Gacha Kingdom Building

-This Chapter is written using Anna's POV-

The fourth day of the siege.

After taking a break from any movements yesterday, Terith's army finally chose to attack.

Their tactic was similar to what I discussed with the girls, but we failed to predict that more reinforcements would join their side for the siege.

This was a problem for sure, but given how small and unimportant this castle was, it proved we had caused them a lot of trouble with our unexpected resistance.

Unfortunately for them, we had yet to give our all.

There wasn't much we could do to counter the tactic they had shown us, but Bea thought of a way to make it less effective.

First, she used up all of her mana to reinforce the barrier one last time.

Then, with a mana-recovering potion in her left hand and the staff in the right, magic circles started forming around her.

Dozens of spells targetting the barrier protecting the castle were met by their perfect counter element thanks to our witch's effort as she drank the potions and shot her spells.

Alone, she was worth a hundred mages.

It was truly mesmerizing.

Even their court magician must have been in disbelief once he discovered that Bea could easily stop his powerful spells with simple magic by cutting off the portion of the ground from where the roots were emerging.

With a circular motion of her staff, she sent the section of the ground she had cut off flying by pushing it with a pillar.

Roots and soldiers alike... Back to where they came from.

And now, a giant hole had appeared.

Their mages acted quickly to cover it, but it distracted them enough to weaken the frequency of their spells.

For a second, it almost looked like Bea would single-handedly gain the upper hand against their entire army...

Anna: "...Wouldn't it be easier to use fire magic?"

Bea: "The other mages tried it yesterday. No effect."

Anna: "I see... Be careful with the potions, alright?"

Bea: "Don't worry. I know my limits."

If those are the words of the witch, who am I to doubt them?

I just wished she was a little more mindful of Miwen's orders since he clearly stated he didn't want us to kill more than necessary in this battle...

Well... There was a good chance she either forgot about it or stopped caring altogether since she was confident she could have Miwen make an exception here and there for her.

Whatever the case, I decided to stay quiet about it since she was doing an extraordinary job.

And also... Someone else was pushing the boundaries way more than Bea.

Anna: "You're not killing them... Right, Ellie?"

Ellie: "...No? They are just sleeping."

Anna: "Uh-huh... Good job."

Cute and deadly...

It amazes me how effective Ellie can be using her Gift.

Every arrow fired was precise. It would never scratch less than three soldiers at once even though she was firing from the walls above them.

Normally, this wouldn't have been a reason for an archer to commemorate, but even such light wounds were enough to trigger her Gift, making the men fall immediately and mysteriously.

The few who might have died from the impact of landing on the ground, or the bad luck of having the earth fall on them from Bea's magic were negligible and excusable, but...

I couldn't help but be worried when I saw more men bringing others out of the battlefield than marching forward.

At that point, all I could do was trust she was honest about not having killed them.

Ellie: "I did leave them with a surprise though..."

Anna: "A surprise?"

Ellie: "Yeah. Same as last time. The Berserk debuff. Once they are healed from the sleep debuff, they should cause a lot of trouble for their backlines."

That was... Completely devious...

In just a few days, my opinion of how unfit Miwen's first choice of weapon for Ellie was had completely changed.

Despite her outward appearance, the dark and scary bow was the perfect match for this frightening little monster...

Bea and Ellie's efforts were impressive, but...

Unfortunately, they couldn't make up for the sheer difference in our numbers.

It took Terith a while, and some of their best men, but eventually, they achieved their objective.

Their magic and projectiles cracked our barrier, allowing their men to break through the magic barrier and forcing us to meet them at the castle's gate.

Reinforced as it was, it stood no chance from their combined and coordinated attack.

We could only hope that the archers, mages, and the rest of the men still stationed at the walls could prevent them from climbing or creating holes in other parts of the wall while we faced the brunt of their forces.

Immediately, I saw dozens of soldiers standing in front of me.

Unlike the last time, not all of them were pushovers.

I still chose to use the blunt side of my sword, but it was a matter of time before I was forced to switch it to the sharp edge given the increasingly average strength of the men I faced.

Even though I stood at the front of our formation, I couldn't see the faces of the men we were fighting past their third line due to how narrow the corridor leading from the gate to the castle's open area was.

In the back of my head, I thought that this was a shame.

I feared I might have defeated Prince Edmond without even having the chance to enjoy seeing him scared for his life.@@novelbin@@

Thanks to Angelica's help, I never suffered from tiredness.

No matter how many tens of soldiers I had dealt with personally, I was always up for more.

To the point that the incoming waves became less frequent as the soldiers couldn't afford to step on the bodies of their fallen comrades anymore and had to start climbing.

Once that wasn't possible either due to the wall of defeated men that had been formed, they started having to pull them back while suffering from the support fire from our walls.

I almost believed we were actually going to be able to defeat them right there and then, but...

Victory didn't come as easy as I wished it to be when Prince Edmond showed his face amongst the next wave.

Edmond: "...I should have known it was one of his."

Anna: "Oh... Finally!"

I had done it countless times before.

A swing of my sword had been enough to defeat multiple men, the ones who miraculously had any strength to stand were quickly thrown out of the corridor by Angelica's surprisingly immense strength or the other soldiers' quick reactions.

There had been one or two who had stopped my sword for a moment before as well.

However... I knew Prince Edmond didn't have the strength to do the same.

I knew it, and yet...

Edmond: "Do you have no shame? No sense of justice? You are fighting for a woman who awakened and called forth the Dragon Of The North and a man who kidnapped the Saint! How blind can you be!? For God's sake!"

I could believe he had enough strength to stop me since I had purposefully gone easier on him to enjoy a few more hits...

I figured it was just a small mistake. That I miscalculated his power...

But as I increased my strength to the level it had when I knocked down the other soldiers and knights, I felt his increase even past that.

I couldn't react in time...

The sword in his hands was engulfed in flames, and suddenly, I felt... Overpowered.

I was sent flying through the corridor, breaking a part of it before eventually landing on the castle's open area.

My head was dizzy... I felt like something had broken, but I stood up when I heard Angelica's voice desperately calling for me.

Suddenly, men started pouring out of the corridor.

I rushed to stop them, but Angelica threw me on the ground.

It was the second time today someone had won a contest of strength over me, but it was way more understandable given Angie's dragon physique.

Her body could exert much more strength than a human's would at the same level...

I learned not to underestimate this difference after being unable to shrug her off after three consecutive nights.

As infuriated as I was for her having stopped me, that emotion quickly went away once I understood her reason.

A sea of flames had been fired in our direction.

When Angelica threw me to the ground, she quickly transformed into her dragon form to protect me from them.

Since her strength is similar to mine due to her body, so was her defense...

But even with that accounted for, it took almost all of her strength not to fall before me.

Anna: "Angie!? Are you alright!?"

Angie: "Y-Yeah... This is... Nothing."

It was problematic that she had shown her dragon form in front of everyone like that, but beyond that...

Nothing my ass.

When she turned back, her back was scorched and her eyes were filled with tears.

I saw the light of her halo shining more than ever, and she was spending a lot of mana to heal herself even while the attack was happening.

Anna: "Why did you do that? That's not what we agreed on!"

Yesterday, Miwen passed by the castle on his way to Terith.

I explained the situation to him and said I was unsure of what to do and whether or not we would be capable of accomplishing his goal.

Even when I questioned why he put me in charge, he said that there was no one else better suited for it.

He left with a smile as if he had left me with some bullshit deep knowledge when he didn't actually help at all!

I thought he underestimated the situation a little too much, so I decided to do what I could.

The girls were the only thing he left me with, so I decided to rely on them.

I explained that I was convinced the barrier would break, and that I was unsure of my ability to guard them and this place.

I asked them for help...

We had no strategy or tricks to pull. Our best ideas weren't enough to turn the tide.

But I felt confident when they promised me they would support my plan.

It was simple... Everyone was going to perform a single task that played to their strengths.

If it looked like they wouldn't be able to... If it got too dangerous...

They were to flee to the Kingdom.

Miwen fully agreed with this, so I thought they would have respected it, but...

Instead of running when I was thrown out of the corridor, Angelica came to my rescue to protect me from the incoming attack...

Angelica: "Natural fire resistance... Auto-Healing..."

But even then!

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Anna: "Go to the Kingdom."

Angelica: "You're going to fight..."

Anna: "I got a score to settle."

Angelica: "Then I'm staying."

Anna: "It will be dangerous!"

Bea: "...Stupid."

...Huh?

Anna: "What are you..."

Bea: "Always first to jump into the action, protecting everyone behind you... Didn't the idea that we might want to do the same pass through that thick skull of yours?"

...

Anna: "It's my job to-"

Ellie: "It's our job to help you. You don't have to fight alone."

Instead of running away first, they came to help me...

All of them...

Hah... They planned it behind my back, huh?

What a great leader I am.

Anna: "Fine."

I'm sure Miwen will be disappointed, but it's his fault for seeing potential that doesn't exist.

Anna: "We still have a chance..."

Gullard and the other knights stopped their advance.

The only one pushing them away was Edmond himself.

Anna: "I'm sorry for underestimating you guys... Please, help me."

I think I misunderstood what Miwen wanted from me.

He should know I'm not the type to think about grand strategies or anything like that.

The things I can do are quite simple.

I'll face whoever stands in our way.

I'll protect the girls with everything I have.

And I'll count on them to do their best to help me.

This is how we fight together.