Rick and I met up with Peter within a day. The army was moving much quicker than I anticipated given that were cannons and barriers involved. Rick was flabbergasted upon meeting Peter and bowed excessively. Peter calmed him and told him "We don't do that here". I shook Peter's hand and handed him mother's diary.
"Change of plans, I'm now waging war for revenge as it got personal for me" I told him.
Peter looked at me confused but proceeded to read the diary as we walked along. You would think that the founder would be sitting inside a carriage dragged along by horsettes but Peter had always been humble. He is the closest being to what I would call a Saint.
Rick followed along with the rest of us heading towards the way that we came. It won't be long now until we are in sight of the city. We will need to be cautious for any unexpected cannon fires or potential ambush from the soldiers. We need to be ready at a moment's notice.
"I never knew Jane made it out alive after the war. To think she confronted the Queen directly. What a shame that it ended this way," said Peter as he closed the diary and handed it back to me.
"Nothing shameful about it. Because of her death, I now know that the Captain is a dangerous foe, potentially a powerful demon in disguised. We will need to be wary of this captain," I said.
"True indeed. It's a shame that I cannot participate in this war directly. Otherwise I could personally beat the living life out of this captain and the Queen," Peter replied.
Peter could not join this war directly as assaulting the city directly would lead to an all out war between the two cities. Not only will both cities be forever at odds, City of Heliotrope Ixia would lose their main source of food supplies from this continent. Hence the reason why I had to sneak in alone was to become the instigator for this war. This is to prevent the Queen from severing ties from the City of Heliotrope Ixia should we lose this war.
All the army provided to me had no banner or stripes to link back to the Eastern continent. We made sure that there was absolutely nothing that can link back to the city or Peter himself. If anything, I'll just say that I hired them as mercenaries for the war. As I have plentiful amount of coins earned from my royalty, it is not a stretch for me to say that I can actually afford to hire enough mercenaries to start a war.
Same for the elves. There are mercenary elves that work for money and I'll just say that I hired all of them. Sadly Sladar could not join this war as he had to be stationed at the Northern continent. He said that there is some disturbance going on over there that he needed to investigate. Is it just a coincidence or did the Queen planned that far?
"We are within sight of the city. The forces are yours to command, Zen. Make full use of them," said Peter as he proceeded to hide among the soldiers.
There is an experienced soldier that Peter had assigned to help give me advice in this war. I will be relying on him for guiding me over the course of the war.
"Mr Wick, are we in effective range of a siege battle?" I asked the soldier.
"Master Zen, we should proceed closer for our cannons to be in effective range. In this distance, there are chances our cannons might not be able to hit it's intended target," said Mr Wick.
"Let us head closer then," I made the gesture to ask the army to move closer to the city.
"Messenger sighted!" shouted one of the soldier.
That soldier who shouted must have eagle eyes to be able to spot the rider at that distance. Even I couldn't see the messenger that far away. That is certainly a messenger coming to negotiate with us alone. What a guy, the chances of him dying is extremely high. To come alone and negotiate with certain death is a job no soldier would ever wish for. Seeing that I am in a good mood today, I shall let the messenger return alive.
***
"Zen Hawthorn, by order of the Queen, you are to surrender your forces and submit yourself to the Queen directly. Failure to do so will guarantee that anyone close to you to be declared as traitors and will be executed on the spot," announced the messenger.
Wow. You call that a negotiation? That was nothing more than a demand. I struggled hard to not say out the words "All your base are belong to us". So the Queen thinks that she will be able to survive this war? Not on my watch.
"Mister Messenger, I commend you for coming all the way here to deliver the message. I believe you aren't expecting to return alive, am I right?" I said to the messenger.
The messenger furled his lips. He was sweating excessively from his forehead and I am certain that it is not due to the heat alone.
"P.. please. Spare me Master Zen, I have a family waiting for me back in the city. Please let me go," muttered the messenger softly.
"Go back to the city, check on your family and bring them out of the city after you defect from your position. Bring along as many soldiers and civilians with you if you all wish to survive. My qualms is with the Queen and her alone," I said to the messenger.
"And there is a chance that she is a demon," I whispered softly to him.
He gave a surprised shriek. He looked down on the ground for a few seconds and then looked at me and moved his lips to the words "I will do that" without saying it out loud.
"Oh, right. As to the demands of the Queen, this is my answer for her," I snapped my fingers to the signal the soldier on my right.
One of the soldier caught my meaning and fired a cannon towards the city. It hit the wall and a portion of it started crumbling.
"Better start riding back as fast as you can if I were you. Raise the barriers!" I told the messenger and shouted to the soldiers.
The messenger immediately started riding back towards the castle at top speed. The soldiers in the city are surely stumped by our sudden shot. This should give us some time to set-up our metal barricades to protect our soldiers and cannons. Going good so far.
"Demons! Demons coming from the north!" shouted one of the soldiers.
What? How is that possible? Is the north compromised? Sladar should had made sure that no demons were able to come over from the North. What is going on?
"Mr Wick, take command of the cannons. I will fight the incoming demons. Foot soldiers, to me! Cannon bearers, focus fire on the walls and bring down their cannons!" I shouted as loud as I could and started running towards the approaching demons.
I can only see some demons flying towards us. Whether there is any demons on foot I could not see due to the surrounding trees. I hope there are not too many demons that made it here. I must fend them off and protect the soldiers.
***
The war has officially started. Casualties on our side was absolutely minimal due to our metal barricades. It protected us from the many cannon fires from the city. Their wall still stand strong despite our many barrages of cannon fires. No wonder they were so prideful about their walls. No matter, it is only a matter of time before either the wall falls or all their cannons destroyed.
What worries me more is the constant assault from the demons coming from the north. At first we thought there were only a few of the demons attacking us but as it turned out, they just kept coming non-stop to our position. Is the City Of Lilies Dahlee destroyed seeing as the demons kept coming from that direction? I wish that I have time to investigate on what happened to them but I have a war to finish. Is there no end to the demon's assault? Good thing only lesser demons attacked us so far.
"I wonder, is the north compromised?" said someone behind me.
I turned to look and it was Peter. It seems like came out of hiding and was concerned about the situation.
"I don't know. Did Sladar failed to prevent some sort of demon outbreak? With their relatively small numbers assaulting us right now, I can still prevent them from causing much harm to the soldiers. But if more were to come, I doubt that I can stop them from tearing us apart here. We are relatively sitting ducks here," I explained to Peter.
"It is only a matter of time before some of the adventurers within the city start to help us incapacitate the cannon bearer soldiers after the civilians are evacuated. But I am concerned as to why demons kept coming over from the north," said Peter.
"Stay with the army and continue the assault on the city. I will check on what is happening on the north. Perhaps something happened to Sladar that caused him to hold back the tide of the demons," Peter continued as a soldier handed to him a cloak.
He headed towards the demon's direction with a handful of his trusted soldiers. Hopefully they can stall the demons for us so that I can finally concentrate on stopping all the cannons bombarding at us. I really hope those adventurers can help us soon.
***
It's been a couple of hours now and the cannon fires from the city showed no sign of stopping. What is going on? Are the adventurer's inside compromised as well? We won't last in this battle of attrition. The city will win due to their walls and supplies in the long run.
Is there no way for me to check on what is going on inside? Am I able to sneak over to the south and check on the elves? I certainly won't survive a direct cannon hit if I were charge headlong directly into the city. One does not simply walk directly into a city while under constant cannons firing.
***
Nightfall arrives and the cannons fire lessens. We made sure to use as little fire as possible for our light source to survive through the night. Demons have stopped coming to attack us at this point. I really hope Peter was able to find out the reason as to how the demons were coming in from the north.
I looked towards the City Of Pines. It was brightly lit. Fire and smokes be seen lighting the sky. The city itself is in disrepair but still standing. Their prided walls still stand even after a full day of bombardment from us. I hope the adventurers are taking advantage of the darkness and help us to incapacitate those cannon bearers. I had come so far and I do not wish to see my plans ruined because of those cannons.
Before entering my camp for the night, I consulted with Mr Wick on our chance of outlasting the siege battle with the city. He said that we might be able to last for another two days at most before we start run out of cannon ammunition and the metal barriers start giving way. No doubt the barriers are sturdy and strong, made from the best materials of the east, but it will not last forever with constant bombardment from the cannons. He also said that two days is including salvaging the cannon balls that was scattered around the battlefield.
Not good, hopefully there will be less cannon fire tomorrow and we can finally charge onwards towards the city. And I can finally reunite with my friends.
***
Dawn approaches and the cannon siege begun once again. There was no sign of the cannons firing lessening from the city. In fact, it felt like there was more firing at us now.
I racked my brain. Do I head towards the south to check on the elves for status update? I cannot do anything here aside from giving the occasional orders. There is no walkie talkie or radio waves that I can use. No wonder they said that getting constant information is key for winning a war. I have to make a decision now.
"Mr Wick, can I trust that you are able to handle things from here?" I asked him.
"What do you have in mind, Master Zen?" he asked me back.
"I plan to sneak over towards the south to rendezvous with the elves. I need some information from their side and how they are coping. I will come back here by today or send someone to inform you about their status there," I told him.
"Very good, Master Zen. As of now, there is no further insight to be had here. All we can do is continue our cannon assaults on their walls and hoping that we are able to breakthrough. The demons had stopped coming so it's best that you go now. I won't let you down, sir!" saluted Mr Wick.
I saluted him back and tapped his shoulder plate. Peter trained his soldiers well despite him being a pacifist but he is also a realist. No doubt war will always happen whenever humans are involved.
I pulled up my cloak over my head and moved as quickly as I can with the cover of the barricades. Once I am out of the barricades, I will have to run at full speed using the cover of trees and bushes towards the south. I told Rick to stay behind but he insisted on coming along. I told him that I won't be able to protect him should there be any stray cannon balls flying at us. He told me not to worry and just focus on what I have to do. Oh well, here goes nothing.
***
It took me about an hour or so to finally reach the south. Running at full speed sure takes a toll on my legs for such a long duration. Rick was barely able to keep up but he managed. He was panting heavily as we reached the southern entrance. Something is off here. There seems to be no sound of cannon being fired here. Did all the cannons moved to over to the eastern wall?
As I approached quickly, a few of the elves shot their arrows at me as they heard someone approaching them. I skilfully grabbed the arrows shot at me mid-air before it hits me or Rick.
"Friendlies!" I shouted.
The elves lowered their bows as they saw me approaching them. I quickly lowered my hood and revealed myself to them.
"Mister Hawthorn, your skills had improved tremendously to be able to catch our arrows so easily," said one of the male elf.
"Thank you, but please, call me Zen. I need a situation report for this entrance. Can anyone lead me to whoever is in charge?" I asked them.
"Right this way, Mister Zen," said one of female elf as she gestured us into the woods.
"Your reaction speed is crazy, Zen," said Rick softly.
I just responded to him "Don't I know it" and focused at the task at hand.
What a difference in topology between the east and the southern entrance. The east had barely any terrain covers and is a wide opened field. Without the metal barriers, we would had been sitting ducks from the cannons. The south had plenty of trees before the entrance which was favourable for the elves. Is that why the Queen moved the cannons toward the eastern wall instead as it was pointless here?
***
I was brought to a small camp where the elf's commanding officer was located. As I entered the camp, there was only a table in the middle of the camp. Talk about minimalist. There was only two elves inside. A male and a female elf. I wanted to greet them but was stunned by the appearance of the female elf.
"L.. Lily? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be inside the city?" I asked the female elf.
"Lily? Ah, you have mistaken me for my younger sister, silly," said the female elf.
"You're Lily's elder sister?" I asked while being surprised.
They looked extremely similar except for the fact that she was wearing different clothings and no gauntlets. Otherwise it was like God decided to copy paste between the both of them.
"Violet Moonshine, at your service. This here is Noah Moonshine, my brother," said Violet while she bowed politely. Noah on the other hand was squinting at Violet. That's odd.
"Wow, I did not know Lily had an elder sister and brother. She barely told us about her family at all," I said with genuine surprise.
"Ah, that is normal. We don't exactly tell strangers about our family unless we are in a relationship or married. The family line can get extremely complicated so we avoid telling everyone about our families. The downfall of being able to live that long. Don't take it the wrong way," said Violet while she bowed a little.
"None taken. To think that both her elder sister and brother are spear-heading the elves in this war. I am certainly thankful for it," I said my piece and bowed to the both of them.
"You must be Zen. Lily told us much about you and pleaded to us for help directly. You are exactly what she described you to be," said Noah.
"Indeed he is. I can see why she is infatuated with him. If you prefer much older women, I am available," said Violet while she place her index finger on my chin.
"Violet, please," sighed Noah.
"Just kidding! He is rather handsome though," said Violet as she licked her lips.
"Can I get a situation report, please?" I pleaded to the both of them.
Noah gestured me to come closer to the table. It was a huge map of the city along with its borders. Noah told me that it started with cannon firing yesterday but it was swiftly cut off by the elven marksmen. The soldiers that were manning the cannons we sniped off one by one reducing their effectiveness significantly. They thought that they could assault the city after stopping the cannon firing but soldiers with heavy armours and shields came out to defend the entrance. Their shields and armours were surprisingly strong enough to withstand their arrows and weapons.
They could technically breakthrough by using their cannons but that would incur casualties on the soldiers. Lily made it very clear that unless necessary, they should try to minimise the death of soldiers. Otherwise by the end of the war, there would be no one to protect the city.
Damn it. If we were to defeat these armoured soldiers, the entire army can enter through this side and start claiming the city. I am also dying to know what is going on from the inside. I am certain that there are plentiful guild members that could had helped us with the cannons but somehow, it would seems that no one is helping us on that. Should I just forfeit the lives of these soldiers that is defending the southern entrance?
"How many armoured soldiers are defending the entrance?" I asked both Noah and Violet.
"Perhaps around two hundred of them are guarding the entrance tightly," said Noah.
"Did no soldiers came to attack directly in the forest?" I asked them.
"None so far. They were extremely defensive and is only guarding the entrance," said Violet.
Something is not right. What is the point of dragging out this war? You do not win a war by being defensive. My gut is telling me there is something else is going on inside the city and this is all to delay my advance.
I closed my eyes and gave a heavy thought. Is my Fear spell strong enough to scare two hundred soldiers? What are my other options? Using cannons should be my last resort. I do not wish to kill these soldiers if possible. C'mon brain, think! I am sure there is something else that you can use. THINK!
Surprisingly, a light bulb did appear for me. How did I not thought of using this as a weapon before? I use this all the time and I had never thought of weaponising it. I smacked my head and started to chuckle. To think that something I use often would end up helping me right now.
Rick, Noah and Violet was confused by my odd behaviour. I opened my eyes and greeted them with two questions.
"How certain are we that there are no cannons firing at us?" I asked both of them.
"Fairly certain. We engaged in melee with the soldiers and no cannons fired at us. But it was tough to break through because the soldier's shield. Not only are the shields tall but their armour does not leave any openings for us to injure or incapacitate them," said Noah.
"No matter, we do not need to injure them. Now for my last question, do you happen to have alchemy ingredients and equipment?" I asked. Who knew alchemy would come in handy whenever I am in a pinch.