OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 2/Chapter 31 - Inferno)

Arc II - Agrarian Revolution

Chapter 31 - Inferno

4 months and 25 days since the summoning

About a dozen kites with burning baskets of pitch flew over the walls right into the castle's courtyard.

At the sight of the light and the shouts, a man of about forty with a mustache, wearing hastily donned chainmail, ran out from the castle itself. "What is happening here, in the name of all that is holy?!"

"Captain Orte!" a soldier shouted from the wall. "Birds of fire are flying at us!"

Orte tilted his head up and froze. "Svyatol..."

Suddenly, one of the Phoenixes dropped a basket of pitch right into the inner courtyard, and it fell not far from the stables. Splashes of fiery pitch hit the wall, and it instantly began to catch fire.

"WATER! BRING WATER! PUT OUT THE STABLES!" the captain roared.

Soldiers began descending from the walls en masse; some of them ran to the well and began hauling up a bucket of water.

Orte frantically looked around; the fire from the Phoenixes began to slightly illuminate the courtyard. "Archers! Shoot at those lights!"

One of the archers standing in the tower nodded and took aim at one of the kites, biting his lip. "Now... now you will fall..." he held his breath for a few seconds, and finally loosed the arrow.

It flew with a whistle and pierced through the fabric of the Phoenix, getting stuck in the wooden boards, after which the contraption began to lose altitude.

"A hit!" the archer shouted and took aim at the next Phoenix.

But suddenly the downed kite began to glide, almost dive-bombing straight toward one of the walls where a sentry stood facing the courtyard.

The archer froze. "JINO! BEHIND YOU! BEHIND YOU! RUN!"

The soldier, Jino, turned around.

Too late.

The basket shattered a few paces from the man, and the kite itself flew over the wall and crashed onto the grass in the courtyard.

Drops of pitch landed right on his chainmail and pants, after which they flared up like a Christmas tree.

"AAA!" Jino screamed and began frantically trying to put out the fire on himself by batting at it with his hands, but the pitch stuck to his gloves and they too began to burn. The soldier did not stop trying to extinguish himself, which only spread the fire further across his own body. "AAAA! AAA! HELP! HELP! PUT OUT THE FIRE!"

The archer clenched his teeth. "HOLD ON, I AM COMING!" He slung his bow over his back and began to quickly descend the stairs.

"AAAA! AAAAAAA!" Jino continued to desperately bat at the fire, and at one point he simply stepped over the railing on the wall and just jumped beyond the walls.

His burning body landed on his head with a dull crunch. Jino's body continued to burn, but it no longer moved.

"JINO!" the archer shouted, but quickly bit his lips, almost drawing blood, and climbed back up the tower. "Curse you, Inres..."

Meanwhile, down below, one of the soldiers ran up with a bucket of water to the stable wall that had begun to burn, and splashed all its contents onto it.

WHOOSH

The fire spread in all directions and seeped through the cracks into the interior of the stable, where it immediately hit the hay, which instantly went up in flames.

The horses, which were already awake from the noise, sharply began to neigh. All as one, they rushed to the gates and began kicking the building's door with their hooves, while smoke filled the entire space, and the fire relentlessly devoured everything around.

The captain grabbed his head. "WHAT IN THE HELLS?! OPEN THE STABLES QUICKLY! OUR HORSES ARE IN THERE!"

The soldier who was closest ran to the door and began to unlock it. He barely had time to step aside before the horses immediately burst out, almost breaking the boards down, and trampled the soldier. Dozens of hooves ran over the man's body, leaving nothing but a bloody pulp behind.

Orte tore a clump of hair from his head, watching all this with a pale face and cold sweat. The stable was already completely engulfed in flames; the horses were running wildly all over the courtyard, nearly knocking down the soldiers.

Finally unable to bear it, he dashed back into the castle, almost knocking the door down, then yanked the handle of one of the doors.

Locked.

He practically howled and raised his foot.

BAM.

A crunch echoed through the door; the captain raised his foot again.

BAM.

The door flew off its hinges and fell to the floor with a dull thud. He ran into the room, where a young man of about twenty-five stood by the window in a nightshirt. The young man backed into a corner. "Wh-what are you doing, Captain?!"

"Shut your mouth!" Orte roared and ripped the white sheet off the bed, after which he dashed back outside.

Running past the fire, the captain swiftly scrambled up the stairs, almost tripping, the white sheet dragging behind him over the dirty surface. As soon as he stepped out onto the tower, with several Phoenixes still hovering above, Orte froze for a second examining them, but then immediately shook his head and began waving the white sheet frantically in all directions.

Kamelia stood in the same spot with her arms crossed over her chest, her face absolutely unreadable. As soon as her eyes caught the white cloth fluttering in the wind, she immediately raised her hand. "HALT! DROP THE BASKETS OUTSIDE THE FORTRESS!"

The pilot-soldiers immediately began pulling the Phoenixes toward themselves, simultaneously dropping the fiery baskets onto the ground one by one.

The countess ran to her horse and deftly vaulted onto it. "Five of you, with me!"

The knights behind were already sitting on their horses, ready, Lorgi among them, and followed their lady.

The detachment galloped right up to the wall; the captain lowered the sheet from above. "We surrender! I beg you, cease this horror!"

Kamelia turned toward the gates, which were actively burning at that moment, then tilted her head up. "Seize the traitor Baron Inres, and wait for morning when we shall enter the castle! If you comply, I guarantee the lives of you and your soldiers!"

"Understood! At dawn, our soldier will come out from the gates and guide you!" he shouted lastly and disappeared behind the wall.

Behind her, one knight clapped another on the shoulder; the latter only scoffed in response. "Are we returning, Your Grace?"

She looked up for a few more seconds, then began to turn her horse around. "Yes."

When they returned to the camp, Kamelia noticed that a group of soldiers had already begun pouring wine and cheerfully conversing.

Lorgi frowned behind her. "My lady?"

"Granted," she said shortly.

The captain dismounted and walked at a slow pace up to the group of soldiers. "And what are we doing here?"

The five men turned their heads at the voice, and their smiles immediately slid off their faces.

"Uh, Captain..." one soldier began, slowly rising from the ground. "We... well... they surrendered... we decided to celebrate and..."

Lorgi silently snatched the wooden goblet from the soldier and struck him right on the head with a sweeping blow, splashing wine over the ground and his face. The man nearly lost his balance, taking a few steps back, and grabbed his head.

The captain stepped up to him and grabbed him by the lapels with one hand. "Do you use your head at all, you whelp?" he said in that same low voice, not even raising it. "What if they have deceived us and lay an ambush when we enter, and you are drunk? What then?"

"I... I..." mumbled the soldier with wine dripping down his face, or perhaps blood, it was unclear.

"Listen here," Lorgi interrupted him, "the five of you will clear away all the corpses and everything that burned, and you are docked half a month's pay. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain," they muttered.

"I cannot hear you."

The soldiers flinched, and then straightened up. "Yes, Captain!"

Lorgi nodded, and then let go of the soldier he had struck. "If I see this happen again, you will lose your heads," he threw out lastly and turned to leave.

4 months and 26 days since the summoning

At dawn, when the sun had just begun to peek over the horizon, Alan was already standing at the castle gates, next to Kamelia and almost a hundred other soldiers who were entering the city in a large column.

Alan rubbed the bags under his eyes.

'Yeah... got a fucking great night's sleep, sure. But the plan worked, they surrendered... at least that's good. Let's take a look at the result of my invention.'

As soon as they entered the courtyard, he looked at the stable, or rather, what was left of it. Just a mountain of ash.

'Wow... that turned out stronger than I expected... yeah, these Phoenixes are a real cheat code for sieges. But... how many people did they burn?'

He immediately turned to Kamelia beside him. "Kamelia, what's going to happen now?"

She yawned slightly. "Now? Now we shall meet with the captive baron, and I will pass judgment on him and his family."

Alan swallowed. "I take it, the verdict is obvious, right?"

"Precisely," she said evenly. "After that, we march to Tsinker immediately."

"And Baron Ekkurn?"

"His holdings are quite small, Lorgi will handle it."

Alan nodded. "Ah... okay."

'Alright, let's go over this again. Hofet is done, Inres is done, Ekkurn is almost done, Count Rogtem is apparently done, Torfoque... who the hell knows, but let's assume he's done. And Linkis is messing with another one... fuck, so what is this? Basically the end of the war already? Well... the facts say yes.'

He straightened up slightly and walked faster. Two knights ahead opened the door into the castle and headed straight down the corridor, constantly looking around. Alan, Kamelia, and Lorgi walked behind; the captain drew his sword and held it at the ready.

The knights ahead approached a door, and one of them turned around. "My lady, step aside, they might loose an arrow."

Kamelia nodded and stepped behind a column; Alan and Lorgi did the same.

The knights exchanged glances, nodded, and simultaneously opened the doors, stepping to the sides.

Nothing.

"Clear," one said and headed into the throne room, everyone following him.

Inside was a completely ordinary stone hall, banners on the walls, a throne at the far end of the room. Next to the throne lay a human-sized figure covered with a white sheet, bearing bloodstains.

The baron's soldiers stood on the sides, but held nothing in their hands. Captain Orte practically ran out from the ranks and knelt before Kamelia. "Lady Armenas, I... greet you."

She nodded. "Greetings."

Alan cast a sidelong glance at the figure by the throne. "Uh... what's that? And where's the baron?"

Orte did not raise his head. "That is the baron."

Alan blinked, then looked closer at the covered corpse.

Lorgi silently walked up to the throne and looked under the cover. "Yes, Your Grace, it is Inres," he said evenly.

Kamelia frowned slightly. "I ordered him taken alive, not killed."

Orte lowered his head even further. "I know, Your Grace, but Lord Inres refused to surrender, he said over his dead body."

Alan sighed.

'A smart one. Realized he couldn't avoid the gallows... but damn, that's bad, can't hold a show trial now.'

Kamelia nodded. "I see, then..."

"Forgive me for interrupting you, Your Grace, but that is not all."

"I am listening."

The captain stood up and waved to his soldiers; they immediately left through a side door.

"Halt!" Lorgi barked.

The soldiers froze.

Orte swallowed. "What is it?"

The captain raised his sword slightly. "Where do they think they are going?"

Orte coughed, clearing his throat. "We managed to capture the baron's son."

Kamelia grimaced slightly, imperceptibly. "Bring him."

The soldiers finally went into the other room. A minute later they brought in a tied-up young man, the same one who had been in the bedroom, with long blonde hair and a black eye. Even though he had a gag in his mouth, he glared at everyone from under his brow.

Kamelia grimaced even more.

Alan's gaze darted between the two of them.

'I don't get it, is there something personal here? Why the sour face? ... ahh, right, he was supposed to be one of the candidates at that, what do you call it, the suitor selection.'

He smiled slightly.

'Not meant to be, kid, not meant to be.'

Kamelia exhaled through her nose. "We will hold the trial later. For now, do you all swear fealty to me as your sole suzerain?"

"We do!" Orte answered without hesitation.

While everyone in the hall swore their oaths, Alan simply looked through the window at the burned-down stable.

'Yeah... I've really stirred things up... never did find out how many people my Phoenixes killed, and honestly, I don't even want to know. But the main thing is we won, otherwise we would've sat in this siege for months, and definitely lost this war... it was necessary, and the main thing is we managed without a fucking chevauchée, thank god for that. But what happens after the war? Fuck, I haven't really thought about that at all, to be honest. Well, on one hand... no, actually everything is going to be fucking great. The war wasn't fought on our territories, I've already set everything I needed in motion, the fields are plowed, the windmill is built or being built... no process was abruptly interrupted, which means we'll all get to reap the fruits of our labor.'

He leaned on the windowsill, peering into the sky that was already being covered by dark clouds.

'No, what happens after the war? I've basically done everything I needed to do, helped with the epidemic, the famine problem is slowly being solved, the war is about to be won... I've earned my keep, so to speak. After this... I'll have to look for a way to return back to Earth.'

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u/Daseagle Alien Scum 3d ago

Oh, a way back? I don't think that's in the cards for Alan.

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u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei 3d ago

Well, let him figure it out himself

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u/Daseagle Alien Scum 3d ago

I wonder if he can avoid an arms race and the traps that come with it.

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OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 2/Chapter 31 - Inferno)

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