VOLUME 4: CHAPTER 7

VOLUME 4: CHAPTER 7

After taking over the City of Akash, Lark immediately ordered the Blackstone Knights to dig a wide trench around the city, particularly deeper at the place where the gate was situated. A wooden drawbridge was also being made, which could be easily pulled back during a siege.

Lark had finished inspecting the walls and judged them to be adequate enough to fend off attacks from your regular army. Fortifying it even further would take too much time, so he decided to just focus on creating magic towers to help them suppress the enemies from a distance. 

“Sir, the blocks have been transferred to the fifth area. The other items you’ve requested have already been prepared.”

Lark nodded after hearing his subordinate’s report. He went to the fifth area – an area located at the middle of the city – and started supervising the magic tower creation himself. Wood, iron and stones were being transported left and right as numerous soldiers and workers moved about. 

Unlike the towers he made in Lion City, this one was taller and larger. Instead of stones as supporting pillar, the base was going to be made with iron. It would probably take more than a week to finish this thing, but this magic tower was an absolute must for them to defend against the enemies surrounding them at all sides. 

Lark decided to transform the city of Akash into a fortress. The rallying point for the Second and Third Army and for the defeated Yorkshaire and Marcus Army. 

“Let go, bastard!”

While supervising the creation of the tower, a commotion broke out nearby. 

Several defeated soldiers, their hands cuffed and their bodies battered, were being dragged by the Third Army towards the dungeons of the Lord’s Castle. In that place, hundreds of defeated soldiers were currently being held. 

“Damn barbarians! Don’t you know who I am?! I’m a captain of the—”

“—Shut the fuck up!” one of the soldiers kicked the defeated soldier on the stomach, effectively making him shut his mouth. He saw that their commander, Lark Marcus, was nearby and staring at their direction. He bowed his head in apology before dragging away the rest of the captives. 

Anandra, who had been standing quietly next to Lark until now, spoke, “My Lord, what do you plan to do with the captured soldiers?”

Lark had been deliberating what to do with them for now. Surprisingly, the number of soldiers who surrendered were high. Thus, there were currently over half a thousand soldiers locked up underground right now. 

“Half a bread per day, five sips of water. Give them just the bare minimum to survive. They will be useful later on for negotiations with the Empire.”

Living under such a state for weeks would surely sap the strength of anyone, even for trained knights. There was no shackle more effective than that for these captives. As for those capable of magic, and the very few knights they encountered, Lark decided to kill them right away. 

Lark did not want to risk even a very slim chance of a break out. 

He called out the leader of the supplies team. For some reason, she was nearby and immediately answered his summons. He inquired about the storage room located on the basement of the Lord’s Castle, just right next to the dungeon. 

“Reporting to the commander,” she held a stack of documents in her hand. “We haven’t finished combing through the entire storage room, but based on what we’ve seen, there should be enough food stocked in there to last us three additional weeks.”

“Good work.”

It was good news. With this, they’ll have more leeway in their plans. But there was also the Second, Marcus, and Yorkshaire Army he had to take into consideration. If those three armies gathered here in this city, their current supply wouldn’t even last them a month. Hopefully, the Baron and the other commanders managed to secure enough rations for their own armies.

Now that he thought about it, he had been unable to contact the Baron since then. He was still able to send telepathic messages, so the artifact should be working fine. The conclusion Lark came up with was that the Baron was currently in a situation wherein he was unable to use any mana, or use the artifact for some reason. Did he lose consciousness? Or worst case scenario, dead? 

Unfortunately, Lark had no way of finding out. 

A voice broke Lark out of his thoughts. 

“Is that… a magic tower?” 

The leader of the supplies team asked, her voice filled with curiosity. Her eyes were gawking at the sight, as though this was the first time she had seen several men working to construct a building. 

“You have keen eyes.” Lark looked at her suspiciously. “I haven’t told anyone yet what we’re making. How did you know that it’s a magic tower?”

She was clearly flustered upon hearing the question. With stuttering voice, she replied, “I-I’ve seen the towers at Lion City! T-They look really… similar. So I assumed that we’re building those same things here, Sir.”

There were several differences, but it did look similar to the towers constructed in Lion City. Lark decided to accept her reasoning for now. But just to be sure, he should let the two assistant leaders of the supplies team keep an eye on her in the future. 

Lark could not feel any hostility and malicious intent on her, and she’s really capable in managing the supplies, but she was too suspicious. If needed, Lark would strip her of her position in a heartbeat. But for now, he needed her skills. There was a limit on what he could do on his own, after all. 

“That’s right. It’s a magic tower.” Lark admitted. 

The woman’s eyes widened for a moment. 

“Tell me, what do you know about them? I heard that aside from the City of Magic, no other place had been able to develop them,” said Lark. 

The woman’s face turned serious. “I’ve read about them back when I was still a student.”

“Oh, you’ve studied in an academy before?” said Lark. 

“Yes.” She nodded. “Based on the books, magic towers are relics of the past era. From an Empire more than a thousand years ago. An Empire capable of turning the entire continent upside-down. An Empire of Magic capable of waging war with Dragons. But the Cataclysm happened, followed by the Descent, leaving the entire continent devastated in its wake. Even the Magic Empire was unable to survive the two calamities that befell this land. Unfortunately, the towers and the method of creating them was lost along with the fall of the Empire.”

Lark suppressed an incredulous look from showing on his face. He had not expected to hear something which he failed to find in the library in Lion City. 

“If it’s been lost, then how did Wizzert City manage to create those things?”

The woman shrugged, as though it was none of her concern. “I don’t know.”

Silence fell for several seconds. 

Lark looked up in the sky. It was almost dusk. He still had a lot of things he wanted to do and prioritize, but he decided they could probably wait for a few hours. He really wanted to know more. To know what happened to the Empire he served back in his previous life. 

“This Cataclysm and Descent you spoke of,” he said. “Can you tell me more about them? In detail?”

***

[Yorkshaire City]

Inside his room in the Lord’s Castle, General Rizel received the report of the appearance of a large army crossing over Tagana River, just before the Highland Plains. Based on the reports, the army was almost twenty thousand-strong.

“A legion,” he frowned. “And just right when that damn old man went missing too.”

It’s been more than a week since General Alvaren chased after an army at the northwest of the Kingdom, and General Rizel hadn’t heard from him since then. Judging by that old man’s personality, it would take some time before he comes back. Not until he had hunted down those pitiable prey. 

“What about the scouts?” he asked. 

The soldier who handed him the report shook his head. “We’ve lost contact with them, sir.”

General Rizel tapped his finger against the table. He looked at the map spread before him. This map was the culmination of all intelligence they have gathered from the Kingdom, and it should be the most accurate map they could currently find. Based on the map, it should have been impossible to reach Highland Plains without alerting the tight net they’ve spread around the nearby cities in the West. 

Surely, the scouts should have reported sightings of the enemies before they even reached Napam Hills. Even if the scouts had been killed, the commander of the small army stationed there had a way of contacting the nearby armies using the sigil. 

But there’s not even a single message.

General Rizel could not help but arrive to a single conclusion:

Their enemies had a way of bypassing the sentries they placed all over the region.

“The flag?” 

“We believe it’s an army from the Capital, sir.”

General Rizel leaned on his chair. Finally, the Capital had sent out their forces. He had been expecting them to be at least forty-thousand strong, just like what was stated in the reports by the spies from the Capital. But for some reason, only a little less than twenty thousand had come to take back Yorkshaire from the Empire. 

“Arrogant little pricks.” He grinned. 

Living this long, he always abided but the same rule: Crush the enemy with his entire might. 

There was no need to hold back. A moment of carelessness would only come and bite you in the neck afterwards. This was how he managed to live this long, despite the constant strife in the Empire. 

As he was constructing stratagems on how to deal with this unknown forces, three loud knocks were heard on the door. And without waiting for the General to give his consent to come in, the man entered the room. 

His entire face was filled with sweat as he huffed, as though he ran all the way here from the gate of the city. General Rizel would have reprimanded him under normal circumstances, but he could see the agitation within the man’s eyes. He decided to listen for now. 

“What is it?” said the General, a bit annoyed that someone barged into his room just like that. If this man started spouting useless crap, he decided to behead him on the spot. 

“General! T-The City of Akash!” the soldier huffed. “The City of Akash fell to the enemies’ hands! We’ve received reports that the flag of the Kingdom is currently flying on top of its walls right now!”

General Rizel abruptly stood up from his seat. “What?!”

It should have not been even a full day since their enemies were sighted near Highland Plains. Although it was nearby the City of Akash, it should have been impossible to capture a walled city in the span of several hours. 

Just what the hell was going on? 

“Get me my horse.”

The soldiers in the room looked at him quizzically for a moment, before one of them saluted and responded with a yes. 

General Rizel decided to personally see the state of Akash and gauge the strength of his enemies. Capturing a walled city in just a day was no simple feat. He did not survive this long in an age stricken with warfare by simply sitting in his room and awaiting his subordinates’ reports. 

Surely, a veteran like him would see things his scouts were unable to. 

He went out of the castle, rode his mount, and went towards the gates. Accompanying him were five knights and seven scouts. The soldiers guarding the gate saluted the moment they saw him.

“Open the gates. Be on guard. Fortify our defenses. I’m going out for a bit.”

Although the soldiers were hesitant, since they felt uncomfortable in letting the General leave the city with only a handful of guards, they complied. Three layers of metallic gates were opened and the drawbridge was unfolded over the ravine. 

General Rizel disabled his magic and the white fog enclosing the entire city dissipated, revealing the dark skies above and the bottomless ravine below them. 

Without another word, the General slapped the reigns and his horse sped up, his guards closely following behind. Their group pushed their mounts to the limit, not bothering to stop every few hours to recuperate. As a result, by dawn, they’ve already reached the City of Akash. 

“What the hell is that?” one of his knights mumbled. 

They were currently looking at the City of Akash from a safe distance. 

Currently, dozens of soldiers clad in full plate armor were digging through the ground, creating trenches around the walls. Hundreds of soldiers in leather armors were also helping with the manual labor, but it was apparent that most of the heavy work were done by the ones in plate armor. 

The sight was surreal, since knights were never tasked to do menial tasks in the Empire. 

General Rizel squinted. He saw the wooden gates being fortified with metallic plates. A small bridge was also being constructed, probably similar to the one used in Yorkshaire. 

“After capturing the city, the first thing their commander did is transform the city into a fortress?” chuckled the old General. “Interesting. Not all Lukasians are incompetent imbeciles, eh?”

It was a decent move, since this battle could potentially drag on for months, if not years. Having a fortress to retreat to would prove crucial to the battles later on. 

As they continued to spy on their enemies, General Rizel felt that something was not right. It was not the archers stationed on the walls, the ballistas erected on the battlements, nor was it the gates being fortified with iron. 

The knights. 

Those soldiers wearing full plate armor. 

A normal knight would probably fail to notice it, but Rizel could see that their movements were crude, as though there was something limiting their every move. They were not moving like a normal human should. 

Furthermore, it did not make sense that those guys would dig on the ground while wearing full plate armors. 

Something was definitely eerie, but the General was unable to pinpoint it out. How should he say it? It felt like those guys weren’t human. 

The General shook off these thoughts. This place was enemy territory. He decided to think about these things once he was back to safety. 

Having decided that they’ve stayed here long enough, General Rizel decided to go back to Yorkshaire and formulate a plan to destroy his enemies. 

He had just mounted his horse when a volley of arrows rained towards them. 

On reflex, he pulled out his sword and parried the arrows. His five knights did the same, successfully blocking each attack. Unfortunately, three of his seven scouts were shot dead from that initial strike. The remaining four were wounded, with several arrows sticking out of their bodies. 

General Rizel did not hesitate to abandon them. Along with his five knights, he rode through the forest nearby. But to his dismay, dozens of enemies were already waiting there. Arrows flew everywhere as they tried to escape the encirclement. 

As though the enemies knew exactly where they went, ambushers would pop up in the forest every now and then. Luckily, all of his guards were skilled and easily evaded the attacks just like him. 

“Annoying flies,” the old General was finally fed up. 

If they wouldn’t allow him to escape this forest, then he’ll just butcher all of them up. 

Thick white fog started forming around them and quickly spread through the entire forest. General Rizel felt the presences of everyone the fog touched. 

Eighty-five people. 

“Eighty-five of them,” he said to his knights. “Small fries. All of them. There are a little over twenty of them waiting over there right now. You know what to do, right?”

His knights dismounted and unsheathed their swords. They nodded, “Of course, My Lord.”

The General grinned. “Let’s leave a nice little present for these guys.” 

He dismounted and took out his sword. His body faded away and disappeared into the fog.