Chapter 260: 260. Preparations
As the night passed bit by bit, the sun rose as usual. However, it was hidden behind a thick fog today.
Ulford’s residents had received another curfew notice yesterday evening, this one far stricter than any previous curfews. Apparently, there were assassins in the royal palace.
The general populace weren’t given much details. They weren’t even told about the impending doom which was fast approaching from all directions.
Only the soldiers knew that an army of monsters was coming to invade the city. Thus, they were wide awake since 4 am.
The whole city was unusually quiet as the morning bell rang at sunrise. Usually, the streets would already be full of workers, adventurers, etc. But hardly anyone was outside today. Some merchants had already fled north.
On the walls of Ulford, thousands of archers patiently waited, looking toward the fields in the outskirts. Nearly a hundred magical cannons had also been lined up on the walls, their barrels pointed outward.
Tens of thousands of ordinary foot soldiers remained in formation outside the gates, just behind the large earth golems summoned by esteemed mages who were floating in the sky.
Four separate divisions, each numbering nearly ten thousand, were also stationed in diagonal directions, having their own teams of 4th Circlers.
Scouts were scattered everywhere in the surrounding region. The nearby forts were also on constant lookout, expecting the enemy.
"They should’ve breached the lines by now..." The chief strategist stood beside Royal Commander Bors, feeling slightly helpless.
No matter what strategy there was, it couldn’t beat absolute strength. Thankfully, the commander understood the situation and didn’t put the blame on him.
"There’s been reports about monster activity in the north as well." Bors said and looked toward the palace whose dome was already active. Hints of tiredness could be seen on his face.
After successfully managing to injure the despicable kidnapper, he’d spent much of the last night searching but to no avail.
Knowing that the Isenwings could still be hiding in the city somewhere, ready to strike at any moment, Bors couldn’t find a chance to relax.
Just when it was 2 am, he suddenly received emergency messages from the east and south, claiming that the frontlines had taken massive casualties. He had no choice but to gather the army he’d brought.
He finally realized that the earlier incident of kidnapping the queen and the princesses was to distract him all night.
This spread panic among the leadership and also made him unable to be at his top condition in the coming battle, which would most likely decide the kingdom’s fate.
If Ulford was lost then there would be nowhere else to fall back.
’The Archbishop has promised that reinforcements are coming. We’ll just have to hold out for a day or two...’
With so much force concentrated in Ulford, this was very likely going to be a long siege, in favor of the kingdom’s side. However, the repeated defeats had given Bors a bad feeling.
’They’ve already crippled Jacob Kingsley... The earlier assassin is actually Zevik Isenwing? How can that old man still be alive?’
’There’s also that Hell Knight which cooperated with him. He must be the mysterious humanoid monster in the frontline reports. That’s already two 5th Circle powerhouses...’ Bors clenched the hilt of his broadsword which he placed vertically in front of him as he remembered the church’s intel.
Right now, only him and Archbishop Joseph were capable of going against those two. If there were even more powerhouses hidden on the enemy side, this battle would become a tragic bloodbath.
’Well... we also have ’him’ but...’ Bors hesitated in his thought.
Only he, the archbishop and a few old nobles knew about this secret.
As a sovereign nation, even though Grimbow relied on the Holy Theocracy, there were still trump cards that the royal family held.
However, this trump card might very well destroy the kingdom if not handled well. It was better to call this a last card.
That’s why Bors hadn’t released ’him’ even when the queen was captured. The situation also didn’t allow for it.
’Thankfully, we can last until the reinforcements arrive. Otherwise, we will just have to pit a monster against these monsters and hope that he’ll spare us in the end...’ Bors grit his teeth.
Suddenly, his ears perked up.
Honnnnng!
The sound of horns caused him and all the soldiers to look south.
In the depths of the fog, a dark blurry line appeared on the horizon, rapidly growing like an approaching storm.
Southward, less than ten miles away from Ulford, there was a massive army of monsters leisurely marching forward.
Each 4th Circler, be it Minerva, Ash, the spirit summoners or the elven captains like Linda and Edgar, had their own way of flying.
Keeping themselves in formation, they also noticed the view of a city on the horizon.
Several third circle monsters with intelligence commanded their underlings to scout ahead for traps. At the same time, monsters like orc shamans and goblin witches employed their own ways of long distance scouting.
This allowed the monster wave to circumvent obvious magical traps hastily placed by the royal mages.
Although some meat shields in the front line had taken damage due to hidden mines and booby traps, the casualty wasn’t significant.
After reaching just a mile-length boundary of the capital city, Issac spread his 5th Circle demonic aura to temporarily halt the monster wave’s advancement.
This caused many creatures with lesser intelligence to let out strange cries and howls, which the soldiers on the north side could hear.
This halting of the monsters wasn’t something the royal army had expected. Although some generals were tempted to head over there and deal the first blow, they knew that this was most likely a trap.
By diverting part of the defense forces, the enemy could launch a sudden flank attack. In these foggy plains, there could be other monster armies scattered around on all sides.
The wave coming from the south could very well be an illusion cast by their enemies.
Although several fourth circle mages would have to work in tandem to create such a large-scale illusion, there was no way to tell how many there were in the monster army.
’Jacob had noticed more than five powerhouses with strong mana signatures during his ambush...’ Bors narrowed his eyes and gave a more conservative command to wait and see.
’’Let them come to us. Also, inform the divisions facing south to create a line of defense in case they decide to suddenly attack."
While the royal strategists were racking their brains over the sudden stop of the enemy approach, Issac had gathered all the 4th Circlers for a quick briefing.
Actually, he could’ve used various strategies to check out the defenses on the other side. But that wasn’t necessary since they had already planted moles.
"What’s the situation over there?" Issac talked to the blood red rune used for communication.
"They’ve decided on a cocoon defense, probably to buy time." Zevik answered in a hoarse voice. He seemed to be injured due to last night’s desperate pursuit.
"Just as our master expected. They’re waiting for the theocracy’s reinforcements. Since that Paladin escaped our ambush, he has some knowledge about our forces..." Minerva chuckled on the side.
"How many 5th Circlers?" Tiara asked. This leader of the seven summoners was usually silent and only spoke when needed.
"Two, Joseph and Bors. If Jacob escaped with his body, maybe he could’ve retained his power but he’s regressed for now."
"What about the royal side? Didn’t you say there was another hidden guardian?" Issac questioned the hooded assassin.
"That’s what I was also trying to figure out, but there’s no sign of that person. I remember that one of the princes during the time of Averon I had reached the 5th Circle..."
This old ancestor of the Isenwing clan had indeed lived a long life. He even knew about the matters that happened hundreds of years ago!
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