Zabol Fortress Battle (1)
Zabol Fortress was in the thick of preparations for the fierce battle against the rill spider horde, buzzing with frantic activity.
The walls bristled with magic cannon batteries and rapid-fire magic bullet launchers, while makeshift barricades blocked the main streets and alley entrances. Every building's windows were sealed tight with sturdy iron plates, and the anti-air turrets scattered throughout the fortress had been hastily repurposed for ground assaults.
In the midst of all this, massive reinforcements arrived from the rear lines.
Trucks loaded with food, shells, Yorgant's fire, Rolan's poison fog, arrows, lead shot, stone pellets, and more rolled in nonstop. Over ten thousand holy knights and holy soldiers had arrived as support troops. Off the nearby coast, a massive fleet led by Kasim stood ready, and five armored magic cars—currently being tested in Kara—were en route.
On top of that, twenty thousand troops from the Bastain Kingdom had set sail for Jores Island, while five thousand Kara forces under Adan marched south toward the port city of Ramis as a precaution.
All of them were forces that would prove useful in the upcoming battle. But not every reinforcement was welcome.
Knock knock knock.
I paused my pen during a briefing in the fortress commander's office and spoke up.
"What is it?"
The messenger who entered said,
"The Great Saintess Katrinah and her group have arrived at our Zabol Fortress."
I scowled.
"Send them away politely. Those women will just get in the way."
"But, uh..."
"What?"
Behind the flustered soldier, Katrinah, Princess Ignes, and Princess Sierra stepped into view.
Katrinah twisted her lips slightly.
"Kid, you haven't changed a bit. Still hate our guts, huh?"
I eyed the messenger.
"Zabol Fortress is off-limits to anyone without clearance right now. Who let them in?"
"Sir Santys."
Sir Santys was the overall commander of the ten thousand holy knights and soldiers. Even as reinforcements, he had the authority to grant entry.
I dismissed the messenger and turned to Katrinah.
"Fine. What's it this time?"
"You. You're fighting the rill spider horde, right?"
"Yeah."
"You'll all die like this. Do you even know how dangerous rill spiders are?"
"I do. But less dangerous than your incompetence."
Katrinah exploded.
"This isn't a joke! Tens of thousands could die!"
"Sure, if we're unlucky."
"Then why risk this battle at all?"
"No choice."
"We Chronos can handle it if you back off."
"That's exactly why I can't. Can't trust you lot with it. You'd just snatch all the chaos pieces from this fight."
Katrinah's brow twitched.
"You're doing this just for some chaos pieces?"
"Yep."
"So it's all about the money in the end?"
I smirked.
This woman really knew nothing. Looked like they weren't even telling regular Valkyries about the impending apocalypse.
"Heh. That's why I call you incompetent. You've lived ten thousand years in this world—shouldn't you have some common sense by now? Or at least play the airhead like Sis Armida and stop being a public nuisance."
Katrinah's eyes sharpened.
"You little... you..."
I picked up my pen again and waved her off dismissively.
"You're annoying me. Cut the tantrum and get out."
"What did you say? You done talking?"
Finally, Katrinah bellowed. As she lunged toward me with fire in her eyes, Princess Ignes hurriedly held her back.
I signed off on the approval documents and said,
"Katrinah. Maybe it's time to quit playing babysitter to us humans?"
"Huh?"
"Kids grow up and leave the crib eventually. Humanity's at that stage now. This battle's the proof. Just watch. You'll see how far we've come. Now go. I'm done here."
At my dismissal, Katrinah was dragged out by Princess Ignes.
And I sat in the now-quiet office, continuing to sign off on documents.
***
Vmmm~
Levitation boats rose and descended repeatedly over Zabol Fortress.
The more I saw of them, the handier they proved. They could scout in detail without drawing rill spider aggro, snipe stragglers from the horde, deliver urgent supplies swiftly, and coordinate with other fortresses.
To that end, I'd added three more from flight testing, bringing us to a sixteen-boat fleet. The new ones had only minimal tests, so reliability was iffy, but given their utility and the crisis at hand, better to deploy them fast.
'They're training well.'
Inspecting the barracks, I nodded approvingly at the drilling troops.
They were practicing snapping the leather straps tied around their waists—much more adept now, freeing themselves in sync with the whistle.
It was prep for the rill spiders' tongue-lash attacks. Get caught, and you're dragged straight into those shovel-like jaws that snap your spine or pierced by spear-legs. Had to master escaping fast.
Fabius Duke, following behind, chimed in.
"Think you can hold, Baekmyeon?"
"What?"
"Scouts say tens of thousands at least. If they swarm all at once, defense'll be tough."
I shrugged.
"If it breaks, abandon it."
"Huh?"
"Plenty of fortresses. If Zabol falls, others can clean them up."
Troops kept pouring into Jores Island. Even if Zabol went down, we had defenders aplenty.
"What about the troops here?"
"Hide in the underground shelters. Three months' supplies—rescue 'em slow."
Fabius nodded, recalling the last op. Lar Fortress had over seven thousand soldiers and workers; we'd extracted them all in under half a month.
"Fair point."
"Might not even need rescue."
"Why not?"
"Central underground shelter links to surrounding buildings and basements via narrow tunnels. Every building here's a mini-fortress and bunker. If they stick around Zabol, guerrilla hits through those tunnels'll bleed them bad. Honestly, strategically, I wouldn't mind just handing it over."
Fabius stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"But Baekmyeon. With tunnels to every building, couldn't they invade the central shelter that way?"
"Nah, only one main passage. Others are too narrow—barely crawlable for a person. Triple-locked iron doors too."
Fabius nodded slowly.
Rill spiders had one-meter spherical bodies plus legs. No way they'd squeeze through human-sized crawlspaces.
"Viable strategy, then."
Just then, a messenger sprinted toward us.
"Emergency scout report!"
Fabius and I turned to him.
"What?"
"Rill spiders sighted seven kilometers south of Zabol Fortress."
Seven klicks was close.
I tilted my head, sensing something off. Rill spiders fiercely guarded territory. They expanded with population growth, but not suddenly.
Only one explanation: they saw us as threats or tasty prey and were hunting us.
"Might hit sooner than expected."
"Your plan?"
"Preps are solid. Let's give 'em what they want. Better to meet them head-on than get ambushed."
Fabius grinned, fiddling with his twin swords.
"Finally... been ages since I went all-out on monsters."
"Let's go. Time to prep for battle."
I headed straight to HQ, ordering full combat readiness. First clash. Time to make those rill spiders regret it.
***
Early morning. Dozens of mounted riflemen rode out from Zabol Fortress. They were the bait unit to lure the rill spider horde.
I waited in Zabol for them to bite.
Mid-morning, word came from the levitation boats supporting the bait from above: massive horde hooked. About fifty thousand, chasing the bait north fast.
'Fifty thousand? Kinda light.'
Fifty k would blanket Zabol's vicinity with plenty left over, but not huge. Scout intel pegged Jores Island's total near a million.
Fifty k was just a twentieth of what we'd mapped.
Made sense, though.
The horde sprawled across southwest Jores—fifteen thousand square kilometers. Couldn't mobilize the whole swarm for a sudden scrap. Edge-to-edge transit took six days.
"Here they come."
From the ramparts, I watched faint smoke rise south, chin in hand. Massive swarm, no doubt. Each rill spider matched a veteran merc. Fifty k was no joke.
But we had sixteen thousand armed with magic bullet launchers, plus endless magic weapons. Not weak.
I glanced at Sis Armida behind me.
"Sis."
"Yeah?"
"Take Shura and Arieta to HQ. Support any sector about to breach."
Sis Armida rose with Shura and Arieta.
"Got it."
As they left, I nodded to Fabius Duke.
"Grandpa, back up Bayan's defenders here. South gate'll be hottest."
"Understood. You?"
"Overall command."
Katrinah, in the corner, shot me a look.
"What about us?"
"Watch closely. Don't interfere. Screw up and get Ignes or Sierra killed, I'll be public enemy number one worldwide."
"Tch."
Katrinah turned away, displeased.
"If you wanna help, treat wounded in the rear. Vital job."
Princess Ignes stood. Specialized healer saintess with a 7th divine artifact loaded for potent recovery magic.
"Got it."
She left with Princess Sierra. Katrinah stayed put.
"Not going, Katrinah?"
"No healing magic in Idron."
I narrowed my eyes. Idron lacked it, but she could cast it.
I let it slide. A supposed master knight using top-tier heals might out her as Valkyrie.
"Do what you want."
Soon, the bait appeared at the southern plain's edge. Spotting Zabol, they gunned it full throttle. Had to gap the horde before gates shut.
Then endless rill spiders burst from the woods, flooding the southern plain.
I gauged the bait-horde distance, raised my hand. Bait all in safe? I swung it down.
"Magic cannons—fire!"
Thunderous roars erupted as cannons belched flame. Black shotgun blasts darkened the southern sky. The barrage shook the entire wall.
The clustered horde advancing met the barrage, blue blood spraying as they crumpled.
Mass slaughter. I grinned wide; Katrinah's eyes twitched. One volley downed near a thousand. Even Valkyries couldn't match that in the time.
But just the opener.
Cannons kept firing; countless rill spiders shredded mid-charge to the moat, never reaching it.
"Levitation boats—attack!"
At my signal, the boat squadron lifted off. They climbed to one klick over the southern plain, hatches open, dumping lead and stone shot earthward.
Spiders pulped by plummeting kinetic impacts. Soon the southern wilds ran blue with monster blood.
'Heh. Not bad at all.'
Satisfaction lingered on my lips.
Shotgun barrages and boat drops exceeded expectations. Horde's clustering habit made it easy, but gratifying. Apocalypse swarms shared that trait.
Today's fight would be a huge lesson for the end times.
"They're bunching at the moat! All rapid-fire magic bullet launchers—fire!"
At frontline orders, rapid-fires unleashed incendiary rounds. Flames erupted everywhere; roasting flesh stench filled the air. But firestorm didn't end there. As some spiders vaulted the moat, oil pumps spewed Yorgant's fire.