NOVEL WEB Chapter 244 – Reinforcment
Inside the city of Mugi, the capital city of the Astran Kingdom, Paoma, their queen, was standing on the thick, tall, gray walls. She was leaning on a war hammer stained with the fresh blood of the fallen, chunks of their flesh, and shards from their skulls. Her plate armor was cracked and dented at multiple places, losing its luster long ago, replaced by the brownish, dark patches of dried blood sticking onto it. Her eyes were coldly watching the sea of warriors camping outside of the lush wheat fields, completely destroying those with their boots, war machines, and horses.
They had been under siege for the past few days, and because Mugi was built on a fertile, humongous stretch of land, everywhere one looked from the city could only see the golden fields of wheat. Yet now, the abundant food source was constantly destroyed by the invading army, surrounding the city from all sides, sealing them off from the outside. They had already repelled three attempts of breaking through their defenses; the last one had been fought back a few hours ago, just before dawn, as the corpses were still bleeding and moaning under their walls. Some of the unfortunate bastards failed to suffer a quick death blow and were now agonizingly groaning with their broken bodies buried below their comrades.
"Your Highness, it would be best if you take some time to rest!" an older man stood next to her, already having white stripes in his black beard and hair. He was Ito, Paoma's leading advisor and also a mentor. He watched her grow up and prepared her to inherit the throne one day.
"I will rest when I am dead!" she answered with a sad smile, watching the movement in the sea of enemies. "I am one of the strongest here; you need me to always be on guard! Those men in white from Heaven's Gate… are trouble." she bit into her lip, looking back at the hastily set up tents and repurposed buildings in the city. Her elite warriors who were in the Harmony realm were either trying to get some rest or patch up their injuries, exhausted and at their breaking point.
In all the previous battles, the main force was the conventional army on both sides, but a dozen cultivators from Heaven's Gate posed the most significant threat in each exchange. In the last battle, they almost broke through their defenses, and Paoma had already lost five expert warriors to them. Yet they still failed to kill any of theirs. It was slowly evident that if this kept up, they would break alongside their walls. It was only a question of when and not if.
"Damned white-haired bastards…" she slammed her fist on the wall while Ito sighed, patting her armored shoulders.
"We won't fall without a fight, Your Highness."
"I am not planning to! If they want my city, they better kill me first!" Just as she finished, a warhorn sounded, and the army moved forward.
"To the east walls!" Ito shouted as they rushed along the top of the wall while the defenders, anyone who could lift a finger, were getting ready to reinforce that side.
"Damn it…" Paoma munched on her lower lips, seeing how another thousand soldiers were marching forward with ladders to climb the walls or build a stairwell for others with their own bodies. "Poor bastards…" She spat as 80% of the soldiers wore slave collars. They were unable to refuse the order to march forward. "Ready the defenses! Hurry! And bring the oil vats from the northern side! And why aren't the ballistas firing?!" flew out the quick orders from between her lips in just a moment, energizing the defense even if she was one of the most exhausted people present, not sleeping for four days by now.
"Not good! Look!" Ito shouted as they could see four flying figures closing in. Their hands were already lighting up as fireballs were ready to be blasted forward.
"If they ignited the vats, we are the ones who will become barbeque!" Paoma flew out, blocking the incoming flames, wielding her hammer, and flinging the attacks off to the sides or back to the sender like a baseball player.
"Good, the Queen has appeared; surround her!" the enemy's leader shouted, and four others flew up from the marching army.
"Protect her with your lives!" Ito roared, leading their side of the Harmony experts, engaging in a fierce battle above the walls while the sea of soldiers reached it, starting their assault.
"Oh, am I late?" echoed a laughing male voice along the battlefield, and Paoma only flinched while smashing another fireball into fireworks before herself. Looking at the source of the voice, she could only see a black flash, and one of the Heaven's Gate people was cut in half horizontally. He was already falling down, raining blood onto the soldiers below them.
"Who are you?" She gasped for air. "Not that I am against any help; I just want to know who to thank later!"
"Ahaha, take it as our offer of friendship from the Immortal Wonders Sect!" a young man dressed in a black and purple uniform appeared beside her, wearing the image of an astronomical clock etched onto his shoulder cape. "My name is Frenir, Head Disciple of the Immortal Wonders Sect. Pleased to meet you, my lady~" he bowed gently with a smile, drawing a surprising shyness onto her face amidst the fierce battle.
"Why are you… here?" She asked, not understanding why they even considered helping them, especially when they should've been bogged down in the Elroths' southern borders.
"You met with my Elder Sister Ren, no? That is enough for a reason~ Ahahaha!" Frenir laughed joyfully, and it was at that moment when Paoma realized something was off. Looking around, everything was moving painfully slowly; her enemy's cut-in-half body was still falling downwards, and only they were moving at normal speed. "Don't worry, you are just under my affinity's influence! My Elder Sister and her people dealt with the south; the four kingdoms drew back their soldiers and announced their neutrality in any other battles! So we came to help you two!"
"What?!" she exclaimed, shocked at what she was hearing.
"Ahaha, I'll tell you everything in due time, but not now! We got people to take care of! My fellow brothers and sisters are also coming here and to Lotharin! Don't worry, we are the muscle of the sect~" Frenir laughed, patting her shoulders as time suddenly returned to normalcy. He was already a hundred meters away, wielding a sword, decapitating another Heaven's Gate warrior who seemingly stopped moving in the air, frozen in time, proving an easy target.
"What… how…?" Paoma watched on, completely mesmerized, seeing a young man flying amongst his enemies, killing them easily while smiling.
"You are too fast, Senior Brother!" arrived another shout, ringing out like a deep bell as a completely golden female body landed on the walls. When clapping, she was sending out the sounds of the same chimes, shaking the ladders, breaking them, and disorienting hundreds of soldiers at once.
"Or we are too slow!" a male voice answered, yet nobody could see where it came from. Still, one of the Heaven's Gate disciples found a sword sticking out from his chest from nowhere, becoming visible only as Kirch released it. He remained invisible all the time, making it impossible for others to perceive his presence. "Man… I really want to go home…."
"You and your constant whining!" arrived another voice, its owner standing beside the golden body of Sylvett.
"Our orders are to spare as much as possible; they are slaves, not real soldiers!" Sylvett said, looking at Ostavar standing next to her.
"Don't worry, I am much more proficient by now!" he smiled as he took a deep breath, and when blowing the air out, it was deep blue and sparkling in color, carrying a weird, stinging smell alongside it. The sea of soldiers below the wall who inhaled it soon started wobbling and fell over one by one, paralyzed. Their eyes were still moving, yet their bodies refused to listen to their brains.
"You should wash your mouth if your breath is this bad." Kirch's voice came, but Ostavar just rolled his eyes, still blowing out the paralyzing mist.
"Shut it, you idiot!" Sylvett slapped the air next to her, landing a perfect, loud 'donk' on the back of his head, even if he was invisible.
"Ouch! How the hell can you still see me?!" He moaned, becoming visible.
"I can't. I just know you best."
"There! They are immobilized!" Ostavar gasped, breathing in again as most of the attacking soldiers were immobilized. The Heaven's Gate people were all exterminated as the floating experts in the sky returned to the wall alongside Paoma and Frenir.
"Good Job!" Frenir laughed, landing amongst them, high-fiving them nonchalantly. "We should start moving them into the city!"
"Excuse me?" Paoma furrowed her brows.
"Don't worry, we can take their collars off; we have the tools to disable them! Plus, we are here to help; that includes them too!" he nodded his head toward the sea of slave soldiers.
"They still have more! And that would be too much of a risk!" Ito walked up to them, grateful for their help, but he was also against what he had just heard.
"Hm? Don't worry! Our forces are coming. We are just the vanguard!" Just as Frenir finished, a loud explosion rang out while a multi-colored light beam flashed through the southern blockage of the besieging army. "Oh! They are here!" He laughed joyfully. At the same time, in the south, Lulu had arrived, blasting through the ranks of the thousands of soldiers, followed by her disciple brothers and sister, namely Tuxon, Wyland, and Uzami.
"Hurry!" Lulu shouted, leading them towards the city as a Harmony expert appeared before them, wearing white clothing.
"Let me, Elder Lulu!" Tuxon flew forward, flinging a laughable small hammer. Still, his enemy could not laugh for long. It grew into a 5-meter wide, completely electric hammer the moment he swung it, blasting him apart amongst the sound of thunder.
"Show off!" Uzami smiled, not wanting to stay out of the fun as they flew forward and turned to her back in the air; she pointed backward, sending out flashes of light from her fingers that resulted in a massive explosion amongst the army tents, blowing up their supplies of food.
"L-look w-who's talking!" Wyland shook his head.
"Says the one who walked around the Sect with two wives, 'showing them around' while looking so smug the dictionary came to me the next day asking for a redefinition!" Lulu looked back at him with a grin as they arrived in the city, welcomed by Paoma and Frenir.
"Good job! Wyland! Get to work; free the slaves from the collars! The rest go and take up defensive formations around the walls! We are going to defend the city while you can take a long rest!" Frenir turned his head to Paoma with a warm smile, making her blush as she looked at him. "When the slaves are freed, they can fight for you and defend the walls! Trust me, they would not need a new collar to be up for it!"
"We are still surrounded… even if you confused them now…." Ito looked at the thick smoke rising in the south.
"For now." Frenir nodded, "We are here to reinforce you and make sure the city does not fall! My disciple brothers and sisters, alongside other elders, are doing the same in the Lotharinians' kingdom. Until we get the signal, we are going to wait and defend!"
"What signal?" Paoma asked, recollecting herself.
"The demons are coming from the north. When they conquer the capital city of the Nervadask Kingdom, we will strike out! Some may see this as the end of the Kingdom of Ten. My master said; This is just the end of Zelig."
"And Heaven's Gate! Don't forget that!" Lulu smirked, "That copycat nonsense has to go; by the time my Master comes back, even if there are two Zeligs, she would step on them the same!"
"Seeing your confidence and the way you arrived…." Paoma murmured as she took a deep breath, finally letting herself relax and watching Frenir's eyes. "Your Sect really lives up to his name." she stretched out her hand, shaking it with his before going completely blank, falling into Frenir's arm, already deeply asleep.
"Oh… ah… eh…!" Frenir flinched, a bit surprised, shy, and flustered, not knowing what to do. He was holding a Queen in his arms, looking for help, but even Ito was barely standing straight, feeling the true exhaustion hit him now that help had finally arrived.
"Just bring her to a place where she can rest!" Lulu laughed, watching him. "And don't be like Wyland and sleep with her immediately!"
"H-hey!" Wyland answered at the same time as Frenir, who deep down was still just a teen with zero experience with women.
"Let's go!" Sylvett rolled her eyes, "We have jobs to do!" She clapped, sounding like a bell being rung, her golden palms smacking against each other.
That night, the exhausted defenders finally had a chance to rest and collapse, almost falling into a coma. They slept without bothering to wake up to any noise, not even if someone stepped on their hands or feet, lying everywhere around the streets. Yet this was not true for the other side, who was completely thrown off by the sudden appearance of reinforcement. Especially of this caliber, making Frode hold a screaming competition in his tent throughout the night with his generals.
