Chapter 258
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: Indomitable Fortress
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In this war, accessing Koral's information more easily than expected and predicting the enemy's movement routes stemmed from that very reason.
After all, there weren't many routes a massive convoy like that could take. As long as you grasped the terrain well and kept records, figuring out their movements wasn't all that difficult.
The fact that Koral failed to disrupt Bata boiled down to a simple question: was there a human capable of pulling it off or not?
"Very well, then. Shall we continue discussing our strategy for assaulting the capital fortress? Young Master Leon. Please, have a seat."
I silently took a seat, and they shifted focus entirely to strategy, like completely different people.
"First, centering on the weakest point, the west gate..."
"That wouldn't differ much from charging straight in. From what we've scouted, the garrison defending the fortress is already overwhelmingly massive. To minimize casualties, we'd be better off striking the east gate..."
"Why not split our full forces in two?"
The massive walls encircling Koral's capital had five gates in total.
The main south gate, flanked by the east and west gates.
And smaller gates, one each in the southwest and southeast.
Originally, only three gates served entry and exit, but rumors held that the latter two had been added after Koral seized control.
Naturally, those two makeshift gates would be the weakest links, deviating from the original design. Yet Bata's camp hadn't considered them at all.
And for good reason: excluding the notoriously impenetrable south gate, those paths were narrow chokepoints leading into labyrinthine urban sprawls that made advances anything but easy.
So for an assault, the east and west gates remained the prime candidates.
"What are your thoughts?"
At that moment, Duke Berli's gaze fell on me amid the discussion.
"My thoughts, Your Grace?"
"Indeed. I'm quite curious about your opinion."
At his prompting, I silently studied the fortress blueprint.
And then.
I spoke briefly.
"Truth be told, the moment any gate falls, the direct route straight to the palace runs through the south gate."
"That's true enough. However, it's also the single most impenetrable gate of them all."
"Fair point. But if I were at the vanguard, I'd choose the south gate."
My answer stirred murmurs.
Some frowned, deeming it naive; others looked utterly baffled.
"Quiet, everyone. Alright. If you're set on that, there must be a reason?"
"As you said, the south gate is indeed the hardest to breach. In truth, Koral's capital fortress boasts sturdy walls and convoluted terrain, but the real issue is that colossal barrier array spanning the walls—and even the skies above."
It wasn't called the Indomitable Fortress for nothing. This ancient barrier, predating recorded history, rivaled the defenses of the Holy Kingdom's own capital in sheer resilience.
Records told of it holding off 200,000 invaders with a mere 5,000 defenders.
"No complex reasons. Simply put: once breached, the south gate offers the path of least resistance straight to our objective."
Of course, this logic hinged on one major caveat.
"But hold on—the south gate is impossible to breach in the first place."
"It repelled armies numbering 200,000 over and over with just 5,000! I grasp your point, Young Master, but..."
Objections poured in, exactly as anticipated.
"Why worry about that?"
My question left them dumbfounded.
"I'm not bringing it up without a way to handle it."
A heavy silence descended at my explanation.
The ancient barrier array over Koral's capital fortress was formidably robust, beyond words.
Yet even flawless magic formations had their flaws.
Namely, overwhelming physical force.
The problem lay in the sheer magnitude required.
If it yielded to mere physical might, it would've shattered countless times by now—but no such breach had ever been recorded.
In short, physical force was its weakness, but the threshold far exceeded mortal limits.
And sustained blows meant nothing.
It demanded a single, cataclysmic strike embedding unimaginable power.
Not even Sword Masters could overcome it, leaving few viable solutions.
"As you know, that wall's barrier can't be pierced by ordinary means. Even if we somehow bypassed it, without cracking those impregnable walls and gates, we're out of options."
Duke Berli's assessment rang true.
At present, breaching the south gate seemed impossible.
But I wasn't concerned.
"Grivi."
"Huh? You said we'd play later?"
"Plans changed a bit. Can you do the toad house?"
She looked up at me with clear eyes and nodded.
"Yeah. Grivi likes toad house."
Grivi popped up from the ground abruptly, startling Duke Berli into staring at her.
To onlookers, it resembled a head emerging from a fresh grave.
Yet despite crawling from the earth, Grivi was spotless, untouched by dirt.
"See the wall and big door over there?"
"Yeah."
"We're opening that now."
"Okay."
She answered calmly and trotted toward the walls. We watched in stunned silence as Duke Berli turned to me.
"Uh... are we really just letting that child go?"
"Yes. She's a spirit, after all."
"A spirit... I've never seen one like her."
Not just Duke Berli—the assembled generals, knights, and soldiers prepping for the advance all wore puzzled expressions.
The fortress barrier demanded an overwhelming one-shot physical blow.
Sword auras infused with will, sword ki, potent spells—none mattered.
Thus, no one suited this task better than Grivi.
I extended my hand toward the sprinting Grivi, her little legs pumping furiously.
The moment had come for the move I'd planned since first summoning her.
[Spirit Evolution]
A colossal surge of spirit mana gathered at my fingertips.
Simultaneously, through the invisible bond linking me to Grivi, it flooded into her in an instant.
Her form ballooned massively in moments, swelling to a gigantic frame over 20 meters tall.
The soldiers atop the walls recoiled in horror at the suddenly enormous Grivi bounding forward with innocent glee, shaking the earth.
But that was just the beginning.
"Grow."
The word-spirit power I'd been saving poured into Grivi.
At the same time.
[Merge ability slot is empty. Would you like to register a merge ability?]
The Scribe's text appeared.
I had two merge ability slots; one occupied by Song of Suggestion.
This was the moment to fill the empty one.
"Register."
At my response, Grivi's body erupted in light, her form expanding to titanic proportions.
When her silhouette reemerged from the blaze, every witness gaped in shock.
Grivi had grown to nearly 500 meters tall.
"Wheee!"
With her delighted cry, she raised a pale, massive hand.
The wall guards, grasping her intent, screamed and scattered in panic.
"Toad house!!"
Her voice, pure and beaming, rang out as her palm slammed down on the south gate and walls.
Krunch!!!
In physics, kinetic energy depends on mass and velocity.
Potential energy factors in mass, gravitational acceleration, and height.
The earth spirit's palm, swollen to 500 meters, carried insane weight, hurtling at awe-inspiring speed.
From unimaginable heights, the sheer amplified physical force dwarfed anything they'd witnessed.
The barrier, unyielding for centuries, shattered under the absurd might; the colossal walls crumbled to dust in a heartbeat.
"Let's go."
Merge abilities fused specific powers with word-spirits to unleash phenomena beyond their sum.
Grivi's innate physical prowess, layered with word-spirit and transmuted into special force, yielded far greater destruction than anticipated.
A 500-meter earth spirit's strike—especially Grivi's—made pulverizing the fortress walls trivial.
The indomitable ramparts and gates that had defined the fortress for ages collapsed utterly.
Their shock, trusting those walls implicitly, was inevitable.
"Let's go."
I nodded toward Bata's dazed forces.
"The gate's open."
Even if we'd cracked the barrier, the walls alone offered formidable defense—yet Grivi's blow obliterated both it and a section of the ramparts, leaving the capital's defenses wide open.
"Full advance! Press forward!!"
Duke Berli drew his sword and charged, his troops swiftly following.
After wrecking the walls, Grivi dissolved into light and sank into the earth, soon peeking her head out beside me.
"Daddy... sleepy..."
"Sleep well. You did great. I'll get you something tasty later."
"Okay..."
With a drowsy nod, she vanished underground. Luna and I advanced leisurely in her wake.
With their greatest barrier breached, Koral had no recourse.
Bata's forces surged in, exploiting the shortest paths to encircle the palace in moments and crush resisting foes.
Most enemy troops clustered at the west and east gates—finish this before they arrived, and it was over.
Passing the shattered wall rubble, I pondered briefly and extended my hand.
BOOM!!!
A massive earth wall erupted, sealing off paths from the west and east gates.
That'll keep them busy.
Despite the total mobilization edict, Koral's citizens responded tepidly.
The royals had squeezed them dry for years.
Now demand their lives in return? At this late stage?
Some even cheered Bata's troops.
Turning public sentiment this sour took real talent.
Koral's remnants fought desperately to the last, but without a Sword Master, they couldn't halt Duke Berli.
Late into the palace throne room, knights had drawn swords, surrounding one man.