My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 231. Urban Warfare

—Demons! The demons just keep coming!

—The battalion is at risk of complete annihilation!

Cries of despair spread from every direction.

Things were unfolding exactly as Ferda had anticipated.

They said that in a typical siege, eighty percent of the fighting involved climbing the outer walls. But this was the exact opposite.

The place they were entering now was a canyon and forest made of buildings that could not simply be brought down, and it was the home ground of the predators living within it.

Monsters swarmed in, and Demons revealed themselves.

And the orders were as follows.

—Advance! The knights will be your shields!

—Push forward even more boldly! Kill every last one of them!

Just as King Hudret had planned, they were being driven into a death trap.

It was cruel, but they could feel that he was right.

If they did not advance boldly, there was simply no way to break through this place.

The terror born from the chaos lasted only for a moment. The instant that fear dulled, it was replaced by madness.

The soldiers learned one truth on the battlefield.

If they did not kill, all that awaited them was death.

"Leave not a single one alive!"

"Stab everything you see! If you’re uneasy, cut their heads off!"

Like barbarians invading a civilized land, they stormed into private homes and began stabbing and cutting down everything that was still alive.

The only difference was that the buildings were neither burning nor collapsing.

But it seemed that King Heinkel was not content to simply watch his forces die defenselessly.

Purple Magic Circles began rippling beneath the feet of soldiers who had raided a house.

"H-hey, it’s a trap!"

The Magic Circle exploded, and something resembling a black cloud engulfed the soldiers.

"Cough, cough! Is everyone all right?"

"Ghk... Gaaaah... Krrk..."

Their groans of pain gradually turned into the sound of phlegm rattling in their throats.

At the same time, their appearances began to change.

They became the Ghoul Monsters they had seen countless times before entering this place.

—Kieeeek!

"Gyaaaaah!"

"Kill them! Hurry up and kill them!"

Turning even one’s own allies into enemies was one of the tricks employed by the Black Mages.

They were reducing the enemy’s numbers, but at the same time, their own numbers were steadily dwindling as well.

"Regent Ferda!"

When Ferda turned around, Ureas was standing there.

He had not drawn his sword even once.

"Clear us a path! Go into the inner castle and settle this!"

The bastard was ordering them around as though they were his own subordinates.

But this was an emergency, so Ferda set his emotions aside.

He had intended to do the same thing anyway.

"William!"

"Yes!"

"Switch to urban warfare tactics."

"Understood. Switch to platoon formations! Platoon leaders, organize your units and report!"

The knights changed formation in an instant and advanced toward their assigned sectors.

—Kieeeek!

"Monster ahead!"

"Grenade!"

A knight pulled a grenade from his belt, removed the pin, and threw it.

A Mana explosion erupted in the middle of a swarm of Ghoul Monsters.

Those closest to the center were blown apart into chunks of flesh, while those farther away were poisoned by blue Mana.

—Krrk, krrrk!

The Ghoul Monsters twitched as though they had been paralyzed.

"Kill them all!"

The knights drew their swords and advanced, cutting the Ghouls’ throats and splitting their hearts apart.

"Advance!"

"Watch the rooftops and doors as we move!"

Even Ferda’s army, which was advancing in a tightly packed formation, began suffering casualties.

The Demons had begun throwing sharp projectiles from the rooftops of high-rise buildings, steadily reducing the number of Tactical Infantry.

"Graaagh!"

"Jason!"

"Maintain the tight formation! If you scatter, everyone dies!"

They left the bodies of the dead behind and continued advancing and attacking.

The buildings refused to collapse, making the situation feel as though even pushing forward accomplished nothing.

Eventually, Alberto, who had been standing at the front of the formation, retreated and came to Ferda.

"Regent."

"Whoa, he can talk?"

The moment Alberto opened his mouth, Zed and Arwen reacted in surprise.

Regardless, Alberto simply said what he wanted to say.

"I don’t want to waste time."

There was only one reason Alberto had obediently followed orders during this operation.

He was waiting for the moment they entered the inner castle.

"Breaking through would be good, but I don’t think we can manage it right now."

"...."

Alberto returned to the front line.

No, he walked even farther forward than that.

"What is that guy doing?"

There was no need to wonder about his intentions.

They were obvious.

He gripped his enormous shield tightly and exerted his strength.

Then came the charge.

Kwagagagagak!

He simply bulldozed through everything in front of him, forcing his way through.

The Ghoul Monsters could not withstand his strength. They were sent flying and smashed into the walls like rotten tomatoes, splattering them with green blood.

"What the... He did that all by himself..."

Even the other knights were left in awe by his advance.

They could only think how fortunate it was that he was not an enemy.

And he was not merely breaking through.

The floor tiles that had remained completely intact even after several bombardments were being ground apart beneath him.

Ferda did not miss that information.

Even after being bombarded day and night for three days, it remained untouched...

It was evidence that the Mana sustaining this city was weakening.

Ferda wondered if Alberto would use that momentum to break through into the inner castle as well.

But he could not.

KUUUNG!!

The thing even his shield could not break through was the barrier standing before the inner castle gates.

That place was being protected by an even more powerful force.

As a result, they had ended up in the middle of a road where monsters were lurking everywhere.

The Monsters and Demons instinctively rushed toward the fool who had entered the death trap.

They would pass judgment on the idiot who had charged straight into the heart of their territory.

"Zed, Arwen, Luri! Move!"

The moment the path was opened, they moved swiftly.

Ferda was worried about Alberto, but that concern lasted only a moment.

KUUUNG!

BAAM!

Bodies of Monsters and Demons flew through the air amid tremendous crashes and vibrations.

Shockwaves erupted again and again, crushing everything around Alberto.

By the time Ferda arrived, the situation had already been settled.

Alberto stood there covered in green and purple chunks of flesh.

He paid no attention to his appearance. He placed his shield behind him, gripped his club with both hands, and brought it down hard against the barrier.

KUUUNG!!

"Ugh!"

The shockwave was so powerful that Ferda’s legs nearly gave out.

Ferda hurriedly floated into the air, barely escaping the force of the shockwave.

"Alberto."

KUUUNG!

"You’ll never break it like that."

KUUUUNG!!

"Gamigin’s protective magic works by establishing totems both inside and outside. Because of that, you can’t destroy the barrier until you bring down the totems."

"......"

As if he had finally understood Ferda’s explanation, Alberto lowered his club.

With the path into the inner castle blocked, the enemies continued to pour toward them.

"What do we do now?"

Ferda raised his head and concentrated Mana in his eyes.

For totems capable of maintaining a barrier this powerful, there were likely two possibilities.

Either they had created a very large number of totems and spread their power among them, or they had placed only a few totems and concentrated enormous amounts of power into each one.

The former would be difficult to track but easy to destroy.

The latter would be difficult to destroy but easy to track.

Fortunately, it’s the latter.

Only a Mage could see it, but the flow of Mana was clearly visible.

There were seven totems in total, scattered throughout the area.

He could not do this alone.

Ferda sent a telepathic message to the Mages of the allied army.

"To enter the inner castle, we must destroy the totems. Any Mage should be able to locate their source through the flow of Mana. Track them down and destroy them."

—Understood.

He shared similar information with the Imperial Army.

Those people desperately wanted to enter the inner castle, so there was no doubt they would prioritize this information above everything else.

"What about us?"

What else?

"We destroy the totems too. There are two totems close to us."

Ferda looked at Alberto.

"You take one of them."

"Where is it?"

"According to the flow of Mana, you should be able to reach it by running in that direction."

There were countless buildings arranged diagonally in the direction he pointed.

Unless someone had an excellent sense of direction, they would inevitably get lost in the maze-like streets.

But Alberto did not seem concerned about that at all.

He looked in the direction Ferda had pointed and picked up the shield he had set down.

Then, just as he had done on the main road, he charged once more.

KUUUNG!

KUUUNG!

KUUUNG!

If there was no path, he simply made one.

The phrase suited him perfectly, because every obstacle in his path was being cleanly swept aside.

"What kind of strength is that...?"

"I know."

Arwen and Zed could not hide their admiration.

It was not simply because Alberto possessed monstrous physical strength.

Buildings that had not even sustained scratches before were now beginning to collapse one after another, unable to withstand the explosions.

That means a great number of the humans serving as the source of Mana have died.

Legion was beginning to waver.

That was the only way to interpret what was happening.

But even after using such an idealistic form of magic, could it really be reduced to this much?

It was strange, but such things were common in magic.

When the spell Mana Burn had first been developed by a single man, people had called him the Lord of Mages.

But even that was resolved within a month.

If one possessed an artifact containing an external isolation spell used for meditation, Mana Burn could not even be attempted against them.

Magic was nothing more than an endlessly complicated game of rock-paper-scissors in which no absolute advantage existed.

Therefore, since Legion itself required such difficult conditions that it could hardly be realized, it was entirely possible that it had been overestimated.

Even so, Ferda did not let his guard down.

They were in the middle of a war.

"Shouldn’t we go like that too?"

"Is there anyone here who can do that?"

"There seems to be someone similar..."

"Do I look like a bull to you?"

When Luri glared at him with an annoyed expression, Zed immediately backed down.

In the end, they moved along the main road.

Ferda wondered whether it might actually be better to move in a straight line, even if it meant doing something as reckless as charging through obstacles like a bull.

The reason was that the Demons were concentrating their attacks on Ferda.

"Ferda Valdrova!"

"Kill that one! Lord Godwin wants him dead!"

"Doesn’t he seem to be more popular than the other kings?"

"It seems so."

None of the kings and the allied armies were being targeted as persistently as Ferda.

No, they were actually being treated more passively than the other soldiers.

By contrast, the Demons were aggressively trying to kill Ferda and were using every means and method at their disposal.

Arwen and Zed did everything they could, and Ferda did the same.

He pulled out the Staff he had concealed in the shadows.

The spell he manifested was a third-tier elemental attack spell.

"Lightning Bolt."

A bullet of the fastest Lightning attribute shot out from his Staff.

But Ferda’s lightning was no ordinary lightning.

It was Reverse Heaven Lightning, a power that only Lucy Phyliaz, the First Witch, could wield.

Its destructive power was so tremendous that it seemed capable of defying the natural order itself.

Now, one shot is enough.

It was not a nimble Butcher-type, and if he was given enough time to aim, a one-shot kill was entirely possible.

A mere Fifth-Circle Mage was eliminating a Demon with a single third-tier spell.

But there was always someone above the one who soared above the rest.

"Lord Ferda."

Luri, who had been guarding his side, spoke.

Her expression was as sharp as the axe resting on her shoulder.

"I’ll clear the path."

She had abandoned the human form she normally maintained and was displaying her true appearance as a Dragon Spawn.

Sharp horns, wings, and a tail.

As the descendant of Silverwind, Luri cut down her enemies mercilessly and without hesitation with her axe.

They said that a legendary sword remained a legendary sword.

Her skills might have grown rusty after serving Valdrova, but they were still far from ordinary.

As Ferda quietly watched her, his gaze suddenly fell upon something.

The tail bulging out from the back of her skirt.

Whenever her large tail moved, the hem of her skirt swayed along with it.

Its movements were remarkably fluid and quick, and for a moment, the motion seemed almost hypnotic, stealing Ferda’s gaze.

Perhaps she had noticed Ferda staring, because her silver eyes narrowed.

"What are you looking at?"

Ferda answered bluntly.

"Your backside is rather thick, so my eyes were drawn to it."

Her cold, steel-like eyes trembled violently.

She glanced subtly behind herself, then her face flushed bright red as she glared at Ferda as though she wanted to kill him.

She seemed about to say something, but perhaps the words would not come out, because she simply turned her head away sharply.

What’s wrong with her?

"I’m guessing you don’t know what you did wrong?"

Zed quietly approached and asked.

He really was like a human lie detector.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"What you just said was on the same level as Penelope. Maybe even worse."

"What...?"

Only then did Ferda realize that his words had been inappropriate.

I should buy her something tasty later.

Luri cleared the path while Arwen and Zed covered Ferda’s flanks and rear, allowing them to move quickly.

The place they eventually reached was a cathedral belonging to the Alte Religion.

Even the symbol of Alte, which should have been golden, had faded to gray.

Ferda could sense the presence of a totem inside.

A place that had once worshipped life had become a place that sang praises to death.

"Let’s destroy it quickly and move on."

Just as Ferda opened the cathedral doors and stepped inside, he reflexively turned his head.

It lasted only a brief moment, but something had caught his eye.

A sensation that made the hair on the back of his head stand on end.

He understood what it was through Arwen, who was standing beside him.

"Ah..."

Fear appeared in the eyes of Arwen, the once-unyielding knight.

Ferda knew that expression.

Trauma.

The unknown Monster that had tormented both Luri and Ferda before.

It was inside there now.

They had to deal with it somehow before they could proceed.

The breakthrough was closer than they thought.

It was just that the darkness beneath the lamp was the hardest to see.

"What the hell? Why are there so many eyes?"

Zed calmly looked up at it, a question mark practically appearing above his head.

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