“Hold…”

The Hammer Tribes approached cautiously, creeping through the grass with senses alert. Those of them with better eyesight could see the many lights up on the battlements, moving and flickering. It was obvious this would be no easy sweep. Defending was always easier than attacking, and the city had likely prepared for this assault already, after their recent defeat.

Vetrean held his arm up in a gesture of waiting. He was no stranger to war, and knew the limits of his soldiers, and the approximate range a bow and arrow could reach. Soon his enemies would enter his range, and then…

“Apply boosts!”

The mages, scattered equally across the wall, casted [Focus] and [Stamina] on all the archers arrayed across the walls. Every bowman suddenly felt their senses sharpen and their muscles filled with energy. Each of them drew their bows lightly, aiming through thin arrow slits. Some crossbow users loaded multiple of them at once, ready to let loose many bolts at once in an alpha strike. Hopefully the initial wave of projectiles would claim many casualties and dampen enemy morale.

The Missileer raised his thin staff, channeling mana through the metal pole into the gem inset at the tip. It glowed as it charged with magical power, and lenses formed over his eyes. Then he could see, much more than any normal person could. Such was the power of [Observation].

“Vetrean. They’ve brought a few mages to lessen the impact our magic users have, and some archers, but they consist mostly of melee fighters. They don’t seem to have brought many ladders with them, so I doubt they’ll try scaling the wall.”

“Then we can just outrange them for now. Aim…”

“May I have the honor?”

“Of course. How could I say no when you’ve helped us out so much?”

His whole staff, metal rod and all, pulsed with radiant energies, channeled into powerful forms. This was his life’s work, the endless refiniation of his greatest spell. Truly this opening would strike fear into the hearts of many, and all would know of his terrifying might…

A single arrow from a heavy longbow whistled through the air at high speed, plunging into the eye of an overeager barbarian in the front. For a moment, there was silence, as everyone froze in surprise, not expecting a casualty this early. It did not take much effort to figure out that the Hammer Warriors were in range of the bowmen upon the wall. So with a burst of speed, they charged forward in great numbers, approaching the wall at great speed.

“Fire!”

And they were met with many metal tips of many feathered arrows. Some were tipped, and others enchanted. Different bows and different ammunition ensured a diverse range of attacks that were difficult to prepare for. A great many fell, pierced by countless arrows, yet many more leapt over the fallen in a mad dash to the city.

To finish the barrage, the Missileer waved his cane and brought forth a great ball of mana from which a constant stream of [Magic Missiles] sprung forth, raining down upon the horde of warriors and lighting up the sky with shimmering luminesce. Sharpened force points pierced through armor and flesh, or bluntly shattering bones and puncturing shields.

The worst part was that the great wizard stood there, unmoving, and the darts still came. The spell did not end, constantly bombarding the field. Soon the Missileer began casting a second one, terrifying all the savage tribesmen below, rushing the wall at the frontline. A few charged forward, ignorant of the magical attacks. Their skin glowed with a bright sheen where they were struck, dissipating the magic missiles and greatly reducing the force.

[Antimagic Warriors]. Melee fighters trained to counter the mages, who were integral parts of every half decent army. They were often few in number, since they could only really fight effectively against magic users. In an equal fight against another warrior, they were usually outmatched. But against a wizard, or a druid, or other magical opponents, they were nearly unstoppable.

The missiles diverted, striking the weak and vulnerable and ignoring the antimagic warriors. For a brief moment, the invasion seemed manageable. As long as they kept firing, trying, raining death upon the horde, the battle could be won. The barbarians would retreat, and casualties would be minimal.

Foile aimed carefully through the arrow slits with the biggest longbow he could find. The nano exoskeleton provided him enough stability to wield the great weapon accurately, and he took full advantage of it, claiming the first life in this battle. Draw and fire. Pull the string, swivel to target, and watch the arrow pierce through the air with deadly accuracy. At the age of eight, he discovered what it was like to kill, to end lives, rather than be at risk himself. He felt a little guilty, but assured himself it was all to find his parents. And for that, he would give anything.

Loud drum beats permeated the air, reaching all the way to walls, raising a great deal of noise and rallying the warriors below. Instead of ragged lines, they began to group up, understanding each other better and gaining a sense of flow, pushing forward smoothly like water going downstream. The magic missiles were all just a little less effective, and some weaker arrows broke on skin. Hieft heralded his arrival by striking the ground powerfully with his great hammer, blowing dust everywhere and cratering the dirt he stood on. So began the leader’s charge.

The effects of Hieft’s Skills were immediately evident, empowering his army to be faster, stronger, more resilient, and possessing endurance reminiscent of a golem: boundless and relentless. There was no choice but to deploy pikeman and shield walls from the gate to bar their advance. Rows of conscripts marched forward, spears forward, shields high, watching the Hammer Tribes bear down on them with the fury of a berserker and the thrill of the fight.

Groups of warhammer wielders and swordsmen collided with the spreading ranks of recruited foot soldiers, nearly impaling themselves on the pikes. Soon they learned to dodge, and knock the pikes aside, or break them with their weapons, slicing the blade off or crushing the weapon with a downward strike from a great hammer. With the failing effectiveness of the pikes, the shield wall fared much worse. Breaking through was easy. One solid hit could easily knock them over, as they were new to the art of war and could not match the rabid determination and battle awareness of those who hailed from the North, who had made it their mission to conquer lands more pleasant to live in.

Vetrean lifted his palm towards the haggard soldiers crowded below, feeling the warmth of the Skills he had acquired.

“[Experience]!”

The haphazard movements off the ragtag troops began to flow together. Muscle memory told them how to swing, to thrust, to sidestep a well-placed blade or a crushing hammer. The rank and file displayed skill honed through years of batte, despite being only recently added and barely trained. Memories of past wars and bloody brawls flitted through the minds of the city garrison, along with emotions such as neutrality, callousness, and a feeling of duty.

This was not mentioning the ease with which all soldiers followed orders. Troops were pulled by instinct to follow Vetrean’s ideal view of the battlefield. Counter swordsmen were deployed to flank the antimagic warriors and scores more troops exited the gate every moment. More and more soldiers flocked to the frontlines in droves, entering the brawl.

From a birds eye view, it was clear that Hieft was still overall winning. He strode forward, unconcerning about any stray arrows that might fly his way, wearing tough furs and the nano exoskeleton he had scavenged from the snowy wastes. Far in front of him, where the action was actually happening, the continual supply of warriors slowly overwhelmed the city, pushing back the lesser equipped garrison. Simple spears and swords did not match the careful craftsmanship that all Hammer Tribesmen put into their weapons. They only accepted the best, and the advantage of more experience, better equipment, and a legendary warrior turned leader put the city of Bulwark on the backfoot.

The Missileer condensed his spells into one, creating a [Condensed Missile Storm]. Instead of swarms of small darts spreading across the battlefield, powerful, sharper bolts of mana zipped through the air at high speed, fewer in number but more forceful in deployment. Even the boosted warriors with their resilient skin could not survive a direct hit. Antimagic warriors could take a few more, but they too inevitably could be focused down.

Eventually ladders were placed against the wall, and attempts were made to scale the battlements. Of course burning oil was dumped on some, and archers tried shooting them off the ladders, but some scaled the wall regardless. Foile froze up as a burly barbarian hoisted himself over the arrow slits and raised his warhammer, granting his exoskeleton full control. Unlike the human element, the nanos were unintimidated, swiftly drawing back an arrow and letting it pierce through the eye of the enemy, dropping him like a rock.

Perience stepped backwards, just out of range of a powerful swing, taking advantage of the opening to ready his blade.

“[Swift Slice]!”

His sword moved faster than normal, striking the tribesman across the chest before he could react. Another one down. It seemed that placing Perience as the coordinator of the archer division was a great idea after all. He was experienced enough in the field of battle to know when to fire and at what targets, and if any managed to climb the walls despite the pressure, he would protect the archers with unflinching accuracy. Vetrean made a note to ask the local guild branch to promote him to Gold.

The North Gate was clearly struggling to stall Hieft’s advance, and he hadn’t even started fighting himself. If things went south and the Hammer King himself charged into the city’s frontline, he would surely smash right through the gate and take the fight to the mage tower. This was not to mention some of Hieft’s personal elite squads, who were much stronger, nearing the peak of Gold rank.

Finally, it was the pivotal moment, right when Hieft decided it was time to finish this. With his assistance they would surely win. Their sage could only do so much. All he had to do was take the Mage’s Tower and the city would be his. The significance of a foothold to launch attacks from could not be understated. Soon the whole Chappie Kingdom would learn to truly fear the might of the forgotten North. As he strode forward, warhammer in hand, ready to enter his new future, he almost didn’t notice the spiders that began to flow from the ground.

“What in god’s name…”

For a second he was bemused by the appearance of a few spiders, too small to cause anyone any serious harm. At least until he realized that spiders usually did not live in groups, and were not the size of a man's palm.

And the ground burst in front of him, rupturing along predetermined faults stretching across the ground in many directions, a great explosion threw dust, grass, hapless slimes, and a mildly interesting rock through the air, blinding everyone in the vicinity temporarily. From the holes in the ground spiders swarmed, feasting on the fallen and crawling over the living. Their bites slowly poisoned hapless warriors and Chappie soldiers alike, weakening them, forcing them to succumb to death by a thousand cuts from mandibles.

Both sides were quickly atrophying due to the new unknown element, and as a result they attempted to disentangle from the battle. Of course, either army could not help but take advantage of a fleeing opponent, and some struck at the other while they ran. So casualties mounted.

Arane burst forth from the ground, scuttling forward on eight legs, scooping up some of the better and higher leveled corpses to consume later. Foile tried to shoot her with a carefully placed bolt, only for her to slice it in half before it could land. Vetrean was less calm, furious at the introduction of the unknown element.

“PULL BACK ALL WHO ARE DEPLOYED! CALL MORE MAGES FROM THE TOWER! CAST FIRE SPELLS ON THE INSECTS!”

The Missileer broke up his powerful mana missiles into a swarm of small, plentiful projectiles. It was surprising he could even control this many: their number dwarfed the imagination. Any spiders trying to scale the walls were soon crushed, replaced by another almost as soon as it was killed. The oil on hand drenched the great stone barrier, burning the bugs and preventing them from climbing up. So they turned their attention to eating everything left outside or attacking the gates.

Hieft was in awe of the great beast that dared ruin his plans. At this rate the huge spider monster would be the ones to conquer the city, since the fire mages would no longer be able to freely attack while in the city. He would challenge the great monster, come out triumphant, and shock the city into surrender, in their feeble weakened state. He was only using a fraction of his army, as the rest would be deployed elsewhere or kept as backup, so it would be trivial to win, despite the setback.

As the plans of Bulwark and the Hammer Tribe were rapidly rewritten, a few flying drones circling high overhead, watching the battle, began their intervention. It was not supposed to go this way. The city could not be taken, for Pion still had use for it. A few clamps relaxed, and pods fell from the drones in the sky. They crunched the spiders they fell upon, before unfolding into a crawling 4 legged turret mount, traversing the ground with precise efficiency. One landed on the battlements, scaring the wits out of a few archers who attempted to shoot it to no avail. Arrows bounced off the metal ineffectually.

Powerful pulse lasers came from the strange tipped weapons that the bots had attached to them. Wherever they hit, fire and explosions engulfed the spiders. Arane immediately recognized the danger, putting two and two together, fleeing underground right before getting blown to bits by another pulse. Perience tried and failed to strike one of the metal automatons, backpedalling in fear when it turned to stare at him.

For a short time, Perience shivered in fear. Whatever it was, it could kill him instantly, and he would not be able to resist. Was this it? Had his whole life really led up to this? Even his best [Charged Strike] only dented it. To him it felt like an eternity of shared eye contact, before the droid got up and simply leapt off the walls, to join the others in the one sided slaughter.

Hieft ordered a full blown retreat. Even from this distance he could see the destruction wrought by the second unknown element. He was in the dark about the great spider monster that had threatened both armies for a limited time, before being destroyed at haste by another set of golems, fierce in temper and destructive in nature. He cursed his bad luck, and swore he would return another day, when his men recovered and the crisis was gone.

Vetrean said nothing. Merely watched the fields burn with the fury of the newcomers. The whole area outside the gate was on fire, smoke choking those on the battlements. When all the spiders were exterminated, the drones rolled back up into pods, which were grabbed by the flying robots and carried away into the distance, becoming a dot on the horizon.

Everyone let out their collective breath. All were in awe of what had just transpired. Many collapsed against walls or to their knees, tired and shocked by their first battle. Even veterans were astonished by the dual interruption that had narrowly saved their city from a bloody inner city skirmish that would have surely claimed the lives of many vulnerable children and peaceful citizens.

Ritehan sat down on the rock of the stone wall encircling Bulwark to take deep breaths. Vetrean’s eyes roved over the aftermath. Flames engulfed the whole section of plain, certain to keep burning for a while. The spiders that hadn’t been massacred hid underground with their giant leader, nearly as tall as a person. The drones had disappeared beyond the horizon.

“What just happened, Vetrean?”

Of course the Missileer sought answers from the strategist, who often kept a tight hold on the state of every battle and the information about everything.

“I… I don’t know. The beasts surprised us all, I believe.”

“I could have killed the spiders on my own if I had enough time. The giant one would have been mine. But the things that came from the sky were strong. I could have destroyed them if they stood still and took my missiles, but they’re very sturdy. I’d have to really put my back into it. And they didn’t even bother attacking me back. I’m glad they didn't, or I would have surely been obliterated.”

Neither could forget the explosive ability of the pulse laser cannons that scoured the battlefield. This was a scary, mysterious new challenger, who might possess the strength to raze the city to the ground.

“Could I ask the mages to look into these matters?”

“You needn’t have asked. I would have gone down to look for those bugs myself. Be careful, though: the big spider blocked my [Observation]. All I know is that she is a [Spider Queen].”

“I thought those were much weaker. The ones I’ve heard of do not have nearly as many minions, and would never brazenly attack a city.”

“We live in very strange times indeed. Will you investigate the metallic disturbances?”

“Those golem things? I would rather leave it to you mages. The garrison would have no hope of fighting those things off.”

“Neither would we. Our best defensive barriers would quickly be worn down by a few of the automatons concentrating fire on us. The best I can do is refer the matter to the Adventurer’s Guild. Surely someone among them would be crazy enough to attempt to scout for you.”

Vetrean rubbed his eyes, fearing he had stepped into a conflict way above his technical skill level. From here it was all veiled in fog, hidden from his view. The mistakes he made could doom everyone.

“I sure hope they do. If not, I hope I can count on you, Mr. Sage.”

“I thought I told you not to call me that.”

The lame attempt at a joke fell flat, both of them tiredly surveying the destruction. They were going to have a lot of work on their hands in the future.