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——

Parpaldian Camp, 10 Miles South of Le Brias

General Cius awoke with a start, finding himself in a tent. He groaned, feeling an aching pain all over his body. He looked around and saw bandages wrapped around him. “What in the heavens…”

A young man stepped into the tent, hearing the commotion. “General Cius, you’re injured. Please don’t exert yourself.”

“Who…?”

“I’m Magician Vance. I’m one of the healers.”

Cius nodded then rested his head on a pillow, relaxing his body. “What happened?” All he remembered was running to escape the forest fires, and then a brilliant flash of light before he lost consciousness. 

“I apologize, I don’t know much about what happened, only that some sort of explosion knocked out a lot of us. I’m with the reinforcements sent by the Emperor.”

Cius felt nervous. If too much time had passed, the Altarans could’ve developed a considerable defense that even his troops would have difficulty penetrating. If he was facing any other barbarian country, he might not have been so anxious, but the Altarans have proven to be a cunning foe. “The reinforcements…? Boy, how long has it been?”

Vance held up his hands awkwardly. “Oh, don’t worry. It’s only been a couple of days.”

“I see.” Cius began to get up. 

“Sir,” Vance pleaded, “You really should rest.”

Cius sighed. “Have all officers above the rank of captain meet me here in one hour. My body may have been ravaged, but my mind is still in sound condition.”

“I shall see to this at once, General,” Vance bowed before taking his leave. 

——

An hour later, dozens of officers crowded around the entrance of the tent. General Cius sat up, using a map on a wooden table as reference while he explained his strategy. “The walls of Le Brias are heavily defended by the same ballistae that we encountered at sea. Their range is slightly better than our cannons, but they are less numerous. Our objective for this siege will be to eliminate these ballistae so that we can deploy our wyvern lords for air support. To do this, we will set up horse-drawn artillery at intervals.”

The other officers nodded. 

“We have 120 pieces. Some of them will inevitably be lost due to the enemy’s superior range and accuracy. To reduce casualties, I have planned a night siege. Their wall will be clearly illuminated by torchlight during the night, so we may set up our positions under cover of darkness. The First Magician Platoon will apply flare spells onto their defensive positions, which will both illuminate and blind them, making it easier for us to lay fire onto them while simultaneously making it harder for them to lay fire onto us.”

Nods of approval rippled throughout the crowd; most of the officers were impressed by General Cius’ brilliance and adaptability.

“Our scouts have determined the locations of dozens of ballista emplacements, which are marked on the map. The targets will be split evenly between our artillery companies. Only when these ballistae have been eliminated can we move up and take the city. Now, get to work.”

——

Washington D.C.

On a large, wall-mounted screen, thermal imagery depicted the movement of the Parpaldian army. Tracking the unsuspecting men from above, a UAV and its operator took note of the Parpaldian formations. 

“Hmm…” President Lee analyzed the footage. “Have we already informed King Taara?”

The Secretary of State, Gordon Heiden, responded, “King Taara is currently being informed by our embassy staff, sir.”

President Lee’s view switched from the tall blonde man to the screen, where he saw the Altaran ballistae being moved around the wall. Small figures ran up to curious positions along the wall, carrying staffs and brightly glowing boxes. Meanwhile, hundreds of figures within the wall were evacuating north, away from potential hotspots. “This should be interesting,” Lee said. “What about their fleet?”

“Their fleet is now making their way to the Le Brias Port. The port itself is too far away from the walls to provide support, but they can stretch the Altaran defenders thin with a two-pronged assault,” the Secretary of the Navy, Jacob, commented. 

“Okay. Have the Texas and Hawaii on standby to provide immediate support, once we declare war. Jacob, what’s the status of the Seventh Fleet?”

“Sir, the Seventh Fleet is currently refueling and resupplying at Maihark Base. Destroyer Squadron 15 is fully stocked and ready to head out on your orders.”

“Good. Have them depart immediately for the Kingdom of Altaras. By the time they arrive, we will be at war with the Parpaldian Empire.”

——

Le Brias

Captain Rial looked out from the wall, analyzing the Parpaldian camp near the forest outskirts. He savored the cool evening breeze, only to be interrupted by a transmission from his manacomm. 

“Attention all units, we have received word that the Parpaldian artillery units are beginning to move out from their camp. They will arrive within half an hour.”

“Hmm…” Captain Rial wondered how the Americans always had perfect battlefield intelligence. To confirm the transmission, he brought up his binoculars and scanned the distance. Certainly enough, glinting slightly under the silvery moonlight, hundreds of cannons made their way toward the wall. He noted the trajectory of the Parpaldian companies and estimated the positions from which they are likely to conduct their siege. 

Returning to his manacomm, he relayed this information to the magicians and ballistae operators. “They seem to be traveling to sectors Copper Three to Seven, with a lot of spacing between them. Looks like they’re learning quickly…”

“Understood, sir.” Numerous replies came through the manacomm as the Altarans angled their weapons accordingly. 

For the next few minutes, Rial trailed one of the companies while making mental calculations regarding their speed and distance from the wall. As the enemy neared the range of the Altaran ballistae, he counted down. “Just a bit more…”

Now that the Parpaldian targets were within their weapons’ effective range, he gave the order to launch flares. 

Altaran starlight spells were inspired by American flares, making use of light magic in order to illuminate a piece of land below. These spells were essentially glowing orbs of light that hovered above a specific location, although they burned out faster than flares. Due to the relative ease of the spell, however, they could be easily casted into great numbers. A small group of magicians channeled their energies to accomplish this feat, sending hundreds of low-flying orbs of light toward the Parpaldian ranks.

At the same time, cannon fire sounded off in the distance. The projectiles exploded high above the wall itself, dealing little damage to the defenses below. Instead, these projectiles served as the Parpaldian version of flares, brightly shining upon the Altaran defenses. Because the Altarans had moved their ballistae to different positions, the Parpaldian cannons wasted precious seconds to readjust their aim. 

“FIRE!” Captain Rial ordered. 

40 ballista emplacements lit up as they launched their explosive bolts at the closest Parpaldian cannons. With astonishing accuracy, 31 of these bolts landed directly or near their targets, rendering 31 Parpaldian cannons inoperable. The ammunition near these destroyed pieces was also ignited, producing intense orange glows that contrasted heavily with the soft white light above. Due to the spacing between each piece, very little collateral damage ensued. However, the spacing also meant that deployment wasn’t as rapid as possible, thus giving the Altarans more opportunity to reload and relocate. 

In retaliation, 60 of the surviving cannons fired, soon followed by the other 19 as they hurried into position. In an embarrassing display for the Parpaldians, little more than a quarter of the Altaran siege weapons were destroyed, with most shots missing their mark and instead impacting the wall or going over and landing on the vacant buildings behind. However, the Altarans had a significant advantage — rate of fire. Having reloaded and adjusted their aim, the Parpaldian artillery crews managed to score more hits with the second volley, knocking out half of the surviving ballistae and bringing the total count down to 18. 

Explosions rocked the sturdy wall, sending pieces of stone and other debris toppling over the edge. Captain Rial, using his binoculars to provide targeting information, dropped his task immediately once he heard a soft yell next to him. He rushed over to the wall, where he saw a set of hands clinging on for dear life to crumbling pieces of stone. He grabbed the hands and pulled up a shaken female magician. 

“Thanks for saving me,” she said meekly. 

Rial nodded. “Stay away from the edges next time,” he said before returning to his post. 

The magician looked around and picked up her staff, but couldn’t find her box of magic gems. Distressed, she paced around before deciding to walk to Rial. “Captain Rial,” she muttered. 

“What is it, Magician?”

“I’ve… I’ve lost my magic gems! They must have fallen off the wall earlier.”

Rial sighed. “Alright. Save your mana for now. I’m about to give the order to retreat,” he said after putting down his binoculars.

“Retreat? Why would we—”

“The Parpaldians have just destroyed all of our ballistae.” He activated his manacomm and gave a grim announcement. “All units: fall back to the lower levels! The Parpaldians have successfully destroyed all of our siege weapons, but at great cost. 40 ballistae and their valiant operators gave their lives to lay waste to more than 60 Parpaldian cannons and their crew. Without these key weapons, however, we must conserve our forces. I will provide an updated strategy from His Majesty once I reach our command center.” He turned his attention back to the magician. “Okay, let’s go. What’s your name?”

Looking up to Rial with a scared, almost child-like face, she responded. “Alina, sir.”

“Don’t you worry Alina. I’ll get you back home in one piece.”

——

Parpaldian Camp

“General, our artillery has dealt with the Altaran defenses.”

Cius sat up in his bed, coughing as he forced himself up. “Good. Casualties?”

The officer before him faltered, awkwardly pausing before resolving to complete the report. “Uh… 64 cannons and 40 horses lost. We are still counting the casualties among the crew, but it is already over 100.”

General Cius sighed, “Over half our artillery, gone. How could this have possibly happened?”

“Sir, the conditions of the battle favored the enemy. They had illumination magic of their own, preventing the darkness of the night from shrouding our troops.”

“And so, the battle played out no differently than it would have during the day,” Cius muttered. 

“Yes, sir.”

“Switch out any injured crewmen and have the artillery companies continue to lay waste to their walls. Target the gates, but also ensure that we are able to create other entrances; we don’t want to funnel our men into choke points. Speaking of which, where are the land dragons?”

A bead of sweat grew on the officer’s forehead. “Ah… they are resting.”

“Resting?” Cius eyed the man suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Sir… eight of the land dragons were killed by the very same explosion that put you in this bed. Four others have moderate injuries, while another four have slight injuries.”

Cius chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, causing discomfort and nervousness for the officer. “Well then, I didn’t expect the Altarans to be this desperate. The amount of magic gems needed to produce such a blast is already valued in the hundreds of thousands of pasos! The magic powder from that many gems would be enough to sustain our fleet’s weapons for months!”

The officer simply nodded. 

“Alright then. The land dragons who are not fit for combat: tend to their wounds. The sixteen healthy specimens should be enough to lead the charge. Oh, and prepare a team of our finest soldiers. I want a company to secure the port after the fleet has finished eliminating their coastal defenses. If these Americans had sent them any more weapons, I’d like to capture them.”

——

Altaran Royal Castle, Le Brias 

King Taara paced around his war room while his generals bickered, arguing about the deployment of their 30,000-strong army. Their incessant yammering was finally silenced by a crackling of static, indicating a new transmission from the Americans. Immediately, they all gathered around the small, handheld device. 

“Altaran High Command, this is Davidson. Are you receiving this transmission?”

“Yes,” King Taara answered. “This is King Taara speaking.”

“Great to hear from you, Your Majesty. Do you still have those ballistae saved up?”

“We do. We’ve deployed them in accordance with your recommended strategy.”

“Okay, good. Parpaldian wyvern lords are currently inbound to your position, likely to attack the castle. There are about ten of them. Your remaining ballistae and wyverns should be able to handle them. I’ll leave the details to your generals. We’ll send in more updates once we receive them. Good luck, Your Majesty.”

“So it seems that the Parpaldians have grown confident enough to deploy their wyvern lords once more. General Holmon, I’ll leave the defense of the castle to you. Everyone else, let us retreat to the lower levels. We still need to devise a solid plan of defense for when the Parpaldians eventually break through.”