Directly after the collapse of Galeford's walls and Rosanna's order, silence rings out across the slate roofing of the small houses. The dust kicked up from the collapse of the wall creates an eerie fog that stings the lungs. Soldiers hold their weapons close to their bodies, the sound of steel rubbing against steel cutting the silence as they tremble.
*THUMP THUMP THUMP*
The sound of hundreds of plated men slowly marching forward echoed out around the entire city, the sound of the gears of war churning in the ears of every man, woman, and child present. It felt as though time itself was stunned in awe at the sight of the mighty walls of Galeford crashing down. The guards of Galeford ran to the newly formed hole despite the pounding rush of blood flowing through their skulls filling their ears.
The gathering of twenty men quickly made their way before the collapsed section of wall, the majority of them veterans from the previous war. Even these hardened men couldn't help but feel fear as the sight of the shining armor of the soldiers of Pultovia broke their way through the fog. They marched forward in tight lines, barely flinching as the wooden arrows of the regular men and women bounced off their armor harmlessly.
The veterans before them start to bulge with power as their auras, anywhere from first to third circle, begin to flare up. One of the third circles swings the blade prematurely, sending a wave of green energy screeching towards the soldiers as it tears its way through the air. Suddenly, a fourth circle energy flares up from the line of soldiers, the soldier, grizzled and battered, simply pushes his shield forward, sending a massive blast of energy forwards. The blast rips through the relatively small blade aura, shattering it like a pane of glass, before continuing towards the line of veterans.
For their lack of intelligence, they make up in bravery. Not a single guard from their line budged, even as the energy slammed into the group. Even as the sickening sound of crunching bone and twisting metal filled the air, even as splashes of blood from their fellow brothers in arms painted their cloth armor, even as wails of pain filled their ears from those unlucky enough to survive, they did not budge.
As Rosanna cleared away the smoke with a blast of wind magic, she glanced over to the gathering of now twelve. She gave them a smile that sent shivers down the spines of every soldier present, despite it being genuine. Her words, while also genuine, seemed to be mocking as she spoke with an enchanting tone,
"My my, aren't you all some brave men and women? I'm impressed."
She then looked away from the gathering, a magic circle lighting up just an inch from her throat as her voice began to boom across the entire fortress city,
"Lay down your arms, and the rest of you shall live. We have come, not to destroy your city, but to liberate it from the hands of the empire. Do you not wish for your children to live their lives with the innocence of children, rather than the apathy of a miner? Do you not wish to taste delicious foods, feel the warmth of a nice bed, and to earn a fair wage for your toils?"
Her voice brought the noise of fighting to a standstill, as arrows, previously being fired at her only to be stopped midair, stop completely. She looks around at the destruction caused by their invasion, and is pleased to see no dead civilians, only those with minor injuries.
"We wish not to raise this city to the ground, but to include all of you within our ranks. To bring you prosperity, rather than the squalor you and your children live in. We wish to join hands, to feed, to care. We wish to see a day where the people of Galeford are celebrated across the kingdom for their valor and importance, rather than seen as filthy in the empire."
Several of the young soldiers who seemed on the fence began to lay down their arms, tired of fighting for an empire that did not appreciate them.
The veterans; however, kept their arms. A voice echoed out among the veterans,
"I am honor bound to protect this city from any would-be invaders!"
Rosanna looked down at the group of twelve once more, still with a fire burning in their eyes. She shook her head, cursing the stupidity of honor. She looks out at the guards, feeling dissatisfaction welling up from within.
"Very well," she says, "then you'll die for that honor."
As she finishes speaking, the soldiers lined up and ready for combat begin marching forwards again, their lines bracing for the clash of sword, axe, and mace. Rosanna herself chose to sit out from this battle. After all, while being viewed as an untouchable demi-god would certainly strike fear into the hearts of those present, that was not her goal. Her goal is to appear as a liberator. Very quickly, the conflict behind the newly cracked walls ends. The smell of copper filling the air, either from the mines or the blood running through the streets. Rosanna looks around, finding not a single soul standing against her for now. Her voice rings out across the battlefield,
"I hereby claim the city of Galeford in the name of Gaera! Soldiers begin the distributing of rations, and cleaning up the streets. Mages! I want you to start producing water for the people to drink!"
As Rosanna barks out orders, the men and women of Pultovia begin moving. Soldiers begin collecting the dead, while the chefs from outside start cooking meals for the people. Mages fill barrels up with water as people begin to slowly come out of their hiding places. Rosanna, herself, starts to help with the distributing of rations, trying to seem more friendly towards the people. As the soldiers move all their supplies inside the walls, Rosanna moves on from the rations, and heads back over to the wall. She stops before the crumbled section before holding her hands out. A wave of magical energy washes over her body as a magic circle appears in front of her hands. The ground beneath the wall begins to rumble as the collapsed pieces of wall raise back up, slowly reforming what used to be there. People watch on in awe as Rosanna single handedly accomplishes what would have required a team of mages, and a whole lot of money to fix.
Soon, the walls of Galeford stand tall and proud once more, betraying the chaos that had just recently occurred. As Rosanna looks on at her work, the people behind her stare in awe. A new legend was born in the city of Galeford that day, one that would last even longer than the legacy of the first wall. The story of the Cruel Saintess who burns down the rot to let life grow anew. Who, while sparing no sympathy for those who stand against her, will lend a helping hand to those in need.
The next few days following the successful occupation were filled with rationing, casting agricultural spells, and constructing better housing. The forges that once spewed smoke into the city were silenced while wind magic was cast to clean the air of soot. For the first time in centuries, the people living in the city of Galeford could taste fresh air once more. The entire populace felt their minds clearing, their lungs healing, and their bodies relaxing. A public bathhouse was built in the city center, with water enchanted to help alleviate joint pain and muscle soreness.
The populace, despite mourning their losses, felt genuinely relaxed for the first time in history. The people slowly started to change their tune on the kingdom of Gaera. Going from it being their occupiers, to their liberators. Even the old guard of the town found themselves indulging in a warm bath every now and then. People praised Rosanna's name to an almost religious degree.
While the person in question walked deep into the mountains, alone. A clone of herself lies asleep in the baron's mansion. She stands before an ancient stone structure, nearly completely overgrown by roots and bushes. Though one sentence stays, clear of any debris, and glowing slight:
"Tomb of King Ancalius."
------------------------------------------------
A surprise to see this updated, hope you have the free time and enjoyment to continue.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm very glad to see archmage villainess updated again and to finally get a conclusion to this battle, but...
I don't really like this chapter.
My main gripe is that its far too clean, easy, and without tragedy. There was no complications for Rosie in battle, and everyone ends up happy. This is war, just a few "stupid" soldiers dieing isn't very horrific or morally grey. I feel like the third person perspective doesn't help. Its far to detached and objective. It makes the statement "The populace, despite mourning their losses, felt genuinely relaxed for the first time in history" fact. If this was a skewed perspective thing and from Rosie's point of view I would've loved this, but it's not. The main appeal of this story for me is the morally dubiousness of Rosie as a character. The fact that she, in her arrogance, thinks her power trip is genuinely for the good of the world is what makes her and the story compelling! Rosie brutally conquering a city and then having the gall to say that she's helping them feels like the kind of delusion she would have, but in this chapter it's not just a delusion thats what happened. Also not a fan of the retroactively making the management of the city terrible. I could be wrong, but I don't think there was any mention of that in prior chapters and it really doesn't help the sanitized nature of this chapter.
I get this was probably done to make Rosie a better person, but I think that it's the wrong way to go about it. I do want Rosie to improve, but I want that to be because she gets slapped with the consequences of her actions and learns from her mistakes. Right now, without out of narrative context, this just feels like a complete 180 flip in character for no reason rather than a proper redemption arc.
Finally I really and I mean REALLY like the fact that the book Rosie was looking for was outside city limits. That makes the whole battle ultimately pointless. Those honorable soldiers died for no reason. Rosie should eventually be forced to feel the weight of their deaths.
Edit: ok looking back at the previous chapters it was stated that the territory was poor and had subpar food. Still not a big fan of the decision though. War shouldn't be this happy and optimistic IMO.
that's fair. honestly, i've written, deleted, and rewritten this chapter so many times that i think the purpose of it got boiled down into this.
@Sorrest to boil down my feedback into something easy to digest here are the things I'd personally like to see if you ever decide to revisit this chapter at a later date. Feel free to disregard any or all of these at your discretion. Its your story after all, don't let comments drag the story in a direction you don't want.
1. Try and keep it in Rosie's pov. I want to be in her head and some unreliability in their narration would be great. Try and add in some subtle instances of bias and let the readers figure it out on their own
2. More tragedy pls. Make the soldier's last stand more drawn-out and dramatic.
3. Make the lord of the town competent, maybe even have him leading the charge (i.e this lord would be the reason the veterans continue fight instead of them just being honorable to a fault. Rosie could and should definitely continue to think there stupid/look down upon them though. That'dbe really in character)
4. Have the citizens push back against Rosie's occupation of the city. Maybe an underground resistance forms in the mines around the lord's daughter/son, or the civilians come together to outright reject the provided rations and persecute those who accept them as traitors in a mob justice kind of way.
5. Also continuation of the yuri code at the ends of chapters would be nice
@Afewconcepts65 TFTC
To be fair, 3rd person POV works for larger scale battles, but after the battle it should have gone back to Rosanna's POV.
@PrismHeart while 3rd person is good for large battles, this battle doesn't feel that large. I can definitely see it being possible to convert it into first person. Instead of some omniscient narrator describing the scene it'd just be Rosie describing it.
Finally I really and I mean REALLY like the fact that the book Rosie was looking for was outside city limits. That makes the whole battle ultimately pointless. Those honorable soldiers died for no reason. Rosie should eventually be forced to feel the weight of their deaths.
I wouldn't say pointless. Her country still gains a productive city that--since it was taken intact--will benefit them in the war effort. Equally importantly, the other side loses one. Sure, Rosie pushed for this particular city, and participated in the battle herself, for personal reasons, but the benefits to her country are still there. And both sides suffered a lot fewer losses than they would have in a traditional siege.
Also, pretty sure it would have been a lot more difficult to get to the tomb if the enemy still controlled the city. She not only needs unrestricted access to the tomb itself, she also needs a reason to be in that part of the world at all. She's a noble's daughter; she can't just go gallivanting off whenever she feels like it.
And yes, she contributed to starting the war when it did, but wasn't there something about it being inevitable, and starting it early puts her side in a better position? I don't remember all the details.
@lightdefender This war is ultimately pointless and was originally the plot of demons. It would've originally started when a knight possessed by a demon attacked and killed foreign emissaries. Rosie definitely had the power to either prevent or at the very least significantly delayed the war until a common enemy of both nations popped up. Instead she expedited the war's start, letting an innocent dwarven woman die and traumatizing a princess in the process. All of this to power up a hero and get a book.
Also she can teleport. She could just teleport to the ruin and stealthily sneak in for the tome and then teleport back like she was never there. If she can sneak into a royal palace to kidnap a prince, she can sneak past a poor rural mining city. This war is pointless.
@Afewconcepts65 After rereading I've realized just how far back Galeford's poor management has been established, so I started thinking about other possible reasons for the knights to continue fighting. I landed on an idea that I found pretty compelling so here's some fanfiction:
I quickly conjure a spell that'll allow me to view all of the damage caused by the battle. Thankfully no civilians were killed in the initial assault, however I do take note of all of the property damage. I'll have to fix all of this stuff later, but first I must pacify the remaining soldiers. Now that the corrupt baron is dead, convincing the remaining knights should be a piece of cake. I even prepared a little speech beforehand. Just gotta use some magic to allow myself to be heard better and wuhlah,
"Lay down your arms, and the rest of you shall live. We have come, not to destroy your city, but to liberate it from the hands of the empire. Do you not wish for your children to live their lives with the innocence of children, rather than the apathy of a miner? Do you not wish to taste delicious foods, feel the warmth of a nice bed, and to earn a fair wage for your toils?"
The remaining squadron, roughly 20 people or so, give each other a contemplative look. Seems like they need more convincing.
"We wish not to raise this city to the ground, but to include all of you within our ranks. To bring you prosperity, rather than the squalor you and your children live in. We wish to join hands, to feed, to care. We wish to see a day where the people of Galeford are celebrated across the kingdom for their valor and importance, rather than seen as filthy in the empire."
A female knight comes forth from the center of the squadron. Judging by their armor they're this group's captain. Under that helmet, I can tell they're quite the beauty. Should I perhaps ask them out for dinner after this?
"You claim to be a liberator, yes? I presume that means you care about our freedom?"
Is she still suspicious of my intentions? I feel like I've stated them clearly enough. Where is she going with this?
"Of course I care about your freedom! I simply wish to give all of you a better life."
"Uhuh, so if we were dissatisfied with your rule it would be perfectly fine fine if we reject it? You do care about our freedom right?"
"I assure you, there will be no dissatisfaction to be had under the kingdom's rule!"
The knight mutters something under her breath. An ordinary person wouldn't be able to hear it, but an Ordinary person I am not,
"Arrogant bit*h! Why must every noble I interact with be a delusional piece of shit! Like hell there'll be no dissatisfaction! There always is..."
She sighs and, this time for all to hear says,
"For the sake of argument, let's say that we, the people of Galeford, do end up dissatisfied with your leadership. Could we be rid of it in that scenario?"
How asinine. I go out of my way to help these people, free them from their oppression, offer them the simple pleasures they've never had, and this is what I get?! Insults and a stupid argument for the sake of argument? I could've just stealthily teleported to the ruins, got my book, and then left these people to rot. But I didn't. Why? Because I value these people's livelihood, but it seems they don't value me in return. Forget it. I don't think this woman is attractive anymore. I was originally planning on letting these soldiers live if they surrendered peacefully, but its obvious that they'll start problems down the road just for the sake of it.
"Hello? Are you going to respond?"
I raise my hand
"All units attack."
-cue gruesome and tragic battle-
I'll admit that the unit put up an admiral fight considering the circumstances. However it was not enough. Now all that stands is the woman who got the rest of her squadron killed. Her armor is dented and singed. Her flesh lacerated and bruised. There's enough arrows in her to make her look like a porcupine. Yet despite all that, she still stands with a fire in her eyes. Several of my men lay dead around her.
I've had enough of this.
With a snap of my fingers her legs simply disconnect from her body. She pitifully falls to the ground, dropping her weapon in the process. I casually stroll over to the fallen knight and lift them up by the throat.
"Any last words?"
She spits out some blood on my shoes and glares at me. Gross.
"You know? The baron might have been horrible, but I'd rather serve him for another century than live under the rule of a tyrant like you for even single a day."
Her neck snaps like a twig.