Chapter 39: The Siege of Gargan

  After a few days of marching south of Warg, we arrived at our designated positions.

  Our main objective is the capture of Gargan. The biggest fort that the goblins have.

  It is a strategic point that the goblins use to hide in after they have made successful raids or when they are losing battles terribly.

  Mel would lead the frontlines in this battle. Bon would be the one to spread my orders. The others will remain on standby for any surprises that the enemies might have.

  Once we receive the signal, we will reinforce the Dwarven army, which is attacking Gargan directly.

  Idmon: "(t) Everything good?"

  Mel: "Yes, Milord!"

  The Dwarven Skeleton carried a crossbow and then went back to formation.

  After checking if everything was in place, I signaled to King Wargh that the operation was good to go.

  I had Bon cast a fireball spell up towards the sky.

  Boom! It exploded, and you could feel the force from the explosion even when it shot towards the sky.

  We would wait for King Wargh to finish his part before we charged.

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  (King Wargh POV)

  Wargh: "Charge!"

  Dwarven Soldiers: "Hahhh!!!"

  The dwarves started jogging, then sprinting. They were to charge the outpost outside Gargan so that they could set up their long-range siege weapons.

  The outpost had a few watchtowers and a low wooden wall surrounding it.

  However, the dwarves quickly took down all of them.

  Crashing into the walls with their hammers and axes caused the goblins inside the outpost to jump in surprise.

  The scouts warned them, but for the dwarfs to break the walls a few moments after the report, it was terrifying.

  The dwarves did not give them any chance to pick up weapons or fire their arrows.

  They used the momentum of the sprint to smash into the walls.

  As for the others behind them, they used the momentum to smash the goblins and their watchtowers.

  A few stragglers survived and fought, but were taken down quickly.

  Wargh: "Set up the ballistae and cannons!"

  Dwarven Soldier: "Yes, sir!"

  The dwarves quickly carry their siege weapons to the site. After taking them out of the pushcarts, they were able to set them up after a few minutes.

  Wargh: "OPEN FIRE!"

  Dwarven Soldier: "Yes, sir!"

  The cannons and ballistae fired at Fort Gargan non-stop. The dwarves brought a lot of storage crystals to fuel the weapons.

  Getting access to the mines near Warg gave them a lot of storage crystals. They had a whole factory of them.

  The first few shots hit and dealt a lot of damage to the fort, but the following shots stopped in their tracks.

  Wargh: "A barrier!?"

  It was the same kind of barrier that the goblin army used to attack the dwarven capital.

  Wargh: "Send a messenger to Lord Idmon quickly! He might have something to destroy the barrier."

  Dwarven Soldier: "Right away, sir!"

  After the messenger left, Urah and Granpa approached me.

  Urah: "Hey, Wargh. When am I going to fight on the front?"

  Wargh: "Soon. Master Urah, Have you seen that spell before? It's different from a ."

  Urah: "Hmm... It's familiar, but I was not really into spells, so I won't be able to give you anything helpful anyway."

  Wargh: "I see. We have to rely on Lord Idmon for this, then."

  Granpa: "Hmpf."

  Granpa walked out once he heard the name of Lord Idmon.

  Wargh: "Master Urah. Is there anything we could do to have him work things out with the undead?"

  Urah: "The best thing is to keep him under your command. If there's no one to control him, he'll fight the whole undead army by himself."

  Wargh: "That's most likely, isn't it? Hahaha!"

  We need to keep the pressure on and wait for them to take the bait.

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  (Idmon POV)

  Dwarven Soldier: "Lord Idmon!"

  A messenger came to me a few minutes from the beginning of the attack.

  Dwarven Soldier: "We have grave news!"

  Idmon: "(t) What is it?"

  Dwarven Soldier?: "E-ehm. The enemies have broken the charge of the dwarves! They have brought Colossal Trolls!"

  Idmon: "(t) I see. Men! Change of plans! We need to march to the dwarves and aid them!"

  As we were about to move, another messenger came.

  Dwarven Soldier 2: "Lord Idmon. I'm a messenger, and the King sent me. We have a situation on our side."

  Idmon: "(t) Oh yes, I have already heard it. They have stopped the charge."

  Dwarven Soldier 2: "Stopped the charge? No, Lord Idmon. We have successfully set up the siege weapons. The enemy just had an unusually strong barrier that's preventing us from sieging them."

  Idmon: "(t) Is that so?"

  I looked toward the first messenger.

  Idmon: "(t) Apprehend that guy!"

  He failed to escape since I had a lot of soldiers standing by.

  Idmon: "(t) Remove the helmet."

  The fake messenger wore the same armor as the dwarves and wore a full helmet. I should've asked him to remove his helmet first.

  After they took it off, it was a goblin!

  How was it able to produce a voice?

  Hmm.

  The goblin was already dead. The dead spy's eyes were white, and blood was coming out of its mouth.

  Lina: "Watch out!"

  I heard Lina's voice as the goblin in front of me froze.

  Lina: "
  Idmon: "(t) What is it, Lina?"

  Lina: "It was casting some spell in its hands. I think it was a fire spell."

  I looked closer at the frozen goblin; he had some pouches inside them.

  Dwarven Messenger: "Black powder!"

  The dwarf messenger beside me shouted in surprise.

  It seemed like the goblin was going to sacrifice itself in an attempt to take me out using explosives.

  Idmon: "You should tell King Wargh about this since he could also be targeted."

  Dwarven Messenger: "Yes! Lord Idmon."

  Idmon: "(t) Also, go back to King Wargh right away. I'm going to send a specialist there to help."

  Dwarven Soldier: "Thank you very much!"

  He bowed and then went on his way.

  Lina was now standing right next to me all the time. She's watching out for potential assassins.

  She's chasing away, even the soldiers that try to approach me.

  Skeleton Dwarf: "Lord Idmon! How are you doing?"

  Lina glares at the Skeleton Dwarf that tried to greet me.

  Skeleton Dwarf: "Eherm, I'll be on my way then."

  I looked at her when she did that.

  Lina: "Is there anything wrong, Boss?"

  Idmon: "(t) Ah. T-there's nothing wrong."

  She smiled at that reply.

  I don't think it's wrong, so I let her do that while I consulted with The Searcher.

  He was floating around, conversing with the soldiers, so I called him.

  The Searcher: "What is it, Lord Idmon?"

  Idmon: "They said the goblins had set up a magical barrier. It's like a mana barrier, but it was strong enough to defend against siege weapons."

  The Searcher: "That certainly is troubling. I will go there myself to check the situation."

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  Idmon: "(t) That is my plan. Signal me with a spell towards the sky when you get it fixed."

  The Searcher: "Lightning... I think I have that. Okay, Lord Idmon. Farewell!"

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  (The Searcher POV)

  I flew towards the dwarven siege camp.

  The Searcher: "Greetings, King Wargh. I am the searcher. The current searcher is for Lord Idmon's Army. I'm here to help you with the "barrier" problem."

  Wargh: "Oh. You're just in time. There were some changes from last time."

  He gave me some updates.

  Sometimes the shield would go thin, and some of the siege attacks would go through.

  But even when it does go through, the force is already weak, so the damage that it causes is minimal.

  It might be a shortage of energy or something. The "barrier makers" would lower the energy output of the shield to regain their power at the expense of letting weak attacks go through.

  That was the best thing to do, rather than stop the entire barrier from resting.

  I used to know more about these barriers. I've read a lot of books about these topics: spellbooks, information books, and even storybooks.

  Because in a world like ours, stories—even the simple ones—have a chance to be true. If not now, maybe in the future.

  Hmm.

  The results say that we could either use a high-tier spell to severely damage a specific point or create an opening in the barrier.

  Then, I will use that opening to insert some devastating spells.

  None of us can do that, so that's out of the question. Wait.

  The Searcher: "King Wargh, I want all of the siege weapons starting now to hit the same target. Even if it's not accurate, they should hit the same area."

  Wargh: "Where would that area be?"

  The Searcher: "I think the center would be good since it's an easy target."

  Wargh: "Okay, men! Concentrate siege fire in the center of the barrier!"

  After that, the siege weapons concentrated their fire on a single point.

  This plan would trick the enemy into thinking that we plan to take out the barrier with siege weapons.

  Now is the time to do my part.

   results also told me that this spell is most likely to be the one called .

  It's not exactly a dome right now, but they only need to protect the area where the siege weapons attack.

  The spell was a ritual. It was a spell that a group of mages cast, and they will keep doing so until they decide to stop.

  But goblins don't know how to do that. That's why I decided to infiltrate the fort itself.

  I flew to the other side of the fort. I used the cover of darkness since it's already evening.

  The siege weapons were still firing even now, so that should keep their attention away from me.

  The operation began in the morning, and they haven't destroyed the barrier yet. I believe that people inside the fort feel that they're already safe.

  The Searcher: "Here we go..."

  I went down on the walls of the fort. There were a lot of goblin houses all around the fort.

  They were messy and unorganized. The goblins were inside their houses.

  There was a small castle in the middle of the fort. I flew to one of its towers without being noticed.

  There was a door, but it was unlocked. Someone might have been going in and out to check on the situation outside.

  As I was floating down the stairs of the towers, I heard some chanting coming from the room.

  Hooded mage: "Varr... Varr... Maks..."

  Six hooded mages were doing the ritual.

  "This looks way too easy."

  When I tried to approach the mages and kill them with my touch, someone attacked me from the shadows.

  Assassin: "Hiyah!"

  It was a dangerous attack, which I dodged easily.

  Assassin: "How?"

  The Searcher: "Ah. It's rude of me to barge in and not introduce myself. My name is The Searcher. Nice to meet you all."

  I was not able to get a response from the annoying mages, but the lady assassin gave me a favorable one.

  Assassin: "Die!"

  The assassin dashed towards me at high speed, looking to cut me down with the dual daggers that she's wielding.

  She was a voluptuous woman with a beautiful body and closed eyes.

  She must be a blind one. The closed eyes made her a lot prettier, though.

  Eherm. Enough of that.

  Assassin: "Hrump!"

  She slashed me again and again, which I dodged gracefully. Her daggers had lightning and fire enchantments. That would hurt, you know?

  The Searcher: "May I have the pleasure of knowing your name, Missy?"

  I said that while dodging. The assassin won't stop attacking.

  Assassin: "Hruf! Hiyah!"

  The Searcher: "Surely, it is not Hruf, and Hiyah, isn't it?"

  Then she made a new move, which made her appear from behind and stab me in the back.

  The Searcher: "Oops."

  Still, I was able to dodge. I tried to grab her to counter, but Miss Assassin always steps back. I can't take her out using or .

  Assassin: "What do you think you're doing!?"

  The Searcher: "I don't think I'll be able to take you all out with a spell. It would cause too much attention. I don't want anyone intruding on us."

  Assassin: "You don't need to, because you're going to die here!"

  The Searcher: "I'm already dead, you know."

  She didn't stop attacking, even with my remark.

  The searcher: "Ah! Your enthusiasm is incredible!"

  Miss Assassin's stamina is top-notch. She's not slowing down.

  The Searcher: "We could've played a lot more together, but I believe my time for games has run short." I took out my scythe.

  The Search: "It took a long time to find this guy. I thought I'd lost him for sure."

  Assassin: "What are you blabbering about?"

  The Searcher: "He's been hungry for more than 200 years already. Time to eat."

  It was in my
  It seems like I can use the mantle to connect to the void. Where all negative energies originate, I could store things in the void. I just forgot!

  The Searcher: "Time to go."

  I flew above our female assassin and slashed the six hooded mages.

  They all went down without making any sound.

  Assassin: "What did you do!?"

  The searcher: "Ah, haven't I told you? You know, this scythe of mine has two modes. The physical model and soul harvest."

  I held it upward to show it to her.

  The Searcher: "You see, it's been begging for souls, so I just harvested those mages' souls."

  Assassin: "You, monster!"

  The Searcher: "Magnificent response!"

  She cast a lot of buff spells and tried to use that again.

  But all she hit was,

  "W-what...."

  My is pure energy.

  "Hey," and then she looked behind her.

  She must have seen the most unfortunate thing in her entire life when she saw me holding a glowing scythe while wearing a Mantle of Darkness.

  The Searcher: "Bye-bye."

  There were no screams. Only the haunting laugh of the reaper remained.

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  (King Wargh POV)

  A lightning bolt came out of Gargon towards the sky.

  Dwarven Soldier: "My king, look!"

  The barrier was down.

  Wargh: "Put your backs into it! Fire all our remaining siege weapons! Empty the storage crystals!"

  Hundreds of empty storage crystals scatter on the ground. More were being delivered via pushcarts.

  They were now causing severe damage to the fort. Fires were spreading inside, and the walls already had huge holes. The watchtowers were falling on other structures inside.

  And finally, the gate opened.

  Thousands of red-eyed goblins came rushing out, along with some ogres and trolls.

  Wargh: "Men! To battle!"

  The dwarves dropped the siege weapons and went to the formation.

  Wargh: "Signal the Undeth army!"

  A cannon fired an artificial
  Thousands of red-eyed goblins were rushing out of the gates now.

  Wargh: "They're coming! Raise your shields!"

  The first wave of goblins did not stop running and slammed themselves on the shields of the dwarves.

  Wargh: "They're carrying explosives! Take cover!"

  Luckily, they had warned ahead of time that the goblins were now carrying explosives as a new tactic. The dwarves had already thought up a countermeasure.

  Wargh: "Let em rain, boys!"

  The dwarves had push carts filled with jugs of water nearby. They threw the water jugs towards the goblin bombers and prevented them from exploding.

  Wargh: "Cut them down!"

  Fierce fighting broke out after that. The enemies won't stop pouring into the front lines of the dwarves, but they will hold their ground.

  They had to hold it here.

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  (Idmon POV)

  That's the signal!

  Idmon: "Bon, give the orders!"

  Bon: "Everyone, move out!"

  Then the whole army, which had been standing by for hours, started moving at the same time.

  They were running non-stop. I was riding on top of Skel, leading the march.

  Idmon: "(t) In a few moments, we will arrive at their eastern wall. The dwarves will hold out outside the northern wall. We need to finish this quickly."

  Bon relayed the orders for me.

  Idmon: "(t) Mel. Grab this victory for us."

  Mel: "Yes, Milord!"

  Mel is always enthusiastic. Now, we have to watch out for any surprise attacks.

  Dolf was in charge of protecting Warg and the other forts, so there was no need to worry about a back-attack.

  The only thing we need to worry about is the Colossal Trolls. If the goblins' owners can produce another one here, it might be disastrous since I haven't evolved yet.

  A few minutes later, the eastern gate was in sight.

  Idmon: "(t) Go!"

  Lina, who was floating beside me, released an to freeze the gate.

  Lina: "Break it down!"

  Mel charged it and slammed his shield at the frozen gate.

  Crack! Booooshhhh!

  The frozen gate breaks down!

  We could hear someone shouting orders once we got inside.

  Mysterious commander: "Keep sending the goblins. We need more time to"

  Then the commander of the goblins noticed our presence.

  Blind one: "Shit! They're here already."

  With that, the enemy commander, who looked like a blind one, was already leaving the scene.

  Coming out of one of the towers was the searcher.

  The searcher: "Oh! Nice meeting you here, Lord Idmon!"

  The searcher comes out of a tower carrying the body of a human lady.

  Idmon: "(t) What's that, The Searcher?"

  The Searcher: "Hehehe, she's the new volunteer for my experiment. Skeletons sometimes provide boring results, so I might as well get a human."

  Idmon: "(t) That's fine. By the way, great job destroying the barrier."

  The searcher nodded and went on his way. We have achieved total victory already, so I let him do what he wanted.

  The goblins that were about to rush outside towards the north gate suddenly had their attention fixed on us.

  Mel took the initiative and rushed himself towards the enemies, and the army followed suit. The rest of us, including the Dread Heroes, would reserve our strength in case a new enemy appeared.

  From my position, you would think Mel got overwhelmed because you can't see him anymore. The truth is:

  Mel: "RUAA!!!"

  Then all the goblins surrounding him were stunned. It was "Warrior's Roar."

  He was waiting for this. And with a spin, he cut off the surrounding goblins.

  His equipment was mainly a sword and shield for guarding and fighting duels. A battle axe on his back as his secondary weapon and for fighting group battles.

  He had a skill called , which he abused because you can see him flying around the battlefield, striking down groups of goblins.

  Ran and Mag were providing support from the back by taking out the ranged enemies and also their mages.

  As the enemies were about to be finished, two war trolls descended on Mel.

  Mel: "Guys! Stand aside. I'll take on these two."

  War trolls were a stronger class of trolls.

  They were at least two tiers above the average troll. They were around the 4th and 5th tiers.

  However, they're not anywhere near the colossal troll.

  But Mel was a skeleton champion. I know he can take them on.

  "RARRR!!!"

  With a roar, both of the war trolls swung their clubs down on Mel.

  Mel: !

  Mel raised his shield and blocked both of the attacks!

  The war trolls move a few steps backward. Both of them had their right arms torn. It looks like Mel's skill returned the damage to the attacker, or because of the strength of the attack, the limbs were not able to escape injury from the attack itself.

  The stronger the attack, the stronger the feedback. You need to improve your body's endurance to avoid these cases.

  But most likely, it was both.

  Then Mel leaped forward and made an upward slash. One of the war trolls was cut in half without resistance.

  The other went berserk at the sight of his brother being cut down. With a significant increase in speed, it swung its remaining left arm at Mel.

  Mel put his shield back up again.

  The Berserk War Troll kept hitting him, but to no avail. It did not stop, even if its left arm was not moving anymore.

  Mel: "My turn!"

  "

  Mel dropped his weapons and leaped toward the face of the troll. He covered his arm in negative energy.

  It got bigger and brighter as he got closer to the enemy.

  Then... Boom! He punched the war troll! The negative energy burned the flesh of its head, and a large crack appeared on his skull.

  Mel's punch exploded inside its head.

  After that, the fort was already clear of enemies.

  Idmon: "(t) Let's back up the dwarves. Order Mel to rest and have Ran and Mag watch over the fort."

  Mel: "Yes, Milord."

  Bon went ahead and gave the orders. I would take Bon and Lina for the relief forces. And around 200 soldiers, too. We will leave the rest to guard the fort.

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  (King Wargh POV)

  There are still thousands of goblins left, but the dwarves are not giving them any ground.

  Even one dwarf could be assumed to have taken out at least 200 while standing in the front line. These were what they do best, holding ground against an army a lot bigger than them.

  I finally got a chance to use Diamond here.

  My soldiers threw me toward the enemy lines, where I leaped and launched a falling attack that decimated hundreds of goblins.

  I pushed deep into the enemy lines, but I was not alone. Master Urah and Granpa were also cutting goblins by the hundreds. The front line's shield wall prevents those from advancing past us.

  Now to thin the herd... !

  It was a skill that charged Diamond with mana and caused a slam on the earth to cause a frontal shockwave strong enough to raise earth spikes in its path.

  Bgoooooshhh!

  The land in front of me was torn apart as I released the skill.

  Wargh: "Hurrah!!! This battle is over!"

  I was about to finish my victory cry, but suddenly, a colossal troll appeared. Two of them, even.

  Wargh: "Damn. It seems we have some hard work ahead of us."

  Urah: "You got that right."

  Granpa: "Finally, someone worth beating."

  Urah and Granpa will take one of them. I will take one by myself.

  The other dwarves are still busy fighting the remaining goblins.

  Wargh: "Oi, you guys! Take the attention of the goblins away from us! I don't want anyone ruining our battle!"

  Dwarven Soldiers: "Yes, sir!" A group of dwarves shouted their answer. They would spread the order from the king.

  Lord Idmon was able to take one of these guys down. I need to prove to my men that I can do it too.

  Urah and Granpa have already started the fight on their side.

  The colossal troll was staring into my case. If you don't attack, I'll come to you first!

  I ran towards the Colossal Troll as I held Diamond. It showed no signs of movement.

  Does it have a death wish?

  I didn't dare let this chance escape.

  ! I charged Diamond in hopes of ending it with one hit.

  As Diamond was about to hit its head, it defended itself with one of its arms.

  Boom!

  The arms were broken, and vast amounts of flesh and blood flew.

  Colossal Troll: "Arghh!!!"

  And at that moment, it went berserk! It took the attack intentionally to get itself into berserk mode!

  Colossal Troll: "URahhhh! RAH!"

  It was punching and kicking me. Any attack it can think of doing. I blocked it with a diamond, but without a shield, I could only prevent a few strikes.

  Upon receiving a direct kick to the stomach, I was propelled several meters away.

  Wargh: "Argh...."

  I coughed up some blood. My body felt like every bone in it was broken.

  The Colossal Troll was charging at me now.

  Wargh: "You bastard... You think you can take me out like this!? Not in five hundred years, you won't!"

  

  I hit the ground where he was about to step on it violently. I created a hole in the ground with the skill, causing him to fall into it.

  He was now immobilized. He also had some earth spikes impaled into him.

  Colossal Troll: "Aaruughh! HUMRAHHH!!"

  He was trying to force himself out of it, but he was already embedded in the earth.

  Wargh: "I also used
  I forced myself to walk to him, even if it was painful.

  Wargh: "Hurhhhgg... It ends now!"

  Using the strength I had left, I was able to get on top of its head. I raised Diamond high and smashed the head of the Colossal Troll.

  Frusscshwkk! Its head exploded, and I was covered in flesh and blood.

  I fell inside its head through the hole that Diamond made in its

  skull.

  Wargh: "Shit, I need to get out of here."

  I could feel pain from the liquid inside. It was burning me.

  Suddenly, I saw a hand coming from outside. Someone opened the mouth of the Colossal Troll from outside.

  Dwarven Soldier: "King Wargh!"

  Urah: "Kid!"

  Urah and his group took me out of that place.

  It seemed like they were also able to take down the other one.

  Wargh: "How did you take out the other one?"

  Urah: "Ah, Granpa and I were able to damage its knees and legs. Our soldiers used the siege weapons for the finishing blow. It took a lot of shots, but it finally went down."

  Wargh: "Oh, you could've done like that? Hehehe."

  Dwarven Soldiers: "King..."

  I saw the faces of the soldiers while I was being carried back to the camp.

  Wargh: "Oi! You lot! Don't make those faces! We've won this battle, and we're a step closer to reclaiming our glory!"

  A cough of blood cut off my declaration.

  Urah: "Take it easy, kid."

  He took me inside a tent where there was a Dwarven healer who would heal me with herbs and earth magic.

  Lord Idmon was also there. It looks like he arrived quite late and only caught a few goblin stragglers as they came to reinforce us.

  Idmon: "(t) Sorry for being late. The strategy took a different turn, eh?"

  Wargh: "Well, as long as the results are the same. I'm sure you also had some difficulties taking that fort, so I'm still good."

  Idmon: "(t) We sure did. Hehehe."

  At this moment, I knew. Lord Idmon wasn't a mindless undead. Even the claim that a higher power is controlling him isn't valid either.

  Orders do not have emotions along with them. It depends on the soldier and how he feels.

  Idmon: "Take it easy, King Wargh. You look serious; we still have quite some work ahead of us, but we can see the light already."

  Wargh: "Call me Wargh, Lord Idmon. I already told you that!"

  He had a smile on his face.

  Idmon: "(t) Okay, Wargh. Then you should call me Idmon then."

  Wargh: "Deal."

  Idmon: "(t) Hahahaha!"

  Wargh: "Hahahaha!"

  With Gargan captured, the rest of the campaign is most likely over.

  From this point, the army could send out raids and assaults on the surrounding forts, and it would be a decisive blow to the goblins.

  The morale of the troops was high as they prepared for the final push. The success of capturing Gargan had boosted their confidence.

  The soldiers were eager to finally rid the area of goblin threats and secure their territory. The final battle was imminent, and they were ready to give it their all to emerge victorious.