On the morning of the next day, I called Lord Carl for a friendly meal.

He gladly joined me.

Our conversation began with a fascinating exploration of politics and our worldviews, a topic that piqued our interest.

"I find it rather interesting that you have such cohesion between different races and religions. In the Central continent, tolerance of the banished religions and non-humans has been increasing for a long time, but seeing such a leap here in the North is fascinating."

"I blessed, or cursed depending on the view, with powers seen unfavorable to most, it is only right for me to act in a way that accepts everyone."

"I see."

"Now, we chattered enough."

Lord nodded. "I agree. So, what is your answer?"

"I will help you take the city by providing troops for a revolt, but it's up to you to take the local garrison to our side."

"Most of the leadership is purged, but I still have some trustable knights, and men who serve for me will listen to my word. No citizen of LakeNear is happy with the tyranny of Marquess."

"I will lend you three dozen well-armed soldiers from our side, as well as Arthur and Fionnlagh."

The Lord shook his head. "These are formidable forces, but they might not be enough. The moment I take the city, Marquess will attack with all his might."

I scratched my head. "Then let's do this. I will give you 50 soldiers, Arthur and Fionnlagh. They will accompany you to the city. After it's taken, Royals will respond to us, but our main force will be waiting for them."

"You say that, but can your soldiers defeat the enemy on an open field."

Of course, he hadn't seen the abominations yet, but he had his points.

Our numbers were low, and we needed more people to increase our numbers.

"We can. You said Wellington is responsible for the area, but he is not in a good position now.

Lord nodded. "You bested him and weakened his forces, but he can recruit more with wealth."

"About that," I smirked. "On his defeat, he left behind quite the sum of money, which through his letters, we learned was meant for the elite cavalry troops he brought."

I wasn't sure about my enemy's current situation, but I knew it wasn't good.

None of Noble's convoys were attacked in our territory, and he didn't conduct a second siege with stronger troops.

I only assume that just as we could not do a massive frontal assault due to a lack of numbers, he could not build a proper army due to a lack of political and economic power.

"Don't underestimate his forces. Most of them have been sent under Leonhard since the beginning of the war. Though sometimes acting quickly, Duke Wellington controls a formidable force, from imported steel golems to two dozen magicians."

"But can he bring all that to our foot?"

"He will," Lord said, pulling out his pipe. "You damaged him more than you think. Wellington's gift for loyalty was this place, but since you took it, he has struggled to make payments for his elite troops and import machinery."

"A cornered animal will attack no matter what."

"As you said. Marquess Dawnbreak was just a viscount before. He bought his title and my city from Wellington, and the money Wellington got was spent on closing his tabs. But I assume our dear Duke found himself in a difficult spot after his loss to you again, and his already bad relationship with Leonhard soured even more."

I thought for a second.

The summary of the situation was this. Wellington was dangerous but also cornered, so if we acted, he would certainly make a move, but the next defeat meant a total loss for him.

So, I decided to gamble.

I tasked Ruckus with sending a letter to the Noble Faction for mercenary troops.

Arthur was assigned with increasing intensity of training by helping Mel.

And finally, I assigned Silvertower to build a weapon to help us in the possible war.

My plans worked well.

We spent more than a month preparing ourselves, but our efforts were worth it.

Ruckus returned with a letter saying two thousand soldiers were available to rent for two gold each + 25 percent of the loot in battle.

Arthur and Mel showed no mercy to our guys, making them more disciplined and skillful.

And finally, Silvertower came out with something.

He built two-story tall platforms hanging from Abomination's body.

Platforms were of equal weight and held by giant chains strapped on Hollow's body.

A battle platform had four ballistas equipped with explosive-tipped bolts and about two dozen crossbowmen.

I planned to capture the city with a revolt, let the Royals send their troops to recapture it, and while they prepared to siege the city, trap them using our main forces.

So, our plan began.

I wasn't there to see, but Ruckus delivered the details through a letter using Fionnlagh.

Arthur and fifty of our troops managed to get in and capture the city. Most city people and still loyal guards were eager to take arms and fight against newly placed corrupt thugs and guards.

I ordered mercenaries, led by a noble knight named Ironhorn, who seemed to be on decent terms with Arthur, to go to the city immediately as an extra garrison. 

About a week later, a new letter arrived through Fionnlagh.

A combined enemy force, led by Wellington and Marquess, appeared as we expected. They had magicians and imported iron golems on their lines and a sizeable force of heavy cavalry next to their infantry.

On numbers, including undead soldiers, they had a slight edge.

I didn't waste any more and began our march.

It took us two days to see the enemy siege camp.

And half a day later, we encircled the enemy.

Formations were like this. Enemy cavalry divided into two flanks, while their infantry formed a circle, with troop counts higher on our side, with their archers and magicians in the middle.

Their golems were just behind the infantry.

We divided our troops into five formations, each consisting of shield bearers, followed by armored polearm carriers right behind one massive undead horde walking at the front, working as meatshields and at back our ranged troops. For special units, one Hollow on each flank and a small cavalry squad behind them. I led the battle from the air, riding Fionnlagh, while Silvertower led from the ground.

And the battle began.

At first, their cavalry tried to charge at our flanks, but ballistas and crossbows firing from the platforms on Hollows stopped them.

Enemy cavalry retreated.

With momentum on our side, we kept charging forward.

Enemy magicians bombarded our troops with spells, which at first were somewhat effective as their spells even reached our backlines, but they had to stop when Hollows took the front and became giant sponges for their spells.

And when our monstrosities entered the enemy range, their slaughter began.

I sent wave after wave of undead soldiers at enemy lines while ordering rocket and explosive bolt strikes at them.

Our support fire killed our undead troops, but these losses were negligible.

After many deaths, my undead troops broke the enemy line and spear-headed into their formation.

As a last-ditch effort, enemy cavalry tried to take down our flanks since Hollows focused on tanking enemy spells and ranged troops on the platforms at the enemy line, but our shield wall stopped them.

But to our demise, the enemy released their iron golems. They had six of them.

Each charged into our lines and shattered them. Only one got stopped. It was Silvertower who found his strength matched by the magical creation.

But as things got bad at the front, our troops inside the castle charged outside. From what I saw, Arthur's aim was on enemy magicians.

It forced enemy magicians to turn their focus to our flanking allies, which freed Hollows from the duty of taking hits.

I ordered them to stop golems, which they managed.

Even mighty golems weren't strong enough to escape the grasp of our Hollows.

The only problem was that Hollows weren't strong enough to destroy them either. Only enough to stop them.

I charged forward, riding Fionnlagh. He breathed ice over the enemy and dodged incoming arrows until we arrived at where the enemy mages were standing. I dropped in the middle of them and immediately cast Shiv'O Mist with most of my mana.

I managed to catch two of them off-guard, killed them on the spot, and then wound one more, but they were quick to prepare their defenses.

From then, I hid behind my mist, and moved around, playing as safe as I could while forces from the city, led by Arthur, closed the gap.

Enemy magicians cast many spells on me. Some fired beams of explosive energy, some altered the terrain to trap me, and one rained thunder on me.

Thankfully, not all of them had the luxury to turn their attention to me. So, I dodged attacks from ones who focused on me as best as I could.

As I got close to giving up, I was blinded.

With a sudden flash of silver light, one of the magician's heads was cleaved off his body, then of another one, and at the third one, Arthur had arrived.

"Stop! We are surrendering." Magicians dropped their casting tools.

Using this as an opportunity, I climbed back on Fionnlagh and shouted as loud as my throat allowed me to. "I, Erwin, promise I will spare anyone who surrenders!"

Hearing my call, some dropped their weapons, but the ones at the frontlines didn't hear or care and kept fighting.

The main trouble was their golems. Three out of six of them were still in action.

I turned to the magicians. "Stop those metal creations at this moment!"

"We can't. These golems are not ours. Key to their control is in Duke Wellington's hands."

I looked at the magician. "Wellington is on the field?"

He shook his head. "He is. He is wearing an amulet to hide his presence."

"How can I find him?" I asked.

"You can't, not in the chaos of this battle, but only if you let me cast a spell for it, I can help you."

I turned towards Arthur. "Ready your weapon, and you, grab your staff, and do your trick."

The magician followed the order. He grabbed his staff with both hands, closed his eyes, and chanted words until he fired a golden spectral arrow toward the middle of an ongoing battle.

"Follow the arrow, it will show you your target."

"Fly!" Fionnlagh leaped into the air and followed the arrow until we found our target.

Wellington was surrounded by several armed knights, all with glowing swords, but they were in a bad position as they were outnumbered twenty to one.

But those knights were still holding the line.

So I helped our men by bombarding the enemy with Fionnlaghs freezing breath and my fire spears.

With extra support, knights fell one by one until only Wellington left.

"Catch." Fionnlagh charged at the man and knocked his steed down by hitting it with his wing.

Wellington fell into a small mud puddle and was trying to get up, but I stopped him before he did so.

"Who do you think you are!" He shouted.

"You are so rude. I even come to your feet to imprison you."

"You are-!"

"Yes, necromancer Erwin." I grabbed him by the neck and lifted him.

He tried to reach for a dagger on his hip, but I stopped him and broke his arm. "Don't do anything stupid, and stop the golems."

"M -My My pocket," He stuttered. "Device to control them is in my pocket."

I reached into his pocket and grabbed the device. It was a glowing crystal orb covered with gold decors.

"How do you use this?"

"Just give it some mana and tell your desire."

I flew some of my mana into the device and ordered. "Cease functioning."

When I turned around, I saw golems suddenly stopped moving.

With them, enemy soldiers stopped as well. They were surrendering.

Shortly after, Silvertower arrived. "They are surrendering. What is your next order."

"Tell everyone to stop fighting. I will announce what comes next later,"

***

With that, the battle ended in our favor.

I expected fewer losses, but golems killed many good soldiers. Thankfully, followers of the Goddess of Mercy healed many who would have died otherwise, so our casualties were not too high.

For prisoners, there were two cases. First regular troops, we released everyone after healing and taking their weapons and armor. We let them leave peacefully and even gave back half the supply we got from Wellington camp.

Some knights and lower-class nobles asked for their equipment, which we sold back for a bit of ransom.

Second, the magicians. They were mercenaries from the neighboring kingdom of Kuarzt, who hosted a sizeable magicians guild.

We got into a diplomatic connection with their guild using magical tools. They thanked us for sparring with the wizards, and we made a simple deal.

They paid us a ransom in magical items.

But that deal didn't end up with just that.

I stroke a trading deal using the magician guilds.

Since we now control one of the two ports North has to Greater Northern Lake, which has a size comparable to the Caspian Sea and five nations neighboring it, we had a powerful leverage. 

I used it to offer a deal with other kingdoms. "In exchange for protection of the city from the Northern navy, I won't take taxes from merchant ships visiting LakeNear, and we will also sell metal ingots."

Two kingdoms accepted my deal. Kuarzt Kingdom and Guhan Kingdom.

They sent delegates to LakeNear, where I told them about the trading town.

"Of course, LakeNear is where the main trade will happen, but we also have a trading town in the process of building near the Dwarven fortress that will serve as a neutral ground for trade between both sides where we also sell our products from the fortress."

 Both delegates sent trading guilds of their families to set offices.

Following them, Burkan trader opened an office for himself after I asked him, then two nobles from the noble faction, but more importantly, one from the royal faction opened theirs.

She was the younger sister of Wellington, who looked quite happy to get the title.

"Oh, right before I forget it. King Leonhard says LakeNear is yours to keep, for now." She said right after we finished the deal.

I smirked. "Then say King Leonhard that he will have his peace, for now."