If there were time for a proper siege, the attacking army would have a significant advantage. They had more options available to them with their full covering of elements, though the one most directly useful in a siege of any length were the earth element cultivators. Tunneling, even with spiritual energy involved, was a bit too slow to use in the timeframe they had available if they wanted to go deep, but they could reasonably burrow under walls if the defensive enchantments on those walls didn’t extend deep enough.

On the other hand, piling a reasonable amount of dirt to create a ramp was also fairly quick- and even if it was difficult to reach the top of the five meter walls, a ramp halfway would allow cultivators to easily leap the rest of the distance. Of course there would be defenses limiting that, and people atop the walls… but they had to deal with those one way or another.

Their temporary fortifications had served them well enough throughout the night, and they were now marching towards the enemy’s gates. There was little other choice, with difficult to navigate terrain dominating the rest of the area. There was some choice between sides, but as far as their information went both were equivalent. They were in the same defensive formation as before, ready for harassing attacks- but they were moving at a faster pace since they didn’t intend to travel all day.

As expected, the Shadow Wolves rode in, taking shots with their bows or riding attacks in melee before dashing away. When it was expected, it was fairly simple to deal with, and they managed to keep things even. The scouts moving ahead noticed traps set up on the road- but they were hasty and generally not significant in danger. They might have been able to injure Spiritual Collection Phase cultivators, but all they could do against the incoming army was slow them slightly and cause them to expend some spiritual energy defending. Not worthless, but insufficient on their own.

The gates seemed rather unimpressive to John’s eyes, just like the walls. Then again, living in the Stone Conglomerate, anyone who didn’t have massive and sturdy stone walls was something of a laughingstock. The materials needed and the available expertise were so cheap, it was only to be expected. The walls were fine, considering they needed to cover a large area. Housed inside the walls were not just members of the Shadow Wolf clan, but their mounts- and animals needed a lot of space. Especially those that were young and untamed, they could not be allowed to roam freely.

John and Matayal stood at the head of the army, not because they wanted to show off but because it was a practical position for them to control the energy from their clanmates. Water and darkness formed a tall barrier over the front of the army, protecting them from an incoming bombardment of attacks. Poisoned arrows were among the more worrisome projectiles, though there were also some different forms of dark element attacks. Countering all the different options with finesse was impossible, so they simply had to be overpowered.

John took in the battlefield, sensing no shards of Ciaritzal. Unless they had developed a technique to hide it recently- which was possible- he presumed that none from the Society of Midnight were present. Or at least, nobody relevant. Either they were unaware of their allies’ plight, or simply fortifying their own grounds. The latter might not make the Shadow Wolf clan wish to continue the alliance, but they couldn’t bet on that and the Shadow Wolf clan not attacking their backs if they just ignored them. And if they could fight the two groups independently, they would have a greater advantage of numbers.

The Order of the Amber Heart pressed forward, trying to reach the walls. Their march drew attention away from others, while the fire cultivators of the Milanovic clan counterattacked those on the walls. At the same time the Mulyani clan continued to help defend against the riders, their speed helping to counter the Shadow Wolves. Finally, the Golden Tomb Guardians were staying in reserve- though those with proper ranged abilities directed attacks towards the top of the walls, spears of light streaking through the shadowy surroundings. This helped significantly in countering the darkness for those not part of the Tenebach clan, letting them perceive their opponents more clearly.

At this point, it was basically a charge towards the walls- moving slowly would only advantage those on the walls. However, it was important to recognize that the walls could also have more significant defenses than the traps along the road. There was a limit on how much one could expend for a temporary defense, but something intended to last forever could be more costly.

The entire army continued to march forward, crossing the distance to the wall in less than a minute. As the earth cultivators swept loose dirt into a mound- and where that was lacking nearby stone- the Golden Tomb Guardians arranged themselves for a powerful attack. Throughout their ranks stood many individuals with staves held high, topped with brilliant clear gemstones. Spiritual energy flowed from the surrounding cultivators into them, and from their staves shot beams of light, meeting at a central point. There stood Zacharie, channeling the power from his own staff into a beam directed towards the wall.

When the beam struck, the wall projected a barrier. The spiritual energy in the area was all darkness, and this made use of it. The two energies met, annihilating each other. The beam was unable to push through the barrier, but it continued to fight against it. Then the wall cracked- not around the fighting energies, but halfway down where Renato stood with others surrounding him. With all of the energy concentrated against the beam, the stone was simply that. As the wall fell apart, so too did the structure of the defenses that focused the barrier.

A moment later, hundreds of cultivators were running for the break in the wall. Renato was holding off defenders on the wall on one side while John and Matayal covered the other, backed up by their own people of course.

As the fighting died down for a moment, John was able to see into the clan’s grounds and find… very little. He could spot cultivators fleeing from the far side, but besides those on the wall few were staying to fight. A reasonable choice, against forces they could not defeat. Presumably they would be joining forces with the Society of Midnight, but their actions left John and the others with several decisions to make.

The first was easy- chasing after them would only benefit the Shadow Wolves. As far as he could tell their riders had already begun to make their way around, and they would no doubt continue to harass anyone following- which meant the fastest people would have to deal with them alone.

The remaining defenders were also an issue- was it worthwhile to capture them and attempt to use them as hostages? The decision was soon made for itself- John didn’t think they could manage so many potential threats, and the battle continued with the final defenders on the walls falling.

Inside the clan they found the remaining buildings- many of which were still full of mundane items required for everyday living. A quick investigation revealed that most valuables had been taken away- at least the portable ones. Obviously things like energy gathering arrays, training rooms, wolf burrows… these were not something that could be easily transported. The same was true of statues and furniture, all of which had value… but were difficult to take away.

The question was… should they destroy them? John consulted with the others, since he really had no idea.

“They are enemies,” Steve pointed out. “But I’m not sure if destroying things will benefit us. We’re not planning to have a long drawn out war.”

“But they might want revenge,” Yustina said. “Costing them time and effort to rebuild would reduce that danger.”

“Or make them want it more,” Steve said.

“If we do destroy things, I would suggest collapsing the dens first,” Renato said, “That could set them back on breeding and training for at least a season.”

John looked to Matayal, who contributed her opinion. “I don’t think it’s worth the effort. We don’t want to expend too much energy here, especially for those who have more difficulty recovering,” she gestured to the Golden Tomb Guardians, who were doing their best to draw in what small amount of light element spiritual energy they could.

“I think we leave it,” John said. “Maybe knock out the gates in case they try to flee back here. From the inside we should be able to handle that fairly easily. Then we get back on the road. A few hours won’t matter too much, but we can’t rest here for a day without giving the Society of Midnight too much time.”

Nobody really disagreed, so they soon moved on- after looking for at least some valuables to loot. Lighter art pieces, spiritual herbs left in the fields, and so on. The Shadow Wolf clan was only involved as an ally to the Society of Midnight, so they honestly didn’t care about their complete and utter destruction. If they were successful at wiping out the Society of Midnight, the Shadow Wolf clan would probably be more concerned about taking care of whatever remained of themselves against local influences more than going after them.

-----

The Darklands were never quite as bright and sunny as everywhere else, but there was still a clear difference between day and night. Some darkness cultivators lived a nocturnal lifestyle, but the Shadow Wolf clan couldn’t exactly take advantage of that when they were attacked during the day. Thus, as the army marched they had continued to harass them… and when nightfall came, even though they would still be functional they had to rest.

John wasn’t content with having their people die- or at least get injured- for another whole day of travel to reach the Society of Midnight. Thus, he proposed they track down where the warriors were making camp. He mainly brought with him cultivators of the Tenebach clan- for their ability to function in the deeper darkness- and the Milanovic clan. Mostly for Steve and Yustina. If someone had to ask what they were for, it was clear they didn’t know the two. Matayal was also with them, mostly in case something went wrong and they had to fight. John just wasn’t as good without her.

One would think that tracking horse sized wolves would be trivial, but the darkness element they carried fogged the mind, making picking out their tracks somewhat more difficult. The darkness element they carried was also ubiquitous to the region, so it was more about detecting slight variations than seeking for something specific. However, during the day they had kept track of the general direction the enemy was coming from- and where they were going when they made their last assaults.

As their group moved towards what would hopefully be an enemy camp, John formed a bridge between the darkness and fire cultivators. If he were doing anything more complicated than helping conceal the latter, it would have been an issue- he had no fire totem himself, after all. His practice with the fire element mostly allowed him to not hurt himself, which was enough for the current situation.

Scent was the area he focused most on erasing. No doubt Shadow Wolves could overcome the limitation, but they didn’t need to remain completely undetected- they just needed to get close enough. John led the group around to the side that seemed to have the least guards on watch- and more specifically none in the Consolidated Soul Phase. He moved slightly ahead with Aydan to take out a pair of guards- their loss would be noticed in a matter of moments if the remaining guards were competent, but John quickly motioned for the others.

The night sky was suddenly lit up with streaks of green and blue flame, along with more traditional oranges. The targets were tents, any storage crates, and finally the sleeping wolves. Well trained as they might be, wolves being awoken in the middle of the night because they were on fire was bound to cause chaos.

By the time a proper response was being organized, the groups were already on the retreat. Their strength was sufficient they might be able to withstand a direct confrontation, but John really didn’t want to fight without all of their army, though he could hold a pretty good line of defense with Matayal, and Steve and Yustina working together would give enemies significant pause.

Obviously the Shadow Wolf clan sent riders after them, but their direction of approach was predictable. Because they were between the Shadow Wolf clan and Society of Midnight, nobody they weren’t already enemies with would raise too big of a fuss if a section of forest burned… which the Milanovic clan nicely demonstrated as they moved. The trees were healthy and green which meant they wouldn’t burn for long nor would the fire spread terribly far, but only a few brave souls chased them through the fire, and that was the sort of bravery that left people exposed and alone. They were quickly dealt with, while John and the others made their way back to camp to get most of a night’s sleep- their fortifications provided by the Amber Heart and the elements of the individuals involved making it more difficult for the enemy to return the favor.