Even though it was noon, the city looked like a ghost town. Reuze had a tradition and a history of fighters, but it also had a thriving economy and a stable government under the monarch, the King.
However, they had chosen the wrong side, or so it felt. The King had even sort to chase Gumina out from his Kingdom, only to be assassinated. Now they had received word that not only had Tristan killed their new King, but it was coming over to finish the city as well.
The same army that was coming at them had already defeated Gumina's army once, and that was when they had Yuniah's support. If they fell now, the city would be destroyed.
Interestingly, their rival had done more than just to survive in this whole debacle. They had flourished to the point of becoming a Kingdom which absorbed all the surrounding cities. One would say they had benefitted from all this.
Many Reuzeans had already fled the city, while many others had been arrested by the Guminates and thrown in the dungeon for trying to flee. An uneasy calm rested over the city.
The prince fumed to himself, angry at the city. If he had had his way, these dogs would have thrived, now they were cowering and resenting him. He wanted nothing more than to go into those dungeons and start killing them, to make them learn some respect.
He was not that mentally deranged to even think of trying, all this was just a fantasy. That being said, he had an army coming at him. This time around, he knew Barda was in the army, taking the lead.
This was it, their showdown. He clenched his fists and breathed heavily. If that devil wanted a piece of him...
"My Prince, They are here," an aide said.
"I can hear the alarms too!" The Prince shouted as he went to the window to check it out himself. Looking across from the palace, the Prince was not shocked to see the multitude of ships coming at him.
He had gotten used to that by now. What piqued his curiosity was that there were lesser ships. From the moment he had been attacked with 10 ships, anything more than that and they were a multitude.
His scalp had tightened when he saw the previous attack. However, this time around, the ships were indeed fewer. Could this be a chance or a trap? The prince guessed it was more of the latter, but he had to capitalize on this.
"Prepare the defenses, we'll send them running with their ships burning!" He declared as he walked out.
***
Just like the Prince of Gumina, Manga was no longer a stranger to flying ships. He could operate them, a lesson learned in the heat of battle against bugs.
He was also very comfortable flying these things. Twice he had been shot down, and twice that had been the best outcome. He came to see the ships as an ally, something to safeguard his life. He felt safe in a ship, especially on a battlefield.
What was interesting was that he was at the forefront, with his ship taking the lead. He was the Captain and the one coordinating the frontal attack, everyone else had their orders.
He was leading a force of 300 ships in this main attack. There were others on the flanks, but that was to come later. Below him, there were 30,000 chariots, all the remaining functional chariots. These would be the ground forces, the ships covering them as best they could.
Just like Tristan, the city of Reuze had very well designed siege engines to protect the city from any siege tactics. With Gumina as their backer, their defenses had only gotten better with the addition of Magic to the already heavily fortified city.
Nevertheless, Manga was confident that on this day, the last remaining city under Gumina's rule would come under Tristan. However, to do that, he needed to do his part and to get his men to do theirs. He had to think of the best way to do that.
"Something to keep your senses sharp, Commander," Lady Arnea approached the man with a wineskin in her hand, interrupting his reverie.
"Not the time to drink wine, My lady," Manga was dismissive, but she wouldn't let up.
"My Lord, this is not wine, but a powerful elixir. It is meant to give a mage clarity and focus while training and in an intense battle. I have a feeling what's coming next is not going to be anything less than that."
"Why have you never given me this before," Manga asked as he grabbed the drink from the Lady's hands.
"This is my private stash, and I only have so much -- Hey, don't finish it, one sip is more than enough!" By that time, Manga had downed a few gulps, well on his way to finishing her stash.
"Sorry, just so good!" Manga could already feel his mind becoming clearer as though he had been in a fog all his life that was just now lifting.
Things he wouldn't have noticed were clear as day, like Lady Arnea's crooked left eyebrow. It was so subtle that not many people picked up on it, but from his viewpoint, Manga could see it.
Not just that, conversations from his men all around the ship were very loud to his ears, and if he focused on them, he could hear what many were whispering even from 400 meters away in another ship.
From where he was, he could see the city well, and the trebuchets. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the next moment, fiery boulders were being flung from the city walls.
As the boulders approached, the mages in each ship came together and started chanting in unison. The warriors around them were momentarily shocked, but they knew this was all for their benefit. That did not mean they were not weirded out.
This was none other than a magical battle array that Barda had scribbled and distributed to the mages.
Every ship among the 300 had at least 5 mages. These mages were nothing special, Barda estimating they were Tier 1 with around 200 to 400 centimags, but that would do.
To counter a spell, you needed to apply similar or more power, a basic fact of life. In the same case, to block a physical attack, the magical shield needed corresponding strength.
A Tier 1 mage would be hopeless to depend upon to protect the ships, a lesson Barda had learned the first time he attacked with flying ships. At the time, the only mage available was Lady Arnea, a Tier 1 mage with 347 centimags.
However, for the kind of defense the ships needed to be safe was at least at 1000centimags, or at least 1 full mag. To do that, the mages would have to combine their power. Of course, this was easier said than done.
That was where the battle array came into place. With this, more than one mage could use their power to raise a magical shield. The beauty of this shield was, it was made of magical energy, not specific, so any mage could activate it.
The more the mages working on the shield, the stronger it would be. This treasure Barda had learned in Rowans library.
He did not know at the time that Battle Arrays were extremely precious Magic that had been lost to the world for centuries. The moment he had taught the skill to Lord Abu, the man had very nearly wept when he saw it. This was confirmation indeed that Barda had passed Thogodan's tests.
Now, as the boulders approached, they could not get any closer than 100 meters of the ships, instantly disintegrating upon contact with the shields. With up to 1,500 mages powering it, the magical shield could even take a full-powered attack from an Arch-Mage.
The chariots had stopped a short while ago, now the only people advancing were those on the ships. Therefore, they were the target of all the attacks. Yet no matter what, nothing penetrated their defenses.
Much to Reuzean and Gumina's shock, the ships did not even slow down as they continued advancing, no matter how much they bombarded them. Even the remaining mages sent everything they had on the ground of ships, but nothing happened.
"Could it be, a Battle Array?" A mage guard of the Prince whispered with a look of horror on his face. He had read about them, but having never seen one in action, he could only speculate.
With every inch gained, Gumina and Reuze were further disadvantaged, and before they knew it, they were well within the enemy's range. Time for some retaliation.