"Aim!"
"Loose!"
Hundreds of arrows augmented with inner energy descended upon the Eastern Army. Since the walls of the Kingdom of Aira were very high, gravity gave extra force to the descending arrows.
"Shields!" Captain Zack commanded. Although most of the wielders of the army were at the very least, above-mortal realmers, even they would be injured if they were struck by the descending arrows. After all, because they had attained their power from the Tool of Blessings, their battle prowess was lower than average. And although the arrows wouldn't do much damage to mid-level above-mortal realmers, high level above-mortal realmers and profound realmers, it would be a shame to lose even a tiny fraction of their men to an army of mortal realmers.
The shields were also cloaked with the inner energy of the wielders. Since they were stronger, the inner energy coat around their shields looked denser than the ones on the arrows. Hence, the first barrage of arrows was dealt with pretty easily.
"Why aren't they using their cannons?" Captain Zack wondered out loud. He was currently surrounded by several profound wielders and earth wielders. With him were Major Glen and General Thoth. The general's face was expressionless. He wasn't paying any attention to the ongoing war. He was the strongest here, and his wisdom in battle exceeded Major Glen's and Captain Zack's. Yet he didn't show any interest in the battle. His mind was far away from this place.
"I don't know. Do you think that maybe they have another trump card?" Seeing that the General was silent and distracted, Major Glen decided to respond. It was obvious that the General was unhappy about the fact that he would have to run over the corpses of his friends.
"But it matters little. Before absolute power, all schemes are meaningless" Regardless of whatever schemes they were hatching, Captain Zack wasn't concerned. The Eastern Empire was too strong to be handled by only one empire. They were so confident in their victory that they didn't even come with any siege weapons. They didn't came with cannons or catapults. They only came with their personal weapons yet they were brimming with confidence. In his eyes, the Northern Empire was already done for. What they were doing was akin to the last ditch efforts of a man condemned to death.
"Aim!"
"Loose!"
Several regular blasts and concentrated blasts came crushing down on the Eastern Army once the arrow barrage ended.
"Shields!" Major Glen ordered timely before the blasts descended upon the army. The blasts were more deadly and took out a small portion of the Eastern Army. Even then, those who were taken out were only injured, they weren't dead.
"Push forward!" Major Glen commanded, and the army marched forward slowly with their shields still lifted for protection. Although they were slow, they were getting closer and closer to the Kingdom's gate. As they marched forward, they kept fending off repeated arrow and gun assaults from the Northern Army.
"Hold!"
Grand Marshall Blunt finally ordered and allowed the archers and gunners a brief respite. His expression was cold, very much unlike the genial expression he usually had on. He didn't order for a halt because he wanted his men to rest. This was war; there was no time for rest and the men knew that. He ordered for a halt because of something else entirely.
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
Several small explosions occurred when the Eastern Army was a few yards away from the walls. Immediately those explosions went off, the Grand Marshall ordered for the shooting to continue. The Eastern Army was thrown into disarray by the sudden turn of events and some of them lost their cool. The explosions were from mines that had been installed a few yards away from the kingdom's walls. They didn't cover the whole area around the kingdom, but they covered an adequate space. The blasts and the arrows found targets easily since the Eastern Army had lost their organization. Although it was only for a few minutes, many wielders fell victim to the mines and the arrows.
"Mines" Captain Zack coldly announced to the Major. Because of their newfound strength, they didn't display the level of caution they usually had. They had grown slightly complacent and hadn't considered some of the most obvious scenarios. Now they had lost some of their men. He didn't really care about the lives of his men, but he was annoyed that they had lost more than they were prepared to.
"Do not lose yourselves! Losing courage is equivalent to betraying the trust of the Master!" Major Glen's voice spread through the army like a mighty ocean wave. The chaos was calmed immediately. Their Emperor's title was like a sacred treasure that could not be defiled. All the soldiers feared and respected the Master. They didn't want to shame his name. They quickly regained their cool and resumed their march. Although there were occasional explosions, the army didn't flinch. Even when the explosions happened right before their noses, they remained steadfast and immovable, slowly marching forward.
"It seems they regard this Master fellow very highly" Duke Essandor spoke after a long while. "I see that you have regained your bearings" Sir Blunt commented. The Duke had been silent ever since General Thoth retreated to his army. Only his reddened eyes and fiery aura showed that he was anything but calm.
"Do you think it is him?" Duke Essandor asked.
"I don't know. But it's not like we have the luxury of worrying about that now" Sir Blunt replied. Although he said this, both of them knew the answer in their hearts. It was highly likely that was indeed their old friend. After all, what would the East gain by sending an imposter to play the role of the Old General? Even if they wanted them to surrender, they knew that was impossible. Both the Duke and Sir Blunt were faithful to the North and wouldn't give it up just because of their friend; and the East had wielders far stronger than the North too. It didn't make any sense for them to lie. But neither of them was willing to accept the truth.
"How long do you think the barrier would hold?" Duke Essandor pushed the issue of the General to the back of his mind and worried about the present.
"Ten minutes at most. That's what she said" Sir Blunt replied.
"It's not enough" Duke Essandor sighed. Ten minutes might seem like a lot, but in a battle of this caliber. It was minuscule.
"Yeah. But she said it will be" Sir Blunt shared the Duke's concern, but he decided to trust in the plans of Alexis.
"I only wish she told us her plan in detail" Sir Blunt shook his head and continued
"She couldn't. There are spies amongst the nobles" Unlike the politically naïve Sir Blunt, Duke Essandor was more than aware of the reason why Alexis' instructions were always in bits and pieces: she didn't trust them fully. After all, it was impossible to think that there were no traitors amongst the nobles.
"He's moving" Duke Essandor gestured to the formerly quiet General who was now moving towards the gate with the Captain and Major.
"Stand back!" the Major ordered, and the army retreated orderly for a few meters. "We need to hit the same area" Captain Zack struck the barrier lightly and stated. Since Alexis wasn't a spiritualist, her barrier wasn't as steady. It was made from runes and wouldn't last as long. It had already been worn down its natural enemy – time – and was weaker now that several wielders had assaulted it.
"I'll go first" Captain Zack shouted, took several steps back, and dashed towards the gate. The aura of a peak earth realmer exploded from his weak looking body as he struck the gate with all his might.
*Boom*
The walls shook slightly at the power of his fist. Although they weren't damaged in any way because of the barrier, the soldiers felt their resolve weaken slightly when the walls shook. The Duke and Sir Blunt had serious expressions on their faces when they understood the power behind that simple looking fist.
*Boom*
Major Glen unleashed a kick on the same area immediately Captain Zack retreated. His aura was on par with the Captain's and he too was a peak earth realmer.
Finally, General Thoth moved. He didn't run up to the gate like the others; he only took a step. Yet with that one step, he arrived in front of the gate. He struck the gate with a mighty palm. Although he looked nonchalant and unconcerned, his palm was coated in thick inner energy and was a full powered attack. The aura of an early stage heaven realmer exploded from his body.
*Boooooom*
The noise was much louder than what the other two of the Sacred Three produced; and the walls shook for much longer. Cracks appeared on the walls as the barrier grew dim and shattered. The Duke's face grew pale and Sir Blunt was stunned. Only a few minutes had passed. It hadn't even been up to 7 minutes since the Eastern Army started assaulting the gate, yet the barrier was broken down by the combined efforts of three people. No, it is more like one person did more damage than the two put together.
However, before the Eastern Army could celebrate, something strange happened. Their mighty aura reduced drastically and all of them grew pale.
"The Blessing?!" Captain Zack exclaimed in shock as his aura weakened considerably and fell to the peak of the mortal realm. He wasn't the only one. Every Eastern wielder felt their strength return to what it was before they received the blessing. They even grew weaker, because they were unused to tame power of the mortal realm.
The Duke and Sir Blunt noticed this change.
"So that was her plan!" the Duke exclaimed. His eyes contained excitement, excitement that hadn't been felt for a long time. He finally realized why Alexis asked them to wait for her signal before using the cannons.
"HAHAHA! This was her signal!" the boisterous laughter of the Grand Marshall was like a huge slap to the Eastern Army. He smiled cruelly and ordered
"Ready the cannons!"