The Crimson Bulwark

The surroundings were quiet.

The phrase the calm before the storm must exist for moments like this.

A horde of over ten thousand monsters and at least five demons were closing in on Visconti Castle.

We had three days.

No, since midnight had already passed, it was two days.

Staring at the snow-covered mountains, I reached out my hand.

My fingers brushed against the black pipe that materialized soundlessly in the empty air.

Grasping it, I aimed it toward the void.

I should have practiced more before coming here.

I had rushed them out of ignorance, but why do I always act in a hurry and make situations worse?

The words I had said to Kallios came back to me.

‘I think I will be a decent king.’

At the time, I truly believed it.

I harbored no great greed for wealth or power, and having been born and raised in modern Korea, the medieval way of dividing people by class felt alien to me.

I understood the necessity of education and welfare, and I felt confident I could implement them.

I had Kallios as a reliable backer, and I had the manpower to turn my vague ideas into reality.

Thus, I believed I could govern well, just like the countless fantasy novel protagonists who transmigrated from the modern world to another universe.

If this situation had not befallen us, perhaps I would have.

As I drew the string, a glowing red arrow materialized.

Right now, I could shoot fifty of these arrows, no, maybe seventy if I pushed myself to the absolute limit.

If each arrow killed two monsters, that would be one hundred and forty.

Instead of releasing the arrow I had formed, I simply let it disperse into nothingness.

I had been terrified to the point of losing my mind when listening to the grim report, but now that I was alone, I felt an uncanny sense of calm.

‘I should have just pretended to give in and stayed behind when they told me not to go.’

I drew the string once more.

Well, whatever.

Regretting once at the moment of death is more than enough.

Though I probably will not even have the luxury of time to regret when facing my second death.

How will I die this time?

Will I be torn to shreds and turned into monster feed?

Will I be trampled into a pulp?

If we are lucky, maybe we can hold off the monster wave.

I shot a fire arrow high into the sky.

The sound of the arrow slicing through the air briefly tore the silence, but a stillness as deep as despair instantly stitched the tear back together.

The Knight Commander had declared he would stay and fight until the end.

Sigret had done nothing but stare at the map and let out heavy sighs, failing to offer a single decent opinion.

Viscount Visconti and the other knights had advised retreat.

They argued it would be better to abandon Visconti Castle and merge with the Imperial Army stationed in the Ipsent territory.

“Your Highness.”

I did not answer and drew the string again.

Something soft was draped over my shoulders.

‘Had he inherited even these duties from Isaac?’

Sir Jager stepped back after adjusting the blanket around me.

“The weather is cold.”

“Because it is winter.”

Watching the fire arrow pierce the void, I let go of the pipe.

“It is too late to leave.”

“Yes.”

I clasped my hands, which were frozen stiff from the winter wind.

It was too late to merge with the forces in the Ipsent territory.

If we abandoned the castle and ventured outside now, we would just be hunted down like game in a corral.

It was far better to hide behind the castle walls and endure.

If luck was on our side, the reinforcements that cleared the Ipsent territory would arrive in time.

“Should I have sent out scouts?”

I had given up on scouting.

I judged that rather than wasting Sword Expert knights just to know exactly when the monster horde would arrive, it was better to let them get plenty of rest to prepare for the impending battle.

But I could not bring myself to trust my own judgment.

I always botched things during crucial decisions.

Something hot surged up from deep within my chest.

The corners of my eyes grew warm.

I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them.

“No. You made the right call.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Sir Jager laid out the rationale behind my decision in a gentle tone.

If we were not planning to abandon the castle and move, there was no need to monitor the monster horde’s movements in real time.

Furthermore, sending men out did not guarantee confirmation.

The knights who returned this time were let go by the demons; they did not survive on their own strength.

When I took a step back from the window, Sir Jager closed the wide-open frame.

“It is late.”

“Yeah.”

“Shall I order water to be prepared to warm your body?”

A bath with a horde of monsters right under our noses.

It was incredibly extravagant and utterly ridiculous.

Sir Jager immediately called for someone.

I enjoyed my final bath instead of a final supper, laughing absurdly to myself.

The bath salts brought from the Empire smelled unnecessarily good.

If we failed to stop the monster wave at this castle, I would probably go down in history as a foolish, extravagant king.

The monster horde was visible in the distance.

A sinister energy rippled from the creatures that completely blackened the once-pure white snow mountains.

Inside the castle, everyone was busily preparing to defend against the ten thousand monsters.

I observed the busy movements of the people and the residents praying as they looked up at me on the rampart, before letting out a sigh.

A breath as thick as my long sigh clouded my vision before scattering into the wind.

The metal armor crafted for a king was lightweight, but it was far from comfortable.

The clanking sound it made every time I bent or straightened my joints was annoying, and the restricted movement bothered me.

Still, I could shoot my bow, so that was enough.

After handing the telescope to Sir Jager, I conjured the pipe and gripped it.

“They have stopped over there, right?”

Sigret was the one who answered.

“Yes. They are not moving.”

“Why?”

“Is it not to strike fear into us?”

“I suppose…”

“Yes. I heard that the demon race feeds on human terror.”

Sigret had gone through a lot of trouble to gather information on the demon race.

From the day he learned of their existence, he had minimized his eating and sleeping to scavenge through every single book in Visconti Castle.

Ah.

Viscount Visconti had been a massive help.

He possessed the utterly noble and aristocratic hobby of collecting ancient texts.

Two thousand regular soldiers, one hundred and seventy Sword Expert-level knights, and ten 5th-class mages.

If the demon race was not involved, a force fully capable of holding off ten thousand monsters had been assembled at Visconti.

Food supplies were also plenty.

If we focused strictly on a siege while minimizing troop depletion, thereby successfully defending these walls, we could hold out for a month.

I desperately tried to focus on hopeful thoughts.

We only needed to hold out for a month, no, just three weeks.

Then Kallios and Isaac would arrive.

F*ck.

Could we last until then?

The demons I had caught a fleeting glimpse of in Arjen’s dream were horrifying.

They slaughtered humans while using monsters like mere tools.

They acted as if brutally murdering humans was the greatest pleasure in existence.

“Sir Jager.”

“Yes.”

“Sigret.”

I called out to the two of them while staring down the monster horde.

“Do you regret it?”

A dry chuckle brushed past.

It belonged to Sir Jager.

I turned my head toward him.

Sir Jager looked quite dashing in his full armor.

His well-polished silver armor gleamed as it caught the sunlight.

“Not at all.”

“Ah… I do, a little.”

Standing right next to him, Sigret scratched his cheek.

I looked into Sigret’s hollow eyes, which were exhausted from fatigue.

“To think I came all the way here just to face piles of books again, it is no different from when I was at the Academy.”

Sigret smiled as he looked toward the monster horde.

“Still, I quite like this situation. Your Highness, I happen to be a rather capable mage as well.”

I could not tell if he meant it or if he was just saying it to soothe my anxiety.

Regardless, it felt as though a weight had been lifted from my chest.

I clenched and uncenched my fists.

The gauntlets were thick, making it difficult to fully bend my fingers.

Around the time the sky bled into a deep crimson, the encamped monster horde began to move.

The moment I received the report, I dismissed the meeting that had been filled with nothing but silence.

In contrast to the gloomy atmosphere, the footsteps exiting the council room were swift and urgent.

I hurried toward the ramparts along with the crowd that was emptying out like an ebbing tide.

Excluding a portion left behind to maintain internal public order, the entire military force was on standby atop the walls.

Every single face was dead serious.

Some even looked paralyzed with fear.

“Would you like to say a few words?”

The Knight Commander approached me with a solemn expression and asked.

It was phrased as a question, but it was an exhortation and a proposal.

It seemed he believed the dragon’s blessing was vital to pull their rock-bottom morale out of the dirt.

Without giving an answer, I climbed to the highest point of the rampart.

The winter sun set rapidly, and the monsters drew closer at a slow pace.

A grotesque laughter and the distinct, fishy stench of monsters began to ride the wind.

I extended my left hand to the side.

Arjen’s bow manifested and settled into my grip.

It was nothing more than an ungraceful, pitch-black pipe, but neither the distant monsters nor the soldiers waiting below would care about the shape of the bow.

I raised the bow, gauging the distance to the monsters.

Starting from my left hand holding the bow, a bright red flame erupted with a fwoosh.

It was a cheap trick that Arjen would have scolded me for, claiming I was wasting my strength for no reason.

However, it would look entirely different to people who did not know the inside story.

A commotion instantly rippled through the ranks.

Capre, the dragon’s blessing, His Highness the Grand King, Kaian…

Ignoring the fragmented words drifting up to my ears, I pulled back the string.

Two massive flame arrows formed in my right hand.

“The blessing of the Dragon God is with us!”

Sir Jager roared at the top of his lungs.

Waaaaaa!

The soldiers raised their weapons above their heads, waving them as they erupted into a thunderous cheer.

I focused all my attention, glaring at the monster horde.

I could feel power draining away in massive chunks from around my chest, near my heart.

In the air, two flame arrows became four, then eight.

I gritted my teeth.

Eighteen arrows.

It felt as though a claw was violently gouging out my insides.

Biting my tongue, I suppressed the rising urge to vomit.

I could not afford to ruin my stance before I could even shoot the arrows I had worked so hard to create.

Holding my breath, I glared ahead.

I released the fully drawn string.

The two arrows notched on the string flew out in a parabolic arc.

Right after, the eighteen floating arrows followed in their wake.

While the red arrows sliced through the empty air, everyone gathered on the ramparts fell into a unified, breathless silence.

Kabooom!

The moment the deafening explosion erupted, cheers broke out as if a victory had already been declared.

Forcing my trembling body to stand tall and dignified, I stared at the spot where the flame arrows had struck.

In place of the sunken twilight, the dragon’s fire rippled across the snowy plains.

Like a massive defensive wall.

“Long live His Highness the Grand King!”

At someone’s lead, the soldiers chanted back.

“Long live His Highness the Grand King!”

“Victory is ours!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Vitality surged back into the ramparts that had previously resembled a funeral home.

I lowered the bow I had been aiming.

‘This will not be enough.’

Whether they shared the exact same thought as me, the expressions of Sir Jager and the Knight Commander remained dark.

I gnawed on my lower lip with my front teeth as I watched the black shadows charging through the flame barrier without a shred of hesitation.

We had temporarily halted the advance of the monster horde, but stopping the demon race with this was impossible.

Well, I never expected to block everything in the first place.

Forcing myself to shoot eighteen arrows was purely to drag up their morale that had plummeted to the floor.

The Knight Commander dropped to his knees before me.

“I will go.”

The only ones capable of blocking a demon were Sword Masters.

And the only Sword Master present in this castle was the Knight Commander, a single man.

Glaring tank the rapidly approaching shadows, I replied firmly.

“No.”

If it were a single demon targeting this castle, I would have told him to go.

However, there were five confirmed enemies.

Ultimately, the Knight Commander would end up standing face-to-face with a demon just as he desired, but now was not the time.

Since we had resolved to endure, preserving our combat power took top priority.

I raised the bow I had lowered once more.

This time, without playing any cheap tricks, I concentrated entirely on a single arrow.

Inhaling deeply to suppress the trembling, I held it in and counted down.

Three, two, one.

At that exact moment, my eyes locked with a demon’s.