The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 172

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Academy’s Weapon Duplicator — Episode 172
Chapter 55: The Plan (3)
Silvain stood upon the Barrier and studied the Monsters gathering below.
The ones drawing near required no telescope—his eyesight alone was more than sufficient.
“……So those are them. The Black Monsters, as they say.”
Silvain surveyed the dark creatures with narrowed eyes.
Neither their color nor their form resembled anything he had seen before. An ominous presence emanated from them, even at this distance—though the same could be said of the outer Monsters as well.
If Silvain’s instincts held true, the threat posed by the black ones and the outer Monsters would differ little in scale.
And yet.
‘……What is that?’
Among the outer Monsters, scattered Black Monsters moved between them—and each time they made contact, the darkness spread across the bodies of the others.
It spread gradually, like ink diffusing through seawater. As though the color itself were contagious.
‘The Black Monsters themselves—no, I should focus instead on that contagion phenomenon. I must be cautious until I understand what’s truly happening.’
As Silvain finished his assessment,
“Commander, the archers have completed their deployment.”
A knight approached and delivered his report.
Silvain nodded and surveyed the Barrier.
The formation that had always held this place firm. The soldiers who had accumulated that much experience. Soon would come the Monsters’ assault, and the unexpected emergence of the Black Monsters—yet in the eyes of every soldier, there was no flicker of doubt.
“They’re not moving. Before the Captain arrived, I confess we feared they might pour down upon us at any moment.”
When the soldier first spotted the Black Monsters,
the knight had worried more that the Monsters might attack before he could report it to Silvain.
But no such thing had occurred. Now, with Silvain and Angen arrived, the Monsters still held their distance, merely watching.
Though relieved by this, Silvain shook his head.
“If that were the case, it would be a mercy.”
“Sir?”
“In a siege where neither side has completed their preparations, it is always the attackers who suffer the overwhelming disadvantage.”
The common wisdom holds that in siege warfare, the attacking force must outnumber the defenders by at least threefold. And the preparations required to sustain such an advantage demand nearly equal multiplication.
“……But Captain, even with the Barrier in place, battle against Monsters is not siege warfare.”
“True. Until now, it has been nothing but war of attrition. Many Monsters died, many humans fell, yet the territory changed not at all. The outer Monsters, while intelligent, lack a leader. Theirs is a savage realm where none can trust another. The Monsters that flood toward the Barrier are only a temporary union born of hatred and malice toward humans.”
Silvain spoke, then focused his sight to examine the Monsters in greater detail.
Certainly, there was nothing visibly changed. Only the occasional creature that could not bear stillness—stamping its feet or snarling into the distance.
“Had they attacked without giving us time to prepare, we would simply have responded in kind. That is what we have always done. Even if our response was somewhat delayed, the Barrier would shield us while our formation, once complete, would annihilate them. But this time, it is the opposite.”
“……Does giving us time to prepare mean they are also preparing?”
Silvain nodded to the knight’s question.
“Until now, those Monsters sought only to kill humans. They seemed willing to die any number of times to achieve it. That malice, that relentlessness—many humans have fallen to it. And in return, we have slain just as many Monsters. All along the line of this Barrier. But this battle feels different.”
As Silvain spoke, his gaze remained fixed on what lay ahead.
Though he saw no visible change, he perceived something beyond what his eyes could show.
Behind the wall of Monsters before them, deeper beyond his line of sight, more Monsters were being added. There was no doubt of it.
An overwhelming number of Monsters, far exceeding what was visible now, being packed and layered behind. This strange period of preparation could only be for that purpose.
“Surely you don’t mean to say they intend to ‘win’ this time?”
“We shall know when we see.”
At Silvain’s words, the knight’s face went pale. Silvain paused briefly in thought, then turned from the Barrier and walked toward the rear.
“Where are you going, sir?”
“I must inform the Lord of this.”
As he walked, Silvain continued.
“This battle will likely exceed what I alone can bear.”

* * *
Helheim.
Helheim is the realm governed by Hel, the goddess of Norse mythology, and was originally called simply “Hel.”
To avoid confusion with the goddess Hel herself, later traditions added the suffix, and the game Aetius adopted this convention as well.
The etymology of what we commonly call “hell” traces back to this very Helheim. Yet it is not the hell one typically imagines—there are no roiling lava flows, no eternal torment, nothing of that sort. It is simply the dwelling place of the dead, the afterlife itself.
In Norse mythology, when one speaks of the afterlife, Valhalla is the name most famous—the destination of warriors who fall in battle. All others proceed to Helheim.
Thus it is not a place reserved for the wicked. It is far more habitable than the hell commonly imagined, and what truly deserves the name of hell exists elsewhere entirely.
[Frontdier, I have found a Helheim Fragment.]
“Well done.”
I received Gregory’s report from my quarters.
As it happens, training had been suspended. Not by my wish—when word spread that Monsters were gathering before the Barrier, every knight and soldier, without exception, rushed toward the walls.
I, naturally, was confined to my lodgings by Angen’s order against my departure. Not that I couldn’t leave if I truly wished, but there are enough eyes watching me everywhere that the restriction is more than merely figurative.
[The size was immense. I see now why it is spoken of as a lake. You’re certain your four Artifacts can hold it all?]
“Trust your teacher or Edwin on that front.”
And Daud too.
Yet the raven, having finished his report, continued tilting his head in an unusual manner. He seemed uneasy, fidgeting with an almost anxious air.
“What’s wrong? Gregory.”
[I hesitate to speak plainly, as it concerns your father’s trustworthiness, but during the search for the Helheim Fragment, I witnessed the enemy’s scale.]
Ah, so that was it.
“How large?”
[To be honest, I’m uncertain whether the Barrier can hold.]
When Gregory spoke like this, the numbers must be staggering indeed.
[The monsters outside alone are far more dangerous than those within the empire, and these Black Monsters keep pouring out from the fragments. The sheer thought of it makes our troop count seem inadequate by comparison. And beyond that,]
“And beyond that, they’re not attacking recklessly—they’re gathering their forces.”
[Exactly. Such restraint is not behavior you’d expect from creatures as self-centered as monsters. Normally they’d lose patience and charge the Barrier without hesitation.]
If the monsters continue to hold their numbers steady and assemble fully before launching a single coordinated assault, Yeranhealth will suffer catastrophic losses. That much is certain.
There is only one thing capable of making monsters act this way.
“It’s divine intervention, then.”
[Surely it hasn’t fully descended already?]
“No, perhaps not a complete descent. But with all the worship accumulated so far, indirect command would be manageable.”
Edwin, though human, was controlled by Hephaestus. If it’s merely simple commands, a god could certainly manage to control multiple monsters at once.
Back in Taeibun during summer break, the Lake Witch Nimue had done something similar.
But she had merely timed the attack; the monsters themselves handled the tactics, acting on pure instinct in the end.
This is different. A god commanding monsters with precision. Using even Black Monsters in the process.
[Then shouldn’t we depart immediately? With your power, even if delayed somewhat, you could thin their forces considerably.]
“You forget? I already gave Penelope’s Cloth to Selena. In my current state, I can only protect myself.”
Right now I cannot hurl Bombardment with Excalibur, nor call down Lightning with Mjolnir. Such things are only possible because of the combination of Dragon Heart and Penelope’s Cloth.
Well, if I’m willing to stake my life, I could swallow the Dragon Heart and manage similar feats for a brief moment, but after that I’d certainly be dead.
[Even without going that far, couldn’t you fight adequately? I know you’ve used multiple weapons to bombard airborne enemies before.]
Gregory was right—I’m not entirely useless in my current state. I had already proven myself in Taeibun without the Dragon Heart.
But.
“It’s fine. I’ll just wait.”
[If Yeranhealth falls before Selena returns…….]
“Haha.”
I laughed at Gregory’s words. The raven seemed surprised that I had laughed at all. His already round eyes widened like a full moon.
[Frontdier, surely this is no laughing matter,]
“It’s fine, really. You simply don’t understand.”
[Don’t understand?]
“That’s right.”
Yeranhealth falling?
Had I considered even a 1% chance of that, I would never have devised this operation.
“It’s because you don’t know who Angen is.”
Those who dwell only in the imperial capital perpetually harbor doubts about Angen.
Doesn’t the empire treat this man—one not even of Zodiac—far too generously?
He ignores the imperial capital’s summons repeatedly, humiliates other imperial nobles and knights—surely such a man possesses corresponding ability, does he not?
Just as they question this, Angen is not Zodiac. And by my own eyes, the fact that he is not Zodiac is proof that he understands himself very well.
Angen is not Zodiac. He is not a man to be confined to a Zodiac seat.
The epithet “Iron Wall”.
When one witnesses Angen’s strength firsthand, the name “Iron Wall” seems almost embarrassingly inadequate.

* * *
When the sun reached its zenith, the monsters’ movement began.
It was not the frenzied charge they always made the moment the Barrier came into view. They advanced in formation, lines unbroken, pace synchronized, walking deliberately toward their target.
This alone was enough to darken the faces of those on the Barrier.
“……What in the world is that.”
A far more sinister sight left them speechless.
“It never ends……!”
An endless column of monsters, marching in formation.
Behind the monsters came more monsters, and behind them still more, and more again.
That vast and terrible procession, advancing to breach the Barrier and slaughter humanity, showed no sign of ending.
‘These are the outer monsters attempting to achieve “victory”……!’
A knight who had heard Silvain’s briefing swallowed hard. Having received warning beforehand, at least his mind was not shaken to the degree of his companions’ around him, who had already gone ashen.
“Ready for bombardment!”
Silvain’s cry, charged with Aura. The archers’ arrows flew in unison, targeting the Monsters surging forward. Most of these were no crude bowmen scraped together from anywhere.
Each shaft they loosed would pierce the Monsters’ Aura and tough hide, drilling straight through the space between their eyes.
“……!”
Yet in that instant, the archers’ eyes wavered.
Something shifted in the Monster ranks. The outer Monsters—stained black by infection from the pitch-black ones—surged forward to the front of the formation.
‘……That black color. Surely not.’
Everyone harbored the same suspicion. Silvain among them.
But to know for certain, they had to test it.
“──Fire!!”
At Silvain’s cry, arrows shot forth in volleys, streaking toward the Monsters.
If the front rank collapsed, it would ripple backward. More than slowing their advance, it would scatter their formation itself, force them to obstruct one another’s paths, and bunch them so densely the mages would have perfect targets.
But then.
Clang-clang-clang!
Some arrows, aimed with precision, embedded themselves. Others bounced clean away.
‘Bounced……!’
With that, soldiers and knights were certain. The blackened sections boasted considerable hardness. They had taken direct hits from arrows shot in straight lines and infused with Aura—and yet deflected them. Some had pierced through, but at minimum, the strength of each was roughly equal.
“From now on, archers aim skyward! Don’t let the Winged Monsters clear the Barrier!”
Silvain immediately shifted strategy, barking orders to the bowmen.
Though nothing flew in the air yet, even to the eye they could see wyverns and harpies and their ilk waiting in reserve behind the Monster ranks.
They could take to the air the moment an opening appeared. And it was precisely to seize such an opening that they held back still.
‘The enemy’s numbers are far too great. If we’re attacked from all sides……’
Silvain drew his sword. The eyes of every Roach knight who saw it changed.
“Knights, follow me!”
Silvain took the lead, raising his sword high in his right hand. He turned his horse toward the Barrier’s entrance.
As he rode, Silvain absently glanced down at his right hand.
—Captain, have you ever tried wielding a sword in your left hand?
A question the lord’s son had suddenly posed days ago came back to him.
The words had stung then, and strange as it was, that single remark lingered in his memory still.
“Silvain.”
A voice broke through his thoughts.
“My lord!”
Angen, mounted, drew alongside him.
Angen already had his sword, Gram, drawn and ready.
“Lead the knights to the right. I’ve seen them massing from that quarter. Break their formation, and if you can, cut off their assembly routes. Find out where they’re coming from.”
“And what do you intend, my lord?”
At Silvain’s words, Angen yanked hard on his reins.
His horse turned left—the opposite direction from what he’d ordered Silvain.
“I’ll handle the rest.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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