Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 636 Siege War

Earl Leon Waters of Westwind strode heavily into the palace courtyard, beckoned to a servant, and ordered in a deep voice, "Pour me a glass of wine... strong liquor."

The distant sound of church bells drifted over, startling the kingfishers perched on the grape trellis in the courtyard, causing them to take flight. The guards patrolling the corridors were fully armed, giving the entire Rilke Palace an air of solemnity.

Taking the gilded goblet from the waiter, Count Westwind almost tilted his head back and drank it down in one gulp... The invasion of Saint Valen was imminent, and only the rich and strong wine could soothe his restless heart.

Just as he was staring blankly at the empty wine glass, a knight from the Judgment Army, clad in full steel armor and wearing a pure white cloak, hurried over from outside the courtyard. He gripped his sword hilt with one hand and frowned at Earl Westwind, saying, "Why doesn't His Majesty the Grand Duke go to the church square to encourage the people and stabilize their hearts with the Archbishop? Instead, he's hiding in the royal court drinking."

"Stabilize morale?" Earl Westwind casually tossed his wine glass aside and said with a wry smile, "The Saint Valenians' airships are constantly patrolling above our heads. We never know when that attack from the sky will come... The way you stabilize morale is nothing more than distributing holy medicine concocted by the Divine Punishment Sect to the people and believers, letting the entire city's citizens, in a state of devout faith and drug intoxication, go to their deaths with us."

Judge Burns slammed his longsword heavily on the ground, his face contorted with anger. “The holy medicine is used to temporarily stimulate the bloodline power within ordinary believers, so that when facing the army of Saint Valen, they can fight to the death to defend the city for us… Otherwise, what do you think we can use to defend Rilke?”

Earl Westwind curled his lip, not intending to argue with the other party... He had once ordered someone to secretly give the holy medicine to several death row inmates. After the medicine was activated, it did indeed make people fearless of pain and greatly increase their strength for several hours. However, once the effect of the medicine wore off, the person who took the medicine would immediately fall into irreversible weakness and die miserably in less than a day, as if aging prematurely. No other medicine could save them.

The Divine Punishment Sect's sacred medicine... is essentially a poison meant to kill oneself and one's enemy!
"The Holy City was destroyed by the heretics of Saint Valen, His Holiness the Pope and several bishops have disappeared without a trace, and Chief Justice Felipe died a heroic death... Leon Waters, are you afraid before the great war? Do you want to betray the honor and power bestowed upon you by the gods?"

Earl Westwind waved his hand, swayed as he stood up and said, "There's no need to humiliate me like this with provocation. Although the Holy City has fallen, the Waters family's duty to protect it remains. Once the Saint Valen people begin their attack, I will definitely lead the army to the forefront."

Before Burns could respond, a city guard knight entered the courtyard and reported loudly, "Your Majesty, Your Excellency, the army of the Saint Valens has appeared southeast of the capital, less than ten miles away from us... Dozens of their magic airships are also heading towards us from the same direction, and will arrive over the capital in as little as fifteen minutes."

"Does the enemy's ground forces possess large-scale alchemical weapons?"

The knight shook his head somewhat bewildered and answered honestly, "If it were a heavy magical weapon like the alchemical magic-breaking crossbow, they don't seem to be carrying any. Their numbers are only about two thousand, and they all carry long spears that can fire magical arrows."

Burns was overjoyed and turned to Earl Westwind excitedly, saying, "These heretics probably used up all their long-range magic bombs in the battle to besiege the Holy City, which is why they can only rely on magic airships and ordinary soldiers to attack Rilke now. We might have a chance to win!"

Earl Westwind perked up and pressed, "What opportunity?"

"Let those heretical soldiers into the capital, and use the believers and soldiers who have taken the holy medicine to engage them in close combat... Taking advantage of the rugged terrain and narrow streets of the capital, those airships overhead would certainly not dare to drop explosives and accidentally injure friendly forces."

Using the flesh and blood of believers and soldiers to engage in close-quarters combat with a numerical advantage several times over the enemy... it does seem like a pretty good plan.

Earl of Westwind hesitated for only a few seconds before nodding in agreement, "That's feasible, but my Royal Guard cannot be sent first." Burns smiled and said, "Don't worry, there are devout believers willing to give their lives for our Lord and fight bravely in the battle against heresy."

……

When the two hurriedly arrived at the city wall tower, the royal guards were already fully armed and preparing for battle. Dozens of oil cauldrons were already boiling with raging fires, and a large number of rolling stones and logs were piled up near the battlements. Believers carrying bundles of arrows were carrying them up the steps and transporting them to the city wall in an orderly manner.

According to believers who managed to escape from the monastery in the eastern part of the Holy City to Rilke, the army of Saint Valen used the most terrifying Heavenly Punishment Thunderfire in the Battle of Goris. It was a magical bomb whose origin was impossible to discern, flying rapidly from the distant horizon... Once it hit its target, it would cause a violent explosion and shock, more powerful and terrifying than the cluster spells of elemental mages.

In comparison, those magic airships were not so frightening... Once they flew too close to the ground, the alchemical magic-breaking crossbows mounted on the city walls would threaten their fragile airbags.

It was precisely because they learned of this important intelligence that the Divine Punishment Army, which had fled to Rilke, made ample preparations. They not only urged Count Zephyr to reopen the hidden troop caves built against the mountain in the capital, but also set up layers of defenses in the city's streets and alleys, and widened the city walls as much as possible, moving catapults and ballistae to the top of the walls to defend against the enemy.

Rilke was an isolated city built on a high mountain platform, easy to defend and difficult to attack. With such thorough preparations and the advantage of high ground, Burns believed that they were not without the ability to fight back.

"Your Majesty! Your Honor! The enemy army has halted at the foot of the mountain... They... they don't seem to intend to launch a full-scale attack up the mountain path!"

The knight in charge of lookout and observation ran over to report to the two.

Burns paused for a moment, then snatched the monocular scope and peered down the wall into the distance... The Saint Valen soldiers, dressed in dark uniforms and completely unarmored, were lined up in neat squares, showing no sign of advancing.

What's infuriating is that the enemy seems to have extremely precise control over distance. Their army formation is positioned just out of reach of the catapults and crossbows, preventing Rilke, who is on the defensive, from launching an attack first.

"What are they trying to do? Are they planning to besiege the city... or are they waiting for the airships in the sky to attack first?" Earl Westwind looked somewhat anxious.

Burns said in a deep voice, "Have all the soldiers and believers hide in the bunkers to avoid the bombing of those magic airships... In any case, we must drag them into the close-quarters combat of the ground."

Before he could finish speaking, several sharp whooshing sounds suddenly came from the distant horizon, like the strained whistling of metal...

(End of this chapter)