The siege had lasted very long. Çekiçdöven was attacking the city with all the forces in his hand. While orcs on one side and war machines on the other were not ceasing the attack day and night, they had a problem.
Whenever the units launched an attack, the archer protected by a giant shield managed to kill the orcs in the command echelon. Some of the arrows he shot were piercing shields and even armor, and there seemed to be no end to them.
Seeing that there was nothing to be done at the port, Sangre took Vahşiduvar and went up to the ramparts. He was spreading death to enemy units with his bow as tall as an adult human. When he used the armor-piercing arrows specially manufactured by Kitapkurdu, the siege units were retreating.
"Marcos, what is the situation of the people? I can't see anyone in the streets!"
Alyon was chatting with the City Lord while walking out of the castle towards the ramparts where the fire of war burned.
"Since we received news of the attack one moon cycle before, we found a solution to that issue. Shortly before the war started, the people were shut into underground shelters; they are waiting under strict supervision for the time they will resurface!"
"I saw the gem in you back at that marketplace. Under the guise of protecting their lives, you prevented agents who would want to start a rebellion in this difficult situation, didn't you?"
A bashful smile fell on the young lord's face; indeed, he had to make quite an elaborate speech to get the people into the shelter.
"We have one year's worth of provisions in stocks. As long as the soldiers coming from Nikonya ensure its security, I don't think we will experience any trouble in that regard!"
When Alyon looked at her, Nafız stretched proudly.
"We are judges of character, son; we ran a photocopy shop across the courthouse. You'd lose your mind if I told you how many models entered the shop a day!"
Finishing her words, it would take no time for her to find two surprised men in front of her. I zoned out again, she thought, and without dwelling on it too much, started walking towards the rampart with quick steps.
"Amidst all this chaos, I forgot to ask you; where is my son?"
Nafız, moving away from the duo, suddenly stopped; she was witnessing a historical moment. Alyon had said 'my son' for Kitapkurdu for the first time.
"Chief Alyon, your son said he put things in order here and would cross to the Arid Region to reorganize the orc tribe. Although I insisted a lot for him to stay, he left the city taking a war machine without caring about the danger of the journey!"
Although he fell into panic at what he heard, Alyon was very happy deep down; his son might be physically weak, but he had a heart like a lion.
Nafız, overhearing the conversations, took out a blood-red mechanical swallow from her storage ring. After recording her message informing her student about the latest status of the war and their return, she opened both her hands and threw it into the air.
"Commander Nafız, we are surrounded; our enemies can intercept the message!"
Before the Young Lord finished his speech, the swallow had already taken flight; when it disappeared before his eyes a breath or two later, he would be the only person surprised by this in the environment.
"Kid, have you started looking down on us?"
Marcos was very ashamed. Could the person who made the plan by which they captured the city make such a simple mistake?
The group, walking for a while, finally came to the head of the stairs leading up to the ramparts. When Nafız and Alyon started going up, a hand landed on the shoulder of the City Lord who wanted to follow.
"I'm sorry, it's very dangerous up there; I can't allow this!"
The owner of the words was Kübey, the leader of the bodyguard team; Marcos had to heed the warning given by bowing his head. The female orc was no joke. Under her polite speech lay a monster who would commit all kinds of psychopathy if necessary.
The Lord had witnessed this behavior for the first time during the interrogation of someone who wanted to assassinate him. Kübey, skinning the man alive who insisted on not talking, was constantly saying "Give me a name!" in the face of screams that would cause a normal person to lose their mind.
Seeing the fear in young Marcos's eyes, Nafız smiled faintly; the bodyguard leader had turned out to be solid. While protecting him on one hand, she was like a dagger held to his throat on the other. The moment he thought of betrayal would be the time he started taking his last breaths.
"Don't you have any manhood? How much longer will you embarrass yourselves by hiding behind stone walls?"
In front of the huge tent looking like the main headquarters of the siege army, there was an orc shouting at the top of his lungs. He was clad in metallic gray armor from head to toe; only the eye and mouth parts were open. Even in this state, he managed to make enough noise to make the battlefield groan.
"Sangre, what is the situation? I want a report on the enemy's movements!"
"Are there no men among you, men? I'll make you all wear skirts, skirts!"
Just as the blood warrior was about to speak, the foghorn-voiced orc shouted again. After giving him a glance, Nafız turned to listen to Sangre.
"Ma'am, the enemy soldiers are well-trained and disciplined. When I killed a few of their commanders with my arrows, they seemed to panic, but when that blabbermouth started shouting, they recovered in a short time. They trust their supplies; despite a long time passing, they haven't fallen into any food shortage!"
"Okay, you still..."
Before Nafız finished her sentence, the battlefield groaned again.
"Çekiçdöven, the son of Beyaz Ayı, the strongest warrior of the Orc Steppes, is here. Is there a braveheart to face me?"
"Die!"
The Blood God's patience ran out; taking the composite bow she carried on her back into her hand at the speed of light, she sent the blood arrow to the noisy orc. The distance was close to twice the range of a normal archer; when the arrow going like the wind in the air hit the helmet, the owner of the voice flew into the tent.
"Surprising, he didn't die. The power of the shot decreased because the distance was extremely far, but I still expected it to pierce the armor!"
Nafız felt that the arrow hitting her opponent didn't take his life; she had incredible command over the weapons she made from the blood reserve in her wristbands.
"Piercing that armor from this distance is not possible even for you!"
Alyon spoke for the first time since they went up to the ramparts; seeing Nafız looking angrily, he continued.
"My master's father had the armor made specially for his best friend. I guess saying this is a work of Johan will be sufficient!"
The Blood God, whose anger subsided after the name coming out of her friend's mouth, grinned mischievously. The works of two of the world's three best artisans were taking the stage in the shabby lands. I wonder what Alyon's father had to give to get a set from the best blacksmith of the Machines Empire?
"Did you just tell me that the shouting idiot is your father's best friend?"
The hulking orc started laughing after Nafız's words.
"I think it's much worse; the man who taught me how to fight had such a son!"