Steel and Mana

Chapter 260 – The Siege of Lothlia (4)

Within the city of Lothlia, the soldiers stood proudly and readily on the walls, including those who came directly from Avalon. Their stalwart presence not only significantly boosted everyone's morale, but those Lothlian warriors who trained with them were filled with confidence that they would be able to defend their city. It was the same as when those spider-looking monsters attacked... only, this time, they were facing humans. Much less disturbing. A human could be broken, while a beast would attack you with all it got, even in the face of insurmountable odds.

"Their trebuchets are preparing to fire!" Pion yelled into his headpiece, holding a marking device and looking at the enemy lines. Although their howitzers could fire at the enemy, they were to remain dormant this time around.

"I'm ready to intercept!" Polo answered, sitting in his mech, his mind clear and sharp, honed in on his mission. He had never before felt this sure about anything... he would do his part.

The four cannons attached to his body were like his natural extensions, two on his shoulders, two replacing the Rook's arms, all of them aiming precisely, following his will and mind. With Pion and the other officers' spotters, he felt as if he had a complete overview of all directions, something that would be disorienting for many... Yet, it felt natural sitting in the Rook, melded into one with the machine. When the first volley was shot at the walls, his weapons lit up with full power, sending dragonfire soar through the sky, blasting the rocks into pieces before reaching them.

"More are on the way!" Pion shouted while what he was seeing through his spotter was directly fed into Polo's vision.

"I can't hit them all!"

"Empty the westward side of the wall!" Oleg's shouting order rang loudly, his voice echoing from within everyone's helmet. The Avalonians were quick in translating his orders to the regular soldiers next to them, clearing away from the incoming destruction. "Let it create a breach where we can focus on. It is better to allow them in at one place than to let them create multiple!"

There was no arguing against his orders. While Polo focused on shooting down what he could, the soldiers watched the enemy create a breach on the western side of their defenses.

"Let me go at them!" Yuri chimed in, sounding way too excited, watching the second boulder hit the wall.

"No." Oleg answered her firmly, now being her commanding officer and not her subordinate, "This is only the start; we can't play all our cards at once. The enemy is not a mindless monster... Don't let him adapt ahead of time! Keep the cannons silent and let the enemy advance! We will hold them back the old-fashioned way!"

"Tsk..."

"Don't worry, Lady Yuri." Pion chuckled, his voice echoing in the helmets of all Avalonian soldiers, making them smile, "When our prey decides to throw everything at us, you can bring down that bastard ship yourself."

"Now we are talking!" She laughed, sitting in the Princess, watching the invading army stir, feeling her legs rubbing together from excitement. "Fuck... I missed this... I so missed this!"

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The order to prepare a full-scale onslaught on the western side was given, and the tension hanging over Otto's camp was as thick as the morning fog. The creaking of wooden beams and the groaning of iron gears filled the air as every trebuchet they brought was ready for a simultaneous barrage. It wasn't the steady, measured firing of before. This time, Otto intended to crush Lothlia's defenses in a single devastating strike. He wanted every stone in the sky at once—overwhelming the defenders' magical defenses with sheer numbers. He already knew they were not able to shoot down every projectile at once.

The trebuchets released their load in unison, dozens of massive stones arcing through the dark sky, whistling as they soared toward the walls. This time around, Otto's heart pounded in his chest, wanting to see the devastation, but his face remained calm, his cold eyes fixated on the breach. He needed that gap to widen, to break the stalemate.

From the walls of Lothlia, the response came swiftly. The city's defenders prepared for this second assault; this time, those cannons showed him they weren't just decorations. The firebolts launched from their mouths lit up the city once again, streaking like crimson meteors through the grey sky. They were less accurate than the one coming from within the middle of Lothlia, but they were firing in a much wider arc and at a much more rapid pace. Their dozens of bolts, by their sheer amount, managed to collide with some of the boulders in mid-flight, vaporizing the stones with a flash of light and a deafening explosion. The broken fragments rained down harmlessly onto the snow-covered plains outside the city walls, disappearing in the deep snow.

For a moment, it seemed like this was a repeat of the first assault. Stone after stone was destroyed before it could even near the walls, and the defenders' magic seemed unassailable. Otto's fists clenched in frustration as his trebuchets continued to fire, sending wave after wave of boulders into the air, only for most of them to be reduced to rubble by the city's defenses. But then, as he watched closely, his patience was rewarded.

Some of the stones finally slipped past the fiery barrage.

It started with just a few—one or two boulders here and there that evaded the spells, crashing not into the walls but flying over them, smashing the houses behind what was visible to the attackers. Soon, more managed to slip past them... Lothlia's defenders, no matter how skilled, couldn't keep up with the sheer volume of stones being launched at them. The next barrage saw several boulders smash into the walls at once, and Otto's heart raced as he spotted the largest of them heading directly toward the already weakened breach.

The impact was like a cannon blast. A massive boulder slammed into the breach almost perfectly, sending debris and dust flying into the air. The crack in the wall, weakened from the previous attacks, widened into a size that could let dozens in at once. Stones tumbled inward, falling into the city as the breach expanded into a gaping hole wide enough for Otto's desire. He was sure he would be able to conquer the city before the freezing night returned.

Otto's lips curled into a thin smile, thinking about it and watching the destruction unfold from the Imaginary of the Lawbringer. It was time for the full-scale assault. All these greedy mercenaries now must show they weren't paid for nothing.

"Tell them they can do whatever they want!" he commanded, his voice calm but filled with a chilling resolve. "Let the real assault begin."

Below him, his officers relayed the orders without hesitation. This time, when they heard it, it wasn't like the trembling conscripts being forced to charge into certain death. It was met with the warcries of battle-hardened soldiers who had been preparing for this moment for weeks. Their bloodlust was at its peak, and they broke into a run the moment their leashes were let go. Unlike the chaotic scramble of the conscripts, this force, even in their rush, moved with precision and discipline, shields raised in tight formation, their spears and swords chiming with the desire to draw blood.

Behind their assault, the trebuchets continued to rain destruction down on the city, their relentless onslaught forcing the defenders to stay on the back foot. With every crash of stone against the wall, more debris was sent tumbling down, making the breach wider and broader. By the time the first wave of Otto's army reached their target, it was large enough for hundreds of men to pass through at once.

The defenders atop the walls followed their orders, and while the cannons focused on destroying as many boulders as possible, the rest were ordered to focus on the arriving mercenaries. Arrows rained down from above as Lothlia's archers unleashed a furious volley aimed directly at the advancing army. But this time, the attackers were much more prepared. Unlike the conscripts who had been sent in earlier, Otto's soldiers carried shields—large, reinforced wooden and metal shields that formed an unbreakable wall in front of them.

The arrows clattered against the shields; even if some of them splintered apart or fell some of the mercenaries, there were more dead left behind than before. The sound of steel-tipped boots crunching through the snow and splintering of the already dead bodies of the first wave sounded like a sickening drumbeat, growing louder and louder as the army neared the breach.

Otto watched with satisfaction as his men reached the rubble, their shields raised high to protect against the hail of arrows. The front lines scrambled up the debris, using the fallen stones as makeshift steps to reach the defenders above. At the same time, more soldiers poured into the breach, climbing over the rubble and into the city itself.

It was a brutal, close-quarters battle. They met face-to-face with Avalon's elite as their swords clashed with shields, spears thrust forward blindly into the fray, and the cries of the wounded echoed across the battlefield. Even with their numerical advantage, the armored, hulking defenders proved to be like a second wall, stopping their assault to everyone's surprise. They hacked the enemy soldiers in multiple pieces, as if they were naked, without armor. Metal shields were split apart along with their bodies, feeling that what they were facing was no longer human at all.

Blood, guts, bones, and brain matter stained the snow below them, turning the white landscape into a battlefield of red. The defenders atop the walls continued to rain arrows and spears down on the attackers, but their efforts were becoming increasingly desperate. For every man they killed, two more took his place. Otto's soldiers, even with the elite of Avalon, were close to pushing into the city, their numbers allowing them to slip by and try to encircle these hulking bastards. Some finally even managed to draw blood, yet were unable to fell any of them. Yet.

Otto watched from the Imaginary; his eyes never left the thick of it. He could see the toll the battle was taking on Lothlia's defenders. They were well-trained and well-armed, but their numbers were limited. They could not hold forever against the sheer number of his forces, even if they were seemingly invincible in their artifacts... He was already thinking about getting his hand on those strange armors, wanting to study it.

"They're breaking..." Otto muttered to himself, his breath visible in the cold air. He could see the cracks forming in the defenders' lines. Their arrows were running low, and their spears were no longer thrown in organized volleys but in frantic, desperate attempts to hold back the tide of soldiers pouring into the city.

The breach was now fully open, and Otto's men were inside Lothlia's walls. He could already hear the distant clang of swords as the battle spilled into the city streets beyond the walls. This was the beginning of the end for Lothlia.

But as Otto stood there, watching the battle unfold, a sense of unease began to creep into his mind. The city's defenses had still not fully revealed themselves. Where were those two machines at...? Why weren't they there? His instincts told him that something was still being held back. Lothlia wasn't finished yet, and he knew it.

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"It is time, Princess. Go wild!" Oleg ordered the moment his soldiers reported through heavy breaths that they could no longer hold the breach. There were simply too many mercenaries pouring in.

Yuri didn't even answer, not by voice. What everyone could hear were heavy, rapid thuds as the pink-painted, frightening machine burst through the rubble, blaring a warhorn from its speakers attached to its headpiece. Its deafening noise made the mercenaries tumble and fumble, shocked at what they were seeing, while the Avalonians roared in unison, revigorated that their Third Queen herself was joining the fray.

The mercenaries' shock didn't stop there. Watching a fourteen-meter-high monster rushing towards them was not the end of their surprise. It was seeing it fly. Well, not exactly. They didn't know, but what they were hearing were the gears within the Princess's legs turning, the hydraulics whining, and the anti-gravity magic activating for a brief moment. They watched as the monster, holding a spear in its right and a shield in its left, jumped, soaring over their heads and landing on the other end of the breach.

"CANNONBALL!" Yuri roared, her voice echoing in its transformed, demonic form through the speakers.

At the top of her jump, she activated the anti-gravity spell again, reversing its effect as the Princess landed like a meteor, sending shockwaves around the battlefield, kicking the bloodied snow, torn-apart corpses, and living, screaming mercenaries into the air. Hundreds of warriors fell, not just because they lost their balance but because their organs were torn apart by the shockwave within their bodies. Those stuck under the metal feet of the Princess were the luckiest. Their existence came to an end before feeling any pain and turned into meat paste quicker than the human brain could comprehend its end. Then came the sweep of Yuir's spear, flinging twenty people away like nothing.

"AHAHAHAH! MORE! SEND ME MORE, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" She laughed, but for the enemy, it was the terrifying, maniac roar of a demon. "I WILL SKULLFUCK YOU WITH MY METAL PENIS!"

"They broke." Pion mumbled, standing with his brothers in arms, being in the thick of defending the breach, panting, beheading one of the mercenaries.

He wasn't lying. The moment the Princess arrived, the battle was over. No matter the mercenaries' numbers, their morale shattered immediately. Their strikes and arrows bounced off of the mech's metal frame, doing no damage to it at all. It was nothing but a slaughter. They were running... just like the conscripts. No... they ran even faster.

"It isn't over." Oleg's voice echoed in everyone's helmet, including Yuri's cockpit. "PREPARE FOR MAGIC!"

"Good." Yuri heaved, moaning as her eyes locked onto the flying ship heading towards them. "Let the fuckface come... I want to cut off his head and shit in his throat!"