บท 221: C221
Shirou galloped through the starlit night on his horse, carrying the unconscious Arcueid in his arms. He hurried back to Cornwall along the twisting mountain paths, where the vivid, ever-changing lights from the north were clearly visible despite the mountain terrain.
Upon his return to Cornwall, he found the town engulfed in a tense and oppressive ambiance. Inside the royal palace, officials bustled about, consumed by their tasks.
Merlin, Morgan, and other court magi had already hastened to join the front lines with the army. Their presence was crucial, as without their help, the defense could not withstand the overwhelming power of the White Dragon's Holy Lance.
The officials bustling within the royal palace were not part of the military command, but instead belonged to logistical departments. Bedivere and Agravain were particularly notable; one managed the stability of the kingdom's operations while the other handled military equipment and supplies.
At the heart of it all, the most busiest person was unquestionably Guinevere, who supervised and coordinated every aspect of the city.
So, upon seeing Shirou's return, she felt relieved and was ready to hand over her duties. However, he insisted that she continue overseeing everything.
Shirou then quickly tended to Arcueid, who was unconscious, by carefully placing her on the bed and covering her with blankets. After making sure she was comfortable, he donned his armor and prepared to rush to the front lines.
Before he left, he solemnly handed the reins of the kingdom to Guinevere, climbed onto his trusty Dun Stallion and headed for the battlefield.
Watching him ride away, Guinevere was filled with mixed feelings, not really knowing how to process the situation. Although she didn't voice her agreement, she also didn't refuse. She walked back to her desk and returned to her duties.
The swirl of emotions inside her was hard to explain. She had always concealed her unique abilities, worried about being seen as different, and so she had always stayed in the background.
But now, the king had coaxed her out of hiding with his swords and whips and given her the freedom to use her unique talents.
Although the king had given her the freedom to use her abilities as she pleased, this was not what she really wanted. She had never considered using her talents before.
In some ways, the king could be seen as a cruel oppressor. He provided his subjects with the opportunity to freely express and exhibit their talents in a vast and open world, but at the same time, he was selfish and unkind in dismantling the familiar way of life of others.
The king was a riddle wrapped in mystery. One of his choices that particularly baffled Guinevere was his journey to the distant Dead Apostles Kingdom, a place teeming with danger, only to come back with a woman who was clearly not human!
For reasons she could not explain, Guinevere sensed a voice in her heart that affirmed this suspicion.
What perplexed her even more was that, despite being nothing more than an unconscious and lifeless shell, simply looking at the woman's face filled her with an inexplicable sense of fear—a strange, almost instinctive dread.
Guinevere pushed down the odd mix of feelings bubbling within her and focused on her duties. The king, with his intense and demanding nature, had placed her into the spotlight and closed off any means of retreat. She was stuck on this path, with no option but to march ahead.
....
Shirou hastened towards the northern battlefront, weaving through an extensive supply chain set up on-the-fly by the people of Cornwall.
With Bedivere overseeing, storerooms were cleared of provisions and gear, even the tools from the alchemy workshops were rounded up to be sent to the frontline.
Seeing Shirou, the people cheered loudly, but he motioned them to keep moving the supplies. Mounted on Dun Stallion, he sped towards the front line.
Even from a distance, Shirou could already pick up the roars of beasts and shouts of men. The constant booms of explosions rang out, paired with distant flashes of white.
In the initial year, he'd set up defenses using the mountains as a natural barrier, marking the boundary between Wales and Cornwall.
During the following months, they faced wave after wave of magical beasts, all the while strengthening this fortification.
The wall was lined with numerous Bounded Fields. While it didn't match the unbreachable defense of Camelot, it was a stronghold far surpassing their original base at Caerleon Castle.
Nevertheless, the wall was insufficient to withstand the relentless barrage of Vortigern's holy lance. To counter the attack, Merlin and Morgan rallied a group of court magi and performed a large-scale defensive ritual, successfully blocking Vortigern's holy lance bombardment.
When Shirou reached the fortress, pandemonium greeted him. He saw an army of over ten thousand elite soldiers, each armed with Gae Bolg. They expertly used their spears to keep at bay any magical beasts daring enough to come close to the walls.
The soldiers were swift to replace any broken spears and resumed their incessant thrusting. From atop the fortress, Shirou gazed down upon the battlefield, where the beasts below roared like an unstoppable tide, charging relentlessly towards the mountains.
The soldiers continued to hold the fortress against the incoming tide. From above, bipedal wyverns swooped towards them, fierce and savage. However, Tristan's three thousand archers, imbued with Clairvoyance by Shirou, drew their powerful bows and shot down the wyverns with remarkable precision.
One by one, the wyverns screeched and plummeted to the ground, where they were trampled to death by the oncoming horde of land magical beasts.
The magi poured their magical energy into the defensive spells on the walls and chanted at a rapid pace. With each incantation, they summoned a small magical cannon to rain down a barrage of shots on the wyverns, effectively shooting them out of the sky.
On the ground, Morgan put to use all the magical reagents she had spent over two years preparing. As a result, she created an army of over 500 stone giants that roamed between the mountains and within the walls, raining down boulders like falling meteors on the invading beasts.
Far in the distance, a series of magical cannons hung high in the enemy ranks, brimming with pure ether and emitting hot white light like towering pillars that tore through the sky.
Without delay, Merlin began to chant, deftly combining the defensive spells on the ramparts. In a dazzling display, sections of the wall lit up like a fairyland, blocking every one of the incoming cannon shots.
To sustain the ramparts and perform large-scale ritual magecraft, logistics troops brought magical furnaces from the alchemy workshop that produced magical energy. Unfortunately, the enemy's attacks were unrelenting, and the magical energy generated by the furnaces couldn't keep pace with the consumption. The high and low frequency of energy also caused the furnaces to wear down quickly, reducing their durability. If the furnaces overheated, they had to be swiftly replaced and undergo cooling and maintenance.
The war had already become a battle of attrition, and it was clear to everyone.
Shirou stood at the highest point, making himself visible to all. This raised the morale of the soldiers, and one by one, they became more inspired, working even harder.
...
Vortigern, perched on his steed, eyed Shirou on the fortress walls with an intense glare. "Is that King Arthur?"
"Yes, my king. According to our intelligence, it is indeed him," Meksis replied.
Burning with anger at the sight of Shirou on the walls, Vortigern lifted his lance, Rhongomyniad, unleashing a searing white beam directly at him. The sheer power of the beam warped the space surrounding it, creating an echoing boom akin to artillery fire.
Shirou stayed unfazed. With a slight motion of his hand, he projected twelve Caliburns that converged together, meeting Vortigern's beam head-on.
"Boom!"
The thunderous clash of the two forces resonated throughout the battlefield. Given Vortigern's prior conquests over nearly half of Britain, his beam held immense power, almost overwhelming Shirou's counter-attack.
However, Shirou had something up his sleeve. The magical furnace beneath him surged, pouring out vast amounts of mana. This energy sparked the defensive spells lying dormant under him. Together, they formed a barrier strong enough to block the searing blast and protect him.
Although the ramparts shook for a moment due to the impact, Shirou remained unscathed.
...
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