Chapter 80

Lakyus and Remedios helped to maintain the situation under control with the civilians that were mostly women, children, and old people. Many of them decided to enter the cathedrals so they can pray all together, and some others decided to stay at their homes for unknown reasons.

They tried to convince them to take shelter inside the cathedral but they did not listen to the order. It was not safe to stay near the walls as a civilian but some fools can't be convinced. They might be the first unarmed people that will be slain if the enemy succeeds in storming inside the city.

Lakyus and Remedios did not have enough time to stay with the civilians inside the cathedral so they decided to go to the highest floor of the Cathedral of Light.

"Why are we climbing up there, Lakyus?"

"Because up there we can see the whole city and also beyond the wall."

"So you want to observe the enemy?"

"Well, it's not like we can do anything about the enemy up here but I just wanted to see how many of them are out there."

"I guess you are right but we have to go down there quickly if It comes to an order from the cardinals."

"Mhm."

The cathedral was a very huge building constructed back at the time when the Six Great Gods ruled this nation and one hundred years later they got destroyed by the Eight Greed Kings as a humiliation towards the citizens to tell them that their gods were weak and incompetent.

But after the fall of the Eight Greed Kings, when the state regained its strength, the cathedrals were rebuilt again and the citizens were free to worship their gods once more.

Still, there is one cathedral that is missing. The cathedral that was built to worship the God of Death Surshana was wiped out of existence by the powerful magic of the Sorcerer King. All the people that were inside the cathedral disappeared from this world putting the entire country into a grim situation.

The cardinals did not give an order to rebuild the cathedral again because the state was not able to afford the investment. If this would have happened like ten years ago, the people that worship Surshana might have raised to protest if the cardinals refused to rebuild the house of the god. But everyone can see that the Slane Theocracy was not that good with the finances.

Lakyus was shocked when she heard about the catastrophe that happened that day. It was an unimaginable cruelty caused by the Sorcerer King and that raised the hatred that Lakyyus had against him.

"It seems we won't have it easy without allies backing us, I guess."

Both the females reached the highest floor of the cathedral. The ceiling of the dome was held by several white massive pillars. Lakyus walked toward the balcony, the first thing she was was the blue sky and the city.

This time, the city was not filled with civilians doing their daily routines. It was a really sad image to see it like that but it was for their own good. Next, Lakyus lifted her eyes to the frontal wall where most of the army was gathering.

"What in the world…"

Some days ago, she had visited this place but at that time she had seen green fields and the Vittoria Fortress beyond the wall. But now those green fields were being enveloped by the huge army marching towards the capital.

"La-Lakyus are you watching this?!"

"Yes… by gods what the hell, this is horrible!"

Every soldier on the walls had a feeling of anxiety while watching as they marched closer. Even the background was scary, what's more frightening than seeing a great fortress burning while a dark army marches towards their next target.

"Kolthrus, we need to go back." said Quintia

"Yeah."

"Wa-Wait sir…"

"What is it, commander?"

"I thought you would help us protect these walls, sir."

The soldiers around heard that and waited for the response. These men are powerful and they will need their help to hold the invaders but it seems the plan was different.

"No commander, we have received orders from the cardinals to protect the heart of the city."

"But… but sir, the whole city of Kami Miyako is the heart of the Slane Theocracy."

Quintia gave the commander a serious look. "The gods are watching humanity right now and you, a soldier of the Slane Theocracy are showing cowardice. Should I give the commander position to someone else that does not have a lack of bravery?"

While reaching that rank would be like a dream come true but right now there was no one that wanted that position. No common soldier would like to have other soldiers on his command especially in a situation like this

"Not a problem at all sir, we will do whatever we must to protect our holy city."

The commander did not want to have any problem with the warriors of the Scriptures because everyone knows these guys are dangerous.

"Good, we are moving. Protect the city commander."

"Yes sir!"

The two black scripture members left the wall and disappeared. The commander turned and noticed that his soldiers were looking at him.

"The hell are you doing? Back at your positions, now!"

"YES SIR!"

Now, all their attention was at the approaching army of the Sorcerer Kingdom. It was a massive of countless spears and sharp swords. The knights of the Slane Theocracy have never seen such a dark army in their lives.

There have been people that have seen such a huge army but they never returned alive to tell the story. The Sorcerer Kingdom today has laid its eyes on the last pure human fortress, there is fear in the eyes of the knights but they love this country and their gods so…

"Brothers…"

The voice of the commander was high or a strong one but rather a brotherly voice.

"Do not fight for these pieces of brick... but for those who are behind us… our families. Do not be afraid and have faith…"

While spitting that soft speech, the commander always swallowed his saliva as he spoke. It was not his fault because the image of this army was really heavy to resist and also he was not the best commander to be in the front line of defense.

"Arrows ready!"

They had brought there boiling oil to burn the enemy, and torches to lit the arrows. Everything and everyone was ready for the battle. The Nazar army was about to step into the range of the arrows but suddenly the army halted when someone blew the horn.

"What now?"

The tension was high at the defender's side. With such an army, no leader would think about losing a battle but… the Nazars were unknown soldiers that had accomplished their own wars in silence without the help of the undead army.

The commander's attention went to those massive moving objects. In his mind, they simply looked like some weird wooden and iron objects that were pulled by some large lizard. Still, the question was what can these objects do? So in conclusion these could be... siege weapons.

The siege weapons he knew are the battering rams and the ballistas that are capable of shooting bolts like javelins. These weapons were put on the walls to shoot the enemies but the Nazars had them too and there were a lot of them. But those larger ones were bad news because he didn't know what they are capable to do.

The commander was waiting for the Nazar side to make a move. It was a surprise that he couldn't find any undead creature in their ranks. All of them were living beings and those he could not imagine seeing here were the humans.

"What the hell are they doing here?! How can they turn against us, we are fellow humans just like them!" he shouted at himself.

Well, that is a hypocritical thing to say when they have killed countless of humans in their history from other nations and their own nation. But the commander and the others were brainwashed by this ideology that when they kill humans it is for the greater good but when they fight back it is a sinful action.

There were humans, elves, demihumans, humanoids all over the place. How these people can work together was absolutely unknown for the commander and his soldiers. This unity of other races has been happening out of their borders but the isolation of the Slane Theocracy had turned the people way too narrow-minded. Now when they see it for the first time is actually shocking and unbelievable.

Suddenly, the commander noticed some soldiers moving and he alarmed his soldiers.

"Are they going to attack us now?"

But it did not look like they were preparing to march against the walls. The soldiers opened a path for someone. It was a young female… human wearing a dark armor. Her face was hard to describe by that distance.

"Si-Sir is that a human?"

"I'm not sure about that soldier. She might even be a monster in human form. Do not let your guard down!"

"Yes sir!" the soldiers aimed at the female warrior that was approaching.

She had fearlessly stepped into the range where arrows can kill her. It looked like she wanted to speak with someone. All the soldiers were ready to fill her body with arrows, they only needed an order.

The girl stopped 50 meters away from the wall and observed the walls of the city. Now the commander was able to see her face more clearly and the girl was not beautiful or cute like Lady Lakyus or any other female member from the holy Scriptures.

Those beady black eyes were straight-up chilling to be staring at. Her face was like those of demons that he had seen in the books when he was young. It was very unimaginable for a young human girl to look like such a deadly person. The hard training might have made her like that or maybe an experience on a battlefield, it could be anything.

But now it was not the time for these thoughts to turbulent his mind so he had to take the first action.

"Who are you, lone warrior?!" the commander shouted.

His voice was high enough so he hoped that she heard him.

"Does it matter to know my name? Soon, you and everyone will turn into corpses and will be forgone from the roots of history."

"Huh… What…"

His brain was not able to chew those words so he could understand them instantly. Somehow it made sense but he always thought that the name of the enemy should be known even if it is a low-ranking soldier.

"I do not get what you mean warrior, I just asked about your name."

"And I said that doesn't matter because, in the end... you all are going to die here."

There was no pact, no deal, no agreement, or anything... That was a statement… The Sorcerer Kingdom of Nazarick wants everyone dead?"

A soldier was shaking from fear and accidentally lose the arrow.

"WAIT!"

"That was too late, but the arrow did not reach the lone warrior and it fell two meters away from her position.

"Heh…"

Neia laughed at the failure to kill her and returned back to her troops. There were no more reasons to wait for the invasion.

"You did not say much but you sure inserted some fear into those poor soldiers."

"Thank you, my queen but I did not have that intention, instead, I want to start this siege right now. The Supreme One demands it!"

Queen Zesshi was proud when she heard those words about her husband. In such a short time, this girl has changed into a merciless killing machine just like herself.

"I think they need to see their comrades from Vittoria Fortress once again. Let's make them happy, release the prisoners!"

"Catapults!"

The dark dwarf pulled the trigger and the arm of the catapult threw the projectiles. The commander was surprised by the massive objects for a moment. He understood that these are siege weapons but he was confused by the projectiles that were flying towards them.

As they began to fall, the soldiers raised their shields in protection. They heard the projectiles falling but they were expecting to do some damage or something.

"Hmm, what was that for?"

The attack was over so they lowered their shields. The soldiers thought of this as a bluff but it all changed when they saw the "projectile" over the ground. The facial expression of the soldiers changed from confused to horrified real quick.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"The- They are…"

Those things were not projectiles but human heads. The first attack of the enemy was to strike despair and horror on the soldiers of the Slane Theocracy. Such a cruel act gave its utility as it gave the soldiers an image that they will have the same fate as these soldiers.

"Gods help us!"

"What the hell man, I-I saw this guy a few days ago… they… they murdered him like… this."

"She said that we all will die here."

The soldier touches his neck and imagines himself getting his head chopped. The commander was scared too but for how long can this go, he needs to bring these kids back to reality.

"Oi you bastards stop crying like widows and get to your positions!"

What will come next from the Nazar side was unexpected, the commander was waiting for the worst.

The giant ogres and frost giants put giant rocks on the sling of the catapults and trebuchets. The giant rocks had a good spherical form and were wrapped with two iron strips.

"It begins now…"

Neia looked at the siege weapons and the platoon that had the trigger ready to activate.

"Brothers and sisters, today we stand before the walls of a country that for six hundred years has brought nothing but misery to our world. For such a long time, we have been fighting each other in the name of madness and greed to please old fools... As a human being, I feel ashamed of being the same as these people."

When she said those words, the army did not want to accept what she said.

"No, it's not true!"

"Madeye is a great human!"

"Madeye is our leader!"

"Neia is best girl!"

"Lead us to victory captain!"

"Yes, we are ready to die!"

The eyes of the Nazar's were full of loyalty and were determined to fight their old nemesis to death.

"I thank you from the deepest part of my heart, guys. The mission to annihilate the Slane Theocracy was given to us! Let us show those heretics the might of the Sorcerer Kingdom of Nazarick!"

"YEEEEEEEEEESS!"

Neia pointed her hand at the city of Kami Miyako…

"Fire!"

"FIRE!"

The trebuchets forced with all the might of the long arm to pull the heavy giant rock and threw it high. All the trebuchets threw their projectiles and the soldiers of the Slane Theocracy saw how they flew very high passing the wall.

"No, no, no, no, no! Gods! Get out of there!"

The commander yelled at all the soldiers that were on the streets but everyone's attention was on the rocks that were starting to fall.

"Crap, get the hell out of here!"

Only those who understood the danger started to run like wild dogs from coming danger. This was not a beautiful show to impress but to bring destruction and death over the city.

The first projectile fell upon the roof of a building. The entire house exploded from the impact and it created a column of flame engulfing the surroundings in the fire.

These heavy explosions were occurring all over the city and the shockwaves sent people flying. Some died and some others got wounded in a horrendous way.

"Run! Run!"

"It's coming after us! It's going to fall here!"

DOOOOOM!

With one assault from the Nazar side, the city has taken critical damages and the lives of dozens of soldiers and civilians that were in the range of the projectiles. The thing that made these projectiles so terribly dangerous was the fact that they were enchanted with 7th tier magic.

The projectiles were able to turn the buildings into massive craters and this was just the first wave of the attack.

"Fire!"

More projectiles were launched over the city. They fell into different locations wrecking buildings and killing people. The commander and his soldiers could only gaze at the vast destruction in shock.

He or anyone couldn't do anything to help the others that were being squashed like ants.

"Sho- Shot them with the ballista now!"

"Yes sir!"

The ballistas were put on the walls and were loaded with javelins. Normal bows won't be able to reach the distance where the Nazar army was standing but the ballista was built for very long-range attacks.

"Ready, fire!"

The Nazars saw the enemy projectiles coming in their direction. Some fell on the empty field, some were dodged, and also some trolls protected them themselves with shields. For example, a human will have trouble if he tries to block a javelin thrown by a ballista but a troll or any giant with a massive body won't flinch against something like that.

But a lizardman was standing his ground without any fear of the javelin that was coming in his direction. He raised his arm that looked thicker than the other one and punched the javelin. His scales were strong and there were no scratches there.

"Quickly reload!"

Impatiently, the commander yelled at his soldiers, he was very frustrated that none of them did any damage while their attacks had caused havoc over the city. The soldiers were putting the javelin on the ballista but…

"DOOOOMM!"

The commander lay on the ground when something exploded in front of him. The first thing he did was to look if he himself was alright but only his armor was a bit hot. Then he turned in the direction of the ballistas and saw that it was completely destroyed and the soldiers that were using it had died.

"Damn it… damn it, they aren't giving us a goddamn chance!"

Another ballista was destroyed so quickly. He had no idea how this was happening so he lifted his head to see that the enemy was using ballistas too to destroy their weapons.

"Co- commander!"

A soldier just climbed the wall and ran to him to see his health.

"Are you wounded?!"

"No thank goodness I'm not but we are in a deep shit right here!"

"Everywhere in the city is chaos sir, we don't even have a place to hide."

"Go tell the soldiers to regroup, we can't just let them invade the city so easily!"

"Yes but what about the walls sir?!"

"There is nothing to do here, soldier, just go I will follow!"

"Yes sir!"

Neia has been observing the attack upon the walls and she saw that the soldiers of the Slane Theocracy were climbing down because they were dying for nothing there.

"You won't be safe down there either."

"Archers!"

Hundreds of bowman squads of elves and other races began to approach and step into the dangerous area but there was nothing to worry about because the enemy had fled the walls. The archers stopped the march and had the bows ready to fire.

The commander walked away from the wall just to see his soldiers hiding in different places from the dangerous projectiles that did not stop raining down the city. It wasn't a cowardice act because none of them will be needed if they die but staying like turtles in their shells won't help anything.

Suddenly he noticed a great shadow that wrapped the light very fast, he lifted his eyes and saw thousands of arrows flying over the city.

"This is why I didn't want this damn post, FUCK!"

The man ran like a rabbit not caring about the appearance of a "commander". Arrows rain upon the city killing anyone who didn't have protection. The so-called commander ran into a building that was almost destroyed by the projectiles and there he found shelter.

He kept staying there while the arrows were raining down the city. The arrows made a sound like iron mosquitoes, it was a truly terrifying sound that he hopes to end soon. Such attacks were able to turn brave men into weaklings.

"Let's try the new weapons shall we?"

New weapons, new projectiles appeared in the lines of the Nazar army. The soldiers brought some wagons with metal pipes and they had some strange projectiles that were directed at the city.

"How were they called again?" asked Neia because they did not have a catchy name.

"Katyusha."

These were projectiles that had a very long-range attack and caused massive destruction but not very good at targeting objectives, otherwise, it was splendid at raining terror upon the enemy.

A dwarf magic caster activated the weapon and the projectiles started flying one by one leaving a great amount of smoke behind. The soldiers had to back off and cover their eyes because of this heavy hot smoke.

The city of Kami Miyako had taken a lot of damage by the first and second wave but what was coming was even dreadful. Every soldier that was hiding heard an unknown noise that was coming like a reverberate from the Nazar side.

As it approached, the unknown noise was beginning to grow more terrifying. A moment ago, the sky was blocked by countless of arrows, but now it was enveloped by clouds of dark smoke.

"What the hell man, they aren't letting us rest for a bit, damn it!"

"What is happening?!"

The first projectile went straight through the window of a house hitting the second floor and at that moment the entire building blew up leaving only traces of outlines. The people that were hiding inside that building were burned alive by the heavy explosion.

The rest of the katyushas began to rain upon the city like the wrath of the gods had arrived to dispose of this city from the face of the earth. These projectiles were more lethal if they are compared with the trebuchets.

These deadly weapons reached areas further where the trebuchets had not touched and brought incomparable devastation. The citizens that were so brave to stay in their houses were now running away from the rain of death that the Nazars had launched upon this city.

"GODS HELP US! GODS HELP US!"

"We must run to the church now!"

"I LOST MY LEEEEEEEG! HEEEEELP!"

All these brave citizens had no clue where those projectiles would fall. Even if they fall a few meters away from them, there was a possibility of dying from bricks that fly in different directions at an intense speed because of the shockwaves.

Beautiful buildings with architectures that deserve to be called masterpieces were turned into complete piles of crumbles and the paved streets of the city were filled with wide craters everywhere.

"This… this is horrible!"

Lakyus knew well how Remedios felt about this disaster that occurs in front of their eyes. Both of them have seen their nations getting invaded by unimaginably powerful beings and the citizens falling in despair watching what they had built getting crushed like sandcastles.

"The whole army is getting split by those heavy explosions."

"I don't understand it… do they have plans to demolish the entire city?"

"That's impossible, Lakyus. Only that crazy undead would be able to raze this city totally flat and also this city is too important to just be destroyed."

"I know the city is very important for us but I don't know if it is important for them Remedios and I'm sure the Sorcerer King can rebuild this city again."

Remedios remembered how her old holy kingdom got absolutely wiped off by the terrifying monster battle between the Kraken and Ainz Ooal Gown. After the battle, the Sorcerer King brought back the lost nature and started to rebuild the region from the start.

"So this city won't matter either…"

Suddenly Remedios's thoughts were blocked by a projectile that fell in the yard of the cathedral.

"What the hell are those things that can fly this far?!" shouted Lakyus as another one hit the cathedral. Remedios felt it how the walls were shaken by that strong impact.

"Lakyus we must leave this place, it's dangerous here!"

"Yeah, let's leave…"

DOOOOOOM!~

The strange projectile blasted one of the pillars out of nowhere and Remedios had to jumps to protect Lakyus from any dangerous harm. The ex-adamantite adventurer can bring people back to life so she must not get killed.

"Lakyus are you alright?! Did you get wounded?! Please tell me?!" she cried at loud right in front of her face.

"I'm good Remedios, just get off me. Your breastplate is squeezing my breasts."

Remedios's face turned red and noticed that she had also grabbed on them. "Ah, I apologize!"

"It's okay, thanks for saving me, Remedios."

This was the first time for Remedios to see Lakyus as another figure. She was a skilled warrior and a great priestess but now she saw… a woman.

"She is so beautiful…"

"What?"

"Oh no, I let my thoughts split out of my mouth."

"Uh, I said we need to get out of her Lakyus! The army needs orders!"

"Right!"

She remembers those thoughts to be only for her old friend Calca and she still wants to return to the old days when the holy queen ruled the Holy Kingdom and she with her sister standing by her side.

But with the Sorcerer Kingdom wracking kingdoms and friendships everywhere, her dread to unite with her queen was far away or just impossible. She doesn't know what her old friend is doing or if she has gotten married or if she was still alive...

Lakyus was somehow similar to Calca. She is kind and cares for Remedios so her seeing Lakyus was like seeing her old friend.

"Damn it, this is not the time for stupid dreams! We are in a WAR!"

Neia stood in front of her army observing the projectiles flying and falling upon the city but this is not supposed to last forever.

"Luitenent order the catapult squads to aim for the walls now at full power!"

"Right away!"

Now it's time for the army to make a move as the enemy was still under fire and trying to stay alive from the bombardment that was eating the city brick by brick.

"LEFT - FLANK, RIGHT - FLANK! MARCH FORWARD!"