21 One-Man Army Part 1 (1/2)
As the fehl beasts awoke and dove into a rampage, the silent anguish of the slums turned into a hurricane of pure violence that tore through the guards keeping them under quarantine to descend upon the city proper.
It didn't take five minutes for chaos to submerge Ostria, with nobles barricading themselves within their houses, and commoners running as fast as their lungs and limbs could carry them. At first, it was only a few hundred, but as minutes succeeded one another, the beasts' ranks swelled and their frenzied roars thundered with voracious hunger.
Nobles and commoners alike initially believed the viscount would personally dispatch troops to suppress the insurgence. But the gathering of legions of soldiers around Olaf's castle soon proved them wrong—despair overwhelmed them all.
Kilian didn't stop. Though on the road he could have undoubtedly saved many, he didn't care to stop. The screams of the deceased bore no weight on his mind and he leisurely crossed the sky to arrive before Olaf's estate.
Zuri, dra shards and natal conductors, those three things were of critical importance to the production of nano-spiders.
Dra shards, as the name implied, were naturally formed containers of pure magic. The countries used them to power their dra reactors, magical weapons, and armors. Skillful mages could also channel them to cast spells they'd otherwise not have enough dra for. In magi circles, dra shards were both currencies and lifesavers.
As for natal conductors, they played a vital role in the link between nanobots and nano-spiders, and spiders to mother spider. With three decades of tyrannical rule, Olaf amassed a vast capital. From coin to resources, his reserves would put the majority of counts to shame.
Covering an area of five million square meters, with more than 90,000 square meters of floor space, the castle indeed was a marvelous edifice. A more than ten meters tall gilded gate and two golden statues of Olaf acted as gatekeepers, making it all look like the fool wished to scream his wealth to the world. In fact, the castle itself was of pure gold. Seeing this, Kilian curved his lips into a smile.
How tasteless could the man possibly be?
He now stood one kilometer away from the palace's outer walls, facing a staggering continuous wall high of 50 meters that blocked the entrance. 45 automatic dra cannons hung at the top of the walls, remotely controlled by experts and ready to fire at the invaders.
Across the wall's surface, thousands of automatic artillery weapons sprouted, now locking on Kilian. Yet, despite such staggering defenses, an army of 11,000 stretched across four rows and occupying hundreds of meters of space protected the entrance, facing Kilian with clear military discipline.
The extra 4,000 handled various posts behind the wall. Obviously, Olaf didn't wish to put his costly artillery to use unless absolutely necessary. Based on his reputation, Kilian expected such a move. In Olaf's mind, the lives of those 11,000 men couldn't compare to a single dra cannon.
Not that it mattered. Hands in his pockets, Kilian sauntered toward the battle formation, the appearance of the hazel-eyed youth whose back-length dreadlocks spoke of a commoner background filled the soldiers' eyes with puzzlement. Thirty Lesser Templars and two low-level Core Templars stood at the forefront of their respective troops, with the two Core Templars leading the 11,000 men.
Olaf's captain and vice-captain. If the situation went south, those two would trigger the artillery's strike while leading the templar group back to shelter—leaving the rest of their men behind. Although they disliked the order, they couldn't go against the viscount's will. But as they awaited the beast invasion's assault, little did they expect a commoner would arrive first.
”Trespassing on the viscount's territory is punishable by death. Boy, you asked for it.” The captain wasted no time in trifles. His orders were to kill anyone or thing that stepped in a one-kilometer radius from the viscount's estate. That boy could only blame his rashness.
The captain raised his hand, motioning for his snipers to strike. In Arcadia, non-templars, and non-magi - the traditional soldiers that served the aristocracy - relied on nobility supplied firearms. Therefore, the 11,000 men composing the infantry all stood equipped with assault rifles, with concealed snipers ready to intercept targets.
Ignoring the captain, Kilian carried on with his saunter. But strangely, with every one of those leisurely steps, the distance between him and the army drastically shrank.