Halbert was the captain of the paratrooper's squad who had sneaked into Western Borders.
He was in charge of the 2500 troops who were ordered to either take over the warp gate or destroy it irrespective of the cost.
Seven months ago when he received the proposal he thought that the Prince had gone mad but he finally agreed to do the job after his sincere explanation, it seems there was no other way for them.
The Arkham Empire had no strength to withstand the current situation. The crops have been affected by miasma, farmlands have been destroyed by demons. The Treasury had become empty.
There were many internal conflicts arising out of nowhere and some of them seemed to have sold themselves to demons. The only thing that could help them was the appearance of a powerhouse but warriors above Mythic rank can't appear and take part in battle so they can only seek external aid which has been refused and they were ignored.
So, the only way to do things now was to force the other side to take measures or give them some profit.
By conquering and plundering the Western Front, they would either force Kinley to sign a treaty or form a partnership with Harold Kingdom to help them avert the troubles.
Moreover, it didn't take long for them to convince due to the detailed and in-depth planning of the second prince which took them by surprise.
Many spies have been planted and people were slowly picked who crossed the border and hid here.
Halbert along with others arrived at the heavily guarded Warp gate.
They waited for the night and the chaos on the battlefield and as soon as the opportunity arrived, they bared their fangs.
Paukkk!
Kuakk!
The soldiers who were guarding the place were killed one by one.
There was much force stationed here and their forces were enough to take the place down but they have already prepared some other measures to take over the place quickly.
2500 soldiers rushed from all around and started to attack.
A spy had already been planted in the place and accompanying him Halbert along with several others sneaked inside while everyone focused on the chaos outside.
The squad following the mole's instruction sneaked in quite easily through the secret path.
He took care of the enemies and headed straight towards the warp gate.
Screams echoed and spread across the place but Arkham soldiers turned a blind eye and attacked with their full strength.
The outside screams and roars covered the noises due to Halbert's squad.
They tried to do their work as quietly as possible, but still, some voices ought to escape, which were masked by the outside chaos.
As soon as they reached the warp gate, the first thing they did was carve a self-detonation magic spell and tied a detonation artifact to the warp gate.
If they got discovered now they would surely be killed by the enemies but before that, they would make sure to blow out the entire place so that Kinley couldn't get any reinforcement through the warp gate.
The magician and technician who came along started to work on the gates.
They change the coordinates and link with the one in Arkham.
"Hey, they're messing with the warp gates to stop them."One of the soldiers shouted and warned the others.
They weren't able to avert Kinley's gaze for long.
The Kinley soldiers noticed something amiss during the attack and rushed towards the warp gate only to find it surrounded by troops from the opposing side.
They charged towards them but Halbert and others tried to keep them at bay.
Swarming around, they surrounded the thieves.
"Die! Don't let them get by," Halbert screamed and fought back fiercely.
CLANG!CLANG!CLANG!
Halbert's troops were starting to get outnumbered and soon fell into a disadvantage.
"Captain, it seems we can't hold on for long. Let's destroy the gate." Soldiers screamed as they saw their teammates dying one by one.
"Not yet!" Halbert gritted his teeth and pushed himself.
His body had been bruised with countless wounds still he didn't give in.
He knew they were very close to achieving their goals.
If they die now all the hard work and sacrifices of the people would be useless. Destroying the warp gate was the only secondary option when they couldn't win.
He needs to hold on.
For his liege and his country, he needs to persist through his ordeal.
Even if he became a martyr, his name would go down in history.
His fierce burning eyes terrified the Kinley soldiers.
Halbert's armour was already torn due to which deep guts that he had suffered appeared in their eyes.
Halbert boosted the morale of the remaining forces on his side who also fought fiercely.
Swish!
At that time a gentle wind blew and finally, they succeeded.
A strong pressure emerged from the portal and a horde of people rushed out from the portal that started to tear through Kinley's soldiers.
Halbert was already injured badly and was drenched in blood and fell on the floor feeling out of breath.
The gate started to shine brightly and as the bright light dimmed down Noah's Ark came into vision.
With a single step, he was now in Kinley's land.
Seeing his brownish hair fluttering, everyone around him kneeled.
"We greet the Second Sun."
Their voices were filled with respect and reverence.
All of them have been in a foreign land for six months and all of them have gone with the thought of sacrificing their lives for Arkham to survive. They had sworn that no matter how difficult it was, they were going to achieve the objectives they had been ordered to do and finally, they had finished their task.
"Paratroopers, you can rest now. Leave everything else to us."Noah spoke with a gentle smile.
His voice carried a charm which made everyone believe that they had already won the war.
Some of them were already shedding tears of joy seeing the Second Prince who was rightly named the rising sun of Arkham.
Noah didn't smile anymore and marched towards the fallen men.
"Is everything going according to the plan?"
"Most of the defence line had fallen. We have already taken over it easily. The reinforcements from the opposite side hadn't arrived. With the fall of the other two lines, we can occupy the entire front and use it for our strategic advantage."
Noah had made sure to wage the war as fast as possible and cut all routes of reinforcement.
With the short routes being taken over, the Kinley will be forced to take the long route.
It was time for them to start working towards their new goal quickly. Since Kinley couldn't send any people soon. It was time for them to move their plan forward.
"Opal!"
"Yes Your Highness!"
"Start connecting all the fronts. I will give you a battalion to oversee the defence lines. Reunite with our troops and start preparing the fort for defences. This might drag on for a long time so there is no need to rush. Even if we fail to plunder the Kingdom's lands, we can hold onto the defensive line like the last straw and advance our borders."
"Heck!"
"Start securing the road towards the Western territory. We are going to move soon."
