Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 381: Encounter of Two Heroes (9)

* * *

A naval battle unfolded in the waters near La Spezia.

The opponent was Sardinia’s royal army, which was in tatters after fighting monsters. Our side consisted of a united fleet between La Spezia and the Empire comparable to a freshly caught herring.

La Spezia notified us of their desire to betray Sardinia the day after Marquis Rody’s death. All but one of the Marquis’ vassals chose to betray Sardinia. The knight captain was the only one to maintain their loyalty to the royal family, but unfortunately, his comrades killed him.

The Marquis was undoubtedly a good lord. After his death, his vassals, the citizens’ assembly, and the farmers all became enraged. A tiny push on the back was all they needed to make them cooperate.

“Ueeegh, uuegh!”

And currently, I was experiencing the highest degree of seasickness.

“……It looks like the Count Palatine’s dignity is spilling all over the deck. Is it that difficult for you?”

“Ugh. Now that I think about it, this is my first time ever going out to sea…… Urk!”

“Not only are the waves calm, but this is a 5-tier galley. There are not that many people whose sea legs are as weak as yours.”

Laura clicked her tongue as if she were looking at someone pathetic.

It was something I was also learning for the first time today. This was my first time riding on an ocean boat since I came to this world. In other words, my body hasn’t had any prior experience with the sea. My insides felt like they were jumbled up.

“If necessary, you could ask a mage to cast a spell that can help—.”

“No. We cannot waste their mana on something so needless!”

Currently, the mages were basically the entirety of our military power.

The seasoned mercenaries of Helvetica are unmatched on land, but they are relatively inexperienced when it comes to naval battles. While not everyone was as afflicted as I was, it was evident that several of them were also grappling with the discomfort of seasickness.

The sheer number of our ships was also inferior to that of the enemy. Despite having already engaged in one battle, they still retained around sixty vessels. On the other hand, we only had thirty-five ships from the very beginning. This discrepancy was due to the fact that, compared to La Spezia, Genova served as a much larger maritime stronghold.

Adding to this, our fleet mostly consisted of only 2 to 3-tier galleys. ……It’s obviously worrying since the enemy fleet mostly has 5-tier galleys. In a typical scenario, entering into a battle like this would be akin to taking a risky gamble.

There were two variables.

First, the enemy forces were exhausted. The kingdom’s army had just fought desperately for the past three hours. They must be utterly fatigued, with barely any strength left to swing a sword.

Second, the enemy’s mana reserves must be completely depleted by now. This was why I utilized krakens and the Leviathan. I baited them into expending their mana on these creatures.

We confirmed that the enemy didn’t have the strength to cast any more spells. The remnants of Valefor’s underlings did an excellent job. With this, those who used to be subordinates of the traitor will be recognized as innocent under my guarantee.

“Rather than use some trivial spell like that, they should focus on attacking the enem— Ueegh!”

“Just seeing your tenacity for victory is tiring, Lord.”

Laura shook her head.

While we were engaged in this trivial discussion, the distance between the two forces gradually decreased. The Kingdom’s navy was exposing their flanks to us. This was due to most of their ships having lost their oars. Excluding their sails, they didn’t have any other means to control their direction and speed.

“This is a command to our mages.”

Laura casually raised her right hand.

“Sink them.”

Thirty-six mages began to chant their spells at the same time.

Balls of fire soared through the salty air. The scene strangely felt as if it were flowing slowly.

Blue walls appeared to stop the fireballs, but at most, only ten were made. The remaining twenty-five fireballs struck the ships without any issues.

The result was obvious.

A captain mindlessly ordered his men to abandon ship. The ship was split perfectly in half, so even the sailors who refused to abandon ship had no choice but to do so. There were soldiers who unluckily got hit by a fireball in their entirety and were set ablaze. The seas of La Spezia became a hellscape.

“It’s one-sided.”

Laura muttered in a flat tone. Just as she pointed out, the battle was progressing one-sidedly.

During the first volley, about ten barriers were cast, but their numbers rapidly dwindled to just two after the third volley. Even these two barriers vanished by the sixth volley. The soldiers of the Sardinian Kingdom were left defenseless against our magic.

“We surrender! We surrender!”

Were they unable to endure the bombardment? A white piece of cloth was raised from the vessels.

Laura turned to glance at me.

“What shall we do, Lord?”

“The monsters worked quite hard this time. I believe it would only be polite to offer them a meal.”

It would be troubling if the Kingdom were to find out that we utilized monsters. Preventing the information from leaking might not be possible, but I wanted to at least kill every last witness.

Laura nodded.

“No mercy.”

After hearing Laura’s command, the mages resumed their volleys. Regardless of whether they surrendered or not, fireballs rained down on the Sardinian vessels mercilessly. The sound of horrendous screaming echoed over the ocean.

“B-But we surrendered! Why are you still attacking!?”

“Uahh! You sons of bitches! We surrender!”

Our troops didn’t react much to the situation. Our mercenaries who were known for being second in terms of cruelty, were already used to their supreme commander’s mercilessness. As for the civilian oarsmen from La Spezia, they appeared to be in good spirits as they laughed at the enemy.

The royal family of Sardinia made a mistake. They killed the Marquis way too brutally.

They stripped all of his flesh, separated his veins from his muscles, and fed his bones to the dogs. That punishment was far too brutal for someone who was the lord of a region and the ambassador plenipotentiary. It’s obvious that the people of La Spezia would become enraged.

Once it became apparent that they couldn’t surrender, the Kingdom’s navy made a desperate attempt at a final assault. However, their side could only utilize their sails, while we had civilian oarsmen we could rely on. This made their assault more futile.

Whether they charged into a suicide attack, succumbed to despair and sat still, or attempted to escape, the fate of the 60 Sardinian galleys was inevitably sealed. They would sink.

“Mm. The sound of screaming is calming my insides.”

“What kind of stomach do you have, Count Palatine?”

Laura gave me a sour look. What? I can’t help it if it’s true.

After an hour, there was only a single vessel left afloat from the Sardinian navy. It was the ship being commanded by the Grand Duke of Florence. It was the only 5-tier galley that was decorated elaborately. A flag with a black eagle on it that represented the Medici family was fluttering in the wind.

“Count Palatine, how should we deal with that?”

“Capturing them as prisoners would actually be troublesome,  so let us sink them equally……is what I would like to say.”

I stroked my chin.

“The Medici family’s banner is quite an appealing treasure. It holds more historical value than any monetary worth. It would be a waste to offer such a treasure to Poseidon.”

“Mm. I agree, but it would not be wise to engage them in close combat. I am sure that vessel carries at least a hundred warriors.”

I tilted my head.

“But that has more value than a thousand lives. Duchess Farnese, you are aware that the current Empress of Frankia comes from the Medici family, right?”

“Of course, but I heard that she is from a collateral line.”

“I wonder about that. If the direct line dies, would that not make the collateral line the direct one?”

Laura’s eyes widened.

A faint smile soon crawled on her lips.

“I see. Are you planning to turn the Florence Duchy into a puppet regime of Frankia?”

“If our Empire seizes control of even the Duchy of Florence, that would not sit well with the surrounding countries. However, it would also be a waste to ignore a perfectly good cuisine that has been placed in front of us. I am sure we will be able to negotiate something good out of this.”

“You really are the devil, Count Palatine.”

Laura chuckled.

“It seems we must capture that flag no matter what.”

“Capturing it if possible is my honest desire.”

“My duty is to faithfully fulfill the desires of the Count Palatine. However, there is no need to engage in close combat. Troops, advance until the enemy is just in range of our arrows.”

Oh my. She called me the devil, but the actual devil is right here.

Our fleet of thirty-five vessels advanced slowly. Once we reached a certain distance, we fired arrows at the enemy ship. A thousand arrows rained down upon them.

“Guahh! Ahhh!”

“S-Spare us! Please spare our lives!”

The enemy soldiers couldn’t resist as they fell one by one. This wasn’t a battle, it was a slaughter.

Some of the enemy troops must’ve realized that they had no chance of winning as they chose to jump into the ocean instead. There might be a slim possibility that around fifteen of them will fortunately survive and make it to the shore.

—If there were no monsters waiting underwater, that is.

As I mentioned before, it would be a problem for us if any of the enemy troops were to survive this battle. It was crucial to eliminate every single one of them. Including the Grand Duke of Florence himself, all fifteen thousand of the kingdom’s troops will sink here today.

Shortly after, there was no sign of movement on the ship.

We casually brought our vessel next to theirs and boarded their ship while surrounded by guards. I pointed at the banner and ordered.

“That is the most important treasure. Treat it with care.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Our soldiers quickly approached the banner and brought it down. I also ordered the vessel to be searched in case there was anything else of value. I wanted to at least earn enough to make up for the arrows that were spent.

“Your Excellency, the corpse of Grand Duke Medici has been found.”

An officer arrived with good news.

“Splendid. Let us go and have a look at his face!”

“……Are you sure you were experiencing seasickness earlier?”

What a silly thing to say. My favorite thing to do in the world is to observe the expression of someone just before they die, and my second favorite thing to do is to observe the expression of someone after they die. There’s so much contained in those moments.

“…….”

The Grand Duke was collapsed leaning against the mast.

There were arrows in his neck, chest, hip, and thigh. His eyes remained open even in his last moment. He still had his command baton gripped tightly in his right hand. The face he was making……was it regret? It looked like a mix between realization and regret.

“Not a particularly interesting face.”

I shrugged.

“Take his head and store it somewhere. I am sure we will be able to use it somewhere.”

“As you command.”

The officer took out his axe and approached the Grand Duke’s corpse. He let out a grunt as he swung his axe. Two swings were enough to make the Grand Duke’s head fall.

* * *

“Your Highness, please escape!”

“Damn bastards……are they not even willing to accept our surrender!?”

It was pandemonium.

The royal guards did whatever they could to protect the Grand Duke from the arrows. However, there was a limit to the human body. There was no one capable of deflecting thousands of arrows raining down per minute. One by one, people collapsed on the deck in rapid succession.

‘How about we make a bet?’

At that moment, the Grand Duke recalled the words that were spoken to him by a certain woman.

‘As you have deemed, you can continue to reside in Genova. However, as a precautionary measure, I will proceed south to Florence. In the event that the Empire does indeed launch an attack on Genova, I will swiftly alter my course accordingly. Once that occurs, I shall wholeheartedly support your plans without any further objections.’

An arrow slipped through the royal guards and pierced the Grand Duke’s shoulder. The Grand Duke furrowed his brows but didn’t let out a pained cry.

‘And if the Empire does proceed south like you suggested?’

‘It will be my victory.’

‘Is there nothing else you want?’

‘That is all.’

I see.

The Grand Duke lamented deeply in his mind.

How did he not notice?

‘It is fine, Duke. This wager will benefit the kingdom, regardless of who emerges victorious.’

‘If I win, then the Consul’s army can advance from the south, allowing us to surround the imperial army on both sides. Similarly, the same strategy can still be applied if I were to lose this bet. Isn’t that right, Consul?’

The Grand Duke realized why Consul Elizabeth didn’t go out of her way to respond.

There was only one reason why she didn’t ask for anything else.

It was because she knew the Grand Duke would die.

—If the Grand Duke dies, all control over the Kingdom of Sardinia’s army would fall under the Consul.

‘This isn’t a war between the Kingdom and the Empire. This was a battle between the Empire and Consul Elizabeth.’

An arrow soon impaled itself into the Grand Duke’s thigh.

The Grand Duke’s vision grew increasingly hazy. He couldn’t even hear the voices of his subordinates now. Everything felt empty, and everything was swiftly fading into oblivion.

‘I am sorry, Marquis. Please accept my death as an apolog—’

With a dull noise, an arrow penetrated the Grand Duke’s neck.

The sound of something immense collapsing echoed. The flames in the Grand Duke’s heart, which had been glowing brightly, now blazed more intensely than ever before. At that moment, it revealed everything the Grand Duke had been questioning, the things he hated and liked, and the things he himself hadn’t realized yet.

However, it was only for a brief moment. The flames grew in an instant, only to vanish just as quickly, leaving the Grand Duke once again alone. Once the flame disappeared, darkness enveloped him. The Grand Duke felt the twilight gradually envelop his flesh—before he knew it, his entire body was covered in shadows.

And then, everything went quiet.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. This was meant to come out yesterday, but yeah. My reserved forces military training was yesterday and I was absolutely dead by the end of it. It was just full on sun the entire day with no clouds, so I received a lot of heat stress. My head still hurts because of it. They built that new training ground recently to make things better for us, but the layout of that place sucks. It’s just in one straight line with the entrance at one end of the line and the cafeteria+assembly hall being at the opposite end. It took us 15 minutes to reach the cafeteria. It felt like such a waste of time having to walk up and down that uphill road under the heat.

Ugh, in any case. Yadda yadda, I’m dying. I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.