Chapter 55: Battle in the Wasteland 7

An enormous crowd surrounded the castle. "I think it would cause fewer casualties to just let the enemy escape." "It's too late for that now. Look, everyone is out for blood."

Arrows were being fired from the castle into the crowd, and due to how densely packed the people were, they always hit someone.

The crowd was throwing stones at the castle, but they didn't seem very effective.

"If we leave this situation alone, it could turn into something terrible." "I have a plan. We just need to destroy that castle gate."

I had a terribly bad feeling. I remembered all the previous incidents.

"It'll be fine this time, I promise." "I feel like I've heard those words many times before." "It's just your imagination." "This time, I'll use this to burn down the castle gate." "That thing? Well, I suppose it won't cause too much damage." "It'll be fine, I assure you. Please call over an officer from the Italica army."

I found an officer from the Italica army and introduced him to Hans. When Hans explained the plan, the officer's eyes lit up with delight. "I'll gather an assault team. This will be the end of those bastards."

The officer gathered his troops and approached the castle gate with a cart loaded with Hans' weapon.

"Get out of the way! This is Lord Hans' destructive weapon!" Cheers erupted from all around. "The secret weapon of Hans the Destroyer!" "This castle is finished now!" "We'll slaughter them all!" "Revenge for our families! They'll pay for what they've done!"

The crowd made way as the Italica army's suicide squad advanced. As they reached the castle gate, arrows rained down heavily from the castle. Everyone had shields, but some were still injured by the arrows.

Nevertheless, the Italica army reached the front of the castle gate. "Everyone, throw them in!" At the officer's signal, everyone threw certain objects at the castle gate. They were round jars about the size of a baby's head. A large number of jars were thrown at the castle gate, breaking and spilling their contents. "Fire the fire arrows!" Numerous fire arrows were shot at the castle gate. When the fire arrows stuck into the gate, flames suddenly rose up, roaring and blazing, engulfing the gate in fire. "What is this?" "What kind of flame is that?"

In fact, those jars were filled with distilled alcohol produced in my territory. It was high-concentration alcohol distilled over and over again—it burns well. A bit of a waste, though.

Jars of high-concentration alcohol were thrown endlessly, causing the castle walls to go up in flames. Some jars were even thrown onto the top of the castle walls, turning that area into a sea of fire as well. The enemy soldiers on the walls couldn't counterattack as they scattered to avoid the rising flames.

After a while, the castle gate burned down. "W-what's that?" With the wooden gate burned away, iron bars were visible behind it. "We can't charge in like this!" "The gate is double-layered?" "Did they reinforce it after occupation?"

"What should we do now?" I looked over at Hans, who had a smug smile on his face.

"Don't worry, I anticipated something like this and made another machine." "I have a really bad feeling about this. Are you sure it'll be okay?" "Of course! Trust me." "If I could do that, I wouldn't be worried. But we don't have any other options." "It'll be fine, I promise."

"Hey! Bring that over here!"

Something like a large cart was brought out. "Hey, I recognize this. It's the Drill Car, isn't it?" "No, it's not. There's no drill attached anywhere, so it's not a Drill Car." "Then what is it?" "It's a Drill Car without the drill. It uses the power of a flywheel to pull and destroy those iron bars."

I have an extremely bad feeling about this, but the Italica army is excitedly gathering around the machine. I can't tell them not to use it. Hans ordered the Italica officers to pull the Drill Car without a drill close to the castle gate. There was no counterattack at all since both the gate and the top of the walls were engulfed in flames.

Several soldiers pulled an iron hook attached to a rope connected to the flywheel's axis and hooked it onto the iron bars.

When all preparations were complete, Hans raised one hand. The wedge was removed. The flywheel began to spin with tremendous force.

The rope, which had been connected with some slack, was rapidly wound up. Finally, the rope became taut and pulled on the iron bars. However, the bars didn't come off. They seemed unexpectedly sturdy.

Then, all that force was directly applied to the Drill Car without a drill. All the stakes fixing it in place were pulled out with a loud noise. The Drill Car without a drill quickly overturned, and only the flywheel charged toward the castle gate. When the flywheel crashed into the iron bars of the gate, the bars were shattered and blown inward. At the same time, the stone flywheel cracked badly, and its fragments rolled inside with tremendous force. From inside the castle came sounds of things being hit and broken.

"What is this?" "Run!" "Ouch! Ouch!"

Screams could be heard from inside the castle. I held my head in my hands. "I feel like I've seen this exact same scene before." "It's just your imagination." Hans said calmly, appearing completely unconcerned.

I could see the Italica army cheering as they poured through the broken castle gate. The castle must have fallen by now. This battle is over.

Suddenly, Jung's face came to mind. That's enough—time to go home.