God of the Battlefield (3)
The promised morning of the tenth day dawned. Eisengrad's northern horizon was no longer a peaceful plain. Billowing clouds of dust carried an ugly rumble that vibrated the air all the way to the walls. Five thousand orcs, foaming purple at the mouth with eyes rolled back, charged solely for slaughter. That wave surged forward to devour Eisengrad.
Atop the walls, the six 75mm field guns that Grody and I had forged loomed like massive steel beasts baring their fangs. Behind them, the gunners and fire direction crew—who had survived days of hellish training—traded jokes to loosen the tension.
It wasn't until around noon that they truly came into view.
"Lord! They're starting to show!"
Ella's voice trembled beside me. Serina, her staff jammed into the ground, linked via mana to the crystal orb of the observation post waiting on the hilltop.
Moments later, the observers began relaying the enemy's position in real time.
"Observation post here! Enemy vanguard! Bearing 2600, range 3500! They're moving fast!"
The voice from the crystal orb echoed into the fire direction tent. Fingers that had been chuckling moments before flew across abacuses like mad. The moment the calculations finished, they screamed out the firing data.
"Firing solution! Azimuth two-one-zero! Elevation three-zero-zero!"
Theo, standing at the wall's center, drew his sword as he heard the numbers.
"All batteries, firing data! Azimuth two-one-zero! Elevation three-zero-zero!"
The gunners cranked the handles with mechanical precision. The six barrels lifted their muzzles skyward in unison—a magnificent sight.
"Gun one, spotting shot! Fire!"
BOOM---!!!
A single shell ripped through the air. Spinning along the rifling, it slammed into the front edge of the orc formation.
Seconds later, an excited shout burst from the crystal orb.
"Hit! First-round hit! No deviation! Fire for effect!"
"First hit confirmed! All batteries, fire for effect! Blow them to pieces!"
Theo flashed a feral grin and thrust his sword high. Now it was time for destruction, not just spotting.
KABOOMKABOOMKABOOM---!!!
The six field guns belched flame in unison. Dynamite shells rained down on the orcs. Six rounds struck dead center in the heart of the horde thundering across the horizon as one massive blob.
A power unimaginable with mere black powder. The overwhelming shockwaves from the dynamite explosions shredded orcs within meters into meat pulp or ruptured their organs, slamming them into the dirt.
These were monsters that had forgotten even pain amid the purple foam, but before a hail of shells, they were just fragile flesh-and-blood creatures like any other.
The blast sites became vast craters ringed by towering black soil clouds, and the orc ranks crumbled in an instant under the sheer force.
Serina, watching from the wall, froze with her mouth agape. She had witnessed firsthand what that "hell's dew and mud"—the liquid and sticky dough she once scorned—could produce on a real battlefield.
"This... is the power we made?"
"Don't stop. Theo! Widen the impact zone this time. Cut them at the waist."
This was less a battle than a one-sided judgment—modern engineering erasing fantasy monsters from existence.
The fire-for-effect volleys were devastating. With every salvo from the six guns, hundreds of orcs in the vanguard turned to piles of mangled meat.
But the enemy weren't mindless beasts. Even berserked by the count's potions, their primal survival instincts remained.
"Lord! They're scattering! Spreading out wide as they charge!"
As Serina cried out urgently, the orcs broke their tight formation to minimize shell damage, fanning out in all directions. The sight of five thousand monsters unfolding like a vast net closing around Eisengrad was chilling.
"As expected. Theo! Adjust firing data!"
The clatter of abacuses in the fire direction tent intensified. No longer targeting a single point—they were now dividing the entire orc advance path into kill zones.
"Firing data adjusted! Guns two through six, spread elevations!"
As Theo issued the order, he raised his sword toward the unit pre-positioned below the walls.
"1st Company, all hands to the walls!"
Heavy footfalls and the clank of metal rifle barrels echoed up. This wasn't the two-platoon force from before. After the guns were complete, we'd run the armory nonstop to arm a full company—and now they filled the entire wall line.
Over a hundred soldiers mounted their muskets and took aim. Smoothbores without rifling yet, but at this density, it was a different story.
"Fire when they cross three hundred meters! All, load!"
The soldiers rammed powder and balls down the muzzles as trained. Even under the crushing pressure of five thousand charging monsters, they moved like machines, recalling their hellish drills.
Meanwhile, at Theo's command, the six barrels swiveled to slightly different angles. They would turn the ground the orcs trod into hell itself.
"All batteries, fire for effect—continue! Fire!"
KABOOM---!!!
The cannons roared again, upheaving the orc advance path. This time, not concentrated fire—a long wall of flame stretched horizontally across their front.
The ground flipped, shards flew. Dynamite's brutal shockwaves burst eardrums and induced concussions even in those not directly hit, sending them tumbling.
Survivors who pierced the barrage closed to three hundred meters before the walls when Theo slashed his hand toward the musket company.
"Company, volley fire! Shoot!"
CRACKCRACKCRACK---!!!
Over a hundred lead balls tore the air at once. A massive smoke cloud billowed from the walls, and the lead vanguard orcs flew backward as if slamming into an invisible barrier.
Too distant for pinpoint accuracy per shot, but the company's sheet of lead utterly shattered their charge momentum.
The orcs bellowed as they charged, but before the pulverizing thunder, their frenzy curdled into terror.
Still, dozens of fearless berserkers pierced the forest of shells and bullets to reach the wall's face. Purple foam flecked their lips, crimson eyes visible to the naked eye.
"Lord! They're too close! The cannons can't...!"
Serina clutched her staff and screamed, but I commanded Theo as if it were all planned.
"Theo, level the barrels. Prep for direct fire!"
"But Lord, that's too danger—!"
"All guns! I'm in command now! Direct fire! Aim for the monsters in front of you!"
At my razor-sharp order, the gunners swallowed hard and cranked the sights.
No more indirect—pure direct. The field guns became steel clubs for butchering foes in plain sight.
"On target!"
"Fire!"
BOOM---!!!
The horizontal shell detonated right before the walls, scraping the ground as it plowed into the orc ranks. The blast scattered limbs in every direction. One direct-fire salvo literally erased dozens charging in a straight line.
Much later, the final gunshot faded, leaving only the acrid stench of gunpowder and blood.
Serina slowly raised her head from the crystal orb. The purple madness that had filled the horizon turned to black ash in an instant. Her eyes rippled with instinctive horror at the overwhelming destruction—and the final mangled forms of comrades who hadn't even merited a name.
The foes that had seemed so hopeless were gone without trace in mere hours. To her, it brought not the joy of victory, but a profound, bitter emptiness.
"Lord... report from observation."
Serina snapped to, swallowed dryly, and did her duty. The voice flowed through the crystal into her trembling hands.
Through the mana pulses, she grasped it first: the five thousand life signs that had blanketed the plain had utterly vanished.
"...Observation reports: as of now, no additional orcs in sight. Total annihilation confirmed..."
"No more... living, moving things. Not a single one..."
At the final report from the orb, Serina murmured as if questioning herself, her unfocused gaze fixed on the smoking craters.
The vast legion that had stolen her comrades' lives now lay in silent graves.
Where the five-thousand-strong orc army had stood remained only craters and unrecognizable corpses. Not a single survivor.
Firepower forged by modern science had wiped a berserk orc horde from existence in hours.
An eerie silence blanketed the walls. No victory cheers—just the hush of those overwhelmed by sheer violence.
Theo and the gunners trembled, finally grasping the monstrous nature of the cannons they manned.
Serina slumped to the ground, drained from channeling mana, staring blankly at the scene.
"Is this the power you spoke of?"
I cracked open the still-hot breech, inspecting it as propellant smoke wafted out.
"...No. This is just the beginning."
I stood tall, eyes fixed on the horizon—beyond which lurked the count who had unleashed these monsters.