Battle of Zabol Fortress (2)
Grrr! Grrr!
The piercing cries of lil spiders echoed across the entire frontline.
It was a one-sided massacre. Against the formidable firepower of Zabol Fortress, the horde of lil spiders couldn't even mount a proper attack before crumbling into utter devastation.
The instincts of monsters that ignored death and charged ahead, their formidable physical abilities—none of it mattered. They dropped lifelessly under the scattershot barrage, and even those that reached the walls melted away, their bodies consumed by the inferno-like heat of Yor Gant fire, akin to a hellish furnace.
Of course, a few occasionally broke through the flames and clambered up the walls, but the waiting soldiers turned them into roasted skewers with magic bullet launcher fire.
But we couldn't let our guard down. This level of firepower wouldn't last forever. The moment the levitation boats finished their bead bombing runs and returned, I issued another order.
"Sprinkle Rolan's Poison Fog in the center of the southern plain!"
Any living creature that inhaled Rolan's Poison Fog would be paralyzed and unable to move. That meant the lil spiders would mass en masse in the fogged area—unable to budge the instant they breathed it in.
Concentrating artillery there would maximize our bombardment efficiency.
At my command, the levitation boats dropped bundles of Rolan's Poison Fog herbs in a line across the southern plain, and soon the area was shrouded in yellowish smoke.
"Riflemen, conserve your mana!"
At the frontline commanders' orders, the defenders lowered their magic bullet launchers and armed themselves with bows, spears, and swords. With the lil spider assault slowed to a crawl by Rolan's Poison Fog, cold weapons were more than enough to hold them off—and it let us save mana for the launchers.
In the meantime, lil spiders that had circled around began attacking the eastern and western walls. But there weren't many of them. Najir's defensive forces and Sir Santys's holy knights and holy soldiers swiftly repelled them without much trouble.
'This should do it.'
After some time had passed, I raised the hand holding the flag. Plenty of lil spiders should have gathered around the fog by now. I planned to grant those dozing off in a poison-induced stupor an eternal slumber.
"Target the Rolan's Poison Fog area! Magic cannons, fire!"
A fresh volley of scattershot vanished into the Rolan's Poison Fog. The thick yellow haze hid the damage, but I didn't care—I kept ordering volleys.
When the fog finally burned off, leaving only ashes, the ground around it was carpeted with endless lil spider corpses.
"I-I can't believe it... How could so many lil spiders fall so easily...?"
Katrinah trembled, rising from her seat and stepping to the parapet. She seemed terrified by the sheer scale of the massacre Zabol Fortress had unleashed.
In no time at all, a horde of 50,000 had been all but annihilated. No wonder she was stunned.
I stood beside Katrinah.
"What do you think? Humanity's grown a lot, huh?"
"Y-Yeah."
She nodded vigorously—it was an undeniable fact.
To handle a force this size, even sky city Chronos would need to deploy levitation ships. Yet Zabol Fortress had managed it with just 16,000 troops. Qualitatively, Chronos still held the edge, but this was no longer something to dismiss lightly.
The levitation boats, in particular, were a huge concern for Chronos. It meant humans could now invade their sky city without permission.
'Things are wrapping up nicely.'
The battle had devolved into sporadic skirmishes. A few lil spiders still charged heedless of death, but concentrated fire from the defenders took them down quickly.
As the fighting died down, I opened the gates and sent out the armored magic car unit. I'd been counting on them as a key force. This was a good chance for a live-fire test.
I left the cleanup to the armored magic cars and started checking casualties.
"Bayan. Casualty report."
"Combat's still ongoing, so it's not final, but reports say three KIA."
I stared at Bayan. This battle shouldn't have cost us lives. It had been far more one-sided than I'd anticipated.
"How'd they die?"
"Two got caught in a fire from the oil pump mechanism."
I grimaced awkwardly.
That was the downside of Yor Gant fire. Immensely powerful and nearly impossible to extinguish once lit, mishandling the pump often led to disasters.
"And the third?"
"Magic bullet launcher misfire."
All accidents, then. Tragic, but par for the course in combat.
"Got it. After the battle, send the fallen to the rear."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and how much ammo did we burn?"
"Need a full audit for exact figures, but scattershot's down about a quarter, Yor Gant fire and Rolan's Poison Fog around a sixth. Arrows and other supplies barely touched, so we're good there."
"Huh."
I let out a small groan. We still had plenty, but the consumption was significant—especially the scattershot. Alarming levels, really.
If 50,000 took this much, we'd run dry against the endless waves to come.
"But the rear fortress has stockpiles. We can resupply."
I waved Bayan off. Sure, supplies were there for the taking, but this burn rate was higher than expected. No way we could keep fighting like this.
We needed to revise logistics and strategy for the new reality.
Besides, a massive lil spider horde would hit Zabol Fortress soon. The Spider Queen must have spotted us by now. Sharing consciousness with all lil spiders, she'd seen this battle crystal clear.
"No. We're abandoning Zabol Fortress and pulling back."
"Pardon?"
I faced Bayan's wide eyes.
"We've only got 16,000. Massive reinforcements and supplies are en route from the continent—why gamble now?"
"But we won, didn't we?"
"Bayan. Don't get cocky over one win. That was just 50,000. Who knows about the next wave? Zabol's a new outpost anyway—no civilians. No need to die for it. We play it safe."
"Yes, sir. Understood."
Bayan nodded. He got it—Zabol wasn't critical yet. Cleared fields, but no farms or villages to protect.
We could reclaim it later.
I clapped Bayan on the back.
"Alright, let's grab the Chaos Pieces and bounce. No time to waste."
"Yes, sir."
As expected, three days later, a massive lil spider assault hit Zabol Fortress. Reports from Najir and levitation boat scouts put it near 600,000. If we'd stayed, we might've been wiped out or trapped underground. I couldn't help but shudder.
600,000 was terrifying enough, but gathering that many in three days? Even worse.
Given the rill spider territory's size, their numbers exceeded predictions—maybe 2 to 2.5 million total.
'Biggest in human history.'
Per Katrinah's past-life intel, rill spider hordes had appeared a dozen-plus times before, topping out at hundreds of thousands. This was nearly ten times that.
Chronos had ignored Jores Island, letting them breed unchecked.
I bolstered Crete Fortress—our new forward base—with defenses and stockpiled war materiel.
And I committed most levitation boats to offensive strikes. We had to thin their numbers and distract them while prepping Crete.
"Najir's unit's holding strong."
In the fortress command center's office.
I nodded in satisfaction at the magic comms report from Zabol. Najir's forces were guerrilla-hitting from the underground shelters, targeting lil spiders lingering there.
Sporadic fights meant modest kills, but tying down 600,000 kept them off us—letting Crete build up safely.
Sir Leonardo's 6,000 holy soldiers and knights from northeast Jores had joined. Count Burto's 20,000 Bastain troops were inbound.
General Adan's 5,000 Kara soldiers were delayed but should arrive soon—their fleet from Ramis was nearing.
I reviewed the next document: levitation boat action reports.
'Steadily racking up kills.'
We now had 18 boats, up from before. Production lagged due to tech hurdles, but their performance dazzled.
Post-Zabol retreat, they'd bagged about 15,000 lil spiders—230,000 units of Chaos Pieces.
Enough for 30 top-grade Essences, boosting our magic cannon firepower.
Knock knock knock.
I folded the report.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, my lord."
Bayan.
"Come in."
Bayan entered.
"A guest here for you, my lord."
"Me? Who?"
"A Blood Clan woman. Says she knows you well."
My eyes lit up. Only one Blood Clan woman I knew: Evelyn.
"Yeah. Where is she?"
"Outside the north gate."
"Bring her quick."
"Yes, sir."
Soon Evelyn arrived. I dismissed Bayan, and she griped immediately.
"Baekmyeon. Inspections here are insane. Shouldn't a beauty like me get the red-carpet treatment? Why's entry so complicated?"
"It's a war zone."
"Even so. You're not fighting humans."
"Military rules. If you hated checks, why not sneak in?"
"With Armida and Katrinah? They'd spot me instantly."
I chuckled.
"Fair. Valkyries have killer senses. So, what's up?"
"Your ordered levitation boats are done. Three prototypes each, per contract."
Great news. I'd ordered three types from Evelyn: one air-combat model, plus stone-drop and iron-spike drop boats.
That bumped us to 27 operational boats.
"Where are they?"
"At your air area one."
Air Area One was off-limits to outsiders, but Evelyn had free rein—most staff were hers.
"Blueprints?"
"One set left there, one's here for verification."
"Hand it over."
"Cash first."
I pulled a sub-space pouch from my pocket—prepped for her visit.
"Here, 450,000 gold leaves."
Half the price of the last transport boats. Previously, three cost 300,000; now nine across three types were 450,000.
Made sense—no bleeding-edge tech like aluminum extraction this time.
Evelyn pocketed the pouch.
"Thanks. No need to count?"
"Nah, exact."
I eyed her.
"Hey. What're you guys doing with all that gold?"
"Mostly weapons like your levitation boats. Gotta gear up for the big showdown with sky city Chronos someday."
"Ah, to snag the Valkyrie Queen's Key?"
"Yep. Can't achieve our goal without smashing that thing."
"You'll need tons of Essence for weapons, right?"
Evelyn waved it off.
"Nah, not at all."
"Why?"
"Lady Sabondia swiped a haul when she bailed from Chronos. That's why they can't trigger God's Descent yet. Honestly, without her, humanity'd be toast already."
Explained Chronos's obsession with hunting Sabondia. Recover the Essence, summon the gods.
"Tell your lady to watch her back."
"She'll be fine."
"Still."
"Got it."
Evelyn glanced at me slyly.
"Heard you're struggling with lil spiders?"
"A bit."
"Want our help?"
"Nah. You stay safe."
I firmly declined. Chronos was watching this fight. Getting caught colluding with Evelyn's crew would be disastrous.
And Sabondia's safety seemed tied to all humanity's survival. No need to drag her into more risk.
End of Battle of Zabol Fortress (2)