The first IED went off suddenly. The other groups halted slightly and then forged ahead. They had become used to the IEDs. The commanders ordered them forward, knowing that there was nothing else that they could do.
More of the IEDs went off, but there were only a few in their path that far out.
“Mortars?” Erik asked.
“Loaded with smoke and poison as you ordered,” Lucinda replied.
Erik nodded, not taking his eyes off the advancing army. He leaned on the battlements and linked his hands together, holding his head as he watched the enemies advance.
“Just what is your range?” he asked himself. Xi and Lucinda remained quiet as they scanned the area, Night Terror above so Lucinda could give Erik real-time updates on what was happening on the battlefield.
The armies finally reached the two-kilometer mark and started to make a new temporary camp. The ground was cleared and organized, with magic making perfect firing positions in minutes as the siege weaponry was deployed and put down.
“Looks like they were keeping some trump cards hidden,” Erik said. There was nearly three times the amount of weapons that Storbon had reported.
“Shall we have the undead attack?” Rugrat asked through an open channel between the two of them.
“Hold off for now. When they enter the city or use their Elites and Masters, then we’ll use Rising Coffin,” Erik said.
With Elizabeth and so many undead mages at their control, it would have been criminal negligence if they didn’t alter the battlefield according to their advantage. They had dug a series of tunnels underground, using the ingenuity of different guerilla forces across Earth.
They could place IEDs under the enemy, or have the undead climb up through the ground and attack the enemy from underneath.
“Have them place IEDs under the different weapon teams, and along the path that they traveled down toward their current position from their camp,” Erik said.
“Understood,” Rugrat said.
Siege weapons were revealed among the Blood Demon army as the aerial forces moved higher into the sky. The smoke screen continued to blind the siege weapons, making them unable to see the walls of Vuzgal.
The weapons were already loaded. Seconds after they were deployed, they were ready to fire.
Trebuchet arms were released and ballista arms straightened as the runes across the cannons lit up with power, draining the Mana stone at their rear. A magical formation appeared around the front of the cannon; a blue beam cut through the smoke, followed with hundreds of five-foot arrows, and enchanted payloads from the trebuchets.
The different weapons struck the barriers of Vuzgal, but others, with their view obscured, landed in the ground.
==========
Event
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The city of Vuzgal is under attack! Pick a side!
Defend Vuzgal
Attack Vuzgal
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You have picked to Defend Vuzgal
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The barrier stood strong. Within the main tower of the city, a chunk of Mana stones was turned into dust. It was a large chunk, but before the dust had settled, one could see that more Mana stones were starting to form in the open space. The Mana of the Earth realm was naturally higher, combined with the Mana gathering formations in the city and the large dungeon core in a land that had been fought over for centuries. It might have lost some power, but the interior of the hidden dungeon core room was becoming cramped with Mana stones.
The mortars didn’t stop falling but their pace was more sedated now. The army looked through the holes in the smoke, but Vuzgal disappeared once again.
Based on our power usage, it would take nearly a week for them to siege us and open up our barriers. If we leave their army alive, then they might just try to do that. Though there has to be a pressure on them to kill us off as soon as possible. It would be hard for them to drag this out.
Erik was trying to figure out just what the opposing general’s plan was. If he could figure out what was driving her, then he could make plans to counteract. If she wanted to wear him down, then he could oblige and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
Aerial mounted forces reported back to the Blood Demon army how the attack had gone.
Erik looked up at them as the soldiers under the Blood Demon army reloaded their weapons. “Rugrat, see if you can come up with something to get rid of their eyes in the sky.”
A second volley was fired, the Mana barrier around Vuzgal flashing with impacts.
“I’ve got a plan,” Rugrat said. “I’ll need the heavy repeaters though.”
“You’ve got them. I’ll only need them if the army charges forward into close range of the wall.”
“Understood.”
“Get the mortars to split fire, half smoke and poison, half high power shells. Let’s see if we can’t drain some of those shields,” Erik said to Xi.
“Understood.”
For the first time, the high-powered shells were deployed. They went off like thunder claps, hitting the back of the Mana barriers, while smoke landed in front and poison landed all around. The army was isolated from their Elites and Masters, being hit from every side. As they drank antidotes, they fired a third volley. Their motions picked up in speed; they felt the pressure as their sections Mana stones were drained to power the siege weapons and the mobile Mana barriers. If the barriers failed, they would be left open to the mortars fire.
***
“All heavy repeaters are ready,” Hiao Xen said.
“All right, we’ll drive them into you.” Rugrat looked around the cleared area. There were hundreds of undead creatures with mages on their backs, lined up in rows, unmoving like statues.
There were hundreds of aerial mounted men and women of the Blue Lotus and Crafter’s Association as well.
“Mount up!” Rugrat yelled.
They moved to the open area and got onto their flying mounts.
Rugrat used his sound transmission device, talking to them all at once. “We will gain altitude and come down in the north, using the sun behind us so the aerial forces of the Blood Demon Sect don’t even see us. We want to launch a surprise attack and make them break toward the walls of Vuzgal. Let’s give our people on the ground some target practice,” Rugrat said.
“Move in your formations and don’t lose your team leader. Take down anyone you can, but don’t chase them into our allies’ fire. It’ll be impossible for them to fire up accurately.”
Rugrat swung his leg over and sat down on George, who wore his full battle armor. The weight didn’t seem to affect him much. There was an eager look in his eyes.
Rugrat patted his back and looked at the undead. They had a chilling aura around them, as if a newly sharpened blade waiting to be used.Each wore Journeyman-level equipment, increasing their already powerful Strength. Among them, there might even be the mounted mages who had attacked Rugrat when he had been running through Vuzgal. He didn’t know and he didn’t want to find out. Right now, they were a tool to be used and one of the reasons that they were able to stay in control of the fight.
“Let’s go!” Rugrat shouted. The undead moved with him as the Crafter’s Association and Blue Lotus guards followed. Their beasts charged across the cleared area and spread their wings out as they gained speed and climbed into the sky, flying low and away from the city opposite the approaching army.
They left the trees behind quickly. The sun made their armor and weapons shine as they spread out, breaking down into their assigned formations. As they climbed, the undead banked away. They couldn’t leave the dungeon’s area of effect or else they would quickly lose power. Being from the magical class, it was a given they would burn through their Mana faster than any other fighter.
Rugrat looked to his left. He could see Vuzgal’s Mana barrier taking impacts, unaffected by the attacks. He saw the dust given off by the mortars and the flash of the outgoing rounds. He scanned th
e walls, seeing people moving through the capital carrying out their attacks.
Siege crews were working madly to reload their weapons and fire again.
Cannon fire hit the barrier. The blue blasts burned through the smoke, only for the gaps to be hidden again with the next barrage of smoke rounds.
The Elites and Masters were in their makeshift camp, watching the battle raging. The Elites were grouped together, ready to be ordered into the fight if needed.
Rugrat’s eyes searched through the skies as they continued to fly. He saw the black spots that were the Blood Demon aerial forces.
The battlefield was displayed beneath him as Simms reported what was happening to Erik and the command staff. The mortars’ fire adjusted, becoming more accurate as the repeaters were all readied for action along the walls.
Rugrat started to bank with George. They turned down and to the left, picking up speed. They dropped lower, aiming above and behind the Blood Demon army’s regulars.
“Mortars, hold your fire, hold your fire!” The wind pressed Rugrat’s glasses into his face, distorting his face and making his cloak flutter wildly, chilling him to the bone.
“Mortars are cleared!” Glosil said.
“All right, as we discussed,” Rugrat said to the other mounted aerial forces.
The undead started using spells against the Blood Demon aerial force’s left flank, making them move toward the right as they tried to defend and evade. Coming in the direction of the sun meant that the forces above the sieging army didn’t see them at first. But someone in the camp below must’ve because they turned to react.
“Night night, mother fuckers. Use your scrolls!” Rugrat ordered as he took out two magical scrolls and activated them. The scrolls were torn apart as the other aerial forces used their spell scrolls as well.
Buffs from the mages on the wall fell on Rugrat and his people. Their speed and reaction time increased.
Spell formations appeared in the sky. Tornadoes with winds that could shred a mount and person flew out. Arrows—both those from the spell scrolls and the mounted fighters—were released. The lucky aerial forces were able to dodge and were driven forward, the unlucky ones didn’t need to worry about the attack or anything else as tombstones fell to the ground. The only place that was clear of attacks was the walls of Vuzgal.
Rugrat reared up in his seat and pulled out his twin M32s. He was expressionless as he cast Sure Shot on the rounds and fired. The rounds caught the aerial beasts directly, shredding them and their rider, sending them plummeting to their ends.
The mages and archers behind him used everything at their disposal, switching from spell scrolls to their weapons because the spell scrolls took too long to use in a battle like this.
Rugrat monitored how everything was going before he put his weapons away.
“Bank right!” Rugrat ordered. Everyone disengaged and rushed to the side. The enemy was flying low and fast toward the walls, breaking away themselves.
Rugrat checked where everyone was. “Repeaters, you are cleared to fire!”
***
“Fire!” Hiao Xen yelled.
They had only used a few of them at a time on a testing range. Now there were hundreds of mages, archers, and long-range weapon users adding in their attacks.
Hiao Xen watched the explosive arrow tracers that were loaded into the dual-mounted repeaters filling the sky with lines of ballista arrows.
The Blood Demon aerial forces that had just escaped the long-range attack of the undead mounts on one side and the sneak attack from the remaining aerial forces on the other now found that instead of fleeing to safety, they had walked into the maw of the beast.
The aerial forces had been severely weakened with the ambush from the mortar team along the road. Now, they were cut down out of the sky in droves. A lucky few were able to flee and run back toward their camp.
“Heavy repeaters and ranged, cease fire. Mortars, smoke screen. Fire when ready,” Erik ordered.
“Cease fire!” Hiao Xen yelled. Along the wall line, they recovered and reloaded. The skies changed owners again as the Blood Demon sect aerial forces feld and the Vuzgal defenders replaced them, the mortars continued to fire on the incoming soldiers who responded by firing their siege weapons at Vuzgal’s walls. Their attacks crashing into the other’s barriers.
“Ranged and formation mages, begin your attacks,” Erik ordered.
Mages who had prepared attack formations activated them. They either cast spells, the formations serving to increase their Strength, or activated the formation and the spell within them and acted as a conduit for their power.
Mages cast fireballs with their hands, hurling them out. The fireballs turned from baseballs to the size of a beach balls as they left the formations, a mage turning themselves into a siege weapon as fireballs were launched over the walls of Vuzgal. Spell formations appeared in the skies; beasts started to appear in the skies or on the ground, summoned by the mages.
Magical artillery fire, Mana bolts the size of a grown man, were group-cast by mages working together.
Catapults that had been built across Vuzgal snapped forward as their payloads cleared the wall. The branches fell back to the ground and reset as the undead loaded enchanted rocks.
They waited until the skies were clear so that the enemy wouldn’t know where we have our siege weapons hidden or where our mages stand, Hiao Xen realized as he watched the Blood Demon army.
“Mortars, change to high explosive only,” Erik commanded. His voice was cool, as if a boy talking about how he might open a particularly annoying box.
Hiao Xen thought the firepower from before had been impressive, but now—now it looked like the gods themselves had grown angry as Mana crackled in the air.
Spell formations appeared in the sky above Vuzgal as titanic forces of Mana were unleashed. The Blood Demon army’s retaliation wasn’t any weaker than Vuzgal’s. The Mana barriers of the city and the Blood Demon army weathered the storm, glowing brilliantly as spells slammed into their surface. Lightning caused the barrier to flicker with blinding light as spells of Water and Fire exploded, causing splashes like raindrops hitting water.
Hiao Xen’s stomach tightened as if it were in a vise as he looked up at the destruction being waged above him. All that stood between them and destruction was a Mana barrier.
“Slow your rate of fire, mages. Conserve your energy; tighten up your targeting. Chain spells together to land in the same area.” Erik’s voice was calm, a maestro of destruction. Fire continued to rain down from the Blood Demon Sect as Vuzgal’s fire dropped but their attacks increased in efficiency.
Spells landed on the barriers, one after another. With the pillars drawing in mana the city’s mana concentration was much higher, allowing formations and mages to recover faster than normal.
Without the aerial forces and with the attacks being traded back and forth, Hiao Xen doubted that the Blood Demon Sect knew that they were shooting empty sections of the wall.
It took a lot more fire than the mobile barriers but the barrier along the main wall opened up a few times and through the distortions, the wall was damaged or even destroyed in those sections.
People reported in that they were affected by poisons or curses within the attacks. They were sent back to the aid stations that Erik had created, quickly being cleared and then sent back into battle.
The toughest to deal with were the people affected by the concoction. If they were hit with a poison, then they needed to take an antidote. A healing spell or potion could remove it as well, but if they had not completely resolved the transformation concoction within their bodies, it would flare up and weaken their Strength greatly.
The day continued this way with the two forces exchanging fire. The Blood Demon Sect moved their people around, changing positions and fired at different sections of the wall while the Vuzgal forces mana barriers started to fail in places.
The forces on the wall held their fire, with the melee types wait
ing below the walls.
As the Mana barriers of the Blood Demon army started to fail more often, they started to pull back.
They passed along the same paths they had advanced, thinking that they would be clear.
The mages from the Blood Demon army continued to fire as they retreated, covering the retreat as the mages of Vuzgal changed their aim and targeted the main camp. Their attacks now blocking their sight, making it harder for them to accurately target Vuzgal that was over five kilometers away.
Erik told everyone to check their gear and to rest and eat. The mages worked on rotating shifts to attack the Blood Demon army as IEDs along the retreating siege force went off.
Hiao Xen’s face was hard as he looked at the Blood Demon army. There was no glorious battle, no master dueling master. This was a dirty war, one that worked on the opponents’ minds—making them lose their reason, filling them with fear, and sapping their Stamina.
“I have truly underestimated them” Olivia muttered in a low voice. She was still the highest ranking in all of the guards and he needed her to help him in commanding all of them.
Hiao Xen’s face hardened. “Explain?”
He was short with her, she had gone against his friend after all.
Olivia paused, collecting her thoughts.
“They could have attacked the army from underground, but it would have removed the sieging army and then the Masters and Elites would have had to charge the walls. Erik and Rugrat eliminated their aerial support; they’re blind to what’s happening within Vuzgal now. They showed a lot of power, but it wasn’t any of their real trump cards.
“I doubt that we know those even now. Using the mages, they can recover from their lost Mana and fight again and our melee fighters are still fresh. War is about keeping the enemy from being able to find their balance and pushing the advantages you have.
“Sometimes you show your hand, other times you play your cards bit by bit,” She realized that her remaining doubts while they hadn’t disappeared, she felt more sure of Erik and Rugrat’s actions. They weren’t just two men playing commander.
The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4) Page 48