Nighttime Siege
The enemies were advancing—yet instead of watching them, Woojin first glanced sideways to assess the allies atop the wall.
The atmosphere was unsettled.
After a string of victories, they had begun to believe the enemy forces were weakening. And now, out of nowhere, unfamiliar foes had appeared in large numbers.
Braknark roared at the top of his lungs.
"Focus! You're not about to hand the wall over to those wretched snakes, are you?!"
The naga and the gnoll tribe were bitter enemies.
Even if the naga had turned into abominations, that fact did not change. At his words, the gnolls bared their fangs and fixed their gaze on the approaching foe.
Perhaps influenced by the charged atmosphere, the Order Federation's soldiers regained their composure as well. The holy knight overseeing the field barked orders.
"Operate the ballistae!"
The soldiers rushed to their stations before the massive weapons. Soon, with a sharp mechanical hum, the amethysts embedded in the sides of the ballistae began to glow.
These siege engines were usually kept inactive to conserve resources. The consecrated silver bolts were costly, and prolonged use required replacing the mana-crystals that powered them.
And beyond cost, the great ballistae had another drawback.
They required a short warm-up period before firing.
Meanwhile, the naga abominations were closing in at alarming speed. Each time their serpentine tails coiled and uncoiled in a spiral, their bodies surged forward in bursts of acceleration.
They had to slow that momentum.
"Loose the crossbows!"
The soldiers pulled their triggers in response. Silver bolts rained like a sudden downpour over the heads of the charging enemies.
But before the arrows could strike, the naga abominations snatched up bone spears embedded in the earth.
Whirr, whirr—!
The shafts spun briskly, cutting through the air with shrill whistles. The naga deflected the incoming bolts with practiced precision—even as they continued slithering forward without pause.
Naga are adept with weapons.
The gnolls relied on superior physical strength to hunt. The naga, by contrast, excelled in refined weapon mastery.
For some reason, the naga abominations had lost the personal weapons they once wielded. Instead, they armed themselves with whatever lay on the battlefield.
Earlier, the gnolls had thrown javelins to subdue the enemy. With no time to retrieve them, the spears had been left scattered—never imagining the foe would reuse them this way.
"Raise shields!!"
Woojin's voice cut through the din of battle.
In the next instant, the naga slammed their tails into the ground, using them like springs to leap high into the air. With that momentum, they hurled their seized javelins with full force.
But just ahead of impact, the heavy infantry rose as one and lifted their shields—towering full-body shields forged from thick steel. These were elite soldiers capable of channeling mana.
Boom—!!
The javelins struck with tremendous force. The impact nearly knocked the heavy infantry backward, but the soldiers behind them braced their backs, reinforcing their stance.
A response born of rigorous training.
No casualties resulted.
The gnolls likewise seemed to suffer no major losses. They had fought many skirmishes against the naga before and understood their combat style well.
Even as abominations… they can replicate the skills they learned in life.
Recognizing this early had prevented disaster. They had exchanged blows once, but neither side had inflicted decisive damage.
Braknark shouted to his warriors.
"Stop throwing javelins! Don't let them arm themselves!"
Reluctantly, the gnolls ceased their throws. A gap in firepower opened—but it did not matter. The knight commanding the Federation troops took control.
"First rank, fire! Second rank, load and hold!"
Arrows were useless without bows. Even if the naga retrieved them, they would struggle to use them effectively.
The soldiers unleashed silver bolts without restraint. As the first rank crouched to reload, the second rank fired in turn—staggered volleys minimizing downtime.
The barrage pinned the naga in place. Should they ready themselves to throw again, they would immediately be riddled with silver bolts.
Time favored the defenders.
The ballistae will finish warming up soon.
Marksmen with exceptional night vision waited tensely at the ready.
No matter how skilled the naga were, they could not block every arrow. Each volley accumulated damage. At this rate, the enemy would fall without great difficulty.
The abominations seemed to realize this.
Suddenly, the leading naga abandoned defense altogether. Taking silver bolts head-on, they hurled their javelins wildly.
Crack—thud!
The spears embedded harmlessly into the wall. The heavy infantry who had raised shields found themselves momentarily awkward—these reckless throws resembled the desperate flailing of creatures with nothing left to lose.
Then, all at once, the naga abominations charged the wall.
Now that the distance had closed, their forms were clearer than before.
"Fire! Don't aim—just shoot!"
The commander barked relentlessly. The soldiers pulled their triggers without pause.
The naga pressed forward heedless of the barrage, spreading out widely as they advanced—like moths drawn to flame.
At this rate, they would soon reach the wall.
Woojin shouted,
"Prepare for close combat!"
The waiting knights drew their swords. Yet inwardly, doubt stirred.
Could those creatures truly scale the wall?
The wall was tall, and a deep moat encircled it. Without the ability to fly, crossing it seemed impossible.
The naga had no wings.
And yet—their movements were light as feathers.
Taah!
The naga abominations used their serpentine tails to launch themselves high toward the wall. That in itself was not surprising—he had already seen them leap like that once before.
The problem came afterward.
Sssrk, srrrok—
They moved as smoothly as snakes slithering over a fence.
Their hands and coiling tails latched onto the javelins they had thrown earlier and embedded into the wall. Using those spears as stepping stones, the naga began climbing upward.
Their guttural cries grew louder. The naga-turned-abominations were astonishingly fast—and numerous. Their rotting black eyes fixed upon the allied forces atop the wall.
It's only a matter of time before they crest the top.
They clung tightly to the wall, ruining the defenders' firing angles. Silver bolts were difficult to use at this proximity. It would come down to close combat.
That was not a role for ordinary soldiers. No common man could hope to stand against such monsters.
"Retreat! Fall back!!"
From the moment Woojin had mentioned melee combat, the soldiers had already begun withdrawing. They descended by ladders and ropes in swift, orderly fashion—thanks to constant drilling.
After retreating, they would regroup behind the wooden barricades set up inside the wall to block any breach.
Soon, the naga abominations crested the ramparts. To cover the soldiers' withdrawal, the holy knights stepped forward. One knight facing a naga felt a flicker of unease.
…It's huge.
Up close, the creature's size was even more imposing. With its serpentine lower body, its total length was immense.
Where do I even strike?
The naga's upper body swayed continuously from side to side. The strange motion was disorienting. Its serpentine torso twisted abruptly, and in tandem, the spear in its hands traced unpredictable arcs.
The knight hurriedly swung his sword to deflect the incoming thrust. The enemy's technique was so bizarre that gauging an opening for a counterattack proved difficult.
Other knights faced similar trouble. The naga wielded weapons like humans—but their style and system were utterly alien. That unfamiliarity made them dangerous.
…But the gnoll tribe was an exception.
"It's the warriors' turn!"
Braknark roared. The gnolls cheered and charged.
Just as the naga had done moments before, they twisted their bodies and thrust bone spears in irregular patterns. The gnolls' response was simple.
Crunch!!
A gnoll's powerful jaws clamped down on the incoming spearhead and bit it clean through. Startled, the naga staggered back—only for the gnoll warrior to press forward and grapple it fiercely.
The bone spears in the naga's hands were crude weapons gnolls themselves had carved with claws and teeth. Such tools could not seriously harm them.
Without their true weapons, their combat ability isn't that threatening.
Naga grew by shedding their skin.
Freshly shed skin was as soft as silk, but over time it hardened—becoming stronger than steel. They crafted weapons from these hardened scales.
Scale weapons.
A source of tribal pride. Every naga possessed one forged from their own shed skin.
With each molt, they reinforced their weapon, making it stronger and heavier. The more skilled the warrior, the more formidable their scale weapon became.
In essence, they were a race that grew alongside their weapons. A naga could not display its full prowess without its scale armament.
It seems… they lost those weapons during the transformation.
Perhaps they were discarded. Perhaps they had been thrown away deliberately.
The latter seemed more likely.
Naga treasured their scale weapons. Even in death, they would not tolerate their weapon being taken as spoils. Likely, just before succumbing, they had hurled them far away.
We can handle this without major losses.
The gnolls would not fall to half-armed naga. Led by Braknark, they subdued the abominations one after another.
Woojin was not idle either.
A naga thrust its spear toward him. Woojin caught the spearhead in his left hand and tightened his grip. With a flick of his wrist, he lifted it.
The naga's entire body rose into the air—like food picked up with chopsticks. Woojin swung the spear sideways.
"Graaaargh—!"
The naga's scream faded as it was flung off the wall. Before it could hit the ground below, Woojin hurled the captured bone spear, bursting its skull mid-fall.
After that, he sprinted along the ramparts, cutting down or kicking off any naga that came into view. Occasionally, he lobbed incendiary projectiles into the mass of abominations gathered below, setting them ablaze.
And then—
Kiiiing!
The ballistae emitted a sharp whine. The warm-up was complete.
A holy knight locked in combat shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Fire!!"
Five ballistae unleashed a torrent of silver bolts. Brilliant streaks carved across the battlefield.
As those arcs swept the ground, abominations melted one after another, shrieking in agony. Even the naga could not easily deflect the massive ballista bolts.
Each time they blocked one, their bodies reeled violently. The ballista projectiles were far larger and heavier than ordinary crossbow bolts.
"Grrk—gaaaargh!!"
A naga struck by a bolt writhed and screamed, twisting like a worm impaled on a hook.
Had they judged the battle unwinnable?
The naga abominations began retreating in haste, slithering back toward the forest. Not many survived—few enough to count with the naked eye.
Roughly… a dozen made it out.
At least ninety percent of the enemy force had been wiped out. A decisive victory. The gnoll warriors roared in triumph.
But Woojin was not pleased.
…Why did creatures like that appear so suddenly?
He would need to reassess the situation.
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