Chapter 150: Magrado War ② The First 24 Hours (1/2)

–Aegir POV–

「The departure preparations……are running late.」

Celia mutters unhappily.

We have completely captured Port Randel and have either finished off or thrown out the remnants of the enemy army. The next step should be to reunite with our allies after they supposedly cross the river, and determine whether to advance along the river or head straight inland to the capital city based on the situation of the other armies.

But the fleet which returned to the eastern coast is not quite able to depart. I wanted them to make two round trips today if possible, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen.

「With this rain, they won’t be able to work fast.」

As soon as the landing operation was finished, a heavy downpour started and has been continuing for what seems like forever. The rain isn’t just making things wet and slippery, but it’s also raining so hard that it’s difficult to see, so of course the transportation of people and supplies on ships isn’t progressing as smoothly as usual.

「Why is it raining at such a time……?」

Of all the places in the Central Plains, it appears the coast of the North Teries river has the most rain comparatively. But I didn’t think it would be raining this hard. This is also happening at the worst possible timing.

「If it rains this much, wouldn’t it cause a flood?」

「It isn’t just any old stream. I don’t think it would make much of a difference if it rained for two or three days……」

I’m not an expert on rivers so I can’t say for certain.

「Ah-! They’ve departed.」

I can see the fleet slowly leaving the port and heading towards the west coast. I can hear cheers from others who are looking at this scene, but they gradually get softer.

「Hey, hey, they are going too far north……are they getting pulled by the current?」

「Is the current perhaps stronger than it looks?」

The fleet is handling their ships in the same way as when they transported us, but they are being diverted away from the port and are heading downstream at high speeds. It looks like they’re desperately struggling to steer their ships in the right course towards the port.

「Hey, hey…… if you travel too far downstream, it’ll be hard to land.」

My uneasiness is replaced with screaming.

「Look upstream! Enemy ships……more than 20 of them !!」

「Gu……they chose the perfect time……」

Our allies flounder their way to the middle of the river. But the enemy ships cruise rapidly towards them from upstream, almost like galloping horses. The flow of the river has clearly changed from what it was a few hours ago.

「Start engaging!」

The ally battleships advance forward, acting as a wall for the transport ships, though things aren’t going too well for them as the current continues to drag them around. Compared to that, the enemy ships have the current behind them and are charging forward in a well-ordered formation.

Flaming arrows lose their effectiveness in the rain, and the catapults and ballistae on the battleships won’t be accurate enough to hit such fast-moving ships.

The enemy is mainly approaching the transport ships and throwing something that looks like a net. The hull of the transport ships don’t look like they’re breaking but the ships’ speed drops while being carried downstream.

「What is that?」

「There’s something round at the end of the nets. It looks really heavy! They’re all tangling with the ships and it’s hard for them to remove it!」

I see, by snaring the hull with a heavy net and not letting the oars row, the ship’s speed will drop and instantly be swept away by the current. As expected of Pipi, her eyesight is incredible, allowing her to see things clearly even in such bad weather.

However……this is bad. If they were off course by just a little, they could manage somehow, but they won’t be able to land if they flow too far downstream. In addition, while we have Port Randel under control, the western coast of the river is enemy territory and they can’t just land anywhere they want.

「They got hit!」

Celia screams.

A transport ship somehow manages to correct their course, but the flank of the ship was rammed by another enemy ship. The strike which borrowed the strength from the river current quickly splits the transport ship, causing soldiers to fall into the water one after the other.

However, it seems that was a desperate strike. The speed of the enemy ship was too fast even for them to control and the collision destroys the entire front portion of their ship, resulting in both ships sinking while remaining stuck to each other. Despite being enemies, the courage to pull that stunt off is commendable.

「The other transport ships are out of sorts too……not good! They’re being pulled further downstream. The rear guard should turn around and retreat! Trying to change course doesn’t make a difference!」

「Tch……」

Unfortunately, there’s no other choice. They just have to get carried downstream to the Goldonia-side of the river and find a random spot to land so they can go back. If they continue to charge forward and off course, it’s possible for them to ground their ships.

There are probably around 500 on our side who can land properly. They won’t make much of a reinforcement.

「But the enemy navy is also heading downstream. With this current, they won’t be able to go back either, so things will be fine if we take the time to reorganize ourselves!」

「Let’s hope so.」

I pat Celia’s head. There’s nothing I can do just by thinking of bad hypothetical situations. I have to make other preparations.

「Convey this to the soldiers: Stop destroying the simple walls created by the enemy in the middle of the roads. Instead, pile up the rubble and make them stronger. Send the scouts outside the city walls, smoke signals are unusable so move as quick as possible.」

「This is nothing, this kind of rain will stop soon! There’s no way the enemy’s reinforcement will come!」

I ask Celia to hand food to Irijina to shut her up.

I have a bad feeling about this.

The Next Day

Sure enough, Irijina’s predictions are completely off target and the rain continued throughout the night, getting even stronger in the morning after, and becoming more like a torrential downpour.

「Have the soldiers stand down from the harbor……」

The current of the river is visibly faster and it doesn’t look like it’s safe to send ships out. The water levels have risen as well, almost submerging the area around the harbor.

「In just one day, this heavy rain did all that……」

Celia mutters dumbfoundedly.

「It might not be only one day.」

In any case, there’s no way the river current would become like this so quickly from the rain which started not too long ago. The main source of water for the North Teries river is in the west where the Large Mountain Range is. There must have been heavy rain several days before near the mountain, and Magrado must have known about it, which is probably why their navy didn’t appear. Those guys must have anticipated us not being able to make a move in this rain and purposely let our vanguard land.

「What’s done is done. Rather, we should increase the number of scouts, since the enemy will definitely come.」

It doesn’t look like I’ll have time to sleep around with girls either. Even yesterday, Celia and Irijina stayed vigilant so I had to get Pipi to suck me off. She was hoping to get penetrated too, but it wouldn’t go in. If I were to force it in, Pipi would not be able to move the following day after all.

A few hours later, the light cavalry scouts came running towards us.

「It appears enemy reinforcements are approaching from the west, their numbers are around 10,000!」

「So they’ve come……」

But we’ll manage somehow if they only have 10,000. We have 3000 on our side, but we can hole up inside the city, and we don’t really need to fight to win in the first place. The heavy rain and the rising water levels won’t continue for an entire month, probably lasting a few days at most, and our transport ships didn’t suffer heavy casualties. If we can hold out until then, our allies will slowly come flocking from the eastern coast.

However, the reports continue on.

「There is another enemy force coming from the northwest, about 5000!」

「Another 5000 from the southwest, the enemy is also marching from that direction!」

「Aegir-sama!」

Celia looks at me as if she’s about to cry. It seems Erich’s First Army Corps was not able to cross the river. The enemy’s land forces are definitely being concentrated here.

「What a big deal, there’s a simple solution for this.」

We have no ships and are unable to cross the river due to the rising water levels. Port Randel is being surrounded from three directions – west, north, south.

「We have no choice but to fight. It makes things easy to understand now that our options are limited.」

I raise my spear and roar sharply at the panicking soldiers.

「We have nowhere to escape to. We either fight and live on or fight and die. It’s one or the other!」

「Oooooooh–!」

This shout while putting up a brave front doesn’t mean much but it’s better than remaining quiet.

「The city walls will be broken quickly, so place various obstacles in those areas of the city. Prepare things which are small and simple to move! Prepare roofs that can shield against arrows!」

The soldiers all start acting simultaneously. All that’s left now is to fight.

「Aegir-sama, if that time comes, then together we’ll d-……」

「Don’t say such an ill-omened thing.」

I bop Celia on the head.

If that time ever comes, I’ll grab her and something to float on and let her escape in the river. I’m sure she’ll resist, but Irijina can hold her back.

We are finally able to hear the war cries of the army coming from outside the city walls. Allied bowmen stationed on the top of the watchtowers start to fire their arrows. It seems the enemy’s vanguard has begun to attack.

「As long as we have the bow cavalry, we can overwhelm them in a battle of arrows but……」

「Pipi wants to go where she can see the enemy too!」

「They’ll focus their attacks at you, so no. Besides, you’ll be able to shoot soon.」

A large volley of arrows soars towards us from outside the walls and the soldiers on the watchtowers turn into porcupines. Immediately following, the gate which was broken during the first battle and propped up again, falls over after a few dull thumping sounds.

「Chargeeee—-!!」

The shouting continues after the commander yells and the soldiers throw away the metal rod which was blocking the broken gate.

「Defend till your last breath! Push them back!」

Fellow commanders yell back and forth as both armies collide in the small plaza in front of the gate.

「I’m going too, follow me.」

「Ooh!」「Yes!」

The space in front of the gate is narrow and horses are not suited for defence, so the escort unit, myself and everyone else dismount and advance on foot.

「Take back Port Randel! Chase them into the river!」

「For Glorious Magrad- guh!!」

I pierce the screaming soldier’s stomach and tear through his body with brute strength, ripping out my weapon from the side.

「Shit! Kill this fu-……」

I lop off his head before he was able to finish speaking and drive my spearhead through the mouth of the dumbfounded soldier beside him.

「Dorya!」

After pulling my spear out, I bring it up above my head and swing down with all my might. The hurriedly raised shield was split together with the man and my spear digs all the way down to his lower chest, then I kick away the man whose upper body is separated into two pieces and get into a stance with my spear at hip level.

「Not good, fall back!」

The allies who have seen me fight before hastily get out of the way. The enemy also takes steps backward, but there are three men just standing dazed and unable to grasp the situation at hand.

「Fuun!!」

The full-powered horizontal swing made it seem like the heavy, incessant rain stopped for a second.

「Eh?」「Ah?」「Huh, things are slanted?」

The bodies of the three men who were slow to escape slowly slide apart, their innards leaking out before collapsing on the wet floor.

「Monster…… 」「There he is, this guy!」「It’s the war demon!」

I’ve only taken out a mere seven people, but the pressure the enemies are exerting have clearly weakened.

「What are you doing?! We’ll win if we kill this guy, hurry and finish him off!」

「Easy for you to say……」

「We’ll die, won’t we……」

The enemy stops their attack in the face of our allies, who have had their morale raised. Looking beside me, Irijina and Celia are also slaughtering enemy soldiers one after the other.

「Eeei, you cowards! I’ll go myself, since I’m known as the strongest knight in the city of Colhorn……」

「I don’t need any of your preamble.」

I interrupt his speech and thrust my spear at him, but I guess it should be expected of a knight to expertly deflect the strike aimed at his heart with his shield. My attacks don’t end after a single strike though. I follow up with a second and third strike, causing his shield to shatter.

「That’s nothing! What do you think about this!?」

After losing his defences, the knight swings his spear, betting his life on this single strike. I parry the attack with my spear of dwarven origin and reply with my own strike towards his head. The knight spins around three times before falling to the ground with his head smashed. There’s no way he’s still alive.

「I don’t know who he is, but he’s dead!!」

Despite the ridiculousness of screaming such words, it does its job to raise the soldiers’ spirits.

I dive into the herd of timid enemy soldiers.

They might be scared, but the Magrado soldiers aren’t weak. They quickly thrust their short spears at me, and one of them even grazes my arm, though I return a thrust at that soldier and pierce his chest, then lift him up and hurl him into the the other soldiers. After finishing off about three more, a path between the enemies opens up.

「Aegir-sama!」

「Tch!」

A bowgun squad consisting of about 10 men appears behind me and releases their bolts. I immediately stab an enemy soldier and hold him up as a meat shield. The bolts stab him and make an unpleasant sound on impact.

「Did we hit him?」

「Di-did we get him!?」

「Unfortunately not.」

I toss the unsightly corpse at the bowgun squad and rush at them, and when the soldiers try to close the path they opened, Irijina and the escort unit jumps in and scuffles with them.

「Oh no! My spare bowgun……uwaaaaaaah!!」

Naturally, I won’t give him any time. I pressure the enemy hard as he tries to swap his weapons, swiping him once with my spear, then doing the same with the others, cutting down the soldiers who don’t have shields or swords and couldn’t do anything but scream.

About six of them get turned into corpses and three escape. The last enemy was able to swap his bowgun and points it at me……then starts lowering it uneasily.

「Ah……ahahaha.」

「Hahaha, you were close.」

The man was close, but his head is quickly sent flying in the air and that was when the enemy starts pulling back. Maybe they were exchanging their offensive unit with another one, or they’re pulling back to reorganize themselves. For now, we’ve successfully repelled the first wave.

「Are you hurt!?」

「How about you?」

I just suffered a scratch on my left arm, Celia and Pipi are uninjured, and Irijina was cut in three areas. I guess that’s natural, since she jumped in the middle of the enemies. We only lost a little over 100 soldiers, which isn’t a lot.

I take a break to drink some water and chew on some dried meat, but the lookouts shout once again. This time, they aren’t coming just from the gate, they’re using ladders and climbing over all parts of the wall.

「Don’t just focus your attention on the gates. Crush the enemies climbing the wall!」

Just from a numerical standpoint, the enemy has an overwhelming amount and unless we limit them to a narrow passage, we can’t fight them. We’ll have to use the obstacles located around the place while fighting.

「The arrows are coming!!」

I hug Celia after she shouts and we enter a random house. In that moment, the gusting wind which drowns out the sound of the rain stops and is followed by the loud thudding sounds of arrows stabbing the roof of the building. What an incredible number of arrows – I have no doubt the enemy has more than 10,000 troops now.

The ferocious rain of arrows didn’t cause many casualties amongst our allies. It’s fortunate they prepared their own roofs.

「We would be hard-pressed if they used flaming arrows. In a way, we can be thankful to this rain.」

「If it wasn’t raining, we wouldn’t be in a defensive position like this though.」

The arrows stop suddenly.

「Alright, the enemy is coming. Get into your position!」

I give Celia a kiss before taking my spear and heading to the front of the city walls. The enemy soldiers climb the simple 4-m high walls and most of them are brought down with spears and bowguns but double the number of soldiers climbed back up. In addition, I can hear the sound of large hammers slamming against the wall, which means the walls will be destroyed pretty soon.

「Don’t be so fixated on protecting the walls! We should be fine as long as we can protect the harbor!」

Eventually, the enemy soldiers climb over the wall and start clashing with our allied forces. At the same time, the city walls made of rocks crumble down making a thundering sound and the enemies come flooding in from the gaps.

They need some form of encouragement here. I take a deep breath.

「Now, there are many foes coming at us……kill them allllllll!」

I direct my spear at the charging group of soldiers and sweep at their feet. Several legs are cut off and the shouting and screaming echo.

「This bastard!」

A soldier emerges from behind the fallen enemies after they lost their legs and thrusts his spear at me, but I grab it and slam him into the neighboring house with all my might. If it was made from wood, he might have just gotten sprains or bruises, but unfortunately, it was made out of stone, so his body smashes against the surface of the building.

「My leeeeg.」「Aaaaaaah!!」

I crush the fallen enemies who continue to shriek in pain with my iron boots.

「Well, who’s next!?」

Weak soldiers would be scared shitless at this point, but Magrado’s soldiers don’t seem to be that way, and are fired up to get revenge for their comrades.