Rows of siege engines stretched across the hills below Isgard’s inner palace walls, their frames bristling with runic plates. Each ballista was a fusion of steel and runic magic, designed to fire bolts that could pierce through reinforced castle walls. Behind them, hundreds of armored men stood in disciplined lines, banners snapping in the winds that swirled around the castle.
And yet, for all their preparation, the shimmering dome above the main Valerian palace refused to break.
“Again!”
The Grand Knight Commander roared, his crimson cloak thrashing as another storm of fire and steel tore through the air. Bolts tipped with concentrated runemagic shrieked across the night sky, each one carrying a spell meant to enhance their piercing power. They converged on a single section of the dome, striking the patch directly before the entrance gate.
The air warped and split with a deafening crack. The impact was thunderous, as if a hundred bolts of lightning had struck the same tree. For a heartbeat, the barrier rippled like a mirror on the verge of breaking. Then the light smoothed over once more, seamless and whole.
A groan spread through the ranks. Some soldiers clutched their ears, others muttered in disappointment. The seasoned knights only tightened their grips on their weapons, though unease gnawed at them as well.
“Report!”
The grand knight commander’s shout cut through the night air. His form was covered by shiny platemail, and a figure in robes hurried forward. It was a gaunt woman with silver-threaded braids, gasping for breath before she spoke.
“My lord, the spell will take time to prepare.”
She panted as she answered, and behind her, a circle of mages chanted in unison, their voices weaving together in preparation for the siege-class spell that might topple the barrier.
“How long?”
“Another hour.”
The commander’s expression hardened. His gaze swept the shimmering dome that mocked every effort of their siege. One more hour. Far too long. Inside those walls, chaos raged, and every passing moment meant more lives slipping away. He gripped the hilt of his greatsword until his knuckles whitened.
“Then hold your focus. We cannot fail here. The Valerian line will not fall while I yet draw breath.”
His voice rang out over the gathered host like iron striking an anvil. The troops straightened, their unease lessened, and they returned to their positions with renewed vigor.
Yet even as discipline returned, the commander knew the truth. If the barrier held, their army would be nothing more than spectators to the massacre inside. Even if the Valerian Duke himself poured all his strength into the assault, the ancient ward would not break. Only relentless attacks could eventually wear it down, and even then he doubted the mages’ spell would be enough.
With a heavy heart, he stood watching, uncertain of what horrors might already be unfolding beyond the dome.
*****
Within the confines of the massive barrier, a desperate battle raged. Four figures stood against a tide of abyssal abominations, each monstrosity rushing forward to protect the relic that was their prize.
“We need to hurry. More of them are coming!”
Arthur’s voice rang out as he leapt back, his rapier flashing in the dim light. The blade intercepted a scythe-like appendage from a mantis-shaped horror, sparks flying from the clash.
“Do not order me around.”
Julius snarled from the front, irritation plain in his voice. The elder brother clearly disliked being commanded by his younger brother, but he could not fully dismiss him. Julius’s longsword blazed with radiant light as he drove it through the mantis-thing’s thorax. The creature screeched, its body splitting apart under the force of divine mana, but even as it fell, more surged forward.
Arthur grimaced, his rapier tracing crimson lines of aura through the air as he parried and countered. He lacked the raw strength that Julius commanded, and his reserves of mana were far smaller. Yet with every foe that fell before him, he grew stronger. His levels climbed higher, and with them came sharpened instincts and battle experience earned through hard work. Minute by minute, his skill deepened, but the swarm pressing in on them could not be ignored.
“Azure Fire Storm!”
Behind the brothers, an old man raised his hand and unleashed a torrent of blue flames. His spell roared toward the towering abomination that guarded the relic, its flames melting through the stone as they surged forth.
The azure flames consumed the abomination’s upper body, stripping away layers of abyssal flesh like molten wax. The relic it guarded pulsed with furious light, only to be swallowed by the haze of fire as well. Everyone recoiled, shielding themselves from the searing heat. Julius raised a golden shield, forming a barrier that wrapped around them.
The creature’s shrieks echoed for several heartbeats before finally dying out. When silence fell, only ash remained, and the relic’s power flickered and went dark.
“That is the third. Three more remain.”
Arthur said as the shield around him dissolved. No one answered. Their gazes had already turned to the tower’s entrance, where a golden aura burned like a beacon. Lady Bernadette was not among them in the chamber. She stood at the battlement instead, holding back the tide of monstrosities that clawed to devour them all. Her greatsword blazed with radiant fire, each swing cleaving through twisted flesh. Yet for every abomination that fell, another surged forward, an endless wave of writhing bodies that seemed without end.
Bernadette’s blade carved another blazing arc, severing a hulking brute in two. The thing fell thrashing, black puss hissing against the stone battlement, only for two smaller horrors to leap over its corpse and slash at her with sharp limbs. She pivoted, boots skidding across the bloody rampart, and met both blows head-on. Her greatsword flared, radiant flame cascading in a wide burst that turned the creatures into ash.
But even she could feel her strength waning. Sweat gathered on her forehead and dampened her strawlike hair. For every dozen abominations she struck down, new ones appeared to take their place. Her aura was tied to her stamina, and the more her light burned her enemies, the faster exhaustion crept in.
“Lady Bernadette, fall back inside the tower! We’ve disabled the relic, there’s no need to fight alone!”
Julius called from within as the group prepared to withdraw. Fortunately, the six towers were linked by battlements, and the creatures were too simpleminded to block their escape. Instead, they simply pursued from behind.
Bernadette gave no reply. She clicked her heels and vanished in a sudden blur of speed. From the sides, more ghoulish monsters appeared, scrambling up the walls to chase her.
“Let’s go.”
“Indeed, young lord.”
Julius stood ready to receive her, while Arthur remained silent. The four of them leapt through the tower window. The mage drifted down behind the three fighters, and once he landed, Julius turned to him.
“Master Anzeneus.”
“I know. Do not rush me.”
The old mage’s brows drew together. He disliked being commanded by the young lords but could do little about it. When they reached the far side of the tower, he began his spell. At his level, the chant was incomprehensible, a torrent of heavy mumbling.
“Hold.”
Julius raised his blade in a commanding gesture and signaled for patience. Only when the first monstrosities began clawing their way out of the window did he lower his sword. At that moment, Anzeneus hurled a massive sphere of blue fire into the tower, consuming both monsters and stone until the structure collapsed in flames.
The tower crumbled like a dying torch, the azure blaze devouring its structure in moments. Chunks of molten stone rained into the courtyard, crushing cultist creatures who had rushed forward to defend the relic. The explosion reverberated across the palace grounds, alerting all to their position.
“We need to move further. Only three more remain.”
Julius spoke again, and the two nodded. Only Arthur glanced to the sides. The battlements were not entirely empty. Some soldiers still lay there, unconscious. For the moment, the monsters were focused elsewhere, which allowed the soldiers to be propped against the walls and kept out of the way. Even so, some had already been trampled.
“What are you doing?”
Julius glanced back at Arthur, who was tending to two soldiers. He was placing them against a wall he believed the cultists would not pass through, though his older brother seemed to disagree.
“Just give me a moment.”
After shaking his head in disapproval, the elder Valerian moved toward the next tower while the mage hesitated. Bernadette pressed ahead without pause, clearing the way for their approach. Then, without warning, a shriek rang out from above. Arthur was caught off guard as he tended to one of the sleeping soldiers. He looked up just in time to see a cultist wrapped in a mantle of azure flames plummeting straight toward him.
He shoved the soldier aside to help him out of harm’s way, but the movement left him exposed. The cultist descended like a blazing comet, claws stretched wide, fire trailing in its wake. Arthur raised his rapier too late. The talons were already upon him.
“Arthur!”
Julius’s voice cut through the chaos as a radiant blur streaked along the battlement. His longsword tore through the cultist in mid-descent, splitting its burning form in two. The flames howled as they burst apart in a shower of embers, the body collapsing to ash at Arthur’s feet.
For a moment, silence held between the brothers. Arthur’s chest heaved, his rapier still lifted, though no foe remained. Julius stood above him, sword lowered, his golden aura burning bright.
The younger brother met the elder’s eyes. No words passed between them, only a silent nod that spoke of trust and approval. Julius extended his hand and Arthur took it without hesitation. With one firm pull, Julius lifted him up and said.
“Stay sharp, brother.”
The words were quiet, almost uncertain, as if he feared they might not be welcome. Arthur smirked faintly and brushed the ash from his sleeve.
“You too, Brother Julius.”
“We must go, young lords. There is no time.”
The mage broke the moment, waving his hand while chanting softly. A glow spread across the ground and settled over the sleeping soldier.
“This ward will hide them from detection. Now we have to move.”
“Agreed.”
Julius nodded, and he and Arthur pressed forward. Ahead, Bernadette’s greatsword roared to life once more, cutting down their next opponent. Several cult members emerged, far stronger than the lesser creatures they had faced before. Yet Arthur and the others did not falter. They tightened their grip on their weapons and welcomed the coming clash.
*****
‘They managed to get the third one? But at this pace…’
Roland’s thoughts intensified as his display showed the disappearance of yet another relic. Only three remained, and time was slipping away. At this point, he was encased in a barrier of earth and hardened rock. The witch’s minions had surrounded his position, leaving no escape.
Outside, his floating golems relayed live footage of the battlefield, and the situation looked grim for his allies. One swarm of ghoulish creatures was pursuing Arthur and his party. They had managed to stay ahead for now, but several tier-three cultists had appeared to block their path. Their progress would soon be halted, and the siege would drag on.
The group that had retreated into the inner part of the great hall with the Duke was, surprisingly, left unscathed. The Witch seemed to ignore them as if they were not worth targeting, which meant that more of her monsters were now focused on him while the others remained safe inside. For a moment, he wondered if he should have hidden away in the inner palace as well and simply waited it out, but there was no telling how long they would have lasted in there.
To make matters worse, his potential allies were dying. He had planned to remove the relics and awaken the guards sealed within the palace. Yet many of those guards had already fallen. The horde of cultist creatures had trampled them while they were still trapped in illusions, and some had even been devoured before they could fight back. Even if his plan succeeded, the army he needed might no longer exist.
That left him with another option: dismantling the dome that enclosed them. At first, the idea seemed impossible, since the barrier was designed to resist even tier-four class holders and prolonged sieges. But not all hope was lost, because an opportunity had revealed itself.
The hovering drones were not only relaying footage of the monsters. They were also analyzing the environment. Through this, Roland discovered something important. Someone outside was attempting to break in. A steady bombardment had been pounding the barrier for some time, perhaps from the moment the shield had been hijacked.
He could see that one section of the shield was being targeted. The attackers had not yet broken through, but their efforts created a chance for him to help. From inside, the shield’s structure was weaker, since it had not been designed to withstand allied fire. Any force applied from within would cause far more damage than strikes from outside.
‘But by my calculations, even my strongest spell would not break through… unless I time it correctly.’
Roland frowned. The process would be complicated. The bombardment outside followed a somewhat consistent rhythm, though the intensity of each strike varied. He could not be certain that their efforts would synchronize with his, but there was hope. He knew the standard procedures for breaking barriers, and he suspected the attackers would eventually employ siege magic. A more devastating spell that would cause a massive amount of damage in an instant.
‘This is quite the predicament…’
The walls around him were breaking apart as the horde pounded them without pause. Several of his golems had already been buried beneath the sand while others lay scattered outside. His focus remained on defense, yet he knew he could not endure much longer. There was one option that might aid him, but with two Solarian paladins still active beyond the barrier, it was far from simple.
He ran the numbers, but the outcome was grim. He would need to survive at least thirty minutes before his window of attack arrived. Even then, he could not be certain the plan would succeed. Holding out for half an hour seemed nearly impossible, as monsters were already crawling through the cracks of his protective dome, which trembled on the verge of collapse.
For a fleeting moment, he questioned how he had ended up in such a situation at all. If he had wanted to escape, there had been ways. He wondered when the change had come, when he had become too sentimental to leave the others behind. At this point, he could not even imagine abandoning Arthur. With that conviction, he steadied himself. As the first hideous face forced its way inside, he drove his fist forward with a blow powerful enough to shatter the ground beneath him.
Roland’s fist struck the earth, and the ground beneath him glowed with a deep orange light. The monsters rushed to overwhelm him, but before they could reach him, a shockwave burst outward and tore everything apart. Walls of hardened rock splintered and turned into projectiles, ripping through the massive sphere of cult monsters and scattering their bodies aside. When the dust finally settled, Roland emerged. His armor sizzled, and parts of his body were visible beneath the scorched metal.
“You’ll have to try better than that to kill me.”
Roland tasted dust as part of his faceplate came loose for a moment. The blast he had unleashed tore through a large number of the attackers, but it was a double-edged sword. His armor was already repairing itself, and now that he was outside, he could also restore his golems.
Mechanical spider limbs twitched, and broken fragments pulled together around him as he activated his skill again. With his higher level, this style of combat had become easier, though it still carried a strict time limit. The more he restored his troops, the faster they deteriorated and the less useful they became.
“You shall not succeed. You are only wasting time.”
“We will see about that.”
The monstrous witch pointed with her crooked finger, driving her minions toward him. Things looked grim, yet he could hear it in her voice. Beneath her facade was concern. She kept glancing toward the other towers, clearly unsure whether they could endure long enough for her to complete her mission.
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