City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

Rahzira Axseer

“Faster, we are only minutes away,” I ordered as I moved with my army.

I could see the images, and they are heavily engaged. They have even reached near the gate.

Looking at the situation, they are in a precarious position.

They are surrounded by the forces of the undead, who are attacking them with everything they have to prevent them from reaching the gate.

I wanted to ride ahead like the cavalry did minutes ago, but as a leader, I need to be with the army.

Besides my class, there is no skill to let me fight in the front. I need to be in the middle to command the force and gather my power for the attack.

The army moved fast, with each step taking us closer and closer to the gate.

As I was doing that, I felt another aura awakening. It’s the second one, coming from the same direction.

I am not surprised, seeing the kind of pressure those people are under.

Finally, after it felt like hours, the southern gate came into view, and our progress slowed.

There are mines, and the undead also begin to attack us from the walls with cannons and spells.

Though it is far less intense than earlier, my mages defended against them while clearing the mines as we moved forward, getting closer and closer to the wall.

It would have been much faster if we had Chief Elar. Still, our mages worked hard and finally, we reached the wall.

“Mages build the stairs. Lt. Uram, your brigade will be the vanguard taking the wall,” I ordered. “Affirm, General,” he replied, and his brigade moved forward, climbing the stairs that formed before them.

He had never done this before, but he was practicing, and right now, his brigade is the best choice.

They are fast and deadly; they are our best bet to capture the wall.

Seeing him moving, I couldn’t help but feel guilty.

I still remember his father coming to our tribe to sell the ores he had mined for food for his young son, but my husband had sent him away.

He feared the curse of the craizan, like all the other tribes. It was why they were expelled from their tribe.

I pushed those thoughts and gave more orders. Putting Calvary in front of the gates. Behind them is Lt. Colonel Gilan’s brigade, which is more defensive than average.

We need to capture the wall to support the internal fight before opening the gate.

Only then will the army be able to enter the city.

…

Orwin Dunwall

I know what it is.

Aura, people call it the strongest power in the world, one that only a few can awaken. I had never thought I would be able to awaken it, but here I am.

It didn’t bring me joy as it would have at any other time.

I got over my shock quickly and looked for any helpful information I had about the aura. I have heard a lot about it, but I found most of it useless.

Until I found useful things.

Aura strengthens the skills; I don’t know, but I could only think of one way. Pushing aura into them, like how mages push mana into their spells.

I moved to do that, but found the aura slipping through my hold.

It feels like I am trying to scoop up a large amount of oil with an open palm. I felt like I didn’t have the tools to get it.

I tried again, but got only faintly more this time. I didn’t try again. Instead, I moved the scooped aura toward my skills.

I didn’t have time; his attack was about to clash with mine. The direct clash would send me back, giving him a chance to finish me off.

As I did, I felt the resistance, more like a wall.

For a moment, I thought it was not possible, but seeing the sabre coming toward me. I decided to give it my all.

The wall didn’t move, but tiny holes opened after a struggle. As the aura entered the skills, I felt them strengthening; they were only slightly strengthened, but I felt it clearly.

Clang!

His saber clashed against my halberd, and I nearly lost hold of my aura as I felt the powerful shock that sent me back.

“Awakening the aura won’t change your fate. You were an ant before, you are an ant now!” he said and followed with another attack.

I took more aura and pushed into my skill, while my halberd was in my hand.

This time, it is slightly faster than earlier and barely able to reach the saber.

Clang Clang Clang!

We clashed again and again, while he pushed me back. However, as time passed, I got pushed back less and less.

At every turn, I would push more and more aura into the skills. Making them stronger, and he noticed it, seeing how fiery the anger blazed in his eyes.

“Bastard!” he spat and intensified his attack.

I countered, but he is too fast and powerful. However, slowly and surely, I began to improve as I got more and more familiar with the aura.

As it was happening, I felt a suppressive feeling covering me from behind.

It made his expressions even worse. For a moment, I didn’t understand it before recognising that it was the awakening of the aura.

I didn’t have to look back to know who it was.

It gave me hope, and I was able to infuse more of my aura into my skills than I had before this time.

Clang!

My halberd clashed, and for the first time, I didn’t move back. Only my arm shook a little.

“I will kill you!”

He roared and attacked. I responded immediately, pushing even more aura into my skills.

Clang!

The blades clashed, and this time, I didn’t even shake.

“You and all the undead will pay for what you did to the city,” I said to him and attacked, pushing even more aura into the skills.

These people destroyed the city.

Before, it was not the best place, but it was good. Since the undead arrived, things have worsened.

They have made us slaves and put people to growing drugs, making many of them addicted. Even some of the army got addicted.

It was a great struggle to get off the substance. Some were beyond saving, leaving no choice but to let them go.

I pushed those thoughts away and focused.

The aura is not easy; it is putting pressure on me, and I started to bleed through my orifices. Bloodseal did not stop the blood that leaked from self-harm.

Clang Clang Clang!

Our blades clashed, with each of my attacks getting slightly stronger than the last, till the time came when they became strong enough that I was able to push him back.

A shock appeared on his face as he took a step back. He looked like he couldn’t believe it.

I didn’t waste any time and attacked him as he took a step back, like he used to attack me. He reacted quickly despite being shocked, demonstrating his experience.

“Don’t think, your little power is enough to kill me,” he said. I didn’t reply to him and attacked.

I don’t care what he says. The only thing I care about is killing him.

Clang Clang Clang!

I begin to attack him hard and fast, using every skill I have, but he is the man with more experience. Even as my strength increased with every attack, he continued to defend.

I could feel the attacks on me increasing. More arrows and spells begin to strike me.

‘We won’t be able to hold on for long!’ Veyra’s strained voice rang out in my mind. I understood it; they were able to hold on for this long, which is already surprising.

‘Hold as long as possible,’ I replied to her. I wanted her to stop, but this is the battle, and we all have to push beyond our limits to survive it.

Clang!

I don’t know how long it passed, but finally I was able to avoid his saber and gave a cut across his chest.

It is not a small cut, but almost deep enough to kill him.

For the first time, since the battle began. I saw the fear appearing in his eyes.

It didn’t give me any relief; I have fought enough battles to know. The battle isn’t finished till the enemy is dead.

Clang!

I didn’t stop and attacked again, and he defended before I was able to give him another cut and then another on the stomach, breaching through his armor.

It is especially deep.

He opened his mouth. When his expressions changed, they became even worse.

“Fuck!” he cursed, but the next moment, he brought his saber forward to defend against it.

He defended my attack, and then another before, when once more my halberd cut across his leg.

I moved for another attack when I noticed something—a disturbance on the wall.

‘They have arrived,’ a relieved voice rang out in my mind, and I saw a flash of white.

A strange orc appeared on the wall and swung his axe. It moved at such speed and precision that it had not only cut through the scores of undead, but also two living people.

He made the reverse swing and cut another score without stopping

Behind him, people appeared, mostly humans, but also a few orcs.

They moved fast, with their blades and spells cutting down any resistance, be it undead or people. Blades went toward them, as did arrows and spells, but nothing seemed to stop them.

They moved like a red-hot knife through butter, cutting through anything that appeared in their way.

It scared some of the undead’s people so much that they jumped off the wall, while the undead pushed toward them. Though they didn’t do anything much, they couldn’t even slow them down.

Seventeenth Battalion.

I had read about them from an intelligence dossier—the elite battalion of Greltheaven.

It is said to be led by a young orc, who is a demon in battle. He had killed mages and Lv. 30’s, before becoming Lv. 30 himself. I could see the reports weren’t an exaggeration.

They even seemed to underestimate him.

Clang!

I watched from the corner of my eye before focusing on the enemy in front of me.

“Enjoy the little time you have, because you will die very soon!” he said, and he moved, not toward the gate where the majority of the undead had gathered, but to the opposite side.

He is running away.

There is no way I will let him do that. He will only go to the underworld.

Clang!

I moved with swift steps and launched an attack. He stopped and defended, but before he could try to move back, I attacked again, stopping him in his tracks.

Clang!

Another cut appeared across his arm. He glared at me angrily and tried to move.

I was about to attack once more when I noticed something. A large group of undead is moving toward me. Earlier, they gave us enough space to fight, but now they are coming to envelop us.

I know what this is, and I can’t let it happen.

I know enough that once he hid among the undead. It will be tough to kill him.

It is why it’s very hard to kill these bastards from the undead forces.

‘He has to die!’ I said, and took a large amount of aura and pushed it into skills. It put so much pressure on me that my veins popped, but I don’t care.

The power filled me, and I launched an attack.

He seemed to feel the power and moved to a defensive stance.

Clang!

My halberd clashed against his saber with great force.

So much so that I heard his bones cracking before he started to take unstable steps back with deep fear appearing in his eyes.

“I “

He opened his mouth, but I already swung my halberd, pushing an even greater aura into my skill. This time, I only pushed Aura into my attack skill.

He moved his saber to defend, but my halberd was too fast, and it reached him instantly, before touching his neck.

Pachack!

The next moment, my halberd cut through it. Making the wet sound.

I didn’t spare it another glance and turned back. My eyes met Veyra’s, and she smiled, before I saw her fall, her body as pale as paper.

“Veyra!” I screamed and ran toward her, forgetting everything else.

I didn’t sense the awakening or the undead, which I cut through like grass.

My halberd crushed through anything that came into my path, undead, arrows, spells, before reaching her.

She is on the ground, with a few blood soldiers watching over her. I stopped beside her and took her; it felt cold, and her pulse was so weak that it felt like it could stop any moment.

“She had lost too much blood and was suffering from mana burn.” “I fed her a healing potion, but her injuries are too severe to heal her,” said a familiar voice.

I didn’t even look up and took out my healing potion and fed her.

It didn’t seem to work.

“Healing spell,” I pleaded, despite knowing no one here knows a healing spell. All the mages who know the healing spell are with the commander.

I cannot lose her; she is the only light in my life. She made even this miserable place liveable.

Dhud!

I was thinking of the way to save her when I heard the deafening noise and turned.

Only to see the huge gate opening.

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