Chapter 189 – The Tables Have Turned!?
"Here they come! Prepare to drive them back!"
The Arancia soldiers were running busily in both directions on top of the walls of Alanberc.
They were all wielding weapons made in Sheorl. Mappa and the others had mass produced crossbows and bows.
I was also up on the walls with Rienna.
And a short distance away, Fule, Ashton and Haines stood together as well.
As we could not bring any Mado Armors, we decided to fight here on top of the wall.
However, ten Mado Armors had already been built in Arancia.
Alyssa and the Guardians would ride them and stop this attack.
"Lord Heal… Do you think Alyssa and the others will be alright?"
Rienna asked in a worried voice.
"They haven't had much training yet. But it seems like they won't move too far from the wall while fighting, and so will be able to offer them some support."
Rienna nodded at this.
As preparations were made, the already gloomy sky turned even darker.
When I looked at the horizon from the wall, I could see that a black wave and sky were slowly moving towards us.
Depending on how bad it was, Mel would come and help us, as she was strong when fighting against them.
However, it would be best if the people of Arancia could defend the city without any help.
We would try and avoid participating in the attack, and see just how much the current Arancia people were capable of.
Just then, a sudden gust of wind blew around us.
When I looked up, I saw a giant blue colored Armor flying in the sky.
Upon seeing this, the Arancian people started to cheer.
"Your Highness! May luck be with you!!"
"May you be victorious!!"
It was clear that Alyssa was adored by her people.
Apparently, the Mado Armor had been painted blue as a prayer for the darkened skies of Arancia to become blue once again.
The metallic blue looked good against the dark sky. And so it would look like a symbol of hope to the people of Arancia, who lived in a gray city.
Alyssa's Mado Armor nodded its head, and then advanced towards the wave of black.
"Rienna! Let's do it!"
"Yes!"
And so we cast Shield on the Mado Armors.
As we were protecting five Mado Armors each, we could not attack.
If the enemy got close, we would have to rely on Fule, Ashton and the Arancian people.
As we all watched, one of the Mado Armors sent out a burst of flames from its hand.
The flames immediately swallowed up dozens of Undead.
The soldiers on the wall saw this and gasped.
I was also surprised by the scale of the attack.
It had likely been unleashed by Guardian Vanessa. But the magic was far more powerful than when she had used it before.
Even in my home country, there had been no one who could use magic like this.
While some of it could be attributed to Vanessa, the power of the Mado Armor was incredible.
"…The others have started to attack as well."
The other Mado Armors were fighting with swords or giant ballistas.
And while there were flying Undead, such as dragons, coming from the sky, they were not able to keep up with the speed of the Armors, and they were defeated one after another.
By the time that the Undead were within range of the trebuchets and ballistas on the wall, quite a lot of them had been killed.
Rienna muttered as she watched.
"It seems to be going well!"
"Aye. I had thought that only magic would be effective, but these were made by Mappa. I'll have to tell him the results later. However…"
My gaze turned to the corpses of the Undead.
While most of them were bones, they were not from a single race. This horde was made up of numerous different races.
And perhaps they had become like this after being exposed to the black miasma for too long.
Had Garuda and the Lance Bees been saved because they hadn't been infected for too long?
In any case, we would have to learn more about this enemy.
As for the battle, it continued in our favor.
While we had cast Shield on them, Alyssa and the others were veteran fighters, and none of the enemy attacks even landed.
In that case, with a few more Mado Armors, the people of Arancia should be able to deal with the enemy on their own.
However, it was then that I noticed that the soldiers were restless.
"Doesn't it…look like the sky and waves are avoiding us?"
As the soldier said, the sky and waves had parted and were moving to the left and right of Alanberc, as if to go around it.
"Are they going to surround us? …No?"
When I looked to the back, I saw something like a ray of light being unleashed towards the sky.
"That…it's from the holy place!"
Rienna shouted.
This light beam must be one of the defense systems of the holy place.
They were attacking the Undead that came from the sky.
But this seemed to be the first time the soldiers had ever seen the holy place engage in fighting, and they were all surprised.
"…It seems like they switched their target from us to the holy place."
Said Rienna. I nodded in agreement.
"Well, from the looks of it, they are capable of defending themselves."
The light beams looked like they could be dwarven technology.
However, why had the enemy gone around?
Did they decide that the holy place was weaker, and so should be invaded first?
Perhaps the appearance of the Mado Armors had changed the balance of power between Arancia and the holy place.
Now that Arancia was no longer a target, the people began to cheer.
I could hear some of them say that the holy place could deal with the rest.
The holy place had done nothing to aid them when they needed help.
And so it was no wonder that none wanted to help the holy place now.
Just then, Alyssa's Armor returned.
She descended from the Armor and walked towards us, while the people of Arancia cheered.
Three Guardians followed closely behind her.
"Alyssa! That was amazing."
"It was all thanks to you and your people, Lord Heal! This Armor is incredible…"
Through riding and fighting with it, they had now understood its true power.
"We'll do our best to have more of them made for you. But more importantly…"
Alyssa's face turned serious at my words.
"It would not feel right if we aided in the defense of the holy place now. I want to wait and see their reaction… But…"
This was Alyssa. She wouldn't just allow them to be killed.
However, the people of Arancia would not have the same view.
But I agreed with her. I couldn't just watch them all die.
And so I spoke in order to assure her.
"Depending on how things go, we will step in. You don't have to do anything. We will move."
"I'm sorry…"
And so after that, we decided to watch the holy place.
A few hours later, the holy place finally succeeded in driving the enemy back.
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Chapter 190 – We Observed!?
Voices rose from all over Alanberc.
"We won!"
"To think that they could be driven back so easily!"
The battle had ended in less than an hour, and no one had died, much less been wounded.
On top of that, while Sheorl had given them some support, it had been their leader, Alyssa, who drove the enemy away. And so there was no way that their morale wouldn't get boosted.
As for me, I was standing on the wall between the city and the holy place, along with Alyssa and the rest of us from Sheorl.
This position offered us a full view of the holy place.
I looked down with a telescope and said,
"It seems like they were able to stop the attack as well…"
"Though, some of their green lands are burning."
Rienna said. Yes, flames were rising in parts of their richly green land.
"They may be burning the parts that have been infected by miasma."
Said Alyssa, who was next to me. I nodded.
"Previously, a small bug that was covered in miasma got in, and a whole district was burned down in order to kill it. And so there must have been a similar invasion this time."
But it was still a very small area. And from the looks of it, no one had died. There was no doubt that they had succeeded in defending themselves.
However, the holy place would likely be the first to be attacked next time.
And even if they stopped it, the enemy would come again. And if the holy place took damage like this every time, then…
"…Everyone believed that the holy place was safe, as if protected by an iron wall. But perhaps it is a lot weaker than we thought."
Alyssa muttered quietly as she stared at the holy place.
In the first place, if Alanberc fell, then the holy place would have been the next target. Perhaps they had been confident that they could defend themselves if this happened, but they underestimated the enemy.
Alyssa had a conflicted expression on her face, but then she shook her head and said,
"They never listened to the cries of help from the Arancia people, and they just locked themselves up in there. Unless they come to us for help first…no, even if they do that, most of the people will refuse to help them."
They were reaping what they sowed… That was likely how Alyssa felt. How most of the people felt.
And it wasn't just them, of course. The people of Sheorl also had no reason to help them.
However, if they were to become desperate enough to ask for aid… I could not see myself refusing.
And it did not seem too unlikely that they would ask.
However, what if they didn't ask for help until they started dying… It's their own fault, and it cannot be helped. I wouldn't be able to say that. Not if I and Sheorl had the power to help them.
In that case, could we use that power to control the leaders of the holy place?
We could make a display of our power. Aries also had the ability of mind control. We could bribe them with precious metals and stones. It would not be difficult to make them cooperate with Alanberc.
As I thought about all of this, Rienna muttered as if reading my mind.
"If the holy place does fall, then Alanberc will be surrounded on all four sides. It will be considerably more difficult to defend the city if that happens."
Rienna was right.
So in a way, helping the holy place would be profitable for Arancia.
But Alyssa shook her head.
"If we want to continue to guard against future attacks, it might be best to let go of the past and work together to defend the city. However, at least for some time, the people of Arancia will agree with that. As for the holy place, I'm sure they have their own pride, and will claim that they are doing just fine. I do not see how we can cooperate…"
Alyssa answered. Haines had been listening all of this time, and he now opened his mouth.
"I don't think that cooperation is even necessary here."
"Huh?"
Alyssa tilted her head to the side.
"Well, I mean, there are other things that must be done… Um, how can I put this… Brother?"
"I think he's trying to say that regardless of what the holy place is thinking, we should do what we can and find other ways to protect Alanberc."
"Yes! That's what I mean, older brother!"
Haines and Ashton were right. There was no need to work together. As long as Arancia was safe, then whether or not they worked together was a small problem.
I nodded and said,
"If we want it so that they are helped merely as a result, then we just need to make it so the attacks stop completely."
Alyssa looked very puzzled as she turned to me.
"Make them stop? Surely that is not…"
"It will be difficult. However, the people of Arancia cannot stay shut up behind these walls forever. Even the food problem leaves you too dependent. You must take back your old lands."
"That is true. While we are receiving aid from Sheorl now, we cannot continue to depend on you forever."
"You don't have to worry about that. That being said, we don't know how long Sheorl will continue to be safe. And so I want Arancia to not only be able to support itself, but to be able to help other territories. In order to do that, you can't just stay here and defend. You have to go out and fight to take back your lands."
Mel could purify the ground and little by little, increase the range of safety around the city. And with the Evergreen Stones I asked Elto and Roydon for, they can make plants grow and start farming again.
After thinking about this for a while, Alyssa nodded.
"Yes. Every day, the scale of the attacks increases. If this continues, it will be like we're just waiting for death. Regardless of the holy place, we must take back our lands with our own hands."
"Then we must find out where the attacks are coming from, and the reason for them. Sheorl can also investigate the far seas and explore the area around Arancia. If we can predict when they will come and by what route, it will be easier to deal with them."
"Aye… But, that means we will need your help again. Especially with the walls. We aren't strong enough yet…"
"Don't worry about it. I was also curious about the surrounding area."
As Alyssa tilted her head, I muttered while looking at the blackened lands of Arancia