The legendary Moonlight Sculptor

[V49C04] Liberation of the Free City of Somren (part3)

"Charge!!!"

"Somren shall be a free city once more!"

"We do not want tyranny!"

It was Weed who struck the match, but once the firewood of their their long-accumulated anger was set on fire, the hearts of everyone in the crowd were set ablaze.

The number of users marching increased to ten thousands as soon as they got out of the plaza, and as people started to get a feeling that they could actually make this work, more users active in the city kept coming to join them. They were thirteen thousand strong when they reached in front of the lord's castle, and then seventeen thousand strong now after a brief hesitation.

With the appearance of Weed, there was a stream of users coming online in the streets and the plaza, and some people even came from inside the castle gates.

"Bring down the Hermes Guild!"

"We are the Grass Porridge! We are the Somren Porridge!"

The users following Weed picked flowers or grass leaves from the ground and put them in their hair.

"Attack!"

The lord's castle, which had been newly built by the Hermes Guild to help govern the Free City of Somren, became the target of the rebellion.

The castle walls were high and strong, equipped with cutting-edge defense facilities which were even capable of casting offensive spells.

From the archery turrets came down a hail of powerful medium-sized arrows, piercing the crowd.

"Do not let them approach. Prepare the hot oil, and all troops get ready!"

"Yes sir!"

As a knight with excellent leadership, Bushiri conducted the soldiers to defend the castle. It was one of the largest castles in the entire Britten region: the Hermes Guild had spent a huge amount of money to build this castle and make it as strong as a fortress, so that they could use it to extend their control over the neighboring regions.

As Imperial troops were dispatched to the castle walls and other strategic points, the users outside started to fight back.

"Focus your spells on the castle gates!"

"People with Archer or Ranger class, please don't get in front! Climb to the top of the buildings in the city and direct your shots at the castle from there if you have it within reach!"

The users of the free city did not have a proper line of command, but each one of them were finding their role in the battle and managed to defeat the forces stationed in each district of the city.

Weed ascended the mage tower with Pale.

"Hmm…this is a nice view."

"Somren is indeed a prosperous place."

The beautiful medieval-style architecture of the city caught their eyes. After the doors of Royal Road opened, the enormous amount of wealth accumulated in this city turned into luxurious structures. Temples of various religions including the Order of Freya, merchant streets and guild buildings were spread uniformly throughout the city. The mansions of the nobles and rich people added to the beautiful scenery as well.

"Fight the enemy!"

"Full-scale attack! Don't back off, climb over the walls!"

Shouts from both the Hermes Guild members and the local users were heard everywhere. Fires started in a number of places in the city, with flames and black smoke rising into the sky.

The Free City of Somren has fallen into a war.

Pale cast a sidelong look at Weed's face.

'He just appeared in this place, and that was enough to start a battle of this scale…He really has a powerful presence.'

Before his thoughts got too complicated, Weed opened his mouth.

"I think it's about time to begin."

"Begin what?"

"Creating undead, of course. What's more fitting to a large-scale battle than a hoard of undead?"

A battlefield where great users of the Central Continent are engaged in a fight; defenders and rebels alike, their corpses could be reanimated as undead after falling in battle. All the experience points and skill proficiency that would be gained by summoning high-level undead and leading them into the fight!!!

Even better, if the rebels could no longer live normal lives in Somren anymore after this, they would then choose to flee to the Arpen Kingdom, leaving only bitterness for Bard Ray and Lafaye. All things considered, the destruction of Shelgium, where a large battle was taking place, would not favor the Haven Empire either. From a long term perspective, the Haven Empire would have to defend against the Arpen Kingdom in the North, and the desert warriors in the South. On top of this, there would be a dangerous war front forming inside the Empire itself. With each exchange of blows with the enemy, the Haven Empire would have to suffer losses and their military strength would wear thin. It would be deprived of its users, of its reputation, and finally, of its territories.

'Wow…This is just evil. Now I can see why Mapan-nim always said that he cannot hold a candle to Weed-nim. He wasn't being modest.'

This whole situation was truly comparable to a person inserting a penny in a toy vending machine [1] and then taking the whole thing.

***

The siege inside the Free City of Somren!

The defending army led by Bushiri was doing an admirable job keeping off the enemy, but it could only hold its ground against the concentrated attack from the users.

"Return to the ground upon which you once walked. Here lies a dark place, a black and corrupt land. Engrave the eternal commandments of darkness into the heart of every living being. Undead Rise!"

Weed summoned Death Knights and Specters. As his Summon Undead skill had reached an Intermediate level 7, he was now able to summon Wolf Assault warriors holding large warhammers.

"Fight. Trample. I don't need any offerings. Wipe them all!"

He converted all of his art stats into wisdom using his Sculpture Destruction skill. Weed was sending off an endless stream of undead into the battle. He summoned skeleton archers in hundreds at a time, ordering them to attack from a distance. Even when huge siege weapons hit them directly, the skeletons just rose up again, their broken bones putting themselves together.

"Kekeke. We cannot be killed. Because we are already dead!"

"The immortal warrior calls. Who will stand against us?"

Even the weak skeletons posed a considerable threat when they were shooting arrows without end.

The defending troops would have to get outside of the castle walls to deal with them, but the Hermes Guild users were too preoccupied with their own safety to step forth. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but all of those who had tried had lost their life the very moment they got outside: Bahamorg, the warrior who served Weed, was there, and there was currently no user in this place who could match his power in one-on-one fight.

In addition to Bahamorg, the assassin Seasoned Crab was moving in an unpredictable way across the battlefield, and there was also the warrior Python as well as numerous high level users who were harboring resentment towards the Hermes Guid.As the long-suppressed dissatisfaction felt by the users of the city wasn't small either, there was a focused fire against any of the Hermes Guild users who stepped out of the walls.

"We found a route into the castle!"

A hole was created from a crack in the wall, in a position obscured by buildings. As the city users were penetrating inside, the siege of Free City of Somren was reaching its final stage. While the defending army in the lord's castle was growing exhausted and smaller in number, the size of the rebel forces only increased as time passed.

The crucial moment was when Weed appeared in the sky on the wings of light, thundering a lion's roar.

"We need to forgive those who surrender to us!"

"…?"

That was indeed very out of the blue; from the very mouth of Weed, who had been summoning undead and beating the living hell out of the defending troops and the Hermes Guild users, came a much unexpected suggestion.

"This is not just a fight against these few people. We need to fight to restore the justice that has disappeared from the Versailles continent!"

Even an elementary school kid would know better than to believe this: people were now living in an age in which children only had to switch on their phones to realize how heartless and dangerous the outside world was.

"Let's fight when we must. But if any of them says that they give up the fight, let's forgive them. An endless chain of retaliation would not do our world any good!"

Weed's idea of justice!

Not many people empathized with it, but it was a tempting idea to the users of the Hermes Guild who were expecting to be massacred or locked up in the lord's castle after the walls were breached.

'They're going to let us live if we surrender?'

Their minds were torn between two conflicting values: the benefits of avoiding death for this one time and the disadvantages of deserting the Hermes Guild. Of course, the latter would normally be much greater than the former, but circumstances were a bit different for the users of the Hermes Guild who had been regularly active in the Britten region. They were the users who joined the guild after the Haven Empire took over the Central Continent. They had originally belonged to other prestigious guilds, but had changed their allegiance when their strength was recognized by the Hermes Guild.

'I want to remain active in this region…What if Weed liberates all the areas around here?'

Then they might be forced to abandon their homeland and move to the regions under the control of the Hermes Guild. In the opposite case, they might have to move to the Arpen Kingdom, but at least that would mean they didn't have to die right there. Besides, if they stay alive, then there might be a chance to minimize their loss by selling off their property.

So, in the middle of a fierce battle, by that one word of Weed, suddenly users started dropping their weapons to the ground.

"I surrender!"

"I'm not going to fight any longer!"

With the desertion of these Hermes Guild users, the defense force of the castle collapsed in no time. There were about one third of the users who chose to fight until the end, but the rest left the Hermes Guild as a price for their lives.

***

Trakis the Conqueror!

Even while leading the army of the Third Legion, he could not release his tension.

'I'll have to fight against Weed…I don't know what kind of unexpected things he will come up with this time…but even so, it will be my victory.'

Allowing the enemy to take Shelgium was all part of their strategy.. Now they were knocking down the city from outside with bombardment, using a huge number of high-performance siege weapons that they had brought from the Haven Empire. The presence of Steel Knights boosted their confidence even more, and the Northern users' signature human-wave strategy would be severely limited in this place as well.

'I should be grateful of the fact that they have put me in charge of the battle. After today, I shall gain great fame for defeating Weed and his Arpen Kingdom.'

It was an opportunity to get one step ahead of other prominent users of the Hermes Guild. Determined to break down the castle walls and devastate the entire city, he advanced his siege weapons little by little.

As Trakis gazed upon the battleground being all dramatic and such, Tanmell, another member of Hermes Guild, called him.

"Legion Commander!"

"What? I'm in the middle of conducting a battle. Unless it's something important I must not lose my focus for even a sec-"

"It is! Did you hear that Weed appeared in Somren?"

"What did you say?"

While proceeding with the siege, Trakis got the news of Weed showing up in the free city of Somren. He didn't believe it at first, but soon through his crystal ball he confirmed that the broadcasting stations also moved their live streaming to Somren.

His tension, which was as sharp as the tip of a sword just a moment ago, disappeared just like that, very undramatically.

'Weed abandoned Shelgium. Then this place…is left with nothing more than some Northern users.'

And even those Nothern users were not great in number. As many of them were below level 100 as well, they were just some enemy that could be defeated without any challenge.

'How easy a fight it would be, compared to those days when the Haven Empire was conquering the Central Continent!'

Trakis ordered the Imperial Army to launch a full-scale assault.

"Destroy it all. It will be a humiliation to drag this war until tonight."

The siege weapons advanced, throwing fire and ice. Both the Steel Knights and the Imperial Army pressed forward, slaughtering the Northern users.

"Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!"

"It's not over yet; let's fight until the end!"

The Northern users fought heroically, and perished.

A military power that was impossible to match! The Third Legion under the command of Trakis dominated the users gathered in Shelgium with their strength. On some occasions there were users who surrendered, but most of them lost their lives in the battle.

As they had planned, the Third Legion could conclude the assault before nightfall. The city was reduced to rubbles, and a great many users who had gathered in it were exterminated. On the other hand, there were less than 20,000 casualties on the Imperial Army's side. It was an overwhelming victory.

***

While running his store, Mapan watched the battles of Shelgium and Somren.

"Ha! That's our Weed-nim!"

He felt nothing but pure awe. Weed's backstabbing had a perfect angle, just the right amount of punch and delicate positioning, not to mention the excellent after-measures.

Mapan's subordinate, Hidden Money, a younger cousin of his whom he had introduced Royal Road to, said:

"By the way, brother,"

"Yes?"

"Why did Weed-nim let those people live? If he is as you said he is, wouldn't he wipe them all for exp and skill proficiencies?"

"You're judging him by scratching the surface."

His great belly sloshing, Mapan imitated the evil smirk he had learnt from Weed.

"Experience points and skill proficiencies are just one-off benefits."

"That's true."

"Weed-nim could show off his great influence by finishing the battle with just a word, and he even showed mercy. That will have an impact across the whole Versailles Continent."

"But that's not his usual self. Is that really worth the benefits he gave up?"

Hidden Money tipped his head to one side in confusion; judging by Weed's personality that he had heard so much about, it was just really unlikely that he had followed his conscience when making a decision. Missing the certain benefit right in front of him, just for some vague and abstract value? That was such a surprising aspect of him that Hidden Money was now reconsidering his impression of Weed.

'I'll need to leave him if he is not worth my obedience.'

Mapan could not hide his jowl-quivering smile, as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

"They will become a great asset for Weed-nim."

"What?"

"Do you think the Hermes Guild will accept them even if they returned? They will go hunting, complete quests and participate in battles all for the Arpen Kingdom from now on."

"But still, he gave up the potential for his own growth! That's such a loss!"

"Haha."

Mapan felt quite satisfied, seeing his cousin's eagerness for profit; you wouldn't make a decent merchant unless you had such ambition.

"That's precisely the reason why Weed-nim deserves people's respect."

"What?"

"They are already stragglers, few in number. If he wiped them all off with his undead, certainly there would be people among the northern users who grow jealous of his power."

"Ah…"

"That is the rule you have to remember when you are offered a free meal. You never finish the last bit of food, lest you lose your host's goodwill. Then, you get another free meal."