’Thump! Thump! Thump!’
The army of the Kan Kingdom surged toward the castle. Their soldiers were also short beastmen, but perhaps because they were the enemy, they seemed larger and more imposing than the allied forces.
"All troops, prepare to fire!" a beastman adjutant commanded, his voice sharp and clicking.
The archers on the walls moved as one, nocking arrows to their bowstrings and taking aim at the black tide of enemy soldiers.
’Thump! Thump! Thump!’
Even after entering the bows’ range, the wave of soldiers surging below the wall did not stop.
"Fire!" he shrieked.
Countless black arrows rained down, causing the wave below to crest and churn as soldiers fell. Those struck by arrows collapsed, only for their comrades to trample over their bodies in their relentless charge.
"Aim again!"
"Quicken your reload! Fire!"
Once again, arrows poured down like a torrential rain. The firepower was considerable. The enchanted black arrows pierced through armor and impaled the enemy soldiers, sometimes even killing two with a single shot.
"Hehehe! Did you all see that? You saw it, right?" Dick crowed from atop the wall, his face flushed with excitement. "Aren’t my enchantments just perfect for siege warfare? If I just enhance the soldiers’ arrows and weapons, they’ll automatically—!"
"Focus before I have one of those arrows pierce your mouth," Meirin cut in icily.
Dick’s mouth snapped shut. Simon let out a small laugh and turned back to the front. The morale of the Kan Kingdom’s soldiers was formidable. They showed no fear of the arrows, letting out war cries as they rushed the gate. Soon, they began to hammer it with logging axes, causing the heavy wood to shake violently and splinter.
"A battering ram!" a soldier yelled.
They were pushing a cart fitted with a metal-reinforced log up the hill toward the gate.
"Simon! I enchanted the gate, but it won’t last long against that!" Dick warned.
"Leave it to me."
A total of sixteen skeletons were on standby around Simon: eight staff-wielding mages and eight standard warriors.
"Throw!"
The warrior skeletons hurled a volley of oil-berries, which rolled down the hill in front of the gate. Simon then shifted his focus, connecting his mind to the eight skeleton mages. Magic circles formed above their raised staves.
"Dark Blaze."
It wasn’t as powerful as Meirin’s ‘Dark Flare’, but it was a potent lower-tier Jet-Black flame spell. A fireball swelled above each magic circle like a blooming flower, glowing with a dark blue hue influenced by Simon’s mana.
"Fire!"
Eight dark blue fireballs soared through the cloudy sky. Flying in a gentle arc, they descended upon the base of the gate. The pupils of the Kan soldiers trembled. The approaching, blazing flames looked like a living fire demon opening its maw.
"G-Get back!"
’BOOOOOOM—!!’
The fireballs exploded in unison, incinerating the soldiers. The oil-berries on the ground burst upon contact with the heat, drenching the area in flammable liquid. The flames spread instantly, creating a raging sea of fire around the wall and the hill.
"Wow!" Dick cried in admiration.
The attack had not only consumed the soldiers climbing the hill but had also reduced the battering ram to cinders. Soldiers engulfed in flames screamed in agony as they tumbled back down the slope.
"As expected of the Guardian!" one beastman cried, his voice full of clicks.
"The Guardian is with us!"
The spectacular fire show sent the morale of the allied forces soaring. Meirin, standing beside him, snorted but couldn’t hide the smile on her face.
"Your Jet-Black flame magic is pretty good, huh?"
"It’s still lacking," Simon replied modestly, though he felt a swell of accomplishment. A summoner’s strength lay in numbers. While he couldn’t cast high-level black magic like Meirin, unleashing eight Dark Blazes at once was a clear advantage that put him on even footing.
"P-Put out the fire!" a Kan soldier shouted.
The assault on the gate was delayed as the Kan Kingdom’s soldiers scrambled to clear away the fire and oil to bring up their next battering ram. But they were already preparing their next move.
"Ladders!"
Tall siege ladders slammed against the wall, and soldiers began to swarm up them. Others used grappling hooks to scale the stone face.
"They’re coming for the walls!"
"Stop them!"
The allies on the wall fought desperately to repel the climbing soldiers. Just then, a volley of arrows rained down from below, felling several defenders. The Kan archers on the ground had started firing up at the ramparts.
"Aim for the archers and fire!" an adjutant ordered.
The Aon archers retaliated, and the sky filled with a constant, deadly exchange of arrows.
Simon, who had been quietly observing the battle, turned around. "Adjutant."
"Yes, Commander-in-Chief!" The beastman adjutant who had been on standby hurried over and bowed his head.
"I can handle the gate alone. Concentrate your forces on the walls."
"A-Are you sure, sir? I worry we are placing too great a burden on you..."
"I’ll be fine." Even as he spoke, Simon was directing his skeleton mages to launch another volley of fireballs. The commander nodded and redeployed the gate’s defenders to the struggling walls.
’I thought the outer castle would be breached easily since the walls are low, but they’re holding up pretty well,’ Simon mused.
Not only the south gate but the other gates were also still intact.
However, there were powerful variables in this war.
"Hold them! Hold them back!"
The battle on the walls was a brutal, chaotic affair. Soldiers had to dodge the rain of arrows from below while felling the enemies climbing the ladders.
"Deal with the ladders first!"
"Raise your shields! Don’t fall back!"
Commanding this section of the wall was a veteran beastman adjutant. He roared encouragement to his soldiers, his sword a blur as he fought on the front lines. He had just managed to push an enemy soldier off a ladder when he heard a strange scratching sound from below, a rapid ’tap-tap-tapping’ against the stone. He leaned over the edge and looked down.
"Hm?"
Something was scaling the sheer stone wall. A wolf. No, more accurately, a werewolf.
"What is that—!"
His words were cut short. The moment their eyes met, the werewolf shot up the remaining distance and plunged its claws into his neck.
"When did it get up here!"
The Aon soldiers defending the wall rushed forward. A sharp, triangular claw, long and hard as a sword, extended from the werewolf’s wrist, glowing with an ominous Jet-Black energy.
’Swish! Swish!’
Every time the werewolf swung its claws, soldiers fell, spraying blood. Its movements were on a completely different level. Before they could even thrust their spears, they were slashed by its claws and torn apart by its fangs.
"It’s too strong!"
The soldiers formed a shield wall and charged, but their physical abilities were no match for the creature. Leaping over them like an acrobat, the werewolf landed behind the formation and tore out their throats.
"Shoot that wolf first!" an archer yelled from the end of the wall.
The archers nocked their arrows and took aim. Seeing this, the werewolf raised a palm to its snout. A magic circle glowed on its surface as it opened its mouth.
-Awoooooooooo!
The sound-activated, area-of-effect curse, <Wolf Howling>, washed over them. The archers’ faces went pale with terror, their legs trembling uncontrollably. Some dropped their weapons; others simply wet themselves in fear. The werewolf seized the opportunity, lunging in to slaughter the incapacitated archers.
A single intruder was ravaging the wall.
[Ahaha!]
From the mouth of the growling werewolf, a young boy’s voice suddenly emerged, a chillingly dissonant sound.
[This is so much fun!]
The werewolf turned and shouted down to the base of the wall.
[Milena! Send them all up!]
’Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!’
Three siege ladders defied gravity, floating up into the sky with over a dozen Kan soldiers clinging to them.
"Execute the Aon Kingdom bastards!" one of them hissed.
"The Guardian is with us!"
The Kan soldiers leaped onto the wall. Below, a female student in a Kizen uniform wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"To come all this way just to be a ladder shuttle," she muttered. "Honestly."
With a wave of her hand, the floating ladders descended back to the ground.
"Alright," she said, turning to the next group of waiting soldiers. "Next, get on."
"Yes, Guardian!"
[Haha! Hahahaha!]
With the werewolf rampaging along the battlements and the siege ladders acting as elevators, the tide of the battle turned. Soon, some sections of the wall had more Kan soldiers than defenders. If this continued, the entire wall would fall.
[This is fun! So much fun! There was a reason everyone told me to try the Endolas game when I came to Kizen!]
The thirty Kizen students participating as Guardians were no longer novices. Now in the latter half of their first year, their capabilities were considerable. The smaller, weaker beastmen stood no chance against the werewolf.
[Found one!]
The werewolf spotted another officer-class ‘adjutant’ and launched itself forward on all fours.
’Whoosh!’
It was a leap that defied physical limits. The old adjutant couldn’t even react to the speed. Just as its fangs were about to sink into his neck—
’Clang!’
A sword suddenly blocked its path. The werewolf slid back, landing on one knee.
’It blocked my attack?’
"Whoopsie-daisy!"
A blond Kizen student with a sly smile had appeared in front of the adjutant. The werewolf, belatedly grasping the situation, grinned. As expected, a necromancer had to be stopped by another necromancer.
[You’re later than I expected.]
The young boy’s voice coming from the mouth of the ferocious werewolf was deeply unsettling. Dick stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Hmmm— Let’s see." He squinted, examining the werewolf from head to toe. "A necromancer who mains the transformation black magic ‘Metamorphosis’ isn’t that common in Kizen. About ten of you, right? Ah, wait, one got expelled, so exactly ten."
Dick’s tongue moved quickly. "On top of that, a werewolf of this quality probably wasn’t learned at Kizen, so it must be a family specialty. Plus, an area-of-effect curse that spreads fear through sound. That gives me the answer right there."
Dick grinned and bowed elegantly like a gentleman. "Miss Canis McGrory."
"Is imitating a man’s voice a hobby for the daughters of high nobility?"
At his words, the werewolf’s expression turned cold.
[...Who are you?] This time, it was a girl’s voice.
Dick shrugged. "I’m Dick Hayward from Class A!"
[How did you know just by looking? Glek is more famous for werewolf Metamorphosis than I am.]
"Ah, Glek Crowe! Special Admission No. 9, of course he’s famous. But for using that kind of bluff to hide your identity..."
’Thump! Thump!’
Dick summoned two large metal cases from his subspace, a smirk spreading across his face.
"You picked the wrong opponent."

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