Chapter 45
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Chapter 45: One Person, One Castle a Day
Did Midi really do nothing in the first two days?
Of course not.
From Lanst’s military strategic viewpoint, there seemed to be no notable arrangements. But Midi had been preparing nonstop for his final strike, relying on his secret weapons: Fina Hamilton and Alice Otolopas.
Centered around Joseph Castle, Mist Sorceress Alice spent those two days exploring hundreds of kilometers around, pinpointing all magic veins. She set up a guiding magic array to channel all the region’s magic into the military camp’s high ground.
Midi and Fina weren’t idle either. Midi, with his reincarnation-granted foresight, and Fina, with her Elementalist precision, collaborated to create a seventeen-part magic array in two days. This array concentrated magic perfectly under Fina’s control.
Through the combined efforts of Alice, the future Queen of Magic, and Midi, they unleashed an attack that would shake the Belmar Duchy.
In the York County ambush, Fina’s magic beams had only destroyed wooden watchtowers and temporary barriers, killing a handful of soldiers. They served as tactical distractions, not true threats. Otherwise, General Red Fox wouldn’t have dared to march four thousand troops through her cannon fire.
Against a generations-old castle, those beams meant nothing. Castle bricks were magically reinforced—ordinary attacks might chip a few off.
But now, Fina stood atop a true sealing magic array, drawing power from every magic vein within hundreds of kilometers.
No ordinary Elementalist could handle this force. Yet Fina’s small frame effortlessly controlled the raging magic, even holding back reserves.
The result? A magic beam of unimaginable speed, precision, and power.
The first strike, uncalibrated, shattered a castle wall section and rattled the entire structure. Preparing the next beam took only ten minutes—not for rest, but to replenish the array’s magic.
Ten minutes later, Fina flexed her limbs. “Next target?”
“The main gate,” Midi answered instantly.
The red-haired girl unleashed another blast. The steel gate exploded in a sun-like flash. Instead of detonating on impact, Fina’s beam melted through the metal, piercing inward as a searing energy stream.
The explosion inside left carnage. The gate now bore a meter-wide hole, edges glowing red.
Joseph Castle fell silent. Servants, nobles, knights, veterans—all stared blankly. Even a dragon’s strike couldn’t surpass this. Yet this red-haired girl, not even level 30, had done it casually.
And not just one attack?
Fear spread through the silence, rooting itself deep in their hearts, impossible to dispel.
This fear included dread of failure, fear of death, and awe of the unknown, but above all, it was the crushing despair that comes from facing overwhelming power.
“General, retreat into the city at once! If we don’t take cover from this attack…” The pale-faced captain stammered urgently, clutching Lanst’s arm.
But the seasoned general of the Joseph family shook his head with bitter resignation.
His earlier confidence, caution, control, and composure—all lay shattered under this unstoppable force.
Now, Lanst could only ponder when the castle would fall and how he, Quinn’s most loyal retainer, would face that end.
Midi, however, had no patience for his deliberations.
Ten minutes passed. Then a third Magic Beam tore through the sky, followed by a fourth, a fifth…
The steel gate was reduced to a gaping hole, leaving Joseph Castle looking like a beast missing its front teeth—absurd and defenseless.
A century’s worth of fortifications crumbled in under an hour.
Yet the Elven warriors, poised in their defensive formation, didn’t advance. They remained just beyond the ballistae’s range, as if their role was merely to stand armed, not to fight.
The logic was simple: Why risk close combat when long-range attacks could eliminate the enemy without losing a single warrior?
Most commanders would’ve rushed recklessly at the sight of a breached castle. But Midi, hardened by countless past victories, stayed coldly focused on the optimal choice—sparing lives, not just seizing triumph.
No longer would he repeat his past mistakes, sacrificing allies for victory until the Hawk Brigade collapsed. What value had victory without comrades to share it?
And so Fina’s Magic Beams continued their methodical assault—one strike every ten minutes.
Tower-mounted ballistae? Obliterated.
Catapults hidden behind walls? Reduced to splinters.
Archer towers swarming with roaming gunslingers? Crushed at their foundations, collapsing in clouds of dust.
If the castle were a war Behemoth devouring lives, Fina’s beams now stripped it bare—shattering its armor, severing its tail, snapping its limbs, plucking its fangs one by one. Only a helpless torso remained.
When the final tower fell, the Joseph garrison stirred.
Knights in clunky armor clambered over rubble from the ruined gate and raised a white flag.
Without firing a single shot, Joseph Castle surrendered.
In one day, without losing a single soldier, Midi had taken the fortress.
“She’s mastered other magics, but Miss Fina? She’s the undisputed Queen of Magic Beams,” remarked Sigmund, who’d spent the battle idle.
“Queen of Magic Beams…” Lilian murmured, equally awed by the red-haired girl she’d followed for years—and the black-haired boy who’d orchestrated this.
“Queen of Magic Beams, Midi. How’s that title?” Fina flipped her crimson hair, grinning.
“Suits you,” Midi said, glancing at the quiet black-haired girl beside him. “A fitting counterpart to the Mist Sorceress.”
Just as in his past life, Fina had earned her title. No longer “future Queen of Magic Beams” in his thoughts—now she was simply the Queen, the Elementalist who’d toppled a castle single-handedly, the strongest in the Belmar Duchy.
Alice, unsurprised by the devastation, shrugged and stood—a silent cue to focus. Reading her gestures, Midi nodded and turned to the battered fortress.
“Let’s greet Count Joseph,” the black-haired boy declared, striding forward.
