Chapter 258: Panamera's Strategy

While observing from a safe distance beyond the artillery’s reach, my eyes widened in sheer astonishment at Panamera’s outrageous action.

What kind of nerve does she have? In the midst of a massive explosion and conflagration that would make anyone freeze in their tracks, Panamera slapped the flank of her horse and galloped straight into the billowing smoke.

“…If it were me, I’d split the bombardment into a first and second half, or maybe three salvos.”

Is she a show-off who doesn’t fear death? Or is this simply the moment to risk her life on a bluff?

As I pondered this, Khamsin, who had flinched slightly at the explosion, spoke up.

“Lord Van… Viscount Panamera has gone on alone. The other cavalry don’t seem ready to move yet.”

Khamsin reported worriedly, but Panamera’s strategy was predicated on her going out alone in the first place. The flow might be different, but the core action should remain the same.

“It’s alright. Let’s believe in Panamera.”

Saying that, I watched the battle unfold. Panamera’s strategy was simple. The key was for Panamera, who could wield fire magic, to use her horse to toy with the enemy.

She was executing that very strategy right now.

The smoke gradually cleared, revealing the scene. Even as we waited, the sound of artillery explosions echoed from everywhere. Even though I was out of range, I was inwardly terrified that a stray shot might fly our way by some mistake.

In contrast, Panamera’s Knight Order and the knights commanded by Stradale followed Panamera as if they had been waiting for this moment, rushing out onto the battlefield where shells were raining down.

“Follow Viscount Panamera!”

When Stradale shouted loudly, the knights responded with a roar-like answer and charged out, refusing to be outdone.

Leading the charge were the armored carriages I had prepared. The knights followed behind them on foot. The cavalry, meanwhile, scattered to make it difficult for the cannons to aim at them easily.

As the cannons bombarded the ground Panamera had just traversed, Panamera finished her incantation as if she had measured the timing perfectly and unleashed her fire magic. A powerful flame arrow, unbelievable for something cast from horseback, flew toward the top of the castle wall, instantly setting a part of it ablaze. The power was impressive, but hitting the target accurately from this distance while controlling a galloping horse was simply magnificent.

Even with a rifle, hitting a target under those conditions would be a feat of extreme difficulty.

“Hahahaha! What’s wrong, Yelenetta! What’s wrong, Shelvia! Did you perhaps not need over two thousand soldiers!? Are you just a gathering of weak nations that cannot even defeat me alone!”

Panamera laughed loudly as she rode, beginning to chant for another magic strike.

“Uoooooo!”

“Viscount Panamera!”

“Follow, follow…!”

Inspired by Panamera’s overwhelming fire magic and her majestic attitude exuding confidence, the knights charging toward the enemy lines raised battle cries and continued to run.

Even Panamera didn’t truly believe she could conquer that fortress city alone. Her goal was to use this bluff to plant seeds of doubt and paranoia among the Shelvia Confederation knights.

Provoked by Panamera, the artillery fire clearly intensified, shots firing one after another. However, every shell landed on the ground where Panamera was not. Seeing Panamera dashing gallantly through the explosive flames must have boosted our morale continuously while causing the enemy’s morale to plummet.

However, a one-sided battle cannot last forever. After all, the opponent possesses far superior troop numbers and weapons we lack, such as cannons and black metal. There is no doubt the situation is still advantageous for them.

“…! Arrows!”

Someone noticed the anomaly first and shouted. Looking up, I saw a massive number of arrows being launched in an arc from the castle walls. Hundreds, thousands of arrows. That eye-widening volume of arrows rose to the sky all at once, then plummeted toward the ground.

It was a simultaneous volley that could be called a rain of arrows, unbelievable even from a distance.

Panamera had no choice but to play her trump card here.

Just as I thought that, Panamera completed her chant and activated her magic.

“Flame Chain Net (Flame Bane).”

Immediately after Panamera activated the magic, flames burst vigorously from her palm as she swept her arm from right to left. The flames spread as if to burn up the sky, creating a wall of fire with a radius of over a hundred meters. The arrows that touched the flames burned up and turned to charcoal in the blink of an eye.

Because she covered a considerably wide area with flames, most of the knights avoided the rain of arrows. However, a portion on the right flank was exposed to it. Among them was Stradale, holding his sword while riding his horse.

“Stradale!”

I unintentionally shouted his name. No matter how I thought about it, it looked hopeless.

However, Stradale looked up at the sky without changing his expression and swung his sword. He swung with minimal movement, twisting his body slightly. With just that, the arrows seemed to avoid Stradale, passing by him and piercing the ground. Perhaps he was cutting down only the arrows that would hit him, as he continued to run while deflecting several arrows with his sword.

The terrifying part was that he was doing all this instantaneously while riding a galloping horse. He truly deserved to be appointed Knight Commander over Dee.

A considerable number of cavalry might have been sacrificed, but there is no doubt the enemy suffered even more.

Despite attacking with a vastly inferior number, what a magnificent fight.

“…But, we should probably make our move soon.”

Muttering this, I looked at the armored carriages that had entered the fortress city’s range. Almost simultaneously, Panamera, who had been running at the very front, returned.

“Ballistae! Prepare to fire!”

Panamera gave the order, and the knights behind the armored carriages quickly began preparations. The ones instructing that platoon were members of our Ultra-Strong Auto-Repeating Mechanical Bow Unit.

“Raise the armor! Remove the side walls and use them as flooring! Extend the bow limbs fully!”

“Ensure nothing interferes with the pulley parts!”

“Check if the string rest is straight from the pedestal’s view!”

The members, who had become experts on mechanical bows and ballistae, gave instructions to the seasoned knights.

They properly installed the shield parts first, and fortunately, none of the ten armored carriages were shelled during assembly. If they had been shelled during assembly, there would have been many casualties.

“Mobile Ballistae, completion!”

The central ballista was completed first. Receiving the signal of completion, Panamera pointed to the castle wall ahead.

“Aim for the gate, fire! The second and third ballistae, target the turrets on top of the wall as soon as you are ready!”

“Yes!”

At Panamera’s command, the ballista unit fired one after another. The first shot went for the castle gate, and the second, third, and subsequent shots targeted the turrets as instructed.

“The castle gate and four turrets! Direct hits! The other five arrows also hit the wall sections!”

Khamsin informed me as I strained my eyes, unable to see the results clearly.

“The accuracy is far higher than cannons. As Viscount Panamera said, there is no need to fear cannons as long as you know the proper countermeasures.”

Khamsin voiced his thoughts with shining eyes. I laughed at his words, tucked my chin, and looked into the distance.

Right now, considering the superiority of mages, cannons might not be definitively advantageous. However, if research continues like this, weapons that clearly surpass mages will be born.

Until then, we also need to make various preparations.