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Chapter 286 part 2

The “hands” of Artelietta and Smitta were left to restore and manufacture the puppet troupe. They repaired the puppets blown apart on the minefield at a tremendous pace, Some of the puppets had been destroyed beyond repair, but a significant number of them were restored and sent back to the front lines. 

They did not rest, did not eat, did not sleep, did not fear, and did not die. Moreover, Vengitta was equipped with functions of self-repair, self-production, and self-modification. This was a monster worthy of being recognized by Demon Lord Yaheim as one of the six demon generals. 

The puppets at the front of the troupe were clearing away the mines in the direction of their march, using their swords, spears, and broken limbs to pierce the ground and pave a way free of mines. 

Although their detection abilities had been reduced by the intervention substances in the mines, tiny puppets in the shape of insects landed on the ground. These insects sensed the movements of the mine golems and intercepted them to minimize the explosive damage. 

Specifically, these puppets sensed the approach of mine golems through their jointed legs and threads as they crawled over the ground. Then, puppets with relatively lower combat ability would run toward the mine golems, stab their limbs or weapons at the mines, and sacrifice themselves to trigger the mine explosions. 

This was an unusual strategy of sacrifice taken as they could easily make up for the loss of numbers through repairs by Artelietta and Smitta in the rear. 

If any autonomous self-burying mine golems broke through this countermeasure, they would move in the direction of the puppets’ march. Despite the drawn-out struggle of the puppets against the mines, the end of the minefield was soon coming into sight. 

The progress of the march was significantly slowed down, and the total number of puppets, excluding those being restored in the rear, had been reduced to 45,000 at the end of the minefield. 

Vengitta and the puppets soon realized that no new explosions were appearing before them despite their march forward. Just as a sense of accomplishment flickered in their minds, they were hit instantly at this precise moment of relief—not from the ground, but from the skies above.

Vengitta did not reveal a single trace of surprise despite noticing that the wind blasts behind her differed from the dragon battle in the skies above. If Bern had already gone this far, it was easily predictable that they would attack at the end of the minefield. 

「Artillery shells? Oh, such coarse iron… lead? Cold lumps of… No, they’re burning hot from being fired, are they not?」　

「Oh, a new ordeal presents itself before us. How light my heart is when I think of it as a trial to reach Christina.」　

Something flew at them with a buzz from behind. A male humanoid bee puppet was flung into the distance by a giant puppet aiming to deflect an incoming cannonball. The humanoid bee puppet that flung out into the air swung the huge bone maces made from faux dragon bones in both hands, crushing the artillery shells one after another in mid-air. 

Other puppets with the physical strength to knock down the shells or fly soared through the air. Following the humanoid bee, they acted as an umbrella shield against the shellfire raining down. 

Vengitta’s puppets did not stay put to suffer the attack. Despite the great dip in their speed of advance, puppets in the rear turned their arms into cannons and started firing back. Other puppets resembling horses and turtles carrying cannons did the same, firing back at the attackers. 

The puppets modeled after bird races and more had excellent eyesight, allowing them to catch sight of the Bernese army firing on them. They judged that their cannons were well within firing range and shared the information with the rest of the troops.

This fight was not quite comparable to the deadly battle being waged far above the ground by the most powerful species on earth. However, it was a struggle of offense and defense on land with weapons of technology and built on a history of warfare. 

On one side of the battle was the Bernese army. They had set out from Fort Nerodim and buried mines after determining Vengitta’s projected course. After that had been done, they had deployed forces in the area past the minefield within the maximum range of their artillery. 

The main force consisted of soldiers from Fort Nerodim, alongside 200 soldiers brought over by Dran as reinforcements and 300 combat golems. Even now, Dran was still in the process of manufacturing simple golems. 

Cannons, modified rock catapults, and cannon-equipped golems brought from Fort Nerodim lined the makeshift mound of earth and fired unceasing bombardments. 

Baran, the Knight Commander of Bern, had previously said that it would be difficult to have firearms in Bern. He could not help but laugh at the present reality. They had managed to gather such a large number of artillery, even if these were out-of-date and used items or old models that had been sold at a great discount. 

Indeed, many of the items they possessed were second-hand or had been gathering dust in corners of warehouses. That being said, Dran and Dreadnought, a product of super-technology in the past, had made modifications with the justification of the upcoming war. As a result, the technology of these items had been raised to a level comparable to the superior technology of the demon lord’s army.

An item with excellent functions would be left to rot without the skills to operate it. This was especially so for artillery, even if they were not golems. Dreadnought equipped the weapons with functions to predict the landing points and trajectory of the shells with extreme accuracy, forcibly compensating for the lack of technological operation abilities on their end. 

At present, Dran was with Sinista, Fort Nerodim’s commanding officer, in the commander’s tent erected at the far end of the camp. Several other liaison personnel were also present with them. On the table in the center of the tent, an image of the front lines was projected on a screen, relayed to them from a bird golem used for reconnaissance.

The reality was that they had to fight with less than 1,000 troops against an army of over 50,000 troops. With this knowledge in mind, they had probably prepared for death in their hearts. Unexpectedly, the minefield and artillery fire seemed to be deterring the enemy significantly. This result had livened up their pale faces a little. 

Unfortunately, their faces turned blue again when the shells fired back from Vengitta’s army landed, shaking the tent with its explosive roar and tremor. Dran spoke to reassure the bubbling uneasiness of those around him. 

「The barrier golems are deflecting the bombardments from that side. The shelling by the demon lord’s army poses no threat whatsoever.」　

Sinista, the acting second-in-command, was the first to come to her senses when she noticed Dran’s unwavering composure ever since the start of the battle and heard his comment. 

「Y-Yes. The sound of the bombardment certainly seems to be coming from overhead, sir.」　

In the camp surrounded by the earthen mound, tents had been sent up as simple living quarters. In addition, a large hundred-footed golem had also been deployed here for swift transport.  This golem was made up of dozens of wagon carts connected together and equipped with countless jointed legs. Looking like a hideous gigantic centipede, it could traverse the wilderness even without pavements, though its appearance was nothing to boast about.

The barrier golems had deployed translucent wards over earthen mounds, keeping these facilities and equipment undamaged as Dran had reassured. 

「By the way, how is the battle in the skies going with the dragons?」　

Sinista was not the only one looking at Dran in eager anticipation. After all, this concerned the most crucial and reliable fighters that would tip the scales of victory against the demon lord’s army in their favor. Stifling a wry smile that threatened to surface under their stares, Dran conjured a new image of the sky on the tabletop. 

「Oh, this is intense!!!」　

The screen projected the life-and-death struggle between several hundred Wyverns and Neyverns, as well as the sentient dragons that easily threatened nations with their mere presence. 

The outnumbered dragons of Mores Mountains were receiving waves of reinforcement magic from the other dragons in the rear. Overcoming the lack of quantity with quality, they made the most of the difference in power consumption to continue firing their dragon language magic and breaths at full force.

If this battle between dragons had taken place directly above the battlefield on the ground, the countless stray attacks and ripples of the aftermath would have easily destroyed Vengitta’s troops and the Bernese army. 

「Fumu, Vaje is holding her own in the fight against the enemy general. Elder Giorda is putting up a strong fight, and the young lads of wind and lightning are fighting skilfully against a superior faux dragon. In this case, the battle between dragons is unlikely to reach the ground.」　

「I see. We shall take your word for it. No one else in Bern is more in tune with the dragons than you are, sir. How about the rest of our troops on the ground? I am aware that the proposal presented by the baroness at the recent Galois congregation to deploy the Bernese army and the lords’ armies separately has been rejected. Though, at present, we are in the exact situation predicted…」

Sinista was speaking about the individual movement of the Bernese army, so that the allied forces of the lords could act as decoy or for ambush and vice versa. Even if Bern was attacked, the lords could attack from the rear or sides of the enemy lines. Conversely, if Galois or the northern lords’ territories were attacked, Bern could adopt a similar tactic.

This plan had been rejected mainly due to the small size of Bern’s army. However, Sinista had pointed out that Bern was acting as a decoy just as presented in the proposed strategy. 

「We should keep the shelling going for some time to prevent Vengitta and those puppets from invading further. As long as they continue ignoring all damage and persist in their march, we can’t avoid a frontal assault at some point. But we’re lucky to have several aces left up our sleeves. Besides, it won’t do us any good to suffer a continuous attack. It’s about time to get serious with our retaliation.」　

As an unusually belligerent smile spread on Dran’s face, black rosebuds sprouted from the ground near Artelietta and Smitta. One could only wonder whether Vengitta noticed these additions peeking into the battlefield.