they reached the wall. If we couldn't use mages, we'd use archers. As if he had read my mind, the North Knight, Kang Changhoon, who stood beside the Queen of the North, spoke.
He was not only powerful but also quite skilled at commanding troops. He would be gauging the timing perfectly.
“All units! Nock!”
The sound of footsteps and war cries grew louder. The enemy was getting closer. I turned to Choi Seulgi and spoke.
“Who's in the vanguard?”
“Jeong Ji-young.”
“Pfft.”
She must be seriously pissed. He was a veteran on par with the North Knight. They were planning to go all out from the start.
Just as their war cries grew closer, the North Knight, Kang Changhoon, lowered the sword in his hand and shouted.
“Fire!!!”
Arrows soared into the sky. They must have judged the enemy was in range and loosed a high-arcing volley.
“Shields up! Shields!”
A loud voice immediately roared from the enemy's side. Their shield bearers were raising their shields to block the arrows, but there was no way they'd escape unscathed. That attack must have dealt some real damage to their forces.
“Nock!”
“Fire!”
“Nock!!!”
“Fire!!!!”
Kang Changhoon's voice and the screams of the enemy continued to echo. Perhaps excited by the familiar sounds of the battlefield, Goff's ogres were growling. They probably wanted to charge out. But now was not a good time.
I glanced at Elia, and she immediately began to chant a spell. The entire battlefield came into view.
Soldiers lay fallen and bleeding. Each time a volley of arrows flew into the sky, more of the charging enemy would collapse. Despite this, the tide of incoming troops seemed endless.
“Sons of bitches.”
Most of those falling and dying were the weak. Unfortunately, Jeong Ji-young and the Saint Knights Order, pushing forward behind their shields, had taken almost no damage. This was partly because they were perfectly blocking the arrows with their shields, and partly because they had enveloped their bodies in holy power. They would likely heal any minor wounds on their own.
They were protecting a siege weapon. I didn't know if it was specifically designed to break the ice wall, but it looked like something made to smash through a castle gate. This ice wall had no gate, but they probably intended to imbue that weapon with magic and shatter the ice.
“Advance! Advance! For our ideals!”
“Hold them back!! Nock! Fire!”
Perhaps finding it difficult to block the continuous rain of arrows, the enemy also began to protect their formation with defensive spells. Thanks to that, our mages gained some breathing room.
KWAAAAAAA!
It seemed to be Seo Lee Ju's turn. A chilling aura swirled around her. The moment her eyes flashed open, the name of an unknown spell escaped her lips, and its effect was greater than I had imagined.
“Blizzard.”
Blizzard, the signature spell of ice mages. I had seen it once before from a distance, but this was the first time I'd witnessed a spell of this magnitude.
In an instant, a massive storm of ice began to rage, swallowing the enemy forces. Naturally, their advance slowed. In the meantime, arrows continued to rain down, causing numerous casualties.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“My arm!! My arm!!”
But the wounded kept getting back up. An immense wave of holy power washed over them, and the injured raised their swords once more.
‘The Sword Saint.’
I don't know if she thought the damage was greater than expected, but she had unleashed her holy power much faster than we anticipated. From her perspective, she probably just wanted her dogs and pigs to fight harder for a little longer, but the Sword Saint's intervention seemed to have given them great strength.
“Lady Ha Yuri is watching over us! Let's go! Forward and fight!”
“For our ideals!”
Even before the enemy reached the wall, the ranged combatants on both sides were engaged in a high-level exchange.
“Nock!”
This time, the shout didn't come from our side. The enemy was now returning fire, sending arrows up toward the top of the wall. That's how close they had gotten. Archers who couldn't chant their defensive spells in time were struck by enemy arrows and fell.
“Priest! Priest!”
The priests were constantly spreading their holy power. Just then, the King of the South's magic began to fall once more. Perhaps thinking a meteor wouldn't be very effective, he unleashed a vast amount of magic, and a rain of fire began to pour down. Its range even included our Blood Dagger Clan, so I spoke quietly to Hark and Orbo.
“Hark, Orbo.”
“Hmph!”
At my voice, Hark drew his sword and Orbo raised his shield. Hark continuously blocked the rain of fire with his sword, while Orbo slammed his massive shield into the ground. A moment later, a huge shield of magic, large enough to protect our entire clan, materialized. It was his unique ability.
We were managing to block it somehow, but there would be damage on top of the wall.
A protective spell immediately covered the wall, but it wasn't completely effective. The ice mages and Jang Ye Ri were holding it back, but parts of the wall were crumbling. Of course, it wasn't enough for them to easily break through. The North Knight, Kang Changhoon, was also moving toward the section of the wall damaged by the magic.
“Fire!! Fire!!”
“Ladders! Bring up the ladders!!”
With grappling hooks and ladders now pressed against the wall, the siege had begun in earnest.
Pouring hot oil or throwing stones wouldn't be enough to stop the warriors who had started climbing the wall. They were likely protecting the ladders and their bodies with magic. The only things that could stop them were spells from high-level mages or arrows from archers.
Spearmen were continuously knocking enemies off the ladders, while mages were destroying the ladders themselves. Arrows and spells continued to rain down, and screams filled the air.
You could say the quality of our troops was superior, but the quantity was a different story. Even if a single spell could wipe out hundreds or thousands, it doesn't make up for being outnumbered. The number of troops the West and South had brought was formidable.
Corpses continued to pile up at the base of the wall, and I could see enemies climbing over those bodies, trying to crawl their way up.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“Die!”
“Don't let them get up!”
“The spearmen will handle the Saint Knights! Take them down!”