Chapter 74
Temperature. When I held it in my hand, I consciously controlled it so I wouldn’t get burned, but when I briefly put it on the blade, I hadn’t considered that, and this was the result.
Frowning, I shoved the damaged dagger back into my palm and pulled out a new one. This was my last spare.
I moved again. There was no time to admire anything. They kept pouring in relentlessly. Snakes, dogs, wolves, cyclopes. It was practically a zoo. Damn it.
“Ugh!”
As the enemies surged nonstop, the blizzard intensified. In the middle of blocking and pushing them back, something pierced through the raging snow and struck the neck of a soldier beside me.
And then it dragged the lifeless soldier into the blizzard. Before anyone could grab him, he disappeared just like that.
“Stachel! It’s Stachel!!”
At someone’s shout, others called for a barrier. Stachel. I hadn’t seen much of it since I was stationed in the east, but it was a plant-type creature.
It resembled ivy, a vine-like plant. It climbed walls and used its tendrils like tentacles to pierce joints or unprotected weak points, then dragged its prey back to its main body.
Once pierced, its neurotoxin prevented resistance. So when Stachel started climbing, barriers were deployed over the walls.
The barrier could block one of its attacks. When it shattered, everyone’s attention would turn there, so it also functioned as an alarm.
Mage Corps soldiers quickly activated the barrier. Chaos reigned all around. Beasts still rampaged atop the walls, while the mages desperately layered spells to maintain defenses.
‘…This is a war of attrition.’
Sieges were usually battles of attrition, but not like this. If it kept going like this, everyone would die.
“Lee Hoin.”
I moved behind him and spoke.
“You think this is going well?”
Catching his breath, he answered,
“No. Fuck, we’re all about to die. But the north looks worse than here. The commander probably went there.”
“First, we burn that plant’s main body. If we don’t, it’ll keep climbing. And we need to kill whatever’s making the blizzard. Isn’t it usually birds?”
“Yeah. Probably a huge crow. Same as what showed up in the east.”
“Can you hit it?”
He hesitated.
“If it’s not too far.”
There were things we could throw, spears, anything. So now we just needed to locate it.
‘Stop the blizzard?’
If I could do that, I’d have ended this already. I wasn’t capable of that.
I exhaled and slashed a snake’s head off the wall.
‘Then…’
Find the source?
Any kind of magic, once activated, draws mana to its vicinity. Naturally. A core isn’t a spring, it’s more like a station where energy gathers.
All I had to do was find that “station.”
Slowly, I moved my mana. The “Mana Control” trait flickered. I scattered my mana through the blizzard, searching for where it converged.
Like scattering flyers. I only needed one to stick.
As my mana spread outward, several points abruptly cut off, as if something absorbed it.
I pointed to the first one I confirmed.
“Hey, there.”
After knocking a dog off the wall, Lee Hoin grabbed a stray spear and pulled his arm back.
Then he hurled it with full force.
Whoosh
The spear cut through the air, but the blizzard swallowed it whole. The storm continued.
—
[This is why magic is convenient.]
[Block the view, and you get maximum benefit with minimal exposure.]
—
No matter how hard he threw, the wind nullified it before it reached the target.
“Hey! That’s the direction, but there’s wind drift and drop!”
I stabbed a dog approaching him in the neck.
The sensation of cutting flesh… damn it, I still couldn’t get used to it.
‘Maybe…’
It wasn’t something I should get used to.
—
[Justice is watching.]
—
I exhaled, ignited the dagger, and finished it off. Even after its head came off, its limbs kept twitching, and my arm got slightly torn.
While I did that, Lee Hoin thought briefly.
“Point it out again. Exactly where?”
I gestured again while tying my wound.
“…There.”
Watching the blizzard, he threw another spear.
Swoosh
The spear vanished beyond the storm.
And then…
The blizzard thinned.
He actually hit it. That lunatic.
‘Is this human achievement…?’
Or evolution that left me behind?
‘Ah.’
Right. He used to play baseball.
But throwing a ball and throwing a spear are pretty different, aren’t they? The weight alone…
‘Let’s not overthink it.’
I scattered my mana again.
One by one, I pointed… and he threw.
After about ten repetitions, the blizzard cleared completely.
Of course, not every throw hits. Some missed, and I had to retrieve fallen spears.
At some point, the battlefield shifted completely.
Lee Hoin fired spears like a machine gun.
And I ran around like a dog fetching sticks.
Other soldiers gathered, clearing enemies, which helped immensely.
Looking down below the wall, I said,
“That’s probably the main body. Let’s hit it first, with firebombs or fire magic.”
The mage corps approached and followed my gaze.
There, in an open field a short distance from the wall…
A single rose bud.
Huge, red, and tightly closed, sitting alone on the snow. Around it, the snow was hollowed out, and thick green and brown roots stretched outward like parasites.
Boom!
Fireballs rained down. The bud withstood several hits, but under sustained magic and firebombs, it began to collapse.
As it fell, the thorns instantly withered and dropped from the walls. The ones already climbing still moved, but the tide had clearly turned.
“More! Bring more! We have to push them back completely!”
Soldiers pressed forward, bombarding the enemies. Eventually, the southern front was stabilized.
But…
[This is Norden! Norden! Gate 3 at A-9 has opened!]
[This is Osten!! Requesting reinforcements at K-1!!!]
[This is Osten!!! Gate 2 at J-3 has opened!]
[This is Westen!! Reporting total casualties at D-6, D-7, D-8!!]
Our victory was only a small one.
There were people missing limbs, still bracing themselves against the wall and thrusting spears.
Others, impaled through the shoulder, were still throwing firebombs.
Even those who looked underage stood at the gates with weapons, defending their homes.
Some limped while carrying equipment.
Others ran around administering first aid.
“You two, move to the Norden gate!”
A commander, not Johanna, gave the order. She was probably at the worst front, holding the line herself.
Before moving, I took in the scene.
No one slept.
Elders held children inside the inner walls, trying to calm them.
Those who could fight stood armed, enduring any injury.
Everything was chaos.
Everything was hell.
And yet…
A hell filled with the will to live.
This was the most vibrant hell.
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