1020 Sikas Retaliation Part 2 (2/2)

The tribunal army was also concerned about the backup at the rear of Guderian City, and as such, had waited for reinforcements from the Holy See to arrive, hoping to grow their numbers to 300,000 and set up defenses at their rear, before launching an attack on the city.

The Holy See made it too quickly into the northern region of Qin. Its forces were scattered, and they had yet to gather in large enough numbers.

The leader of the generals in Guderian City was concerned that the tribunal army would leave the battlefield prematurely. If the army managed to breach the city or move its frontlines elsewhere, it would prove difficult to obliterate them later. It was a rather awkward situation to have the Metatrin army moving 400 miles into Qin territory. They were not allies after all, and the leader of the generals knew Prince Safilos' temperament well.

When Phoenix was lost, Safilos got so enraged that he mobilized an army personally to take out the Holy See's army of 100,000 strong, before his anger was amply vented.

The metal titan arrived with the huge chariot in tow, which carried a large scale magic cannon. The 30 yard long barrel would take thousands to move it if the metal titan had not been around.

The distance between the two cities was close. It took only two hours to pass the valley.

Sika's army followed right behind and entered Guderian City. It was not her first time there, and it brought back a lot of memories. She had simply been following Saleen around back then without knowing anything. When she passed through the place back then, she was but a common Caucasus warrior.

She was, however, a steward of a nation with a population of 20 million. 100,000 Caucasus warriors served under her as well.

The leader of the generals of Guderian City, Sauron, was also newly promoted. He shared a not-too-distant blood relation with the royal family. He served in the south before. With things getting dire in the north, he was appointed rather haphazardly by Prince Safilos, and ordered to hold the line at Guderian City at all costs.

He was a member of Safilos' inner circle, but he shared an amicable relationship with Lex as well. It was due to that very reason that Safilos had sent him. The prince did not want war with the Kingdom of Metatrin.

Sauron was connected to Daliang City. The prince was no fool and knew of such relationships even when Sauron was still in the south. The prince also knew that such relationship would have also prompted Saleen, the king of the Kingdom of Metatrin, to consider providing reinforcements when a crisis hit Guderian City.

The Wings of an Elf was not a very large piece of equipment and was fully capable of being stowed away in the purple-gold sea urchin pouch. The equipment, when folded, was only several square yards. It was able to be easily stored within common purple-gold sea urchin pouches. Sika did not simply fly into the city before everyone. She instead chose to ride on a skeletal warhorse, and had her army enter the city in batches.

Sauron had Lex's personally-written letter in his hand, and he did not think Sika would have turned coat and taken the city for herself.

Sika chatted away amicably with Sauron, while looking at the mages rushing to perform final magic buffs on the newly completed turrets. Sauron found that the steward was not a brainless oaf that many made her out to be. Her bearing was such that it would even impress Sauron.

He himself was someone nearing the advancement stage into a golden grand swordmaster and was able to comprehend that Sika's composure came from her own formidable personal strength.

Such a person would not be one to make it where she was through her feminine wiles. Sauron grew to respect Sika without realizing it. Lex made it very clear, in the letter, of Sika's motive for that expedition. Sauron was a father of three children himself and was able to understand what she was going through.

”Your highness, how about...why don't we go get ourselves ready at the general's residence?” Sauron suggested.

”There is no need to rush, sir general. We'll need at least two days of preparations before we can mobilize our troops. I'd suggest that you check out what the magic cannon is capable of. It'd put you at ease,” Sika answered politely. She had become rather accustomed to how others addressed her.

”Two days? My army has already got everything in place. We would be able to depart in one day at most. We need to at least keep the enemy tangled, and not letting them escape.” Sauron's words made a good impression in Sika. He wanted to use his own forces to create a chance for landing the decisive hit for Sika.

That was due to the immense value the magic cannon proved to be for the city. With the cannon installed, no large scale siege engines would be able to get near the southern walls. The magic cannon, after all, had far greater range than any catapults.

”General, I think you need to know what the army from the tribunal is capable of. It goes without saying that the troops are formidable fighters, and then there are also large numbers of holy masters in their ranks. So long as the warriors are still alive, they will be able to continue fighting. I know Qin has a lot of mages, and the low-level ones you have in your army are probably far more than what I brought here. The best way to deal with them is still poison. For that, I brought large stocks of poisons, general. They can be rubbed on the weapons themselves, and it will take only two days for the poisons to seep inside.”

Sauron pondered for a moment and nodded. He did not want to see too many casualties either. He needed to do something as a token of his appreciation after taking the canon though.

Sika continued with a smile. ”I don't want that army crushed. I want it completely obliterated, to never to be found on the face of this plane again!”