VOLUME 12: CHAPTER 17

VOLUME 12: CHAPTER 17

Struck by three powerful blows at the same time, the fire giant stumbled and fell down to the ground. Its right eye was pierced by a projectile, and its mouth, chest and knee were torn open by the impact.

"GRAAAHHHHH!"

The fire giant roared from pain and anger. Its torn knee hindered it from immediately standing up.

The fortress breaker Lark remembered wasn't this powerful. It seemed the Empire improved its firepower after their defeat against the Lukasians a few years ago.

"Archers! Fire!"

Without missing a beat, Prince Rykard ordered his archer units to fire volleys of arrows at the fire giant.

Normally, arrows wouldn't do any significant damage to a fire giant. But the fortress breakers blasted open its rock-like skin, making it vulnerable to mere arrows. The rykard archers made sure to accurately target the wounded places, and the fire giant soon found its wounds lodged with numerous arrows.

"General! The fortress breakers!"

"They'll be usable again in ten minutes, Your Highness!"

The fortress breakers were powerful, but due to being portable, their bodies were made of light materials. They needed to wait for the metallic tube to cool, lest the artifacts break down or explode from overuse. Even with the help of ice magic, significant time were needed before they would be usable again.

"It's covering its body with flames!"

"It's standing up!"

To the Rykard soldiers' horror, the fire giant started covering its upper body with flames, melting and burning the arrows embedded in its face and torso.

With a limping leg, it slowly stood.

"GRAAAUUUHHHH!"

The fire giant's roar was filled with murderous rage. The flames covering its body burned even more fiercely. The fire giant grabbed a nearby boulder, and lifted it up.

"Fortress defender!" roared Prince Rykard. "Activate it!"

The soldiers quickly activated another artifact. If the fortress breaker was capable of destroying city gates, the fortress defender was capable of defending gates from magical attacks.

"GRAAHHHH!"

With unstable posture, the fire giant threw the boulder toward the army on top of the hill.

Six metallic cubes spanning two meters in size glowed. From their center, rays of mana shot out, intersecting with each other, forming a barrier that resembled a spider web.

The boulder thrown by the fire giant quickly spun and struck the barrier. The barrier shook but didn't form cracks or collapse.

"Cavalry! On me!"

Over a hundred cavalry skillfully charged down the hill, their target was the wobbly fire giant. It was apparent the fire giant was greatly wounded by the surprise attacks from the fortress breakers, and the Rykard soldiers wished to use this chance to sunder its remaining leg, rendering it unable to move completely.

The one leading the calvary was none other than Vaison himself.

"Three-pronged formation!" shouted Vaison. "Aim for the remaining leg! Charge!"

The calvary split into three. The one led by Vaison charged directly toward it, while the other two moved around the fire giant.

Riding their mounts, the cavalry slashed the leg of the fire giant with their sword and spears, one after another. Due to its other leg being injured, the fire giant couldn't even stomp on them to retaliate. It also couldn't spew out a torrent of fire, as its mouth had been blasted open by the fortress breakers. Whenever it tried sweeping them with its arms, Vaison would order the calvary to disperse.

"Captain Symon, what do you think?" said Lark.

Lark and the Blackstone Knights simply watched from atop the hill while the Rykard soldiers battled against the fire giant.

"They're surprisingly good, Your Majesty," said Captain Symon. "It's apparent they've practiced these formations before."

Lark agreed.

This tactic wasn't something you could use immediately at the get-go. They needed to practice these formations dozens of times before they could even make use of them during war.

This display alone surpassed Lark's expectations.

"But Your Majesty," Reginald voiced out his concerns. "Why isn't the prince asking for the Blackstone Knights' help?"

Lark also wondered about this. Had they made use of the Blackstone Knights, the fire giant would have been taken down by now.

Lark's gaze moved to Prince Rykard. Although the prince wore a determined look on his face, Lark could see his hands trembling. Although he was trying his best to conceal it, the prince was terrified of fire giant below the hill.

The shriek of a soldier was heard below.

"AAAHH! NOOOO!"

The fire giant finally caught one of the cavalrymen. It grabbed his body, his mount included, and crushed it effortlessly. The man's blood splattered, sizzled, and evaporated from the flames.

Prince Rykard flinched, his pupils shook, but he didn't avert his gaze. Even when three more calvary men died from the fire giant, Prince Rykard continued watching his soldiers' last moments.

Prince Rykard said to Lark, "Your Majesty, please look. This is the full extent of my army's might."

Hearing this, Lark finally understood why the prince didn't ask the Blackstone Knights to fight the fire giant immediately.

The prince wanted to show Lark first the full might of his army. By doing this, it would be easier for Lark to react to certain situations later on when they fight the demons occupying the Town of Cirno.

"Your Highness, the fortress breakers are ready," said General Sigismund.

"Send the signal to Vaison."

"Understood!"

Colored flags were raised, and seeing this, the calvary below scattered.

After the calvary reached a safe distance, the Rykard soldiers aimed the fortress breakers at the fire giant.

"Do not miss a single one!" roared Prince Rykard. "Fire!"

On cue, deafening booms echoed as the fortress breakers fired their projectiles. This time, all three attacks struck the head of the fire giant.

Its attention occupied by the calvary that had been swarming to it like gnats, the fire giant failed to cover its head with its arms on time. The projectiles from the fortress breakers struck its face at the same time, sending chunks of flesh and blood flying about.

The combined firepower of three fortress breakers blew off half the fire giant's head.

With a loud thud, the fire giant fell flat on the ground. The flames covering its body quickly lost their blaze, and the fire giant stopped moving completely.

"Is… it dead?" mumbled Prince Rykard under bated breath.

Several seconds passed.

After seeing that the fire giant stopped moving completely, the Rykard soldiers rejoiced and started celebrating their victory.

"W-We won?"

"We won!"

"We killed the fire giant!"

Everyone couldn't believe they managed to defeat a fire giant on their own. Although they lost nine soldiers, it was a victory they could be proud of.

But their joy was short-lived.

Soon, they heard several loud rumbling sounds from a distance. And from the opposite hill, two fire giants emerged.

"T-Two of them?" stuttered the Fifth Prince.

They managed to take down the first fire giant using the element of surprise. Without it, they would have probably suffered more casualties. Had they fought it directly, they probably wouldn't have been able kill it.

The only reason they could fearlessly charge toward it was because it had lost mobility in one of its legs after all.

Had it been mobile, it could probably annihilate the Rykard army.

And now, two fire giants appeared. Although the Rykard soldiers couldn't read the expressions of demons, they could feel that the two fire giants were enraged after seeing the corpse of their kin.

"Your Highness, we should retreat immediately!" said General Sigismund decisively.

Prince Rykard nodded. Beads of sweat kept falling down his forehead. "Give the signal to the calvary below to retur—"

"—RUAAHHH!"

The words of Prince Rykard were drowned out by the roars of the fire giants. The hills shook, and the temperature around them continuously rose.

One of the fire giants opened its mouth wide and spewed out a torrent of fire toward the cavalry at the foot of the hill.

"VAISONNN!"

Time seemed to have slowed down as Prince Rykard watched the torrent of fire shoot toward Vaison and the calvary.

They could feel the scorching heat even from here. If that torrent of fire hit the soldiers, it would completely engulf their bodies, and nothing but their ashes would remain.

Prince Rykard's mind was about to turn blank from what he was about to witness when he saw Lark jump from the hill and softly land between the fire torrent and the cavalry.

Calmly, Lark swung his arm to the side, and an ice barrier rose from the ground, blocking the torrent of fire.

The ice barrier looked thin and fragile, but surprisingly, it easily blocked the torrent of fire.

Lark amplified his voice with magic and spoke to Prince Rykard, "You've already shown us what the Rykard army is capable of, Your Highness."

The bracer in Lark's arm quickly morphed into a sword.

"I believe it's time you learn to rely on us a bit more."

Lightning crackled underneath Lark's feet. He lunged forward, shot toward the fire giants, and jumped up.

Upon reaching the head of the fire giant, Lark raised his sword up.

"Make full use of the Blackstone Knights. Treat them as your own soldiers. Order them around."

Lark swung his sword once, and a massive blade of dense, sharp mana whizzed toward the fire giant before him, bisecting its body vertically.

Immediately upon landing, Lark swung his sword again, this time diagonally, and the head of the second fire giant was severed from its body.

Everything happened in mere seconds.

Without even being able to scream, the two fire giants lifelessly slumped on the ground, sending clouds of dust flying about upon impact.

Silence fell.

The entire Rykard army stared at the scene below, their mouths half-opened.

The voice of Lark, amplified by mana, was heard once again.

"Until we reclaim the Town of Cirno, the Blackstone Army will be part of the Rykard Army. Use them as you see fit, Your Highness."

***

After defeating the fire giants, the Rykard army buried the corpses of their comrades in the scorched village and resumed their journey to the Town of Cirno.

It was evening when Lark finally received a call from the Coalition Army through the intercity communication device.

"Your Majesty, it's me, Khuumal."

The voice of the elven commander was heard from the artifact.

"The Emperor gave us his answer."

"Is that so?" said Lark. "So, what is it? Did they agree to be part of the Coalition?"

Prince Rykard, who sat in the same carriage as Lark, anxiously listened. He prayed to the Gods that his father accepted the Coalition Army's offer. Although he couldn't hear the voice of the elven commander, he could infer the conversation by listening to Lark's words.

"Unfortunately, the Emperor declined the offer, Your Majesty."

"They declined, huh?

The prince's eyes widen upon hearing his words.

"What are your orders, King Lark?" said Commander Khuumal. "At this rate… the Empire…"

"There's nothing we can do about it," said Lark. "The Emperor has been ruling over this nation for decades. It's understandable he doesn't want to go under the wing of someone else. For now, move to the location we've agreed beforehand. After we reclaim the Town of Cirno, I'll fly there with Vulcan."

"Understood. I pray that God Gaia protects you, King Lark."

The call was cut off.

After some time, Prince Rykard nervously spoke, "F-Father d-didn't accept the offer of the Coalition?"

"I'm afraid so, Your Highness."

The voice of the prince rose.

"T-THAT'S ABSURD! WHAT IS FATHER THINKING! THAT DAMN STUPID PRIDE OF HIS! AS THE EMPEROR, HE SHOULD BE THINKING OF THE PEOPLE!"

Prince Rykard had personally seen how absurdly strong King Lark and the Blackstone Knights were. And he knew they needed their help if they wished to win this war against the demons.

They'd already lost two major cities to the demons. Now, only Kreceir City stood between the demon army and the imperial capital.

"AND WHAT IS THE CHIEF ROYAL ADVISOR DOING! HE, OF ALL PEOPLE, SHOULD KNOW BETTER! HE SHOULD HAVE—"

"—Your Highness, please calm down," said Lark. "Your soldiers can hear you outside."

Vulcan clicked his tongue, "What a noisy brat."

Prince Rykard's face was flushed from anger. He couldn't believe the Emperor made such a stupid mistake. Even he could see that allying with the Coalition was the best and most logical decision at this moment.

That damn old man and his stupid pride!

"K-King Lark, what's going to happen now? T-The mission…"

"Rest assured, we'll help you reclaim the Town of Cirno, Your Highness. We've promised, after all."

Hearing this, some of the weights pushing down the prince's shoulders were lifted.

"And don't worry. Reginald and Captain Symon will still remain here, together with the Blackstone Knights, as reinforcements for the Empire."

"B-But the Coalition Army?"

"We'll leave the Empire as soon as I return from this mission, Your Highness."

"Are you… going to the Republic of Everfrost to make the same offer?"

Lark nodded, "That's correct."

Prince Rykard gnashed his teeth.

He felt it was foolish that the Emperor let go of such an opportunity because he couldn't rein in his stupid pride. Had he been the Emperor, he would have readily agreed to all of the Coalition Army's demand. He would have even granted them one of the key territories of the Empire and freely let them turn it into a fortress while they were at war with the demons, as he knew it would be for the beneficial of the Empire in the long run.

Prince Rykard leaned back in his seat. He sighed, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"Why are you apologizing, Your Highness?" Lark said kindly. He repeated his words before, "And please rest assured, we're not abandoning the Empire. Like I've said before, we'll help you reclaim the Town of Cirno. And the Blackstone Knights will continue protecting you, Prince Rykard."

Lark looked out the window. They'd just left the hilly region. Now, all he could see outside was a vast grassland.

"It's getting late," said Lark. "I suggest we camp here for the night."

After crossing this grassland, they would pass by a large river. From there, they would reach the Town of Cirno by foot in a single day.