“Th-That’s impossible! Preposterous! And if it were true, it would mean that we’re defenseless against it!” Barth stammered in a panicked fluster. A moment later, the sound of a massive explosion rang out.
“Th-The airship has commenced its attack! They seem to be using explosive magic!”
“Wha─E-Explosive magic?! Missian’s specialty?!” Barth exclaimed. His panic was escalating. The sheer destructive potential of explosive aqua magia─a resource that could only be found in Missian─was known throughout every duchy of the empire.
Just then, a shout rang out. “The overhead segment of the anti-magic barrier has been broken, and the second mage’s tower has fallen!”
“Wh-What?!” Barth yelped, horrified by the news.
If the barrier had been broken, the fort would be defenseless from any further spells. The loss of one of the mage’s towers was a blow as well. They allowed Purledo’s mages to unleash devastating magic from on high, and were one of the fort’s most important defensive installations. Their mere presence was enough to deter enemy invasions.
“W-Well, do something about it!” Barth desperately roared.
“Wh-What do you mean, something?! What?! How?!” Barth’s retainer shouted back, clueless how to fulfill Barth’s vague and directionless orders.
Barth and his retainers were facing an attack unlike anything they’d anticipated, and could do nothing but panic. Soon a second explosion impacted Fort Purledo, followed by a third. Neither of them were direct hits, but they were still gradually tearing the fort to pieces. Its towers and walls were crumbling, one after another.
Barth watched the devastation play out from the fort’s central keep. He stood there, staring in slack-jawed horror, unable to accept that what he was seeing was real. This was no time for him to be in a daze. He had to give his subordinates their orders─but he couldn’t say a word.
Another explosive spell went off nearby, and a roaring boom echoed throughout the fort. The floor of the keep shook, and Barth had to prop himself up on a wall to remain standing.
“D-Damn them…!”
Another explosion burst nearby, finally snapping Barth back to his senses.
“W-We’re not safe here, Your Lordship! We should flee!” one of Barth’s nearby retainers urged.
“Flee…? Wh-Where would we even go?!” Barth shot back. “And how could I flee in the first place?! I’m the count! I have to give the men their orders!”
“O-Orders?! The men are all but routed! They wouldn’t listen to your orders even if you had any to give!”
The fort’s defenders had indeed fallen into utter panic. Some of them were attempting to abandon the fort. It was true─Barth’s army was broken, and it was far too late to give any commands to his followers.
“That’s still no excuse for me to flee! Call the mages! I’ll use sound magic to issue orders to the whole force at once!” Barth shouted in a desperate attempt to regain control.
“Call the mages…?” the retainer repeated, horrified. Once again, Barth was asking the impossible.
A moment later, yet another explosion went off in the immediate vicinity. They were getting closer and closer as the bombardment dragged on.
“Ugh?!” Barth grunted.
“Th-There, see?! If you die, this whole fort will be lost, Your Lordship! You must remain alive to help us regroup, and that means you have to retreat before it’s too late!” Barth’s retainer shouted, half mad with impatience and anxiety.
Barth let out a low, frustrated growl. “Fine, then… They can’t keep casting explosive spells forever! A temporary retreat is our best option!” he said, with no small degree of reluctance. It pained him, but running was his only choice.
Barth and his retainer began making their way down the stairs together.
“Where exactly are we running? This was your idea─do you have a plan?” asked Barth.
“N-No! I have no clue where we can go!” his retainer replied. The whole of Fort Purledo was being magically bombed into oblivion, and by all appearances, there were no safe pathways to refuge.
“Wh-What?! You don’t know?!” Barth bellowed with rage. He racked his mind as he ran, trying to think of anywhere he could escape to. “O-Of course!” Barth finally exclaimed. “Underground! The explosions might not reach us there!”
Fort Purledo was home to an underground passageway. It was a hidden corridor, meant to carry the fort’s lord to safety in the event it ever fell. Barth didn’t intend to abandon his fort, of course─it just seemed reasonable to think that he’d be able to shelter from the explosions there, then emerge and take control of his troops the moment they abated.
“U-Underground! Of course! We should head to the passage at once!” Barth’s retainer agreed.
As the two of them flew down the stairs, a blast of explosive magic impacted the keep’s roof. A tremendous roar rang out over Barth’s head, and he knew that if he hadn’t run, he’d have been killed instantly. His relief, however, only lasted an instant. A moment later, a nearby wall crumbled, falling toward him. Barth tried to dodge the rubble, but in doing so, he lost his footing and hurtled down the staircase.
“Your Lordship!”
Barth tumbled down the stairs, slamming his head straight into the ground. He let out a pained moan─and then everything went black.
○
My army took up position in the vicinity of Fort Purledo, and I watched from a distance to see how much damage the airship would be able to inflict. Getting too close to the action would be dangerous, so we made sure to stay safely separated from the fort proper, while still positioned to see it.
In the end, the airship had proven itself as effective as I’d hoped it would. It hovered outside of the enemy’s reach, one-sidedly bombarding them into submission. It had flown a little higher than I’d anticipated, and not all of the magical blasts were direct hits, but surprisingly, most of them impacted the fort enough to do damage.