Becoming the Revered One: A New Beginning (2)
Her red hair whipped wildly in the fierce wind. Standing atop the walls, Yuris gazed at the horizon in her light plate armor. Outwardly, she cut the picture of an unshakable lord. But the palms inside her gauntlets were already slick with sweat.
A blue tide was approaching from afar. The inevitable had finally arrived. Monster invasions erupting across the entire empire—a phenomenon whose cause remained unknown. But her duty was clear: defend this place with her life. At the very least, protect the lives of her people.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
Thanks to the power of a special crystal orb, her voice echoed across the battlements. Her family was renowned as berserkers, with tempers like roaring flames. But right now, she was as cold and unyielding as ice. Her tone was low, stripped of emotion, perfectly steady.
Too many slimes. What the hell is going on?
The green horizon had turned into a solid wall of blue—the slimes were packed so densely they resembled a liquid sea. Yuris's eyes narrowed.
Way more than expected. Is someone pulling strings behind this?
She had thought her preparations complete. Food stockpiles full. Soldiers drilled relentlessly. Walls repaired. Deep trenches dug before the battlements. Even siege weapons ready for any contingency. She hadn't anticipated slimes specifically, but she'd prepared oil and gunpowder regardless. She'd done everything possible to defend the walls and preserve her territory.
Yet the blue slime filling the horizon seemed to mock all her efforts, stretching endlessly onward.
"Just in case, send out the messengers! Request reinforcements from anywhere you can!"
It would be humiliating, but she made the rational call. Messengers galloped off in the opposite direction from the oncoming slime horde. Watching them go, she steeled herself. She'd never faced slime-type enemies before, so she'd probe their weaknesses first.
"All troops, hold first formation! Loose arrows!"
Her command rang out. Every soldier nocked and fired as one. A single volley, but arrows rained like a storm. Arcing through the sky, they slammed into the slimes.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
The result was negligible. Arrowheads sank harmlessly into the slimes' bodies. Their surfaces rippled, but no fatal wounds.
Yuris calculated swiftly. Time for the territory's elite asset: the mages. With the crisis escalating, mages' value had tripled, but as the youngest daughter of a decent noble house, she could afford about ten.
"Ice magic—now! Burn through your mana if you have to; freeze them solid!"
One mage specialized in ice spells. He nodded at her order, chanting and gathering mana. Protected by shield-bearing soldiers atop the high walls, he fixed his gaze on the horizon. As the spell completed, a blast of frigid wind swept the area.
Watching the gentle breeze turn into a blizzard made it clear why mages commanded such respect. A massive storm of cold ravaged the enemy ranks. The mage collapsed from mana exhaustion.
But his effort had frozen more than half the slimes, tangling the frozen and unfrozen ones into a jam.
Now to shatter them. She ordered another arrow volley—this time at the iced slimes. The arrows struck, exploding the frozen chunks into shards. Large and small ice-slime fragments scattered. They'd killed slimes successfully.
Good news, but the horizon still teemed with more. Mages guzzled precious potions like water. Better that than lose the walls and territory.
"Fire magic next! Water's weak to lightning too—use whatever works! Chug those potions!"
She bellowed. The mages channeled mana wildly, unleashing spell after spell like living artillery. The effects were devastating. Soldiers' morale surged briefly.
Physical attacks suck against them; magic's the way. But mages are human too.
No matter how strawberry-sweet the potions, limits existed. She called off the barrage at the right moment. The moment magic stopped, slimes surged like waves.
Slimes filling the trenches? Useless now. At least magic had thinned their numbers substantially—that was the silver lining. Though plenty remained, the bad news.
"Now! Dump the oil! Light 'em up!"
Seeing her mages on the brink of collapse, she issued the order. Waiting soldiers hurled oaken barrels via catapults or muscle, from right below the walls to far out. Barrels shattered on impact, spewing oil everywhere.
"Keep throwing! No fried meat for a while, but grilled's fine! Jerky tastes great too!"
Somber, fearful faces all around. So she cracked a joke amid her commands. Tension eased a fraction. Then the artificial inferno began. Fire arrows ignited the oil. Flames roared skyward. Blue goo burned red.
"It's working!"
"Magic followed by this—the slimes are halting!"
"Good. Everyone, keep up the attacks!"
They were holding magnificently, but Yuris knew better. This was just a delay. More slimes pressed from behind the burning ones, like the sea surging forward. The moat of blue goo thickened below the walls. The slimes grew frenzied, as if avenging their kin.
And then...
"Base of the walls—erosion detected!"
Slime seeped between the stone blocks. No matter the construction, slimes exploited every crack like a true calamity.
"Freeze the walls!"
Creaking and groaning, part of the wall threatened to crumble. Quick thinking froze it solid, averting crisis once. But only partially. Yuris's heart sank.
The walls are being eaten away.
Things were worsening bit by bit. Terror rose to her throat. If I break, it's over.
She couldn't be the first to falter here. The moment she wavered, soldiers would panic. The people would despair.
"If we don't hold here, we're all slime food! We endure until the civilians evacuate!"
Clear, deliberate. She checked her voice for tremors. But despite desperate resistance, slimes began climbing the walls. Magic had limits; supplies dwindled. Blue goo overflowed like a tidal wave, engulfing the battlements.
Screams erupted from the village interior. Children's wails, people fleeing with belongings, voices calling for each other. A glance showed a section of the vast walls breached—slimes pouring in.
Many civilians had evacuated, but plenty hadn't. Yuris gritted her teeth. There was nothing she could do right now. She wanted to save them, but leaving her post would shatter the chain of command. Sending troops would doom the walls entirely.
A perfect shitshow.
Just a little longer. Hold on just a bit more.
She'd already dispatched dozens of letters via fastest horses and veteran riders. They had to bring reinforcements. An irresponsible thought unworthy of a lord. Still, desperation made her pray for a miracle.
Reality was cruel. Half the walls were slime-overrun. Flames dying down. Oil barrels empty. Mages collapsing unconscious.
"Milady, we can't hold! Everyone, retreat!"
"The people?"
"Best guess—at least half escaped!"
Half. The word stabbed her heart. If I'd been stronger, prepared sooner, had more power...
She'd given her all, yet the result was. Guilt seeped into her mind. Daughter of a noble house. Blood of the berserker Garding lineage, taught never to fall. Yet the territory granted by the family head—her father—was falling.
She looked down. Blue goo had nearly devoured the walls. The overflowing wave poised to flood the village.
Despair crashed over her like a breaker. In the end, I can't stop it.
For a fleeting moment, her father's face—the family head's—flashed in her mind. Yuris resolved herself. Fear lingered, of course. She'd die. Dissolve in slime. Even so. To save her people and soldiers, she had no choice. She'd fulfill a noble's duty. Even in death.
"I'm staying. Whoever wants to, stay with me. Everyone else, retreat."
If she jumped first, soldiers would hold to the last. Civilians could flee farther.
"Milady, you can't—"
"Go! That's an order."
She shouted, drawing her sword. Her red hair gleamed like fire in the flames. Berserker blood boiled. Her heart pounded against her eardrums.
"Disobey, and I'll kill you myself. Live and lead the people. That's your duty."
Her advisor, who'd grown up with her like a sister.
"Milady... sob... Understood. Please... you have to survive and come back!"
Seeing her truly ready to swing, the advisor—who'd rather die together—fled at Yuris's resolute expression.
Now alone, Yuris gazed below and placed one foot on the parapet. Buy time, at minimum. A lord's final duty.
The instant she leaned forward—right as battle fervor ignited—
Rumble rumble rumble!
A black rift tore open beyond the slimes' rear, at the horizon. The blue tide shuddered. So violently the entire slime mass quivered.
Yuris's eyes widened. "Wha—what? What's happening?"
A colossal shadow erupted from the earth like splitting ground. From it burst pale white humanoid shapes. Squinting, she realized: bones... skeletons.
She sighed. Slimes, and now skeletons invading her territory too?
But the skeletons charged the slimes? They tangled, recognizing each other as foes, fighting fiercely. Half the incoming slimes veered off toward them.
"Ah... could it be that person?"
Yuris recalled the man from rumors. The Necromancer. Wielder of dark magic, yet savior of people and slayer of monsters. If he'd come, they had a chance. His summons' attacks carried magical power!
Amid her despair, the battlefield shifted toward unexpected hope.