NOVEL WEB Ch. 4
Chapter 4. Burken Fortress (4)
The first proper battle since I landed in this world.
The feeling of withstanding that initial charge… well, it could be summed up in one sentence.
‘Fuck. I thought my arm was gonna break…!’
How could skeleton wolves, nothing but bones, hit like a damn motorcycle?
If the guy behind me hadn’t braced my back with his shield, I would’ve been knocked flat.
Clatter! Rattle!
Crunch!
Beyond the shield wall built with large kite shields.
The howls and breaths of dead beasts felt raw and vivid.
The gritted breaths coming from my sides and behind.
Flying bone fragments. Snapping spears. Dented helmets. Claws tearing flesh.
Crack!
The ghostly light in the eyes of a wolf’s crushed skull flickered out.
“Gah…!”
A spearman, his neck torn, collapsed, spewing blood.
Snap! Snap!
The skeleton wolf lunging at me kept snapping its teeth beyond the translucent shield.
It wouldn’t hold for long.
Before it was too late, I quickly gave the order.
“Spears! Thrust!”
“Raaah!”
“Die!”
The spearmen, focused on absorbing the impact and holding their ground, shifted their weight forward and thrust their spears in unison.
Crack-crunch!
Right after pushing back the wolf pack, the spearheads tore into the enemy’s ranks.
More than half pierced through bone gaps, shattering a few ribs.
But some spear tips precisely crushed skulls.
Lieutenant Terren’s spear and the bandit-looking guy’s spear.
[Deploying [Imperial Spearman Doctrine].]
And my spear.
This skill was insane, wasn’t it?
Growl!
A single thrust turned the tide.
A slight gap formed between the tightly packed wolves and our forces.
I immediately gave the next order.
“Form up! Crescent Moon!”
“Crescent Moon!”
The spearmen shouted loudly and pulled back in unison.
Imperial soldiers, trained under the same curriculum in the capital, moved instinctively even under an unfamiliar commander.
[The 4th Spearman Unit deploys [Crescent Moon Formation].]
In an instant, the first rank merged with the second and third ranks.
They formed a hemispherical encirclement, broadly surrounding the wall gap.
Awoooo!
Growl-!
Seeing us retreat, the wolves charged aggressively.
But their momentum, after running just a few meters, wasn’t what it was before.
“Hold!”
Boom! Crash!
We easily blocked their scattered charge.
“Thrust!”
Crack-crunch!
The number of spear tips thrusting from the widened hemispherical formation was more than double the previous.
Clang! Clang!
Before we could thrust a few times, the skeleton wolf pack’s heads were all shattered.
Counting the bone piles scattered around, about thirty had rushed this wall gap.
Our loss was one spearman.
[Achievement Unlocked! Achieved a complete victory in a small-scale battle.]
[You have gained a random trait.]
Considering skeleton wolves were comparable to light cavalry, it was practically like annihilating a cavalry unit.
An overwhelming victory.
A perfectly efficient battle in terms of exchange ratio.
[Commander’s Roar]
[Increases the likelihood of drawing allies’ attention when shouting loudly.]
“…….”
The randomly acquired trait wasn’t exactly a success.
Fucking luck-screwed trash game.
***
“Formation, reform! Square!”
As soon as we recovered the fallen spearman, I repositioned the formation.
Recovery wasn’t much—just moving the body back to avoid damage in further combat.
The first rank went from seven to six, then filled back up to eight with other soldiers.
The soldier to my left, breathing heavily, grinned. It was the bandit-looking guy who joined me second.
“Thought a mage would be nothing special. Ever led a mercenary band somewhere?”
His tone was quite casual for speaking to a superior.
Didn’t matter. As a former modern person, it didn’t bother me.
I wasn’t in a position to nitpick about hierarchy anyway.
Plus, this guy fought pretty well earlier.
“Compared to those knights wiping the baron’s ass while their heads rot, you’re way better. If you start a mercenary band later, let me know.”
“Mercenary band?”
“Gotta snag a spot quick. My mandatory service is done, time to ditch this grimy soldier life, right?”
His folksy banter spread laughter among the others.
Knowing how to lighten the mood during a battle lull showed he was a true veteran.
Of course, as he said, not all knights were just noble-sycophant idlers.
Corrupted by Burken Fortress or not, they were originally those who challenged human limits.
One of the three forces that forged the empire.
“Enemy main force, two kilometers ahead!”
During a brief rest, a scout shouted.
The enemy was closing in fast. This assault was different from before.
If skeleton wolves were meat shields at the front, these were the enemy’s real main force: zombies and skeleton soldiers.
While the relentless wolves forced us to burn through shells, the undead marched on the fortress without pause.
“Nothing special about those corpse-diggers! Right, boys?”
“Hell yeah! We’ll take on those rotten skeletons any day!”
Thankfully, my units’ morale was sky-high.
Thanks to the overwhelming victory just now. And the [Lord’s Unyielding Mind] trait added fuel to that fire.
[When commanding a unit, probabilistically removes allies’ mental status ailments and grants buffs.]
A well-buffed unit could perform up to twice their usual combat strength.
Around then, Senior Knight Olif, commanding the defense line, gave an order.
“Riflemen, crossbowmen, load!”
“Crossbowmen, load!”
“Riflemen, load!”
At Olif’s command, unit commanders, including me, started shouting.
Goat-foot levers pulled crossbow strings taut.
Riflemen stuffed powder and lead balls into muzzles.
“One kilometer!”
Boom! Crash!
As the enemy entered effective range, mortar fire intensified.
With the blasts, fountains of flame and debris erupted across the enemy lines.
The soldiers’ cheers echoed over the wall.
This was the high of gunpowder.
No wonder some argued the empire’s three forces should be four, including gunpowder.
“Enemy vanguard charging!”
“Riflemen loaded and standing by!”
“Crossbowmen loading complete!”
The enemy’s form became clear.
Over a thousand zombies staggered forward in a lurching sprint.
Behind them, skeleton units marched in uniform steps, like toy soldiers performing a drill.
Even as dozens were blasted by shells, they kept pushing forward.
Five hundred meters.
The maximum range for rifles.
“Riflemen, fire!”
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
The riflemen on the wall opened fire.
Even with a volley, nearly half missed.
But that half was enough to make the enemy’s vanguard stagger—the power of firearms.
“Reload! Fire when ready!”
“Crossbowmen, fire!”
[The 5th Crossbow Unit deploys [Volley].]
Over the enemy lines, rocked by the rifle volley, bolts from crossbows rained down.
Crack!
Snap! Crunch!
Arrowheads tore through zombie flesh and shattered skeleton bones.
Tat-tat-tat!
Gunpowder smoke layered over.
Bolts fell like a black storm.
The leading zombies faltered. The few remaining were pushed aside as skeleton soldiers charged.
Wielding spears, shields, and rusty swords, they were right in front.
Thirty meters.
“Spears! Up!”
As before, a breakwater of spearheads rose from the first rank I led.
“Hold!”
A wave of flesh and bone fragments crashed over me.
Thud—
A sensation of my body floating.
Followed by a crushing pressure, like being squeezed in a giant press.
“Guh—”
As if someone slammed my chest, air burst from my lungs.
Barely inhaling, I shouted with all my might.
“Hold! Hold onnn!”
Crack!
Crunch!
Aaaah!
More screams mixed into the battle’s noise.
Unlike the skeleton wolves, the entire front shook violently.
My spearmen, including me, were pushed back helplessly.
No choice. The colliding mass was different.
Three hundred skeleton wolves versus nearly four thousand undead was the difference between a stream and a tsunami.
“Raaah!”
“Save me!”
“Don’t push! Don’t… urk!”
Soldiers fell and were crushed.
The square formation was pushed back in a rush.
I tasted blood between my gritted teeth.
If not for the mana-forged [Shield], I’d have been crushed already.
The front ranks, merged with the rear, barely planted their feet on the ground.
The earth beneath their boots was gouged out.
Long furrows stretched over twenty meters…
…then stopped.
Now.
The end of the assault’s momentum, driven by mass and speed.
The fleeting moment when the attacker and defender’s forces balanced was the perfect time to break that equilibrium.
“Spears! Thrust!!”
I shouted with all my strength, voice cracking.
Hearing my command, the soldiers thrust their spears and pushed their shields forward in unison.
Now it was the skeleton infantry collapsing.
Trampling the fallen, we reorganized the ranks, and a booming shout echoed from afar.
“Spears! Thrust!”
The voice of Senior Knight Olif.
I wasn’t the only one who saw through the chaos of the initial clash.
He must be busy kicking away ladders on the wall right now.
To command down here amidst that chaos showed incredible intuition and judgment.
That guy. He’s more valuable than I thought.
Argh!
As I admired, a zombie lunged at me.
Before I could fully register, my body reacted reflexively.
[Deploying [Imperial Spearman Doctrine].]
One step.
I strode toward the charging zombie.
No armor, clumsy movements, but its strength and grip were beyond an average adult male.
Individually, they were weaker than fully armed imperial soldiers, but in groups, they became quite troublesome.
Even as I thought this, my feet pivoted, and my upper body traced a wide arc.
The 100% proficiency [Imperial Spearman Doctrine] gained through [Warrior’s Insight].
The experience imperial spearmen gained through grueling training and combat was already in my hands.
I thrust the [Shield] formed on my staff into its face.
Clang!
A short push with the mana-forged shield.
Crack!
The spear tip precisely pierced the zombie’s face as it staggered back.
“Form up! Crescent Moon!”
“Crescent Moon!”
[The 4th Spearman Unit deploys [Crescent Moon Formation].]
With the first charge over, I shifted to a more effective defensive formation.
“Aim for the head!”
I didn’t forget to remind some panicked recruits of the undead’s weakness.
“Captain! Watch out…!”
The lieutenant shouted from behind.
Pushing the zombie’s crushed head away with the shield, I instinctively swung my spear.
The spear tip drove into the temple of an approaching skeleton swordsman as if drawn to it.
Its skull caved in, and the ghostly light flickered out.
Crunch!
I keep saying it, but their weakness is the head.
Vampires raise undead using powerful curses to imbue grudges or vengeful spirits.
Since those spirits reside in the skull, shattering the head or severing more than half the body breaks the spell.
Crack!
Breathing heavily, I returned to the ranks.
In the process, I smashed another skeleton’s head.
“Not bad for a mage, Captain. You sure you’re a mage?”
A cheer of admiration came as I rejoined the wide semicircular formation.
The bandit-looking guy had somehow survived the front line too.
Instead of answering, I gave an immediate order.
“Spears! Thrust!”
“Thrust!”
“Thrust!”
Dozens of spear tips stabbed the undead from both sides.
The sudden impact collapsed the front of the skeleton infantry.
Trampling the fallen’s necks, I looked around.
The same was happening elsewhere.
“Form up! Crescent Moon!”
“Spears! Thrust!”
“Shields! Push!”
Soldiers who survived the first clash formed wide encirclements.
Skeleton soldiers were mercilessly shattered within the layered encirclements of swordsmen and spearmen at the wall gaps.
“Don’t retreat!”
“[Lightning Arrow]!”
At the front of each unit, knights, like me, carved through the enemy to create breathing room.
From the wall, mages’ spells relentlessly struck the enemy’s rear.
[Deploying [Warrior’s Insight].]
[Skill acquired.]
[Lightning Arrow (Level 1)]
Nice.
Finally got a proper offensive spell.
The battle’s momentum had shifted to our side.
Locally, at least, defense had turned to offense.
Falling like autumn leaves were not our heads but the enemy’s skulls.
The undead swarming the wall gaps were starting to prepare their retreat.
Their necromancers must have judged continuing the fight was a loss.
But even with the skeleton soldiers slowly retreating before my eyes, I didn’t relax one bit.
It was too easy for Inferno difficulty.
The game I knew would never let a victory come this easily…
“The gate! The gate’s been breached!”
Fuck.
There it was.