Surviving a Harsh Fantasy with Cheat Items (WN)

From the Silesie fleet, thousands of cannons fired upon the Great Fortress of Square. The deafening roar of the blasts echoed heavily in the pit of my stomach.

The massive stone walls of Long Castle, towering over four meters high and stretching five kilometers in length, were quickly shattered and chipped away. Arrows rained down from the countless side towers that protruded from the fortress, while round stone projectiles, likely launched by catapults, flew from beyond the outer wall.

However, none of their attacks reached our fleet. The stones fell uselessly into the sea.

The range of their catapults was no match for our cannons.

Let alone their arrows, which couldn’t possibly reach us.

Just as I thought we had the upper hand, one of the ships on the port side of the fleet suddenly exploded, flames bursting into the air.

Lyle-sensei rushed across the ship, casting his Water Wave spell at the burning vessel. He doused the flames and shouted to the panicked crew.

「There’s only an intermediate mage unit among the enemy! This much fire can be put out. Just focus the cannons and wipe them out!」

So, they had enough range to hit us with their magic. If they kept bombarding our wooden ships with fireball spells, no matter how much we put out the flames, eventually, the hull would be damaged.

I gave the order to Drake and the others. 「Move the Black Cedar warships to the front. We’ll use them as shields!」

Our flagship boldly surged forward, drawing the attention of the countless fireballs being hurled from the fortress’s windows.

The Black Cedar warships, however, could withstand any number of fireballs without even scorching their surface.

No need for firefighting anymore.

Drake gave a loud command.

「King General! Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine! Fire those cannons, quick!」

In retaliation for the enemy’s magical assault, our cannons fired relentlessly at close range.

As the concentrated bombardment hit the fortress, the enemy’s magic attacks quickly ceased.

The fortress crumbled under the relentless barrage, and as the debris fell, the mages inside surely couldn’t have survived.

Even mages, after all, are only humans.

TN: Yeah, if only they’re not demons.

「Haha! What a shame they weren’t advance mages, but to take out the enemy mages this quickly is a stroke of luck! Are there no advance ones left? This is hardly satisfying!」

Lyle-sensei, please stop laughing so gleefully. Even with all the cannon fire, I can clearly hear your excitement.

It seems she still gets a natural high from battle.

「King General… cannons…」

Amidst the constant barrage of cannon fire, Drake was trying to say something to me, but it was almost impossible to hear him.

The blasts so close to my ears had left me with constant ringing.

「Oh, I get it. Fine, let’s do it. Aim for the big tower in the middle!」

Through Drake’s gestures, I finally understood—he was saying we could fire the Magic Armstrong cannons.

I pointed at the tallest central tower. If the fortress commander was anywhere, it had to be in that watchtower-looking structure.

Following Drake’s orders, the two massive Magic Armstrong cannons on the Black Cedar warship turned, and with a loud ‘whoosh’, the huge projectiles spun through the air.

With a single shot, the central tower was split clean in half.

Though, with all the noise from the bombardment, I couldn’t hear it actually happen…

The moment the tall tower was shattered by the cannon fire, I thought I could hear the murmur of people, the screams of terror, and the cries of the dying.

Somehow, I could sense the enemy’s mood through the air.

It wasn’t just the central tower that had been destroyed. The relentless bombardment from our fleet continued, and the massive stone fortress was half-crushed, with thick smoke billowing from within.

Though it was made of stone, the fortress used combustible materials like wood in its construction, so once it was struck, fires broke out. At some point, the rain of arrows and stone projectiles had ceased entirely.

The soldiers within the fortress likely had no capacity left for retaliation. The inside of that burning fortress must be a living hell.

Crushed under the collapsing rubble or roasted alive by the flames—some soldiers may have fled when the drawbridge to the town was lowered midway through.

I couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for those who died in the fortress, as they might have become allies under different circumstances.

Now, no matter how many more shots we fired, there was no resistance from the crumbling fortress.

It had already fallen.

This imposing fortress, nothing more than a façade, had been easily brought down by naval bombardment alone.

「It just doesn’t feel like a victory when you can’t even see the enemy.」

「I know, right? Winning a battle just by firing cannons from the ship… What a terrifying era we live in.」

No more enemy ships were recklessly launching themselves from the harbor either. They had all vanished.

But with the enemy gone, what’s happening in the city of Times Square?

「Nation’s Father!」

Just as I was considering sending scouts into the city, Kaara and Oracle, who had been conducting covert operations inside, came flying toward us.

「Oh, good, you two made it out safely.」

Their arrival meant the job in the city was done.

「Twenty thousand soldiers under Admiral Damons have flooded into the capital of Times from the Brave’s Gate I opened in the south. After seeing Long Castle Island fall, the leadership of the former Times nation has decided to turn against the Great Demon King Ifriil.」

Kaara had used a pre-set teleportation circle inside the city to bring soldiers in, taking control of the southern gate that defended the town’s walls. From there, it was just a matter of letting Damons and his landing forces march in.

It was all too easy.

Well, when you’re using a broken cheat like teleportation magic that ignores the outer walls, it’s not surprising.

With the massive fortress defending the port now fallen and the soldiers flooding in through the already-captured town gate, the remaining forces of the former Times nation switched sides as planned.

That left only the 10,000 troops from the old Nisrok nation, now stationed under the Great Demon King’s banner. The tables had turned, and the enemy, once occupying the city, was now surrounded.

No wonder they stopped resisting.

「This city has fallen…」

In the end, the diversion worked, and the Great Demon King couldn’t come here.

It’s time to start thinking about occupation policies.

Then, we’ll launch a full assault on Demon City of Laurentite.

The final confrontation with the Great Demon King Ifriil will be there.

As I was thinking this, a commotion erupted.

「Something’s approaching from the western sea!」

The lookout on the mast shouted down to us. Whatever it was, it was moving incredibly fast, quickly becoming large enough for us all to see.

A massive hunk of iron. No, was that a steel dragon?

「A new monster, at a time like this…」

The timing was unbelievable. If they had sent reinforcements, it should’ve been before the Great Fortress of Square fell.

If they had, they could’ve trapped our fleet in a pincer attack.

But mocking any sense of strategy, the enormous iron dragon flew straight toward us.

「Drake, what are you waiting for? Fire the cannons!」

「You lot, open fire!」

The timing of this new arrival caught us off guard, and most of the hastily fired cannonballs missed the iron behemoth as it sped through the sky.

A stray cannonball had struck the massive steel dragon, but it didn’t seem to do any real damage to its armor.

Those metal scales weren’t just for show.

「Graaahhh!」

The dragon’s roar reverberated across the battlefield, far louder than the cannon fire. It was a sound that stirred primal fear in every living creature, and the sailors’ morale was visibly crumbling.

The Silesien fleet was helplessly rammed by the enormous mass of iron, sinking one ship after another.

「What the hell are you doing!? Where’s your seafaring spirit?」

Drake shouted, unaffected by the dragon’s presence thanks to his immunity to dragons, but expecting ordinary sailors to stand up to a dragon by sheer willpower was absurd.

And that thing’s armor was metal.

Even with the latest cannons, wooden ships stood no chance against it.

An iron behemoth flying through the sky… it’s a ridiculous mix of brutal reality and fantasy.

「Drake, stand down. I’ll handle this.」

When it comes to supernatural beasts, heroes must rise to face them. And I am the hero here. With high-ranking demons like Kaara and Oracle by my side, we had a chance.

I felt a strange confidence. Like something Lyle-sensei would say: It wouldn’t feel satisfying if it ended like this.

Since I started this war, it’s only fitting I put an end to it.

The steel dragon was growing larger as it plowed through our fleet, heading straight for us.

The thing had to be at least five meters long. No ordinary method would work against it.

「It’s coming right at us, King General! At that speed, we can’t hit it with the main cannons!」

「Pull everyone back. We’ll handle this ourselves.」

The enemy was really throwing everything at us now.

The iron dragon crashed into our ship with a resounding clang.

The force was immense—our flagship, built from the hardest black cedar, shuddered violently, nearly toppling as it was shoved toward the harbor at frightening speed.

Drake and the crew screamed in shock.

「Oooooh!」

Our ship’s outer shell, made from the dense black cedar, was tougher than steel. It held firm against the dragon’s initial charge, but the hull groaned ominously under the strain.

The steel dragon bared its massive fangs, biting into the bow and striking it with one of its giant arms.

Did the dragon think our ship was a creature like itself?

The ship creaked loudly, groaning as it was slowly crushed under the dragon’s weight. Even though the outer shell was holding, the wooden interior wouldn’t last long at this rate.

「Well, let’s give it a shot. Kaara, Oracle, I’m counting on you!」

「Understood!」 「Leave it to me, my lord!」

I fired my magic rifle, while the two of them launched powerful shockwave spells. The iron scales cracked under the barrage, and the steel dragon let out a deafening roar of pain.

「Follow King General’s lead, everyone! Fire!」

Despite my orders to hold back, the sailors rushed to the bow, manning the cannons and firing directly at the dragon’s snout. A few brave soldiers even fired their muskets while shouting defiantly.

The close-range cannon shots caused the dragon to stagger, but it swiped its massive arm as if annoyed by the noise.

With just one sweep, it cleared the deck of the valiant crew.

I told them to stay back…

「Those bastards finally showed some guts!」

Drake wept as he cradled the body of a sailor, blown toward us by the dragon’s strike. There was no surviving a blow from those iron claws—the man was already dead.

I can’t afford to lose Drake or the slave girls through reckless heroics. I’ll need to have Lyle-sensei check on them to prevent further unnecessary sacrifices.

「Sensei, please keep Drake and the others from pushing themselves too hard. Have them fall back.」

「Understood. But what will you do about that thing?」

「I’ll handle it!」

That’s why we’re here.

And then it happened.

「Hahaha! How pathetic! You’re all helpless before my Metal Dragon, Silver!」

A woman suddenly appeared atop the steel dragon’s head. She was dressed in a revealing bondage armor, her pale demon skin glistening in the light.

「Is that… the Great Demon King?」

I asked, more out of disbelief than curiosity.

「Of course not! Can’t you tell just by looking? Remember this, black-haired knight! I am the mighty and beautiful beast tamer Hydra, aide to the Great Demon King Ifriil, and the one who commands this most powerful of demon beasts, Silver!」

Oh great. I could tell right away she was an idiot.

The type that declares victory the moment they gain a slight advantage.

There’s always one like this, isn’t there? Still, getting the enemy’s beast tamer to show herself wasn’t a waste of our sailors’ sacrifice.

If she was the one controlling the Metal Dragon, taking her out might disable the beast. Without a word, I fired my magic rifle at her.

Kaara and Oracle followed my lead, unleashing shockwaves aimed at Hydra.

「Kyah!」

「Tch, missed.」

As suddenly as she appeared, Hydra vanished. She must’ve retreated to the Metal Dragon’s back, commanding it from there, because the dragon’s attacks became fiercer—its teeth and claws slashing with renewed vigor.

The ship rocked violently as the dragon’s massive tail slammed into the hull, like an enormous iron whip.

At this rate, the ship might actually capsize.

What now?

Our attacks had chipped away at the steel dragon’s scales here and there, but the creature was just too massive for us to land a decisive blow. Worse still, the blessing of Asama wasn’t working, limiting my effectiveness.

All I had left was the blessing of the Mother of Chaos, which I had infused into my bullets, but the power felt halved. Just then, Berenice and Clementine appeared, clad in brand-new mithril armor.

Where had they been? Normally, they’d be constantly nagging me about my protection.

Clementine held a massive, silver lance.

「This is the ancestral lance of the Mancine family, once wielded by our founding patriarch, Holy Lance of Rodriguez, renowned as the Demon Killer.」

「Yeah, I get that, but how did you manage to bring that onboard?」

I asked. The weight alone should’ve made it impossible to transport with teleportation magic.

I glanced at Kaara.

「She insisted.」

「So you carried it afterward.」

Apparently, Clementine had hidden the weapon since I’d told her not to rely on outdated armaments. But it seemed she had snuck it in with the cargo.

「I apologize for acting on my own, but I believe this to be fate. Please, leave this to me. Even if it costs me my life, I shall bring down that foul dragon.」

With a silver lance like that, maybe she could pierce the Metal Dragon’s weak point. I never thought her old-fashioned request would come in handy.

「I see…」

I looked at Clementine for a moment. Her clear blue eyes were filled with determination. With such a resolve, I couldn’t just tell her to stand down.

For a knight, honor was more important than life.

「Clementine, where will you strike?」

「I will aim for its forehead. I’ve heard since childhood that my ancestor, Holy Lance of Rodriguez, defeated an evil dragon by piercing its forehead.」

I placed my hand on the weighty Demon Killer lance she held and prayed to the Mother of Chaos for her blessing. The lance seemed to glow ever so slightly, its silver shine growing brighter.

「Alright, Clementine, I’m counting on you. But I forbid you to die for it! Survive, and slay the dragon no matter what!」

「Yes!」

「Everyone else, aim for the Metal Dragon’s forehead! Strip those steel scales, crack its skull open, and make it easier for her to pierce through!」

I focused my magic rifle at the dragon’s forehead and continued firing. Since the Metal Dragon still had its teeth sunk into the prow, it made for an easy target.

One by one, the steel scales peeled away from its forehead. We’d leave it bald!

「Hey, Berenice.」

「Yaaaahhh!」

Berenice dashed forward, grabbed hold of an unmanned cannon, and fired it, practically hugging the barrel. The blast struck the dragon’s forehead at point-blank range.

「Groooaaaaar!」

The iron shot slammed into the Metal Dragon’s skull, splattering blood across its steel-plated head. The beast trembled in agony and swung its massive arm toward Berenice.

Compared to the colossal dragon, her small body seemed far too fragile.

「Berenice!」

For a moment, I feared she would be crushed like the other sailors, but despite being thrown across the deck and battered to a bloody pulp, Berenice was alive.

She’d pulled off something reckless. Still, as long as she was breathing, healing potions could fix her.

I rushed over and lifted her up.

「Clementine, now! Go!」

Berenice, still in my arms, called out toward Clementine, who was already charging toward the Metal Dragon.

Her encouragement fueled Clementine’s resolve. Clutching the long lance, she leaped from the prow like a pole vaulter, soaring through the air. She aimed straight for the wound Berenice had opened on the dragon’s forehead, and with a powerful thrust, drove the holy lance deep into its skull.

From the pain or the joy of victory, tears welled in Berenice’s eyes as she softly whispered from within my embrace, ‘We did it…’

It was a scene straight out of legend.

Dragon-slaying.

A lone human, so small in comparison to the massive beast, facing it down and defeating it.

Even as the Metal Dragon thrashed its head, trying to throw her off, Clementine—strongest of the royal guard—held firm, gripping the holy lance with both hands and refusing to be shaken.

Slowly, the Metal Dragon’s movements grew sluggish, until finally, it collapsed, its long neck falling limp across the deck.

Standing with her golden curls blowing in the sea breeze, Clementine remained there, gripping the lance embedded in the dragon’s forehead.

With the help of her comrades, she had become the second dragon-slaying hero of the Silesie Kingdom, following in Louise’s footsteps. Her feat rivaled that of her ancestor, Holy Lancer Rodriguez.

Just as everyone was catching their breath in relief at her accomplishment, a piercing scream, like the sound of silk being torn, echoed from behind us.