Chapter 27 Siege

The mysterious man was atop the boat sailing through the night clouds but the wind and snow could not enter the boat’s premises.

“What an interesting kid, he even has a connection with that infamous cult. He will have a hard time in the future if people will know about this, let’s just leave it up to fate. He seems to have quite a destiny in him, let’s give him a few more test to see how far he can go in the future.”

He was pondering on things and at the same time summarizing all the information he obtained.

“Basing on all the information I gathered, that old man Dan the kid was talking about is most likely the one who took the core. There has also been a wisp of news that quite a number of experts died in a miserable way not too long ago. It was linked to the Blood Gumamela which in turn is an ingredient that can be combined with the golden serpent’s core. He’s gathering ingredients to boost the cores effect, he’s probably an expert to need a lot of ingredients. Looking forward to meeting him, I hope they give me the mission to track him down.”

He started to become excited and looked forward to the day he would meet this crafty fellow.

“Well, I’ll just gonna give the information and come what may,”

Taking a deep breath, he entered a meditative state and continued to travel towards Red Sparrow City.

.....

Dawn was already breaking, Eznho was seated beside Minchin and was contemplating everything that happened. He tried recalling how he got injured but could not no matter how hard he tried. The wound on his palm already close up thanks to the miraculous medicine the mysterious man gave him.

What he was regretting the most was the dagger that was given by Martin which got broken in half. He tried looking for the other half but was met with disappointment. What he found interesting was the crossbow, after looking around, he found three usable bolts and packed it together with a cloth, based on his intuition, this crossbow is not ordinary and would study it later if he had time.

Aside from that, he found three decent daggers and found no interest on looting other things from the corpses, all of the corpses were either the mercenaries or the bandits, the servants must have fled during the fight.

Their carriage was still around and after fixing everything, he carried Minchin gently and put her inside the carriage which was filled with soft materials. He turned to have another look and urged the horse to go slowly as to not make Minchin uncomfortable in any way. The campsite he left was dyed red and was in a lot of mess, birds and other beasts could not resist their nature and started to approach again.

He will never forget this event for the rest of his life. After this experience, he slowly understood how thin the barrier was from living and dying especially for cultivators. He promised to himself to make sure that his loved ones will not become a collateral damage during his path to cultivation. He would rather not continue if the price was hurting the people he cared about.

He took a deep breath and hoped for the best, whatever the future may hold for him, he will do his best and struggle to survive in this cruel world.

A new adventure was waiting for him at Red Sparrow City.

.....

After pulling some favors and spending a fortune, Floyd managed to amass an army composed of soldiers, vagabonds and mercenaries. He did not waste his time and marched for the border, faced with no resistance he continued on towards Sin City. He was not only confident about this move because of the colonel’s support but also because attacking a city like Sin City can only be considered by both kingdoms as a small skirmish as long as he knows his limit.

On the other hand, Batista and Wilfred were busy trying to raise the defense of the city and started to make preparations to activate the defensive formation. Cities have their own defense formations laid out by formation masters, though the strength of this formations vary depending on the resources of the city.

Batista, Wilfred and Randolf were having a meeting inside the city.

“Brother how many more days until they arrive?” Batista inquired with a heavy tone.

“Earliest would be five days and latest would be seven,” Wilfred answered with a calm voice.

“Depending on what kind of siege weapons Floyd has brought, we cannot really determine how long the defensive formations will last. The people who will be most affected will be the citizens who will choose to stay and the weaker soldiers. Brother, there is nothing much we can do except to defend and fight.”

“You’re right, it has been a while since I’ve hacked people in two. Let’s make Floyd regret his move.”

Batista spoke with a ruthless tone.

“Randolph, spread the word that enemies are attacking and advise the citizens to evacuate. Also, ask for people want to fight and defend the city.” He paused for a while with a look of hesitation and finally sighed.

“Tell them that those who are willing will be paid ten silvers, and if they are forced to fight, their pay would become fifty silvers.”

Batista did not want this but they were outnumbered, a mob would be easily massacred by their enemies so his plan was to use them unless necessary and would only serve as his back-up.

“As you command captain,” Randolph acknowledged the command and went out to execute the order.

A while later, Batista’s message talisman lit up.

“The scouts have reported that Floyd’s group already passed the border and will reach us in the evening,” Batista informed Wilfred and they started to prepare for battle.

The atmosphere of the city was heavy, long caravans exited the city. Most of them camped tens of kilometer from the city and would wait for the battle to conclude before they return. This was not the first time it actually happened, once in a while, skirmishes like this occur. During the reshuffling of powers which started a thousand years ago, cities like this were easily destroyed, so this kind of commotion did not cause any big wave.

The civilian volunteers were mostly composed of homeless people which numbered two hundred to three hundred. They were carrying different kinds of weapon such as pikes, steel rods and assorted makeshift weapons. Batista lent them weapons but it was not enough due to their number.

The sky was darkening when people on guard at the walls saw a long line of people coming their way which looked like a giant snake made of people. They were marching in unison bringing about an intimidating aura. Everyone gathered at the wall while breathing in cold air, some of them even started to get nervous.

“Enemies approaching!”

Somebody shouted and sounded the war drums.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The sound of the war drums reverberated throughout the city startling everyone. Orders have been passed and every personell got to their assigned stations. Torches have been lit in the watchtowers and the higher-ups gathered around to observe.

“They finally arrived,”

Batista took a deep breath and released an aura akin to beast preparing to tear its opponent. Everyone became somber and readied themselves.

The opposite army stopped ten kilometers from the city and started to make camp. Floyd and Jack on the other hand nonchalantly rode towards the city with their horses after passing down orders. With their sharp vision, Batista, Wilfred and Randolph rode out to meet them halfway. There was a wide stretch of plain in front of the eastern gate of the city which was enough to use as a battlefield.

Five people met in the middle while being watched by countless pair of eyes. Floyd had a beaming smile on his as if he was meeting with old friends while Jack had a placid face.

“Good evening gentlemen,” He spoke without hesitation.

“Cut the crap Floyd, for what reason are you throwing your weight around?” Wilfred could not restrain his irritation and showed no respect.

“Whoah! Chill out Wilfred, and what a dumb question, you know what I want,” Floyd did not take it to heart and even teased.

“Hmph! In your dreams, you think this intimidation will have an effect? Wilky already gave it to the headquarters and is coming back with back-up, so I suggest you pack your bags and scuttle away.” Wilfred snorted in disdain.

“You think I care? Suit yourselves, gentlemen, let’s have an entertaining game then, shall we?”

Floyd answered with a chuckle and rode away with Jack while Batista’s group watched them with serious faces. There was nothing they could do but to defend and survive until back-up arrives.

.....

Both sides were in a battle mode before sunrise, some were in high spirits ready to prove themselves while others were praying inside that a miracle would happen and the fight would not continue.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drums of war sounded out and the attacking party marched until they were five kilometers away from the city and formed into groups resulting in a neat formation. The defenders lined up on the wall while watching their enemies prepare their attack. Their magical cannons could only reach up to three kilometers which were obviously known by the enemy.

Floyd got down from his horse and stood in front of the army while looking at the city with mocking eyes and waved hand producing five magical cannons.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

They landed simultaneously producing loud sounds, complicated formations were engraved on them flickering once in a while making them look like bringers of death.

Everyone gasp when they saw the cannons especially Batista and his team, they were not ordinary magical cannons. These cannons were a higher grade than what they have, five kilometers was the maximum they could reach which meant they could attack the city without restraint.

“We're fucked! How did that bastard get those cannons, it must be from that Colonel James. Damn!”

Batista had an ugly look on his face, he did not expect Floyd to have these cannons.

“Fire!”

Without further ado, Floyd ordered the attack startling everyone.

“Activate the formation!”

Batista ordered and formations lit up on the walls and a translucent membrane surrounded the city like a dome, runes were flickering from time to time on the surface.

Bang!

The first cannonball made contact causing a thundering sound and producing fireworks while the formation rippled making everyone inside the city nervous.

Bang!

The second cannonball came after half an hour, ramming itself against the formation, the attacks were slow due to recharge time and the limit of supply so Floyd had no choice but to attack slowly and alternately.

The attacks continued and only stopped when the sun had set, the last attack caused a crack on the formation but was repaired by itself. The same things happened for three days, the only difference was there was a lot of crack on the formation and the self-repair was so slow due to its low quality.

By the end of the fourth day, the cracks were so numerous that it will only take a few rounds to completely destroy it.

Batista ordered everyone to prepare for war on the fifth day, he knew the formation won’t last any longer and they would have to defend the city with their bodies.

Boom!

The fifth day, attacks came and after three hours of continues barrage, gaps already formed and debris from the cannon balls fell down the city causing buildings to fall and crumble.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three simultaneous attacks came which broke the final straw, the formation broke apart turning into motes of light and disappearing with the wind.

Boom! Boom!

Two more cannon balls came with a dazzling light, they were different from the previous ones and aimed towards the sky of the city.

“Not good! It’s a Meteor Cannonball!”

Wilfred’s eye shrunk and brought out his bow and charged his arrow with his wind energy attacking one of the balls.

Piercing Wind!

One of the balls explode and debris collided with the walls leaving large cracks and rubbles falling after being destroyed by Wilfred.

“Prepare for impact!”

Batista shouted and raised his shield and the soldiers did the same while the others tried to find shelter.

Booooom!

A loud thunder-like sound exploded above Sin City bringing a blinding light like the sun which produced countless small meteors formed by condensed energy that rained down the city. Looking from below, it was like doomsday was coming.

Rain of Arrows!

Wilfred attacked once more with a myriad of arrows composed of heavenly energy destroying almost a third of the meteors.

“Ahhhh!”

Buildings fell to the ground while other people who preferred to stay and get advantage of the chaos were either crushed or injured. A decent number of soldiers and members of the mob were also killed brutally making Batista seethe with anger. A fourth of the city was razed to the ground. Despair loomed over the city.

“How did that bastard acquire such supplies, isn’t this kind of cannonballs supposed to be only used during an all-out war?”

This kind of cannonballs was tailor-made for destruction and could easily ravage cities. The attacks did not continue anymore giving Batista time to regroup his subordinates.

Floyd, on the other hand, stopped after using the meteor cannonballs, after all using this kind of materials including the cannons ate a lot of his fortune. He could only endure and go on with his plans then ordered his army to attack. Inciting chaos was a crucial point for his plan to succeed.

They slowly advanced and when they reached a distance of three kilometers and a half from the city, they picked up their speed and rushed. The cavalries were in front, footmen in the middle and archers at the back.

While the enemies were advancing, Batista ordered his men to open the gates and get into formation to receive the incoming enemies. Archers were stationed on top of the walls while the heavy infantry with large shields and spears were on the ground and acted as the vanguard.

“Fire!”

Batista shouted the ordered and fifteen cannons attacked alternately when the enemies reached the three-kilometer range.

“Ahhhh!”

Scalp tingling screams could be heard from afar while blood, bits of flesh and bones flew in the air. Over a hundred people died from that one-time attack, due to the same disadvantage, the cannons had to recharge for a period of time before being used.

“Archers! Fire at will!”

Batista commanded and arrow rained from the sky, Wilfred did not attack and was recovering his energy as much as he for the incoming clash with Jack and Floyd.

More enemies fell when arrows struck them but they still continued to advance. The cavalry was the first to arrive, time seemed to slow down for everyone as they were only an inch away from the tips of their enemy’s spears.