Chapter 27

【Imperial Army]

Watching the soldiers who were marching orderly in rows, Violette breathed out while resting her cheek in her hand.

「…… It seems like, those people of the Royal Capital decided to strengthen their defense and resist us.」

While she muttered that, Violette recrossed her legs in the chair.

「I hate this. It feels like we became a small-fry who oppresses the weak.」

Hearing such words of Violette, one of the cavalry men smiled wryly.

「However, those people of the Azul Kingdom are also stupid. If they can’t oppose the most advanced golem unit that our empire is proud of, somewhere in the castle walls will surely collapse.」

Nodding lightly to the cavalry’s words, Violetto laughs.

「I want to move around in the plains and smash their golems which can’t even move nimbly. However, I was very troubled because of that, golems and their more than ten thousand forces are behind that wall…… It seems that they had chosen the most boring way of fighting.」

When Violette said that, laughter rose from the soldiers around her. While laughing with everyone, Violette shifted her eyes at the top of the castle walls which surrounds the Royal Capital.

「Well…… if they want to have a decent siege battle, the golems that can destroy the castle gates and castle walls, and the battering ram must be the first thing that they will aim for…… but I wonder if they will exceed my expectations?」

When Violette muttered that with a faint smile, a red flame burned up above the castle wall.

【Royal Capital]

「Wa, wa, wasn’t it better to aim after attracting them a little more!? General!」

The middle-aged man in white robe said that and a man in his prime who wore a luxurious armor laughed.

「Idiot, I’m going to do that if it’s a war that can be won! Aren’t we doing a siege because we lost both in numbers and quality!?」

「As, as, as I thought, we can’t win this war…..!」

When the man in white robe changed his complexion, a short man in armor got angry.

「General Dukel! How can you say something that makes morale fall……!」

When the short soldier yelled, the man called Dukel laughs loudly.

「BWAHAHAHA! I don’t even know how long we can endure this siege battle!」

Dukel said that with a smile on his face and he looked at the man in white robe while narrowing his eyes sharply.

「This is a war that can’t be won, but this is also a war that we can’t lose. Currently, we are losing in both number and quality, but aren’t we trying to gather the forces within the Kingdom? In the course of time, we will surpass them by only using our number!」

Dukel raised his voice to explain to one man in front of him in which he adds.

「I know that the Imperial Army might go all-out to crush our golems! If so, let me know it from the beginning! If you do that, we can slow their movements so that they will not be destroyed in vain!」

「I, I see…… So, we’re buying time……」

Maybe because he was overwhelmed by Dukel, the man replied while nodding his head bit by bit. Glancing at the man sideways, Dukel faced the surroundings and sent forth his voice.

「Listen, you guys! The enemy will aim at the magicians first! Protect the magicians with all your strength except those who will shoot the arrows! Got it!?」

When he yelled that, the soldiers returned a raging reply and Dukel laughed loudly.

At that time, a soldier holding a shield in the front row of the wall opened his mouth.

「The Imperial Army has entered the range of arrows!」

「It’s the signal for the outbreak of war! All archers prepare your arrows!」

Dukel was walking above the castle wall while giving instructions and glared at the golems standing in rows as the vanguard of Imperial Army.

「Don’t release it until the infantry arrives below the castle wall, so you can relax! Our bows and arrows will reach them but their attacks won’t reach us! Shoot them as much as you……. wha!?」

When Dukel was walking while encouraging the soldiers, a sound that cuts through wind echoed and an impact that shook the ground struck the castle wall.

「Wha, what was that, just now!?」

When he pushed aside the soldiers and looked down, he saw an object similar to an iron spear which pierced through the castle wall. Dukel, who confirmed that, raised his face with his eyes wide open.

「It’s a golem, that can shoot an arrow…… Ooh!?」

A single golem stood in front of the Imperial Army.

A lightly-equipped golem compared to others was standing with a huge bow that was higher than its own height which was more than two times that of a normal person’s weight.

That golem stopped one foot forward and started picking up new arrows on the spot.

It used large iron rods which looked like arrows for ammunition. While looking at the golem who lifted the rod lightly with one hand, Dukel smiled stiffly.

「Oi oi, that’s impossible. They are cheating at this point. Their arrow could almost reached the top of the castle wall from that distance.」

Immediately after Dukel said that, the castle wall shook and a new iron rod pierced the middle of the castle wall.

Seeing that, Dukel snorted.

「I thought I could leisurely endure a siege for a month, but I think I will not last for a week if I become careless…… Dammit, it’s impossible to destroy that golem with cavalry alone…… If we can manage to destroy it, we will be able to cut the Imperial Army’s courage to pieces……」

While Dukel was murmuring, he heard a loud voice from somewhere.

「So, something appeared! It’s coming here!」

Dukel heard that scream and hurriedly turned towards the Imperial Army, but there are only the figures of Imperial Army who are approaching them just like earlier.

「There’s nothing else there……!」

「Ge, General! A, above! It is above!」

The soldier pointed at the sky. And, many people including Dukel became surprised by what they were seeing.

Just like a large number of flying birds in the sky, small black shadows appeared as if covering the sky.

All the black shadows appeared from the mysterious object floating in the sky.

「Ge, General!? A large number of black objects from the mysterious flying object are……!」

「I know!」

While yelling at the confused soldier, Dukel stared at the sky.

「Wh, what on earth, is that…..! Are they dragons…… no, human shapes!?」

In front of Dukel’s eyes who looked up at the sky while forgetting to remonstrate the disordered soldiers, the large number of black shadows were landing on the ground.

Seeing their figures, Dukel reflexively raised his voice.

「……! It’s a golem! Golems are falling from the sky!!」