Chapter 498: The Iron Revolution(4)
Chapter 498: The Iron Revolution(4)
Monsters are classified by size into four categories: Small, Medium, Large, and Super-sized.
Up to the 'Large' category, the classification is generally based on 'humanity.' Simply put, if it is smaller than a person, it is Small; if it is similar or slightly larger, it is Medium; and if it significantly exceeds three meters, it is Large.
One might ask how four-legged beasts, rather than humanoid monsters, are distinguished.
In such cases, 'shoulder height' is used as the standard. For the record, insects that are wide are measured by their width.
While Large monsters are manageable, classifications lose much of their meaning once they reach the 'outlier' status—the Super-sized monsters.
From Dragons to the sea's scourge, the Kraken; the Mountain Turtle, often called a walking mountain; the Giant Sandworm of the Grey Desert, and so on.
These are beings that bring utter catastrophe to humanity simply by passing through. The mere rumor of their appearance is enough to throw a nation into a state of high alert.
As seen in the Ascanal Incident, the Minerva Empire suffered immense national losses just to stop a single Dragon.
Had Baron Hawk not been there, an entire legion would have been annihilated. Super-sized monsters are, in every sense of the word, 'calamities.'
The only saving grace is that, due to their incredibly long lifespans, they spend much of their time in deep slumber and rarely engage in activity.
However, as civilization advances, the exploration of uncharted territories becomes more frequent, often leading to the accidental awakening of these Super-sized monsters.
The Ascanal Incident was part of that trend, leading every nation to grow wary, viewing such events as the 'Trial of Hirt.'
Those who seek to expand their lands while destroying nature shall face the Trial of Hirt.
The civilization that passes the trial shall gain the potent power of nature; those who fail shall reap only disaster.
[By the way, do we even have Super-sized monsters in our country? I thought we delivered all of those?]
[Just shut up and keep pedaling! You’re going to get us hit again!]
Before Eins could even finish his question, Geas barked at him. Their conversation was transmitted to Handai through a speaking tube.
An Iron Spear had pierced the driver's seat, but fortunately, it hadn't gone deep. Had it struck further, Eins wouldn't have been unscathed.
Still, the question was inevitable. The Iron Spear—a siege weapon invented specifically to damage Super-sized monsters.
Surprisingly, its invention dated back to the Race War. Humans, unable to use magic, had made a single request to the Dwarves.
Castles can be breached with cannons. But magic barriers require penetration, not just firepower.
The Iron Spear was invented based on that single requirement, and now it was being used to pierce the thick hides and skin of monsters.
Even during the Ascanal Incident, while the Iron Spears dealt minor damage to the Dragon, it was Hawk who delivered the fatal blow to bring it down.
'Did those bastards smuggle them out?'
The possibility was high. Or rather, it was more accurate to say they had deceived the factories.
They likely manufactured far more than the actual delivery amount and stored the surplus in the castle. Even those would have eventually been used for trade.
Since ancient times, being an arms dealer has been the perfect way for a state to make a fortune. It was a tradition—if one could call it that—stretching from the Race War to the present.
As the Minerva Empire expanded, more weapons would be consumed, so they must have prepared in advance.
And the weapons produced by squeezing the factories dry were now, ironically, aimed at the Geist, who were fighting for those very factories.
Clang!
While Eins pedaled, another Iron Spear struck the side of the tank. Fortunately, the angle was off, so it didn't penetrate and instead ricocheted away.
Handai let out a sigh of relief. It seemed they weren't guaranteed to pierce every time.
He leaned into the communication tube to update the others.
"It missed. Don't worry."
[Don't worry, my ass! I can hear the wind whistling inside! Just tell me the coordinates!]
Perhaps because his life was on the line, Geas was screaming at the top of his lungs.
At his shout, Handai hurriedly scanned for the location of the Iron Spear launcher through his telescope.
Since each Iron Spear was extremely expensive, there shouldn't have been many, but if they had been stockpiling them in secret, the situation changed.
"Found it! Ten o'clock, four hundred meters!"
[Confirmed! Load!]
"Fire!"
[Firing!]
Boom!
With a satisfying roar, the cannon—or rather, the Iron Spear launcher—was blown to smithereens.
As a bonus, the soldiers gathered around it took heavy casualties, and their formation crumbled.
Clang!!
"Ugh!"
The problem lay elsewhere. Another Iron Spear was fired, piercing the front of the tank once again.
No matter how powerful a tank was, it had only one hull. The moment the tank's greatest advantage—its formidable defense—was compromised, the tide of battle shifted.
Overwhelming power can make numerical superiority irrelevant, but if the opponent has a countermeasure, the battlefield changes.
Handai gritted his teeth at the two Iron Spears embedded in the front of the tank, then quickly checked for other launchers.
"Dammit..."
He couldn't help but curse. Realizing that the Iron Spear launchers were effective, the enemy had immediately changed their tactics.
While they continued to fire shells, they were now constantly repositioning the Iron Spear launchers—their most vital assets.
This was possible because they had attached wheels to the launchers for mobility. Dealing with them one by one was going to be a headache.
Clang!
An Iron Spear launcher that had finished its preparations spat fire. This time, too, the angle was off, and it grazed the side.
It seemed that unless the angle was close to ninety degrees, they couldn't pierce the armor.
That was a small mercy. If they could just deal with the Iron Spears being fired from the front, they might be able to break through.
Boom!
The tank's barrel spat a fierce flame.
Clang!
An Iron Spear flew in and struck the tank. A third spear was now lodged in the center of the vehicle.
[Ah, dammit! The rotating turret is jammed!]
"What?!"
This was the worst-case scenario. Handai was horrified by Geas's shout.
If the rotating turret was inoperable, they would have to maneuver the entire hull to aim.
If that happened, they could be pierced even from angles that were previously safe.
Clang!!
But there was little time to think; decisions had to be made fast. Handai gritted his teeth and shouted to the infantry behind them.
"The tank's turret is jammed! I'm going to maneuver the tank, so stay close behind us!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"Understood!"
"Fire!"
Boom!
Now it was a war of attrition. It was a question of who would fall first: the enemy, or the tank.
Handai ordered the fire, and the crew inside the tank hurriedly fired the cannon according to his command.
Eins, who had been doing nothing but pedaling, also steered the wheel this way and that, following the directions.
—Aaaargh! My arm!
—Everyone, stay focused! Just one shot! We only need to land one shot!
The soldiers guarding the palace gates were equally desperate. If they couldn't bring down this steel monster first, they would be the ones to die.
Those trying to break through and those trying to stop them. In a battle where neither side would yield an inch, the side that claimed victory was...
CRASH!
"Huh?"
[It... stopped...]
[Dammit...]
It was those trying to stop them—the soldiers. Though the tank had been advancing while destroying the Iron Spear launchers, the final shot did it.
One Iron Spear had happened to strike a wheel, damaging the 'caterpillar tracks.'
Caterpillar tracks are useful for weight distribution and traversing rough terrain, but once they break, mobility is completely lost.
The soldiers couldn't have known the weakness of a tank, something they were seeing for the first time, but the tank the Geist were riding was an early model.
Because the tracks had a large exposed surface area, a single hit was enough to snap them.
"...Can it be fixed?"
[I have tools. The problem is...]
Boom!
Before Eins could finish his sentence, a shell exploded right next to them. A plume of dust and dirt covered Handai.
Handai quickly closed the hatch and dropped inside. The interior was already steeped in gloom.
Not just Eins, but Geas and the loader also wore devastated expressions. They likely felt it too.
That they had been too arrogant. That they shouldn't have placed blind faith in the tank but should have built up their own strength separately.
"If I'd known this would happen, I would have made more spares...!"
Eins slammed the steering wheel in frustration, venting his bitterness. But no one blamed him.
Eins was the one who had invented the tank in the first place, and it was thanks to him they had made it this far.
Given more time, they could have built other tanks, but it had taken a month just to build this one.
With the oppression growing harsher every day, they couldn't afford to drag things out any longer. He had done his best.
—Protect the monster! Use it as cover!
—Fire the cannons!
Boom!
The infantry following behind also sensed something was wrong and began to take action.
Realizing the tank was neutralized, the enemy began firing shells indiscriminately, making the ground vibrate in all directions.
Handai listened to the vibrations and the shouts of the soldiers before his expression hardened with resolve.
"Hey, Eins. This turret can be rotated manually, right?"
"Huh? I mean, it can. But you'd have to do it from the outside..."
"That's all I need. Geas, when I give the signal, you fire. Got it?"
"W-Wait, what?"
Handai didn't even wait for his friends' answer before throwing open the hatch. As soon as he opened it, a deafening explosion rang in his ears.
He glared at the King's army, which seemed to have grown even larger with reinforcements.
The King's dogs, blinded by greed. Even if he died today, he had to thin their numbers.
"H-Handai-nim!"
Sensing that the tide of battle had turned, the soldiers looked at Handai with terror-stricken faces.
Handai looked at them in silence for a moment, then shouted urgently as a shell exploded nearby.
"You lot, hold out until Eins fixes the tank!"
"B-But Handai-nim..."
"I'm going to move this turret myself! Even if this thing becomes a tin can, it's still a multi-ton piece of cover, so don't be afraid!"
Saying so, Handai climbed out of the hatch and moved to the rear of the tank. He then placed both hands on the angled part of the turret.
Normally, moving a turret manually—and with bare hands at that—would be a mad idea, but...
"Hrrgh!"
Screeeech—
For a dwarf, who was naturally stronger than a human and had spent decades swinging a hammer, it was possible.
As he forced the turret to move, the veins in Handai's thick arms bulged, and his face instantly turned beet red.
Even then, all sorts of projectiles, including shells, were flying toward them.
Handai flinched as an Iron Spear whistled past his head, then immediately shouted.
"Fire!"
Thump!
He slammed his palm against the hull as a signal.
Boom!
Geas fired the shell exactly as instructed.
—Aaaargh!
—Those bastards aren't dead yet! Keep firing! I said keep firing!
Seeing that the tank they thought was disabled was still showing its teeth, the soldiers who had let their guard down scrambled in a panic.
Not only that, but the infantry using the tank as cover also began to fight back.
While some infantry fired crossbows, most had brought their own cannons, so they weren't lacking in firepower.
Boom!
"Argh!"
"Kathleen!"
The only problem was their numbers. One infantryman struck by a shell collapsed to the ground, blood spraying.
Though they had received training from the Minerva Empire, they were not regular soldiers. The fact that their training time was woefully insufficient was a major factor.
Even with defected soldiers among them, it wasn't enough to lead everyone. Without the tank, a direct confrontation would have been an impossible dream.
It was a miracle the tank even existed; getting this far was an achievement in itself.
No matter how corrupt, an army was still an army. Even now, they were reorganizing their lines with disciplined efficiency.
"Fire!"
Boom!
Still, the tank's main gun did not rest. Handai, drenched in sweat, adjusted the barrel's position, and Geas fired upon receiving the signal.
A battle of attrition had begun with a single tank as cover. Their fate would be decided by whose 'castle' crumbled first.
As is well known, dwarves do not have bodies suited for combat and prefer long-range warfare like this over close-quarters combat.
But that was merely a preference; it didn't mean they were weak in a melee. If they were, they would have been slaughtered by monsters long ago.
There were warriors capable of defeating an Ogre in a fight, but they were few and far between.
From a dwarf's perspective, it was better to invent a weapon that could easily kill such a monster. It was just that the cost-effectiveness was abysmal.
Furthermore, with cannons booming everywhere, charging in was nothing short of suicide.
Above all, it was much cheaper and more convenient to pay mercenaries or adventurers to do the fighting.
"Hey! Just make sure I don't become a pincushion!"
Deciding he couldn't wait any longer in this desperate situation, Eins climbed out of the hatch.
Handai's eyes widened in surprise, but he soon realized what Eins was thinking.
In his hand was a tool kit for field repairs. It seemed he was going to risk his life to fix the caterpillar tracks.
"Vanguard! Get in front and protect Eins!"
"Yes, sir!"
Handai gave the order to the infantry. At the same time, infantrymen with shields began to form a sturdy wall in front of Eins.
While it was hard to stop a cannonball, they could certainly block arrows.
The problem was...
Crunch!
"Gaaah...!"
"Ugh!"
It was those damn Iron Spears. If the angle was right, they could pierce even the front of the tank; what chance did a shield have?
No matter how good a dwarven shield was, the Iron Spears were also dwarven-made. It was galling that their own kin's craftsmanship was being used against them.
Handai gritted his teeth as he watched an infantryman collapse, pierced through his body despite the shield.
Another infantryman immediately took his place, but they were essentially meat shields.
A new tactic, a new weapon, a new battlefield. And their 'first battle.'
Nothing was going smoothly; everything was clumsy. Since they had no experience, he wondered if they were even doing this right.
They had managed to deal massive damage thanks to the tank, but that was it. As time passed, victory became harder to guarantee.
'Did we underestimate them too much?'
Boom!
Handai watched the main gun fire as he harbored those doubts. The Iron Spear launcher that had been skewering his infantry was blown to bits by a high-explosive shell.
There weren't many Iron Spear launchers left, but the problem was reinforcements. Reports must have gone up, as more troops, cannons, and Iron Spear launchers were pouring out of the palace.
Retreat was impossible. Their only hope was for Eins to fix the tracks as quickly as possible.
He didn't know how long that would take, but they had to hold out.
Only then could he show that even if he died, he had sacrificed himself for the factories of Machina.
Thwack!
"Gah!"
But reality was cold. Handai screamed as an arrow lodged in his shoulder, and his hands slipped from the turret.
He had been unlucky enough to be hit by a stray arrow. Since he was exposed outside the hatch, it was bound to happen.
[Hey! Handai! Are you okay—!]
Clang!
Just as Geas, sensing something was wrong, tried to check on him, an Iron Spear flew in and struck the side of the tank.
Though it didn't penetrate, the impact was strong enough to shake the interior. A little more force, and the side would have been breached.
"Ugh..."
Handai groaned as he forced the turret to move again. Crimson blood began to flow from the shoulder where the arrow was deeply embedded.
The vanguards protecting Eins were falling one by one, and shrapnel from the shelling was flying everywhere.
It was a truly desperate situation. Handai glared at the palace with burning eyes.
'You bastards...'
When he had lost his ring finger in an accident and received no compensation, he had been furious, but he had endured it.
Because he thought that was just how things were. Because everyone else did.
But after hearing the ugly truth from Eins, his mind had completely changed. Those people deserved to die.
If the revolution failed here, the suffering of the factories would become several times worse than it was now.
He didn't care if he lost more than just a finger—even his arms and legs. He had already prepared himself for that.
Even if the revolution failed and was recorded in history as a coup, the memories and will of today would never disappear.
The Geist would remain as a lingering grudge deep in the hearts of Machina's workers, giving birth to another form of revolution.
That would be the true 'reform,' the 'birth' that follows 'destruction.'
Thwack! Thud!
Just as Handai tried to turn the main gun, more arrows began to pin themselves into his body.
One in his arm, one in his leg, one in his collarbone, and one in his side. Several arrows used his body as a target.
Even through the brain-racking pain, Handai did not let go of the turret. And so, the barrel moved.
He gasped for breath, then let out a squeezed-out shout as he slammed his palm down.
Thump!
"Fire!!"
Boom!
The tank spat fire the moment it received the signal, suppressing the enemy. Even if the tank's feet were broken, its strength was not.
Handai confirmed that the area where the cannons and Iron Spear launchers were concentrated had been decimated, and he hurriedly moved his hands.
Stagger—
But perhaps it was because he had been hit by too many arrows. His balance began to crumble, and the strength drained from his body.
He tried to endure with the patience he had learned from working in the forge, but it was no use. This was not a matter of spirit, but of the flesh.
Thud—
As a result, Handai collapsed weakly onto the tank.
—...dai...
—Wake up... Hey! You...
—Potion! Get a po... tion!
It sounded like someone was shouting, but all he could hear was a buzzing in his ears. No doubt it was the cries of people worried about him.
He could also hear the occasional sound of shells exploding. It seemed his hearing had been damaged from listening to those sounds for so long.
According to something he'd heard somewhere, even when a person dies, their hearing remains.
He only hoped his ears were the only problem.
"Cough!"
Handai laughed silently in his fading consciousness, then coughed.
Red blood erupted from his mouth, warmly soaking his beard. The beard that was the symbol of a dwarf was being dyed red.
As he watched his beard turn crimson, Handai's eyes began to slowly close.
'The spark... the spark of revolution...'
The spark hadn't fully caught fire yet. He couldn't fall here.
At the very least, he wanted to see with his own eyes whether they had failed or succeeded before he died.
But no matter how trained a warrior was, they were powerless before death. Especially Handai, who was just an ordinary blacksmith.
Just as Handai's eyes were about to close completely.
—...AAAAAAH!
—...for Machina!
A shout pierced his ears. No, it wasn't just one person.
It was 'voices' that could only be made by many people shouting together.
Handai forced his eyes open and looked toward the source of the sound.
Coincidentally, a certain crimson liquid was trickling into his mouth.
—WAAAAAAAH!!
—Unite! Bring down the King!
What entered Handai's vision was not a tiny spark.
—Forward! Workers of Machina!
Holding hammers and pickaxes.
—URAAAAAAAH!
It was a massive inferno itself.
"..."
Good. This is enough.
Handai wore a satisfied smile as he watched the crowds pouring in like a tidal wave.
He could leave the rest to them. Now, he could close his...
"Stop pretending to be asleep and wake up, you idiot."
"...You caught me?"
"Phew. I really thought you were a goner. You scared me."
...He couldn't close them and woke up instead. Handai gave a sheepish smile and looked ahead.
Geas was in his field of vision, looking down at him with a deeply worried expression.
In his hand was a small potion bottle, an item they had prepared just in case.
The liquid that had trickled into his mouth earlier was exactly that. A standby medicine that could easily pull someone through a crisis.
Since it restored both physical strength and energy, rotating the turret would be no trouble at all.
"Repairs finished! Let's go, friends!"
Right on cue, Eins's field repairs were complete. Handai groaned as he stood up.
"WAAAAAAAH!!!"
At the same time, countless dwarven factory workers rushed past the tank like a tsunami.
Each holding pickaxes and hammers, they were charging toward the palace as one.
Handai and Geas watched the scene with satisfaction before returning to their duties with serious expressions.
A reliable reinforcement had arrived, but the revolution was not over.
Geas went back inside the tank, and Handai squeezed out his remaining strength to rotate the turret.
The soldiers in front of the palace were paralyzed, seemingly overwhelmed by the sudden human-wave tactics.
Screeeech—
Finally, the tank's turret finished its rotation.
"Fire!"
[Firing!]
BOOM!
The monster let out a thunderous roar once more.