Next day!
As soon as the sun rose into the sky, Alex's men packed their luggage and started to move towards the Terror of Ranvier which was 50 km away from the Western Garrison Quarters.
Before moving, Alex took all the rations of the Second Defence Line and the Western Garrison Quarters.
He refurbished the supply of weapons, and water along with daily necessities and even took the flare in the storage.
Alex even talked with Count Patt and after some discussion, he agreed to send most of the rations with his men.
Count Patt knew that the chances of defending the wall were close to zero and the only thing he could do was to hold in the line so that they could provide others ample time to do their work without getting noticed.
After running for a long time, the barren rocky ground started to disappear and shrubs along with bushes started to appear.
Many of the reserve units had trained in the initial areas and were quite aware of the terrain but for nobles who hadn't moved out of the fort, it was the beginning of the Nightmare.
It was a brutal struggle for them to even walk properly through the dense forest laden with trees, vines and creepers which blocked the rays of the sun from reaching them.
The humid condition made it unbearable and everyone was drenched in sweat due to the full clothing.
And it wasn't even beginning as the steep mountains posed further difficulties for them to move as they weren't even able to gain a proper foothold.
The only thing that kept them moving was their desire to live through the crisis.
While the nobles along with others grunted and felt that they were marching through hell, Alex had taken some of his men towards the road connecting the Western Territory.
He stared at the land and first sent the messengers and as soon as their sight disappeared, Alex flew up into the sky staring at the ground with a cold expression.
His men had already retreated to a safe distance after which Alex began his favourite process.
He raised his hand.
Mana around him swirled and twirled around as if a strong storm appeared out of nowhere.
Many magic circles glowed in the air which lit up the sky. The veins in his head bulged as he exerted a great amount of strength both physically and mentally.
"Let's turn everything waste." Alex roared.
What happened next was a spectacular scene for Alex's men to witness which made their scalps numb in fear.
The magic circles rotated vigorously and hundreds of fiery masses appeared which accelerated to the ground and crashed to the floor harnessing a great momentum.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Red flames manifested and flew everywhere spreading like waves but everyone who could witness the scene was horrified as their vision turned white as the ground collapsed.
RUMBLE!
The sky seemed to be split apart as it wailed at the power of the terrifying explosion and everyone within the radius of 20 km felt their ears buzz and their heads became blank.
Soon a huge flame emerged which seemed to join heaven and earth which naturally alerted the Arkham soldier who was 50 kilometres away from the scene and they rushed towards the scene.
...…..
TAP! TAP!TAP!TAP
The ground started to shake slowly as a huge mass of Arkham soldiers appeared, waving their flags proudly.
They stepped forward, trampling over the corpses of the enemies as they headed forward.
The direction they were approaching now was the remaining Third and Fifth Defense Line.
On the Fifth Defense Line, Baron Coheron tried to connect to the rear but he wasn't able to get the call.
He also tried to call General Shen and the centre for some assistance but alas.
"Is there still no response?"
The soldier shook his head.
"Damn it!" Baron Cohen roared in anger and took the mana call communicator stone and threw it towards the wall with outrage.
It collided with the wall and broke into several pieces.
They have already taken care of the mana jammer, so the call should be connected but getting no connection men's they have been blocked from another side.
Naturally, he had heard about Shen changing the communication line but still, he had a bit of hope left but his hope was shattered.
It seems that the other side had abandoned them.
The other officials around him were already stiff and anxious after hearing about Alex's report.
They had tried to seek out personnel stationed on the rear near the warp gate repeatedly but there was no response.
The fact that the warp gate had been taken over was already a big problem in itself but what he feared more was the lack of response from the General.
In a war like this, a general should be present and take part actively in discussions but here was their General who had been hiding in the capital.
Baron Cohen might be arrogant and egoistic but he wasn't a fool. A part of him wanted to accept Alex's proposal but that wasn't feasible with the superior permission.
Even if they won the war, they would be dealt brutality and would die disgracefully if it was heard that they had left the defence line.
That's also the reason why he called Shen to inform them about this tactic.
'We have been completely isolated. There is no sign of reinforcements. The war is practically our defeat. There seems to be no chance of turning around. From now on, we need to survive and drag it.'
When he thought about his situation, he was quite helpless.
They can't flee away now as it was midnight and they might encounter trouble now from Arkham soldiers who might have already cut off their route to retreat.
The rugged terrain wasn't a suitable escape route.
He didn't know why Alex kept on struggling. If he wanted, he could escape from the Western Front easily as he was already in the rear but instead of that, he wanted to destroy the path to the Western territory and force the Arkham soldiers to take a dangerous route of Terror of Ranvier to save time.
Terror of Ranvier was where they would fight to the death.
Baron Cohen felt severe headaches assaulting him.
'I need to stick here and wait for reinforcement and with the walls still standing, we have a good chance of survival.'
His wait didn't last long as Arkham soldiers reached the door and their numbers were huge, unlike the previous time.
Baron Cohen's hands trembled to see the huge lineup.
"Everyone take your position."
"Get ready to attack."
The soldiers began to look for arrows. The repaired wall seemed to be holding on fine and they already procured additional weapons supplies.
The Kinley soldiers were fully prepared this time as they didn't want to be pushed back again.
The soldiers finished loading the weapons and believed that they wouldn't be defeated easily this time.
Baron Cohen gave a perfumery speech to arouse everyone's battle spirits and he seemed to be successful in raising their morals initially.
The soldiers screamed his name and cheered for him. They believed in his words and since they have limited information, they had thought staying behind the walls was the best option.
However, soon they witnessed the harsh truth of reality. The attack of Arkham soldiers this time was incompatible with the previous time.
Before the current lineup, the previous attack seemed to be a joke that only boosted their swallow confidence.
The Arkham soldiers swarmed around the defence line like ants with thousands of numbers. They covered the fort wholly from all sides and started to take down the archers and deployed the seized weapon soon.
The courage which had risen inside Kinley soldiers soon faded away.
The Fifth defence line broke, and the gate collapsed stunning Baron Cohen who realised that he should have listened to Alex instead of committing the mistake of sending everyone to death.
Even if he became a traitor, in the worst case he could have fled and at the very least he would still be able to keep his head.
"Attack!"
"Charge!"
"Kill!"
KUAK!
Soon, the gate was broken and enemies swarmed in laying everything before them into waste.
Kinley soldiers were slaughtered mercilessly. Some tried to run away but there was no escape route.
Baron Cohen's head was cut off.
The entire place was surrounded.
Noah had already cut off the escape routes and trapped them. Other than lamenting and trembling in fear the commander was useless and soon they gained victory.
The Arkham soldiers didn't rush and took their time to take over the Fifth Defence line which struggled fiercely but soon the fire was put off.
The Third Defence turned out to be a hard nut to crack, the soldiers and mages did their best so that the Arkham soldiers couldn't get close to the gates.
The other sides also targeted their flares and took half of them at first, even when the battle hadn't started.
Although they posed problems at first they were outnumbered greatly.
The battle at the Third Defense line lasted for five hours much to Noah's surprise.
Noah Ark who was in mid of reviewing his plan frowned as he heard from the other commander.
"Didn't I say just to follow my orders faithfully? Why did Duke Sheldon attack the Second Defence line without my permission?"
"Your Highness, please calm down. Duke Sheldon is already dead. Instead of worrying about him, we should take out that person who poses the threat."
Noah was already stunned seeing their defeat at the Second Defence line. Though they got it back, it felt as if it was a gift thrown at them.
Noah who was in deep thought asked for a survivor and upon his arrival asked him to narrate the situation.
