Chapter 20: Siege of the City
Uma stood coldly to the side. For him, such a battle of offense and defense held little meaning. In his opinion, all that was needed was to use the skeleton army and zombie horde under his control as vanguard forces. No matter how formidable Homer’s army might be, facing such an army of the undead, it could only collapse.
However, Komer rejected his proposal without hesitation. This was not a life-or-death struggle but a pure conquest war. Although Caucasus had no moral advantage, it had at least received vague approval from the kingdom’s other heir, Kakiya. If all the forces of darkness were to be revealed in broad daylight, Komer wasn’t sure whether such a stark contrast would immediately change the entire kingdom’s perception of him and Caucasus, and the entire Light Church might turn its wrath against him right away. At this moment, Komer wasn’t willing to take that risk—at least upon obtaining decisive power not yet. He didn’t want to be firmly tied to the forces of darkness.
The power of the mage group had also gathered around Mihajic. Clarence, Shefrey, Newman, and the three Patriarchs of the Great Secret Sect all covered their bodies with black robes. They stood on a slightly raised hill, observing the battle and waiting for their turn to come into play.
Fran stood beside Komer. He couldn’t use spatial magic like them to observe the defenses of Fort Takros, but the Thousand-Mile Mirror could. Faced with such a legendary magical artifact, Fran couldn’t find the right words to describe it. Every detail of the fortress walls was clearly visible on the mirror’s surface. All one had to do was raise the mirror and move it slightly toward the fortress, and everything would be displayed without reservation.
Too clear, too detailed! As he carefully observed the defenses of the fortress walls, Fran felt an inexplicable chill deep in his heart. He could no longer find suitable words to describe this enigmatic young lord beside him. If even an artifact as near-divine as the Thousand-Mile Mirror could be created by him, it seemed to confirm the belief held by those half-orcs—that Komer was the incarnation of the God of War. At least, in their eyes, the God of War had firmly sided with Caucasus.
Phalanx didn’t know whether this device was created by Komer or not. At least one thing was clear: Komer possessed more than just one of these magic mirrors that allowed one to see over long distances. Such magical tools were undoubtedly a tremendous advantage for a battlefield commander, enabling them to grasp the dynamics of the battlefield in detail and gain a head start in anticipating the enemy’s moves. Their role in identifying enemy forces was simply irreplaceable.
The battles on and around the walls had entered a brutal close-quarters combat phase. The dense ranks of Homerian soldiers covered the entire wall like an ant colony. Stones and wooden beams rained down from above, accompanied by shrill screams echoing up and down the walls. Ladders placed against the walls almost blocked every battlement. At this moment, the barbarian warriors showed their fearless nature—holding shields in one hand and climbing the ladders with the other, having discarded their spears. Their only weapons were knives held in their mouths as they silently launched wave after wave of attacks at the battlements.
The Homerian soldiers on the walls were clearly well-prepared as well. Although it was their first direct confrontation with barbarian warriors, they showed no sign of fear. Their robust defensive structure demonstrated their determination to hold onto this fortress, built specifically to resist invasions from the Caucasus. As long as they held this castle, the Caucasus army would not be able to advance smoothly through the Great Greenland Forest Path. By controlling this strategic passage, the Homerians could cut off the Caucasus army’s supply lines at any time, forcing them into a desperate situation.
Both sides were aware of this and had made thorough preparations. Yet it seemed that the Homerians underestimated the determination of the Caucasus army, resulting in them facing this unexpected fierce battle before their preparations were complete. If the Caucasus army hadn’t arrived so suddenly, almost overnight, crossing the Great Greenland Forest and appearing at the edge of the Bosen Plain, the defense of the Takros Fortress could have been significantly strengthened. At least the two smaller fortresses on its flanks could have been completed in time to provide support for Takros Fortress.
Komer decided to launch an immediate campaign against Homer after receiving intelligence from Mahagumi that Philip had visited Poznan and Silesia to seek support. Komer was already wary of Philip’s attempts to get help from Galia. If Poznan and Silesia truly joined forces with all their armed forces, it would mark the first active campaign by the Caucasus against Homer.
Yet Komer still underestimated Homer’s strength. The newly built Fortress of Takros tightly choked off the Caucasus army’s advance; to set foot in the Bosen Plain, they had to remove this obstacle. Philip had already stationed Homer’s main infantry force inside Fortress Takros as a precaution, which greatly offset the effect of the Caucasus army’s surprise attack.
The power of the half-elves’ composite longbows finally came into play under the cover of the barbarians’ attack on the infantry. Once within range, they inflicted heavy casualties on Homer’s defenders on the fortress walls.
Even amidst the bloody slaughter, the half-elves’ graceful posture exuded artistic elegance. With two fingers lightly picking arrows from their quivers at their waists, drawing bows, and releasing arrows, each shooting motion was precise and rhythmic. The crisp sound of the bowstrings resonated like a harp, seemingly making one’s soul leap from the chest. Every movement was so seamless that it almost made one think they were watching a masterful archery performance.
A dense rain of arrows swept along the top of the walls, catching the unprepared Homer defenders off guard. Such a concentrated barrage offered no resistance, especially as more and more scaling ladders were thrown at the battlements below.
However, Homer’s defenders quickly brought out their ace defensive weapon. When the heavy trebuchets began to roar—just as the barbarians were struggling in their attack on the infantry—over a dozen trebuchets emitted continuous loud noises. Boulders the size of mills were launched from their baskets, tracing rough arcs through the air before crashing down onto the advancing infantry formations. Their unstoppable force could turn several fierce barbarian warriors into pulp in an instant.
Komer watched these brutal scenes calmly. The barbarians’ strict military discipline was on full display. Even faced with the threat of falling boulders, the poorly trained barbarian warriors remained calm and composed, advancing steadily in neat formations, no less disciplined than the half-orc infantry who had been trained for years.
“Mihajic, I think it’s your turn.” It wasn’t until Fran’s face turned slightly pale that Komer, who had been observing the battle with his divine vision, finally forced out the words everyone was eager to hear. Only then did Komer truly deploy the power of the Caucasus mage corps onto the battlefield—he needed to achieve victory with a single strike!
Rolling dark clouds covered the rooftops of Fort Tarkros. The clouds quickly spread, enveloping the entire wall, plunging the whole fort into darkness. This was a highly rare air magic cast by mage Shefrey with the help of many other mages—Night Mist. Yet Mihajic had secretly added Bloodthirst Madness, a dark mental magic, to Night Mist. This magic could be mixed with air magic and transmitted through it, causing any creature affected by it to experience mental chaos and frenzy. If this Bloodthirst Madness was used on one’s own soldiers during a battle, it could greatly enhance their strength, turning them into berserk or barbarian-like warriors. But using it in times of chaos would only intensify the confusion, potentially leading to self-destruction without distinction between friend and foe!
This was the deadly tactic carefully devised by Komer and his mage group—revealed only at the critical moment of war, to maximize the power of the mages and give them a decisive edge in defeating the enemy!
The brutal early battles had already put the soldiers of Homer’s army in a state of extreme tension and excitement. The sudden onset of Night Mist and Bloodthirst Madness pushed them even further into despair. Just a small number of soldiers going mad could bring down the entire defensive line of Homer’s army. Lost and directionless, these soldiers would resort to violence to prove themselves, targeting both comrades and enemies. When they lost their purpose, everything around them became an object of their fury.