As the moonlight shone through the city of Toro and its surroundings, a crimson light was instead illuminating a prison cell under the castle,  casting twisted shadows on the cold stone walls. In this dungeon there were two people , Pierre and Siros,  and the other was Jason who was standing on the blody pentagram. Of the three of them,  it was Siros who broke the silence.

"O devil,  I, Siros thank you for your gift. It was indeed as you told us...though I suppose it was more powerful than I thought. "

"Heh.."Jason smiled at those words, but to Siros it was like the devil was mocking him. Of course Siros didn't show it outwardly at all and , just continued to speak. " This is indeed a very effective weapon if used, but can it really help us defeat an army?"

Hearing this Jason couldn't help but chuckle a little. ' Such an ungrateful prince, I guess it isn't much of a surprise. Let's change that.'

"Ohh...ohhh, are my ears hearing displeasment!? Then I guess you don't need my assistance no more?"

"N..no...of course not...I wouldn't dare!" beads of sweat formed of Siros's brow as he was taken aback by the words the devil threw at him. Even someone swinging a sword at him would make him less tense.

"Listen me well little prince; I do not need you,  you need me, isn't that why you have called me to this place? Now, how about you use your little brain for a while and figure it out....because I don't think you have to offer anything that can instantly win you this battle."

Pierre clenched his teeth at such a statement,  but he knew it was just his liege who was purposefully  poking at the hornets nest. 'My liege, please choose your word's carefully,  or something deadly may befall us.' 

Of course Siros knew this better than anyone,  but its was easier said than done. If the one he had been making a deal was a king or even a human emperor it would be much different than striking a deal with the devil. He would have to be cautious, but also appear as weak as possible. He knew that devil's like the one before him regarded humans in a much lesser standing, so he would use that pride to his advantage.

"My apologies...it will never happen again, I swear it on my name." said Siros as he tried his best to seem like he regretted his choice of words. Seeing this, Jason decided he wouldn't push it any further, so he continued on with his transaction.

"So, my chatty prince,  shall we conclude with this trade? I'm getting a little impatient." said Jason and the flames on the torches along the walls rose in response. It was an unconcious and unintended use of power by Jason,  but to Pierre and Siros it was a threat.

"Of course...I'm ready." said Siros as he tried as hard as he could to prepare himself."Please tell us your price,  we will do our utmost to fulfill it."

"I hope that you will." enigmatically said Jason as he opened his arms wide " Listen and listened well  little prince,in exchange for 100 of those bottles I ask in return  the knowledge of ten thousand books. " Jason's voive echoed in the dungeon  as he said this, and the flames flickered even more until the torches went out. Only the dim light of the blody pentagram remained. 

"Do you agree to these terms?" a faint bur erie voice made every hair on Siros's body stand upright.

"I....

..............

In the next two days the assault of the barbarians relentlessly continued, and it even became more brutal. Besides trying to scale the walls with their soldiers and opene the city gates, the barbarians were now actively using siege weapons on the protected city wall. Several trebuchet's were  throwing big boulders at the wall making it shake and even engage and kill some of the defenders, before the barbarians went for the siege. This tactic at the beginning of a battle not only depleted the morale of the defenders,  but it also showed any openings of the troops on the walls, going by the movement of the spears atop the wall. Hanai who was the mastermind of this plan was smiling wildly as he saw the soldiers on the wall panic as a boulder hit near them. Hanai was a veteran of many battles and an avid hunter, this coupled with his impressive instinct made him a great general. It was a common tactic to use wooden or straw dummies holding spears or swords on a defending wall in order to make the attackers think that there was a bigger number of them on the wall. They then then would covertly deployed the real soldiers to stand in a 'void' formaition, or that whs what the southerners called it. Hanai preferred to call it the 'coiling dragon'  because as soon as soon as the attacking soldiers passed the first li e of real soldiers and ended at the 'void' of fake soldiers they would be crushed immediately in a pincer from the opposite sides. This was quite a high level tactic that would be coordinated by a experienced person, but there was a fatal flaw to this....the 'comb' formation.  If the attackers knew exactly where the voids were,  then focusing their efforts on these points would be catastrophic, but this tactic required even more cunning. If the defenders caught on to this tactic then they would immediately abandon theirs and go for a battle of attrition, something that benefited neither side.

"At the gate, about five men's lengths to the left there is one of their 'void'...also about twenty men's length after is also one...maybe...." said Hanai as he and several other general's were sitting cross-legged looking at a crude drawing of the city wall on an animal skin. Hanai pointed at several places on the wall clenched his fist. " After today the city will fall in our hands,  and we will end this hunt of ours. We will make them regret not surrendering."

"Hah...these southerners will definitely try to surrender when they see they can't possibly win anymore."

"Indeed...that is my opinion also, but we can't count our heard before they are secure in the 'circle'. Even a single mistake may drag this for a couple of more days." interjected one of the general's as he threw a shrewd glance at Hanai.

Dasai on the other hand  was sitting on his  throne and listening on his general's as they discussed their battle,  and plans smiled. He was finally a step closer to expand his kingdom.