Chapter 198 - Assault Staircase

“Do you think they will feed us barbarians?” Barry’s bad joke ruined the casual conversation the whole squad was having while standing atop the southern wall.

I almost felt the urge to puke.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Why would you even say something like that?” My face and tone made my disgust clear. There had not been a single day when my squad had gone on an empty stomach, so there was no reason for them even to think of making jokes about cannibalism.

“For a month after the grand beast tide, all we had was the meat of beasts we had killed. I don’t know if the army has some kind of ritual where they feed you only meat from beasts you killed. After all, it has been fifteen days since I last had any meat,” Barry replied with a shrug while looking at the army in front of us.

It had been four hours since our shift had started, and while the conversation was casual, everyone was on high alert because this was the day Captain Petrae expected the domain to drop.

“I would much rather eat dirt than that meat,” Silas commented.

“Speaking of beast meat, while I hate most of it, right now I could kill someone to get my hands on some,” Oren commented.

While we still had food, the army had started running out of meat, keeping only a small amount of smoked meat for the officers and some stored in reserve to use as a morale boost after a small victory.

“You all sound like you have been starving for a month. Be happy with what you are getting. Perform well here, and I will personally arrange for a noble house to provide a feast for all of you,” I said, patting Peter.

“Hey, young lord—”

Before Barry could continue, we saw a figure descending from the sky.

As soon as I saw it, I sensed the domain collapsing and an enormous amount of mana gathering near the southern gate. Once the mana condensed, a huge blade of wind came hurtling down toward the gate.

The battle is over, I thought.

But then a small hill rose behind the gate as Onyx emerged from the ground.

The hill broke the wind blade before it could strike the southern gate.

The hovering figure disappeared into the clouds once again, while Onyx stood up, one leg on the hill and the other near the southern gate, and let out a roar as if declaring the start of the war.

With that came something I had only read about but never seen.

The first thing I saw was an assault staircase, almost thirty feet wide and thirty feet tall. It was not a complex structure. It was made of flattened, thick tree logs arranged like stairs, with each step two to three feet high. The structure extended only twenty feet horizontally, but Tier-1s and Tier-2s with higher physical stats could easily climb it and engage the soldiers atop the wall.

On the top step of the assault staircase stood a shield wall of mercenaries. Their gear made it clear that taking them down with amateur archers would be difficult. An archer like Lela would have been a great asset against this shield wall, but regrettably, I had none.

I looked at the structure, trying to find a way to take it down.

One solution that came to mind was using rune cannons to send a few concentrated attacks at the center of the frame supporting the stairs. But we did not have just one assault staircase to deal with. There were two of them, along with two leaping ramps.

Moreover, destroying the structure would do minimal damage to the shield wall on top. Because of the steps, their fall would be gradual, and it would hardly injure any of those soldiers.

While I had yet to form a coherent plan to deal with the assault company, I could not let it show.

So I took a deep breath and readied myself.

“DO NOT FALTER. You have seen the might of the Guardian of House Petrae. Now it is time for us to show the world what we commoners can do,” I said, activating [Battlefield Command] and addressing the one hundred and fifty soldiers under my command as my squad ran to take their respective positions.

I was leading the section from the southern gate to the first tower east of it. Fifty of them were very inexperienced archers who had received only seven days of training in how to use a bow and arrow.

“I know this might be your first time fighting humans, but remember who you are fighting for. Remember the faces waiting for you at home. And if you cannot even do that, just focus on the words of your leader.”

I had assigned my squad members as leaders of these one hundred and fifty men, with each member responsible for ten to twenty soldiers.

“Archers! Be patient. Just do what your leader says. Nock when they say nock, draw when they say draw, and loose when they say loose.”

“Archers, get ready! Cannoneers, get the cannons into position.”

As soon as I finished speaking, a thick arrow entered my sensing range, heading straight for me. I created a mana shield to stop it, but surprisingly, the arrow was so powerful that it shattered my first shield. Thankfully, I reacted quickly enough to stop it with my second mana shield.

Surprised, I looked at the battlefield.

For an arrow to carry so much power even after being fired from the ground, the shooter had to be a specialized archer, probably a Tier-3. Generating that much force would be difficult even for Lela.

And my hunch was correct.

I spotted the man standing about five hundred meters from the wall, well behind the assault staircases and leaping ramps. He was close to someone who looked like the leader of the mercenary company attacking my section of the wall. Thankfully, neither of them was moving. They simply stood in place and observed the battle.

“Look at them. They are already afraid of my tongue. I cannot wait to show them what I can do with a spear. My men, are you ready to show them our might?”

“YES!”

The reply came from the soldiers. While my squad members were the loudest, the other soldiers now looked less scared and more focused on my words.

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“Archers, aim! Cannoneers, aim for the wheels. Destroy their base.”

The archers, led by Silas, fired their arrows at the assault staircases and leaping ramps, while the cannoneers, led by Peter, did the same with the cannons.

The cannoneers, being army veterans, were the first to hit their targets. Some cannon shots landed away from the wheels of the assault staircases, damaging only parts of the wooden structures. But then a few cannonballs hit their mark.

They struck the right wheel of one assault staircase, stopping that side of the entire structure.

Because only one wheel was destroyed, the right side stopped instantly, but the remaining wheels continued rolling forward for several moments. The whole structure twisted sideways, exposing the soldiers pushing it and making them perfect targets for the archers.

The soldiers on top of the staircase lost their balance. Some fell forward to the ground, while most either clung to the top step or stumbled backward.

After that, we took down one leaping ramp as well.

But another assault staircase was already too close to the wall, making it impossible for the cannons to hit its base.

The archers would also be ineffective against the shield wall on top.

Using cannons to hit a single target would be costly and inefficient.

Hitting the wooden structure itself would cause only minimal damage, just as it had when the earlier cannonballs struck the wooden frame instead of the wheels.

Then something clicked.

I had been so focused on the archers and cannons that I had forgotten something we had been training to do for almost forty-five days.

“Kael, Varric, ready your units. Aim for the wall.”

Kael’s and Varric’s units grabbed the spears Captain Petrae had mass-produced and aimed them at the shield wall atop the assault staircase.

Some spears did not even hit their target, and most of the ones that did were stopped by shields. Thankfully, two spears did what I had hoped.

Kael’s and Varric’s spears struck two men in the shield wall with enough force to push them back and bring them to their knees.

That revealed the two rows behind the shield wall.

Just behind them were spearmen, and behind the spearmen were archers.

As soon as their positions were revealed, arrows and spears came flying toward us. Most of them were stopped by the shield wall led by Garran, Oren, and Brakk.

Some precision arrows aimed at our cannoneers and archers were stopped by my mana shields. When my shields appeared in front of them, blocking the arrows, I could see a sense of awe in the eyes of the soldiers around me.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I motivated them further.

“As long as I am standing on this wall, I will not allow any arrow to hurt you. Do not be afraid of them. Let loose. Fire your spears, arrows, and cannons without fear.”

The soldiers fired spears and arrows at the enemy with renewed vigor. But even after that, their shield wall sustained only minimal damage before the assault staircase connected with the wall.

“HOLD THE WALL!” I commanded as soon as the staircase touched the wall.

Thankfully, the design of our shields allowed them to fit directly against the parapet and link with one another, making it difficult for the attackers to push past them.

Rokan and Daren commanded the spear line just behind the shield wall, while Kael’s and Varric’s units rested so that, when needed, they could cycle in or help the injured.

I had the urge to engage the enemy myself, but I suppressed it and focused on their movements.

That day, my job was not to fight.

It was to lead.

So I stood at the back and kept shouting orders while [Operational Cognition (A)] and [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] ran at full speed.

While we were facing assault staircases on the wall, the defenders in the tower, where our archers and cannoneers were positioned, were dealing with leaping ramps. The ramps ended eight feet below the top of the wall but rose high enough for agile fighters to run up them, reach the wall, and hook ladders onto the tower.

“Barry, deal with the runners,” I ordered.

I had not assigned any unit to Barry. He was a runner, a wild card. I had given him a rope tied to the top of the tower, allowing him to exploit his higher agility while keeping him from falling.

As soon as one of the enemy runners began sprinting up the tower’s outer wall, Barry appeared at the top of the tower.

Holding the rope with one hand, he jumped toward the wall and struck the attacker in the face. The attacker fell backward onto the leaping ramp’s platform.

By tightening his grip on the rope, Barry stopped himself a few feet above the leaping ramp. Then, with a quick motion of his hand, he threw three knives. One pierced the climber’s throat, while the other two pierced the eyes of two soldiers pushing the ramp, one at each corner.

In retaliation, arrows were shot toward Barry. To dodge them, he ran diagonally along the wall while two soldiers inside the tower pulled him up by the rope. Some of the better-placed arrows were blocked by my mana shields.

I could have taken care of the runners using mana arcs, but they were too mana-intensive to use in a prolonged battle.

The chaotic battle continued as soldiers kept climbing the assault staircases and engaging our shield wall. They also increased the number of runners using the leaping platforms, finally managing to hook ladders onto the wall.

We lost one soldier to an arrow when he leaned out of the tower to cut one of the ladders without my order. In response, we killed the soldier who tried to climb that ladder with arrows.

At the four-hour mark, the attack finally stopped.

It might have been because a new group of soldiers was about to replace us on the wall or because, after repeated attacks from Garran, Varric, and Kael, the top step of the assault staircase had finally broken.

At one point, when there was a constant stream of soldiers attacking both the wall and the tower, I started to worry that this was not a testing attack, as the Captain had predicted, but a full-blown assault.

Thankfully, it did not last any longer.

I was not only running out of mana but also suffering from a severe headache, almost as if someone had pierced my skull with a spear. This was the first time I had processed this much information at once.

Both [Operational Cognition (A)] and [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] provided me with far too much information when used together, sometimes more than I needed.

Processing all of it had pushed my mind to its limit. I was afraid that if the battle continued any longer, I would have to reduce my sensing range.

Thankfully, that did not happen that day.

I maintained my position and looked toward the archer and the mercenary leader, both of whom had not moved from their location.

For a brief moment, the archer seemed to look in my direction, almost as if he was acknowledging me.

He had attacked fewer than ten times during the entire battle, but every one of his attacks had been the hardest to block. He always targeted someone important, with extreme precision and almost no warning.

Only after both of them turned their backs on us did I finally step back.

Then, retreating a little, I looked at Kael.

“What is the casualty report?” I asked.

“We lost one archer and five soldiers from the shield wall, while almost forty soldiers received injuries of varying severity.”

I took a deep breath.

I had no idea whether six dead and forty injured soldiers would be considered a good result after four hours of fighting. At that moment, I did not particularly care.

Six people under my command were dead, and I could already see the mistakes I had made.

Moreover, I had failed to keep my own word.

Next time, I would make sure I did everything possible to minimize the loss of life.

“Inform the infirmary about the injured. If they are too occupied, let me know in an hour or two. I might be able to lend a hand. Also, make sure to note the names of the dead and give them to Captain Petrae and Captain Roscoe so they can ensure that the families of these brave men receive proper compensation for their loss.”

As I climbed down from the wall, I was greeted by Greg, the sergeant leading the soldiers for the next shift.

With a smile, he said, “You have either made my job very difficult or very easy.”

I gave him a confused look.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Greg said. “Among all the sections commanded by non-mage sergeants, you dealt the most damage to the enemy. The estimate is around ninety casualties. That, combined with the destruction of three siege weapons, made you stand out. All the lieutenants were talking about it in the command building.”

Author’s Note: Because even normal Tier-1 and Tier-2 soldiers can perform superhuman feats, I imagine siege weapons in this world would be different from what we see on Earth.

For example, an assault staircase with steps two to three feet high would be a nightmare for a normal person to climb, but soldiers with enhanced stats could climb them easily. Construction would follow the same logic. Even with limited industrial tools, soldiers could pick up and carve large wooden logs, allowing them to build these siege weapons almost anywhere, as long as a forested area was available.

The same goes for leaping ramps. Normal soldiers on Earth would not be able to climb that high onto a wall, but people with high agility, like Barry, should be able to cover such distances much more easily.