"Wowwwww!"
The soldiers erupted in cheers at Ghislain’s generous promise. It felt as though strength they didn’t even know they had was surging through them.
Encouraged by the roaring morale, Ghislain raised his voice even louder.
"I also pledge that the sa rewards will be given to the families of those who fall in battle! And these conditions will remain until the end of the monster wave! I make this promise on my na!"
"Uwaaahhhhhh!"
Another resounding cheer shook the battlefield.
The continent had suffered endless tornt for years: drought, plague, the ergence of rifts, the rise of the Salvation Order, and the rebellions. Most of the soldiers had enlisted not out of choice but out of necessity, struggling to feed their families. Death was terrifying, but the thought of leaving their families destitute was even worse.
Now, a massive reward had been promised. Even if they died, their families would be cared for.
For the soldiers, this was nothing short of a miracle.
"If it were any other noble making such a promise, I wouldn’t believe it."
"But the Duke of Fenris is different."
"Everyone says he always follows through on his rewards to the letter."
Ghislain’s reputation for giving generous rewards was well known across the entire continent. Even the smallest contributions during war were ticulously noted and rewarded.
And he was never one to backtrack on his promises due to a lack of funds. Ghislain Fenris was infamous as the wealthiest man on the continent. His endlessly abundant food supply alone could sustain the entire continent and then so. Many kingdoms owed their survival to his support.
The atmosphere on the battlefield shifted. They had already secured victory in the most dangerous area, and reinforcents from other fortresses would soon join the fight.
There was no reason to fear anymore.
"Let’s do this!"
"The first ti was hard; the second will be a breeze!"
"If there are fewer of them, we’ll crush them easily!"
The soldiers raised their weapons with newfound confidence, shouting with vigor. Their morale was at an all-ti high.
Ghislain nodded with a satisfied smile. Indeed, most problems could be solved with money. And if a problem couldn’t be solved, it simply ant there wasn’t enough money.
While Ghislain basked in satisfaction, Marquis Alpheren whispered in distress.
"D-Duke! The Allied Forces don’t have the financial resources for this!"
"It’ll be fine."
"No, it’s not fine! The treasury is already depleted!"
For Ghislain, it was always fine. For everyone else, it was anything but.
The rewards Ghislain had just promised were astronomical. Even a well-off kingdom would struggle to provide such sums without its economy collapsing.
And this was a ti when most kingdoms were already struggling to stay afloat financially. The spoils of war were intended to stabilize the economy, not to fund such lavish promises.
"Right now, we’re barely managing to secure enough rations!"
Years of drought and plague had ravaged the continent, and war had stretched on for too long. Most kingdoms were struggling even to secure basic food supplies.
Currently, more than half of the Allied Forces’ rations were being provided by the Kingdom of Ruthania. Without Ruthania’s heightened production capacity, the war would have ended in a disastrous defeat for the Allied Forces.
Despite this, Ghislain remained unfazed, his expression calm.
"I said it’s fine."
"D-Duke… do you really have that much money?"
"I may be wealthy, but not that wealthy. Hahaha. Do you think I could personally pay the wages of all the Allied Forces?"
"…"
"Let’s think about it when the ti cos."
"…"
"If money runs out, we can always pay in goods."
Ghislain never fretted over the details. Honestly, he had no idea how much money remained in the treasury.
In the early days, he had personally overseen every detail, but as his influence grew exponentially, it beca impossible to manage everything himself.
Claude would know, but he wasn’t here at the mont, so there was no way to check.
Still, it didn’t matter. If resources ran low, they could simply take what they needed from sowhere else. Why bother explaining such trivialities?
Marquis Alpheren shot a wary glance at Ghislain.
"He always manages to solve problems sohow… but his thods are terrifyingly unpredictable."
He was too afraid to ask further. The less he knew, the better. All he could do was pray that the funds would sohow materialize.
Thanks to Ghislain’s bold declaration, the troops’ morale soared, and they quickly mobilized.
As the newly reorganized army joined forces with other fortresses, the monster wave descended upon nearly all of them.
"Kiiiiieeekkkk!"
As they watched the monstrous horde surging toward them, the soldiers who had fought at the frontlines thought to themselves:
"The Duke of Fenris is a liar!"
The monsters were coming at them like an unstoppable flood.
***
Ghislain had not lied.
There were indeed fewer monsters than at the frontlines. The soldiers simply hadn’t had the chance to notice because of the overwhelming numbers. Furthermore, the Cyclopses no longer appeared, so they didn’t have to worry about their devastating boulder throws anymore.
Kaaaaaah!
Even so, the monster wave was anything but easy. The soldiers in each fortress fought tooth and nail against the onslaught of creatures.
Fortunately, unlike the frontline fortress, these fortresses managed to fend off the monsters with minimal losses. Ghislain and other superhumans had gone to support them, along with mages and reinforcents from the frontline.
However, one fortress received no support at all. It was believed they could hold their own without assistance.
Kraaaahhh!
Despite the mass of monsters approaching, the soldiers defending this fortress showed no signs of fear.
This was the Ruthanian Army, widely regarded as the strongest force among the Allied Forces.
"Fire!" Tenant shouted, and the trebuchets moved into action.
Thud, thud, thud!
"Fire!" Galbaric echoed the command, and nearly 300 trebuchets unleashed their payloads.
In addition to the Galvanium trebuchets carried by the mobile forces, over a hundred large trebuchets had been brought back from earlier campaigns.
Each volley of stones from this massive arsenal wiped out hundreds of monsters.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of boulders crushing monsters echoed relentlessly. Even flying monsters were struck mid-air and fell like rain.
The sight was cathartic. Galbaric, who was commanding the siege unit, puffed out his chest with pride.
"As expected, the trebuchets crafted by us dwarves are the best on the continent."
Fenris’s trebuchets were unparalleled in their destructive power and precision. Their rate of fire was twice that of standard trebuchets, and they operated without a hitch, a testant to the craftsmanship of Galbaric and his fellow dwarves.
Still, the dwarves couldn’t help but grumble, their eyes brimming with tears.
"I'm so tired I want to die. Look how much weight I've lost."
"We've been working for days on end, and the war isn’t over. When will it finally end?"
"If it weren’t for that persistent bastard Alfoy, we could’ve escaped ages ago."
"Claude is no better. It’s like he won’t rest until he drives us into the ground."
Although Ghislain was the mastermind behind the strategies, the dwarves reserved their complaints for Alfoy and Claude, the ones who had directly pushed them to their limits.
Grumbling all the while, the dwarves continued commanding the siege unit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
If their opponents were human armies, they would have been annihilated before even advancing. But the monsters, through sheer numbers, managed to press forward despite the rain of boulders.
Flying monsters, unimpeded by terrain, reached the fortress first. As they ca into range, archers and mounted cavalry archers raised their bows.
Lumina, the elf commander of the archers, let out a low whistle.
Wheeeew—
Even amidst the cacophony of the battlefield, her whistle cut through the noise, reaching everyone’s ears.
Gifted with exceptional affinity for nature, Lumina was becoming increasingly adept at communicating with it as ti passed.
Within monts, tens of thousands of arrows filled the sky.
Pshhhhhh!
Kaaaah!
Flying monsters that entered range were pierced through their bodies and wings, plumting to the ground.
The improved bows crafted in Fenris boasted superior range and power. The flying monsters never even reached the fortress walls before being brought down.
Among the archers stood Ascon, calmly drawing his bowstring.
"Whew... Damn it, this ti I’ll hit my target for sure."
Despite being an elf, he had always ranked last in archery training, a blow to his pride.
"I can’t lose to re human archers."
This was a matter of elven pride.
Ascon aid at the largest wyvern approaching.
Creak...
He focused intently, tuning out the chaotic battlefield around him. His arrow would ride the wind, hitting its target precisely as only an elf could achieve.
It took longer to aim, but the precision made up for the delay.
I can feel the wind.
Every fiber of his being told him the ti was now. The wind itself seed to whisper that his arrow would pierce through the massive wyvern if he shot now.
Ride the wind.
Twang!
Whooooosh!
The arrow soared on the wind, striking true and burying itself in the wyvern’s body.
Kraaaah!
The wyvern let out a shriek of pain as it plumted to the ground.
"Hmph," Ascon smirked arrogantly, running a hand through his hair.
In truth, the arrow had struck a much smaller wyvern than his intended target. But who cared?
"Damn it, as long as I hit sothing, it’s fine. Right, Shibara? Oh, right, Shibara’s not here."
Shibara was currently down in the stables, chewing on fodder.
Ascon continued firing arrows indiscriminately. With so many monsters, it was impossible not to hit sothing, and it felt imnsely satisfying.
Between the trebuchet bombardnt and the relentless arrows, countless monsters fell before they could reach the fortress.
Yet so still managed to break through.
Kraaaah!
Thud, thud, thud!
Ogres, trolls, bugbears, and other massive monsters charged toward the fortress. Smaller monsters sward alongside them.
Plenty more monsters remained in the rear, too nurous to handle entirely with trebuchets and arrows.
Those that reached the fortress walls were left to the mages.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Pillars of fire erupted, lightning bolts struck, and the earth shook, burying scores of monsters in its tremors.
The Ruthanian Army boasted a considerable number of mages. Ghislain had captured them as prisoners of war during various internal conflicts, later binding them to his cause.
Additionally, mages who sought refuge in Fenris were imdiately recruited under strict contracts.
The Fenris Mage Corps poured their mana into the onslaught, annihilating countless monsters.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Despite their efforts, the swarm was relentless. So monsters managed to reach the fortress walls. Giant monsters battered the walls, while smaller ones climbed atop their larger companions to scale the defenses.
"Hold the line!" Tenant shouted, and the soldiers raised their shields in unison.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A wall of shields rose swiftly, causing so monsters to lose their footing and fall.
Still, others managed to scale the shields.
Kraaaah!
Mad with frenzy, the monsters howled in glee, eager to sink their claws into the living beings before them.
But the soldiers didn’t flinch, not even as the monsters vaulted over their shields. They held their ground, trusting their comrades behind them.
That trust was not misplaced.
From behind the shield wall, spears suddenly thrust out.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Most monsters were skewered before they could breach the defenses. A few managed to break through, only to be sward and quickly dispatched.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Soldiers waiting in the rear used hooks and long poles to remove the corpses, keeping the formation intact.
The movents were precise and seamless, a testant to Ghislain’s rigorous training regin. This was the secret to the Ruthanian Army’s legendary strength.
Despite the overwhelming attacks, monsters continued swarming toward the fortress.
Tenant surveyed the battlefield and issued new orders to the mages.
"Ignore the center. Focus your attacks on the flanks."
The mages obeyed imdiately. Concentrated magic on the flanks forced the monsters to converge at the center.
At that mont, a figure leapt down from the fortress walls.
Thud!
Kraaaah!
The monsters roared in delight at the sight of prey willingly offering itself.
A massive ogre swung its club, an attack capable of pulverizing any ordinary human in a single strike.
But the one who had descended was no ordinary human.
Crunch.
Parniel tightened her grip. Her bulging arms tensed as veins popped across her skin.
Her massive mace swung upward to et the ogre’s club.
Boom!
The ogre’s club shattered instantly, splintering into countless fragnts. Before it could even react, Parniel swung her mace again.
Boom!
Crack!
The ogre’s ribs caved in completely. The force of the blow was so imnse that its torso montarily appeared concave. It fell lifelessly to the ground, unable to even cry out.
The sheer impact had crushed its internal organs beyond repair.
Kraaaah!
The shockwave from Parniel’s attack sent nearby monsters reeling.
She closed her eyes and made the sign of the cross.
"Blessed Goddess, may all this corruption be cleansed today. Grant the strength to banish this darkness."
Flash!
As she opened her eyes, a brilliant aura of divine power began radiating from her gaze.
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