NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 111: Suprises
For knights, the most crucial training is running.
With the command to charge issued by Volte, most knights descended from the ridge towards the hill, sprinting straight towards the fortress.
Clad in armor, armed, and with essential pouches strapped around their waists—though gear like greaves was unsuitable for running, members of the Tiant Order could sustain a fast pace for quite a while, about seventy percent of their full sprinting ability.
Then—
From behind, azure arrows traced thicker lines than before, sucked into the outer walls of the fortress with a resounding impact, bouncing off.
"What the!? It's not just a wall, damn it!"
Mariel's shooting from the ridge was undoubtedly more powerful than before. For instance, if it hit a makeshift stable for tethering horses, the shockwave alone would likely blow away roofs and walls.
Instead, it merely bounced off.
"Never mind that! Open the closed gates!"
Even as I shouted, I couldn't help but think how reckless this was.
Almost immediately, among the charging troops, soldiers known as mage gunners fired magic into the air.
Simple fireline magic. If it hit, one would be struck by a small explosion and intense heat.
Seventeen such spells.
Since one squad had returned to the forest to report, all remaining squads of mage gunners unleashed fireline magic.
Naturally, none reached.
If such convenient magic were usable by anyone, archers and similar units would have disappeared from this world. Hence, firing useless magic into the air.
And—there's no way the enemy would know this.
Or so I thought.
Even a slight hesitation would aid our advance. We've already descended the hill. Started climbing long ago. The slope is gentle. The fortress's outer walls appear annoyingly tall. A splendid gate. How did beasts manage to build such a fortress—when I considered that—
With a clunk, -a dreadful noise sounded.
Just behind the charging Volte, a subordinate was struck.
A somewhat slender arrow-like bolt was sewing through his body into the ground. With such force, it pierced through armor, the tip now embedded in the earth.
"A ballista!? Seriously!?"
Running beside me, Jack voiced simple surprise, not quite fitting the situation. A ballista—likely a crossbow.
Given the fortress and its impressive outer walls, weaponry for shooting would indeed be prepared. Why these beastmen mimic human wars remains beyond me.
Shoots! Shoots! Shoots!
Blocked with a sword. No, couldn't block it all. Even with Volte's sword sufficiently charged with magic, it was still overpowered by the arrow's thickness and speed, knocking him back entirely.
Holding onto the sword was almost accidental.
"This isn't a joke—hey!"
Thrown off course by the arrow, Volte's advance halted, allowing Jack to surge ahead significantly.
Inept. He couldn't afford to lose the escort duty for the "Saint of Healing."
Half-automatically, thoughts of duty swirled through Volte's mind, but no matter what he pondered, his body being hurled to the ground rendered them meaningless.
In the next moment, Jack unleashed a colossal "Sword Strike" that pounded into the fortress gate.
A mightier attack than Mariel's bow.
Anyone could see that. A child could grasp, vaguely, that a blow from the young swordsman's massive sword, honed through rigorous training, was too vivid not to understand.
Yet.
The gate, meant to shatter, remained closed.
Gazing skyward, Volte watched as the next barrage of shots rained down, pondering.
What in the world is this?
Is this what they call the beastmen's war?
A battle of savage beasts with fangs and claws—
What exactly are we fighting against?
