Chapter 147
Chapter 147
Grooooooan.
The northern ridge of an unnamed mountain in MacLaine territory crumbled away entirely, transforming into the shape of a massive golem.
Thud. Thud.
The towering golem, standing at least 30 meters tall, left deep footprints in the field as it lumbered forward—a sight so overwhelming that it silenced everyone watching.
After marching with such imposing force, the golem collapsed into rubble the moment it reached its destination.
Rumble—
"Alright, just ten more trips like this, and we'll have enough stone and dirt to build a fortress. Hang in there, mage."
"Hah... hahaha..."
Clayton laughed like a madman in response to the snide remark from the dwarf who barely reached his waist.
He had already heard the same comment ten times.
By his common sense, the mountain of dirt and stone piled before him seemed more than enough to build a fortress, but he couldn't ignore the expert's words.
And so, Clayton—as if demonstrating the amplified power granted by the supreme artifact he had obtained—pulled off the miraculous feat of uprooting and relocating an entire mountain ridge in a single day.
The moment the literal mountain of dirt and stone was piled up, countless workers swarmed toward it.
"Master got an artifact, sure, but why are we...?"
"It's a priceless treasure, isn't it?"
"That's exactly why I'm asking—why are we doing this?"
"...Honestly, he said he settled here for our sake, but it feels like we're suffering more than before."
"Elders! Are you slacking off?! If you keep this up, I'll tell Master!!"
Grick and Enan, who had been grumbling under their breath, jumped in surprise at the sharp voice behind them and whirled around.
"Ria?!"
"Wh-when did you get here? Our little Ria... Haha."
Victoria—the only one among their former Earth Magic Tower comrades who had become their master's new disciple after arriving in this territory.
The small girl had won the hearts of not just their master but all her senior disciples with her cuteness and prodigious talent.
"I've been watching you two for a while now! I swear—"
Even her angry pout and hands-on-hips pose were unbearably adorable.
But her threat—delivered while invoking their master's name—was terrifying enough to make them break into a cold sweat. Grick and Enan pointed forward simultaneously, as if competing to shift blame.
"W-we're working! Look! See?! My golem!"
"Me too! I'm working faster than anyone!"
Their expressions were full of indignation—and for good reason.
Grick, who had just reached the early stages of the 4th Circle, was commanding a golem over 5 meters tall, shoveling dirt with tremendous force. Enan, who had recently advanced to the 3rd Circle, was also directing a golem nearly 3 meters tall, tirelessly hauling earth.
Even while chatting, their golems moved automatically—proof of their status as Clayton's top disciples.
They knew full well that if MacLaine fell, they'd be in deep trouble too.
But unfortunately, their excuses didn't work on Victoria.
"Why aren't you using other spells?! The others are struggling!"
"W-well, you see... We only just recently advanced..."
"Controlling golems is already hard enough..."
They offered excuses that weren't really excuses.
"And what about me?!"
Behind the genius junior disciple, who glared at them with feigned menace, three golems—each nearly 2 meters tall—were shoveling dirt nonstop.
Having experienced battlefields several times, their monstrous little sister had grown even stronger while working on this construction project. Despite being only a 2nd-Circle mage, she was already controlling three golems simultaneously—a feat that defied all logic.
'Well, she was already using golem magic at the 1st Circle. That shouldn't even be possible.'
'How is she already this proficient when she's only been training for so little time...?'
Though they were both awed and exasperated, they couldn't show weakness.
No—they refused to.
'We have our pride as seniors.'
'I'll do it too. Watch me!'
Clenching their teeth, they forgot their earlier complaints and poured every ounce of their mana into their spells.
And then—
"Earth Wall!"
"Solid Ground!"
The mana they squeezed out surged through the earth, lifting the ground before hardening it instantly.
A magnificent joint spell—one only possible between long-time senior disciples.
Meanwhile, their golems—powered by 10% of their own mana and 90% magic stone energy—dug into the ground, packed the earth, and shaped the fortress walls and staircases.
'Gahk! S-Senior, I almost lost control...!'
'M-me too. I can't breathe...'
Their pained gazes conveyed everything without words.
But—
"H-how's that?!"
"W-we can do this much!"
Their faces, drenched in cold sweat, were filled with forced smiles as they turned to their junior.
Victoria simply gave them a thumbs-up.
"See? You can do it!"
"How long can you keep this up? Once an hour? Once every two hours?"
"O-of course we can!"
"If we put our minds to it, we can do it every... thirty minutes!"
Wait, what?!
Grick shot Enan a murderous glare.
Enan, pale-faced, forced an awkward smile while silently screaming with his eyes.
And as if confirming their worst fears—
"Got it! I'll report that to Master!"
With a bright smile, Victoria turned away. Grick immediately grabbed Enan by the collar and shook him violently.
"You idiot, there are things you don't say—!"
"S-senior! I-I messed up! I'm sorry! Your eyes are rolling back—!"
Listening to Enan's distant screams, Victoria silently apologized in her heart.
'Sorry, seniors.'
But she had no choice.
'I hope your talent inspires the others.'
'Our magic grows the more we use it—the more we push our limits. I only realized this recently. So you must...'
Her master's words echoed in her mind, but even without them—
'We have to finish faster! Stronger! Only then can the territory survive.'
MacLaine was now her and her brother's home.
That desperate determination had pushed her magic to new heights.
Yet, even as the fortress slowly took shape, it still felt agonizingly slow to her.
So—
"Senior Truth! What are you doing over there?!"
"R-Ria! N-no, I was just... resting for a bit."
She had no choice but to squeeze her seniors dry.
Watching Truth panic, Ria sighed deeply.
'Master is too busy.'
Her master, wielding the blue staff in the distance, was fully immersed in his work—simultaneously controlling twenty 3-meter-tall golems with an overwhelming amount of mana. There was no time to bother him with trivial reports.
'Senior Truth is a 2nd-Circle master. Earth Wall once an hour...'
Victoria memorized her seniors' limits and visited them periodically to push them further.
With each visit, the dark circles under the Golem Tower disciples' eyes deepened—but in proportion, the fortress walls rose faster.
Given that MacLaine Castle was built to defend against monsters from the southern mountain range, its location was heavily skewed toward the south.
As a result, the stretch of plains between the northern mountains and MacLaine Castle—effectively the entrance to MacLaine Town—was over 10 kilometers wide.
Enough space for an army to bypass the castle and march straight into town.
And right in the middle of that eastern plain—
Eleven mages, over ten thousand laborers, and an enormous budget poured into a short-term project had achieved a miracle in just one week.
"We... we did it!"
"We actually did it!"
"I can't believe this was possible!"
Wooooah—!
Cheers erupted across the plains—no different from the triumphant cries of a victorious army returning from war.
And in truth, they had accomplished the near-impossible.
A fortress so grand that no one would believe it had been built in a week now stood imposingly in the middle of the plains.
Amid the cheers, Clayton—his face haggard with exhaustion—smiled and reported the results to Logan.
"A circular fortress wall with a diameter of 5 kilometers. Since there are no internal structures, we maximized the wall's thickness to 50 meters. The battlements are raised high, with three-tiered openings and platforms at each level, allowing soldiers to fire outward from the fortress."
Logan nodded. It was a wall built precisely for its purpose.
"Like during the Tomodo siege, we minimized protrusions on the outer wall and treated it with fire-resistant oil to make it difficult for knights to scale."
Hah... Even though he had ordered it, this was beyond his expectations...
"The moat follows the same design as before—we diverted part of the dam's waterway. The gates are reinforced and can only be opened from the inside unless magic is used."
Logan's jaw slowly dropped as he listened.
"The design and construction were handled by Hamar's workshop and the dwarves. The labor was done by me, my disciples, and volunteers from the local militia who will be defending this place."
"Haah..."
"Is something unsatisfactory?"
"Not at all. I'm just stunned at how incredible this is."
At Logan's praise, Clayton—his face gaunt—let out a sigh of relief.
The sleepless nights and grueling labor had been worth it.
"You built a fortress stronger than MacLaine Castle in a week. I assume durability isn't an issue?"
"We poured every last magic stone you supplied into reinforcing the spells. The walls won't crumble for at least three months."
"Outstanding. Truly outstanding. It cost a fortune, but if I'd known it would turn out like this, I might've asked for something even bigger and sturdier—Yes, I know. This was the best we could do. Don't look at me like that. I was joking."
We literally cannot do better than this.
The message conveyed through Clayton's glare was received loud and clear.
"Besides, both enemy forces will arrive within a week anyway."
If we'd had more time, would you have actually ordered something even bigger?!
Clayton barely suppressed the urge to scream and instead asked the most pressing question.
"But... can you really hold them off? No—can you win? They have half the kingdom's forces."
"It's possible. We have weapons they don't."
Those weapons and supplies were already stockpiled inside the fortress.
The overwhelming number of repeating crossbows and the cost-effective bombs—Liberatio.
Those two alone were enough to justify his confidence.
But—
"What if the enemy repeatedly advances and retreats outside our range, forcing us to waste supplies?"
"Huh?"
"The moment our bolt magazines and Liberatio run out, our forces are essentially just 20,000 civilians."
Clayton voiced the unease circulating among Logan's vassals.
It was a valid concern.
Whether the enemy would employ that tactic from the start or only after tasting defeat once or twice didn't matter—it was a likely scenario.
'They won't be willing to sacrifice everything just to crush us.'
Logan's answer was simple.
"Ah. Of course, we'll have to end the war before that happens."
You built this fortress just to charge the militia at the enemy?! They'll all die!!
Clayton's mouth twitched.
"Just hold out. If you can hold out, I will end the war."
A promise from nearly a year ago—one Logan had made on the brutal battlefield of Tomodo.
That was precisely why it was so unsettling.
Gulp.
"You do have a surefire method this time, right?"
"...Of course."
Why does that brief pause fill me with dread?
But Clayton didn't press further.
No—he couldn't.
Because if he forced an answer he couldn't accept, the fighting spirit in his heart might vanish entirely.
And the moment that thought crossed his mind, he let out a hollow laugh.
'Without realizing it, I've become a MacLaine man.'
He didn't know when it happened, but it made sense.
The treasure now in his hands—the artifact staff engraved with the name Atlan's Cane.
The monstrously talented disciple he had gained here.
The disciples who had grown rapidly by constantly pushing their limits.
To keep all of this, he had to protect MacLaine.
'This is my home now.'
Unbeknownst to him, he was thinking the exact same thing his youngest disciple had thought just days ago.
He clenched his fist.
And just a few days later—
The MacLaine territory would face an overwhelming army.