Episode 45. Defense of the Northern Fortress (4)
—
“What… What is that?”
“Something is falling from the sky!!!”
“What did you say?!”
Julian, who was at the vanguard of Serpina’s army, froze in panic as he looked up at the sky.
A rock was… falling.
A burning rock.
A massive rock, which could even be described as divine punishment often mentioned by religious folks.
And that rock was-
Slowly starting to obscure the sky from Julian’s view.
“……!!!!”
At that moment, Julian quickly grasped the severity of his dangerous situation and forcefully pulled the reins in his hands, discarding all thoughts.
At the same time, the horse he was riding started to sprint at full speed.
He must escape!
Forget the command and the trumpets, if he doesn’t escape now, he will die!
Death!
Even a general who has taken numerous lives on the battlefield, how could he be indifferent to death?
Especially if it was a death that could be considered meaningful, fighting bravely on the battlefield.
But.
To be crushed to death by a suddenly falling rock from the sky?
He would be remembered in history, indeed. A general crushed to death by a rock falling from the sky.
Not even a general who fought valiantly in an impossible battle.
Not even a general who died in an unfortunate accident while preparing to sortie.
A general crushed by a rock that suddenly fell from the sky!
“Absolutely not!!!!”
Julian screamed as he raced to escape the area.
Due to his momentary fear, the command structure was thrown into disarray.
What if he had ordered, “Everyone, escape as best you can!” at that moment?
But, it was already too late.
And then.
“Aaaaah!!!”
“Save me!!!!”
The massive meteor, as if it had no intention of sparing any thought for the situation of Serpina’s army-
Crashed directly into the area crowded with soldiers and siege weapons.
Bang——-!!!
A thunderous noise that seemed to tear the earth apart was heard.
And between them, the horrific screams of Serpina’s army leaked through.
As the sound of spreading flames was heard, soon a thick smoke obscured everyone’s vision….
Shortly after, a few raindrops began to fall- and then a downpour started, soaking the earth.
How much time had passed?
Julian, realizing that the rain was fiercely hitting his forehead, slowly lifted his head.
“Cough… Cough.”
Thrown off his horse by the shockwave of the meteor’s impact and sprawled on the ground, he struggled to wipe the blood flowing down his forehead and sat down on the ground.
Although he ended up in a very pathetic state, the fact that he was still breathing meant a lot to him.
Pain is felt. Breath can be taken. The noisy sounds continued to ring and buzz around his ears.
All of this proved one single fact.
“I survived…!!”
Because of that fact, despite the pain dominating his body, he could still smile with relief.
Pain is okay. The pain could somehow be washed away.
But death could not be washed away. Once dead, everything ends.
Everything lived for becomes meaningless.
However.
Julian could not hold onto that relief for long.
“Wait a minute… What, what happened?!”
Only then did the devastation in front of him unfold in his view.
The giant rock that fell in the middle of our troops.
The earth that was gouged out.
…The remains of soldiers who could not escape and were crushed.
“Hi, Hiiik…!!”
On the battlefield, he had beheaded countless soldiers.
He knew better than anyone that if he didn’t kill, the lives of him and his comrades would be in danger.
He thought he understood well enough that in such battlefields- the lives of those who were breathing just a moment ago, including his own, were treated as light as a fly’s.
But.
An unknown force.
Something fundamentally incomprehensible, something entirely beyond control.
Being crushed by a massive rock that suddenly fell from the sky.
Including changing one’s behavior, being unable to control anything in the face of an unknown terror…
Even Julian, seasoned on the battlefield, could not help but be consumed by fear.
After all, he was just a commander who was good at fighting, not some kind of superhero.
Then.
“……!!”
Feeling a subtle gaze, Julian slowly turned his head to look behind him.
The walls.
The not-so-high walls of the fortress were visible.
Riding away in panic, he had gotten a bit closer.
And on that wall-
A man with white hair was standing with his hand stretched out.
He was looking at the rock.
Even from a distance, his expression wasn’t clearly visible… but at least he didn’t seem to be disturbed.
He looked rather calmly at this place without any signs of surprise.
“What… What the hell?!”
If such a rock were to fall from the sky, any normal person would naturally be shocked.
Then why… could he remain so composed?
As if he knew from the beginning that this would happen…?
And come to think of it, that man.
He was doing strange things on top of the walls, building an odd altar.
Beating drums, screaming at the top of his lungs.
It still lingered in my eyes that he was performing some kind of ritual.
Initially, I thought he was just insane.
But given that something impossible happened, I couldn’t dismiss that man’s actions.
“Could it be…?!”
Magic…?
Was it magic?
Was that ritual… a kind of magic?
Magic couldn’t exist. Magicians only existed in legends.
Moreover, the magic described in legends wasn’t as preposterous as this.
But if it’s not magic, how else could I explain this situation?
Not heard from someone else, but seen with my own two eyes!
Can it even make sense for such a rock to suddenly fall from the sky?
The man’s actions seemed more plausible in summoning the rock!
And then.
The man on the wall… slowly lowered his head to look down at me.
And then, he looked down at where Julian was.
“What… What…!”
Julian, overwhelmed by the man’s expression, unknowingly flailed his arms and retreated.
He felt as if he would be devoured by those cold grey eyes.
And at that moment.
The man looked at him with a very displeased expression.
As if to say, “Why are you still alive?”
“Hi, Hiiiek…!!”
He was certain.
The man had caused the rock to fall from the sky!
Whether it was magic or not, that didn’t matter.
Once the result was out, the process became irrelevant.
Then, the identity of the man who took such action-
“Is it… a god…??”
Just a moment ago, he was dismissing religion as weak, scoffing at the idea of praying to non-existent beings and performing rituals.
But after seeing the man’s cold eyes, he thought of a god that shouldn’t exist.
At that moment.
“General Julian!”
A soldier rode up from behind and approached Julian.
Apparently, a soldier who had avoided damage by being at the very rear.
He quickly approached Julian, supporting him, and said.
“Are you alright, General?!”
“I… I am.”
I want to stand up.
But because of those cold eyes, as if being forced to sit down, my
legs wouldn’t move.
This was fear.
Moreover, a very fundamental fear of an unknown power.
Humans fear death because they cannot even guess what lies beyond death.
In this realm, no one could ask anyone. It was impossible to revive the dead to ask them.
Isn’t that why humans try to overcome that fear by relying on the power of religion?
The fear I felt now was very similar to the fear of death.
“Please, save me…!”
“General Julian…?”
Julian, realizing once again that there was a soldier by his side, said.
“Run… Run…! The entire army! We must retreat! A god… a god has appeared…!! We must run!!!”
“What? That’s…!”
“Don’t you hear me! Hurry! We must run!”
The soldier was already confused about what to do due to the rock falling from the sky.
Therefore, there was nothing else to do but follow the commander’s orders at this moment.
“Understood…!”
The soldier helped Julian onto the horse he had ridden and handed it over.
Julian, somehow managing to climb onto the horse’s saddle, started running, biting down on the pain he felt.
He must escape!
That thought was the only driving force that allowed him to move in this situation.
Thus, Julian rode away on horseback without even attempting to regroup the crumbling allied forces.
—
“…It’s hard to see.”
There seemed to be an enemy-looking man near the wall, so I tried to check his face.
Even squinting, it’s hard to see.
I thought about getting closer to check, but I gave up on that idea. My body felt weak.
But fortunately, it seemed that Serpina’s army had started a full retreat.
Running away desperately, abandoning even the siege weapons they had brought, it looked like they were quite scared.
Well, a meteor suddenly falling from the sky would scare anyone, so it’s more surprising if they weren’t scared.
“…Sigh.”
It’s a relief that things went well, but I was really nervous.
There was no sign of lightning striking at all.
The sky was overcast, but there was no rain or storm. In this game, lightning- or rather, thunderbolts, only struck when it was raining, so I was really panicked when the enemies reached the fortress and there was no rain.
When the siege weapons almost reached us, it was a bit scary… but I wasn’t terribly anxious.
“Stand your ground” was the correct answer, so something was bound to happen.
Still, I never imagined a meteor would fall.
During the 10,000 hours I played this game, I saw meteors only a handful of times.
To see a meteor in the world I was embodied in.
How slim must the odds be to welcome me like this?
Honestly, when the meteor was about to fall, I was worried that the shockwave might destroy the fortress as well.
Fortunately, it seems to have only caused damage set within the game.
It was within the predictable range considering the battle situation, but still, it was quite fortunate that this world faithfully followed the game’s rules.
By the way, being hit by a meteor melts away about 90% of the soldiers, regardless of their number.
I sighed softly.
Even though the outcome was as I predicted, I couldn’t control the tension.
Now that the tension was relieved, my body felt incredibly sluggish.
Turning my head slightly upon feeling a gaze…
There was Airen, frozen with her divine eyes, staring at me.
“Swen… What exactly… exactly, did you… do…?”
Right.
From Airen’s perspective, this situation looked like I built an altar to “communicate with the heavens,” spouting nonsense, then shouting at the sky with strange antics, and suddenly a meteor fell from the sky.
How should I explain this? After pondering, I decided to answer simply.
“…Fortunately, it seems… I succeeded in drawing out… the distortion of the heavens…”
Huh?
For some reason, words didn’t come out smoothly.
My vision blurred as if I was about to lose consciousness.
Ah, I see.
Low physical strength means low basic stamina.
Even though I knew it would turn out well, having witnessed death in front of me while performing eccentric actions, my body must have been extremely tense.
Now, it’s all being released at once… leading to overload.
“Swen!”
As I staggered, about to fall, Airen quickly ran to catch me.
It was fortunate that she was there.
If I had fallen, I could have been injured.
“Airen… as I said… to protect Airen…”
After saying that much, I mumbled a few more words…
And then lost consciousness.
