Chapter 349 252: The Lord Tries His Hand

But they were all deflected by the Steel Shields raised by the Barbarians.

Perhaps those falling rocks could have smashed an ordinary person, shield and all, into a meat pie, but for the Barbarians, it merely made them dip down for a moment.

It wasn't that they couldn't withstand the impact, but rather a deliberate motion to dissipate the force.

However, the Mercenaries soon paid the price for that act. A volley of arrows that blotted out the sky headed straight for their faces.

The Feder Archers were now a high-tier unit composed entirely of Tier Five soldiers, and their accuracy was terrifying. In a single volley, the stretch of wall facing the High Cliff Castle forces was cleared of Mercenaries.

The lucky few who escaped with their lives refused to raise their heads again, no matter how their captain, who was also hugging the ground, urged them on.

'He's hugging the ground himself and doesn't dare get up, so what does he expect from us grunts? There's fighting to the death, and then there's just plain suicide. This is suicide.'

For a time, no one spoke. The only sound was the whistle of arrows passing over their heads.

The enemy knew they didn't dare to peek out, so they sent a volley arcing over the walls every so often as a warning.

The Mercenaries cursed their bitter luck.

They had thought this mission would be a piece of cake. After all, they considered themselves no less valiant than a regular army, and they were defending from atop a wall a full twenty-eight ren high. Guarding a city should have been simple.

But they never expected the enemy to be so ridiculously fierce. The chain of Magic spells at the start had left them reeling, and the subsequent, nonstop barrage from trebuchets and Bed Crossbows never let up.

Even Old Gray, the Elder and Thousand-man Captain who was the best shot in their entire company, couldn't compare to the enemy's Archers in terms of accuracy.

If this were a fair fight, they wouldn't be getting trounced so badly.

But in every aspect, from their ranged capabilities to their Archers, they were being utterly crushed.

Facing a dense rain of Magic, Arrows, and stones, they had suffered heavy losses before the melee had even begun. All they could do was stare helplessly as the Northern Guys approached the wall.

It was just like those villages where they'd killed all the men; the remaining women could only strip naked and obediently await their violation.

The situations were startlingly similar.

...

"Faster, faster! Get up there and hold the line, goddammit!" the Red Poison Snake, Ororen, roared at his subordinates.

When he first received the news from his men, he had been resting in the warm embrace of his mistress.

Despite his men's urgent pleas, he had dressed unhurriedly, channeling the calm-in-a-crisis demeanor of the legendary Ledesma.

After all, in his mind, even five thousand pigs couldn't be slaughtered in a short time, let alone his men, who held the walls and possessed dozens of high-end weapons like Bed Crossbows.

But when he finally reached the walls, he was utterly dumbfounded. His men, who could normally take on ten Militia soldiers at once, were being slaughtered like chickens by enemy infantry wearing Wolf Helmets.

The flaming projectiles soaring overhead made his heart pound, and the defenders at the gate were so pinned down they didn't dare show their heads.

It felt as if they had been at a disadvantage from the very start of the battle.

"Go get Panto! Tell him I need reinforcements!"

He roared at a nearby messenger, then, seeing the line being pushed back relentlessly, he had no choice but to join the fray himself.

His arrival had an immediate impact. Wielding a Long Spear, his every thrust cunningly found the weak points in the Wolf Helmet infantry's defenses.

Whether striking a leg or a throat, for him it was as easy as breathing.

His intervention sent the Mercenaries' morale soaring and brought the enemy's advance to a temporary halt.

...

When the Siege Vehicle reached the gate, the Barbarians who had pushed it fell back, replaced by fresh comrades. They gripped the handles of the Siege Hammer, their gnarled, muscular arms bulging. With a collective roar, they gathered their strength and heaved backward.

The Siege Hammer, suspended from the Siege Vehicle by iron chains, swung high into the air. Then, with another mighty shove, they sent it hurtling forward.

DONG!

A tremendous crash, like a thunderclap on a clear day, drowned out the din of battle. For a moment, the only sound between heaven and earth was the resonant, bell-like echo.

The supposedly indestructible gate shuddered slightly, but that was all.

Undiscouraged, they put all their strength into ramming it again.

The grating clang of metal on metal rang out again and again, each impact louder than the last.

Thanks to the system's upgrades, the Barbarians were no longer the primitive beastmen of the Wilderness; their Martial Arts and strength were now inhuman. Yet, even with a dozen of them ramming with all their might, the results were minimal.

Had this been the gate of Black Stone Castle, it would have cracked long ago, and it wouldn't have been long before they smashed it open or punched a huge hole through it.

This just went to show how sturdy Kolon's gate was.

The Lord, whose ears were ringing from the din, couldn't watch any longer. He roared, "Everyone, stand aside! Let me do it!"

The surrounding Barbarians scattered in an instant, leaving plenty of room for their chief to work.

He strode up to the Siege Hammer, spat into his palms, gripped the solid iron handle, and gave a sudden, mighty heave.

In his hands alone, the massive Siege Hammer rose even higher than it had with a dozen men. The Lord then followed its momentum, thrusting it forward.

BOOM!

Fueled by immense power, the resulting crash was more than ten times louder than before.

The indestructible gate began to shake violently, showering down dust and plaster.

Seeing this, the Lord now had a measure of the gate's strength. He tossed aside the iron handle, which had snapped in his grip, and moved behind the Siege Hammer itself.

He had only been testing the gate's durability and hadn't used his full strength. Besides, the handle wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

First, he flung the ram back to its highest point. Then, just as it began to fall, he caught the tail end, veins bulging on his arms as he roared and put every ounce of his strength into the push.

In an instant, an earth-shattering boom erupted. The Barbarians were all simultaneously deafened by the blast, their faces contorted in pain.

Zat was nearly blinded. At the moment of impact, the Siege Hammer and the gate erupted in a blinding shower of sparks, as dazzling as a miniature sun.

But the result was spectacular. The gate before them shattered like a watermelon hit with a sledgehammer, breaking apart and leaving a gaping hole.

The Siege Vehicle fared even worse, disintegrating into a pile of parts. The massive Siege Hammer itself flew straight through the opening and disappeared from sight.

"Heavenly Lord!"

"Is... is he a Giant?"

In the distance, the nobles and officers of Wolf Island stood frozen like statues, staring blankly at the scene as a storm of shock raged within them.

...

Behind the gate, Ororen had stationed a little over a thousand Mercenaries. Dressed in Leather Armor and armed with Longswords, Long Spears, and War Axes, they watched the gate, which was only shaking slightly, and breathed a collective sigh of relief.

'The enemy has obviously started their assault on the gate,' they thought, 'but at this rate, they won't break through anytime soon.'

Before long, the ramming stopped.

Just as they assumed the enemy had run out of steam and were resting, an impact more than ten times stronger than before slammed into the gate.

The indestructible gate began to shake violently, and dust and plaster showered down from the ceiling as if some Giant Beast were ravaging it from the other side.

They watched with their hearts in their throats, their palms sweating as they gripped their weapons. But thankfully, the gate they had placed so much faith in had held.

But their relief was short-lived.

As the final impact rang out, temporarily deafening them, the gate finally seemed to give way, unable to withstand the enemy's toying. Wood splinters flew everywhere as a massive Siege Hammer burst through, its remaining momentum killing dozens of unlucky bastards.

The remaining survivors stared through the gaping hole in the gate, finding themselves face-to-face with a group of burly, well-prepared Black Armored Warriors on the other side.

At their head was a man who seemed quite short in comparison. He was grinning, revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth as he said something.

But the Mercenaries were all deafened and had no idea what he was saying.

Only a few who could read lips understood his words.

"Weapons up!"

With a grand wave of his hand, Levi raised his Giant Sword and was the first to charge in, followed by the Beastman Warriors who were already champing at the bit.