Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World

Promised Path to Defeat (4)

Before the procession of the Kaldris-Mado kingdom detached troops in a forest, there was a sudden explosion.

Boom!

The soldiers on the march looked puzzled.

“… Huh?”

“What?”

It was worth it.

The site of the destruction was more than 50 meters away from the march. It was located so far that they were nothing but mere spectators to it.

Of course, they soon came to their senses.

Being attacked meant the enemy was close.

“Ambush!”

“All units, prepare to defend!”

The knights protected their bodies with their Aura and Force, and the soldiers held up their shields for a defense formation. The Mages raised their staffs to counterattack, and the Spiritists opened defensive barriers.

“Find the enemy’s position!”

More explosions rang out before they could find it.

Boom!

It came from all directions at the same time.

Some exploded 100 meters away, some within 10 meters, just above the head of the parade.

The procession of the detached troops was so long and wide that about half of it was hit.

Nevertheless, there was still no damage.

The power of the explosion wasn’t that strong.

It couldn’t even break tree trunks. Only the branches were bent and set on fire.

Looking at the situation, Garhan tilted his head.

“This is a level 20 blast magic at best.”

Even a cook or administrative soldier was above level 40 in the Three Continental Powers.

It couldn’t even destroy the shields of soldiers, let alone the entire defense.

Genovia also looked confused.

“Are they trying to use fireball magic?”

“No way. This isn’t a battle in the countryside.”

Surely setting the forest on fire could tie the chasing party’s feet.

It would be possible if the chaser watched the fire spread.

A powerful Mage or a Spiritist could put out a lot of forest fires. And that ‘strong’ standard in Latna was roughly around level 50.

None of the magic unit and the spiritual unit of the Three Continental Powers was below level 50.

“Extinguish the fire.”

With just a few Mages waving their staffs lightly, the flames were put under control.

But they couldn’t let their guard down.

There had been constant explosions ever since it began.

Boom!

The commanders’ complexion gradually hardened.

“Where the hell is the enemy?”

Garhan and Genovia had the same question.

“Did he bury magic traps?”

“How could they predict our route? They couldn’t have set a trap all over this place.”

Even if the budget of the Three Continental Powers were fully used, it wouldn’t be enough to do such a crazy thing.

“Let me check for a second.”

Genovia waved her hand in the air.

Something soon appeared on her palm. It was a small metal ball about the size of a child’s fist.

She brought what fell from the sky with Mana.

[Latel’s depth bomb (magic item)

It’s a magic bomb that allows the user to cast a level 22 explosive magic Raw Explosion spell when it touches other objects after invocation.

Restricted use lv.25.]

There was no need to check with the Guidelines.

She looked ridiculous.

“They’re using something from our guild, aren’t they?”

It was a magic bomb made in Sinkers.

“I received a report of a large order, and this was it…”

“Selling weapons to the enemy?”

“It wasn’t even a weapon in the first place. So, of course, I didn’t care.”

It was originally intended for civil engineering, not combat weapons.

Grumbling, Genovia glared across the forest.

“They’re probably throwing this with some catapult.”

Garhan asked back, questioning.

“… In the woods?”

There was no proper projection angle or installation.

“But it’s falling from the top.”

Genovia focused her mind on the sky.

Nothing was detected.

‘No, wait a minute.’

She invoked the far-sight magic, not Mana detection. She sent her vision farther and farther away through that method.

It was only then that something could be seen when the area of the distant view was expanded to nearly a kilometer in the air.

It was a silver-maned Wyvern sprinkling small metal balls all over them.

“There’s the culprit.”

It was so ridiculous that she laughed.

“Oh, my God, were you spraying bombs up there?”

* * *

On the back of Effir, who soared into the skies, Leon Hart and Artis diligently carried magic bombs into the sack.

They put bombs until the sack was full, and both muttered with their hands.

“Raw Explosion.”

“Raw Explosion.”

That activated all the magic bombs in the sack.

And then?

“Spray it!”

They just flipped the sack over and shook it off.

Hundreds of magic bombs were dropped to the ground.

After a long time, countless flames bloomed everywhere in the forest.

Pop pop pop!

Of course, it looked small because they were up high, but it was a pretty huge explosion.

Artis grinned.

“It’s going well.”

Leon Hart replied.

“Their feet are tied up.”

The Archmage’s magic had an overwhelmingly long range. Hence, before Effir got close, she got caught up first.

Due to that, air warfare, which had served them well, had been rendered useless.

No, they thought so.

Ryu Han-bin said something casually back then.

-Why don’t we go up so high and throw a bomb or something? There’s something like a bomb in this world. I saw it when I was working.

That was right.

If they just threw from above, it would have nothing to do with distance or anything. Gravity would drop it on its own.

Nevertheless, Leon Hart initially rejected that offer.

-It isn’t very meaningful. Even a single soldier can stop a bomb.

-Of course, they can stop it. But is it possible to keep marching while blocking it? They’ll still under attack.

Recalling what had happened at that time, Leon Hart was deeply impressed.

“Han-bin sometimes comes up with good ideas.”

The two continued to shake off the sack of bombs.

Hundreds of carpet bombings followed.

Of course, the hit rate was a mess.

They couldn’t aim properly from such a high position. They just dropped the items. It had a margin of error of hundreds of meters.

But it didn’t matter.

The enemy’s ranks were hundreds of meters away.

“Throw it roughly, and don’t worry about where it’ll land.”

“It’s no big deal if we miss it. Explosions alone can be a contraption anyway.”

Pop Pop Pop!

Flames repeatedly bloomed over the ground.

Watching the scene, Effir suddenly muttered.

“I don’t think you two needed to come. Anyone can launch a bomb, right?”

It was a mission that could be undertaken if they exceeded level 25. Wouldn’t it be better for Leon Hart and Artis to be deployed to protect their allies instead?

Artis shook his head.

“We need to prepare just in case. What if the Thunder King or the Archmage comes forward?”

To get away with those two properly, at least two of Han-bin’s companions had to stick with Effir.

“Of course, there’s little chance of that.”

Leon Hart shrugged.

“Unfortunately, they’re not stupid.”

* * *

Boom!

“It exploded again.”

Boom!

“It exploded again.”

Boom!

“… How long do we have to stay like this?”

In the subsequent bombing, the detached troops continued to strengthen their defenses.

They were quite nervous at first, but everyone’s expressions were currently relaxed.

The bombs were so weak. There was just a lot of them.

If they stayed in the defense barrier, they would never get hurt.

“They’re wasting their money for nothing.”

“Wouldn’t it be more effective to spray money than bombs?”

“True. Everyone’s going to be distracted by picking them up.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. We’re out of line picking up a few coins at our level?”

The troops of the Three Continental Powers got a high salary. They were not poor enough to disperse military discipline just because money fell in front of them.

If gold coins were sprayed, their eyes would be distracted, but…

“A bomb is certainly cheaper than a gold coin.”

Unlike the idle soldiers, Garhan’s expression wasn’t good.

“This is a lot more troublesome than I thought.”

If they did well in defense, they would never get hurt.

In other words, if they ignored defense and moved, they would suffer damage.

“Isn’t our ankle being held down?”

Clicking his tongue, he looked back at Genovia and asked, “This magic bomb, how many did you sell?”

Genovia smiled awkwardly.

“About five tons?”

“…”

Garhan continued, holding back the swearing for a moment.

“No, but they can’t pour it all out.”

Even if it were the Pitch-Black Nightmare, there would be a limit to the load she could carry as long as she was a Wyvern.

She couldn’t fly with all five tons of bombs.

“Even if she carried as much as she could, it would only be about 400 kilograms. This bombing shouldn’t last very long.”

Genovia looked even more when she saw Garhan making rational reasoning.

“Oh, well, I don’t think so…”

“How come?”

With a wry smile, she shrugged.

“We sold compressed pockets, too. That way, it’s easier to deliver.”

Eventually, abusive language broke out.

“Hey, you XXXX!”

* * *

He realized they couldn’t wait for his opponent’s bomb to dry up.

“We can’t just stay here.”

Garhan got off the Golem Steed, then triggered the way of the thunder and lightning.

In an instant, Garhan flew more than 300 meters.

Artis shouted, freaking out.

“Here comes the Thunder King.”

Walking on the sack of bombs, and Leon Hart and Artis quickly clipped onto Effir’s back.

She began to speed up.

“We run!”

There was no chase.

After driving Effir away from the sky, Garhan returned to the ground.

He grumbled, bringing the way of thunder and lightning back.

“It’s just a temporary fix. When we start marching, they’ll show up again.”

“We can’t keep doing this.”

Genovia clicked her tongue.

“I can’t get caught knowing it’s a handout.”

She wasn’t nervous. It was well-founded.

Their method itself was evidence.

“That trick is useless in combat.”

The power of the bomb itself was by no means strong.

Bombing the enemy’s main camp in the Battle of the Siege would not scratch anything.

But it was useless in a war in the field because of the mix of enemies and allies.

“Isn’t that the only trick they can use to stop enemy pursuit in the event of a retreat?”

It meant that they had set up a retreat in advance and had prepared this trick.

“In the first place, Poltaron was meant to be abandoned.”

* * *

At the same time, Artis looked sorry on Effir’s back.

“They aren’t following us again. Why are they so timid with the title of ‘best’?”

“They are not timid but prudent. It’s a pity.”

Responding, Leon Hart erased a second inducement from his head.

“Failed again this time.”

Now, he had no choice but to be satisfied with tying the chasing party’s feet.

“I have to settle at Fieldrocks.”