Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-!
The tumultuous sounds of drums and bells echoed through the city.
Soldiers hastily assembled, scurrying to take up arms and station themselves on the city walls, where cannons and artifacts were swiftly being installed.
Porters, laden with arrows, cannonballs, boiling oil, and fiery artillery, bellowed out offers to help ferry supplies.
War was always a frantic affair, but a surprise attack without warning threw the front lines into even greater chaos.
Amidst this mayhem, I and my party members arrived. As soon as we ascended the city wall, I shouted.
"Scouts! Where are they now?"
"They're in sight, over there!"
Looking where the scout pointed, a cloud of dust was visible in the far south.
The monsters cut through this dust cloud, creating new ones as they advanced.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
The massive forms of golems trudged in unison. They were approaching us, neatly arranged in formation.
We had encountered them in dungeons, but the pressure was different with hundreds of them charging all at once.
It felt like a gigantic wall was advancing towards us.
"When will they be within cannon range?"
"If they maintain this speed, less than 15 minutes."
"Before then, we need everything in place and ready to fire! Hurry!"
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers sweated profusely as they worked to ready the cannons. They loaded cannonballs, lined up their targets, and packed in the gunpowder.
While watching this unfold, Lucas approached from behind.
"Lord."
"..."
"Are you going to leave her alone?"
I did not respond, instead biting my lip hard.
This stage had started suddenly.
The current golem legion was divided into two groups.
The main force of around 200, heading straight for the city, and a detachment of about 50, heading for Margrave's orchard.
And unfortunately, Evangeline was all alone in the orchard now.
'Why....'
Biting so hard, I tasted blood from my lip.
'Why does the stage start suddenly, why do the monsters split into two groups? Why now!'
It was impossible that all these events coincided by chance.
Malice.
Some great malice was clearly distorting the situation at its whim.
Otherwise, there would be no way for the situation to twist so wildly out of control.
Whose malice was it then?
Why... was it so frustrated that it couldn't ruin this game?
That was when dozens of soldiers rushed towards me. Looking back, they were the Twilight Brigade, veterans under the Cross family banner.
"Your Majesty!"
The veterans saluted in unison, and the captain of the Twilight Brigade stepped forward.
"We've heard the news. Please let us go."
"What?"
"The defense of the current front line is solid. We can hold out well enough even without us old folks. Send us to the orchard. We can save Miss Evangeline."
"..."
"We're running out of time, Your Highness. The monsters are approaching fast. We don't have much time left to send a rescue team to the south gate."
Listening to the soldiers, I let out a weary sigh.
"Your words have two errors."
"Pardon?"
"The first error is that our current frontline defense is sturdy. Does this frontline look sturdy to you now?"
I pointed at the walls. Soldiers were hurrying to install the yet-to-be-completed artifact, shouting at the top of their lungs.
"The sudden appearance of those bastards has not only disrupted the artifact but even the cannon arrangement is unfinished."
"All the defensive equipment can be ready before they arrive!"
"Even if, hypothetically, the equipment is ready. If you guys leave this frontline, the remaining soldiers will be mostly novices. Do you think they can fully withstand the attacks of those massive monsters?"
"..."
The soldiers remained silent.
They knew perfectly well that neither the equipment nor the soldiers were ready.
"The second error is, you think you can rescue Evangeline."
I sneered harshly.
"The Margrave's villa and orchard have no defense facilities. It's all steep hills and plains. To such a place, fifty elite monster golems have gathered."
"..."
"Even if there were walls there, and you were to fight using them as a shield! You all would definitely be annihilated. But there's not even a single defense facility! How the hell are you going to rescue Evangeline?"
The reason why this game was established as a defense genre was ultimately because we held an overwhelming advantage in the form of walls.
But if we were to confront the monsters directly in the plains, without any walls.
That would be simply throwing our lives away.
The captain of the Twilight Brigade responded with a determined expression.
"Even if all of us die, we will definitely rescue the young lady..."
"That's not a strategy, damn it!"
Startled by my roar, the soldiers hesitated and retreated.
Annoyed, I brushed my hair back.
"I want a strategy with a possibility. Not your pointless deaths!"
"Then what should we do? You're saying we should abandon her because there's no possibility? Are you, the Crown Prince, planning to leave Lady Evangeline to die?"
"..."
"If nobody goes to rescue her, Lady Evangeline will surely die! We can't let that happen!"
I clenched my jaw.
The soldiers were right. Without support, Evangeline would certainly die.
Even if Evangeline is an overpowered SSR grade character with a broken skillset, she can't possibly face fifty massive monsters.
There are even boss-level entities mixed among them.
'But, to save her, we need to form a rescue team with the most elite party.'
The Twilight Brigade alone won't cut it. At the very least, I need to send all my main party members.
And while the main party was dealing with the monsters, we needed soldiers to shield them.
But then, the defense of this place would not be feasible.
Even if we save Evangeline, if the front lines here collapse, it's game over.
"Damn it..."
I closed my eyes tightly.
No matter how much I racked my brain, saving Evangeline and defending the front line seemed impossible to reconcile. What a dilemma.
"Is there really no way out?"
Then, suddenly, a conversation I had with Margrave came to mind.
- I had to make a choice. Should I save my wife in the pioneer land, or protect the tens of thousands of citizens in the city?
Margrave had been in the same situation.
The monsters had split into two groups, and as a lord, Margrave had to choose.
His wife or the city.
- What do you think I chose?
His old eyes filled with regret when he asked me that came to mind.
Snap!
I gritted my teeth.
"I guess I understand your pain a bit, Margrave..."
I intended to honor the last wishes of Margrave Cross by freeing Evangeline from this monster frontline.
She was a talent that should be recruited and retained by any means necessary for efficient conquest. But I took this action because I believed there was something more important to a person than efficiency.
But if I stand by like this, all those efforts lose their meaning.
Evangeline, the last survivor of the Cross family, will die to the monsters.
If I send a rescue team, both the defense line and the rescue team are in danger. Both sides have a high chance of meeting their end. No, it's most likely game over.
In the end, I must choose.
A person or a conquest.
A person.
A conquest...
"..."
I slowly opened my eyes. I could feel the gazes of the people watching me.
"Here's my decision!"
Yes.
The answer was determined from the beginning.
"None of you will deploy as a rescue team."
At my words, the veterans' faces turned pale all at once.
My party members gritted their teeth. But I did not falter.
"We cannot waste our power in vain. All forces will be focused on this defense line."
One life versus tens of thousands of lives.
There wasn't even room to hesitate. It's a shameful weight difference to even put on the scale.
"If these walls fall, tens of thousands of citizens in Crossroad will die."
"..."
"Moreover, all cities and villages above the front line will be in danger, and in the end, the human world itself will be at risk."
No matter what happens, the frontline must be maintained.
No matter what happens, we have to keep going.
What's the use of saving an SSR-grade character when the game itself is over?
"Let me say this clearly one more time. None of you will deploy as a rescue team!"
With a firm resolve, I shouted loudly.
"Finish prepping for the defense battle."
"..."
"What are you doing? Can't you see those monster bastards swarming in?"
I snapped sharply at the soldiers, frozen in their spots.
"Get ready for battle, ready for battle! Hurry!"
***
Southeast of Crossroad.
There's an old mansion erected atop a hill, where far off one could see an oak forest.
The vine creepers grew densely on the faded, dimly lit walls of the mansion, and dust-coated windows made it impossible to see inside.
At a glance, it's apparent the place has been poorly maintained.
This was the villa where the Margrave of Crossroad resided in his lifetime.
A few steps down the hill from the villa would lead to a small orchard.
Unlike the villa, the orchard showed signs of being taken care of until fairly recently.
Yet, like the villa, it had been neglected since its owner's demise.
The fruit trees, lined up on the soil, quivered occasionally in the passing breeze.
Spring had just arrived.
Once the sun would rise higher and the day got warmer, even the trees on this land, tainted with the blood of monsters, would bloom and bear fruit.
Evangeline realized this anew.
That she would never be able to witness that.
Because she would be leaving this place forever.
"..."
Evangeline reached out her hand to touch the new leaves of the fruit tree.
After her mother passed away, and she herself had to leave home, her father had cared for this place alone.
'How silly, really.'
She could easily imagine her father's back.
Just a few days ago, her father would have stood here, looking after these trees.
Wishing for proper fruit this year.
Even while knowing it wouldn't be so.
"..."
Evangeline slowly pulled her hand away from the tree.
So what if it was?
Unsaid feelings, misunderstandings that haven't been cleared up.
Unhealed wounds. What good are they?
Evangeline slowly scanned the desolate orchard and the villa.
'This place is a ruin.'
Her father and mother had passed away, and she was leaving.
'It was a ruin before, and it will be a ruin hereafter.'
A bitter smirk appeared on Evangeline's small lips.
This was the trivial end of the Cross family, which had protected this place for hundreds of years.
They left behind nothing but death and dust.
With the gold coins she got for selling even the family's name and remaining pride stuffed in her pocket.
The last struggler, herself, was running away without a fight.
Evangeline shifted her steps, standing in front of two tombstones erected in the backyard of the orchard.
"Dad, Mom."
Whether to lay her gaze on the graves or the tombstones, the hesitant Evangeline slowly spat out,
"I won't see you again. I'm leaving, for good."
Though she expected a bell of mourning to ring out, even without realizing.
There's no answer. Of course.
"There were so many things I wanted to say... now I can't even remember what they were."
Shoo...
The wind blew. Far away, the scent of oak and oil was perceptible.
"I'm leaving."
Evangelin suddenly felt dizzy.
Her head was throbbing and the ground seemed to sway. Was she finally becoming sentimental now?
Shaking her head to rid herself of the stray thoughts, Evangelin managed to pull off a faint smile. She wanted to send him off with a smile.
"...Take care."
She turned around.
Evangelin quickly wiped her eyes that had started to feel warm with the back of her hand.
"Hmm!"
She lifted both hands and lightly slapped her cheeks, then lifted her head to look ahead. It was indeed time to leave.
"Alright, let's get going!"
And when Evangelin looked straight ahead.
BOOOM!
The stone wall fence in front had exploded from the ground up.
As if struck by a giant catapult, it shattered in an instant.
"...?"
For a moment, she couldn't comprehend what was happening.
In the direction where the stunned Evangelin was frozen,
CRACK, CRUNCH!
GROOOAARRR!
Spreading fragments of the destroyed stone wall in all directions, with a menacing operational sound resonating from its entire body, a massive steam golem came rushing.
Evangelin blurted out in bewilderment.
"Huh?"
CRUNCH!
The next moment, the golem's enormous fist hit Evangelin's slender body.