The prison tower of Radensdorf is a structure of considerable size. What’s more, since it was a prison used to hold important figures, it was quite well equipped with defensive facilities.
On top of that, the Guard troops had set up a barricade in front of the prison tower’s main gate and formed a defensive line. If the Guard soldiers had all been infantry, I would have charged through boldly, but crossbowmen were mixed in, which made things difficult.
I have to break through here in seven minutes?
A crossbow can’t pierce a breastplate, but at close range it’s a tremendously powerful weapon, capable of punching through the relatively thin arm and shoulder guards. It’s like the natural enemy of heavy cavalry.
The world-renowned Italian crossbowmen are known for their pavise shields, as big as their own bodies, which they prop up while reloading, letting them pour on attacks while almost perfectly shielding themselves from enemy archers.
But during the Hundred Years’ War, France underestimated England’s longbowmen and fielded a unit of Italian crossbowmen who hadn’t brought their pavise shields, and those crossbowmen were wiped out at a stroke.
Until firearms were deployed on the battlefield in earnest, the crossbow was widely used as a weapon of formidable power. Just as I was pondering how to break through, I spotted a sniper on top of a two-story building up ahead.
"Commander, I’ll take the lead! If anything were to happen to you, I could never face the mistress! So let me go first... Huh?!"
"Before you take the lead, check your surroundings first!"
I grabbed Anton by the scruff of his neck and yanked him back as he stood exposed to the sniper. Without even a moment to glance at Anton, who fell with a scream, I precisely knocked aside the incoming bolt with my halberd.
...Did I just deflect a flying bolt? I definitely saw the bolt with my own eyes. It was incredibly fast, but my reflexes knocked it away. This has to be thanks to the Courage 200% Increase, right?
With no time to savor the moment, I picked up a spear lying on the ground and hurled it with all my might at a crossbowman who was reloading. The spear flew fast and true, striking the crossbowman just as he tried to shoot again.
With dynamic vision sharp enough to deflect bolts, plus the medical service, there was no need to fear crossbows. I decided to attempt a bold breakthrough. Anton, sensing what I was up to, tried to stop me.
"C-Commander? No, Master! What if you get hit by a bolt?!"
"Anton, you lead the unit! Charge when I give the signal!"
"Master? Aagh! You can’t just run out there!"
Five minutes remaining. No more time to waste. The crossbowmen who had been waiting for me to appear began taking aim. My plate armor, usually so heavy, felt remarkably light, so I sprinted at full speed.
"Loaded shooters, fire first! Fire!"
Bolts rained down. Fortunately, there weren’t many of them, so I avoided ending up like a pincushion. Swinging my halberd rapidly, I deflected most of the bolts. I never knew dynamic vision could be this powerful.
Of course, it was probably the effect of the Courage 200% Increase.
As I advanced, knocking away every bolt, the Guard couldn’t hide their horror, as if they’d seen a monster. When the distance closed, I could see their expressions vividly up close.
Crack!
While the crossbowmen scrambled to reload, my halberd smashed the barricade.
The thick wooden barrels stacked to stop us split apart with a single blow.
"Gale Knights, charge!"
With no time to savor the Guard’s dumbfounded stares, I shouted the attack command, and Anton and my men, who had been waiting on pins and needles, poured out with a unified battle cry.
"Follow the Commander!"
"Shields forward!"
Raaaaah!
With a swing of my halberd, I sent the Guard soldiers who had formed a shield wall flying. It was probably the first time they’d been knocked back, shields and all. I drove into the gap that opened up and plowed straight through, falling upon the crossbowmen as they reloaded.
Before they could even draw their swords, they were swept up in the storm of my halberd.
The Guard soldiers desperately tried to protect the crossbowmen, but they couldn’t block the heavy halberd; heads flew and sternums shattered. Still, the Guard resisted fiercely.
But I was fighting desperately too, with my life on the line.
In the midst of the killing and dying, time slipped mercilessly away.
When a reloaded crossbowman fired a bolt at me, I raised my arm to protect my face.
As a result, a bolt lodged in my arm. Surprisingly, it was bearable.
My armor had been pierced, though, so my first thought was of the repair costs.
Three minutes remaining.
There were several Guard knights as well, but since my men rushed them as a group, I was able to focus solely on breaking through the front. Only after I crushed the gatekeepers at the door with my halberd could I storm inside.
[Using medical service]
The medical service I used immediately after entering restored my stamina and vitality and healed my injuries completely. The embedded bolts clattered to the floor. I had succeeded in entering the prison tower, but outside, friend and foe were still tangled in battle.
But the interior was quite different from the prison tower layout I knew. Normally, a prison tower is built with a spiral staircase winding clockwise up around a central pillar.
Defenders can attack comfortably from above with their right hand, while attackers can’t use their right hand because of the pillar and have to face the enemy with their left. But this prison tower had its stairs running along the wall.
The staircase was very inefficient for defense, yet wide enough to swing a halberd.
I charged without hesitation at the soldiers guarding the stairs.
"Aaagh! Stop them from coming up!"
Once I had broken through, no one could stand in my way. Slamming my halberd down with all my strength, I mercilessly killed the soldiers at the front and pushed onward. Tremendous amounts of blood and flesh sprayed out, soaking my armor.
Against soldiers who couldn’t even counterattack, I put my weight behind the halberd and simply shoved them aside. The soldiers tumbled screaming off the stairs, which didn’t even have a railing.
As the space grew narrower toward the upper floors, I set down my halberd. Instead, I drew my longsword and cut down the feebly resisting soldiers until I reached the top floor.
Bang!
I kicked the door open and burst inside. As if timed to that very moment, a sword came rushing at me. I barely parried it, then calmly blocked my opponent’s follow-up attacks.
He was a swordsman of considerable skill.
His follow-through after the Zwerchhau (horizontal cut) was very clean.
Clang! Claang! Clang!
The moment I saw an opening for a counterattack, I struck the flat of his descending blade aside with a twisting motion. Then I swiftly swept his leg out from under him and, drawing my dagger like lightning, drove it into the gap in his helmet.
"Graaagh!"
The knight, who resisted until the very moment of death, finally ran out of strength. He was probably the knight who had defended this prison to the last. The interior was one large circular cell.
And there was Old Man Bertheim, both hands bound by chains fixed to the wall. He must have lost consciousness; his head hung down and he didn’t move a muscle.
My heart sank, and I rushed over in a hurry.
The quest had been completed, but I couldn’t have cared less.