I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 665: Thorny Vines (2)

"W-what is this doing here?"

"That's impossible. According to the reports, the road to the Second Checkpoint City is a wide-open plain with nothing in the way. They even said the road was well-maintained, making it convenient for troops to move."

"Then what on earth is this?"

It was a massive wall of thorny vines so tall that you had to crane your neck to see the top.

The stems were so thick that a grown man couldn't wrap his arms around them, and the sharp thorns protruding from them were thicker and sharper than the fangs of a giant beast.

Moreover, unlike regular thorny vines, these were dark in color, making them appear even more eerie to onlookers.

The thorny vine barrier that suddenly appeared where there should have been nothing was clearly the work of the Demon King Heathcliff and it gave a feeling that shouldn't be touched.

If this wall was created by those who worship heretical gods, a terrible curse might befall anyone who tampered with it.

"What are you all doing!"

"Sir, there's a wall blocking our path."

"They're just oversized plants! Burn them all down!"

Soldiers carrying flamethrowers gathered in a line and marched forward.

Wearing red suits, they aimed their flamethrowers at the wall ahead.

-Whoosh!

Flames mixed with sticky flammable liquid shot out impressively.

No matter how large and threatening it might be, it was still just a plant that would disappear when set on fire.

The commander's confident expression could only crumble at what happened next.

"The vine wall remains intact, sir!"

"What! How can a plant not burn in fire?"

"The w-wall is moving!"

The black thorny vine wall not only remained unburned by the flamethrower's fire but also began to move and thrash about with its own will.

Like a giant octopus flailing about, the undulating vines swept through the soldiers' formation.

The flame troops at the front who were spewing fire were sent flying like bowling pins.

Thanks to the suit armor they were wearing, no one died, but their mass created chain collisions with nearby soldiers, throwing the situation into chaos.

"Damn it! Take cover!"

"Dispersing reduces casualties!"

Rear soldiers aimed their guns and fired at the thorny vines.

-Tick-tick-tick.

But the sturdy thorny vines remained intact even after being hit by bullets.

The bullets couldn't penetrate the tough skin, and some bullets ricocheted off the thorns and flew elsewhere.

"Bullets are ineffective!"

"Fall back from the thorny vines! Infantry, retreat!"

"Get the wounded to the rear!"

The rampaging thorny vines were problematic enough just in size and mass, but with the added flames they'd been doused with, they became even more threatening.

It looked like tentacles crawling up from the bottom of hell, wriggling about.

"So this is the demon king's dark magic."

"Is the power of heretics this formidable?"

The subjugation army, unaware that this was elven ability, thought the thorny vines themselves were the demon king's doing.

"Push through with heavy firepower!"

The soldiers threw the bombs they had prepared.

-Boom!

Bright red flames engulfed the thorny vines.

Though they resisted bullets and had immunity to fire, they couldn't withstand the shock of the explosion, and some of the thorny vines shattered and burst apart.

"We've got gunpowder to spare anyway! Use it all!"

"Keep pushing forward!"

The momentum shifted back to the subjugation army.

The thorny vines couldn't effectively respond to the endless barrage of bombs.

However, the soldiers' expressions didn't improve.

"When will this ever end?"

They had expected just one layer of wall, but that wasn't the case.

After completely destroying part of the thorny vines, what appeared was another wall of thorny vines.

And it was even larger and thicker than the one before.

Moreover, the thorny vines weren't just passively taking the hits.

They caught some of the incoming bombs and threw them back toward the subjugation army, or they swatted them away, sending them back.

"Pull the infantry back! The tanks are moving in!"

Tanks that made the ground tremble appeared and charged forward to push through the thorny vines.

But the thorny vines easily pushed back or overturned such tanks.

"What the! How can mere plants push back tanks!"

How could an armored division capable of grinding down forests fail to overcome a single wall of thorny vines?

The steam golem division that followed faced the same fate.

The steam golems, modified for combat and using at least mid-grade magic stones to boost their output, couldn't effectively use their strength against the thorny vines.

In a one-on-one situation, a steam golem could perform well against thorny vines.

It could tear the vines apart with its strong output or cut them with the blades attached to its hands.

But there were too many thorny vines.

The sharp thorns were so hard that they easily pierced through the sturdy armor of the steam golems.

"They're holding up well, as expected."

Watching from a distance, Ambella was impressed by the thorny vines' performance, which exceeded her expectations.

She had hoped they would hold up well, but she didn't expect them to perform this admirably.

"What on earth is that?"

Caroline, who was watching alongside her, asked.

"How can plants do that? Even with the help of druids, it's beyond common sense. I'd believe it if you told me it was plant-attribute magic."

Surprisingly, those thorny vines weren't magic at all.

They were real plants that sprouted from seeds, with druids merely adding effects like rapid growth, shell hardening, and increased elasticity.

"It's a specially bred variant that only grows in our elven kingdom."

Ambella took out a cigar and put it to her lips.

Oh, no lighter.

As Ambella was pondering this, a flame sparked in front of her, lighting the cigar in her mouth.

Caroline had helped her.

"Puff. Hoo. Thanks."

"So, is that all there is to this 'specially bred variant'?"

"I wonder if that's all."

Ambella exhaled smoke with a smirk.

"100 years ago. When humans invaded us, the elves fought desperately to resist. Naturally, the Burk family, including myself, was at the forefront."

The elves fought desperately and held on, finally managing to stop the human attack.

"We stopped them, but the damage was severe. Especially the emergence of gunpowder, bombs, cannons, and tanks still sends chills down my spine when I think about it. We elves had to get stronger in preparation for another war."

"So those thorny vines are the result of that preparation."

"To counter overwhelming firepower like gunpowder, bullets, explosions, flames, and tanks, the elven sages and druids spent 100 years meticulously improving these thorny vines through countless iterations."

Of course, they weren't originally as impressively capable as they are now.

What made it possible was Sedina, who knew how to handle the power of the World Tree.

Sedina Plante, with her ability to resonate with the World Tree, the pinnacle of all living beings, had evolved thorny vines that the elven race had improved over 100 years in just a single day, advancing them by several generations.

Beyond resistance to flames, they also had resistance to magical power and wouldn't easily fall to external impacts.

"Since they were made in a hurry, they're not without flaws. Despite growing rapidly with the power of druids, the lifespan of those thorny vines isn't very long."

Due to the hasty improvements, these dangerous thorny vines had a lifespan of less than a week.

It was like they aged rapidly and died, in human terms.

"But a week is quite long for a time like this."

Even the tank division and steam golem division couldn't break through the thorny vine wall and had to retreat.

The subjugation army moved busily.

Mortars were fired.

With a loud whistling sound, shells rained down on the thorny vines in an arc.

-Boom!

Explosions occurred, flames rose, and the thorny vines began to be torn apart helplessly.

Caroline, who was watching the battlefield with her arms crossed, clicked her tongue.

"They seem to be holding up well, but the difference in firepower is unavoidable after all."

Since close-range tactics weren't working, the subjugation army started using mortars to slowly erase the thorny vines as a safer method.

Unable to do anything against attacks from a long distance, the thorny vines were shattered and scattered into pieces without much resistance.

Above all, the subjugation army's firepower was overwhelming.

As if to prove that the claim of gathering all the firepower from across the continent wasn't an exaggeration, the range of the rising flames was excessively vast.

It created the illusion that the surrounding area was turning into a sea of fire just from the gunpowder used to clear the path.

"Hmph. We can't match their numbers after all. But we're not just sitting idle either."

A change occurred among the thorny vines.

Instead of thin, long stems, fruit with blunt ends began to emerge from the ground.

The blunt heads, shaped like maces, were densely covered with long, sharp thorns like needles.

The seeds of thorn gourds that had been scattered among the thorny vines had sprouted at the right moment.

"What's that now?"

As the subjugation army was bewildered by the suddenly sprouting thorn gourds, they exploded with a bang.

The thorn gourds burst on their own without anyone touching them.

The thorns that had densely grown on them were shot in all directions by the explosion's shock and pressure.

"Argggh!"

"W-what is this!"

Soldiers caught in the barrage of thorns shot like bullets fell one after another.

It happened so suddenly that they couldn't respond in time.

They had been clearing the thorny vines and never expected a ranged attack from there.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thorn gourds that sprouted from all around exploded and spewed thorns like a shower.

The rain of thorns swept through the mortar unit, and the defenseless mortar unit attacking from a distance inevitably suffered heavy casualties.

"Retreat!"

"Get the mages!"

Finally, the war mages stepped in, unable to watch any longer.

The defensive magic cast by the war mages easily deflected the thorns.

Some war mages sharpened the wind into blades and shot them out, cutting down the thorn gourds that had sprouted from the ground.

The cut thorn gourds rolled on the ground without exploding.

Once the mages stepped in, the chaotic situation quickly stabilized.

However, the war mages didn't look pleased.

Originally, this was supposed to be a war where they wouldn't need to step in, with the infantry and armored division's overwhelming firepower pushing through.

But the infantry had fallen helplessly without being able to do anything.

The armored division, led by those sturdy-looking tanks and steam golems, suffered severe damage against the thorny vines.

In the end, the war mages had no choice but to step in.

In the current era of warfare, war mages weren't entities that stood at the front lines.

They typically appeared to showcase their firepower from the middle of the battle onwards, not fighting at the forefront and requiring protection from their surroundings.

Though they had learned mobile spellcasting to cast while moving, it was ultimately intended to ensure minimal safety.

In the end, the modern basic combat protocol still had mages using high-firepower magic from a safe location.

If one side's war mages had to step forward first on the battlefield, it was admitting that their side was in a disadvantageous situation.

Not knowing how many enemy troops there were, the war mages stepped forward to prevent further damage, but they weren't particularly comfortable with the situation.

In the end, the mages who should have been safe were exposed to the danger zone.

Just like now.

-Slurp.

Long forms began to emerge one by one from the black thorny vine forest spread beneath the dark clouds.

The plants that shot up thin and long were flowers.

Flower buds with red petals, as if soaked in blood, fully bloomed and then turned their heads toward where the war mage unit had gathered.

-Swoosh!

The bright yellow energy gathered in the flower buds shot out like a meteor, leaving a long trail.

"Bombardment! Be careful!"

The yellow energy shot by the flowers exploded as it fell onto the shields.

The shield that could block the thorns from the thorn gourds couldn't hold long against the energy shots fired by the flowers.

A high-firepower attack blatantly targeting the mages.

"Strengthen the shields!"

"Second defensive squadron, move in."

But the war mages didn't fall easily like the infantry.

The number of war mages gathered there was enormous.

Though more reinforcements were still disembarking at the coastline, and they were just the vanguard, the number of war mages exceeded 500.

But having 500 in number didn't mean all 500 could create synergy perfectly.

Therefore, the war mages had properly divided their roles beforehand in units for attack and units for defense.

Mages responsible for defense took turns deploying shields.

And the attack unit, guaranteed safety, swept through with overwhelming firepower.

It was similar to line infantry in past musket warfare, but with mages doing it, they demonstrated incredible synergy.

The bombardment flower buds, which should have dealt a significant blow with their surprise attack, were burned, cut by the wind, fried by lightning, or frozen without being able to properly damage the war mages.

The war mages pushed back the thorny vines smoothly.

Though the thorny vines had increased resistance to magic, it was useless against such firepower.

"So it ends like this after all."

Tossing the completely burned cigar to the ground, Ambella clicked her tongue in disappointment.

Even in the midst of that battle, the thorny vines only lasted about as long as it took for a cigar to burn.

That's how quickly the opponent responded.

"Still, I expected this would happen."

Though they were broken through, this was just the "first" line of defense.

They still had many preparations left.

"Let's show them why the Burk family is the best when it comes to defense."

As Ambella gave the order, the druids prepared for the next operation.

The soldiers who broke through the thorny vine forest were about to rejoice at the clear view, but they caught their breath.

"What is it this time?"

What stretched before their eyes was a vast field of flowers.