Chapter 56

Chapter 56

“Uwaaaaah!”

“Block them! Block them! Kill these bastards!”

Amidst the clashing weapons, crimson blood splattered.

Someone fell, their life snuffed out.

Before they could even mourn their fallen comrade, an enemy’s sword and spear slipped through their side.

“You damn bastards...!”

“Push them off!”

The border defenders pushed the enemy soldiers climbing the wall, sending them tumbling down.

But the enemy soldiers used their fallen comrades as stepping stones to leap up, and the defenders began to lose ground.

Thud!

Damian rushed over, stabbing his spear into the side of an enemy climbing the wall.

Thwack!

“Get down.”

Damian swung his spear sideways, sending the enemy flying.

He glanced at the fallen enemy before turning his gaze elsewhere.

“Hm...”

The border defense base was small but sturdily built.

The only downside was that the walls weren’t high enough, making it easy for enemies to climb over.

‘More and more of them are starting to climb.’

The enemy, seeing that the defenders were holding the high ground, were now recklessly charging, determined to die if needed.

Damian quickly looked at his unit members.

“Dianal, Kyle! Jerka, Terka! And the rest of you, form three teams and hold the left wall. I’ll handle the right wall.”

“Understood.”

Dianal responded and swiftly climbed the wall.

The top of the wall was narrow, like a scaled-down fortress wall, leaving little room for many people.

This gave the climbing enemies an advantage.

Only a few defenders could come to stop them.

But with the right preparations, the defenders had the upper hand.

‘Even if they come up, it’s only one or two at a time. If we form pairs, we can hold them off. So...’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The loud banging on the front gate echoed through the base.

The noise suggested one thing.

‘They’ve already prepared for a siege?’

Damian peeked over the wall and looked down.

The enemy was using a battering ram with a sharpened, pointed wooden end to strike the gate.

Damian’s expression twisted.

“Damn bastards, they came prepared.”

After all, these were the enemies who had been hiding here for around six months.

Such preparations were expected.

Fortunately, the battering ram was manually operated with ropes, meaning it would take time to break through.

‘But still, it’s only a matter of time.’

Stopping the climbers alone wouldn’t be enough.

Thud!

Damian quickly ran along the right side of the wall.

The border defenders had already formed teams of three, holding off the enemies climbing the wall.

‘They’re a bit late, but their response isn’t bad.’

Their experience defending the border was proving useful.

However...

‘The real problem is those outside.’

Reinforcements wouldn’t arrive until at least dawn.

They had to hold out for a few more hours.

Damian looked at the border defenders.

“Pour it over their heads!”

“Die, you bastards!”

Whoosh!

They desperately poured boiling water on the enemies, but it wasn’t enough to stop them.

A few enemies fell, scalded, but others picked up the battering ram and resumed pounding on the gate.

Damian shook his head.

‘That won’t work.’

Pouring oil and setting it alight might work, but that risked burning down the base and the forest.

Damian approached Vincent.

“Captain Vincent, the enemy is trying to break through the gate with a battering ram.”

“I know, but all we can do is hold out.”

Vincent acknowledged the dire situation but had no immediate solution.

Damian frowned.

But they lacked the numbers to execute it, and most importantly...

‘Who would carry it out?’

It was like running into a fire with a bundle of sticks on their back.

One wrong move from the commander could lead to their annihilation.

But then.

“I’ll lead the charge. Just give me 30 swift soldiers. They don’t need to be exceptional fighters, just fast on their feet.”

Thirty men would be 1/6 of the 3rd Division’s defenders.

It wasn’t many, but considering their total force, it wasn’t a small number either.

“You?”

“Yes.”

Damian’s response was without hesitation.

Pereron’s eyes wavered.

“Can you do it? It’ll be dangerous.”

“If we stay put, we all die anyway. Better to struggle and fight.”

The Spanian Kingdom soldiers had no way out, and desperate enemies were the most dangerous.

So, they had to be reckless too.

Pereron hesitated, but...

“Did your commander approve this operation?”

“I approved it.”

Vincent, who had approached, answered before Damian could.

Pereron turned and shouted.

“Michael! Gather 30 fast soldiers quickly!”

“What? Right now?”

“Hurry up!”

“Yes, sir!”

The officer, Michael, moved quickly under Pereron’s command.

A few minutes later, thirty defenders were assembled in front of Pereron, as if they’d been dragged there.

“Are these men enough?”

“And... I’ll take those guys as well.”

Damian pointed to the Caion Unit members fighting desperately on the walls.

Pereron nodded.

“Michael, reposition the troops to the other side. Leave the main gate alone.”

“But...”

“Just follow orders.”

“Yes, sir!”

Michael hurriedly moved the troops as Pereron looked at Damian.

“Good luck. Succeed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Pereron and Vincent quickly rejoined the battle.

Damian faced the roughly forty assembled soldiers.

“We’re going to exit the base through the side gate and strike the enemy from behind.”

“What? With just this force?”

“Isn’t that too reckless?”

Kyle and Jerka asked.

Damian nodded.

“It’s reckless. But what choice do we have? If we don’t act recklessly, we’re all going to die.”

Damian grinned.

Seeing Damian’s sudden smile, everyone’s faces tensed.

They wondered if he had gone mad.

“Just remember one thing.”

Damian’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“If anyone’s going to die, I’ll be the first. I’ll fight at the front and be the last to retreat... So trust me, and fight with everything you’ve got.”

And a few hours from now, we’ll all be back here.

Every single one of us, alive.

Kyle chuckled softly at Damian’s words.

“Haha, don’t worry. I’ll watch your back, Vice-Commander.”

“I’d do it better.”

“Hahaha! But Vice-Commander, if we pull off this mission, are we going to get a nice reward?”

“I’ll empty my own pockets to reward you all, just come back safely.”

“Damn! Our Vice-Commander’s loaded! You better keep that promise!”

Kyle’s comment made the others’ eyes gleam with anticipation.

Coming from someone who had been in the same unit as Damian, his words carried weight.

The atmosphere lifted significantly.

Damian continued.

“From now on, we are the Special Assault Team.”

Damian turned.

“Special Assault Team, let’s move out.”