Chapter 357: The Foreign Tribes’ Surprise Attack
Crossing the border river, over a thousand warriors from the Foreign Tribes were approaching.
From the looks of it, many were from the Ogre Clan and Lizardfolk. There were also many among them who, to Rest’s eyes, appeared no different from humans.
“The Foreign Tribes are using magic…? This is different from what I heard.”
Seeing the Foreign Tribes appear out of thin air like a mirage, Rest furrowed his brow suspiciously.
He had heard that the Foreign Tribes, in exchange for their robust physiques, wings, carapaces, or scales, were unskilled in magic.
“And yet… isn’t that magic quite advanced?”
They had vanished… Was it Optical Camouflage magic?
Could it be that they were bending and shifting light to make themselves invisible?
“Such high-level magic, used by the Foreign Tribes who are supposed to be bad at it…?”
Something is definitely strange.
Feeling a sense of doubt, Rest took aim at the monsters appearing from the border.
“[Fireball]! [Amplify]! [Compress]! [Accelerate]!”
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?”
A compressed Fireball. When he threw the bomb-like projectile into the enemy ranks, a large pillar of fire erupted.
With a single spell, numerous members of the Foreign Tribes were sent flying.
“Hmm, they’re tough. And their morale is strangely high.”
Without flinching at the explosion, the Foreign Tribe warriors were charging towards them.
The soldiers on the castle walls retaliated with magic and arrows, but their attacks outwards were weak, partly because they were distracted by the Winged Folk overhead.
While this was happening, the Foreign Tribe soldiers were steadily approaching the castle walls.
“I see… This is troublesome. It’s a more well-thought-out surprise attack than I expected.”
The Winged Folk launched a surprise attack from within the clouds.
Just as attention was drawn to them, the main force, concealed by magic, attacked.
From their perspective, it was a double surprise. If Rest hadn’t noticed, they might have fallen perfectly into the enemy’s trap.
“Perhaps I should deal with the ones above first…!”
Rest thought for a moment before constructing his magic.
“[Wind Ball]! [Amplify]! [Compress]…!”
Just as he had done with Fireballs before, he amplified and compressed a Wind Ball. Then, using Barrier Techniques, he contained it.
He repeated this process several times, creating a single, powerful ‘Wind Bomb’.
“I won’t use [God of Flame]… That’s the promise, and it could end up catching allies in the blast too.”
But… with Wind, there shouldn’t be a problem.
He had even adjusted its power. He launched the ‘Wind Bomb’ towards the heavens.
“Take this… [God of Wind (Shinatsuhiko)]!”
When the ‘Wind Bomb’ reached the height of the clouds, he released the Barrier.
The mass of air trapped within exploded.
A shockwave erupted, blowing away all the Winged Folk flying in the sky at once.
“Uwah…!?”
“What was that wind just now!?”
A powerful downdraft also surged towards the Fort on the ground, but it was merely a strong gust of wind.
It didn’t cause as much damage as the Winged Folk who had taken the shockwave at close range.
The Winged Folk who had been flying in the sky fell one after another, crashing to the ground.
“Alright… That takes care of the ones who were up above!”
Now they could focus on the enemies outside.
They had gotten closer than before, but precisely because of that, they were at a good distance to cast magic.
“I’ll take them all down at once… [Thunderstorm]!”
Upon activating the high-level magic, lightning rained down from above the heads of the Foreign Tribes who had approached near the castle walls.
Dozens of Foreign Tribe warriors became prey to the lightning all at once.
“Arrows! Fire magic!”
“Don’t let the Foreign Tribes reach the wall! They’re climbing up!”
“Knock them down! Don’t let them inside the Fort!”
The other soldiers were also dealing with the enemies attacking from outside.
Although the enemy’s momentum was strong, it seemed they would manage somehow given the situation.
At first, he wondered what would happen… but this assault too should be manageable.
“Hm…?”
However… should one say, ‘Misfortune often comes when least expected’?
The strange occurrences continued.
It is precisely after one is convinced of victory that the darkness emerges most vividly.
“The castle gate… opened!?”
Yes… Suddenly, the Door of the Fort, which should have been closed, was opened.
It wasn’t breached by an attack from the outside.
It had been opened from the inside, by someone.
“You lot! Get inside!”
Outside the castle gate, a few soldiers… individuals wearing the armor and helmets of the Aiwood Kingdom Army, emerged and called out to the Foreign Tribe warriors.
The surging Foreign Tribe warriors rushed towards the Fort’s entrance as if they had known this would happen.
“Damn it…!”
Rest groaned in frustration.
He had forgotten. Such a tactic, despite being used since ancient times.
The Foreign Tribes had infiltrated spies into the Fort beforehand and had them open the castle gate at the time of the assault.
It wasn’t a particularly rare strategy. Rather, it was a common tactic, worn out through the long history of warfare.
(But… I didn’t realize. Because there were Winged Folk coming from above, because there were enemy soldiers crossing the border river and closing in. That’s why I didn’t have the leeway to consider the Potential for enemies inside…!)
He had been completely outplayed.
How far had the enemy calculated this…? He had fallen right into their scheme.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!”
“Wha-… Who opened the Door!?”
“The Foreign Tribes are coming in!”
Before they could regroup, the Foreign Tribe warriors had invaded the interior of the Fort.
The inside of the Fort became a crucible of chaos, with friend and foe intermingled.