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Chapter 326: Chapter 325: Knowing Doesn’t Make It Easy. (1)
Chapter 326: Chapter 325: Knowing Doesn’t Make It Easy. (1)
Chapter 326: Chapter 325: Knowing Doesn’t Make It Easy. (1)
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Boom!
"Screeeeech!"
As Gillian swung his dual axes, the Greggs charging him dissolved into a mist of blood.
Crack.
Gritting his teeth, Gillian's eyes glowed with a blue light. His bulging muscles seemed ready to burst, veins popping with exertion. He was drawing out every ounce of his strength. Holding back even a little would make it impossible to break through the sheer number of Greggs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With just a few swings of his axes, dozens of Greggs exploded. Yet, despite this, Gillian had only managed to take a few steps forward. The Greggs swarmed endlessly, giving no sign of abating.
Gillian exhaled deeply. Not even during the war against the Desmond forces had he felt such despair. The individual strength of the Greggs didn't matter-they fought like an army ready to sacrifice itself without fear of death.
Boom!
Like a rampaging ogre, Gillian smashed through everything blocking his path. His overwhelming strength left the soldiers on the fortress walls awestruck.
"What are you doing? Don't stop attacking!"
"Stay focused!"
"The more we kill, the safer Sir Gillian will be!"
Commanders barked orders from all directions. These were seasoned soldiers who had followed Ghislain for years, capable of maintaining order even in chaos.
Whoosh!
A volley of arrows rained down alongside Gillian. Thanks to the soldiers' support, the Greggs couldn't swarm him all at once.
But there was no time for relief.
Rumble. Rumble.
The forest quaked louder. Gillian could feel an even larger horde of Greggs approaching from afar, dwarfing the current swarm.
'My lord...'
Ghislain hadn't even emerged from the forest yet. If he were engulfed by that crimson tide, even he wouldn't make it out alive. So Gillian pushed forward with all his might.
Whoosh!
"Screeeeech!"
He cut down the Greggs swarming ahead, but it was as if he were slashing at illusions. The space cleared was instantly filled with more Greggs.
At some point, Gillian found himself unable to take another step. No matter how many he cut down, the path ahead was crowded with monsters.
Boom! Boom!
"Ugh..."
Despite slaying countless Greggs, it felt as though he was just swinging his axes in place. Gillian, one of the most destructive forces in Fenris, couldn't move forward. It was as if he were facing a natural disaster, something beyond human capability to stop.
Just as despair began to creep in, dozens of daggers flew from behind him.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Screeeeech!"
Even without looking, Gillian knew who it was. Belinda had joined the fight from behind. "Whew!"
Gillian felt his suffocating despair lift, if only slightly.
Belinda fought with remarkable skill. The daggers connected to her by thin wires moved as though they were alive. They slashed through monsters blocking the way and lured others away, dispersing the Greggs' attacks. With the pressure slightly alleviated, Gillian was able to advance, albeit slowly.
He heard her panting voice behind him.
"We make a surprisingly good team, don't we?"
"...I can't deny it."
Gillian replied curtly, focusing solely on swinging his axes. Belinda, already fatigued from the earlier mission, was clearly struggling to keep up. Even her short remark revealed how labored her breathing was.
Together, they steadily pushed forward.
It might have seemed reckless, but they had no choice. No matter how skilled Ghislain was, if
he remained surrounded by this many Greggs, he would eventually tire and fall. To provide
even a sliver of help, they had to break through and reach him.
The soldiers at the fortress understood this and provided cover fire as best they could.
"Keep shooting!"
"Stab the ones climbing the walls!"
"Don't back down! Hold your ground!"
Without Ghislain present, they couldn't use the ballistae or magic. Doing so could risk hitting their lord. All they could do was rely on their arrows to hold the line.
Despite their relentless efforts, the wave of monsters showed no sign of diminishing.
"Screeeeech!"
The Greggs climbed the fortress walls with their sharp claws, digging into the wooden stakes for leverage. The growing piles of corpses even served as footholds for the next wave.
"Give it all you've got!"
Stab! Stab! Stab!
The soldiers thrust their spears into the Greggs clinging to the walls, desperately trying to hold them off. Without the fortress, they wouldn't have lasted even this long. There wasn't even time to marvel at Ghislain's foresight-the battle was too intense.
Watching the scene, Vanessa spoke in a firm voice.
"We need to create a path."
A mage standing beside her hesitated but replied politely. No one dared to speak carelessly to Vanessa, now the head of the Fenris Magic Research Institute.
"If we use magic now, we'll need time to recharge. The soldiers will have to hold out during
that interval."
"If the lord doesn't return, no preparation will matter. It's better to resolve this quickly."
"...Understood."
Woom.
As Vanessa extended her hand, the magic circle etched into the ground began to glow.
They had gathered every rune stone available in the territory for this operation. Some were embedded around the circle to facilitate mana flow. Dozens of mages had pooled their mana into the circle, which now surged into Vanessa.
A melodic incantation escaped her lips.
"Ice Spear."
Crackle.
Water coalesced in the air, forming spears of ice. The massive mana supply, combined with
the insight of a 6th-circle mage, produced hundreds of ice spears in an instant.
"Go."
At her command, the ice spears shot forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Screeeeech!"
The massive spears swept through the Greggs on either side of Gillian and Belinda. Before the
Greggs could regroup, Vanessa quickly cast another spell.
"Earth Wall."
Rumble.
A towering wall of earth rose on either side of Gillian and Belinda, cutting off the Greggs.
"It won't hold for long," Vanessa warned as she ceased her spellcasting. Any further use of mana would render the prepared magic useless.
She sat down, closed her eyes, and began meditating to replenish her mana. The other mages
followed suit.
Thanks to Vanessa, Gillian and Belinda made faster progress. The walls kept the Greggs at
bay, allowing the duo to advance without interruption.
"We owe Vanessa our lives. Why is the young master always so reckless?" Belinda grumbled
as she fought.
Hearing her familiar complaints, Gillian couldn't help but chuckle.
The laughter had another reason.
"There he is."
Boom!
Ahead, a swarm of Greggs was blasted aside. Ghislain was making his way toward the fortress,
fending off an even larger horde than the duo had faced.
"Screeeeech!" Hundreds of Greggs swarmed Ghislain, covering him completely.
Boom!
The Greggs exploded as Ghislain unleashed a powerful attack. Yet as soon as he cleared them,
more piled on.
Boom!
Again, the Greggs were blasted away, but they kept coming. Ghislain rolled forward, creating
some distance, but the relentless horde gave him no respite.
"Phew, this is no joke." Even as he fought, Ghislain clicked his tongue in exasperation.
With his current strength, he could tear through an army of thousands in an instant. But the
Greggs' relentless assault made even him struggle.
Against humans, breaking the morale of the vanguard would often shatter the entire formation. Even instinct-driven monsters could be terrified into retreat with overwhelming
power.
But the Greggs were different. They felt no fear, no hesitation. They moved as a single,
mindless unit under Queen of Greggs' command.
It was the most terrifying and ideal army imaginable.
"Even knowing it, this isn't easy," Ghislain muttered with a wry smile, his body covered in
blood as he swung his sword tirelessly.
Though he had anticipated the challenge based on past knowledge, experiencing it firsthand
was another matter entirely.
"It's exhilarating."
Sizzle.
Red smoke emanated from Ghislain's body. Despite the dire situation, a grin tugged at his
lips.
Ghislain thrived in combat, especially when pushed to his limits.
Boom!
His red eyes gleamed as he swung his sword like a madman. His newly developed defensive
techniques proved invaluable, deflecting the Greggs' attacks and leaving him unscathed.
But there was one issue.
'Can I hold out until I reach the fortress?'
Given the current circumstances, he wasn't sure. The Greggs swarming him seemed to number
at least 100,000, and they were still increasing.
Despite cutting them down relentlessly, progress was slow. It felt like facing an endless wall
of Greggs, layer upon layer.
Judging his remaining strength, Ghislain estimated his chances of reaching the fortress
unscathed at less than fifty percent.
'But I have to.'
There was no other choice. He hadn't entered the forest to die here.
As always, all that mattered was succeeding in the end.
Boom!
Ghislain pushed aside his thoughts and focused solely on wielding his sword. Before long, he
noticed figures approaching from the front. So engrossed in battle, he only realized someone
was coming when they were nearly upon him.
"My lord!" "Young master!"
"Gillian? Belinda?"
He had told them to stay put, yet they never listened. But Ghislain smiled nonetheless.
"Now we're halfway there."
The chances of returning safely had just improved. With three of them working together, they
began cutting through the Greggs more quickly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Screeeeech!"
Mana explosions and the Greggs' screams echoed ceaselessly. Vanessa's conjured walls had
been a tremendous help, but no magic lasted forever.
Rumble!
As the mana powering the walls was exhausted, they crumbled rapidly. The Greggs, who had
been blocked until now, swarmed toward the three.
As soon as they reached the open clearing, they were once again engulfed by a tide of Greggs.
From the fortress, the others saw this and sprang into action.
"The lord is here! The lord has arrived! Fire faster! Clear a path!"
"Prepare the catapults!"
Now that Ghislain's location was clear, they didn't need to hold back with the catapults.
Galbarik, along with his fellow dwarves, adjusted the catapults and locked in their firing trajectories.
As skilled engineers, they had already surveyed the entire area. After estimating the proper
distance, Galbarik shouted.
"Fire!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Dozens of catapults hurled massive boulders into the swarm.
The dwarves finally understood why Ghislain had said precision wasn't necessary; seeing it in
action, the reason became clear.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Screeeeech!"
The Greggs charging from behind Ghislain were obliterated by the crushing boulders. It was
impossible to miss with so many packed together.
The catapult fire noticeably slowed the Greggs from behind. The falling stones hindered their
movement, and the piling corpses became obstacles.
But even this wasn't enough. The horde in front of Ghislain's group was still overwhelming,
and more swarmed in from the sides.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Though the fortress soldiers could see the Greggs being flung aside and torn apart by the
trio's attacks, the three were making little progress. Despite their immense skill, the sheer numbers were pushing them back.
Left with no choice, Vanessa stood up again.
"I'll create another path."
The other mages turned pale. The Greggs had increased in number since before, meaning even
more mana would be required.
"The magic circle and rune stones are already at their limit."
"If we use the mana we've gathered now, we won't be able to execute the lord's planned
magic."
"Shouldn't we wait a little longer...?"
If they couldn't cast the prepared spell, they might have to fight the Greggs for days.
Countless soldiers could perish. But Vanessa shook her head firmly.
"We can't wait any longer. The situation is critical." The mages had no choice but to comply. They couldn't simply let the lord die.
As they hesitated, Kaor, catching his breath nearby, approached. "From what I'm hearing, it sounds like using the magic now is a bad idea."
"There's no choice. Look over there. If we delay any longer, it'll be too late."
Vanessa pointed toward the forest. The entire area was now a sea of red. An unfathomable
number of Greggs were swarming toward them.
Kaor spat on the ground and said with a smirk.
"So, you just need a path cleared for a moment?"
"Do you have a plan?"
"We've trained in charges under the lord more than anyone else. When it comes to breaking
through, we're the best in the kingdom."
A charge of 400 knights executing shock tactics was unstoppable. It was a force that could
punch through almost anything, even if only for a brief moment. Kaor gestured, and a few soldiers brought over his armor.
"I never wanted to wear this embarrassing thing, but I guess I owe the old man one."
Kaor avoided wearing the new armor for one reason: Gillian didn't wear his. But now the
armor was necessary.
Like the others, Kaor's armor bore the emblem of Fenris on one side of the chest. However,
his was slightly different-it also featured an image on the back: a black hound baring its vicious fangs.
"Hey! Gather up!"
Kaor called out, and the knights defending the fortress quickly regrouped. They had already
been preparing to charge.
"Let's go. Time to clear a path."
Clang.
Lowering his helmet, Kaor spoke. The knights simultaneously activated their mana, pushing
it to the limit.
As half-knights, they usually fought with efficiency, carefully rationing their strength. But
now was the time to unleash everything they had.
Buzz!
Bright light began to seep from the gaps in the knights' armor. [T/L: Please support me and read 385 extra chapters: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]