“Yes.” Ikeda frowned. “It seems camp sickness has spread much faster than I thought it would. Must be those bodies in the field. Make sure to add those who are sick into the vanguard. Might as well get some last use out of them. If the enemy catches it, all the better.”
The early morning was crisp and Salyn wished he could remain in bed. Instead, Ikeda pulled him out to the forward tent.
Most of the other lords were still in their beds while he and Ikeda sat outside with the army watching the morning attacks.
“Brilliant move, pushing out the siege teams in the middle of the night so the enemy wouldn’t spot them.” Salyn moved his mouth against his thoughts.
“Unfortunately, there are few of our siege weapons remaining. They spent all of yesterday creating new ones and taking shields from the army to create their cover. Not as strong as their first weapons. Thankfully, Fletcher has plenty of siege weapons and two mana cannons.”
Salyn coughed, but it seemed to bring more with it. Ikeda watched him closely as he cleared his throat after the fit and sniffed.
“Don’t tell me you’ve got the camp sickness.”
“Just a cough.” Salyn cleared his throat again.
“Best to not stay around the peasants and mercenaries. The surrounding air is ripe with it. We lost many in the night due to it.”
The women he had chosen were of good stock, not regular peasants. They didn’t have anything.
Salyn shook his head and looked out at the blue barrier-covered outpost as trebuchets flung their rocks at it, striking the barrier right in front of the wall. Some fell short between the pits and the wall.
A returning stone smashed through their siege weapons, turning into an explosion of splinters and metal.
Salyn grunted. Most of the stones struck the ground around the siege weapons.
“Their fire pots must not reach that far,” Salyn said.
“No, and many of their stones fell short. We’re at the limit of our range to hit their wall, but their weapons are back from the wall. Their weapons are better made, and their range is further as a result.”
Ikeda looked at the outpost, wrapped in his own thoughts.
Salyn fell silent as the morning wore on and more of the lords appeared.
Some coughed or sneezed while others made excuses to remain in their tents.
45
Build and Destroy
Blaze toweled off his face as he walked to the side of the training square. It had been broken up into several different areas. Nearest to him, parties ordered into squads were training in hand-to-hand combat. He grabbed a ladle and poured water into a cup, drinking it.
The weak stamina concoction in the water helped to revitalize him as Emilia walked over, decked in Alvan gear.
“Well, you look the part.” Blaze grinned, drinking from his cup.
Emilia examined her armor with a wry smile. “I swear it’s been worn by at least three or four people.”
Blaze gasped as he finished his cup and stored it away. Laughter coiled in the back of his throat.
“I come with orders and updates.”
The laughter faded. Blaze waved for her to join him as he walked down to the training area.
“Are we moving out?”
“Not yet. Once the United Sect Army is committed, they’ll have us attack. Preparations and routes of advance into the fourth realm have been readied and organized.” She pulled out a folder and passed it to Blaze.
He checked the rough maps and plans, storing it away.
His eyes passed over his guild members. Some of them were wearing rag-tag gear; supply was still trying to catch up with all the new people. Even if they didn’t have the newest gear from the Alva army, Alva’s armories had been opened. Journeyman armor was the norm, with pieces of Expert gear.
“You think they are ready for it?” Emilia asked.
“Ready?” Blaze shook his head. “Are any of us ready when the spells start landing and iron meets meat? We’re stronger than we’ve ever been with the cultivation pods, direct training, and gear, but we’re not as strong as the main army. Although, we have experience on our side.
“If we can crush the United Sect Army at the gates, then we can change the balance of power, bring the enemy down. The beginning of the end starts at Vuzgal.”
“What about afterward?” Emilia asked.
Blaze’s eyes focused, pulling them away from the training to Emilia.
“Afterward.” He exhaled. “The guild will continue. I have had assurances from the council and the lords. Those that prove themselves in the guild can train in Alva and their families will be allowed to live there. They will all need to be checked before they gain residency. We will continue to operate through the ten realms as we have in the past. A subsidiary of Alva. If more fighting comes in the future because of being part of Alva, the guild members will get the same option. They can fight for Alva, or they can leave the guild and take care of themselves.”
“How are the talks with our old allies?”
“I’ve talked to some of them. They’re non committal, for the most part. The Silver Dragons are sending over reports, as are some others.” Blaze shrugged.
“They’re protecting their own asses if we lose.”
“Yeah, and this isn’t the time to ask for their support. When we win or have something to show for it, it will make our cause stronger.”
“Makes us sound like sects, power plays.”
“We might not want to be a sect, but we have the power of one. We have to play the game, at least. If we don’t, then we’ll die without knowing where the final blow came from.”
“I just want to get back to running security on convoys, drinking beers, and making fun of Derrick and his pointy swords.”
Blaze chuckled, turning somber, seeing something within his mind. “We all do, but peace, is a plant watered with blood.”
Emilia stood straighter. “Command wants to start moving us into the fourth realm as soon as possible to reinforce our people there.”
Blaze smiled and looked at her. I wonder if she realized she didn’t call them Vuzgalians or Alvans. He stood straighter, it was time they returned the support they’d gained in the shadows over the years.
Evernight opened Aditya’s office door to find Erik looking over King’s Hill.
“Sir,” she greeted.
“Construction is going quickly,” Erik remarked, turning his head from the window.
“We have the inner keep now, the main city, and the outer quarters,” Evernight said, moving to stand next to him.
“Tripled your size in just ten days.”
“The mages did most of it.” Evernight looked at the ringed walls standing twenty meters tall, interspersed with stone towers and walkways wide enough for two carts to travel side by side. Siege weapons were being prepared at the tops of the towers, massive things, twice the size of mobile versions.
More towers dotted the quarters, some in different stages of completion.
Tents were set out in grids running up the hill to the inner walls. Crews were going along, growing trees into houses. Others, without mages, were using wood from the lumberjacks toiling away in the forest, clearing the area of trees.
Carts rolled in day and night, carrying refugees with nowhere else to go, as well as dirt, stone, and lumber to aid the massive building project.
“Wish we could do better than tents,” Erik said.
“The bunkers are coming along. We’ll have enough room to hold all the refugees,” Evernight assured him.
“I hope so.” Erik sighed.
Evernight felt the air contract and release with his movements. Then any sense of mana manipulation was gone, as if he was just another person from the first realm without any cultivation.
Seeing him there, it feels like everything will be all right. Evernight mentally shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
“Did you have something you wanted to talk about?” Erik turned in the silence. His h
air had been cut to regulation, and he was clean-shaven.
“Sir, I wanted to talk about what happens after we push back the kingdoms.”
“I think it might be a little premature to talk about that,” Erik said.
“People are going to have questions. Where all this support came from, mages that can pull walls out of the ground. We should be ready for that.”
Erik grimaced. “Feels like bad mojo to plan for it.”
“If we don’t plan now, we’ll end up reacting rather than acting.”
“Okay, so what are you thinking?”
“First, we get the people on contracts to make sure that our secrets hold, at least most of them. Two, we expand the Consortium to bring in people from among the refugees. Make them loyal to us. A negotiation with the other kingdoms. Control land around the Beast Mountain Range. Set down farms, put up defensive towers and add a buffer zone for warning in case of attack. Keep bandits from entering the Beast Mountain Range.” Erik reeled off his thoughts.
“Why the farmland?”
“A nation needs food.”
“A nation?”
“Sir, if we win, we will control the Beast Mountain Range under a unified and complete council. It will have a standing army and a population equal to most kingdoms. The outposts could swell into cities and King’s Hill would be our capital. The Consortium will be one of our powerful levers and a major draw to the surrounding kingdoms. We will have shown we can defend ourselves. Those that didn’t attack us will seek alliances.”
“So, we’d really create a nation?”
“Yes, one hundred thousand of ours against nearly four hundred thousand of theirs, with a dungeon, resources, room to grow and train. That sounds pretty damn good in the First Realm.”
Erik nodded. “All right, what else?”
Evernight took a deep breath and braced herself. “Do we want to control the First Realm or just the Beast Mountain Range?”
Erik shrugged. “Never owned a planet before. What’re the pros and cons?”
“Pros: we would get a large draw of people. Cons: massive administration issues, turn into a quagmire.”
“And for just the Beast Mountain Range?”
“We control it completely. We raise it to be a symbol in the First Realm. It makes us a target, but it allows us to control the realm in different areas and gather the best people. A change here could ripple through the rest of the First Realm.”
“Let’s just deal with the Beast Mountain Range then.”
“Okay, so then I have some other questions.”
“You ask Delilah about this?”
“Yes, and she answered all the ones she could and told me to ask you the rest.”
“Awesome,” Erik grumbled. “Keep going.”
Evernight smiled. “The military will need to expand to support all the Beast Mountain Range. How do we want to organize them as a supplement to the Alva Military, or as an isolated unit with Alvan training as they are now?”
“Gonna be a long night,” Erik said before his eyes wandered, thinking.
Marco accepted the letter from the Blue Lotus messenger. He quickly opened and read it, raising an eyebrow.
Impressive. He didn’t think that someone could write as if they were yelling. It was obviously written to piss off the Willful Institute. It slighted the other sects, but gave them an option out. Blood for blood, it seemed.
Marco read the letter twice and then passed it to Master Teacher Feng Dan. He was calm reading through it. It was antagonistic and played right into his hands. He needed a reason to keep on fighting to win. It was the first domino that could send the others falling across the realms.
This letter had been written to piss him off and drive him into action. They want me to attack them?
His eyes sharpened. It felt as if a hidden set of eyes was looking at him. He unconsciously looked in the direction of Vuzgal.
“They want a fight. We’ll tear down their city,” Feng Dan snarled, practically tossing the letter to Hae Woo-Sung.
“We will not accept the mediation. Clearly, the Vuzgal city lords wish to use this opportunity to insult our armies and our sect,” Marco snarled, looking at the messenger.
“Do you have a letter you wish to pass on?”
Marco knew that he had to play his part; a life at the peak of the sect had taught him well. “Tell them this. We will tear apart their city, kill their families, and search out any of their ancestral lines and erase them!” he snapped.
The messenger was unfazed. “I will pass it on.” The woman bowed her head slightly and left the command center.
We’ll have your fight, but you must be hiding more. Vuzgal, you have not failed to impress me.
“How are our forces?” Marco asked Leonia, making sure his voice would only pass to her ears.
“We have eight hundred thousand in the camps.”
“How many in fighters and aerial forces?”
“One hundred and seventy-five thousand in fighters, thirty thousand in aerial fighters.”
He needed to decide whether to continue sending out testing attacks to learn more about the enemy or go all-in on a larger attack to overwhelm and smash Vuzgal open. They needed a quick victory. They had been here too long already, with no direct action. We’ll do a test, make it look like a test and then attack.
“Okay, let’s plan our next offensive. I wish to reply to the people of Vuzgal with more than just words!” Marco’s words were at odds with the calm surety of his mind.
Other sect commanders and personnel growled in agreement.
Angry, remorseful, yelling or being quiet, they’re all just tools.
“How long will it take to mobilize all of our forces for an attack?”
“It would depend. For an assault without support, we would need a week; with our siege weaponry, add in another week.”
“Move up our ranged siege weaponry. I want to see just how strong their mana barrier is.” Marco grabbed a tile on the map that represented the siege weaponry and pushed it up toward Vuzgal. “Prepare our ground and aerial fighters. We’ll test their defenses throughout the day and night. We’ll exhaust them. At the same time, have stealth fighters find the gaps in their defensive structures. In three weeks, we attack!”
He'd need to play things close to the chest to make sure that Vuzgal’s spies wouldn’t have time to react to the real attack. In the next week, he’d attack with everything he had. He was betting it all on this one attack. If we lose our aerial forces, then we won’t have another chance.
“Those must be the forces from Vermire. Haven’t seen those banners here before,” Pan Kun said, passing the viewing glasses to Nasreen.
She checked quickly before passing them to Lukas.
“Sooner than I thought.” Pan Kun glanced at the mid-morning sun that had burned away the morning chill, warming the wall and those behind it.
The first realm kingdoms’ siege weapons were firing from extreme range. Behind them, fighters had been organized into squares.
“Those mounts have to be guards,” Pan Kun phrased it as a question.
“You think they’d waste mounted on us? Not sure who those sorry bastards are, but they’re not here because they want to be,” Nasreen said.
“I agree. They’re in groups with spears, watching the infantry. Vanguard suicide force, I’d guess.”
“Probably the runners from yesterday.” Pan Kun shifted his armor around. “I don’t like how close they’re hitting to the bottom of our wall, or the fact some rounds are skipping over the damn ground. They’re smashing the pots up. Barrier is cracking the rocks for now, but if they get through the wood cladding and hit the walls, that’s gonna start throwing up some sparks.”
“Good thing we only have the small ones and we packed them in groups of nine.” Lukas said.
“Not like they’re going to call off the attack,” Nasreen said.
“Nope, not for those poor fuckers.” Pan Kun rubbed his face and took in a deep brea
th.
The Army that was supposed to have taken Vermire now took up position behind the guarded members stuck behind the siege weapons.
“Here it is,” Lukas said.
Mana cannons bellowed, releasing their spells as they hit the mana barrier.
“Six of them now. That should be all the cannons that the Willful Institute gave them.”
The cannons charged up again and fired.
“Looks like they don’t care about the mana stones anymore,” Lukas muttered.
“Get everyone that we can fit underground into the bunkers. Have the forces on the wall ready to rush down as well,” Pan Kun said. “I don’t think they’ll come until they crack our wall this time.”
46
Rebuttal
“Barrier can’t take much more of this,” Pan Kun told Lieutenant Lee.
“We can use the stronger mana barrier, but that’ll give away that not everything is normal around here.”
“Yeah, an impenetrable barrier. I hate making these kinds of decisions.” Pan Kun looked at Nasreen.
“Evacuate the wounded to the rear, pull out our supplies. Prepare everything for the retreat. I only want those fighting left inside the city. If people are wounded, soldiers will take them to the medical carts at the rear and provide security. Once the carts are filled, they’re to head to the rear. Shut down and remove the teleportation formations. Lee, you and your people check the poison pots. Set them off before we get out of here. Your people will form up at the western gate into the range. You’ll be my quick reaction force.”
“Sir,” Lee nodded.
Nasreen took notes.
“Lukas and his people will break off once they’re driven past the first row of houses. It will fall to you, Nasreen, to cover their retreat and create distance between the enemy and us. Use your archers and the outpost buildings to funnel them and slow them. You have your spell scrolls?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Use them as you need them, and your commanders as well. Leave the siege weaponry where it is, light it on fire if you can. It should slow the enemy. I don’t want anyone or anything left behind. Once you get clear of the buildings on this side—”
Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8) Page 54
