Chapter 46 - War
After announcing this to the world, the Shadow Tower quickly began to prepare for war.
Out of the six Wizards stationed in the tower, two were selected. They recruited close to 100 formal and unofficial Apprentices, and the Sixteen Kingdoms under their banner, the edge of the forest, had five human kingdoms. The scale was so large that they had invested close to 10,000 soldiers in total.
As their enemy, Red Devil’s Blood only had one formal Wizard and dozens of Apprentices. The human kingdoms under their rule only had two human kingdoms, Jed and Ryker. In total, they had less than 5,000 soldiers that could fight.
But don’t think that this was too weak. Red Devil’s Blood was already one of the top five powerful Wizard organizations in the Underdark Treesea. It was much weaker than this.
Yes, the Underdark Treesea’s power structure was similar to that of Blue Star. However, the situation here was even more ridiculous. It had reached a point where even a challenger could not be found.
The Shadow Tower was the king of this Underdark Treesea!
…
Half a month later, Twilight Valley, Fortress.
Twilight Valley was located in the northwest of the Helan Kingdom. It was just right at the intersection of the Helan Kingdom, the Czech Kingdom, and the Dukedom of Ryker. It was a place that was worthy of its name.
And because of this, the Helan Kingdom built a military fortress based on the valley. It just so happened to separate the Czech Kingdom and the Dukedom of Ryker.
At this moment, in Twilight Fortress.
“Sha! Sha!” The sound of rolling wheels rose and fell.
Rows of pallets carrying various war supplies drove into twilight fortress.
Count Kroya wore a bright silver chain armor and stood at the entrance of the city gate to make arrangements for the supplies to enter the city.
“…When the arrows are transported in, put them into the warehouse. Pay attention to the moisture resistance. These two days are cloudy and rainy…”
“…Why is there a crack in the northwest corner of the city wall? Where is the craftsman?! If it is not fixed before the enemy arrives, I will hang you on the city wall…”
“…Has the leather armor arrived yet? Don’t let my soldiers fight with their butts bare…”
“…All of you, keep your spirits up and defend Rykers. After His Majesty has killed the Jedians, I will bring you to the border to snatch a few women back to have some fun!”
The originally gloomy atmosphere in the fortress eased up slightly with the Count’s last sentence.
The crowd burst into laughter.
After calming the soldiers’ nervous mood, the Count walked up the battlements.
In front of the battlements, there was a figure standing at this moment. One hand was pressed on the gray-black brick, looking into the distance. A gray cloak made of fine linen was dancing fiercely in the wind.
Count Kroya walked forward and glanced at the empty wilderness in the distance. He turned around and said, “Sir Wizard, is there anything worth your attention over there?”
Heath turned around and said, “I’m wondering when the Ryker people will come.”
Because of the geographical advantage, the military commander of the Shadow Tower made the arrangement to concentrate the superior forces to attack the Czech Kingdom, and arranged a small number of troops to defend Twilight Fortress to prevent the Ryker Duchy from providing reinforcements.
Twilight Fortress belonged to Count Kroya’s territory. After the start of the war, he would naturally take on the defensive duties. Heath naturally followed suit.
Count Kroya took off his gloves and flicked the dust off the bricks, he placed his right elbow on the city wall and looked into the distance. “His Majesty Philip’s Army should have arrived at the Sano River by now. If the Ryker people do not intend to fight alone, they must help the Jedian people defend the downstream of the river before His Majesty Philip takes down the natural moat of the Sano River.”
“They need to reach the Sano River by the end of the month at the latest to defend against the Jedians. Then, they must defeat us by this week at the latest. Today is Monday, so I think they should arrive in three or four days.”
Heath raised his eyebrows and said, “You mean that they only need three days to defeat us?”
Count Kroya laughed loudly. “No, they will know in three days that they have no chance of winning the war from the beginning.”
Count Kroya’s confidence was not without reason.
The soldiers of Ryker Duchy could not possibly exceed 1,500 people, while Count Kroya had already brought 800 soldiers to the fortress alone. One after another, the summoned vassals brought their troops to rush over from all directions.
In addition, the number of Wizards was not known by Ryker Duchy for the time being. However, Shadow Tower had sent another 11 Apprentices in addition to Heath, and they were on their way to the fortress.
The forces of both sides were equally matched. The spell casters on this side might even have the advantage, and they even had the advantage of the fortress.
How could they lose? How could the Winged Dragon Knights lose?
…
In the evening, six Apprentices arranged by Shadow Tower had already arrived at the fortress, three men and three women.
Among them, there were two who were familiar with heath. One was Wesley, who entered at the same time as Heath, and the other was the low-level Apprentice, Twyn, who had been admitted to the academy a year earlier. Twyn was also the second low-level Apprentice in the fortress besides Heath.
Twyn and Wasley were the type of people who could not live without women for a day. After dinner, they left the three Apprentices to secretly ask Heath about the nearby places of love.
Heath frowned. “A brothel? How can there be such a place here?”
The most taboo thing to do in war was to meet a stupid teammate. These two idiots gave Heath a bad premonition.
Twyn said, “How could it not be? You must know, right? Please, it’s rare to come out. I want to have sex with two virgins.”
Heath said coldly, “I don’t know.”
Both of them were obviously very dissatisfied with Heath’s attitude, but they didn’t say anything because of his genius title.
“Alright then, let’s go ask the human Count ourselves.”
Then, the two of them went to look for Count Kroya.
As the commander-in-chief of the army, Heath had thought that Count Kroya would tactfully find an excuse to push the matter aside and calm them down.
But unexpectedly, instead of doing so, the Count gave them a warm-hearted suggestion. He even arranged a pair of soldiers to escort them to a nearby town to have fun that night.
Along the way, another male Apprentice and a female Apprentice who wanted to go shopping in the town also joined in.
Four of the six Apprentices were gone at once, and the remaining two Apprentices were still the type who only mastered a little low-level healing spells. In the end, Heath was still the only soldier who could fight.
However, in the face of such losses, Count Kroya still looked relaxed. “Relax, Wizard Heath. This battle has never been evenly matched. Even without the help of magic, we can still win.”
For some reason, the ominous feeling in Heath’s heart was getting more and more serious…
…
Sometimes, what he feared came true.
The next morning, the ominous feeling in Heath’s heart actually came true.
The next morning, the army of Ryker Duchy arrived at the battlefield.
However, the size of the army was far from the 1,500 people that Count Kroya predicted…
The next morning, Twilight Fortress.
“Is… Is this the army of the Ryker people?”
“How can there be so many?”
“No… Didn’t they say that they only have 1,500 people?”
Panicking whispers rose and fell. The soldiers on the battlements all had pale faces as they looked forward with fear and trepidation.
In the wilderness ahead, there was a gathered army, densely packed in layers. At a glance, it was a dark mass of at least 10,000 people.
On one side of the battlements, Heath was holding a brick with one hand, looking at the scene in front of him with an ugly expression.
Although he had a premonition last night that the trip would not go smoothly, when he saw this exaggerated scene today, he was still very speechless.
He looked at Count Kroya who was next to him with dissatisfaction and said, “Is this the 1500 people that Your Excellency is referring to?”
Count Kroya, who had just arrived at the battlements, was also stunned by the scene before his eyes. The contempt from yesterday had long disappeared from his face.
In the face of Heath’s questioning, he had no time to answer.
He just grabbed a soldier and said, “Ring the bell! Assemble! Call everyone up! Immediately, immediately!”