Chapter 20: Counter Attack II
The gatehouse of Greenshire—a structure strengthened by Rank 5 earth magic—was simply gone.
Where it once stood was now a deep crater filled with crushed stone and bent iron. Fires burned around it, their flames climbing upward and licking at the grey sky.
Imperial Baron Saxum dragged himself to his feet among the broken stones of the wall. A loud ringing filled his ears, and blood ran slowly from his nose—the pain caused by the magic backlash when his barrier was destroyed.
He looked around in panic.
His elite guards were gone. What remained of them was torn flesh mixed with shattered stone.
In the courtyard below, Imperial soldiers screamed in pain. Many clutched their bodies, cut open by sharp pieces of stone that had flown through the air like blades.
He could not understand what had happened.
At first, he thought it was a normal siege weapon, maybe a catapult. That was the only thing that made sense. In this age, catapults were the only weapons that could attack a city from far away.
He had prepared for that.
The moment Imperial forces occupied the domain, he had ordered his mages to place detection spells along the ridge. It was the only possible place the Principality could launch a counterattack from. Unfortunately, those spells could only sense the hostile presence.
And since catapults fired slowly, the walls should have held.
That was why he had reinforced the city.
With the help of mana stones—recently discovered near the Northern Capital of Ferrum—he had strengthened the walls and the barrier. Mana stones were priceless to mages. They could store mana and draw in more from the air, helping spells last far longer than normal.
Without them, even he—a Rank 5 mage—could only maintain the Golden Earth Barrier for one day before his mana ran dry. Humans had limits.
Even the Rank 8 Duchess could only hold such a spell for a week.
Mana stones were the answer.
But they had a flaw.
The barrier they supported still reset after one day.
And today, the timing was cruel.
Baron Saxum had been standing on the wall, calmly casting the spell as he did every day, sipping wine as usual—
When that thing tore through the barrier.
Through the wall.
Through everything.
His world shattered in an instant.
Baron Saxum stood frozen in shock, his mind unable to accept the truth.
This was not a siege weapon.
This was something entirely new.
Only he alone survived the bombardment of the Earth shakers, with a light injury.
After a moment, Baron Saxum heard shouting.
Enemy voices.
The sound pulled him out of his shock and back into reality.
"They are using alchemy!" someone screamed.
"It's a trick! Counterattack!"
Fear spread through the Imperial soldiers—but fear quickly turned into instinct.
They knew one thing.
If they stayed behind the broken walls, that invisible thunder would strike again.
Their only chance was to rush forward and fight up close.
"Release the golems!" Saxum shouted, raising his staff.
"Heavy infantry, form ranks!"
"Charge!"
Stone giants began to move. Soldiers lowered their shields and spears.
With desperate cries, the Imperial forces surged out of the ruined city gate—running straight toward the enemy lines.
Fifty Earth Golems moved forward.
They were made of solid granite, brought to life by glowing runes at their cores. Each one stood twelve feet tall. With every heavy step, the ground shook.
Behind them followed the rest of the Imperial force—two thousand eight hundred heavy infantry.
Every man wore full plate armor and carried a tall shield enchanted to turn aside arrows. They moved close together, forming a tight wedge behind the golems.
They were confident.
The stone giants would block any attack. Nothing could reach them.
With a loud roar, the force surged forward, charging across the open valley. They crossed the two-thousand-yard distance faster than expected, shields raised, boots pounding the earth.
They believed they were safe.
On the valley floor, the army of the Leo Principality watched the enemy charge toward them.
"Distance!" Lieutenant Colonel Comwell shouted, his voice cutting through the cold air.
"Eight hundred yards!" a surveyor called back.
Centurion narrowed his eyes. "Muskets won't do a thing to those rocks," he growled. "Lead is too soft against granite."
He pointed forward.
"That is our target."
"Switch targets!" Comwell ordered.
"Forget the walls. Aim at the golems!"
The cannon crews moved at once. Screws turned. Gears clicked. The barrels lowered just a little.
"FIRE!"
BOOM.
The ridge roared again.
Twenty Earth Shakers slammed backward, spitting fire and smoke into the air.
The golems were terrifying force against swords and arrows since they felt no pain and did not fear death.
But they were big and slow.
The mithril-alloy cannonballs screamed through the air.
CRACK—CRACK—CRUMBLE.
When a twenty-pound iron ball moving faster than sound hit a stone body, magic no longer mattered.
The laws of the physic took over.
The lead Golem took a direct hit to the chest.
The cannonball tore straight through a golem's granite chest. Its rune core shattered instantly. Stone exploded outward in sharp fragments as the ball burst out the other side.
The giant collapsed in the middle of a step, crashing into the ground as nothing more than broken rocks.
Another shell struck a golem's leg, cutting it clean off. The giant lost its balance and fell forward, crushing two Imperial soldiers under its massive weight.
A third shell hit a golem in the head. The upper half of its body vanished in an instant, blown apart into dust and stone.
In a matter of three and four rounds of cannon fire The terrifying line of fifty stone giants was turned into nothing more than broken rocks scattered across the valley.
Thirty golems were completely destroyed in the blasts.
The rest lay broken on the ground, damaged so badly that they would never rise again.
More than a hundred Imperial vanguard soldiers near the golems were killed or badly injured by the explosions and falling rubble.
The Imperial heavy infantry behind the golems hesitated.
"The giants are down," Lieutenant Colonel Centurion said calmly to Comwell. "The infantry is yours."
"Five hundred yards!"
Soon, Fear drove the Imperial soldiers forward. Desperate to engage Baron Saxum and imperial soldiers charged faster. They lifted their shields high, locking them together into a wall of steel. Baron Saxum thought this is the only way he heard that the Leo Principality have not much talent in magic and he believe that with his Rank 5 he could do something about that.
"Three hundred yards!"
"First rank—KNEEL!" Comwell roared.
The first line of five hundred musketeers dropped to one knee at the same time.
"Second rank—READY!"
The second line stepped forward, muskets raised and steady.
"Third rank—READY!"
The third line moved into the open spaces between them.
One thousand five hundred black gun barrels pointed forward as one.
A solid wall of iron eyes stared at the charging enemy.
"One hundred and fifty yards!"
Comwell raised his sword.
"FIRE!"
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
A thick cloud of white smoke burst from the Leo lines.
Far ahead, the first volley struck.
Musket balls, tore straight through shield walls of the Imperial heavy infantry and smashed through the armor behind them.
The front three rows of the Imperial infantry has fallen instantly.
Men were thrown backward like broken dolls. Bodies fell as red spray filled the air. The tight formation that was meant to protect them became a trap, as shots passed through one man and killed the next.
"Reload!" Comwell shouted.
"Cycle!"
The first rank stood up, pouring powder. The third rank knelt.
"FIRE!"
Another ripple of thunder.
The Imperial charge stalled completely.
Line after line, one after another, the Imperial soldiers were shot down before they could reach the Leo lines. The battlefield turned into a one-sided massacre.
The infantrymen were fleeing despite the instinct driven with fear they could no longer endured the suffering and terrifying thunderous voices clinging to the straw of hope to live but fall another prey to the bullets of muskets.
Baron Saxum stood frozen in shock in the middle of chaos. He could no longer give orders.
He had heard reports from the Western front—stories about strange, thunderous weapons. But hearing them and facing them were not the same.
This was different.
This was terrifying.
With weapons like these, even the Empire itself had reason to fear.
That thought crossed his mind—
And then it ended.
A musket shot struck Baron Saxum in the head.
His visions turned black instantly.
The commander is dead.
And with him, Greenshire had fallen.
.......
While the northern sky was dark with smoke from Greenshire, the Western Front saw its own battle.
The Fort of Occidents stood on a rocky hill above the Western Highway. For many years, it had been the main watch post between the Capital and Western lands. People called it the Eye of the West. Thick steel gates protected it, and now five thousand elite Imperial soldiers guarded its walls.
Under normal rules of war, taking this fort would have been almost impossible. An army would need months of siege—or would have to die climbing the steep, open slopes.
Marquess Custodias led an army of fifteen thousand men to the fort consist of
Southern soldiers, heavy pikemen, cross bowmen, five hundred elite knights, 500 Venator order and five hundred newly trained musketeers most of all 5 Earth Shaker field cannons were included.
It took only three shots to destroy the steel gate of the fort.
The moment the gate collapsed, Captain Fidus led five hundred heavy cavalry straight through the breach. At the same time, Aelrue and the Venator Order struck from behind. While the cannons thundered, they had quietly climbed the rear cliffs, they attacked from the walls, raining wind magic and arrows down on the Imperial officers, spreading panic and confusion.
The five thousand Imperial soldiers, deafened by the cannons and terrified by the sudden breach, were trapped within their own walls Unable to organize or fight back.
On the ridge, five hundred musketeers fired again and again. Volley after volley of lead tore into the exposed defenders. Armor and shields offered no protection.Then the pikemen advanced, finishing what the cavalry and gunfire had begun.
Within hours, the Fort of Occidents went silent.
Every Imperial soldier inside was killed.
The losses for the Leo Principality were almost nothing—fewer than fifty wounded, and not a single death. The enemy's will had shattered long before they could even raise their swords.
With the fort taken, the Eye of the West was blinded.
"I hope he is doing well", looking forward to the ruined Fort Marquess Custodias, wish for his grandson.
(Continue....)