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The lightning unleashed by my master was terrifying in its power. Even from here, I could see the castle gate had taken serious damage.
At the same time, the remains of the waxcorpse burst into flames, and the large door was engulfed in fire.

“We did it!” Firniel leapt with joy, raising her spear high. “Alright, let’s—”

I hurriedly stopped her.

“Wait! The door hasn’t fully burned down yet! If this fails, we’ll be wiped out!”

“Oh, yeah, good point.” Firniel scratched her head and lowered her spear. “Never mind! Let’s wait a bit longer!”

The centaur troops who had been ready to charge returned to standby.
Excellent discipline.
Still, a little too reckless for comfort.

I glanced to the side and saw Kurtze observing the gate. He had a telescope, of all things.

“Nice gear. Do you mind lending it for a sec?”
“You recognize what this is, Sir Veit?”

Ah, crap. That must be a cutting-edge device in this world.
Better bluff myself out of this.

“You’re looking through it like that, so it must be some kind of observation tool. A device that magnifies distant scenes with glass lenses, right?”
“M-My apologies, yes, that’s exactly right.”

Kurtze looked amazed as he handed me the telescope. Looking through it, I saw the castle gate’s large door was on the verge of collapse, burning furiously.
The defenders were dumping sand to try to extinguish it, but with the fat from 300 waxcorpse, there’s no way it’d go out.
However, there was one miscalculation.
A fatal one.

“There’s an iron portcullis…”

Through the collapsing door, I could see the iron gate behind it. So they had a double-layered defense.
Much more solid than Lüenheit. I’m a bit envious.
But now we had a problem.
We couldn’t burn through an iron gate.

When I explained what I saw, Firniel’s expression immediately darkened.

“What do we do, Senior!? At this point, we’ve got no choice but to rush in with battering rams, right?”

Calling it a “battering ram” sounds nice, but it’s basically a big log reinforced with metal. You have to slam it into the gate several times with a group.
If we tried that and slowly approached, we’d definitely suffer major losses.

“Relax. I’ve got a plan for this kind of situation.”

I ordered Kurtze:

“Bring all of those.”
“All of them!? Those are large barrels, you know!?”
“Just do it.”

Kurtze is under my command now. Acting like a proper soldier, he saluted and gathered a team to haul over barrels of gunpowder.

Several draconian engineers helped carry them, but I just hoisted one up easily with my werewolf strength. About half of it is barrel weight, but it probably weighs over 100 kilograms.
I don’t know much about gunpowder, but this should work.

“I’m heading out.”
“To where, Sir Veit!?”
“To blow up that gate…”
“You’re the commanding officer! Please stop this!”

As Kurtze and I argued, Firniel called out to me.

“If you’re going, Senior, then I’ll help. Hop on.”
“You’re the supreme commander this time.”
“And you’re the commander of Lüenheit. We’re both being reckless here.”

Kurtze looked like he was going to faint, but I kept the conversation going.

“Who’s the fastest among the centaur troops?”

I looked around at the assembled centaur warriors, and they all turned to look at Firniel.
The small girl proudly puffed out her flat chest.

“I’m a centaur priestess. The title of Mad Gallop isn’t for show.”

Now that I looked closely, the magic power she held far surpassed that of the others.
Seems like she’s also some kind of mutant, just like the Demon Lord.

While I was still unsure of what to do, I heard popping sounds coming from Tübahn’s direction.

“Pop, pop-pop.” A signal from Senior Merlene, who was surrounding the north gate. I’d sent some draconian engineers with her. Looks like she fired signal flares using a special slingshot.
Peering through the telescope, Kurtze quickly relayed the message.

“‘Enemy.’ ‘South.’ ‘Main Force’… It seems the enemy’s main force is headed this way!”

So the enemy came out of the north gate.
Senior Merlene’s skeleton troops are stationed out of range of the wall’s crossbows.
The enemy cavalry seems to be exiting the gate under the cover of those same crossbows. I don’t know whether they’ll circle around the east or west wall.

No more time to hesitate.
I nodded, and Firniel raised her spear.

“Spirits of our ancestors, lend us your strength!”

And suddenly, she ripped off her helmet and threw it away.
Then stripped off her armor.
Then her clothes. Her small breasts were fully exposed, but she wore a beaming smile.
What the hell? What is happening?

Now naked, Firniel held her spear and shield and shouted:

“Defensive formation on both wings! Prepare for ranged combat!”

The centaur soldiers shifted formation in perfect unison. No way human cavalry could match that.
Firniel stood at the front, rallying her troops.

“My armor is the courage of the brave warriors beside me! As long as you’re here, I won’t die!”
“Ooooooh!”

The centaur troops roared. Not out of lecher from the exposed breast, but battle fervor.
Some banged their quivers, others clashed spear against shield as they shouted.
Come to think of it, I’d heard centaurs are a warrior race that values reckless bravery.
Still, I didn’t expect someone to get naked in the middle of a battlefield.

“Now’s the time to show the might of the centaurs! Let’s goooo!”
“Ooooooh!”

Truly impressive charisma. No wonder she’s a general in the Demon Lord’s army.

Soon, Tübahn’s elite cavalry kicked up dust as they emerged from both sides of the wall—an attempt to pincer us.
They’re clearly outnumbered, so they’re likely aiming for a decapitation strike.
But since we spotted them early, we’re fully prepared. All thanks to the dragon orb flare.

“Not yet, not yet!”

Firniel ordered her troops to hold.
The distance shrank, but she still didn’t move.
The enemy archers drew their bows from horseback—

At that moment, Firniel screamed:

“CHARGE!”
“UOOOOHHH!”

The wings surged forward like one living organism, charging toward the Tübahn wall without fear of arrows.

“Let’s go, Senior!”
“Yeah!”

I grabbed the gunpowder barrel and leapt onto Firniel’s back as she dashed forward.
I was worried about the crossbows on the wall, but strangely, no arrows came flying.

“They don’t wanna hit their own cavalry, huh?”

Thanks to drawing them in this close, we ended up sandwiched between Tübahn’s walls and their cavalry.
A dangerous position, yes, but it also nullified the threat of the powerful fixed crossbows.
They’re so strong, even stray shots could injure their own men.
Smart move, honestly.

Firniel’s speed was in a league of its own.
Despite carrying me and the gunpowder barrel, she easily outran the rest of the centaur troops. The headwind made it hard to breathe.
Indeed, Mad Gallop wasn’t just for show.
We quickly closed in on the gate.

Around the gate, many surviving skeleton soldiers remained.

“Form up! Shields up!”

I had the skeletons form a wall with their shields, clearing a path for us.
Crossbow bolts rained down, but with their vision blocked, the aim was terrible.

Finally, the burning gate loomed before us.

“Firniel, when I jump, pull back!”
“What about you!?”
“I’ll figure it out!”

With that, I kicked off her back and leapt.

Amidst a hail of bolts, I hurled the gunpowder barrel at the gate.

“Eat this!”

I think I saw the fuse catch.
Then came a massive explosion.