Perhaps because the task assigned to their squad the next day wasn't expected to be too difficult, Young Lord Solon actually came to join them for the battle. After all, their squad had originally been formed for him, so both Daemon and Wilson had the responsibility of ensuring his safety.
Solon didn't come empty-handed. He was equipped with a fine chainmail suit and a sharp two-handed sword. Just that gear alone boosted his survival chances by 30%. In addition, he brought two personal guards with him, both calm and fit. Daemon sensed that while neither of them was individually stronger than him, if they worked together, he would likely be forced to retreat.
By the campfire, Baron Kenning and Baron Kashir had long dropped their courteous and pretentious exchanges.
"This city won't be easy to take. I'm sure you've made preparations, Baron Kenning," Baron Kashir said, hinting at something deeper.
"Of course. My intelligence network may not rival yours, Baron Kashir, but I do know the basics," Baron Kenning replied.
"The city's lord is the son of Marquis Philip, one of the three pillars of the Kingdom of Northwild. Though only a disfavored son, the city is valuable enough to make this siege very worthwhile," Baron Kashir said, staring at Kenning. "I hear Viscount West's troops are also on the way here."
"So, we must take the city in a single day," Kenning responded, clearly already aware of this development.
"Indeed. For most, taking a marquis' son's city in one day is near impossible, but for us, not so much," Kashir said, just as a gray-robed old man stepped out from behind him.
Sir Willas, the knight beside Baron Kenning, also stepped forward.
"With Master Jack, who has the strength of an Elementary Mage Apprentice, this siege will be far easier," Kenning said with a smile.
"Cheers!" Unnoticed, both barons had raised wine cups.
"The key advantage is still your Knight Willas. A High Squire, battalion commander level. Impressive," Kashir added. "Cheers!"
They downed their drinks.
"I hear your son is joining the siege?" Kashir asked, as if recalling something. "This is a marquis' son's territory. It won't be easy."
"A fledgling never grows without facing storms. This will be his trial," Kenning answered coldly.
Kashir said nothing in return.
Boom! A loud explosion from a catapult marked the start of the siege.
Soldiers charged forward with ladders. Daemon had just received orders, they were to take the city gate by dusk. It was clear the barons wanted Faircastle taken in one day. That meant high costs: soldiers piling bodies to breach the gate. Once one gate fell, the others would crumble in succession.
Only military-grade battalions had proper siege engines like catapults and battering rams. Their regiment only had improvised ladders. Only Baron Kashir, as an old noble, had two catapults, previously their main siege weapons.
With such an aggressive strategy, they could only use wave tactics: companies attacking in rotation until a breach was made. Daemon knew this, and so did the barons. Sure enough, a messenger soon arrived with orders to prepare for combat in an hour.
The soldiers sensed it too and grew restless. Daemon and Jensen calmed them with Baron's orders.
"Jensen, I'll go up first. Watch over Young Lord Solon," Daemon told him. It was a test of courage, whoever went first faced death sooner. But to Daemon, the order didn't matter.
Jensen looked at him, wanting to say something, but just nodded. "Okay."
The third company's probing attack ended quickly. Daemon watched closely. Over a hundred soldiers couldn't even reach the gate before being pushed back, with several casualties. Daemon felt a chill, this wouldn't be easy.
He'd observed that the enemy manning the gate had the strength of at least a full company. They hurled boiling oil and stones with no concern for cost. That wasn't normal. Otherwise, why had the third company, equally elite, been repelled so swiftly?
"Something's wrong," Jensen muttered. "A city with barely a thousand civilians shouldn't have more than two companies of guards, maybe four at most with recruited labor. This gate has at least two companies."
"They probably padded numbers with refugees," Daemon replied. "But it's not the men that worry me, it's the endless arrows, oil, and rocks. That's not normal."
The third company was a merger of the original third and fourth, both elite. Their captains were battle-hardened veterans. Yet they'd been beaten back hard.
Daemon noted the third company's captain, nearly as strong as Uncle Joshek, managed to slash down two falling oil barrels but was still forced to retreat under a storm of arrows. Chris, clad in full armor and protected by combat aura, returned bristling with arrows, looking like a porcupine. Luckily, none had pierced through.
No sooner had the third company pulled back than the first and second surged forward, these were the main force. Even Baron Kenning watched intently from afar. He didn't blame the third company; the defenders had countered the probing attack with everything they had, no one could've succeeded.
Captain Mont of the first company charged ahead with a giant shield. He had seen the earlier arrow storm and knew armor alone wouldn't protect him. His black shield was no ordinary item. Bathed in a faint green glow, he carried it with ease, shielding the soldiers behind him. His body shimmered with aura, low-level knight squires could temporarily boost their strength this way.
The defenders saw him and reacted. After some movement, a giant bolt appeared on the wall, a ballista. Mont's face darkened. Ballistas were built to slay fighters like him. Even squires were vulnerable.
Mont now had to dodge constantly. Though it was difficult for a machine to hit a nimble fighter like him, he had clearly lost his early composure.
Luckily, he had reached the base of the wall. Ten soldiers followed under his shield. The other three company captains brought in more troops. Though resistance was fierce, they were ready.
The battle intensified. If the third company's initial probe had shocked both sides, this was now a full clash.
Wave after wave of Northwild soldiers appeared atop the walls, hurling rocks and arrows. Storm's army retaliated with its two catapults, turning the small wall into a death zone.
Now it was a matter of endurance, who would last longer? Other gates were under assault too. Baron Kashir's troops were less organized but more numerous, an overwhelming wave that brought heavy fighting.
By dawn, inside a corner of the city lord's mansion,
"Let me go, you beast!" Gysella screamed as soldiers held her down.
"My dear sister, just give me the map," said a thin, sinister young man, Willis.
"In your dreams! Where's Cynthea?! Bring her back!" Gysella lunged, grabbing his collar, only to be dragged back.
Willis calmly fixed his clothes. "No map, no reunion."
"She's your niece!" Gysella cried, horrified.
"Niece? Ha. Did any of you or that old man ever treat me like family? While noble brats in the capital enjoyed luxury, I was banished to this godforsaken place. My mother? I never even met her. Was she murdered by one of that old man's other women? Tell me!"
The young man raged, grabbing Gysella's arms and shaking her violently.
Gysella's tears fell. She knew the truth: her aunts had conspired to kill Willis's maid-born mother while their father was away. Just because they couldn't bear a servant being treated as equal. Nobility was entrenched in classism. When the Marquis returned, he could do nothing but send Willis away for protection.
But Willis was beyond reason now.
Seeing her tears, Willis calmed. "Give me the map. I'll spare you both. I swear on my mother's name."
Gysella looked at her long-ignored brother as if seeing him for the first time. "I believe you won't lie."
She removed her sapphire necklace, pressing its sides. The gemstone split open like a clam, hollow inside. Hidden within were a rolled-up parchment and a black ring.
The parchment was a map of the Morpheus Forest. The ring, a token for the Evenstar estate.
Willis took them and released Gysella. Cynthea and the maid Raffi rushed in from the next room. Willis ignored them and mounted his horse. He knew the city was doomed, over a thousand Storm troops outside versus 300 real guards and drafted refugees inside. It was just a matter of time.
He had deployed all remaining defenders to the four gates to create an illusion of resistance, but planned to break out with fifty loyal cavalry at the weakest point.
"Where's Sharpe?!" Gysella cried after him, noticing the old butler was missing.
"He resisted. I killed him," Willis said coldly, never looking back.
Gysella collapsed. If she once hoped to cross the Morpheus Forest with Sharp's protection and reach Evenstar, that dream was gone. Now only Raffi remained, and she wasn't strong enough. Surviving was uncertain.
"What do we do, Miss?" Raffi asked, clutching Cynthea. The girl looked pale and dizzy, having been separated roughly the day before.
Gysella snapped out of it. She couldn't afford to break down. Cynthea still needed her. The bloodline must survive.
She still had hidden assets in the kingdom. If she could pose as a commoner, one day she might reclaim her wealth. As a titled noblewoman, she could still rally supporters.
But how could she ensure the Storm troops wouldn't discover her? Could she even survive the chaos? She had never seen war. She was just a caged canary.
Earlier, Willis's guards had captured her as she tried to flee. Now Sharp was dead, and she had only a weak maid. Even the way desperate refugees looked at others frightened her.
"Back to the house," she said to Raffi.
Outside the walls, Daemon carried a shield he'd found somewhere, charging through the rain of arrows. Captain Mont had established a foothold beneath the wall and was directing soldiers to climb ladders. The other captains converged there. The defense was strong but disorganized, dumping all oil and rocks in one place. With a feint, Mont had secured a zone.
Baron Kenning noticed this weakness: Northwild's defense was all flash, no endurance. He sent in the fourth company and the rested third company, determined to end this quickly.
Whoever breached the gate first got the most loot, and Kenning was sure it would be him. Kashir's mage wouldn't be enough.
Daemon's squad neared the wall. Mont had already set up three ladders.
"Bende, Morit, get climbing!" Daemon ordered. He had twenty or so veterans with him, trusted allies. Most of his forces were left to Jensen to protect Solon.
"Where's Uncle Joshek and the others?" Daemon asked Mont.
"They're already up," Mont gasped. "I'm guarding the base. My aura's drained." He'd held the zone almost alone.
Daemon was alarmed. "Gulas, Hans, Kane, come with me!"
He grabbed a ladder, sword in his teeth, and climbed. Joshek was like family. He had to help.
Inspired by Daemon's courage, soldiers charged up after him. Gulas, once skeptical of Daemon's promotion, was now in awe. He and the hulking Hans followed closely, while Kane used his bow to cover them.
Daemon climbed, dodging oil and arrows. His helmet and armor saved him from the worst. Others weren't so lucky, many fell screaming.
Daemon focused, channeling aura into his foot, and leapt. To his shock, he actually cleared the wall.
It cost him a quarter of his aura, and the real fight hadn't even begun.
"Another knight, don't let him up!" a Northwild soldier shouted.
But Daemon was already scaling sideways and was pulled up by Joshek's group.
The wall was brutal. Three captains, including Joshek, were cornered in a 20-square-meter patch. Corpses lay everywhere. Only two enemy knights had aura, but with their soldiers and numbers, they had the upper hand.
As long as the ladders stayed up, Storm would win. Northwild knew this too, and sent waves to push them back.
On other walls, Kashir's attack was lighter. He was anxious, unlike Kenning, he had no knight-level soldiers to send. His only knight-level guard was not expendable.
Whoever broke the gate first got first pick of the spoils. Usually, he would concede, but this was a marquis' city. The loot was too good.
"Master Jack," Baron Kashir called quietly.
"My lord," a black-robed elder appeared from the shadows.
"We must breach this gate first. I leave it to you," Kashir said.
Moments later, the entire battlefield heard a thunderous boom. Observers saw three fireballs floating over Kashir's section of the wall.
"Magic…" Daemon whispered. A devastating weapon on the battlefield, mysterious and powerful.