Pivot of the Sky

El Mar had already ordered the soldiers stationed inside to hide in safe places at the base of the walls, and the horses were led to the corners where the boulders could not hit. Felix was delighted when he saw the firestones penetrating the magic formation and he shouted: “They can’t hold out any longer, launch a strong attack!”

Two columns of giant warriors with giant shields covering their front and above carried a huge battering ram and rushed to the gates. In other directions, there were also warriors with giant shields carrying ladders who rushed to the lower part of the walls. Lucien gathered the mages to lay a magic formation in front of the battle formation. As numerous chanting voices came from the sky, a light fell onto the attacking soldiers and applied various blessings, while wind blades and energy explosions carved out gaps in the fortress’s magical formation.

Felix used the mages at a critical moment by having them create a magical formation to cover the warriors’ charge. By now, the mages in the fortress should already be tired. Whether it’s crashing through the gates or mounting the walls, the fighting power of the giant warriors was not something the soldiers defending the fortress could resist.

The crossbowmen stood on the high platforms, and if someone on the walls exposed themselves to counterattack, he would immediately be shot at by the strong crossbows in unison. This was the most usual tactic used by the Giant Legion when attacking fortresses and cities. At this moment, the figures of many soldiers suddenly appeared on the walls of the fortress, and they moved about in their armor and helmets. The trained crossbowmen subconsciously shot their crossbows instantly in unison towards the targets.

This first round of firing was fast and accurate, the giant warriors’ heavy crossbows were truly powerful, and some arrows damaged the walls. Almost all the soldiers on the wall were hit by arrows but did not fall immediately. The arrows fell like rain, and some soldiers were hit by several arrows at once. At this time, the chief priest Lucien shouted: “Look carefully before shooting, those are dummies!”

Only then did the giant crossbowmen realize that these “soldiers” were in fact helmets and armors propped up by poles. However, the giant crossbowmen on the platform had already fired the first round of arrows, and the heavy crossbows needed to be reloaded. Just then, soldiers appeared on the wall with loaded crossbows and shot through the gap in the battlements. Their accuracy was not as good as the giants, and they were not as well trained, but this sudden round of fire managed to hit many of the giant warriors, and a dozen of them fell from the high platforms.

The shouts of killing finally rang out and the attacking soldiers rushed up, holding up their shields and erecting long ladders. The giant crossbowmen no longer shot in unison, but aimed at the walls above the attacking soldiers and shot arrows alternately, so that the defenders could not stop the giant soldiers from ascending the walls. There was a sudden buzzing sound in the air, and along with it, dozens of fire snakes descended, turning the long ladders set up by the giant soldiers into a sea of fire. This was a counterattack launched by the fortress’s magic formation.

The soldiers of the Giant Legion also rushed to the gates, the battering ram hitting the gates with a loud bang. The gates did not move, but the entire nearby wall trembled slightly. The magic formation connected the impact suffered by the gates to the walls, so either the formation would be broken or the entire fortifications would collapse. Hot oil cascaded down from the walls ignited in the air, and fell on the shields of the giants, and turned into a sea of fire.

Even if the giant warriors attacking the gates were not hit by the oil, after a few moments the giant shields would be too hot to hold, and they screamed as they threw down their shields. Immediately, they were being hit by the rocks flying down from the city. The giant crossbowmen then shot arrows, and many of the soldiers fighting back were hit by arrows, some lying on the battlements with arrows in their bodies, others falling, and casualties appeared on both sides.

The Giant Legion first used firestones to bombard the fortress for most of the day, consuming the fortress’s magical formation’s protection power, and the moment the two sides clashed, the battle was unusually fierce. There was a sudden flash of light from the magic formation enveloping the walls, and the arrows shot by the giant crossbowmen seemed to be pulled by an invisible sticky substance in the air, greatly reducing their range and causing their arrows to fall to the ground. It seemed that the power of this magic formation was suddenly restored!

Felix turned to look at Lucien, his expression chastising the chief priest for his error in judgment. How did the opponent’s magic formation suddenly regain its power, and didn’t he say that it would be difficult to hold on after half a day? Lucien’s expression was also a bit ugly, and he said in a soft voice: “This is a death struggle, they can’t hold out any longer, we are already attacking the fortress!”

Felix then ordered the chariots with high platforms set up to advance. Even the best magical formation could not stop the fire of so many powerful crossbows at close range. But after the crossbowmen’s position moved forward, they entered the range of the defending soldiers’ bows and arrows. The arrows and crossbows from both sides shot at each other in the air, while the defending soldiers continued throwing down oil and boulders down the long ladders, and the sounds of wailing and shouting merged into a scene of chaos.

In the underground hall of the fortress, El Mar had replaced Raphael’s position, and all ten mages who were operating the magic formation were also replaced. Raphael was now instructing the six commanders in the fortress: “We must hold against the first round of attacks and consume their firestones and heavy crossbow arrows. These things are not easy to replenish, and once they use up their ammunition, the next part will be easy. As long as this attack is repelled, our soldiers will also gain real confidence and learn how to fight.”

The reason why Felix mobilized his siege equipment and concentrated on attacking a fortress was that soon after he set off, he got a report from his scouts that the soldiers of Salem Legion that were out of the city in formation had stayed outside the city for a while before going back with their banners and did not dare to run to the front lines to reinforce the fortress, so he attacked with confidence.

In Felix’s battle plan, if this fortress was taken in half a day, the other fortress would lose their support, and the defenders would despair when they saw this fortress falling. When that happened, he could then capture the other fortress easily as well. These two fortresses would then become the forward base for the attack on Salem, and then the advance would be unstoppable.

But an unexpected situation had occurred. Attacking from the morning until dusk, and after paying the price of nearly 100 casualties, the fortress still had not been captured, and the magic formation guarding the fortress was still in operation. The magic formation was also able to adjust its defensive power according to the power of the attack, and while defending it could also launch surprise counterattacks.

When the fire dragons in the air cascaded down the long ladders, Lucien commanded the mages in the Giant Legion to activate their magical formation. Multiple clouds of ice appeared and blew away the fire dragons, the scene was both tragic and dazzling. Lucien felt very shocked, the fortress’s magic formation had operated at variable strength for most of the day, shouldn’t the supreme mage presiding over the formation be exhausted by now? He had been commanding the mages to assist in the siege, fighting fiercely until now, he also felt some strain.

One must not lose the momentum at the crucial moment, otherwise, it will be a foregone conclusion. Lucien turned the focus of the mages’ magic away from the most heavily defended gates, and the light fell on the giant warriors who rushed towards the city on long ladders. The arrows and stones shot by the soldiers were blocked by the giant shields, and several gaps were created in the magic formation by Lucian’s magic. Some soldiers had almost made it to the walls.

The drums that conveyed the order rang out in the fortress, and the armor-clad defenders appeared on the walls that were about to be captured. The skilled giant crossbowmen then cooperated with the attacking soldiers to fire in unison toward this section of the wall, and many of the defending soldiers were hit by arrows, and there were already giant warriors wielding machetes and jumping onto the wall. As long as these people stand firm on the wall, the giant warriors behind them will come up in a steady stream.

At the critical moment, a strange roar was heard, and a huge tail with golden light suddenly appeared from the air and swept viciously towards the walls, knocking over three long ladders set up on the walls. The defending soldiers swarmed over and surrounded the five or six giant warriors who had climbed the wall, taking the opportunity to eliminate them.

The soldiers of the Giant Legion who were watching the battle outside the city were stunned for an instant when they saw that there was a terrifying monster in the fortress! Could it be that the supreme mage who presided over the formation was also proficient in summoning magic? The smoke and flames in the air quickly coalesced, and a giant snake appeared, emitting smoke and flames and lunging towards the fortress. The mages attempted to use this giant snake conjured by magic to fight the monster.

The giant crossbowmen outside the city only felt a blur before their eyes and saw a beautiful girl suddenly jumping onto the battlements. This girl looked petite and wore a set of fiery red battle robes, looking so bright and eye-catching on the battlefield that the crossbowmen even forgot to shoot arrows at her for a moment.

Although the girl was beautiful, she was holding something scary in her hand raised above her head. It was a stone ball larger than half her body, and it was firestone shot by the Giant Legion with its flames extinguished. As soon as the girl appeared, she hurled the large stone ball towards Lucien!

With a sharp whistle, the firestone reignited in mid-air from the friction with the surrounding air as it flew through the air. If it hit, the supreme mage Lucien would certainly turn into a mangled heap of flesh and blood instantly. It was too sudden, and Lucien was in the middle of commanding the mages to assist the warriors in the attack. Even if he wanted to dodge, it was too late, so he hastily raised his staff, and the giant snake that was just conjured in the air rushed towards the firestone. The giant snake was destroyed from the impact and dissipated, but the firestone fell onto the Giant Legion’s magic formation.

If such a large stone rolled over, it would have no problem killing two or three mages at one time, but at this moment, a roar was heard. A dazzling light flew towards the firestone, smashing it into tiny pieces. Turned out that the Head of Giant Legion, Felix, had jumped from his chariot to the mages before the formation with his giant sword. Felix himself was also an eighth-level supreme warrior, and due to the innate strength of highlander giants, he was incredibly strong.

When El Mar saw that Felix had made a move, she shouted: “You big and stupid brute, if you have guts, fight a duel with me here!”

Lucien hurriedly shouted from behind: “Lord Felix, you are the commander of the whole army, you must not go there by yourself!” He was afraid that if Felix rushed up to the walls and got trapped in the fortress while the soldiers couldn’t attack, then the army’s morale would be in chaos. Looking at the throw the girl made with her bare hands, she was a supreme warrior as well, and had a fighting chance with Felix.

Even if Felix was powerful, he was not an invincible warrior like Enkidu, not to mention that he was the commander of the whole army, and even if he could storm the walls alone, he could not act so presumptuously. He waved his huge sword in front of the formation and shouted: “Girl if you have the guts, come down here and fight me!

The crossbowmen finally released their arrows, dozens of heavy crossbow strings rang, and huge arrows flew towards El Mar with a whistling sound. El Mar suddenly took out a huge spiked mace from behind the wall and swung it around, smashing the arrows into pieces. This spiked mace was twice as long as her height, and the top of the mace was covered with spikes.

El Mar took down the arrows and pointed at Felix with her spiked mace. “Do you think this girl is as stupid as you? Come out of the fortress to fight with you? Dream on! …Since you are the one attacking the fortress, then come in yourself!” After saying this, she turned around and jumped off the wall, and disappeared. Felix stared with his giant sword in his hand for a long time, but at that moment, another scout sent to the front returned to report that the soldiers of Salem had moved out again.

……

At dusk, the Giant Legion’s fierce attack finally came to an end, and the sound of killing subsided. The fortress had withstood the first round of attacks, but the defending soldiers also paid the price of nearly a hundred casualties. It was a large proportion of casualties as they only had five hundred soldiers, and if they had fought in the open space, they would have been decimated. Fortunately, they could manage to defend by relying on the fortress and its magic formation.

Except for some of the folk sent by the city of Syah, these soldiers had never experienced war before, and everyone was nervous when the battle of the siege had just begun. After successfully withstanding the fierce attack of the Giant Legion, everyone finally gained real confidence, and it turned out that they could also fight in a war!

In the underground hall in the center of the fortress, Raphael was resting. Both fortresses had a parangon in the magic formation that could display each other’s images, and Raphael was talking to Lynk in the other fortress. Lynk asked: “What is the casualty situation?”

Raphael replied: “With the magical formation and the fortress to rely on, there are still nearly 100 casualties. This is surprisingly similar to the casualties of the attacking side, and this shows that the Giant Legion’s fighting strength is indeed strong.”

Lynk: “Idu once said, an army’s fighting ability can only improve from fighting, and back then, that was the case for the An-Ra Legion. The first wave of attack is the fiercest, and once you withstand it, victory will come.”

Raphael: “Such a siege consumes too much, the Giant Legion do not have infinite supplies, but I’m not sure how many more rounds of such an onslaught they can launch? Even if the warriors can hold out, but the impact on the magic formation is too great, and the spare parangons I have stored here have already been consumed by half today.”

Lynk: “I’ve been watching the battlefield, their consumption of firestones and heavy crossbow arrows is very large, these things cannot be replenished easily within a short period. Among fifty stone-throwers, seven have been damaged, they probably did not expect that this bone is so difficult to chew. They should launch an even stronger attack after paying such a high price, and you have to prepare for another vicious battle. If you can’t hold out, I will reinforce you immediately.”

Raphael shook his head and said: “No matter what, I will still hold the next round of attacks, Idu ordered that you can’t act rashly during the first two rounds of attacks. Unless the magic formation is broken, then El Mar will lead us to break out to your side. Before that, you need to open the formation to send troops out of the fortress and pretend to receive us. I think on the side of Salem, they should also be acting according to the plan right now.”

……

By dusk, the attack had to stop and the Giant Legion was due for a rest. The warriors launched three waves of attacks in rotation and did not take the fortress, and the army formation that was lined up on guard stood all day. It was not suitable for the large-scale attacks when it became dark, and the crossbowmen would also be unable to see their targets, so the whole army needed to camp to eat and rest, and send scout horses in all directions to keep watch.

The location of the two fortresses was a bit uncomfortable, and if Felix wanted to retreat to Enlil City, it was a bit too far, so the army had to spend the night in the open. The quartermaster reported that in addition to the nearly 100 casualties, one-third of the firestones and heavy crossbow arrows had been consumed.

Stone throwers threw stones, and theoretically, any stone of about the same size can be thrown as long as the weight does not exceed the limit. But trained soldiers use stone balls of specific specifications and shapes to hit the farthest range and achieve the most accurate hit rate, so the firestones used are specially mined and processed. Heavy crossbow arrows, of course, also needed special craftsmen to make and there were many processes involved.

It was impossible to carry too many firestones and heavy crossbow arrows in the army formation, they were all rationed according to the needs of the battle, and the supplies for the ongoing battle needed to be transported to the front lines in a continuous stream by the logistics team. Felix originally intended to break through the walls of Salem and take over the fortress as a passing blow, but they failed to do so today. Looking at the situation, the legion’s firestones and heavy arrows would be exhausted by the time the two fortresses were captured, so he hurriedly ordered the logistics team to urgently transport them from Enlil City.

The logistics personnel were camping, but most of the soldiers in the legion were not allowed to rest. After the siege battle formation retired, the remaining two thousand soldiers again set up a military formation on the avenue, and there was a tense atmosphere.

According to the scouts, more than a thousand men of the Salem Legion were in formation outside the city in the morning, but shortly afterward they retreated to the city. In the afternoon, more than a thousand men came out of the city, lined up, and pushed closer to the two fortresses, with many soldiers holding torches that had not yet been lit, apparently wanting to take advantage of the evening to reinforce them.

In a night battle, one would be most afraid of the trampling of horses in the chaos while men cannot distinguish between the friend and foe, so Felix ordered his men to maintain the tightest formation, only waiting for a decisive battle. If they could defeat the main force of the Salem Legion, the two fortresses alone waiting for help will sooner or later be broken.

Felix stood on top of the chariot, his sword in his hand. The night was getting cooler, the evening breeze blew through his armor, and the soldiers felt a chill. The distance from the city of Salem to the fortress was about twenty kilometers, not too far and not too close, so the Salem legion should arrive at midnight. The Giant Legion would wait for them to arrive, and Felix ordered the soldiers to prepare torches. In the history of wars on the continent, there has rarely been a night battle between legions, could it be that the commander of the other side did not know how to fight?