BOOM!
Earth-shaking artillery fire slammed into the thick stone walls of Saint Grula Fortress, throwing clouds of dust into the air.
Although Lion El’Jonson had assembled nearly all of Caliban’s finest knights, breaching a fortress that had stood for countless years would still require them to pay a heavy price.
“My Lord!
The Order is attacking our walls from both the east and west!”
After only a few barrages, chaos had already begun to spread across the ramparts of Saint Grula.
“The time has come.”
Lion El’Jonson nodded slightly.
As a Primarch, her understanding of strategy had long since surpassed the conventional warfare of Caliban.
The pitiful knights of this world knew only how to shout empty words like “honor” while rigidly following ancient doctrines, turning warfare into something almost as childish as a game played between nobles.
They had forgotten the true nature of war.
—Secrets.
In a war built on deception, the side that kept its secrets better was the side more likely to win.
On that point, Lion and Merlin were in complete agreement.
While Lion directed the artillery bombardment from the north, siege towers advanced against the eastern wall, while knights on the western side assaulted the fortress with ladders and grappling hooks.
Attacked from several directions at once, the already undermanned Knights of Lupus were immediately stretched to their limit.
“Bring up the battering ram.
Break down the gate.”
Lion could clearly see that the moment the attacks began, the defenders on the ramparts became increasingly frantic.
Exactly as expected.
The Knights of Lupus were drawing their forces toward the eastern and western walls, as well as the northern side where Lion herself was attacking.
Which left the seemingly safe southern side…
“Merlin.
Begin.”
…
“Luther, Sir Darrell, prepare yourselves.”
While the main army attacked from the east, west, and north, Merlin was hidden within the forest covering the southern slopes of Mount Saint Grula, quietly observing the southern defenses of the Knights of Lupus.
“The southern garrison is being redeployed.
Our attack needs to be fast and effective.
We don’t need to destroy the enemy here—we only need to force them to release the Great Beasts.
Understood?”
“Don’t worry.
I know what I’m doing.”
Luther nodded.
“My Lord, shouldn’t we move somewhere safer?”
The speaker was Nemiel, one of the two knights standing beside Merlin.
After more than a decade of training, both Nemiel and Zahariel had completed the trial of hunting a Great Beast and officially become knights of Caliban.
The two brothers were skilled warriors.
If an actual fight broke out, either of them was far stronger than Merlin.
Lion El’Jonson, still worried about Merlin’s safety, had assigned the two of them to guard the Wizard, whose combat ability remained rather questionable.
“That won’t be necessary.” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Merlin kept watching the fortress.
Only a handful of defenders remained on the southern ramparts.
“Now!”
Whoosh—
The instant Merlin gave the order, hundreds of figures hidden throughout the mountain forest suddenly launched into the air.
Jump packs mounted to their power armour roared to life, carrying the knights toward the nearly undefended southern wall like warriors descending from the heavens.
During an earlier campaign against a rebellious knightly order, Merlin had discovered an STC design for an anti-gravity system that had been hidden away by the enemy.
Using it as a foundation, he had introduced the concept of jump packs into Caliban’s warfare ahead of time.
Following Lion El’Jonson’s secret orders, Caliban’s finest smiths had been tasked with designing and manufacturing these extremely crude jump packs.
They were primitive.
But they worked.
And it had to be said—the sight of hundreds of jump packs igniting at once was spectacular.
The Knights of Lupus guarding the southern wall were stunned.
These old Calibanite knights, accustomed to horses and swords, had never seen anything like it.
By the time they recovered from their shock and prepared to retaliate, it was already too late.
Under normal circumstances, knights flying openly through the air would have been easy targets for concentrated ranged fire.
But most of the Knights of Lupus had already been redeployed to defend the other three sides of the fortress.
No one had expected an assault from the south, where steep mountains had always been considered a natural defense.
The few defenders who remained were immediately overwhelmed.
“Knights of The Order!
Attack!”
Luther was the first to reach the ramparts.
With a single sword strike, he cut down a Knight of Lupus standing nearby.
Then he leapt down from the wall, reached the mechanism beside the southern gate, and severed its lock with another blow.
“Just as expected.”
Looking deeper into the fortress, Luther saw rows upon rows of cages.
Each one contained a Great Beast of Caliban.
This was the Knights of Lupus’ final trump card.
Once Lion El’Jonson’s forces breached the fortress, they intended to release all of these ferocious creatures directly into her army.
What they hadn’t expected was for the fortress to be breached from the least likely direction—
The south.
Under Luther’s gaze, the Knights of Lupus fell into chaos because of the sudden attack.
But in the end, they still chose to open the cages facing the breached southern side and release the Great Beasts.
“Heh.
Fools.”
Luther activated his jump pack again and launched himself back out of the fortress.
“Merlin, everything inside is exactly as you predicted.
The Knights of Lupus have released the Great Beasts.”
“Mission accomplished.”
Now!”
Merlin immediately gave the next order.
“All assault knights, change course and withdraw from the fortress!
Circle around the foothills and rendezvous with the main army in the north!”
Under Merlin’s command, the knights who had seized the southern wall activated their jump packs and scattered back into the mountain forest.
“Roar…?”
For a moment, the newly released Great Beasts simply stared at the empty green forest in front of them.
Where were the enemies?
There was no one there.
They couldn’t exactly attack the trees.
And if there were no enemies…
Then they would fight each other.
With nothing else upon which to vent their violent instincts, the Great Beasts that had originally been intended to tear through Lion’s army instead began slaughtering one another.
“Success.”
The caged beasts that were supposed to serve as the Knights of Lupus’ final trump card had completely failed to achieve their intended purpose.
Thanks to Merlin’s supposed prophetic abilities, their hidden tactic had been neutralized before it could ever be used.
In Merlin’s eyes, there were no secrets.
Standing within the forests of Mount Saint Grula, Merlin observed the battlefield through a high-powered telescope manufactured on Caliban.
After the sudden attack, the Knights of Lupus believed that their southern defenses had been breached.
The entire fortress was thrown into confusion, and its defenders could no longer coordinate properly.
Besieged from all four directions, Saint Grula was already on the verge of collapse.
Worse still, the Great Beasts that had been intended as their final weapon were now fighting among themselves.
With their last hope gone, the morale of the Knights of Lupus fell to rock bottom.
Taking the fortress now seemed to be only a matter of time.
“Nemiel.
Zahariel.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Prepare to relocate.
We’re going to rendezvous with Lion El’Jonson and the others.”
“Understood.”
“But, my Lord…”
Zahariel suddenly pointed toward the nearby forest.
“Who is that?”
“What?”
Merlin followed his finger.
Not far from their position stood a silent figure completely shrouded in black.
At first glance, it looked almost like an oversized Watcher in the Dark.
It simply stood there.
Watching them.
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