I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 348: The Battlefield Meat Grinder

Frontier towns like Grayrock Town, despite having not seen war for a long time, still maintained complete urban defense planning.On the street leading to the underground vault entrance, the crowd was moving slowly and tensely, while clerks from the town hall and conscripted militiamen were loudly maintaining order.

"Keep moving forward! Don't stop!"

"Elderly and children have priority to enter the inner area!"

A heavy, oppressive atmosphere filled the air.

People carried simple bundles, their faces etched with confusion and fear.

Children tightly gripped their parents' hands, their wide eyes taking in the solemn, panicked streets, so different from the festive atmosphere of the recent celebration.

It had only been a few days since that joyous celebration ended.

The crowd slowly moved along the entrance towards the vault, like walking into the throat of a giant beast.

"Father, Mother, Sophia, you should go in first."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me. You all hurry inside."

Gauss and the others were also saying their goodbyes by the street.

This vault had been reinforced with magic, making it much safer to stay inside than in the houses above ground.

After all, swords and arrows were blind, let alone those giant catapults and other unexpected attacks. Staying above ground carried the constant risk of being wiped out.

Even after entering the underground, Gauss's family and friends would have dedicated soldiers guarding them.

When necessary, whether for evacuation or other arrangements, they would be among the highest priority.

Gauss's family sighed, understanding the urgency and the importance of the situation. The pressing circumstances didn't allow for wasting time here. After urging him and his teammates to be careful, they headed towards the vault entrance.

Gauss patted his reluctant little sister Xisero on the head and adjusted her hat properly.

He then watched as his family, escorted by soldiers, descended into the vault.

Besides the soldiers guarding them, he had also left several clay constructs in the vault to protect his family's safety. Of course, these measures had been communicated in advance to the soldiers guarding the place to avoid causing panic or chaos later.

After seeing off his family, the surface of Grayrock Town now presented a scene of solemn readiness.

Besides adventurers on the streets, there were patrol soldiers and logistics personnel making and transporting strategic supplies.

Laborers from the transport teams shouted rhythmic chants as they hoisted bundles of arrows, large boulders for throwing, scalding hot reserve oil jars, and some kind of turbid liquid up to the city walls via winches and manpower.

Soldiers were visible everywhere along the city wall edges. Some had just woken from sleep, scooping up cold water from jars to splash on their faces, trying to regain full alertness as quickly as possible.

This was no time for carelessness.

Because this night would be very long. A moment of inattention could cost them their lives.

Compared to the veterans brought by Sir Belock, the quality of Grayrock Town's city guard and militia seemed considerably lower.

Many of the newly recruited young soldiers looked uneasy, repeatedly adjusting their ill-fitting, simple armor.

A young man who looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, after finishing a prayer, was trembling as his fingers fumbled with the spear he held.

"Hey, rookie, hold that spear steady. Don't end up stabbing your own foot."

A scar-faced veteran deliberately walked over and patted his shoulder with a firm but not heavy touch.

"Yes, yes!"

The young soldier jumped, then blushed, trying to straighten his back.

"Remember, follow your captain, don't charge around recklessly."

The veteran finished, took a swig of diluted strong liquor from his leather flask, exhaled sharply, and walked away.

Scenes like this were happening frequently around the city walls.

Many young people who had originally been full of confidence, thinking they could distinguish themselves in this battle, were now suddenly feeling timid at this moment.

Amidst the bustling crowds, they felt their own insignificance and powerlessness for the first time. They could only follow the commands of their captains and superior officers in confusion, arriving at their assigned areas to make pre-battle preparations.

Gauss and his few companions moved through the flow of people.

Every soldier who saw them approaching would instinctively give way a little.

Gauss looked at the faces filled with confusion and slight unease. He didn't feel much nervousness himself, but his mood quietly grew much heavier.

He knew that regardless of how many kills he could bring in the battle about to erupt tonight, and regardless of whether this battle was won or lost, many of these young people before him would not live to see tomorrow's sun.

And yet, many of them were placing their hopes on him at this moment.

He slightly quickened his pace, passed through the military camp, and then climbed onto the city wall.

The sky was gradually darkening now. In the dimming twilight, a dark, dense sea of monsters was visible in the distance outside the town.

They had stopped just outside the range of the catapults and arrows, setting up camp.

Looking up at the sky, large swathes of dark clouds had gathered overhead at some point.

Looking at the monster army, Gauss felt a heavy, oppressive pressure.

In his vision, it seemed as if a cloud shaped like a vicious dragon was swirling and coiling above the monster legion, making everyone who looked at it feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Is this... military might?"

Gauss frowned slightly.

An army of just over ten thousand monsters gathered together was enough to form this kind of momentum that could alter the weather. What about a hundred thousand, a million, or even more?

He suddenly understood a little why books said that even the most powerful individuals sometimes were unwilling to charge alone into a large-scale army.

Even if every soldier in the army was like an ant to him, when these "ants" gathered together, they could form an immensely powerful force.

Thankfully.

He secretly felt relieved in his heart.

Fortunately, he hadn't impulsively launched a sneak attack back in the forest when he first discovered the valley army.

The army here now was only a part of the valley forces, yet it already possessed this soul-shaking oppressive feeling. If he had acted impulsively back then, the outcome would certainly not have been good.

He looked at the numerous soldiers and various bolt cannons, rolling logs, and foundation stones stationed around him. The oppressive might emanating from the monster legion suddenly lightened, as if dispersed by the momentum of the human army.

This collective momentum of gathering sand into a tower was not the exclusive privilege of monsters. Humans could also form a combined force to resist it.

Moreover, as the defending side, the city walls they stood upon, their equipment, and various defensive facilities seemed to invisibly strengthen their own side's momentum.

Invisibly, the two opposing forces were like two giant beasts confronting each other across the distance, creating the scene of sudden changes in the sky and clouds.

Everyone present knew the war was about to begin.

Time passed quietly.

Night gradually deepened.

Bonfires and torches were lit on the city walls.

Soldiers took their positions at the battlements, ready for battle.

High-end combatants like Gauss were assigned to various sections of the city wall.

Sir Belock held the central section, not only facing the enemy head-on but also responsible for commanding the surrounding troops.

Gauss stood atop a city wall watchtower, his gaze firmly locked onto those few giant beasts flying in the sky.

They were several wyverns.

The air grew increasingly stagnant.

"Creak—creak—creak—"

Gauss suddenly noticed the catapults within the monster legion beginning to move.

Accompanying their movement were the beast-drawn carts and infantry phalanxes pulling them forward from below.

"Boom!"

"Woooo—!!!!"

Almost simultaneously, both sides sounded their war horns.

The oppressive calm that had been maintained was shattered.

The monster phalanxes were gradually approaching.

Gauss stood at the high point of the watchtower, yet made no move.

Now was not a good time for him to act.

This was what he was told, both by Sir Belock and Eberhard's guidance, and by his own subconscious intuition.

If he were to actively fly away from the city wall now, approach the monster legion, and use Fireball to destroy the catapults, even if he could achieve some results, his own safety would likely be in grave danger.

Because the monster legion's momentum was at its peak right now. If he left the city wall and entered alone, it would be like a provocation. He would instantly become the focus of that collective momentum, and the defensive forces behind him would be unable to support him.

He had to wait for the battle to officially begin.

When the energies of both sides became chaotic with the start of the fighting, that would be the perfect opportunity for him to make his move.

Wait...

He patiently rubbed the stone bricks beneath him.

The first to act were the fixed catapults on the city walls.

"Whoosh—!!!"

A dull, thunderous roar tore through the stagnant night sky.

The long throwing arms mounted behind the city walls suddenly swung up with a thunderous roar, hurling several millstone-sized rocks into the darkness.

The stones traced blurred parabolic arcs through the air, carrying the whistle of death as they heavily smashed into that seething dark sea.

"Crash!!"

The boulders crashed to the ground like meteors.

The monsters below were instantly crushed into pulp. Carrying powerful kinetic energy, the stones bounced and rolled, crushing many more monsters.

This seemed to be a signal, completely igniting the fuse of war.

Almost the second after the defenders' catapults fired, the giant catapults in the rear of the monster camp, constructed from thick logs and beast-hide ropes, began their response.

"Enemy catapults! Seek cover! Raise shields!!!"

Amidst the commanders' hoarse shouts, soldiers quickly took cover behind the city wall defenses.

"Boom!"

A boulder struck the city wall, instantly blasting a small breach in the jagged battlements.

Some of the thrown stones and debris rained down like cannonballs.

They smashed onto the large shields held high by the soldiers.

The heavy impact instantly disrupted the previously orderly shield formation. Some unlucky soldiers were pierced by the stone fragments, blood gushing from their wounds.

"I'm injured!!"

"Help me! I'm going to die!"

Panicked cries rose from the crowd.

...

On Gauss's section of the wall, he had almost instantly locked onto that boulder trailing sparks of fire.

A blue-golden celestial bow quietly appeared in his hand.

As his right hand touched the flowing water bowstring, a deep blue arrow shimmering with intense magical power appeared between his fingers.

"Control Water!"

He instantly poured a large amount of mana into the arrow.

The mana released a brilliant light, instantly illuminating his surroundings as bright as day.

Gauss drew the bowstring to its full extent and released.

That powerful mana arrow shot through the night sky like lightning, then accurately struck the boulder rapidly descending ahead.

"Fizz!"

The point of contact where the arrow hit the boulder instantly collapsed. Countless blue threads appeared on the boulder's surface.

In the next moment, they formed a water-like net that further blocked and reduced the kinetic energy of the violently shattering debris.

In the end, this boulder, which could have hit a crowded area on the wall, was shot down halfway through its flight.

A surge of blue energy flew back to Gauss after striking down the boulder.

Below Gauss, the soldiers who noticed this scene erupted in cheers.

After several rounds of mutual catapult fire, both sides had achieved certain results.

The previously orderly city wall had become chaotic.

People continuously carried severely injured or dead comrades on stretchers down to the military medical camp below the wall.

Boulders embedded in the city walls blocked the normal movement of supplies and soldiers.

As for the monster legion, they also suffered casualties from the catapults, and more severely so.

Monsters were crushed into bloody pulp by the boulders. They had no city walls for defense, exposed nakedly on the plain.

However, they now wore expressions of fearless death. Looking closely, a kind of blood-boiling drumbeat was being played at the rear of the army.

Gauss temporarily set down his longbow. The several water arrows he had just shot had destroyed several giant projectiles that should have hit the nearby wall sections.

The first wave of catapult attacks from both sides had subsided.

After the calm, the soldiers below Gauss couldn't help but raise their heads to look at the figure floating in the sky. For a moment, they felt a sense of security.

Everyone present knew it was because of the existence of that figure in the sky that they had temporarily avoided harm.

However...

The real war was just beginning.

Under the cover of the catapults, the monster legion had already approached the city walls.

Captains and centurions began commanding the surrounding soldiers to shoot arrows.

"Loose!!"

"Loose!"

Following the orderly commands, archers stepped forward in turns to shoot.

Arrows traced parabolic arcs before finally falling into the monster legion.

Some arrows fell to the ground, while others were lucky enough to pierce a monster's arm, abdomen, or even critical spots like the neck or eyes.

The monsters also raised their shields. The front ranks held large shields to block arrows from the front, while those behind raised wooden shields over their heads.

"Clang clang clang!"

Arrows fell like rain.

The monsters also drew their bows to return fire. For a moment, parabolic arrow rain seemed to fill the entire field of vision.

Both humans and monsters began to suffer frequent casualties.

The entire battlefield started up like a meat grinder!

"A little longer..."

Gauss's gaze intently examined the monster army before him.

He felt that momentum swelling with the outbreak of war, becoming stronger yet also more dispersed and chaotic.

Moreover, he also needed to wait for the monsters to get as close into range as possible.

Finally, the two forces of momentum from the human army and the monster legion clashed and entangled with each other, leaving no room to pay attention to anything else.

After patiently waiting a moment longer, Gauss knew he could begin to act.

"Fireball!"

He raised his staff high.

A brilliant light then lit up in the night sky.

Just as the monsters before him had approached the city wall.

A terrifying fireball descended upon the monster army.

"Boom!"

The Fireball instantly released terrifying light and heat.

The monsters at the explosion's center were almost instantly melted into bloody water.

Those on the outskirts didn't fare much better either.

The Fireball's shockwave slammed into them like a heavy hammer, the powerful force instantly shattering their internal organs.

"Killed Goblin *15"

"Killed Goblin *26"

"Killed Gnoll *27"

...

A dense stream of information flashed before Gauss's eyes.

The Fireball's first appearance on the battlefield had an unexpectedly excellent effect.

However, because of this, he instantly attracted the attention of some powerful beings within the monster camp.

In the sky, the wyverns that had also caught the signal that the battle had truly begun suddenly dove towards his location.

"Watch the sky!"

Below Gauss, Aria, who had just finished using Moonlight Radiance to clear out a patch of monsters, hurriedly reminded him.

Gauss had actually already noticed the movement in the sky.

Even though those wyverns had been trying to conceal their movements, he, who had long been vigilant, had kept a portion of his attention focused overhead.

A glow of Haste appeared on his body. He lightly tapped his toes on the tower and instantly retreated a distance of over ten meters.

"Crash!!!"

The wyvern pounced onto the tower, its sharp claws tearing through the brick and stone structure as if it were tofu.

"Watch out!"

The soldiers below raised their shields to block the falling debris.

The wyvern missed its target. It twisted its long neck, aiming to bite at Gauss who had dodged away.

However, what awaited it was a longbow fully drawn with power.

Gauss's eyes met the wyvern's pupils across the distance.

"Twang!!!"

A blue arrow shot straight into its gaping, ferocious maw!

Green blood gushed out like a fountain.

The long arrow shot into the wyvern's mouth, finally piercing through the middle of its arched neck!