The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

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Chapter 605: Let’s Go Rampaging After a Long Time. (1)

The allied soldier let out a long yawn atop the massive fortress.

“Yawn… How boring.”

It had already been two months since they arrived here.

At first, everyone was on edge. There had been talks, although not in detail, about fighting a large-scale monster wave and battling dragons.

But after two months, everyone started to relax a bit.

Thinking about it, there was no reason to be scared. Could the monsters and dragons really defeat this massive army camped at the fortress?

The soldier turned around.

“Wow… Just looking at it fills me with confidence.”

Over a hundred large catapults lined up in rows.

That wasn’t all. There were hundreds of knights and dozens of wizards standing by.

If you counted just the soldiers, there were close to fifty thousand in total.

Hunters were also deployed at each fortress since they were the veterans in monster hunting.

Furthermore, the Penris Mercenary Group, which had now become the continent’s largest, had also been summoned and stationed at each fortress.

Each fortress was like a tightly coiled spring of immense military power. Over ten such fortresses blocked the way through the Shadow Mountain Range.

Any usual monster would surely be smashed to bits as they came pouring in.

The soldiers began to lounge around, gradually losing their edge.

“Ugh, I thought the war was over and we’d be heading home.”

“Right? Suddenly being dragged here to fight monsters.”

“But it’s way better than during the war, right? The monsters are weaker than expected.”

Indeed, monsters appeared sporadically. But there were hardly more than a few hundred, and before they could even approach the fortress, they were all flattened by the catapults.

Since they couldn’t even get close to the fortress, the soldiers had no chance to fight. Consequently, everyone relaxed.

Seeing the soldiers, one hunter clicked his tongue.

“Hey, don’t let your guard down too much. The Monster Wave is not that easy.”

At the hunter’s words, the soldiers snickered.

“Why should we be scared when we have more people than the monsters?”

“At this rate, they won’t even get close to the fortress.”

“If you’re a hunter, you should have more experience with monsters—why are you more scared than us?”

The hunters’ unpleasant expressions didn’t go unnoticed as they continued speaking.

“This is the forward fortress. When the Monster Wave begins, this is where the most monsters converge first, and it’s the place we have to fight them off!”

The fortress they were in was located closest to the mountains and positioned right along the path where monsters appeared most frequently.

In the worst-case scenario, this fortress could be abandoned. It was meant to buy other fortresses time to prepare when an overwhelming number of monsters swarmed.

Thus, behind this fortress, there was another fortress. This meant the troops stationed here had to brace themselves for death, unlike those stationed elsewhere.

However, even after the hunter’s warning, the soldiers kept their composure.

“And so what? That’s why we have the most troops stationed here, right?”

“Have we ever needed this much force to hold back monsters?”

“Is it because you’re a hunter? You seem to not understand our real strength—the allied forces that have led the war to victory.”

The Turian hunters hadn’t participated in this war. They had taken on the role of guarding the surroundings while the monsters fought the Cracked Beings, hunting any monsters that had slipped away.

Afterward, they returned to their fortress, having only briefly ventured into the Shadow Mountain Range.

After all, Yulien and Marquis Gideon had only brought regular troops to join the allied forces.

Hearing the soldiers’ derision, the hunter merely licked his lips. He could understand why they were being so casual.

‘If this army is truly here, they might easily fend off a Monster Wave…’

He trailed off, silently agreeing with the soldiers’ words. This level of power at the fortress was something he’d never seen before.

One of the Penris mercenaries came up and patted the hunter on the shoulder with a grin.

“Don’t worry about it. If you do a different job, you just won’t understand.”

The mercenaries hadn’t relaxed yet. To be precise, they were still tense due to Ghislaine’s orders.

They believed that Ghislaine wasn’t being overly cautious for no reason.

Thus, while keeping each other subtly in check, the soldiers, hunters, and mercenaries waited at the fortress.

Occasionally, monsters showed up, but the numbers were only a few hundred at most. So when new monsters appeared, the soldiers didn’t react much.

Caw caw!

From afar, monsters started to approach gradually. What began as a few monsters soon swelled into dozens, then hundreds.

“Ugh, they’re out again.”

“Today seems a bit more than usual.”

“But with a few catapult shots, it’ll be over.”

“Why not just have them all come out at once?”

“Ha ha ha, right? It’d be better to finish them off in one go.”

Everyone laughed leisurely as they loaded the catapults.

Even the commanders didn’t scold the soldiers for loosening up. The life at this fortress was boring for them too.

“Fire!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At the commander’s shout, the catapult rocks flew mercilessly. The monsters perished before they could even approach the fortress.

Seeing that, the soldiers wore proud expressions.

“Wow, sometimes I feel a bit sorry for them.”

“Why do they keep crawling towards us when they don’t stand a chance?”

“What do monsters know? It’s more exhausting for us to pick up rocks to fire again.”

The hardest part for them was to refill the stones used for the catapults.

Under Ghislaine’s orders, they had gathered so many stones that one side of the fortress was filled, but they received orders to ensure that whatever they used had to be replaced.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

More attacks than usual were being unleashed. The monsters charging in front of them had already become chunks of meat.

As the dust began to settle, one soldier scowled.

“Ugh, a few more popped up from the back.”

The soldiers grumbled as they hurled rocks again.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Wait? More came from behind?”

“There really are more today, huh?”

“But it’s only a few dozen, right?”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A few more catapult attacks were carried out. By this time, the soldiers began to feel something was off.

“More… came out again?”

“Why does it feel like they’re not decreasing?”

“What the… what’s going on?”

It wasn’t that the numbers had exploded. But no matter how many rocks they flung, monsters kept appearing.

The soldiers briefly halted their catapult fire to verify the situation, looking in the direction from which the monsters were coming.

At first, only dozens appeared. Yet, in the moment they glanced away, the monsters had swelled into the hundreds.

The writhing forms of the monsters seemed to spread sideways. Before long, it looked like their numbers had reached thousands.

Unlike before, their proliferation was accelerating.

The tension finally began to creep onto the soldiers’ faces.

“Are the monsters still increasing?”

“The speed at which they’re multiplying is insane!”

“Notify above! Hurry and let them know!”

Before long, the monsters had grown into the tens of thousands. An endless, writhing wave began to fill the horizon.

With every blink, the legion of monsters expanded like a living organism.

Caw caw!

Grrrrr!

The roars of monsters echoed around them, shaking the very ground.

The piercingly savage howls froze the hearts of those who heard them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As gigantic ogres and mountain-like trolls moved, the ground moaned under their weight.

Their footsteps uprooted trees and ground rocks into powder.

Caw!

As wyverns and griffons, winged predators, swooped down like a black cloud covering the sky, the sunlight was obscured, and darkness fell.

Sharp teeth, beaks, and claws glinted in the sky, casting shadows of death.

Countless other medium and small monster types came tumbling in like an endless tide, engulfing the ground like a living carpet.

With a momentum that seemed to swallow everything in its path, a disaster was unfurling right before the fortress.

“Emergency! Emergency! The Monster Wave is starting! The Monster Wave has begun!”

“Everyone, to your positions! Move quickly!”

“All-out assault! We must hold them back! Don’t let them near the castle walls!”

The sounds of commanders shouting erupted everywhere. The soldiers’ faces turned pale with fear.

They had thought little of the monsters since they could easily handle hundreds of them. They had never directly experienced a Monster Wave from the Turian Kingdom.

After all, they had blocked Monster Waves with far less power previously, so confidence had grown to some extent.

The hunters, who had been staring dull-eyed outside the fortress, mumbled to each other.

“What’s coming now… it’s on another level.”

“Earlier, someone said they wanted to take them out all at once… that was really bad luck.”

“Once again, the Duke of Penris was right.”

This was not like the Monster Waves they had seen countless times. It felt as if all the monsters from the Shadow Mountain Range were bursting forth at once.

If a wave like this had happened before, the fortress would’ve already fallen.

The hunters watching the charging monsters felt chills run down their spines.

“To think… this isn’t all of it…”

The Shadow Mountain Range was incredibly long. There was a fortress at every major point where monsters emerged.

Monsters were surely charging toward each of those fortresses now.

Of course, it would take a bit more time than here since they were further back.

Even an experienced hunter could only gaze in a daze at the sight. Yet, even in the midst of this chaos, some people were fired up.

“It’s okay! The commander said there would be a ton of them! He told us in advance!”

“He said we could hold them off! Don’t lose your nerve!”

“I’m not nervous! Are you the one who is?”

Only the Penris mercenaries were getting visibly excited and preparing for battle.

They were mercenaries gathered from various locations. They were complete strangers who hadn’t even known each other.

But just being part of the same Penris Mercenary Group created a strong bond among them.

Unlike before, Ghislaine was now the best commander to them. She had continuously supported them by investing a hefty sum.

Of course, there was also a sense of pride from having the solid backing of the Duke of Penris and being part of the continent’s strongest, largest mercenary group.

“Alright! Let’s fight like hell today!”

“Wooooo!”

At someone’s call, the mercenaries raised their weapons and let out a loud cheer. The allied soldiers felt their morale lift just at the sight of them.

The Penris Mercenary Group believed in Ghislaine. Most hadn’t seen her face, but everything always went well when they followed her lead.

Thanks to the quaking confidence and cheers of the mercenaries, the soldiers managed to compose themselves somewhat.

They had gained quite a bit of experience through the war. Before long, all the soldiers began to exude a sharp momentum.

“Fire!”

Over a hundred catapults moved in unison. Massive rocks sliced through the air in an arc.

Boom! Kaboom! KABOOM!

It was like a meteor shower falling from the sky. Rocks dropped right into the midst of the monster horde, crushing dozens in mere moments.

The shockwaves shook the ground, and screams from the monsters spread everywhere.

In an instant, several hundred monsters fell, but those that followed quickly filled the gaps.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Grrrrraaaaah!

The thick skin and solid muscles of the large monsters were stronger than expected. They were clearly too far gone to feel any pain.

Even while torn apart and bones shattered, those that still breathed charged toward the fortress, howling.

Before long, the monsters were close enough that even the catapults couldn’t handle them.

“Use magic! Focus on the large monsters first!”

At the commander’s shout, the wizards cast spells with desperate expressions.

Boom!

Fire pillars, lightning bolts, and ice spears struck the large monsters.

Quite a few monsters fell, but there were far too many to manage with that alone.

The ogres dragged their burning bodies forward, and the trolls charged with roars despite being struck by lightning.

“It’s impossible to hold them all back with magic!”

“Archers, fire! Don’t hold back!”

Fwoosh!

The shower of arrows from the archers began. Clouds of arrows filled the sky and poured down upon the monsters.

Smaller monsters fell to the arrows, but the thick hides of the large ones hardly absorbed any.

But they had no choice. Here, strategy and tactics had lost all meaning. The outcome would depend solely on how strong and numerous their attacks were.

“Don’t stop! Don’t stop!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fwoosh!

Rocks, arrows, and spells scattered throughout the battlefield.

In the blink of an eye, thousands of monsters dropped dead, yet countless more swarmed in.

The soldiers wore horrified expressions. The fight against the Cracked Beings hadn’t even come close to this level.

The Cracked Beings might have been quick and strong, but their physical bodies were no different from those of human soldiers.

Thus, even if they were outnumbered, if they had a sufficient number, it could be dealt with. Especially, magic displayed overwhelming power against them.

However, the same could not be said for the monsters. While there were some monsters similar to or weaker than the Cracked Beings, most had physical capabilities that surpassed them.

The monsters charged forward recklessly, relying on their strong physiques. Their numbers matched those of the expanded Cracked Beings.

“This… is the real Monster Wave…”

Someone muttered with a ghostly expression. They had heard that many would come, but no one expected it to be like this.

The attacks landed, but the sheer numbers of the enemy rendered any response meaningless. They had no idea what to do.

All they could do was keep fighting.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Everyone continued to attack relentlessly to survive. The archers’ calluses burst on their hands, and wizards ran out of mana.

A few catapults broke lines due to rushed loading. The gathered rocks were dwindling rapidly.

Then, suddenly, the sky darkened. The flying monsters arrived at the fortress first, ahead of those on the ground.

Caw caw caw!

All sorts of flying monsters began to dive toward the fortress.

“Watch out! From above!”

As one archer screamed, terrified shrieks echoed everywhere.

The swiftly approaching flying monsters snatched soldiers with their sharp claws and beaks, tossing them into the sky.

As the attacks from the flying monsters hit, chaos began to ensue atop the fortress.

During this chaos, one unfortunate crow was snatched by a wyvern swooping down from above.

— You insolent beast! Caw!

Sadly, the crow’s cry was drowned out in the roars of the monsters and the screams of the soldiers.