Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

All it needed was a slight spark and the battle would immediately erupt. With the leaders of both sides now facing each other, the tension was so heavy that it was palpable.

GULP… it was unknown where the sound came from but it was most likely from the side of the nobles. It appeared that these soldiers who have been drafted into the army by the nobles, were unable to take the pressure and thus started cowering a little.

Cynthia could also see the morale collapsing on the soldiers of the other armies. The forces of Blackthorn had that kind of deterrence. However, Just as she was about to say something to raise their morals up, her eyes were once again drawn towards the top of the wall.

There she could see that the enemy forces were up to something.

On top of the wall, while still keeping his eyes on opposing forces, the general extended his hand and ordered in a low voice.

"Raise it"…

"Yes" the soldiers nodded and started becoming busy.

Soon, a commotion erupted on the highest bastion of the wall and in front of countless numbers of eyes, a flag was hoisted up on the pole. The flag was big and thanks to being hoisted on the highest part of the wall, the flag could be seen from extremely far away distances.

WAVE… as the flag waved with the breeze and appeared in front of everyone's sight, immediately numerous faces became ugly. Brows knitted and body trembling with anger, it was obvious one side was enraged.

"Hehe" Marshall Cavalier gave a gloating smile. He knew that the enemy would be making that kind of expression after all, the flag that was hoisted so boldly and assertively on the walls of the capital of the kingdom of Ellsemere, did not belong to the kingdom.

Instead, the flag marked by a crimson sword on a field of gold represented the Kingdom of Blackthorn. To hoist the flag of a foreign nation on their soil, what's more, on their capital no less, was the greatest form of disrespect for the people and for that kingdom.

It could no longer be seen as just a provocative gesture and was tantamount to a direct challenge to their kingdom's autonomy. From Balckthron's side, it was an indication to start the battle and let everyone know the might of their kingdom.

"Your Highness, please give the command" Mounted on his horse, Duke Redrest's eyes blazed with rage as he saw that disrespectful gesture. He immediately pulled his horse and asked for permission to engage in war.

"No" Nevertheless, the answer he got was a clear no. Cynthia glanced at the distant flag with cold and callous eyes, her body was also slightly trembling from all the pent up rage she felt.

Yet she did not lose her reasoning. She understood very well that the enemy was trying to lure them in. Once inside, who knows what kind of traps they had set up for them?

At this point, victory and defeat rested solely on this battle. One mistake and everything she had been planning for to this day and all her efforts would go down the drain. Which is why, she needed to decide on their action after careful consideration.

Cynthia turned towards Annette who was riding on another Banemoose beside her and asked—

"Is it really going to play out just like we planned?" her voice carried concern.

"Your Highness does not need to worry. Even though the forces of Blackthorn are strong, the ones who are going to win at the end will still be us. You just need to command the army, things will play out just like we planned" Annette reassured with a mysterious smile on her face.

Not far away from them, listening to their conversation was Duke Redcrest. He frowned when he heard the woman words. Even with their impressive lineup, there was no guarantee that they could win.

Where was this woman getting her confidence to say all that? As he sized up the woman next to Cynthia, he realised that whether it be in terms of beauty or demeanour, the former did not lose out to the latter.

In fact, she possessed her own charms that made her more beautiful in her own way. Who was this woman and why did he not have any information realted to her?

He quickly called out one of his subordinates who was responsible for keeping all the intel and asked him about the background of the woman. When he received no answer, he became even more stunned.

At the forefront of the army, Cynthia raised her hands and finally gave the command.

"Attack"...

Immediately, the soldiers riding on Banemoose charged forward, followed by the infantry and the heavy armour unit. There was no strategy involved for the first battle, and was a full frontal siege.

After giving the command to the army, Cynthia placed her attention on top of the wall where the General and Marshall Cavalier stood. If she were to believe Annette's words, the next action that the enemy would take…

On top of the walls, when Cavalier saw the princess' army madly rushing towards the wall without any strategy, he sneered.

"Fools, you are just running towards your death. Let me show you the might of Blackthorn and how stupid it was for you to underestimate us. Hellfire Artillery Unit get ready to fire once the enemy enters your range".

At this moment, the linup of Tainted Knights slowly stepped aside, giving way for thousands of figures wearing bright crimson robes, to step forward.

As they appeared, the mana in the entire domain started raging and boiling. Evidently, the phenomenon was stirred by the combined presence of these thousands of figures.

To be able to stir the mana around them with just their presence, only a mage could casue this kind of commotion. What's more, not just any ordinary mage could do that, but a powerful mage who had surpassed level 400.

"Hehe" Marshall Cavalier laughed feeling their powerful aura congregate in the surrounding. His eyes looked at the onrushing army as a twisted pleasure surfaced on them.

The thousands of powerful mages who specialise in destructive magic, was their elite Hellfire Atrillery Unit and also one of their ace in the hole. With them on their side, no matter how large of an army the kingdom raised, their numbers would mean nothing and be reduced to ashes in the face of their overwhelming magic.

Whoosh… the thousands of mages raised their blackish grey staff and started conjuring their magic, causing the very mana in the surroundings to vaguely congregate towards them.

With so many powerful mages casting their magic together, one could imagine the kind of effect it had on the surroundings. Even from the faraway distance that they were the nobles of the kingdom could feel the disturbance in the mana. Novel Fire - novelfire.net

Needless to say, the movements made by their opponent didn't go unnoticed by them. However, by the time they realised what was going and saw that absurd number of mages, it was already too late.

Their army had already entered the range of these mages. Despair filled the faces of these nobles as they thought that were going to incur devastating losses even before they reached the walls of the capital.

The enemy turned out to be far more powerful than they had imagined. It was not like the nobles were unaware of the elite Hellfire Artillery Unit that the kingdom of Blackthorn possessed.

The powerful magic that had razed the capital and all its surrounding regions until it was scorched black, was the work of the Hellfire Artillery Unit. They still remembered the intel they received on the fall of the capital and the other regions.

At that time they thought that the intel was exaggerated. After all, how could one kingdom possess so many mages not to mention that many high level ones.

They were further led to believe the information was nonsense since in all the successive scuffles with the forces of Blackthorn, only a small number of mages that one could count on their hands, showed up on the battlefield.

At that time, they even thought that the other nobles were cowards and timid to surrender to the enemy so soon. However, given from the looks of things now, it seemed that the intel they recived way back was true.

No, it was not entirely correct either as the number of mages that they saw on top of the walls today, clearly far surpassed the numbers that was written on the intel.

Clearly, the kingdom of Blackthorn had hidden their strength even on the day when they captured the capital. Today they finally showed some of their powerful cards and where their unwavering arrogance came from.

Hellfire Artillery Unit- containing thousands of elite mages… this was just one of the forces of Blackthorn, who knows how many more cards they had up their sleeve. Even Cynthia was somewhat surprised as she saw the grand lineup of mages on top of the wall.

Though, unlike the other nobles beside her, she was clearly aware that the enemy possessed such a powerful unit. That being said, seeing them with her own eyes and feeling their powerful magic take shape, it was still a surprising sight for her.

For a single kingdom to possess so many mages and that too in just one unit, no wonder the Kingdom of Balckthorn was able to sweep through the armies of their kingdom and establish their might.

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