Chapter 210 - The Final Push I

As soon as the Aegis Array fully enclosed the town, a sense of relief and victory washed over all of us.

We had fought continuously for the last fifteen days. No matter the injuries we received or the friends we lost, every able-bodied soldier had returned to the wall to fight for themselves and their families.

And now, with the array active, we knew that the final phase of the siege was upon us.

While our survival in the next phase was still uncertain, we knew that we had at least a few hours during which we would not have to maintain such a strict guard.

Perhaps we might even be able to relax a little.

Still, we stood our ground and waited for our next orders.

Those orders came within a few minutes.

I sensed mana spreading throughout the town. Then, as if the voice were speaking directly into my ears, I heard the Captain.

“Maintain half strength on the walls. The remaining soldiers can rest near the wall. The Aegis Array should hold for the next four hours, but continue manning the walls at half strength. Attacks from powerful mages or multiple attacks from mana cannons can still destroy the Aegis Array.”

There was a slight pause before the Captain continued.

“Everyone listening to this order should report to the command building after organizing their sections.”

As soon as the Captain stopped speaking, Lela and Leif looked at me and nodded, confirming that they had received the same order.

I allowed the most exhausted soldiers and those with minor injuries to rest for the first two hours. Then I ordered them to replace the soldiers standing guard once they had finished resting.

After that, I put Peter in charge of the section and told him about the warning the Captain had given.

Once I was done organizing my unit, I made my way down the wall.

Leif and Lela had also finished organizing their squad by then, so they joined me as well.

As we started moving toward the command building, my thoughts wandered to last night’s events.

“Do you know the lieutenant with the shadow affinity?” I asked.

When the attack happened, I had been on the wall. Even then, I had not been able to identify the attacker on Avalon’s side because, under the cover of night, shadow-element users were very difficult to see. Even the report I had received did not mention who the lieutenant was.

Moreover, from what I remembered, during the introduction of the Tier-4s before the harassment units were officially formed, no one had possessed a shadow affinity.

There was a chance that some changes had taken place at the last minute.

“Yeah, it was Lieutenant Gaius Vallentis. He is the leader of the mages in the Petrae Battalion,” Leif said.

“Vallentis? Is he related to Duke Severian Morthas Vallentis?”

The lieutenant’s last name shocked me.

Duke Severian Morthas Vallentis was well known throughout the kingdom. He was the first general of King Rex, and from what I knew, he was also the head of the Seven General Council.

More importantly, he was one of the oldest Tier-7s in the Kingdom of Avalon.

Leif shrugged, indicating that he was not sure, but Lela answered from the side.

“From what I know, he is not from the main family, but given his last name, I am certain that he is from a branch family. Family names are important to old nobles. At least in this kingdom, you will not find another family with the same last name as an old noble house.”

Her tone reminded me of the way she used to talk to me in the library at Stonegate. It looked like Lela still had more knowledge about noble matters than either Leif or me.

We walked in silence for the next few minutes.

Then Leif said, “Do you think we can take them? Especially now that the mana cannons are active?”

His voice made it sound as though he were simply thinking aloud rather than asking either Lela or me directly.

This was something I had also been wondering about, so I voiced my thoughts.

“I would assume that, at the higher tiers, there should not be much difference in raw power. As for the mana cannons, they require too many mana crystals, but so does the Aegis Array. So I think it will come down to how many mana crystals each side has.”

“Doesn’t that put us at a disadvantage?” Lela asked.

I sighed.

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She was right.

With Frosthallow’s supply line still intact, they should be able to request as many mana crystals as they needed. But with us trapped here, our supply was limited to whatever the town had on the day the Tier-5 trapped it within his domain.

To make matters worse, Avalon had been caught by surprise, which meant that we had made no prior preparations for this siege.

I also did not know whether the initial attack had affected the crystal storage.

Leif sighed beside me, probably having the same thoughts as I did, and said, “Let’s hope Captain Petrae has some plan for that.”

We arrived at the command building, and it felt as though almost all the command personnel had gathered there today.

Even the mages were present.

Moreover, it looked as though every Tier-4 currently in town had gathered as well. There were the eight Tier-4s who had been introduced to us during the planning for the night raids, and even Lieutenant Gaius Vallentis was present.

All the Tier-4s had taken seats placed along the length of the hall, while the rest of us stood behind them. The head seat, set upon a raised platform made of earth, had been left empty for the Captain.

Once everyone had gathered, Captain Petrae entered the hall. With a wave of his hand, the doors of the command hall closed by themselves. The Captain made his way to the head seat. Then he spread his mana as usual, preventing anyone from spying on the meeting. He looked at all of us and addressed the room.

“Soldiers of Avalon, sixty days ago, when this entire town was trapped inside the death dome, if someone had asked me whether Velkar could survive being besieged for fifteen days by more than twenty thousand barbarians, I would have told them that only a miracle could save this town.”

A hint of surprise appeared on everyone’s faces.

No one had expected the Captain to say such words.

“And today, I stand before you, happily proven wrong. It was not one miraculous event that allowed us to hold out this long, but the collective efforts of every soldier present in this town.

“From the precise strike of Lieutenant Gaius Vallentis, which forced Frosthallow to finally launch an all-out attack against us, to the improvements made to the defensive arrays by Senior Lieutenant Scaevola and Lady Flavia, to the exemplary performance of our mage units, each contribution helped us deal heavier losses to the enemy than I had expected. It was these small victories and improvements, one after another, that brought us to a position where I can finally see a glimmer of victory in this siege.”

“Usually, acknowledgment of outstanding performance is reserved until after the war is completely over. But today, I want to acknowledge a few people who delivered the most outstanding results.

“The first name that comes to mind is Senior Lieutenant Caeso. He has saved almost half of the Tier-4 combatants standing here. Combined with the great work done by his company at the infirmary, his efforts have been invaluable. Even though he is my friend, I am surprised by just how much he and his company improved when Avalon and its people needed them most.”

The Captain nodded to Senior Lieutenant Caeso, who had a proud smile on his face.

“Another name is no surprise: someone who is my equal, Captain Roscoe, along with his house. He reinforced the walls of this town with earth magic, allowing us to detect multiple infiltration attempts by Frosthallow that somehow remained hidden even from Senior Lieutenant Torquatus’s senses.

“And then there is one name that embodies the progress we have made during this siege.”

The Captain looked at me.

“Sergeant Edward.”

I was left in complete shock.

“He is only a Tier-2 sergeant, but he has contributed more than many lieutenants. While the list of the sergeant’s contributions is long, one of the most important was the training of the town’s militia.

“My initial expectation was that we would recruit six hundred to seven hundred militia soldiers. But the sergeant exceeded that number, recruiting more than one thousand militia members by cleverly handling the commoners’ fear and the merchants’ greed.

“Even more surprising is that, with the combined efforts of Sergeant Edward’s squad, Senior Lieutenant Caeso, and many veterans from the Petrae and Roscoe Battalions, this militia did not feel as though they had been forced to fight during a desperate struggle for survival. Instead, I saw hope in their eyes, which allowed them to do one thing that most militias fail to do.

“They follow orders."

“And as a result, even after fifteen days, we still have six hundred militia members in fighting shape.”

Then, taking a deep breath, the Captain looked at everyone once again.

“But this is not the time to become complacent."

“Now, I will go into the specifics and discuss the plan to end this siege."

“You see, after the death of Frosthallow’s Blood Chief, I expected this type of reaction. For Frosthallow, Blood Chiefs are not merely captains or lieutenants in the army. They are clan leaders, or they hold such high positions that the low-tier soldiers of their factions worship them."

“If Frosthallow’s military commander does not avenge the loss of a Blood Chief, members of that faction or clan will take matters into their own hands, either causing chaos on the battlefield or, if the faction is large enough, forcing the commanders to do what they did today."

I knew the special position that Blood Chiefs held in Frosthallow, but I had never thought it could be exploited this way. It was a form of reconnaissance through provocation.

“As for why I wanted them to become more aggressive toward us, there are multiple reasons. Most importantly, it revealed how many mana cannons they have and gave us a clearer estimate of the number of mages among their forces."

“And this made the gamble I took almost fourteen days ago successful."

“When the Tier-5 wind mage’s domain lifted, I observed the militia’s performance the next day and informed command to reduce the reinforcements coming to us by half, from two battalions to one. I asked them to increase the number of mana crystals they were bringing and reduce the food supply slightly."

“This reduced their travel time, and they will arrive tonight."

“And after today’s attack, I am certain that we require one final push—one that will decide our victory or defeat."

“Tonight, there will be two attacks."

His tone changed, carrying the confidence of a chess player who had been slowly manipulating his opponent and was now only one move away from successfully springing his trap.

“Every Tier-4 present here, except Gaius and Caeso, will come with me. We will lead a strike force made up of mages and archers to attack their Tier-5 wind mage. That means we will attack through the western gate."

“A concentrated unit made up of section leaders and powerful warriors will attack through the southern gate, supporting our arriving reinforcements and clearing the way for them. This group will be supported by Gaius, while Caeso will remain in town, prepared to heal those injured during the final push."

“Upon seeing this many mages and Tier-4s take the field, Frosthallow will be forced to move its higher-tier combatants to protect its Tier-5. With most of their Tier-4s out of the way and the advantage of a pincer attack, we should be able to bring the reinforcements and supplies back to town."

“Receiving those reinforcements and supplies will secure our victory. If we successfully bring the soldiers and mana crystals into town, Frosthallow will realize that capturing Velkar has only become more difficult. There is a strong chance they will retreat rather than continue wasting soldiers and resources."

“Even if they do not retreat, the town should easily be able to hold for another thirty days. By that time, no matter what happens at Stonegate, we will have at least two Tier-5 individuals available to support us.”