The trebuchet I made looked exactly like the ones I had seen on the internet.
No.
It was a little different.
Because it was a proper “item” made with materials far stronger than those seen online, there was no doubt its performance would surpass that of a medieval trebuchet. Â
Now, the question was how to use this trebuchet.
“Team Leader 3, could you make some ammunition for it?”
This was a problem I had already thought about.
I could make the ammunition myself, but there were more than a few siege weapons that needed to be made immediately, and I didn’t have time to make every single projectile.
I wondered if I should bring the Production Team, but it felt a bit awkward to drag them into the Gate.
Someday, I dreamed of bringing the entire mining team, including the Production Team, into the Gate for an assault, so for now, I asked Team Leader 3 to handle the trebuchet’s ammunition.
“Of course!”
“Thud!” Â
Team Leader 3 slammed his shovel into the ground.
At that moment, the dry, brittle soil began to clump together into a sphere.
“crack.”
It wasn’t just clumping, either.
If it were only that, it wouldn’t have been suitable as ammunition.
Though it might seem modest since he was using a shovel, Team Leader 3’s ability was a genuine S-rank skill.
Therefore, he could do more than simply gather soil.
“Crrrkkkk!” Â
The soil shaped into a sphere was compressed.
Its volume shrank rapidly.
Team Leader 3 continued digging, adding more soil, which was then compressed again to increase the size of the sphere.
After several rounds of compression,  “boom!”
“Oh.”
A projectile that fit perfectly on the trebuchet’s launching platform was complete.
It looked harder than stone due to the intense compression.
Not just in appearance—the density was so high that the weight was beyond imagination.
“Move!”
Strong melee guild members carried the newly made projectiles to the trebuchet’s launching platform.
Then, Team Leader 10 calculated the coordinates using the battle plan.Â
“The distance to the wall and its height—calculations are complete.”  Â
Next, adjusting the trebuchet’s angle and force, he precisely aimed at the target.
“Aiming complete!”
The ranged attack guild members gripped the trigger.
Even though it was a trebuchet, it was still a weapon.
Just as an archer’s agility and skills adjust the accuracy of an arrow, the precision of the trebuchet was enhanced by those handling it and pulling the trigger.    Â
At my shout, “Fire!”
The projectile launched from the trebuchet.Â
 “thoom!”  Â
The projectile flew powerfully.
In reality, it would be impossible for a trebuchet to send such a heavy projectile such a long distance and hit an enemy.
Even if mechanically possible, aiming accurately would have been impossible.
But thanks to the certified SSS-grade trebuchet’s performance, Team Leader 10’s precise coordinate calculations, and the agility of the ranged hunters,  the projectile struck exactly at the targeted point. Â
“ka-BOOM!!” Â
“It hit!”
“Nice!”
“Wow, how did they hit so accurately?”
A section of the wall collapsed with the Dark Knights crumbling along with it.
Though the damage was not severe across the entire wall, because the surroundings were full of soil, the ammunition was effectively limitless. Â
This meant we could repeat this attack endlessly.
On top of that, using leftover materials, two more trebuchets were made.
[Production completed.]
[‘Vulcanus Trebuchet (2)’ has been obtained.]
[Production completed.]
[‘Vulcanus Trebuchet (3)’ has been obtained.]Â Â Â
This would be enough to keep the enemy at bay.
“I’ll focus on making the Battering Rams and Siege Towers from now on. Please keep dealing as much damage as possible with the trebuchets.”
“Understood!”
All the trebuchets produced were entrusted to the guild members.
Then.
[Using Crafting Skill.]
“Let’s start by building the Siege Towers.”
I continued creating siege weapons.
***
Castle of the Dead.
A sanctuary, barracks, and prison for the dead.
Countless Dark Knights stood atop this place soaked in the scent of death, holding bows as they gazed into the distance.
“Grrrrr…”
They saw humans far away.
There was a sense of life.
It felt as if the scent of flesh wafted toward them.
Though they desperately wanted to burst out and tear the living apart, they could not.
They were all here to guard this wall.
Their ankles had already fused with the bone-made walls, hardened solid.
All they could do was wait atop the wall for the living to come and pull back their bowstrings.
Waiting for the humans to enter the range of their Bone Arrows.
But.
“Grrrr?”
The living did not advance.
Although they had appeared ready to charge and assault the Castle of the Dead, they stopped just beyond the range of the arrows.
Then, they began to swiftly build something.
What on earth could it be?
Were they trying to build a home in a place filled with the scent of death?
The Dark Knights tilted their heads in confusion as they watched.
From the humans’ construction, something began to fly.Â
“whoosh!” Â
What was it?
It came at an incredible speed, so it didn’t take long to identify it.
“Huh?”
A boulder.
A huge boulder.
There was no way to understand how such a heavy stone could fly such a great distance.
Of course, understanding wasn’t necessary.
They were simply doing their duty.
“Crrk-kik-kk.” Â
The Dark Knights pulled their bowstrings.
But it was too late.
Before they could release their arrows, the falling boulder
“ka-BOOM!!” Â
Began smashing the wall along with the Dark Knights.
But this was only the beginning.
Two more objects identical to the first soil clump the humans had launched appeared in their formation.
“Boom! Ka-BOOM!!”
The same kind of attacks kept coming.
The Dark Knights snapped to attention and shot arrows at the projectiles, but.
“crack.” Â
No matter how powerful the bone arrows infused with dark energy were, they were no match for the trebuchet’s ammunition.
Compared to the large, heavy projectiles, the arrows were like toothpicks.
Luckily, the attacks didn’t cause the walls to collapse completely, but.
“Grrr—”
“Ka-BANG!” Â
One by one, the Dark Knights began to fall.
The wall’s height slowly decreased.
Even more, the projectiles that flew inside the wall
“Grrrrrrk!”
“Ugh.”
“Kaang!”
Started smashing the Army of the Dead waiting inside the castle.
There was an enormous force of undead troops inside the Castle of the Dead, so damage was inevitably severe when projectiles landed there.
The casualties were staggering, with dozens of undead soldiers crushed wherever a projectile hit.
As these attacks repeated, from the tower standing at the center of the Castle of the Dead, someone stepped out.
“Those humans are using tricks.”
The lord of the castle.
Dead Frederick, the master of the Castle of the Dead.
He stretched out his hand.
Then.
“drdrdrdrdr~!” Â
The bone walls began to grow.
The walls grew larger and sturdier, swallowing up even the Dark Knights standing on them, and blocking the incoming projectiles.
The wall, now bigger and tougher, blocked the projectiles excellently.
Though every hit drained the lord’s magical power, his reserves were still as full as a lake.
“Second Army.”
“Click.” Â
At the lord’s call, some of the soldiers waiting stepped forward.
“Third Army.”
“Click.” Â
Likewise with the next.
“Fourth Army.”
“Click!” Â
After nearly half the castle’s forces responded to the lord’s summons, he stopped calling and opened the tightly sealed gate.
“Tear the living apart.”
“Grrrrrrrr—!!”
The Army of the Dead advanced.
***
While the guild members busily operated the trebuchets and launched projectiles, I kept producing siege weapons without pause.  Â
[Production complete.]
[‘Vulcanus Battering Ram’ has been obtained.]
[Production complete.]
[‘Vulcanus Siege Tower’ has been obtained.]
One Battering Ram was enough, but one Siege Tower was not.
Thinking two would be better, I was in the middle of making another Siege Tower when I heard guild members who had been enthusiastically attacking the Castle of the Dead sounding flustered. Â
Curious, I turned my head to see.
“Huh?”
Far off, the castle walls had grown taller than before.
The sections we had brought down with the trebuchets were all repaired.
Even the walls that had crumbled helplessly under the trebuchet projectiles now only showed cracks without serious damage.
And those cracks slowly healed over time.
I didn’t know much, but experienced hunters like Team Leader 10 had already figured out why.
“It seems a Boss Monster has moved.”
A creature capable of expanding the entire castle wall and blocking the projectiles.
There was no way it was an ordinary monster.
It had to be a Boss Monster.
If so, the wall expansion was only the beginning.
If the wall grew that much, even a Boss Monster’s magic would steadily drain, so it would need to defeat us quickly.
As expected.
“Creak—” Â
The tightly shut gate opened.
Monsters began pouring out through the open gate.
True to the castle’s name, the army was made of undead monsters.
The first group was composed of zombies.
Of course, they weren’t the ordinary zombies found in lower-level Gates; all were large zombies equipped with proper armor and weapons.
They looked capable of fighting ogres head-on.
The problem was, this was just the beginning.
“Urrrrgh—”
After the zombies poured out,  a massive golem followed. Â
A Flesh Golem.
A golem made by stitching together the flesh of various creatures.
“Grrr—”
Next came the ghouls.
They looked similar but were much more agile than zombies, and with their long, sharp claws dripping with venom, they were beast-like creatures.
Then came the specters, screeching like eardrum-shattering banshees as they flew in.
Undead in the form of beasts, boasting incredible speed.
Countless kinds of undead monsters poured out of the castle.
Their number easily exceeded 500.
“Damn…”
What I had expected to be a siege battle using siege weapons  suddenly shifted into a defense-style battle to fend off Monster Waves.