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He was mounted on his familiar, a black bicorn. Unlike their one-horned cousins, bicorns were violent creatures and had an affinity for fire and darkness, being almost the size of a bull.

The fortress had an evil appearance that screamed “we are evil!” for those who saw. He could clearly see that his soldiers were shaken, but Orus couldn’t blame them. The swirling black clouds and the occasional black bolt were a sight that would make any sane person turn and flee, but what really worried him were the black walls.

If the walls have turned dark, it means that the undead have successfully corrupted the stronghold’s large-scale spells. It was hard to believe that the undead managed to corrupt spells on a large scale, but it would just be one more unbelievable feat added to these undead.

He would have to review his battle plan, as he didn’t expect to face large-scale spells. Air defenses would have to be created to fend off the black lightning storm, plus a spell powerful enough to break down the barrier he knew would rise once combat began.

“Colonel, the bishop and blue fang are approaching us.” One of the elite knights around him spoke up. The elite knights around him were his personal guards, knights he had brought with him from his own army.

Orus waved the knight back to his position and addressed the bishop and adventurer.

“That’s not quite what I expected. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Since when do undead or plant monsters do that?” The blue prey started talking the moment it approached, looking curiously at the storm cloud. He didn’t know much about magic and found the black wall frightening, but no more so than the storm.

“These filthy undead really are pure evil. How in Eishin’s name were they able to remake the spells on a large scale? Wasn’t the control room destroyed and completely inoperative? How did these plagues fix this?” The bishop began to curse furiously, looking at the black walls.

.....

He recognized the threat that large-scale spells posed. If the undead raised a barrier and attacked using magic or the storm, they would be one-sidedly attacked until the barrier fell.

“Wait, are you talking about those mana shields that appear whenever a big city is attacked? How are we going to take down such a thing?” The blue fang asked in alarm. He had already participated in the defense of a major city more than once, and these barriers always rose and blocked any enemy that attacked.

He wasn’t ignorant enough to believe they were indestructible, but they definitely didn’t have enough firepower to destroy him today.

“Gather the mages. We have enough to gather them into five different units and still to cast large-scale spells. This might lessen the plant monster’s focus on the false priests, but it’s necessary to break down the barrier.” Orus suggested and the two agreed.

“Blue Fang, your adventurers will be responsible for protecting the mages. Your are the most versatile and can protect them better than elite soldiers.” The blue fang nodded at his words and dismissed his team to go over the instructions.

“Bishop, your crusaders and priests will continue with the same formation as before. The holy field should make you alert and focus the undead aggression on you. With luck, the ‘plant monster’ will move as soon as the barrier fall to prevent the holy field from weakening your army.” Orus said, but the bishop shook his head.

“If we insist on conjuring a holy field, we will be exposed to storm clouds. If the undead use the storm clouds to rain lightning on our forces, we will be lost. I will order them to conjure a great holy barrier to protect us from the storm rays and attacks from the enemy’s siege weapons, while the mages destroy their barriers.” The bishop said firmly.

“If they spend their mana on a barrier, it will take a long time to cast a holy field even if they use mana regeneration potions by the time they finish the barrier.” Orus began to complain, but the bishop did not change his mind.

“I will not sacrifice good men in vain, Colonel. My crusaders are not sacrificial pawns for you to use in your personal revenge. We came here for justice and to purge evil and that is what we will do.” The bishop spoke resolutely, causing the colonel to frown and glare at him, but he had to be careful with his words in front of the army.

Orus took a deep breath and calmed down, realizing the truth in the bishop’s words. Being impulsive and sacrificing soldiers would get him nowhere and picking a fight with the bishop much less. He might have been the field commander for this mission, but the church forces were independent and were here as allies, not underlings.

“Alright, let’s go with your plan. Since you’re going to conjure a barrier, take the siege weapons with you. The siege weapons will do great damage to walls, but they are vulnerable to attack. Protect them as you advance.” Orus ordered, his voice getting particularly authoritative towards the end.

It is not because the bishop was not under his authority that Orus would allow him to do as he pleased. A chain of command was still needed, particularly once the battle started.

“Not a problem. The siege weapons will be very useful and I guarantee my crusaders will give their lives to protect the soldiers operating them.” Luckily, the bishop had no interest in who was in charge and just acted as he saw fit for the mission.

“Soldiers who will surround the gate on the other side will wait until the barrier is down before invading or trying to scale the walls, so we’re counting on you.” Orus spoke with disgust.

“But how are we going to deal with the storm clouds? Or do you intend to let them shoot lightning at us without fighting back?” the blue fang asked, realizing the conversation was winding down and the main problem still hadn’t been answered. He’d avoided getting involved in the spark exchange between the two, but he needed to ask.

Unfortunately, neither of them had an answer to that question. Trying to fight back against a cloud in the sky is like trying to fight nature and none of them had brought any artifacts capable of that. They were unable to fight back at the moment and were pinning their hopes on the lightning not being that powerful or consuming too much energy to attack.

“Fuck.” The blue fang understood their prolonged silence and swore under his breath. “Since the adventurers will be divided into different teams to protect the mages, my team and I will join the ‘adventurers’ protecting the priests.”

“Yes, fine.” Colonel Orus nodded and the blue prey walked away from them to rejoin his team.

“Then I must say goodbye too.” The bishop also left, leaving the colonel with only his knights protecting him.

“No more stalling.” The colonel sighed before taking a communication cube from a pouch strapped to his familiar’s saddle. He activated the cube and called the throne room, internally praying he wouldn’t be answered.

Unfortunately, their prayers were in vain and the other side answered a few seconds later. The royal court was almost fully assembled and their expressions were a mixture of anxiety and concern. The king was not present this time, but all the other members of the last meeting were present.

Before Orus could say anything, sounds of amazement came from the royal hall as many of the nobles gasped in horror at the sight of the swirling black clouds and the wall of dark stones. None of them expected to see large-scale spells functional, let alone an evil stronghold.

“Colonel Orus, what does this mean??” Commander Ragnar asked shocked.

“As you can see, the enemy has also prepared for battle rather than just standing around waiting. We are currently reworking our battle plan and are about to attack.” Colonel Orus spoke in a monotone voice, not at all willing to waste his own time arguing with idiots.

“Are you sure you are capable of winning? If you are not confident of victory, retreat immediately. Your defeat is not only a loss for the kingdom, but it will also strengthen the enemy even more.” The master of magic spoke coldly and the colonel glared at him.

There was no respect in his gaze, just wounded pride as if just the thought of retreating in front of the enemy who killed his brother was offensive to him.

“I have full confidence that we are able to eradicate these undead. From the start we were with excess firepower, but we still have the upper hand. The siege is about to begin, so I hope you’ll excuse me.” Colonel Orus handed the communication cube to another mage, ignoring the nobles’ complaints.

The colonel began shouting orders and the unit captains broadcast their orders, the army slowly beginning the siege.

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