Terra Ruale Has Fulfilled All of Its Responsibilities!
The Kingdom of Ciel-Terra was a country whose land stretched somewhat horizontally from east to west.
It was located between two of the five major powers, the Federation of Gireshtal to the west and the Kingdom of Noacurio to the east.
The Holy Kingdom of Diletta shared a border with the Kingdom of Noacurio to the south, and had a relatively good relationship with the Kingdom of Noacurio (mainly due to the patience of the Holy Kingdom of Diletta), which is said to be a twin kingdom.
It would seem that it would be sufficient to attack Ciel-Terra by passing through Noacurio, but instead of setting foot in Noacurio’s territory, Diletta had taken the route via four small and medium-sized countries that existed to its south.
The reason for this could only be guessed at, but since Noacurio was going to snatch the Glacelum rights that it was about to acquire right in front of them, they might have feared that they might be treated uncooperatively during the march, or that they might be harassed later on for their cooperation if they went through Noacurio’s territory. They did not want to create a conflict.
Diletta’s army, which attacked like the wind, reached the abandoned royal capital of Terra Ruale without a single battle.
The total number of soldiers was over 53,000. Even looking at the mere number of soldiers, it seemed more than enough to attack the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”, but in reality, it was an army of elite soldiers with a certain level of strength, all of whom were capable of fighting alone.
The Holy Kingdom of Diletta had gathered what little information they had and, in light of the Temple’s knowledge of Undead, had determined that “an increase in the number of miscellaneous soldiers would only result in confusion, which would be to the benefit of the ‘Princess Rose of the Hellrage'”.
Diletta’s army, positioned on the snowfield overlooking Terra Ruale, did not close the distance to the undead army holed up against the city wall as a shield, but instead made a defensive formation to prepare for an unexpected assault or long-range attack by opening a distance of about 1 km, a distance that ordinary bows and most magic could not reach, before deploying 150 siege magic cannons.
Then, they began to bombard the area with a raging fire that seemed like the heavens had been shattered and rained down upon them.
＊ ＊ ＊
René had already escaped Terra Ruale.
Terra Ruale was located in a valley surrounded by mountains. It amidst a mountainous country, the land was unusually flat.
This certainly made visibility poor, and watchtowers were erected at almost equal intervals on the surrounding peaks. These were separate from forts and fortresses, and were used to quickly detect the approach of enemies and monster hordes.
René was standing in one of these watchtowers on the east side as seen from Terra Ruale.
From the rugged watchtower with windows on all four sides, René was looking down on Terra Ruale in the distance.
Even though it was almost spring, the wind was cold. Of course, being undead, René was completely unaffected by this.
Diletta’s army deployed in the wide valley looked like grains of sand.
The distant roar of the fireballs was constantly ringing in her ears, and the lines of fire drawn in the air were disappearing behind the city walls like they were being sucked in.
It seemed to be physical shells that were being fired. Terra Ruale had simple countermeasures against physical attacks, but it was unlikely that it would be able to withstand so many shots, and it was doubtful that the energy of the earth’s veins would last.
In the narrow watchtower, there were about a hundred undead and 2 living people.
René left with the elite soldiers only, and left the rest in Terra Ruale. It was a last stand, a stall, a decoy.
“The enemy shows no sign of moving in. They have begun to block the veins of the earth and siphon off its magic power, while bombarding it and bringing it to a standstill.”
“They’re trying to burn us at the stake. The difference in strength is so great that they can definitely win, so why don’t they just come crashing down all at once…”
Everis, who was standing next to René, clicked her tongue after receiving a report from the caller.
The person on the other end of the line was an undead member of a unit who remained in the capital.
The earth veins were spread all over the land.
The hotspots were not closed vessels, but were simply points where a large amount of magical power flowed and gathered.
If the city’s perimeter was overrun, it was possible for the magic to be extracted from the earth’s veins.
Furthermore, it was this bombardment. The more they were attacked, the more their magical power reserves were depleted.
Moreover, the cannons mounted on the walls of the city were unable to shoot them down, and their counterattacks were being blocked by the Diletta’s magicians who were defending their positions.
In other words, they were forced to move to eliminate the enemy artillery. Diletta’s army’s aim was to force the enemy into a situation where they would have no choice but to attack, and then finish them off.
“As long as the Dragon Rule Pole Router is in our hands, the impact of magic stealing is limited, but …”
“Okay, enough. If the opponent is moving cautiously, ‘Operation Mine Terra Ruale’ is a lost cause in any case.”
When dragged into the urban battle, René and her team left a little trick to pull all the magic out of the earth’s veins and blow everything up.
Once the battle was over, Diletta’s army would conduct a careful investigation of the curses and magical devices before assuming control of the royal capital. But before that, during the siege phase, they could still be deceived.
This was because a catastrophic, unthinking response, in which all the magic stored in the earth’s veins was put to use, would be like cutting the flesh from the bones, a move that would not normally be used.
However, René had already decided to abandon Terra Ruale. If she had brought the battle to an urban battle and poured all the magical power of the earth’s veins into it, she could have killed all the advanced troops of Diletta’s army and given them the last gasp.
But the Diletta forces were cautious, well-prepared, and superior in firepower.
“It can’t be helped. As planned, switch to the plan of pouring all the magic power into the improvised cannons. If we can get into a crowded place, we should be able to kill at least 1,000 people.”
“Understood.”
Everis ordered and leaned against the window of the watchtower.
Looking down, a one-sided firefight was still going on.
But suddenly.
The area went completely white and nothing could be seen.
Three of Everis’ special magic projectile cannons, which had been installed on the walls of the city among the ordinary cannons, erupted in fire.
They pumped enormous amounts of magic power from the earth’s veins, converting it into heat and hypothetical mass and spewing it out without hesitation.
The cannons, which were terribly fuel-efficient, would have been exhausted in a fraction of a second if they were fueled by a human magician, but they continued to operate for several dozen seconds, changing their angle of elevation and bearing slightly each time, and reaped the Diletta forces at a distance of at least one kilometer.
The screams from the burning air as the cannons pushed away the enemy’s troops leapt into René’s ears from such a distance.
Next, an explosion.
The marks that had been gouged out by the magic fire caused a series of large explosions.
The energy that was compressed at the moment of impact diffused within a fraction of a beat.
Somewhere nearby, there was even the sound of an avalanche.
The snowfield was filled with a plume of snow and dust.
But it cleared unnaturally quickly. It seemed that Diletta’s army had used wind magic to secure visibility.
The snowfield had changed.
It was bumpy, like a giant mole had appeared in a battalion and ravaged the area, and the soil hidden under the snow was exposed here and there.
But in the midst of all this, Diletta’s forces appeared to be in almost perfect condition.
Siege cannons that had taken direct hits were scrapped, and some people had been blown to pieces and collapsed.
Some were getting up, some were not, and some were charred black.
But that was only part of Diletta’s army.
The damage was limited to a small portion by the stationary magic shields set up in multiple positions in the formation and the defensive magic of the magicians who had detected the enormous amount of magic power.
Although this was only a rough estimate from a distance since the power of “Emotional Detection” did not reach them, as Everis said, they could have killed 1,000 people or not. Whether that was a lot or a little depended on how you looked at it.
“Good, good, well done. Now the magic hotspot is empty… Suck it up. … Well, I’m sure it will recover in a month after temporarily depleting the veins. Now for your final orders, Sir Gerald.”
“Dispose of the mine devices in various locations and the wreckage of the improvised explosive devices. The rest of the personnel are to charge immediately. While the ambush troops are spreading chaos, take out the remaining troops in the city. Kill as many as possible. That’s how the Princess-sama will win.”
“””Understood!”””
Alastair ordered at the call marks lined up.
With agile movements, Diletta’s troops were working to rescue their comrades who had been hit by the sudden bombardment.
They appeared to be wary of the mysterious attack, but once they realized that they had used up all their magical power and there was nothing left to do, they would attack in one fell swoop.
Before that happened, they would make a pincer attack with their hidden troops in the mountains and the remaining troops in the city.
They might not be able to kill as many people as they wanted, but if they could take advantage of the chaos, they would be able to deal some blows.
And that was the end of it.
“There were so many enemies to kill, and we only managed to kill this many …”
Looking at the scene, which resembled a swarm of ants with their burrows flooded with water, René let out a searing mumble.
After all, René was about to be defeated.
Looking around the cold stone-colored room of the watchtower, she saw the undead, the most powerful among her army, and her only two living subjects, who were reverently waiting for her.
The rest of the undead were waiting downstairs, awaiting their departure. Outside the watchtower, the mithril golem captured in the Battle of Royal Capital was parked on the road with a large amount of its cargo tied to it.
“Now then, Princess, can you spare at least one line of dialogue that would be appropriate in a situation like this?”
“That’s your job, Everis. When it comes time to write history, you can make up some nice quotes.”
“How cold…”
Everis, who seemed to have a quality of being particular about the performance, laughed when her advice was brushed off.
“‘Unforgivable’. … This one word is enough.”
“That line isn’t bad.”
When René said it out loud, the Chief of Staff was pleased.
The Ghoul Knights in the room saluted like an avalanche, indicating their agreement with René’s words. Alastair, who was staring at the table with the maps and call marks, also meditated with a bitter expression on his face, almost like he was taking the humiliation to heart.
Unlike skeletons and zombies, ghouls were undead with human-like judgment and intelligence. They were imprinted with absolute loyalty to René and unable to disobey her commands, in other words, brainwashed.
The cold room was filled with a cold fighting spirit.
It was too forceful to be called defeat. It was too brave to be called defeat.
“There is no need to say much. As the saying goes, ‘If you fall down seven times, it’s already the same if you fall down eight times’.”
Udanosuke’s words created a strange atmosphere in the room.
“Princess, can I hit this guy?”
“As long as you don’t break him.”
“That you will!?”
Everis hit Udanosuke with her staff, followed by a few ghouls.
“You’re always so loud! You’re just saying things like that! Does that proverb even exist?”
“It’s real, that it is!”
On this day, René reconfirmed that Udanosuke, the strongest of the ghouls, was not so respected.
“Let’s go …, Princess. No matter what twists and turns may come your way, the path you take is your path of supremacy.”
In the midst of the frenzy, Mialanze led René away.
She was dressed in a gothic maid’s outfit, jet-black long gloves and tights, and a wide-brimmed hat.
Her face was covered with a jet-black veil, which was originally worn as mourning attire.
It was protective clothing for vampires that would allow them to act to a certain extent even during the daytime.
When René started walking, the undead soldiers quickly gave way like how the sea had split in front of Moses.
René, heading not for the stairs but for the window on the opposite side, flipped up her skirt and jumped down from the third floor.
Then she kicked the head of the mithril golem loaded with luggage and landed on the snow.
As René walked away, the undead that had been crammed into the watchtower followed her.
Heading east.
First, eastward, tracing the outer edge of the Kingdom of Noacurio.
After that, heading south-southeast passing through the gaps between the various kingdoms, they would eventually end up in the southern part of the Khenis Empire, the most powerful military state of the Five Great Powers.
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