Chapter 85
Chapter 85
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Desperate Assault
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Ruth Kingdom forces defending Serona Fortress numbered 8,000.
The 5th Legion had advanced with a total force of 18,000, leaving only the bare minimum for defense behind.
By sheer numbers alone, they had more than double—plus an extra 2,000.
Though their hasty departure meant a shortage of siege weapons, and Serona's defenses were rock-solid.
Overwhelming numbers carried weight all on their own.
Volker kept a proper distance from Serona Fortress and mobilized every archer for a full barrage on the southern walls.
"Keep firing without a break! Don't let them even poke their heads out!"
With the fortress surrounded on all sides and under constant long-range fire, the Kingdom troops who had emerged on the ramparts to counterattack couldn't hold out. They ducked back behind the walls.
In response, the arrows and boulders flying from the fortress dropped off noticeably.
"Send in the battering rams and siege towers! Get those ladders up! Today, we take those walls!"
Seeing their resistance slacken, Volker launched the main assault.
"Waaaaah!"
The 5th Legion soldiers pushed through the thinning arrow storm and swarmed the walls.
Volker had been smirking when his men finally reached the walls and began hammering at the relatively weaker southern section.
-Thwack!
"Gah, arrrgh!"
-Boom!
The Kingdom defenders holding Serona were no easy prey.
Ladders were kicked away, sending dangling soldiers plummeting.
-Sizzle.
"Gaaaah!"
"Water! Get water!"
Boiling oil, fire arrows, and boulders targeted the siege engines, grinding the 5th Legion's push to a halt.
Even soldiers who made it atop the walls were shoved back by Kingdom resistance. Roaring cheers turned to agonized screams.
Casualties, which had been mere dozens over days of standoff, exploded into hundreds in moments.
"...Have courage! Press on! Victory is near!"
Volker clung to a thread of reason, rallying his men from the rear beyond arrow range, but there was no sign of success.
As his own troops closed in on the walls, the 5th Legion archers shifted fire to command posts inside or sections where infantry hadn't climbed yet.
The Kingdom troops, who had hidden behind the ramparts, poked their heads out again to strike at the approaching soldiers.
With frontline men tumbling from ladders, crushed on impact, or burning to death in agony, the soldiers couldn't help but falter.
"This..."
"Legion Commander!"
"What?!"
Just as Volker's impatience peaked against defenses that seemed on the verge of breaking but refused to yield,
"Message from the Red Dragon Legion! They'll arrive at Serona in a few hours!"
A messenger sprinted up, delivering the final verdict.
"...Is that truly so?"
"Yes! Scouts patrolling toward Adense confirmed the Red Dragon Legion marching!"
"The Red Dragon Legion already..."
"...How..."
"..."
He tried desperately to deny reality, but it was futile.
The Red Dragon Legion, which had crushed La Leon and Adense in the blink of an eye, now had Serona in its sights.
A moment's reflection was all Volker needed to grasp their swift march's purpose.
The news of their victories had arrived just yesterday.
Even accounting for the messenger's travel time, no normal advance could cover that ground so fast.
It meant they likely hadn't paused to regroup at either La Leon or Adense—they'd pushed straight on.
And since they'd suffered minimal losses in those sieges, such a march was feasible.
"They're out to finish me completely."
"...Pardon?"
In Volker's eyes, Victor's maneuver was a ruthless declaration: not even a scrap of merit would be left for him.
The moment that conviction sank in, Victor's actual thoughts ceased to matter.
"...No. That can't happen."
He muttered to himself, head bowed, ignoring the flustered messenger and officers staring at him.
Time until the Red Dragon Legion arrived: scant. Serona Fortress: still unbreached. His soldiers: momentum shattered, flailing.
Those images flashed through his mind. Even his last shred of reason evaporated, leaving only irritation and desperation.
No time for a prolonged siege. No supplies for it either.
"One shot. I need one decisive blow."
He resolved to throw everything into a single, all-out assault.
A few minutes later, he raised his head.
"Halt the assault for now. Prepare my horse."
He growled the order to Florian, who stood guard at his side.
"Your horse? You don't mean...!"
"Bring it now! That's an order!"
"...Understood."
Florian's attempt to dissuade him was drowned out by Volker's shout.
This wasn't the first time. The officers, knowing his stubbornness, gave up on intervention even before Florian's plea.
He ordered the archers to resume fire as before.
Then Volker mounted the horse Florian had brought with an uneasy look and rode forward to the infantry pausing to regroup amid the stalled charge.
"Men! Do the enemy's arrows frighten you? Their resistance? Look at their faces atop those walls! They fear us, just as we fear them!"
Against the backdrop of his empire's arrow storm, he bellowed to the troops at the front.
"The enemy numbers but 8,000! Breach the walls, and victory is ours!"
Clad in ornate armor, he raised a sword adorned with flashy decorations and pointed it at Serona's walls.
He continued his speech until the archers holding the enemy at bay ceased fire.
"...Forward! For the Empire! For victory! Attack!"
As the arrows stopped, he swung his sword and charged toward Serona Fortress.
"...If the general leads from the front, we can't hold back! Charge!"
"Waaaaah!"
With a senior general at the vanguard, the Empire troops' sagging morale surged anew.
Soldiers shoved siege towers and rams forward once more. They scavenged fallen ladders and clung desperately to the walls.
The Kingdom defenders, fatigued from relentless archery, reacted a beat slower. More Empire soldiers gained the walls successfully, clashing in melee.
"Yes! That's it! This is the 5th Legion's true strength! Push!"
Of course, Volker had no intention of dying pointlessly. He halted his charge once the men were fully roused.
Pausing midway, he savored the improved battlefield with satisfaction.
"...Huh?!"
-Clang!
Instinct drove his arm up, batting away an incoming arrow.
Fortune upon fortune: his gauntlet deflected it cleanly. He emerged unscathed.
"Whoa..."
"Incredible, General!"
"...Haha! With the gods watching over me, how could those wretches harm me?!"
The troops marveled at Volker slapping aside the arrow. Stunned himself at first, he seized the luck as divine favor and shouted gleefully.
Morale soared sky-high. Volker inwardly praised his own bold decision once more.
-Thud.
"Ngh..."
"...Huh?"
But his luck ended there.
A second stray arrow struck unluckily through a gap in his armor, embedding in his shoulder.
-Thump!
The impact hurled him from his horse. He lost consciousness on the spot.
Numerous nearby soldiers witnessed it.
"...Oh no."
"Th-the general's fallen from his horse!"
"H-hey!"
The news spread like wildfire through the ranks before Florian could contain it.
"The general?"
"No way..."
"Wh-what now?"
Lofty morale plummeted to rock bottom in an instant.
"Don't panic! Keep attacking!"
"Attack in this situation? Are you mad? Protect the general and retreat!"
The remaining 5th Legion officers tried to control the men, but their own divided opinions only fueled the chaos.
Fortunately, Serona's defenders had taken their share of losses from the archery and siege. Fearing a field battle if they pursued, they limited counterattacks to arrows in the backs of the retreating foe.
"...Did we... lose?"
"Retreat? R-run!"
But the soldiers, reeling from the shocking fall of their commander, couldn't recover their wits. Some panicked outright and fled solo.
"What about the legion commander?"
"He's unconscious. Get the medics—now!"
Even the senior officers meant to rein them in fixated on Volker.
"Full retreat! Retreat!"
Only after Deputy Legion Commander Axel Lübeck's order did the milling soldiers, shielding arrows with their bodies, finally pull back en masse.
The situation was dire.
Even as medics sliced the wound, extracted the arrow, and applied emergency care, Volker showed no sign of waking.
The 5th Legion officers gathered in the command tent to debate responses.
"...What do we do?"
"Calm the troops first."
"Calm them how, in this mess?!"
"Well..."
Without Volker's iron grip, the meeting dragged on fruitlessly.
"We may have to fall back to Manzheim."
"Fall back? Without a single achievement?!"
As pointless arguments flew over retreat versus advance,
"Who... huh?"
"..."
The tent flap parted. Victor strode in boldly.
Silence fell over the tent.
"You all look quite rattled. What happened?"
Under everyone's gaze, Victor asked calmly, his face as impassive as ever.