Chapter 76: Approaching Doom
By the time Xingluo returned to the gate tower chosen as their meeting point, only a little more than one hour remained before the siege.
The darkness above the fortress had finally begun to weaken, a thin line of grey light stretched across the eastern horizon, revealing the first signs of dawn after a night that had felt unnaturally long.
Sun Lan and Ruan Mei were already waiting with the other members of their squad. Both turned toward Xingluo the moment she entered.
"Where did you go?" Sun Lan asked. "You disappeared from the inner district without telling anyone."
"I found someone who could answer a few questions." Xingluo glanced toward the others gathering around the map table. "Then I took care of something."
Ruan Mei examined her from head to toe. "That second answer explained even less than the first."
"It will not change our current plan."
Xingluo shrugged and moved past them before either could question her further. The marked token remained hidden beneath her chestplate, while the changes to her armour were impossible to notice beneath her clothes.
That was barely an answer, Wuxia remarked through the Anchor Link.
It was enough to make them stop asking.
They have not stopped, they are merely waiting for a better opportunity.
Xingluo ignored him and joined the meeting.
Han Zhen and Miao Tianhe stood on opposite sides of the table while the remaining squad leaders reported what they had discovered.
Eleven hours of searching had produced a detailed map of the fortress, its defensive positions, and the passages surrounding the cathedral.
The walls possessed enough weapons and soldiers to resist an ordinary army, but several formations had deteriorated over time.
The local engineers had repaired what they could, although no one knew how those defences would endure against the formation-breaking weapons waiting beyond the fortress.
Every known passage leading toward the Inner Sanctum had also been recorded. Elite soldiers guarded the enclosure, while additional patrols moved continuously through the cathedral district.
Only the five Church members remained unaccounted for.
"We searched every district accessible to ordinary defenders," one squad leader reported. "There was no sign of them near the barracks, workshops, infirmaries, or outer walls."
"They could have been placed beneath the fortress," another added. "Several underground sections are restricted to priests and senior officers. The local guards refused to let us enter."
Miao Tianhe turned toward Xingluo. "Did you discover anything inside the cathedral?"
"The Saintess confirmed that the relic remains within the Inner Sanctum," Xingluo answered."
"The Church members may have been transported elsewhere, but they cannot complete their objective without eventually approaching the cathedral district."
Han Zhen studied the marked routes surrounding the Inner Sanctum. "Did she mention another entrance?"
"No, she only confirmed where the relic is being protected."
Xingluo deliberately left out everything concerning the token, her acknowledgement, and the fragment of the Saintess’s original soul.
None of that would help them locate the Church members, and revealing it would create questions she had no intention of answering.
"Then continuing to search the entire fortress will only waste people," Miao Tianhe said. "We should concentrate the second team around the cathedral and watch every route leading toward the Inner Sanctum."
Han Zhen nodded after a moment. "A small group will remain inside the cathedral district, do not confront the Church unless they make their move. Track them, warn the rest of us, and prevent them from reaching the Inner Sanctum unnoticed."
He moved several markers toward the walls. "Everyone else will join the main defence, the siege remains the trial’s victory condition, and the Church will not matter if the enemy breaks through first."
No one objected, the available participants were divided between those suited for tracking and concealment and those capable of holding the fortress walls.
The smaller team departed toward the cathedral, taking positions inside nearby towers, prayer halls, and military buildings overlooking the Inner Sanctum.
The remaining squads followed Han Zhen and Miao Tianhe toward the main battlements.
Xingluo climbed the broad stone stairs with Sun Lan and Ruan Mei beside her. As they approached the wall, the sound of moving armour, tightening bowstrings and rotating siege weapons grew steadily louder.
The main battlement was already filled with defenders, rows of shield-bearing soldiers occupied the front, while archers and formation masters waited behind reinforced barriers.
Mana cannons pointed across the plains from the surrounding towers, their internal formations glowing as engineers loaded the final crystals.
The commander stood at the centre of the wall in full battle armour, heavy plates covered his body from neck to foot, each engraved with formations that released a restrained metallic light.
A long spear rested in one hand, while his other remained against the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Behind him, the fortress army occupied every available section of the battlements. Additional units waited inside the courtyards below, ready to reinforce whichever wall received the first assault.
Even the residents had armed themselves.
Craftsmen carried old bows and spears, priests distributed medicines beside the stairways, and elderly soldiers who could no longer stand in the front ranks waited behind the defensive formations.
Others carried ammunition, water, and replacement weapons toward the walls.
Some participants watched the preparations with barely restrained excitement. They had survived the forest and now expected the siege to provide another opportunity for rewards.
Others repeatedly checked their weapons or tightened straps that were already secure. A few remained near the rear of the formation, staring across the battlements without speaking.
The commander looked along the wall before raising his spear.
"Shield units will hold the front, archers and artillery will wait for my order before attacking and no one leaves their assigned section.
His voice passed across the battlements through the fortress formations.
"If a section begins to fail, report it immediately. If the first wall falls, withdraw through the marked routes and form another line."
The garrison acknowledged the order with a unified strike of weapons against shields. The sound travelled through the fortress and was answered by the soldiers stationed upon the other walls.
Xingluo reached an open position near the battlements and looked toward the enormous countdown above the cathedral.
[Time Until the Siege: 00:03:14]
The pale line along the eastern horizon had widened, although little warmth reached the fortress. The last campfires upon the plains were disappearing as the army beyond them prepared to move.
Every remaining conversation gradually stopped.
[Time Until the Siege: 00:00:10]
The commander lowered his spear toward the distant plains. "Formations."
Pale barriers rose from the walls one after another, mana flowed through the ancient stone, connecting the towers, battlements, and Inner Sanctum within several overlapping layers of light.
[00:00:03]
Xingluo rested one hand upon her weapon.
[00:00:02]
The ground beneath the fortress trembled.
[00:00:01]
A clear notification rang inside the mind of every participant.
[Preparation Phase concluded.]
[The Siege of the Nameless Cathedral has begun.]
[Victory Condition: Prevent the Inner Sanctum from falling.]
The countdown disappeared and for several breaths, nothing happened. The defenders remained motionless, their weapons pointed toward the plains while the early light spread slowly across the horizon.
Then the trembling grew stronger, loose dust shook from the battlements and several of the younger residents stumbled before catching themselves.
A dark mass began moving beyond the abandoned campfires. At first, it resembled a bank of black clouds spreading across the horizon.
However, it moved too low and advanced against the morning wind, the lower edge covered the ground while the upper portion continued expanding across the sky.
As it approached, individual shapes emerged from the darkness.
Armoured beasts marched between dense columns of enemy soldiers. Towering creatures carried weapons large enough to break sections of the wall, while others dragged siege engines and formation-breaking pillars across the plains.
Above them flew an equally enormous host, winged serpents, scaled predators, and creatures resembling malformed dragons crowded the sky until the first light of dawn could barely pass between them.
It covered the plains from one end of the horizon to the other, no open ground remained between its advancing columns, and the forest behind them disappeared beneath the endless movement of bodies and wings.
"If every one of those creatures spat once, the fortress would drown," someone whispered from the rear formation.
No one laughed, from the battlements, the claim did not appear entirely impossible.
Several contestants who had been eager moments earlier slowly lowered their weapons. Even the ancient soldiers tightened their formations as the enemy’s true numbers became visible.
A deep roar travelled across the plains and the winged creatures scattered from the centre of the advancing host as something far larger moved between them.
A massive dragon emerged from the darkness, its body towered over the surrounding siege engines, while its folded wings extended across several marching columns.
Dark scales covered its enormous frame, and every step of its clawed feet sent another tremor through the earth.
The dragon’s head rose above the enemy army until its eyes were almost level with the highest battlements a single man sat upon its back.
He wore no helmet, and no guards surrounded him, long dark hair moved behind his shoulders, framing a remarkably handsome face that showed none of the strain visible among the soldiers preparing to fight him.
While the army marched and the dragon shook the plains beneath its feet, the man remained completely relaxed.
One hand rested upon his knee as he studied the fortress, the glowing defensive formations and finally the cathedral rising at its centre.