Chapter 67. Berenburg (5)

I tried to recall.

The memories of 8 years of gameplay.

In the time I had dedicated my entire twenties to, the number of attempts to conquer Berenburg was close to 800.

The fact that I remembered the specific number probably meant that it was that much of a tricky opponent.

In fact, I remembered that the success rate was abysmal in the beginning.

It was before my gaming skills had fully matured, but it was also because I hadn't attempted a conquest through the sewers.

Until then, I had mainly played as human factions like the Empire, the Theocracy, the City Alliance, or the Northern Grand Duchy.

It meant that I had conquered it using conventional methods like artillery, ladders, siege towers, and magic.

‘The success rate was less than 10 percent.’

Of course, it was different now.

I was confident that I could achieve a 50-50 win rate even with conventional methods.

And if the given conditions were perfect, I could even achieve an 80 percent win rate.

Anyway, I started to vary my conquest methods around the time I moved on from humans, through elves, dwarves, and beastmen, to the Ratmen.

Due to the nature of the rat-people who lived by digging burrows, I naturally researched how to conquer them from underground.

And eureka.

I discovered the secret of the sewer.

Attacking from the underground allowed me to bypass most of the formidable obstacles in conquering Berenburg.

That meant I could ignore the large-scale artillery, the double-walled outer wall structure, the complex street battles, and the insane dome-shaped defensive shield that covered the entire inner castle.

After that, when conquering Berenburg, regardless of the race, I usually chose the sewer route.

In this case, the number of hurdles to overcome was reduced to just three.

The ghost of the sewer.

The defensive facilities and garrison inside the inner castle.

And the Rose Knights.

I had dealt with the first of them.

When I returned, the unit members had already woken up.

Karen, who greeted me with a bright face, frowned as I approached.

“Commander…! Ugh, the smell of blood…”

“I dealt with the ghost of the sewer.”

“You defeated the ghost? By yourself?”

“Yes.”

I told the truth.

This would be a publicly acknowledged achievement later anyway.

I had also cleaned up the scene neatly.

By neatly, I meant that I had completely burned away any traces of necromancy with a pillar of fire magic.

“So it was the ghost of the sewer that knocked us out. I heard it was a monster that even the guards couldn’t handle…”

“Karen, accept it. It’s the Commander.”

“Ah, as expected…”

“That’s enough chatter, let’s move.”

I ignored Olif, who was spouting nonsense again, and moved on.

Before long, the form of the sewer changed.

The wall, which was half a natural cave, had been replaced with old but well-maintained bricks.

Moreover, there were even dry paths on both sides of the central channel where the water flowed.

“We’ve entered the city limits.”

I quietly briefed them.

“Let’s move stealthily.”

We changed our formation.

At the lead were the rangers, with Karen at the forefront.

[The scouts deploy [Ranger’s Step].]

We moved with a moderate distance between the scouts and the main body.

For safety.

The inside of the city was the guards’ patrol route.

There wouldn’t be anyone patrolling the sewers while the city walls were under attack, but the battlefield was always a place where unexpected variables occurred.

The rangers, who could almost completely conceal their presence, could launch a surprise attack in the dark sewer before the enemy even noticed.

Fortunately, such a situation did not actually occur.

We safely followed the sewer and reached the inside of the inner castle wall.

“The wall… first…”

“Pegasus…!”

We were getting close to the surface.

So close that the sound of soldiers running around above our heads was transmitted as a vivid echo.

The passage had also narrowed to the point where two people could barely pass.

We stopped with the unit members in a dead-end passage where several sewer pipes protruded from the wall.

It was one of the exits of the sewer.

“…Now.”

Karen, with her excellent hearing, told me the timing to go up.

I was the first.

I climbed the ladder.

I removed the stone cover that covered the sewer hole and stuck my head out.

The dry and fresh outside air caressed my face.

“Hoo.”

I exhaled softly and quickly pulled myself out.

I stuck to the wall of a building and surveyed the surroundings.

There was no sign of life.

It was not detected by my five senses or even by a mage’s senses.

I nodded to Karen, who had peeked her head out just like me a moment ago.

She pulled herself out with a light movement.

While the rest of the members came up, Karen and I kept watch of the surroundings.

The first thing that caught my eye was the translucent blue curtain that covered the sky in the distance.

It was the defensive shield that covered the inner castle.

A defensive shield that literally wrapped around the top of the wall like a dome.

Naturally, it wasn't a spell created by one or two mages.

According to the lore, it was a defensive shield installed with a relic that Marquis Ricardo had excavated from the underground ruins.

Among gamers, there was a theory that the ghost of the sewer had awakened at that time, but it wasn't an official setting from the developers.

Anyway, that defensive shield was the biggest factor that made Berenburg an impregnable fortress.

It could easily block a full volley from a mortar battalion.

Click.

The sewer cover was put back in place.

All 60 members had come up.

We entered a nearby 3-story empty building.

Hiding inside the building, we secretly observed the situation outside the window.

“…This is not good.”

Olif, who was observing the street, muttered.

Karen’s expression was not good either.

The second hurdle.

“There are too many enemies.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to get past them without being seen.”

The garrison stationed inside the inner castle.

Even though we were supposed to have lured them out with a feint attack, their numbers were still not small.

“South! The Pegasus Knights have moved to the south!”

“Bring more lumber. Build a barricade behind the inner castle gate!”

Perhaps the feint attack was too successful.

Seeing the garrison moving to defend the inner castle instead of the outer castle.

The Imperial army might have already breached the outer castle and was advancing towards the inner castle along the streets.

My suspicion soon became a conviction.

“Knights, to the east wall! The enemy has placed their ladders!”

Knights in full plate armor with red capes rushed towards the wall.

“…The Rose Knights.”

Olif muttered.

That was right.

The Rose Knights.

These people, who should have been guarding the lord’s castle, were moving around to defend the inner castle.

The two hurdles that should have been dealt with separately had merged into one.

“How about we wait for the Imperial army and join them? Seeing the situation, it seems they will break through the inner castle soon.”

One of the knights under Olif’s command suggested.

It was a reasonable idea.

“No, an opportunity will come.”

But I shook my head.

While glancing at the translucent notification window that had appeared in the corner of my vision.

[The 1st Company deploys [Shield Wall: Advance].]

[The 2nd Company deploys [Volley].]

The main force I had left behind was moving.

The thing I was most worried about had happened.

It seemed the Emperor had chosen an all-out attack instead of a feint attack.

He must have seen an opening while probing.

Or he might have used one of the cards that only the Emperor possessed.

“Commander, is this by any chance not a feint attack…”

“Yes.”

Olif, who had the most battlefield experience among us, seemed to have noticed as well.

That the entire Imperial army, including our mercenary band, was launching an all-out assault on Berenburg.

Anyway, from now on, it was a race against time.

Although our mercenary band had been granted independent operational command, we couldn't have avoided participating in the current large-scale offensive.

“Wait.”

I trusted old man Brol and the 3rd Company commander, Damas.

Having been with them for the past few months, I had seen their judgment, leadership, and qualities as commanders.

I believed they could lead our mercenary band well enough in a situation like this.

However, they wouldn't be able to hold out forever.

The longer the battle dragged on, the more casualties would increase.

We would end the fight on our side before that.

After having them check their weapons one last time, I looked out the window.

There were hundreds of enemy troops scattered around the building.

The street where we had emerged from the sewer was also being fortified by the garrison.

There was no way out.

“Commander…”

“An opportunity will definitely come.”

Personally, I believed that opportunities were made.

Before long, the news I had been waiting for came from among the enemies.

“Beastmen! The beastmen have appear… Gaaah!”

Boom! Boom!

The scream was drowned out by the thunderous sound of artillery fire.

Risking the danger, I peeked my head out the window a little.

I could see several streaks of white smoke rising into the sky.

It wasn't that far.

It was inside the inner castle wall.

“Huh? Uh-uh? That’s… ?”

One of the rangers tilted his head.

He had good eyesight.

She was looking at the trajectory of the cannonball’s fall.

The artillery fire, which was fired from inside the inner castle, was not aimed outwards.

Instead, the cannonball that reached its apex drew a gentle parabola and-

Craaaaash!

It fell near our operation’s objective.

The lord’s castle.

“Artillery has fallen on the lord’s castle!”

“To the north! The Indika bastards have betrayed us!”

“No! It’s an internal traitor! It’s an Imperial mortar!”

“Aaaaargh! Undead! Necro Ogres…!”

Boom! Craaash!

Continuous artillery fire.

Screams.

Confused shouts.

The faint sound of an elephant’s cry.

“What happened? Did a civil war break out?”

The unit members seemed as flustered as the enemies.

Even Olif, who had maintained his composure throughout, couldn't hide his agitation.

“Quiet.”

Personally, I believed that opportunities were made.

I believed that the small miracle called an opportunity was the result of thorough preparation and planning, with a little bit of luck added.

Of course, for now, I needed to do a little acting.

[[Holy Aura] is deployed.]

I drew my sword, which was shrouded in a pure white aura, and said.

“This is an opportunity given by Luark. Let’s go.”

[[Lord’s Unyielding Mind] is deployed.]

Feeling the morale of everyone quietly rising, I walked down to the lower floor.

‘My, a human who is a believer in name only sure talks well. It’s a world where you can’t trust anyone…’

Let’s ignore the mumbling of the Outer God who was getting old and just sucking on snacks.

***

[[Warrior’s Binding] is deployed.]

[Summoning the bound enemy.]

[Summoned Troops: Lesser Vampire Necromancer(1), Grave Knight(3), Necro Ogre(6), Wight(3), Skeleton Spearman(8), Skeleton Swordsman(13), Skeleton Archer(6), Zombie(19), Vampiric Bat(5)]

[Summoned Troops: Minotaur Warrior(2), Centaur Javelineer(2), Horned One Elite Warrior(4), Horned One Warrior(19), Unhorned One Archer(3), Unhorned One Infantry(6)]

[Summoned Troops: Trapper(3), Human Veteran Mercenary(3), Human Regular Mercenary(9), Human Apprentice Mercenary(18)]

[Summoned Troops: Imperial Mortar(6), Imperial Great Beast Cannon(4), Imperial Organ Gun(2), Imperial Army Intermediate Knight(1), Imperial Army Lesser Knight(4), Imperial Army Halberdier(5), Imperial Army Greatswordsman(5), Imperial Army Spearman(13), Imperial Army Swordsman(10), Imperial Army Crossbowman(11), Imperial Army Archer(7), Imperial Army Rifleman(6)]

[Summoned Troops: Indika Mortar(1), Indika Elephant Unit(1), Indika Heavy Infantry(5), Indika Rifleman(3), Indika Archer(6), Indika Slave Soldier(19)]

[The Indika Mortar deploys [Bombardment].]

[The Imperial Artillery deploys [Volley].]