Chapter 113: The Merciless Attack
At the commander’s shout, I stepped outside—still unsure what was going on—and looked up at the sky.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions echoed one after another. I couldn’t tell what was happening with the building blocking the view, so I moved a little farther away.
“Captain, over there—something tiny like a bean…!”
“Something is falling!”
With my subordinate’s cry, another boom roared out, and the archers on the roof scrambled in panic.
More thunderous crashes followed, but whatever was falling must have punched straight through the roof—there wasn’t even debris left behind.
“Reporting! We’re being attacked from the sorcerer who fled into the sky!”
“We just got a report he was taken down. How could he be counterattacking…?”
“It seems he’s dropping something from above. The crashes keep breaking through the roof. The magic corps says they can’t deal with it, and request another countermeasure.”
“What about the archers or the stone-thrower teams?”
“They say their arrows can’t reach.”
“Chancellor! It’s bad! A large stone broke through the roof and reached the third floor!”
“The third floor… so it pierced the attic and the fourth floor?”
“Yes. They say the stones are about the size of a child’s head, and people are fleeing in panic.”
While receiving the knight’s report, another boom sounded, drawing ever closer.
Even after all that damage, he escaped and is striking back?
The chancellor was stunned, frozen in thought, while his anxious aide urged evacuation as the rumbling grew nearer.
“To where?”
“It seems the third floor is blocking some of it, but… downward—perhaps the basement would be best.”
“Before that, we must report to His Majesty and prepare for an attack!”
Just as the chancellor stood up—BOOM!—a heavy thud hit the ceiling.
“This is bad. We’re going to His Majesty at once! Gather the royal guards!”
Both Rank-1 Magic Pouches were empty after dropping all the stones. I couldn’t continue the attack, so I paused to resupply.
Stones a little over 20 cm fill a pouch in four layers of four—64 stones. Two pouches meant 128 shots, but prioritizing quantity reduced their power.
Even so, after dropping all 128 stones, the only reaction was people rushing out of buildings—unexpected.
I wanted to use a tornado spell to destroy them outright, but that would cause problems. So I stuck to stone-bombing.
“You’re lucky I’ll stop for today.”
No one could hear me, but I muttered the line downward before heading off to gather more stones.
“He’s flying away!”
“Check the damage immediately. Also, question those who saw him and look for weaknesses.”
“Commander of the mage corps, I’ve never heard of magic like that. What was it?”
“I’ve never seen it either, but since he created an unbelievably large whirlwind, I believe it’s wind magic.”
“One can fly with wind magic?”
“I don’t know. Our wind-type users can only make small whirlwinds. That man likely has wind magic and barrier magic.”
“So… can we defeat him?”
“He moves freely in the sky. Arrows don’t work, and magic didn’t affect him either, so…”
“Chancellor, the source of the noise was stones. According to archers on the roof, they were dropped from above. The ones that pierced the roof broke through the fourth-floor ceiling and are scattered all over the third floor.”
“Stones from the sky… we have no way to stop that.”
It seemed the words of the expedition commander and his staff had been correct.
“We have a report he flew off toward the east.”
“Did you forget? He came to receive Sutherland Kingdom’s reply. He judged our intent hostile and dropped stones in return. Do you think he’ll simply go home now?”
“Surely… surely you don’t mean he’ll come again?”
“He’ll come with even bigger stones next time. We must secure His Majesty and the harem.”
“Corbens, are you telling me to hide underground!? I, the King of Holtland, retreating to a cellar because of a single man—unthinkable!”
“Your anger is understandable, but all of our attacks were completely blocked, and his counterattack was simply dropping stones from above. We have no method of defense.”
“Is there no one in the magic corps who can counter him?”
“According to the corps commander, he likely has wind and barrier magic, but no one knows of magic that allows flight. As for countermeasures… they have none.”
“What should we do?”
“If possible, I suggest temporarily evacuating the royal family from the castle.”
“Chancellor Corbens, we cannot. If His Majesty of proud Holtland flees from one man, the nobles will think he fled. His Majesty cannot—cannot…”
“In that case… there is one way to deceive the enemy.”
“Speak!”
“If the royal family disguises themselves and relocates to a corner of the castle, or joins the soldiers in the training grounds or knights’ barracks, they may blend in. If a stone falls nearby and Your Majesty appears outside in royal garments, he would be identified immediately from the sky.”
“He’s not coming back.”
“Maybe he ran out of magic.”
“Still… how are we supposed to defend against someone dropping huge stones from the sky?”
“We foot soldiers just shoot when told. It’s not like the stones will always hit us.”
“Yeah, he dropped them one at a time back then.”
“But the holes in the roof were huge. If one hits, you’re done for.”
“They say stones the size of a kid’s head punched down to the third floor.”
“It’s freezing… I just want to go home and get a drink.”
“He’s probably not coming today.”
“Eastern sky!”
“Where!?”
“Low—he’s flying right along the wall!”
“Archers, hurry! Fire! Fire!”
Oh wow, another warm welcome today.
I’m not the same man as yesterday—these stones are bigger. Brace yourselves.
Arrows made visibility bad, but the balloon with openings only above and below wasn’t a problem.
Charging toward the castle, I suddenly shot upward and dropped stones from my magic bag.
Taste this—horizontal bombing.
Stones dropped while flying at tens of kilometers per hour slammed into buildings from the side, exploding with massive crashes.
Then I dived from above and dropped more—these pierced the roofs diagonally, sending the archers fleeing in terror.
I circled the castle, sometimes hopping over buildings, dropping stones sideways and from above.
“Impossible! His movement is too fast—we can’t hit him!”
“No one could hit something flying like that!”
“Have the magic corps attack!”
“They can’t! He’s too close—we’d destroy the castle!”
“Damn it… he knows and flies low on purpose. What a nuisance!”
I ran out of the stones at my feet, and only the Rank-5 Magic Bag remained. I ascended and shifted the balloon’s opening.
Time for the main dish—giant stones!
Aiming at the center of the castle, I dropped them evenly. After several dozen, I ran out.
On the ground, people who had fled the castle were staring at me, so I dropped the prepared message attached to cloth and left.
“He dropped something!”
“Another letter, maybe?”
“He’s leaving!”
“What a ridiculous guy…”
“Yesterday’s mess isn’t even cleaned up, and today we got wrecked even worse.”
“Chancellor, a message.”
He was handed the letter tied to a strip of cloth.
He had already advised the king to hide in a corner of the building—good timing.
Relieved the enemy had left, he opened the message… and froze in shock.
It said that unless Sutherland Kingdom delivered their reply, he would return every day to destroy the castle.
Yesterday’s damage wasn’t light, but today’s was catastrophic—he had watched from outside.
The stones today were more than twice as large as yesterday’s, dropped from above and from the side, and no one could stop it.
At the end, he dropped dozens of stones so big they needed two arms to hold, all concentrated in the castle’s center.
It was like a flying siege weapon. A week of this would destroy the castle.
Worse yet, yesterday’s attack had already become rumor throughout the city. Foreign envoys were gathering information openly, asking why the castle was under attack and who the attacker was.
Knowing they were likely reporting every detail back home, the chancellor trembled with anger.
But it was also true—they could do nothing against one man demanding compliance.
“Corbens! What is this disgrace!? One man is doing as he pleases with our castle!”
“Your Majesty, he flies swiftly like a bird, repels arrows and magic, and drops stones as large as barrels. He is practically a flying siege weapon. And this is the letter he left… how shall we respond?”
The king took the note with a shaking hand. As he read, his face darkened with rage.
“Sutherland gathers soldiers at our border and demands we kneel!?”
“But launching a campaign now would look terrible…”
“We fought them countless times in the past. Why should we worry about appearances?”
“Your Majesty, this time… the opponent is simply too much.”
“Your Majesty, Chancellor Corbens is overly timid. Even if he flies, we can handle him once he’s forced to land.”
“Have you forgotten? That man blocked all magic attacks—and even the elite corps’ full-power strike—with his barrier magic.”