Chapter 246: The Clash of Brute Force
The Golden Rose Realm’s legion finally emerged from the gorge, deploying into a battle formation before the village. Looking up, General Valerius, Prince Caelen, and their officers beheld the fortification protecting the settlement: a set of wooden walls that, compared to the realm’s stone and magical fortresses, looked pathetic.
Valerius took steps forward, drawing his enchanted steel broadsword as his voice boomed like thunder across the battlefield:
"Surrender now or be destroyed! Those wooden palisades will not survive the first charge of the legion!"
Atop the wall, Kellar locked eyes with the enemy general without a trace of doubt in his expression.
"Try it!" bellowed Kellar, his voice echoing with authority before wheeling toward the central tower. "Ready the Garnis!"
General Valerius ground his teeth and charged forward at speed, propelled by a surge of mana as he brandished his blade to break through by force.
On the defensive platform, Lennis aligned the cannon’s sights with the charging general and pulled the firing lever.
BOOOOOOM!
The Garnis cannon roared with a blast that shook the defensive structure. The iron shell, packed with condensed energy, shot through the air toward the enemy commander.
Seeing the spherical mass of destruction flying straight at him, Valerius clenched his fists mid-stride and roared in fury:
"Mana Shield!"
A golden barrier of density enveloped the general a millisecond before colliding with the projectile.
CRASH-BOOOOM!
The iron sphere detonated in a flash of fire and shrapnel. The shockwave was so violent that Valerius’s barrier shattered to pieces, sending the commander flying backward to slam into the rocky ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and snow.
Silence fell over the battlefield for a moment. Yet among the debris, Valerius rose to his feet. He wiped a line of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his armored gauntlet and looked up at the rampart with a smirk.
"An impressive weapon..." declared Valerius in a deep voice. "But it is nothing against me."
Atop the wall, Kellar—sensing the gravity of the situation upon witnessing the man’s physical resilience—made an immediate call. He turned toward the tribe’s war bear.
"Let’s go, Ignis," said Kellar in a resolute tone, leaping onto the bear’s back. "Open the gate!"
Brak rushed up, grabbing the reins with desperation on his face.
"But my lord! Facing that monster out in the open is far too dangerous!" protested Brak.
"There’s nowhere left to run," answered Kellar, locking his gaze onto his commander’s eyes. "If we fall, we die. I have no intention of surrendering without a fight!"
As soon as the heavy village gates swung open, Kellar shot forward like a bolt of lightning atop Ignis. At his side, Grok, his loyal bodyguard, leaped off the top of the wooden rampart, landing in the snow with his war club raised high.
"I am with you until death, Great Shaman!" roared Grok, falling into rank beside Kellar to face the enemy vanguard.
Seeing Kellar and Grok charge out alone, Brak ground his teeth and prepared to leap down right after them through the main gate. However, before he could take a step, Lennis grabbed him by the arm.
"Commander, wait!" urged Lennis, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "I have something special. Word came from the workshop that it’s ready. Come with me... we have five units. Pick five warriors you trust with your life."
Brak didn’t hesitate, raising his voice toward the ramparts:
"Lupar, Marty, Vael, Thorin! With me!"
Upon hearing his name called in the commander’s order, Vael froze for a second, his eyes wide in shock. He had expected Brak to select native tribe members. Yet being chosen despite having been a former member of the Black Skull tribe filled his chest with pride and loyalty.
"Reporting, Commander!" shouted Vael, his heart pounding in his chest as he sprinted alongside Lupar, Marty, and Thorin, following Lennis toward the underground workshops.
Lennis guided them toward the base of the tower, where five open leather cases rested upon a timber table. Inside, the torchlight glinted off the freshly forged metal.
"These are specialized weapons, Commander," said Lennis, gesturing to two two-handed swords and three war axes. "The two swords are forged from our steel blended with Windstone powder. Despite their size, they are light as a feather, allowing you to wield them at high speed without sacrificing cutting power."
Lennis moved to the three axes, whose edges bore a reddish-copper hue.
"On the other hand, these three axes are created from steel imbued with Earth-Fire Stone. They are three times heavier than the tribe’s standard axes, but upon striking the target, they detonate with an explosion of concentrated fire. The best part, Commander, is that they don’t rely on your own mana, making them useful for prolonged combat without draining your energy reserves. However, they possess a special ability..."
While the new creations were being distributed inside the workshops, the fury of war reached its peak on the battlefield. Parapet-shielded tribe soldiers kept the bulk of the Golden Rose army at bay from atop the wooden wall. The Garnis cannon roared, wreaking havoc upon the enemy ranks; standard legionnaires, lacking their commander’s defense, were torn apart by the artillery’s heavy blasts.
Every time General Valerius attempted to step in and position himself to intercept a Garnis shell with his mana shield, Kellar reacted from Ignis’s back. He bombarded the general with curses of poison, slowness, and blindness, halting his movements with volleys of [Lightning Spear] and [Fire Blast].
Taking advantage of every opening created by Kellar’s magic, Ignis lunged at Valerius, swiping with claws coated in fire aura. Yet the General proved why he held supreme command of the realm: possessing physical resilience, Valerius absorbed the combined onslaught of magic, the war bear’s strikes, and the occasional rifle shots the wall marksmen managed to slip into the joints of his armor, standing firm like an unyielding rock amid the storm.
"Curse you, you piece of shit shaman! You will pay for every single fallen soldier with your damn life!"