Raymond was standing on a level field. It was flat ground with no signs of any vegetation. The sun was shining down majestically. The ground was devoid of any snow from the long, harsh winter. There were no clouds in sight and there also wasn’t a sign of any wind blowing. The isolated, distant calls of the birds were the only sounds in an otherwise silent atmosphere.  

He raised his head to gaze up at the steep boundary wall built outside the city. It was red in color and it seemed to him that not much maintenance work had been done on them for quite some time. The plaster on the wall had come off at numerous places, and the wall itself had crumbled at one particular place and the inside of the city was visible from there.

“Tch… And it is supposed to be the royal capital…” Raymond clicked his tongue at the apparent poor condition of the city walls. It was hard for him to believe that the royal family had managed to let the condition deteriorate to this extent. Furthermore, there weren’t any signs of any patchwork being performed at the last minute.

“I guess; I should have known…” He sighed, not for the royal family but for the common populace who will be the ones to suffer after the conclusion of the war, and from what he could gather they weren’t much better off right now.

Though Raymond despised this purposeless war, the whims of the spoilt prince of Kylaf, he had made peace with the fact that he was powerless to change it. He still was just a 3* awakened with no rights to talk at the table.

“Such a tragedy, really,” he sighed again. They were right on the outskirts of the royal capital and there wasn’t even a sign of opposition from the local forces. It didn’t make any sense to him. All through their march through the heart of the kingdom they, the allied army, didn’t have to put up with more than a few tiny skirmishes. If not for the jeers of the few brave ones from the frightened and worried locals it was as if they had been marching through a ghost town.

The one major roadblock for them was the fortress right near the border of Tristinia and Beltran. However, when the scouts brought back the intelligence that the fortress had been abandoned and there were only a few awakened still left inside it, it came as a shock to everyone. Even then, they didn’t have to fight, the warriors inside the fortress surrendered on their own initiative. Maybe because the difference in numbers was so huge, that the morale of Tristinian warriors was at an all-time low, such that they didn’t even have the heart to raise their weapons.

It was actually great news for the alliance. There was no bloodshed and no need to look after the injured; apart from the few bloodthirsty individuals who were eager to get a taste of battle, there weren’t many issues.

“Any time now!” Raymond tightened his grip on his sword. The commander of the allied forces, Robert Muller, the marshal of the Gervaland Kingdom, had already given the sign. They were about to start their attack.

Raymond looked to his right to look at the visage of the Healer-in-chief, Ingrid. She was covered in armor from her breasts to her legs. The backside of hers was covered by the leather garb. She looked all ready to dive into the thick of it. However, all this couldn’t hide her innate beauty, Raymond thought to himself.

To his left side was the captain of the infantry division, Johan Olson, Ingrid’s cousin. He had a sharp look glint in his eyes, ready to lead the charge. Since they were attacking the walls of the city there wasn’t any use of cavalry. The horses they had ridden on were tied to the back, taken care of by the logistics division.

The war when awakened warriors got involved was much different from the ones where they didn’t take part. After all, a single awakened can on his own change the entire course of the battlefield, especially the ones who had offensive elements like fire or lightning.

Also, the awakened didn’t really have use of being in cavalry units; as their burst speeds were much greater than average horses. So apart from using them for conserving stamina, Raymond hadn’t heard or seen an awakened riding on a horse and fighting. It was a bit redundant and interfered with the proper use of their power. Though he had heard of awakened warriors who could tame magical beasts and use them for this purpose, now however it was a thing of the past.

Raymond took a quick peek at Rose who was standing on the far right and on the forefront. She was eerily calm but had a ferocious atmosphere about her. It made him shudder a little. His position was in more of the middle, beside Ingrid, who was also the vice commander. Their forces were spread in a long line with rows of ten warriors.

‘It must be a frightening sight from the top of the walls of the city to have such a huge army right on your doorstep.’

He turned his head to glance at Troy, the one responsible for this whole farce. He seemed to be in a good mood, protected in all directions by his numerous guards and also enjoying the security of having Mikhail Obertan, the famed awakened warrior, right by his side. Raymond hadn’t seen Troy around after that ominous conference, but he had heard that the prince of Kylaf had been enjoying the company of courtesans employed by the royal family of Beltran.

“What a joke!” Raymond shook his head.

Suddenly, the front gates opened and rows of poorly armed individuals marched out. They looked haggard and worn out as they took their positions. Their numbers were so few that it wouldn’t even amount to a fraction of the allied forces’ number. Raymond channeled his mana to his eyes and was at a loss when he saw the condition of the enemies. They looked as if they might have been just released from prison, and it looked like their weapons and armors were just for show.

“What is happening?” He asked, bewildered. He was not the only one, as murmurs of warriors rang loud in the previously heavy with silence atmosphere.

“Maybe it’s for their pride and their last blaze of glory…”

Ingrid’s words caught his attention. However, he was not entirely convinced. They may be the prisoners who had been promised freedom or the ones who were sure that they would be sentenced to death once the city was conquered; it still didn’t justify this farcical show of resistance.

“Most likely they are offering this token resistance so that we don’t violate whatever is left of the city out of our rage and greed… maybe… I’m not sure…” Ingrid sounded less and less sure of herself by the end of her words.