Chapter 74: The Price of Time

 

***The Third Defence***

Five days have passed since the last attempt by the Alliance to siege Divinatus. The repairs of Divinatus have yet to be completed. According to Yuupiecca, they were so close to finishing— and yet, it felt so far. It was fortunate enough that the enemies had decided not to launch another attack on the Ak’hims during the past few days. Instead, they opted to bombard them via long-range attacks in an attempt to soften the Ak’hims up.

The enemies had set multitudes of magic circles just beyond the moat and started launching artillery strikes towards the Ak’hims. Being in range to strike the Ak’hims also meant that the Alliance was open to artillery strikes from them, though any bombardment attempts towards the Alliance own bombardment squads were met with fierce defence from their interception squad. There was simply not enough Ak’hims to pierce their solid defences.

Having no choice, Klauna ordered the Ak'hims to concentrate on the mass force field that was protecting them from the strikes. On the first day, the plan seemed to work rather well— with the large translucent bubble doing its job well against the bombardments. The skies lit up with fireworks of various colours as the ordinance hit the barrier with vain.

However, the second day proved difficult as their bombardments proved to be endless, constantly barraging them day in and day out. Their superior numbers allowed them to continue launching shells, while the Ak’him Analysts were starting to get tired and were running out of mana to maintain the shields.

It got even worse when the elves finally deployed their superweapon: a large ballista that shot out strong grade seven shells at the barrier. It was probably the largest ballista that anyone has ever seen. Loading up a large glowing arrow, the siege weapon then shot out a bright green stream of light. The barrier was strained to the max to take on the grade seven bolt, just barely holding on. Although strong, the barrier was not meant to withstand such a strong attack— especially one repeatedly like this. The Analysts would not be able to maintain the shields for long under this pressure.

Klauna saw this and soon made a decree that every single able Analyst in Divinatus were to be mass recruited to maintain the mass force fields. So, about one-fifth of the total population was conscripted and brought to the large magic circle within the castle in order to supply mana to maintain the shields. 

Due to this, the Ak’hims survived the second day. For a while, things were going fine. The enemies were content to just launch barrages at the shields and the Ak’hims were able to maintain it. All they needed to do now was last as long as they could, to buy enough time for the city to sail out into safety. 

It was on the fifth day that Klauna finally realised that the citizens did not have unlimited power. The amount of power needed to maintain the shields against the intense bombardments and the elven superweapon were more than originally expected. Mass reports of Analysts collapsing due to mana exhaustion started to reach her ears. The Analyst citizens were not as powerful as the Analysts of the army. Although they have massive mana capacities, they were not as efficient in utilizing the said resource.

The Ak’hims realised that they couldn’t maintain the shields this way for much longer. They needed to strike down the Ballista and the bombardment teams that were smashing their shields. There was also the option of turning off the shields and letting the enemy bombard the city as they hid within bunkers. But to do this would greatly decrease their ability to survive the voyage to sea. Valuable food farms and resources were scattered out in the open. They would be easily destroyed by the bombardments.

There was also the fear that the ancient mechanism within Divinatus might get damaged by the strike. She couldn't risk such an event.

That being said, going out directly to face the enemy was nothing short of suicide. There were doubts that they could even destroy the heavily guarded superweapon in the first place. But someone has to do it, else they all will die. 

The Ak’hims made an emergency meeting to discuss their plans on how to take down the Ballista. They pooled their ideas before coming up with a solution. Though they needed a sizable army to execute the plan.

It was the First Army who volunteered to strike down the ballista. Cera herself volunteered.

At first, there was a little dissent among them when Cera said that she would do it— mainly between Harbin and Medica who disapprove greatly of her decision. But they soon backed down when they saw the determination within Cera’s eyes.

Klauna approved of the plan and the Ak’hims immediately went to work, opening the floodgates of Divinatus for the First Army to move out. About two thousand brave soldiers of the elite army marched towards the bridge that the Alliance created. Supporting them was the Seventh and the Eighth Army who stayed in standby on top of the walls to provide cover and bombardment support for them.

The enemy, as if expecting the Ak’hims to send a detachment immediately sent out their own forces to meet them at the bridge. The Seventh Army and Eighth Army launched their interception and bombardment spells to assist them. The Alliance replied with their own interception spells and bombardments. Their bombardment of the city stopped for a while as they started concentrating the First Army at the bridge. The proxy bombardment battle between the Akhims and the Alliance proceeded as the ground army fought on the bridge.

The First Army clashed with the Alliance army on the bridge in a duel to the death. The First Army was desperate to reach the bombardment squads of the Alliance, though they were blocked by the equally desperate human armies as they fought to the death as well to prevent them from getting over the bridge. Clash of swords and shields occurred as the air was filled with magical projectiles being shot down by another magical projectile.

At the rate they were going, the First Army would never be able to reach the Ballistas.

Though that was the plan. Cera’s army was just a decoy to buy time for the real strike team to destroy the ballista. 

Loud polyphonic roars of dragons resounded across the battlefield. The skies darken with the appearance of the draconic entities as they dived down from the skies towards the ballista and the bombardment crew. They were accompanied by a few hundred Succours who also dived down on the enemies.

The Alliance who were too busy engaging with the Seventh Army in a bombardment battle and were too late to set up anti-air circles to deal with the sudden airforce coming in towards them. With large breaths of fire and large payloads of explosions; Samiyadare, the dragons and the Succours wing destroyed the large lines of the bombardment teams. Once confirmed that their targets were destroyed, they immediately flew out of the area in order to avoid getting shot down.

A large flare was shot out to the skies. The signal for the Ak’hims to retreat.

And the First Army did just that, disengaging with their enemies and immediately running back towards Divinatus. They thought that since their jobs were done, the enemy would disengage as well.

However, they vastly underestimate the tenacity and the will of the Alliance. Despite being cut off from the rest of their armies, the Alliance decided to chase after the First Army and even cut them off from their escape. It wasn’t long before they got surrounded as well.

The Seventh Army tried to provide artillery support for them, but they were interrupted by the interception spells. Even the air wing was unable to help them as their enemies had set up their anti-air magic in anticipation of them. Things were looking hopeless for the First Army. As previously predicted, the odds of the First Army surviving this were very slim. 

There was another option in the situation.— that they opened the gates and sent out an army to assist the First Army. Though by doing this, should they fail to close the gates in time and the enemies manage to get in and keep the gate open, it would be a sure defeat for the Ak’hims. They could leave a small opening instead and send out a small force to assist the First Army, but it’s doubtful if it was enough for them to win the battle.

Klauna was faced with a hard decision. No matter how much she thought about it, she just couldn’t see an outcome where she could save Cera and the First Army without risking the whole operation. Was the value of some of her men worth the risk of even more deaths and possibly a total defeat of the Ak’hims here?

The previous Klauna would have answered no.

But Klauna couldn’t give a damn. Cera and her soldiers were more to her than just numbers on a paper. They were loyal soldiers that followed through with her from beginning to the end. She couldn’t just leave them alone like that. She would just have to trust her own soldiers and Cera’s soldiers in this situation.

“Open the gates! All Warriors of the Seventh Army formed up on me! Harbin! The spears!!” Klauna yelled out towards her soldiers.

And thus the flood gates opened as Klauna led an army to strike the Alliance soldiers that surrounded the First Army.

Third Defence results:
Northern Demon Kingdom : 843 Deaths
The Alliance : 13000 Deaths

***The Fourth Defence***

On the very next day, the Alliance had once again decided that they will strike the Ak’hims. The same tactic as always. Siege towers crossing the bridge over the moat. Only this time with twice as many of everything from the last time that they strike. It was appalling that they would go for the same strategy again, but Klauna could agree that it was indeed effective. 

Definitely not the best option, but an effective one. With each strike they take, they get one step closer to annihilating the Ak’hims from the face of the continent.

The battle that ensured was a simple and straightforward one. If the enemies get on the wall then get rid of them. If the enemy dares to come close to them, get rid of them. If they get rid of all the siege towers then they win. Those were the conditions for the Ak'hims to win.

And that’s what exactly the Ak’hims did.

They defended the walls with all their strength, bloodbath taking place on the walls of Divinatus as the remaining of the Ak’hims held the line against the unending swarm of the Alliance. Each and every siege tower that managed to attach itself to the walls of the floating city was covered by thousands of Ak’him soldiers who prevented the enemies from spreading to the walls further. The two forces squeezed themselves on the wall of the great city.

“The strength of hundreds into one. Witness the culmination of our strength! FORCE MULTIPLICATOR!"

Harbin’s voice rang out of the grimoire as Klauna let out a burst. A burst so strong that the blast of the wind created from just her aura pushed soldiers away from her. With the strength of thousands of Analysts within herself, she leapt high into the air. Towards the outside of Divinatus. Like a meteor, she landed directly on to a siege tower, completely destroying it to pieces.

And there she was, in the middle of an enemy army by herself. The Spear and Banner Indominatus waved for everyone to see. The enemy quickly took note of the mighty demon with the banner and started to solely focus on Klauna. Though, that was their death wish.

Klauna showed herself to be stronger than they originally thought. Taking down regiments after regiments of soldiers. With a single swing of her spear, tens maybe hundreds of soldiers were sent flying away to their doom. Speeding around the battlefield, she aimed to destroy as many siege towers as she could— going after one tower while decimating one army before moving to another.

With the enhanced powers from virtually every Analyst in the city, she was practically unstoppable. 

However, due to it not being her power, the effect was only temporary. Force Multiplicator was still a flawed spell that only lasts a short while. She had to keep a timer in her mind to remind herself to get out before the effects wear off. Although it wasn’t that long of a time, it was just long enough for Klauna to destroy almost every single one of the siege towers.

Once she was out of time, she immediately leapt to the skies in order to reach the safety of the wall. All that’s left to do was to defend the walls from the remaining siege towers. 

It was then, during mid-jump, that she was struck by lightning, causing her to fall down to the ground. She let out a groan as she slowly stood up. Her signature barrier skill kept the damage of the lightning strike to a minimum. The enhanced powers from the Force Multiplicator ran out as she regained her bearings. Looking around, she could see that she was surrounded by soldiers.

Soldiers who immediately rushed at her in an attempt to kill her.

Getting into a defensive stance and with a swing of a spear, she defended herself against countless soldiers. No matter how much they tried, they were not able to lay a finger on her. She dodged their attacks with swift and precise movements before launching her own devastating attacks. The strikes were not as powerful as when she had Force Multiplicator on her, but still strong enough to send the enemies flying.

She may no longer have the power of a thousand Analysts, but that doesn’t mean she would let herself get beaten by these chumps. She was still the 'strongest'  Ak’him in the continent after all.

It wasn’t long before she met her match. A sacred golden sword swung upon the relic of the Ak’him as Klauna soon came into clash with the Prince of Serrora, the two strongest entities in the continent faced each other. 

Klauna herself noted how the Prince was much stronger than before— much stronger than the last time they met at Dragonsmourne. There was also something different about him, Klauna could no longer see the rage and anger within the human in front of her. Where he used to scream and let out emotional outbursts in battle; Alex, the human prince only had a calm and determined look on his face. He no longer talks during fighting as well. His patterns reflected this as they were no longer dictated by emotions. Rather, they were dictated by long hard years of discipline and calm rational decisions.

However, it wasn't like Klauna learned nothing either. The Seventh General had become stronger, as well. Stakes were just as high for her as it is for him.

Klauna disengaged against him before moving back in to launch three quick stabs towards him. Each of which he dodged with ease before launching his own counter-attack to Klauna. A counter-attack that was parried. This time it was the Prince’s turn to launch his attacks. A sweeping blow towards Klauna. A blow that was stopped halfway when Klauna’s blow turned out to be faster. The Prince was sent back a few steps after an attempt to nullify said blow. 

Seeing this, the small fries opened up and they formed a small arena. Within the arena were Klauna and a small group of heroes who gathered upon the Prince. An elven princess, a beautiful female priest, and a few others.

They wasted no time in attacking Klauna who was stranded alone within their army. They intended to ganged up on the Ak’him and kill her once and for all. It was unfortunate for them that this time…

Klauna would not face them alone.

Blackmask and Parash burst out from the ground before impaling one of the heroes with their tails, instantly killing him on the spot. Next came Aberanis and Kazakiel who were dropped off by Medica and Lina. The brothers used their speed to engage against the heroes before sending them back a few steps, giving Klauna a moment to breathe. Finally came a fierce dragon that slammed the entire area and let out a deafening roar. Said dragon then transformed into fully armoured Samiyadare, her sword brandished against the heroes.

They were outnumbered. Outnumbered by the best warriors of the Northern Demon Kingdom. However, the heroes, not wanting to give up, went on and faced them anyways. The two sides clashed with each other, letting out the best of what they have against each other. 

At first, they proved to be rather equal. But they were soon pushed back by the Ak’hims when Harbin herself joined the fight. From atop the wall, she launched devastating spells towards the heroes.

Having no other choice, the prince called a retreat. And with them, their armies retreated as well.

 

Fourth Defence results:
Northern Demon Kingdom : 2986 Deaths
The Alliance : 33412 Deaths