Chapter 220

The Beginning of the End
"All units, board the ships!"

At the officer's loud command, the soldiers began boarding the airships.

The ones they boarded were assault transport ships. The first wave was infantry. The second wave would carry heavy artillery. The third wave would send in tanks. Their mission was to establish a foothold.

They believed the Empire to be weak. Why? Because they possessed weapons born from the wisdom of Alicetia. They were confident that, following their mission, they could construct a position right in front of the Empire's largest stronghold, the Granzur Fortress.

At the same time, countless bombers were lined up on the runways, loading bombs. The fighter jets, also loaded with bombs, would sortie after them, slightly later, to support the troops constructing their position.

And so, numerous bombers and a single airship took off.

Empire’s Point of View
"Hey, there's no way the Arland army's coming, right?"

"Since this fortress was built, has it ever been attacked? Never, right? They aren't coming here."

Granzur Fortress, bearing the Empire's name, was a solid stronghold equipped with three layers of defensive walls. Its scale was arguably the largest on the continent.

Since its completion, the fortress had never been attacked. Naturally so—Arland had no interest in Imperial territory.

Currently, the fortress served as the Empire's main supply hub for the war with Arland. A vast quantity of military supplies had been stockpiled inside the fortress, which were then shipped to the front lines by land and air.

But the Empire had made a mistake. They stockpiled too much here—unaware that this would be the beginning of a nightmare.

No scouts from the Arland army ever appeared, which caused complacency to spread among the soldiers. Even if they were attacked, they believed the fortress couldn't be taken, protected as it was by three defensive walls and a rare city defense barrier.

However, the city defense barrier had a fatal flaw. No nation possessed a magic furnace; the barriers were powered by magic stored in magic crystals. Meaning, the barrier was only activated when necessary.

"Hm?"

One of the soldiers heard a whistling sound through the air. Before he could identify it, something shot past at high speed.

The tower behind the three defensive walls—the fortress's heart—collapsed. That tower housed the magic tools and giant magic crystal responsible for generating the barrier.

The city defense barrier requires height to cover the entire fortress. Naturally, the tower had been built at an elevated location. At the same time, that tower housed the fortress's main power source: the giant magic crystal.

This wasn't due to a lack of technological capability on the Magic Kingdom's part. Rather, when the Magic Kingdom supplied the Empire with those devices, they deliberately withheld the latest models and lied, claiming they were the newest.

"T-The tower! The tower's—!"

"Hey! It's an airship! No signal lights—it's the Arland army!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Granzur Fortress lost its greatest defense at the very start.

Fifteen kilometers away from the fortress, atop a small hill, a steel magic tool stood—the Spider Tank. But this particular tank was now called the Original Spider, Alicetia's first prototype.

The mass-production Spider tanks had been significantly downgraded. The railgun was a fantastic weapon, but maintenance was extremely difficult—in fact, only Alicetia and, with great effort over several days, Grantz could maintain it. Thus, the main gun was replaced with a standard 120mm smoothbore cannon, significantly reducing its range. Naturally, the targeting system was also downgraded to match, along with various other components.

However, the Original Spider boasted overwhelming range superiority. That was why it had been deployed to destroy the key to Granzur Fortress.

"Lord Grantz, direct hit."

"Good. We're pulling out."

Grantz, serving as the tank commander, had claimed the Original Spider as his personal property. He stubbornly refused to relinquish it, but with mass production of downgraded units, that was quietly tolerated. After all, there was no concern about Grantz selling it off.

"We're retreating?"

"Of course. This thing's done its job. No need for more combat. Besides, the railgun is for anti-material use. From here on, it's infantry fighting, right? Better I head back before it gets damaged. Plus, I've got maintenance work back at the base."

"Understood."

And so, the Original Spider withdrew without engaging further in the battlefield.

Arland's Point of View
They landed on a plain about four kilometers from the fortress.

The airships gouged the ground as they landed, and once they stopped, their bows opened wide, disgorging countless soldiers.

"Hurry up, hurry up! Move like snails and the Imperial Army will cut you down!"

"Establish fortifications immediately!"

At the commanding officer's shouts, the soldiers dashed into action.

"Bracelet, create an earth golem."

The engineers wore a controller's bracelet called Earth Doll, which allowed them to instantly create earth golems. But these bracelets were military-grade. The golems were designed not only to assist but also to automatically dig trenches as they were created. In the blink of an eye, trenches appeared, and the summoned golems carried supplies from the transport ships. The remaining golems drove wooden stakes into the ground and stretched barbed wire.

In less than an hour, a decent trench network had been established.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Army was mocking them.

"They say those savages live in caves, but did they really dig a den out there?"

"Even if they dug trenches out there, we'd crush them in no time!"

The soldiers laughed boisterously, but among them was one man who had gone pale. He was not originally from this world. Unlike the Empire's summoned heroes, he had accidentally wandered into this world. It had been twenty years since then. Born on Earth, he had adopted a local name and worked as a watchman for the fortress.

Though he possessed no remarkable magic or physical strength, he had learned a simple magnification spell comparable to a basic telescope.

Using that spell as a watchman, he quickly understood Arland's intent.

"Report to Count Eltar immediately! That position—don't let them finish building it, no matter what!"

Startled by his panicked tone, a few soldiers exchanged confused looks but ran off to deliver the message.

(This is bad. That's clearly a trench network.

Which means... Arland might've developed firearms. They're even stringing up barbed wire.)

He knew Earth's history. He understood all too well how terrifying that kind of fortification was. His legs trembled. If Arland properly utilized trenches, then they had firearms. And while he didn't see them yet, once field artillery appeared, it would be hopeless. From that position, Arland's army could attack freely, while the Empire would be unable to retaliate. Neither the fortress's cannons nor the magicians’ spells could reach that far. But if they chose that location, they must already have a means of attacking from it. His mind drifted back to the earlier strike.

He urgently explained his knowledge to the commanding officer, Count Eltar, as the count arrived.

The count smiled wryly and granted permission to sortie. He simply couldn't believe Arland had already developed firearms that even the Empire struggled to mass-produce.

But the count also needed a victory. Losing the magic tools and the massive magic crystal to that mysterious attack had been a humiliating blunder.

However, because no follow-up attacks came, the count judged it to be a one-off strike using a disposable magical tool or a grand spell. He underestimated Arland, believing they lacked the skilled mages necessary to repeat such precise and powerful attacks.

"Good, send in the cavalry. We have nearly ten thousand horsemen here. That flimsy little position can be trampled beneath them."

Though not originally a cavalry nation, the Empire had fought fierce wars against steppe nomads and, in doing so, recognized the power of mounted troops. As a result, the Empire had risen to become the continent's foremost cavalry power.

The Empire fielded nearly one hundred thousand cavalry. Nearly ten thousand of them were stationed at the fortress, guarding supply lines and having been summoned as reinforcements. The count saw this as the perfect opportunity to score a victory.

(This is my chance. With this achievement, my status will soar.)

As for the earlier strike, he could come up with endless excuses. Even the Empire couldn't explain what had happened. Not even the fortress's mages could describe the nature of the attack. At worst, he could shift the blame onto subordinates for negligence. Some ordinary soldier could take the fall with minor punishment. This blunder could still be redeemed.

In fact, capturing the enemy soldiers at that position and interrogating them could reveal the nature of the attack. Maybe even the mage or magical device responsible could be seized, bringing him immense glory.

The count still felt no sense of danger.

Thus, he led his men and rode out.

The fortress gates opened, and the cavalry charged forth. Though infantry followed behind, the count was confident his cavalry alone would crush the enemy.

The otherworlder who had been on watch protested to the very end, but no one listened to the warnings of a mere soldier. Instead, the Empire's leadership thought only of trampling Arland's forces and uncovering the secret of that earlier strike. The count even dared to hope that Alicetia herself might be present.

If that earlier magical strike had been her doing, there was a chance she was within that fortification. Capturing her and delivering her to the Emperor would turn his failure into triumph—or so he believed.

The cavalry halted before the trenches. Once all the cavalry and infantry had exited the fortress, they formed into a charge formation and began their advance.

(Victory is ours.)

Almost simultaneously, the Arland soldiers crouched in the trenches thought:

(It'd be harder to miss.)

The Imperial Army didn't know. They had no idea that Arland had brought in vast numbers of machine guns based on the M2 Browning.

Countless gun barrels poked from the trenches.

"Fire!"

In that instant, an unending thunderous roar erupted, shrouding the Imperial Army in dust and screams.

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