Click!
The guard opened the doors of the conference room seven, and I entered inside.
"Lord Silver," they greeted. I nodded and sat down.
"What's the update?" I asked.
"The imperial navy is chasing the scattered ships of the undead," replied Cardin.
"What is the number of sunk ships?" I asked, while reading the file in front of me.
"Thirty-one. More might be sunk during the chase," replied Cardin.
"This is the best news we could hope to hear," said Stone, and I couldn't help, but nod at that.
"It is, but the undead are coming and we will need to fight them." "The imperials had made, things a little easy for us," I said.
I liked to believe it would affect things tremendously and it would if enough of the ships sank. If not, it might not change things at all, given the sheer size of the horde, that is coming.
In the past seven months, I read a few things. History, strategies, and one thing, I had learned, is that I shouldn't make huge assumptions.
The help from the imperials is definitely positive, but how much it will help remains to be seen.
Half an hour later, the meeting ended. We will meet once again, at ten.
I returned to my office instead of going home; there will be no family dinner today.
I contacted both the imperials and merchants, and thanked them first, of course, before trying to get greater clarity.
I may have tempered expectations earlier, but I did that. So, my people wouldn't become complacent, but those words were also not a lie.
Time passed, and soon it was a ten. I went back to the conference room.
"The imperial navy had done the job; they are supposed to. They had attacked the undead, sinking thirty-nine of their ships," said Cardin.
The numbers are better than we had thought. They had sunk, nearly a third of the undead ships.
There is a problem with the undead. If you sink the ship, that does mean you kill them.
They survive, but they need someone to guide them or a powerful undead. They also need to do it fast; the sea isn't kind to undead.
It whittles away their power.
It's short term, it didn't matter to us. Even if they survive; they will take a week or more to reach the region and I don't think, the undead would wait for that long to attack us.
Or wait at all.
"The ships have started to dock at regions shores. At Ashton Harbor, as well as the Gailhorn,"
"The intelligence said, that within the next hour, all the ships would reach the region," he stated.
Nobody said anything for several seconds. Till a few hours ago, the undead were at the sea, but now, they had reached the shores.
"The question is now about the attack. When to be specific. Will they attack immediately or wait?" I asked.
"They are keeping an eye on the undead. We are getting updates on their every move," he replied.
The meeting ended a few minutes later and, once again, I returned to my office.
I looked at the file in front of me; the top-secret one. It had information on the exact number of army and the weapons we have.
It's always with Ina.
The numbers are good. So are the weapons, but it is undead we are dealing with; they will not make it easy.
"The undead started moving," informed Zela. "Where?" I asked. I knew where they were moving, but I still asked to make sure.
"East," she replied.
They are coming toward us. These bastards didn't wait at all; not that a day or two would have helped.
"How many?" I asked.
"Around three hundred thousand," she replied. A number slightly more than the last time.
I have the confidence to crush them with my army, but the undead aren't idiots.
There would be more.
They wouldn't attack us with such numbers, knowing what our numbers are.
"Wake me up, when they reached Panar," I said and walked into the suite.
Yes, there is a suite in here, and Miss Rolgath had done a wonderful job on it.
I lay down and closed my eyes. It took a while to fall asleep, as all my thoughts were occupied by the undead, or rather than daring, thoughts.
Stone had discussed it with me a few weeks ago. It would give the city a breathing space if we succeeded in it.
I pushed the thought down as deep as possible. There is nothing more important than dealing with the incoming attack of the undead.
I should first deal with it, before thinking about anything else.
"Lord Silver,"
A gentle voice woke up; I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It is ten minutes to four; I usually work around the same time.
"Have they reached Panar?" I asked, and she nodded. "Colonel Azalea and Cardin are waiting for you. In your office," she informed.
I nodded and got up from the bed.
I went to the bathroom and returned in five minutes, before activating Get Ready; I didn't even change my suit.
Click!
"Lord Silver," they greeted.
"What's the update?" I asked, and their expressions turned serious.
"The undead had reached Panar, where they merged with two hundred and fifty thousand undead waiting for them," replied Cardin.
As I had said. There would be more.
"Slightly more than half a million," I said and took a heavy sigh.
It is more than double than the last time. Much stronger; there is a report of special undead and weapons.
It will be a tough battle
I was really hoping the undead would be below half a million, but it seemed like, the undead, really wanted to conquer it, as they have taken the forces from Panar, making it venerable.
It is why I controlled the jubilation of my people.
We had expected the undead would attack us with such numbers. The imperials sunk their ships, but they just took the forces from another city.
"Have we been able to find out, how many powerhouses they have?" I asked, and he shook his head.
"There are only eight of them are visible. Five of them are from Panar," he said, sliding down the list of people; there are only six names there.
Two are blank; only their descriptions are visible. Means we were not able to recognize them till yet.
"How are preparations?" I asked. "Good. Commander Stone himself looking at the preparations," replied Cardin.
A few minutes later, they left.
I stayed in my office till five, before walking into the conference, which was filled with people. Everyone is here, from mercenaries to orcs to priests.
I waved my hand, asking them to sit down, but I didn't.
"The undead are coming and this time, they are bringing the force more than double of the last time," I said, looking at the eyes of each one of them.
"The estimated numbers are fifty-five hundred thousand. It is not just the numbers are greater, but the quality of undead is also better,"
"Not to mention the powerhouses; I am sure there would be more than the last time."
They looked at me, with varying emotions. Some are scared, while others have a fighting spirit burning in their eyes. Whatever they are feeling, they are ready to fight.
It is the reason why they decided to stay in the city.
"It is the greatest challenge our city has faced till now, but I am grateful for all of you to stand against them with me,"
"I am not omniscient to tell you that we are going to win the battle, but I am going to tell you that we are going to give the undead such a battle, they had never fought before," I said.
Thud Thud Thud!
There was a silence for nearly ten seconds before they began to thump the desks hard.
Seeing that, a smile couldn't help, but appear on my face.
Half an hour later, I walked out of that meeting and entered another.
It is of the civilians, and they are scared, and worried, which is natural. I spoke with them, gave them hope; it's the only thing I could do.
It took me two more hours, when I was finally able to get out of city hall, only to see a deserted city.
We have informed them of the undead last night. At four, when the undead left, the Panar, we shifted them into a safe zone.
It happened quickly and more efficiently. We had seven months to prepare for it.
It pains my heart to see my city, like this, but there is no option. We can play around with the safety of our citizens; a safe zone is the best place for them.
Soon, the carriage reached the gates, where there was large activity going on.
We had outfitted the walls with new cannons in seven months, but in the past month. We had got some restricted things, and we were outfitting the walls with them.
They were expensive, and I had to use the essence to buy them.
The bastard merchants weren't willing to sell, them to me for money, nor did I have money.
They have given me these in advance. I had only paid, the first installment two days ago.
It is a trade many would do
These weapons are hidden in spells and witchcraft. The spies and scrying spells will have a hard time breaching this protection.
Click!
I got out of the carriage and looked at preparations, before climbing on the wall.
"Everything is looking good," I said, looking at the preparation.
"It is, but the enemy isn't weak. Especially that necromancer, leading the horde. He is good at dealing with the decapitation strategies," he replied, sounding faintly worried.
Necromancer Methum.
He is an experienced necromancer. Fighting since Vris'alud invasion. He has been leading for a few years and is quite good, especially against the decapitation strategies.
The one we had used, in the last battle and planning to use on this one too.
Fighting asymmetrically is the choice we have, given the enemy, has ten times a number than us. Wayne was overconfident, which gave us a chance last time.
This strategist wouldn't make that same mistake.
"I have confidence in you. I am sure, you will bring our city to a victory," I said.
The man didn't say anything to that. He just looked ahead, where mine being laid out.
I didn't say anything and watched quietly for a few minutes before walking away.