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Chapter 351: The Siege. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2022-09-09 03:05:23 +0000 UTCEdit: Removed Hestia's ability to usurp demonic powers. Too many powers and it would just put me into a hole in the future
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<Temporary connection to the Divine System of Peolynca has been established under the authority of the Goddess of Light, Aurena. Limited functions possible>
<Entering World of Peolynca. Former Peolyncian profile detected. Reactivating profile of individual [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]… success. Welcome back>
<389 human followers lost>
<Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 14317>
Hello, Peolynca! Your idol is back!
What a trick!
It was a bit surprising that Mother’s plan to just scare the demonkin worked in the end, but how shocking was it for the portal to put us in Aureolis of all places? First time there, but Yeostar properly told me that was where I had reappeared. He also informed me the siege had already begun, which explained why I had suddenly lost 389 followers the instant I returned to Peolynca.
So, watching the siege of Elyonda was a pretty dread-filled experience.
Hordes of goblins, kobolds, and orcs filled the landscape far as I could see. Tamed monsters were being ordered about, either transporting their master around the siege camps or moving around large siege weapons like those mana cannons. Orcs, trolls, and various shamans from these grimgarian races acted as commanders for this army.
Even to me, watching this tidal wave of grimgarians on the ground was frightening. I have never seen this many people in a single place before. Like an endless sea of flesh and metal, they blanketed the ground and area in their visage, trampling every strand of grass in Elyonda’s vicinity. It was bone-chilling … This was what an army looked like.
Over 10000… Can I even take down so many before my Mana or Stamina ran out? Even with the sun up?
I was second-questioning my capabilities.
“Hestia!”
“Woah!” Mother tucked me to the side, narrowly dodging what looked like a ball of condensed mana.
Don’t tell me—!
I snapped my head to my side, only to grimace as I noticed that multiple cannons were aimed at us at the same time. Those grimgarians were planning on shooting us down!
“Well, dear, since our deal is effectively back to normal…” Mother let go of me. “See you in the city, dear~ Be careful~”
And she zoomed off into the safe confines of Elyonda, leaving behind a shattered hole in what looked like a mana barrier around the city. It quickly regenerated, but did she have to punch through everything with her head?! I could see the destroyed parts of the town even from here.
That, however, wasn’t the problem. I didn’t have the time to complain to her. All I could do was watch her fly away as I was suddenly falling towards the ground.
Mother!!! Child abuse!
However, I quickly snapped out of my shock as my parallel minds reminded me of the situation on hand and her last words before she flew away. “Since our deal is effectively back to normal,” she said. In other words, what she mentioned in the void wasn’t a lie. She was letting me off the hook since she didn’t prevent me from being swallowed into that place. Meaning, she was back to assessing if I was ready to stand on my own.
Dammit! Can’t believe I already forgot about it! Mother’s training is hellish! I trembled at how she pounded into me how to manifest my Territory. Mother was nice, but the way she lived her life wasn’t. I just saw her life go by like a Powerpoint, I shouldn’t forget about it.
Urgh, but not enough power yet.
<[Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]’s solar core status: [24%]>
I had used up all my energy when I fought that demonkin, then I used [Battle Frenzy], and was then forced to use it again to use my usurped demonic powers. I was drained. Mana and Stamina were both below 25% as a consequence of me nearly going all out on that demonkin, and since it had been raining then before I got caught in that dimension breach, I couldn’t recharge my solar core during all that time nor was I able to eat and recover my Stamina while trapped in that space.
I honestly should be happy I didn’t get [Starvation] during all of that, but I could hear my stomach rumbling about right now. Although my Health was at 100%, I actually couldn’t fight right now, especially in this dragonewt form!
Dammit, no choice. Humanize!
“Kuuuuuraaaaaah!”
I was now a larger target, sure, but I needed to get back to the city! For some reason, it was protected by large, silvery earth walls. Anything was better than to get peppered to death by those cannons. I needed all the Agility I could afford.
Haste, Swift Winds, Overload. Let’s go! Rocket!
<[Various Spell Buffs] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
Pushing through my body’s exhaustion, I ignited my scale-dust and shot forward, flying past a few mana shots in the process. However, the closer I came to the city, the more eyes focused on me with the intensity of hawks. The fact I haven’t even made it to the city yet felt absolutely scary.
I could see the enemy army’s camps, siege weapons, weapon storages, but, most importantly, also the burning of corpses. Battles had already begun and from here I could even see cannons shooting at the city. The mana barrier surrounding the city was protecting them, but how long had the battle lasted already? I thought the grimgarians would appear in two or three days with Master’s guerilla attacks.
Don’t tell me we’d been that long in that void?! Shit!
“UuuuuuuAAAAAAAH!”
[Danger Perception] activated as I heard that roar. Following my instincts, I barrel rolled to the side, dodging what seemed like a red projectile. I snapped my head down, noticing an ogre had shot an arrow at me. High ogre or not, that shot looked like it would pack a punch. I probably should appraise them, but I had to let it go when I noticed echikobolds preparing their arrows as well.
Sure, they wouldn’t be able to hit me up here, but goodness gracious it was like a hail of arrows coming from below. Including the mana cannons, I was starting to remember what happened when I escaped Belzac forest. The grimgarian army did the same to Astalos and the twins back then! Now I knew how they felt!
Help me!
[Draconic Barrier] and my scales were active. I even had [Air Shield] and [Tailwind] on to redirect the weaker projectiles, but flying through all of this was a real hazard. The longer this went on, the more timeI spent on dodging than flying forward. The city seemed further and further away.
Do I actually have to fight back? I couldn’t probably rely on wind spells to reduce the amount of mana I use. Urgh, but I need storm spells for this… Or, maybe I should just drop that nuke already?
“HEY! LOOK HERE!”
As I was about to contemplate on expending the last bit of mana to the point of going into the negative, my eyes widened up when I saw not only an explosion but also a blue crescent projectile rip right through the grimgarians right in front of me.
What?! Two signals incoming from the city.
“HEY! COME ON, SIS!”
Neill!
I managed to hear her voice even from up hear and through all the chaos below me, meaning she was using [Draconic Roar]. I couldn’t see her, but the commotion caused by the sudden attacks forced the grimgarians to send most of their soldiers towards it, including some of their mages. Even the ogre archer had to look away, commanding the surrounding grimgarians forward.
More explosions and slash projectiles decimated the enemy lines, until I saw Neill jump out of the smoke, waving at me to go to the city. I nodded and blasted forth, grabbing Neill mid-flight and flew into the city with the cover fire of what seemed to be Larent's sword attacks.
Huh, the mana barrier didn’t break?
<[Humanized (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
“Ahahaha, I knew it! Took you long enough, you brat!”
The first thing I did when we landed on the walls of the city was to transform back into my dragonewt form. The walls were too small for me and the numerous scared soldiers were panicked enough as it was, but most importantly, Neill asked me to shift.
“Two days! Do you know how long that was? We were fighting together one moment, then the next you disappeared and I had to deal with all the things you were supposed to do! How can you leave your big sis out to dry like that!”
“… Why are you complaining?” When I heard that I had been gone for two days, I felt this tight feeling in my chest upon realizing I left her without saying anything for two days, only to lose it all when she started being bossy. Glaring at her, her face tensed up a bit and she began to laugh nervously.
“E-Ehehe… Not a good joke, huh? Sorry.” She then tightened her embrace and began grinning again. “Still, I knew you would come back! Glad to see you and Melloxtressa looking bright as ever!”
“… Pff!” To her, it was only two days, but to me, it felt like a month ‘cause of my other self’s illusions. “Sorry for being late to the battle. And thanks for helping me out of that pickle.”
“Ha! That’s what big sisters are for, you little skink… just glad that you out of there in time.”
“She’s right.” Sis loosened her grip around me and I turned around, seeing Larent walk up the stairs with Alistar. “Haha, your sister’s intuition really came true. Two days of you being away really made me worry, but nothing takes your mind off worry more than war.”
Panic. Fear. Battle. Wounded. Death.
That was the super short summary of everything that happened after Mother and I disappeared for two days. Sis and Larent managed to keep everything calm and collected while I was gone, with the former believing I would come back. Two days of preparations were slower without me, especially since a bunch of the civilians panicked after they saw the state of the city.
Looking over, I could visibly see the places my battle with the demonkin occurred. Rubble, ashes, and even a large hole. Mother also left a huge indestructible wall behind after she came to save me, which Neill and Larent had turned into the impromptu earth walls in front of the city. Dragon paths and mana blade were pretty instrumental for all of it.
After all the defenses were up and the forces assembled, the city with its commanders prepared for the siege. With the return of Master, it also signaled the incoming grimgarian forces. Everybody but the combatants, logistics staff, the mages, and the medical group were sent to the arena, where they would take shelter until the siege was over.
“The inland and navel forces of the enemy arrived at the same time. We sent Saint Kushlek’zar with his group to the port to defend them. Even from here, you can hear cannons roaring.” Alistar pointed my attention to the south of the city after he gave me a quick recap. “We hired all the mercs and adventurers in the city, any of them with the will to fight. Sir Jethro also went over there with his warrior priests.”
… How nerve wracking.
Alistar left out a bunch of the details but I could figure things out even without him saying it. In front of the city’s walls was an army of grimgarians, but the walls placed there funneled all the cannons into a single area. With these mud walls taller than the city’ walls, this was the only choice, but it gave the city a better way to anticipate things.
All the cannons and trebuchets were located in the northwest, with the mana barrier protecting the city. This was honestly the first time I saw the magic properly protecting everything, as during the battle of Griffonpeak the giant geisenlarg king destroyed it pretty easily. However, seeing as mana barriers are fueled by mana, they couldn’t let this siege go on for too long.
They needed to fight back.
“… People have already died, right?”
Larent nodded. “Our first attack failed. Your virigress, Rajah, managed to scout an attack route but we were ambushed. Princess Fargryneill and I managed to wipe out the battalion, including one of their B rank ogres, but we lost numerous brave men and women in the process.”
Princess? Did Neill reveal herself? I noticed how she was perturbed by it.
“The saurians also took out a B rank commander during his guerilla warfare. They are down to 13, but reports say they have five more on the ships,” Neill sighed, looking frustrated. “… Rajah is safe, just saying.”
I guess she noticed it from my face. The fact I didn’t see Rajah around made me nervous.
“That easy to see?”
“Mhmm.” Neill scratched her head. “Rita and Rajah are our only scout troops right now. That girl might be a coward, but for some reason found it in herself to do something for this war. Her plant magic and Rajah’s shadow magic really compliment each other when it comes to subterfuge.”
Rita was a dryad and Rajah could enter other’s shadows. If Rita uses her dryad powers, she could use the vegetation around her for easy travel while carrying Rajah around. I could feel my tamer link with him, even my party bracelet confirmed he was alive, but it still felt unnerving. Just as I got out of that weird place, I was placed right into this mess without a way to cool down.
Two days lost. I need to do something now!
“Okay, so ho—”
“We proceed by having you rest up, Hestia.” All four of us turned around as we heard Mother’s voice, seeing her fly over before she threw a basket of bread and jerky at me. “Military rations. Your soldiers are well trained, Sir Alistar~”
“T-Thank you, your Majesty! Sir Alistar greets your Grace once again!” Alistar bowed, causing the soldiers and knights to follow suit.
I looked between them and then back to the basket of food Mother threw at me, but before I could say anything, she spoke.
“I think you got the gist of things. Two days, and you used [Battle Frenzy] twice, including going overdrive with [Solar Beam]. I know I’m famished, but thankfully, I can sustain myself with mana alone, unlike you, child. Fortunately, it isn’t raining today, but before you go into battle you should eat,” Mother said before taking a bite of the bread she had. “Urk! … This tastes like rock.”
I raised an eyebrow, before noticing Neill making a blank face while the soldiers around us looked normal. I took a bite from the bread, immediately noticing the toughness with my teeth.
… How long has it been since I ate bread without any yeast? Not only that, but it's gone cold already. A day, or two old? At least it’s not moldy. It’s edible.
And I ripped a piece from the loaf before slicing it in half to put the jerky between it. Sandwiches were faster to eat, anyways. Food should not go to waste. Even if I had food inside my storage, I shouldn’t be unthankful to Mother who went out of her way to get them for me. Even if she did ditch me.
[“Sorry, and good job.”] Mother sent me that telepathic message with a smile while chewing the bread. As heartless as that last move was, she was adhering with the deal. Besides, she brought me here from Aureolis, after all. There were two countries in between the holy capital and Yeos!
Larent, Alistar, and Mother then left me alone to go back to what they needed to do. Neill accompanied me on my break and led me to the clinic. While I was munching on my bread and let the sun refuel me, my ears couldn’t ignore all the shots hitting the mana barrier. Was this how people felt having guns shot at them?
“You’re probably wondering why we’re not launching an attack, right?” Neill suddenly brought up, drawing my attention.
“Not really,” I answered bluntly, shocking Neill. Hey, I haven’t had the time to digest any of this in time. My mind was still occupied by the war in Mother’s illusion.
“… Jeez, just hear me out, okay. I need to vent.” I nodded, satisfied with being her ears for now. “Every decent city has a mana barrier, yeah? Invented by the Aleistians to not only protect the city from attacks but also to detect intruders. Needs mana to keep it up, and that means batteries and mages.”
“And, let me guess, Yeos doesn’t have an abundance of mages despite being this close to Aleistunum?”
Neill slumped her body. “The damn city doesn’t have anything despite being allies with the empire, you mean! Not enough soldiers, mages, or any kind of resources for a war. The only thing they have enough is food! Look.”
Neill pointed at a cannon stationed on the walls, including a few trebuchet and giant crossbows. She explained the city could defend itself since the city itself was pretty old and had some good defensive properties like their high-quality mana barrier. Prince Markval told her they were all present from Aleistunum in the past.
However, no matter how strong these defenses were, since the city was undermanned and didn’t have enough batteries, they needed Neill to use up 75% of her mana to keep them patched up today. Just after that, she was sent out with Larent for that failed ambush. Due to all the people lost in that attack, Larent has been reassessing the situation.
“I don’t really understand much about warfare, and the stuff Larent explained was pretty barebones, but essentially there are three ways to skew a war to your advantage.” Neill put three fingers up. “First, strategic combatants — you, me, Larent, Tehmrayn, Kushlek’zar, Melloxtressa. People who can deal with large amounts of enemies at once. Second, good ol’ numbers. Third, your technological and manatech advancements. Stronger custom magics, better abilities, better equipment, and anything else you can think of.”
Quality was superior to quantity in this world, but nobody should ignore what insurmountable numbers could do. For example, the city was terribly undermanned while 10k grimgarians were outside this place. Sure, a tactical nuke could wipe them all out, but from the look of it, Larent hadn’t given the signal to attack yet despite being the highest level amongst us, not including Mother and the never-moving Tehmrayn.
However, while stats and numbers mattered, you shouldn’t forget about items and magic itself. I still remember when I sparred with Master in Carine Village before and after I became a B rank. Despite having lower stats than me, he still managed to overwhelm me by using a catalyst. That was why I thought Ellaine’s and Grimnir’s craftsmanship were extremely valuable.
Tasianna was the one who benefitted the most from a single item. That catalyst she got from Kiiro and then blessed by Zephira? Helped her develop her current fighting style. Turned it all around for her.
“So… with a lack of soldiers, the only way for us to fight against this horde is to rely on number one and three.” Neill looked at me with expectation. “However, everybody has a limit, even if you can regenerate Mana or Stamina infinitely, there is arcane corruption. Even a mana being like Tasianna can only regenerate a certain amount of mana before everything around them is used up. Numbers matter, no matter how strong you are.”
I nodded, understanding her logic there. Even if we couldn’t outnumber the enemy, somebody like Mother could kill them off in one go. However, we didn’t have that option, so with our current number of strategic combatants we had to rotate people around. I heard from Saori sieges could take weeks on Earth, so maybe this was the case here, too?
“And that is only if Rajah and Rita can find a way for us to launch an attack. Creating a funnel increased our defencess, but it also meant all the B ranks are concentrated in that area. Fighting this head-on won’t work, so we need to do this properly,” Neill contemplated.
“Oooh? So you won’t just charge in like with our encounter under Renee’s house?”
“Arck! Come on!” I giggled at her outburst, causing my Sister to get all flustered. “A-Anyways, just look… as you can see, we aren’t doing well enough to have the leeway to do anything stupid.”
After turning around, my face tensed up as I saw and realized where all the moaning and groaning was coming from. A clinic for the injured was created at the local temple of Aurena where alchemists and holy mages were healing anybody in there. For such a sanctified place, the floor and walls were covered in blood.
“Aahaaha! Please, stop the pain!”
“Uuurgh, arck, please… Urk! Send these to my wife. Oooh, Goddess, please, protect my fami…ly.”
“Hahahahah! Hahaha, nooo… C-Can’t, dammit, you have to do something! My arms! My leg! I don’t want to end up as a cripple! Help me, please! Goddess! God Yeostar!”
“…” The sight wasn’t unusual at this point. I’d seen enough.
“The end result of our first attack,” Neill stated. I could see what she wanted me to do, even without her voicing it.
… So this is how I lost 389 followers. How many were my fans? How many actually died? … Miraculous Grace? No! Too much mana, I can’t use it all up! I just need to stabilize them. Parallel minds, go!
Sanctified Blaze: Halo of Consecration.
“In the midst of the desert ♫
A bright ray of light shines ♫
Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”
<[Shield of [The Light]] [Music Resonation] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
“Huh, what?” The healers and alchemists were shocked to hear my [Aerokinesis] playing music.
I pulled out my white mage robe from my storage and wrapped it around myself like a cape, not having the time to put it on properly. Ignoring the stares I got, my halo spread it flames in the surroundings, shocking some while others went silent.
“Hahaaaa! Fire! Fire!”
“Wh-Who are you?! Stop these fire—”
“Stop!” One of the alchemists shouted before the healers could do anything. I was thankful to see him here, as he was one of the alchemists I helped out at the arena. “P-Princess Hestia! That’s the sister of Princess Fargryneill! She’s the blessed of the Goddess!”
“Correct! And I am here to grant these brave warriors life through the white grace! Let these flames purify those poisoned and grant them life. May my song protect your life and invigorate your bodies.” Once I identified those who needed my help the most, I materialized [Major Heal] magic circles. “Brave soldiers of Yeos, I commend you for your deeds! May light keep you anchored to this life, and may you embrace Goddess Aurena’s grace! Upon my authority as her idol, I swear I will save your bodies, so please endure this pain just for a bit more!”
I will perform surgery for the remainder afterwards. Those who lost their limbs, those who lost their eyes; everything will be done afterwards. I apologize to those who I couldn’t save in time… may your souls find peace with Ilsaphone. To those who live, I shall end this fight for you!
<47 human have become your followers>
<Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 14364>
After I was done healing everybody and had some talks with the priests inside, I excused myself and walked back to Neill.
“… You certainly have an aura, Sis. No wonder Aurena chose you. You’re like the perfect champion and saintess for her,” Neill said with a teasing smile.
However, I couldn’t accept her praise, shaking my head. “Nah, I don’t think so… I think I just grew into the role.”
Neill seemed to have noticed something in my tone or voice, as her smile fell and she patted my back. “Well, whatever happened in your past life, you’re doing your best in this one. Be proud. ‘Cuz you’re certainly doing a lot more with your life than I have.”
“Sis…?” I glanced at her, noticing something gnawing on her. Not knowing what to think about it, I clapped my cheeks and then wrapped my arm around her shoulder, despite how hard it was due to our size difference. “Well, sadly, ‘Princess Fargryneill,’ I’m not the only one who knows you by your real name.”
“… You noticed?” She was frowning.
“Why wouldn’t I? No one even batted an eye when they heard your name from Larent. You told me to not do it and I can guess you asked Larent to not do so either. However, you aren’t bothered by it. You told them, right? To rally them?”
“…”
I took her silence as acceptance.
“Well, now there are two royals from Kargryx here. I’m not done with those demonkins yet, and I have a Quest to protect Yeos. If those grimgarians won’t want to leave peacefully…” I took a deep breath, calming myself down. “… then I will need my big sister to double team with me. We gotta keep the city safe until Renee comes back, right?”
“…!” Neill’s eyes widened for a second before she looked away and closed them. After a few seconds, she opened them up again. “You’re right. You’re right. Jeez… Renee would laugh at me with how much I’m regressing back to how I was two years ago… Hoooo, hooooo… My mother taught me to hate war, but at this moment, what a good chance for us to gain levels, right?”
“… Pff! Hahahahahaha!”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
She was right. The best way to steel my resolve was to treat these grimgarians just like the ones I met in the Belzac forest. Or, even better, enemies endangering my happiness. The war I saw in Mother’s illusion was brutal, but at the end of the day, an inevitability. If this one couldn’t be stopped anymore, then I had to put an end to it with force.
If diplomacy doesn’t work, then violence it shall be.
“You ready?”
<[Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]’s solar core status: [85%]>
“Lead the way.”
“First stop, the port.”
To assure this siege could last, we needed to make sure our naval escape route wasn’t be destroyed. For that, we needed to wipe out the fleet there.
Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, officially joining this war now!
Comments
Yay, nice one. *clap*
Comiak
Finally, all caught up again!
brunoid
Skulls for the skull-- nah, too dark. Flakes for the Corne throne!
Blood for the blood god.
Eric
Finally actions
