My Goblin System : Levelling up with my SSS Class Devouring skill

Settlement casualties from artillery: 7 dead, 19 wounded.

But the walls still stood. Damaged, but defensible.

"Bombardment is stopping," Kelvin reported. "Last volley hit ninety seconds ago. No new launches."

"All defenders to walls immediately!" Lyra commanded. "They’ll be advancing under cover of the bombardment’s dust and smoke. We need archers in position now!"

Settlement defenders surged from cover positions back to the walls, moving with practiced speed born of months of drilling under Satou’s demanding training standards.

Sixty seconds after the last artillery impact, archers were back in firing positions, arrows nocked, eyes scanning the dust and smoke obscuring the approaches to Second Line.

And through that smoke, massive shapes emerged.

The siege towers were advancing.

Hour Twenty-Six (Day Three, Hour Two): The Siege Towers Attack

The three siege towers rolled forward on massive wooden wheels, each pushed by teams of forty soldiers straining against the weight. Behind and around each tower marched infantry in tight formation—two hundred soldiers per tower, six hundred total, using the siege engines as mobile shields against arrow fire.

Tower One advanced toward the eastern wall sector where Commander Vex’ahlia commanded.

Tower Two rolled toward the central gates where Kelvin held position.

Tower Three approached the western wall where Skar led serpentfolk defenders.

Behind all three towers came the main assault force—fourteen hundred soldiers in dense columns, waiting for the siege towers to engage before committing to their own assault.

"Siege towers confirmed!" Lyra’s mental voice carried vindication that her tactical prediction had been correct—and fear at what that prediction meant. "Three towers, exactly as anticipated. All archers, concentrate fire on the towers. Aim for the wheel assemblies and the soldiers pushing them. Slow them down before they reach the walls!"

At the eastern wall, Commander Vex’ahlia commanded seventy-three defenders, twenty-eight of whom were archers. She positioned them along the damaged but still functional wall sections, maximizing fields of fire.

"Archers ready!" Commander Vex’ahlia shouted, her goblin voice carrying command authority. "Target the tower’s wheels and push-teams! Fire at will!"

Twenty-eight arrows flew in rapid succession.

At two hundred yards, accuracy was challenging but not impossible. Ten arrows struck the tower’s wooden framework—thick timber that could absorb arrow hits without significant damage. Six arrows missed entirely. But twelve arrows found the soldiers pushing the tower or the wooden wheels underneath.

Three soldiers went down with arrows in legs and shoulders. One wheel assembly took an arrow that jammed in the mechanism, causing the wheel to wobble.

But the tower kept advancing. The wounded soldiers were replaced by fresh pushers from the infantry following behind. The damaged wheel was cleared by specialists with tools.

"Tower One is slowing but not stopping," Commander Vex’ahlia reported. "We’re inflicting casualties but not enough to halt the advance."

"Keep firing. Every casualty now is one less soldier we face on the walls."

Similar scenes played out at the central and western sectors. Arrows rained down on the advancing siege towers, taking a steady toll of the push-teams and infantry support, but not stopping the inexorable approach.

At one hundred and fifty yards, settlement archers shifted tactics.

"Thrak, oil barrels ready?" Lyra asked through the network.

"Positioned and ready. Say the word."

"When towers reach one hundred yards, ignite and drop. Burn them before they reach the walls."

The siege towers ground forward. One hundred and twenty yards. One hundred yards.

"Now!" Thrak commanded.

At each wall section facing an approaching tower, defenders heaved massive oil barrels over the walls. The barrels plummeted toward the approaching siege engines, trailing flaming rags that ignited the oil inside.

Tower One’s oil barrel struck directly in front of the siege engine, shattering and splashing burning oil across a thirty-foot radius. Flames erupted across the ground, forcing the push-team to halt before advancing through fire.

But the tower’s framework was wet—pre-soaked by Elric’s engineers specifically to resist fire attacks. The oil burned hot, but the wet timber smoldered rather than igniting.

After thirty seconds, the fire was weak enough that the push-team could advance through it, though several soldiers took burns in the process.

Tower Two’s oil barrel missed, striking twenty feet to the side of the siege engine and creating a impressive but tactically irrelevant fire.

Tower Three’s barrel struck perfectly, dousing the tower’s base platform in burning oil. The wet timber resisted full ignition, but smoke and flames forced the push-team back temporarily.

"Oil barrels are slowing them but not stopping them," Thrak reported with frustration. "The bastards waterproofed their siege towers."

"How long until towers reach the walls?"

"Tower One: three minutes. Tower Two: four minutes. Tower Three: five minutes—the oil fire did slow them significantly."

Lyra calculated rapidly. Three to five minutes before enemies were on the walls in hand-to-hand combat. That gave defenders precious little time to inflict more casualties from range.

"All archers, maximum rate of fire. Forget accuracy, just volume. Make every second cost them soldiers."

The settlement’s archers unleashed everything they had.

Arrows darkened the sky in massed volleys. At closer ranges, accuracy improved dramatically. The infantry supporting the siege towers—previously using the towers as shields—were now exposed as the towers pulled ahead of the main formations.

Casualties mounted rapidly on the human side.

Fifteen soldiers down with arrows in the push-team. Twenty more infantry supporters hit. Five more from the follow-on columns.

But they kept coming. For every soldier that fell, another stepped forward to take their place. The human army had numbers. They could afford casualties that would cripple the settlement defenders.

Tower One reached the wall after three minutes of grinding advance, having taken approximately forty casualties from concentrated archer fire. The tower’s assault bridge—a heavy wooden ramp designed to drop onto the wall and create a boarding path—crashed down with thunderous impact.

Twenty human soldiers charged across the bridge directly onto the eastern wall section,

Hand-to-hand combat erupted instantly.

Commander Vex’ahlia met the first soldier with dual blades, her goblin speed allowing her to parry the human’s sword thrust and counter-strike in one fluid motion. Her blade opened the soldier’s throat. The human fell, blood spraying.