Chapter 533 - There Was a Monster 2

"Oh, yes yes."

The knight half-heartedly nodded and let Jerome through.

'Mages always have such terrible personalities.'

Even with the nonsense spouted, the knight didn't bother arguing. Picking a fight with a mage could lead to serious trouble.

Mages were that kind of eccentric bunch. Far too many of them seemed to enjoy making life difficult for others.

Still, discipline would be handled by other mages. Anything remotely suspicious would get heads rolling.

Jerome shrugged at the knight's lukewarm response.

'Figures he wouldn't believe me.'

It made sense, judging by appearances alone. His physical body barely looked to be in his twenties.

But Jerome had poured far more time into magic training than his body's age suggested, thanks to the unique secret arts handed down through the Dawn Tower.

Because of its peculiar nature—requiring one to live in a disjointed mental plane where time flowed differently—the tower's legacy had to be passed down through a single successor.

While this had granted him immense power, it also came with the inconvenience of being occasionally dismissed due to his youthful appearance. It was a price he begrudgingly accepted.

***

Jerome, who had safely joined the magic unit, went back to lazing around.

Here in the Kingdom of Parsali, the rebels were at a disadvantage. The royal army was gradually expanding its territory.

So, there was no need for Jerome to come forward here either.

"Um, did I come to the wrong place?"

It would be more effective to help a country where the rebels were equal in power or were inferior to the rebels. There was no need to use force in a country where they were already winning.

"Phew, I guess I'll have to check a little bit later."

Jerome lay down again, feeling lazy from the side effects of spending so long in the mental world.

No, he was originally a bit lazy by nature.

While he was loitering around, news of victory came from all over the place. There were even rumors that the rebels and the Salvation Church were actually shrinking in strength.

The morale of the Parsali Kingdom army rose endlessly.

They were also closing the rifts very well, so there's popular rumour was that they would soon end the civil war and join the Allied Forces.

"Well, I guess I should just leave."

After loitering around for a few days, Jerome decided to leave.

I felt too uncomfortable to continue playing. It would probably be helpful to go somewhere a little more difficult.

Just as Jerome was about to leave, messengers arrived with new news.

"The rebels have been regrouped!"

"The force intercepting them has been annihilated!"

"The rebels are currently advancing this way!"

The royal forces remaining in the fortress were a bit shaken, but soon regained their composure. This was because the fortress had a history of repelling countless attacks.

But that confidence was soon shattered by the urgent news that came again.

"They say the rebels have 200,000 troops!"

The fortress commander asked hesitantly after hearing the messenger's report.

"What, what did you say? 200,000? Did you check correctly?"

"Yes sir! I heard that rebels from other kingdoms have joined us!"

The fort commander was dizzy. It was an absurd situation for the rebels to be united.

What were they doing in other kingdoms that brought them here? Was it really true that the Salvation Church was manipulating them?

Gator gathered the forces scattered across the continent. Some of the gathered forces launched a surprise attack on the Kingdom of Parsali.

"Hmm… … We can't stop that number of troops."

The fortress commander was in a dilemma.

The number of troops in this fortress was 10,000. As it was a fortress at the front line, a considerable number of troops were stationed there.

But it was nothing compared to 200,000. With such a large difference, even the strongest fortress would fall in a day.

However, they could not retreat, because if this place was breached, the enemies would be able to advance straight to the capital.

While the commander was at a loss, a messenger from the commander-in-chief of the royal army arrived in a hurry.

"All royal forces will gather near the capital to create a new defensive line."

"What should we do?"

"The order is to… …buy as much time as possible."

It was meant to be a place of all out war.

"I see."

The fort commander nodded with a calm expression. He had expected this to happen.

"If it's for the kingdom, I must follow."

The 10,000 soldiers stationed in the fortress were all prepared to die as they faced the enemy.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The might of the 200,000-strong army was overwhelming. The soldiers in the fortress tensed up and froze at the sight of the enemy troops filling the plains.

The fort commander kept encouraging his soldiers.

"Don't be afraid! You can endure it! Haven't we been winning all along!"

But the soldiers' expressions were filled with fear.

The reason we were able to hold off the enemy so far was because the forces on both sides were equal. We had never fought against forces of that size before.

'It's over.'

'I can't believe I'm going to die here.'

'How long can we hold out?'

All they could do was pray to live one more day.

Unlike the frightened Parsali army, the rebels were confident.

Although they belonged to different kingdoms, they were on the same side now. Since the number of friendly troops was overwhelming, their morale naturally rose.

One thing that was a bit unusual was that their commander in chief was a necromancer, Helgenik, who had been dispatched by the Salvation Church.

The staff officer asked Helgenick.

"How should we proceed?"

Helgenick spoke bluntly.

"All soldiers, charge."

Helgenik simply ordered a charge without any strategy or tactics. The staff officer asked in confusion.

"No matter how overwhelming we are, if we do that, the damage will be great. We will surround them first and make the enemy consume their food… … "

"Charge!"

"...."

The staff officer looked at Helgenik. The hood of his robe was pulled down so low that he could not see his expression properly. Even when he tried to look, darkness rippled and obscured his face.

But for some reason, I felt like the corners of his mouth were going up.

The staff officer had no choice but to relay the order to the commanders of each unit.

"Wooooow!"

They didn't even bring siege weapons, under the pretext of needing to increase their movement speed. All they had were ladders.

Still, it was a terrifying sight to see 200,000 troops rushing at once. The soldiers in the fortress were terrified and clutched their weapons tightly.

Then Jerome stepped forward.

The wizards who saw him screamed.

"What are you doing now!"

"Come back to your seat!"

"Get in line! Quickly deploy your magic field to block the enemy's magic!"

Even wizards must follow the commander's orders during battles, so that they can use the magic they need when and where it is needed.

The most important thing was to block the enemy's magic.

But Jerome shook his head.

"I'll sweep the lead first."

"I'm telling you to step aside and stop being a hero!"

The magic unit leader shouted angrily. He accepted him because he felt pitty, but he never thought that guy would do something so outrageous.

'I never felt any magic from him except during the test. Even if able to connect it would simply be a 2 circle soell.'

He was so angry that a upstart was bragging. It was even worse when everyone was in front of the enemy's large army.

The knights, unable to stand watching, approached to drag Jerome out of there.

"uh?"

But something strange happened. No matter how much they walked, I couldn't get closer to Jerome.

People were astonished at the sight, especially the wizards.

"Oh, space distortion?"

"What, what is this… … ."

"Surely not… … ."

In the meantime, the enemy had come closer. The fort commander decided it was better to leave them alone rather than argue with Jerome.

He shouted loudly.

"Everyone, get ready!"

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The soldiers stood close together, raising their shields. They also prepared to throw stones, oil, and other water-based materials at any time.

"Woooow!"

The enemies came running, shouting loudly. Jerome muttered as he watched them.

"I tried it before and it was okay to throw stones."

Of course, the stones we throw now are different from those thrown at bandits.

Kukukukukung!

The ground in front of the fortress began to crack and the dirt began to clump together. Soon, a huge lump of dirt rose into the air.

"Huh? Huh?"

The enemies who were running towards fort were startled when they saw it, because dozens of lumps of dirt floated up.

Jerome said, extending his hand.

"good."

Swish!

The huge lumps of dirt were launched straight towards the enemy.

Kwaaaaang!

Dozens of clumps of dirt swept through the enemies, leaving behind a huge pile of corpses.

"Ark!"

"He's a wizard!"

"Why didn't the magic seal work!"

The rebels also included quite a few wizards. As the rebels gathered in such a large force, there were more wizards than there were in the capital fortress.

Of course, they also casted a magic seal. However, the magic was cast through the magic seal.

"What are you guys doing! Stop it! Stop it!"

The rebel magicians panicked and raised their magical power. They had to somehow create a magical field to disrupt their opponent's magic.

Jerome frowned slightly.

"They also have few wizards."

It was weaker compare to Jerome's Magic. The magical fields spread out and try to preventing the magical power from destroying thier army.

But he was a 8th circle magician. He easily break through the opponent's magic field and hit his mark.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Although it was weaker than its original form due to the magic field, it had no problem wiping out enemies.

Powerful magics continued to burst forth. It wasn't for nothing that Jerome was called a one-man army in Ghislain's previous life.

Everyone in the fortress was amazed by Jerome's performance.

Casting magic by breaking through the magic fields created by countless wizards!

"Excuse me, is this really the 8th circle?"

Only the 8th Circle can show such a miracle. The magicians of the fortress opened their eyes wide, shaking with bewilderment and awe.

A smile spread across the fortress commander's face. Someone incredibly strong was helping them, even though they didn't know who it was.

"Allied wizards, focus on blocking the enemy's magic! Knights, protect that wizard! Quickly!"

In an instant, the knights swarmed around Jerome. Jerome smiled awkwardly at the sight.

"You don't have to go this far."

As if something that's going to happen to him and the attacks that can hurt him won't be stopped by the average knights anyway. But, he don't intend to ignore their sincerity, so he let them do this. But

'Honestly, I feel a little embarrassed'

Thanks to Jerome, the morale of the fortress troops rose sharply. On the other hand, the rebel commanders and officers were confused.

"It looks like there's a very strong opponent on the other side."

"If we continue to push forward like this, the damage will only increase."

"We must quickly find another way."

Countless corpses were piled up due to the Jerome's Magic attack. The arrow flying from the fortress were also gradually accumulating damage.

Helgenik, who was sitting in his seat, laughed and shook his shoulders.

"There was a monster on the other side. Why did it only show up now? The Salvation Church's information power is also poor."

It is true that the level of the wizards gathered here is low, but there are still a considerable number of them.

The fact that they were able to cast such magic while breaking through the magic field they had created meant that their opponent is a monster.

The staff member spoke cautiously.

"I'll step back for now and then find another way… … ."

"Why should it be like that?"

"Th... the damage is too much… … ."

"Keep pushing. Why would you stop this fun?"

"…..."

"There are many of them, so they will eventually succeed in ascending the fortress. Tell them to charge without stopping."

That statement was not wrong. No matter how strong the opponent is, this side has a huge army of 200,000 people. They will be able to cover the fortress before they are swept away.

In fact, already many soldiers had begun to swarm the fortress like ants.

But if things continue like this, even if they capture the fortress, more than half of their troops will die. This means that 100,000 will be lost while fighting against a mere 10,000 troops.

Can this really be called a victory? If we fight like this, we will be annihilated in just two battles.

"…..."

The staff officers swallowed dryly. They couldn't tell whether they wanted to go to war or just push them all in and kill them.

Helgenik looked around and asked in the heavy atmosphere.

"I guess you're not having fun?"

"Oh, no."

They quickly bowed their heads, knowing that their commander was a necromancer.

Because I didn't want to have my soul captured and become a corpse for no reason.

Helgenick clicked his tongue and continued speaking.

"Okay, then let's make it a little more fun. Shouldn't you two go out and do it?"

Helgenik pointed to two high priests. They did not hide their displeasure.

He knew what kind of operation it was, but he didn't like the idea of wasting troops like this. On top of that, the his arrogant attitude made them nauseous.

But there was a strict order from Gator. This was also for the sake of the church, so there was no choice but to follow it.

"Very Well."

"We will stop the enemy wizards."

The two priests confidently headed toward the fortress. Helgenik smiled as he watched their backs.

You can tell just by looking at them. Their opponent were monster among monsters. Those two priests will die.

And that was also Helgenik's plan.