Lilith, her hands once again glowing with a bright light, stood in a defensive stance against the figure. As the figure began to speak in an unknown language, Maximus could see the space around them begin to distort.
The dark figure raised its arms. Above them, a vortex of energy started to form, drawing everybody's attention. The vortex swirled looking like it could consume everything in sight. The figure stared at Lilith with an eerie almost sadistic smile on his face.
Their duel had reached its tipping point.
In response, Lilith began her counterattack. She started chanting a spell causing fluctuations in her surrounding area. Once she was finished, the vortex of energy from the figure was already coming towards her. Before it could reach her, she vanished from where she was standing and appeared behind the figure.
Sensing her behind him, the figure turned around to see her standing behind him, but before he could react, she released an attack binding the figure in its place. The next few moments played out almost in slow motion. The figure, held tightly by Lilith's attack, was unable to dodge or counter.
In the next moment, the figure's body began to disintegrate from the ground up. It let out a haunting scream which echoed across the battlefield, sending chills down the spines of all who heard it. Its form disintegrated into black particles that disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
Silence fell over the battlefield on both sides as Lilith returned to her original position, facing Maximus with a tired smile. "Last time I checked," she said, her voice echoing across the battlefield, "the Lord of Light does not welcome cowards into his grace."
A loud cheer erupted from Maximus's men at this declaration, their moral soared at the sight of Lilith's victory.
"I'm glad you didn't get hurt," Maximus said, relief washing over him. He returned her smile with his own. "Now let's march forth and finish claiming our victory."
"Charge!" He commanded. The ground shook as the Imperial Army charged forth towards the city wall.
"Nyxara! light up the wall." he commanded as Nyxara flew above the Imperial Army towards the wall. The Tiger soldiers seeing the massive dragon coming their way started shooting arrows at her, but none of them could reach her. She opened her mouth wide, but instead of orange flames coming out of her mouth, a bluish flame came out, setting the top of the wall on fire.
Soldiers who were manning the wall screamed as the ones who managed to get out of the way frantically tried to put out the flames, some even jumping off the wall to escape it.
Watching this unfold, Maximus turned towards the cannons, "Fire the cannons!" he commanded and watched as the cannons opened fire on the wall.
Even more screams could be heard as they were blown away by the impact. Parts of the wall were obliterated under the fire of the cannons; debris flying everywhere and smoke filling the air so thickly it was difficult to see what was left.
Beyond the wall, one of the Tiger soldier's commanders was watching in shock as the city walls crumbled under the assault of the Imperial Army.
The wall they had believed to be impregnable was being razed like it was made of parchment. He glanced around, his eyes wide with fear and urgency as he barked orders that were swallowed by the chaos around him. Veteran soldiers who were known for their discipline were ignoring the orders of the commander and running for their lives.
A few minutes later, Imperial soldiers began to pour into the city through the breaches of the wall, while the siege towers unloaded soldiers to secure the top of the wall. While most soldiers had been dealt with on top of the wall and there were breaches in the wall, some would think it pointless to have soldiers on top the walls, but they couldn't risk those remaining soldiers to fire arrows at the backs of their follow brothers in arms.
Seeing the wave of Imperial soldiers storming towards them, the Tiger soldier's commander swallowed hard and let forth a loud battle cry. "To arms! To arms!" he shouted, trying to regroup some of his men who were petrified by the wave of destruction.
As expected, only a small number obeyed his call and stood their ground to form a line of defense. Their brave faces couldn't hide the fear that lurked in their eyes.
But against the large horde of Uruk-Hai soldiers charging at them, they stood no chance. "What are those!" said the Tiger commander out loud. He had never seen such massive, foul creatures before. They were like humans, but larger and grotesquely muscular, with eyes that burned bright red in the chaos of combat. These were the Uruk-Hai soldiers who were bred for one purpose: war.
With their outlandish size and strength, they tore through the Tiger ranks like a hot knife through butter. Their fear turned into terror as they saw these menacing beasts approaching them with bloodlust in their eyes. One by one, they started to fall against the onslaught.
Despite it all, the Tiger commander summoned his courage, picked up his sword, and charged into the heart of battle. He took down two of the Uruk-Hai's by catching them off guard before he was overwhelmed. As he was surrounded, the only thought on his mind was how they could possibly have won this battle to begin with.
Not only did the enemy have strange monstrous soldiers, but also a dragon and people who could use magic. The reality of his impending death sank in, as did the weight of Volantis's defeat. He closed his eyes, readying himself for the end.
On the sea, Admiral Thorne had broken through the Volantis fleet and now had the port surrounded and had two ships blocking the path to the open sea. Any escape was impossible leaving the Triarchs to hope that they could negotiate some type of deal for their safety.
But when their residences were stormed, they instead met the end of a blade.
Imperial soldiers continued to storm the city and take control of every part of it. The battle was already decided, and the victory of the Imperial Union was never a question, it was only a matter of time.