"Great… Just great…"

Soren read the contents displayed in the panel for a bit then watched it disappear on its own, unconcerned for any of his objections.

"So this is how the Blossom Sword Flower operates…" He cursed his luck, but there was nothing he could really say or do. Under the sacred rites of the Runic Acquisition Festival, the spirit gets to choose how the challenge was handled. A scenario like this—it was indeed allowed.

But what bothered him most was knowing that to Her, this was a fair challenge. It was perhaps his own delusions that made him assume he was worthy of fighting Her directly. And yet, even this challenge that She has chosen seemed outright impossible.

From what he remembers from history, the Siege of Thirel ended in a humiliating loss for the elves. All of their soldiers were massacred and the castle was captured, becoming a massive command stronghold—used both as a staging ground for the Spirit Wolf Legions and a key supply depot due to its pivotal position between the Eclipse Moor and the Feylith Southern Plains…

And this loss was never recovered either… From what he remembers, Thirel in modern times now belongs to the Sinlar Kingdom, a meritocratic nation of Spirit Wolves and Drakari people.

Defending the castle… does She want me to rewrite history? Is that the win condition for this 'game'?

As much as he wanted to ponder over Her goals, Soren knew that time wasn't on his side. And worse yet, survival wasn't either. The castle health according to the game window was sitting at 50%. Clearly, the goal here was to not allow that number to reach zero. But the more he looked around him, the more helpless the situation looked.

Demolished castle towers, enemies already climbing the walls, failed moats and countless siege towers bombarding them without an ounce of mercy… Even their command chain was failing—the mere fact that an apprentice slave like him needed to be the one in charge of managing how the battle flows was a testament to this.

But what was even more troubling than what remained of the castle defences were his own capabilities… His Soul Weapon was missing—no, it might be more accurate to say it was taken… The Blossom Sword Flower was clearly trying to make the game 'fun' in Her own twisted way…

Even his prized Heartdrinker Sigil was not available. So much for sacrificing all that blood… He thought. The only thing he had on his person was his magitech dagger, Ghostfang the Pale and his wand, the Minor Silverlight Spire. Though, even with these tools in his possession, casting magecraft would be risky. As a slave tactician, his position was already higher than most of his 'peers', but at the end of the day—a slave was still a slave. Soren was unsure what they would do to him if they ever uncovered his abilities…

In the end, every single one of his preparations for this confrontation turned out to be useless.

"How thrilling…" Soren smiled to himself, trying to hold back his laughter as more and more explosions echoed around him. "Alright. Have it your way then. Games, after all, can't be fun if they're too easy."

Shaking his head, he glanced over at the Knight Lieutenant who had yelled at him before. The man was busy trying to stop the remaining spirit wolves from climbing up the wall. With just his sheer strength and anima, he pushed down another ladder, dooming all who were clinging on to its wooden planks.

"Knight Lieutenant Ellisar!" Soren finally remembered the man's name. He watched as the elf warrior slashed another enemy in half before turning to him.

"You bastard," he laughed, "took you long enough to get your shit together!"

Soren ignored his remarks and went straight to the point, "How much of the wall has been taken?!"

The man rushed to Soren's side and began to guard him from the incoming Spirit Wolf soldiers. "The eastern side is being overrun, but strangely, the enemy seems very distracted! Knight Lieutenant Khatar is slowly repelling them! I am also doing my best to hold them back as well!"

Soren grit his teeth and glanced toward the battlefield beneath the wall. With the moat finally breached and several siege towers approaching in the distance, it was clear what the enemy's strategy was. The soldiers climbing the ladders weren't trying to capture the wall. Their goal was to dismantle the castle's magitech cannons.

Soren immediately realized this once he took note of the distance the Siege Towers were placed at. They simply stood in the backline of the army, without moving forward at all. Whoever the enemy commander was, they most likely realized that the magitech cannons on the wall would destroy them if they ever got close.

Bastard… Sacrificing his men like this… All these Spirit Wolves rushing up the walls knew they would die. Their only mission was to take down as many of the cannons with them as possible, to allow the Siege Towers safe passage later in the battle.

In the distance, the sundered sky cracked with explosions and the rainfall of radiant swords. Most likely, the fae spirits. Although their attacks were effective against the approaching armies, most of their attention seemed focused on the daemons attacking them from the air.

This battlefield is twofold, Soren thought. Two wars are raging simultaneously, one above the other… Worse still, Soren had no control over the actions of the fae. That army in the sky was not something he could order around… If they lost air superiority, the castle would instantly fall, with no way to stop it.

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I guess I'll have to trust that won't happen… At least, for now. Soren's goal was now clear: he needed to repel the forces trying to sabotage their magitech cannons. If the enemy losses are too great, they would have to reconsider their siege strategy.

"Send this order to every Sentinel and slave soldier on the wall!" Soren yelled to Ellisar, "Forget defending the wall! Let them climb up!"

"What?!" The man looked at him as if he were a mentally ill patient.

Soren clicked his tongue, "You heard me!" He grabbed him by his plated chestplate. "You wanted my advice on how to win right? So shut the fuck up and do as you're told! Forget the wall, defend the magitech cannons instead! Create tight killing formations around them—do not allow even a single piece of hair to get close to them!"

He then glanced up at the castle towers. Three out of four are still operational…

"Fine," Ellisar said with slight disdain. "Ill go let them know."

"And one more thing." Soren stopped him. "Tell the magi in the towers to focus on defensive magecraft! We have to stop the enemy bombardments on the wall!"

"Are you an idiot?!" Ellisar raged. "If we do that, there will be no stopping the enemies from crossing the moat any further!"

Soren's lips curled up into a wide smile. One filled with madness.

"Good. Let them come to us."

As the battle for Thirel's wall raged on, the enemy siege camp a distance away from the chaos remained eerily calm. Sitting atop a colossal skeletal warhorse, Commander Folre watched the battle unfold in silence. More and more of the ancient bricks holding the castle together crumbled beneath his watch as his soldiers stormed their way up the wall, using even the lives of their brethren as meat shields to the top.

The silence echoed with the howls of the wind. The battle in the skies continued to burn with fury as the spectral fae banners waved their ancient decor. This siege… It was not going to end as quickly as he had assumed…

"Commander," A solemn voice reached Folre from behind. He quickly glanced in its direction.

"Urgent report from the eastern flank. The enemy seems to have shifted their strategy."

"Volar, give me the details."

The soldier saluted. "The latest reports indicate that the enemy has transitioned into a defensive posture. Their magi are now focusing on barrier-type magecraft, intercepting most of our bombardments before they reach the wall. However, the defenders on the battlements appear to have pulled back… More of our brothers are reaching the wall.

"I am very confused by this, Commander. Did they finally succumb to the pressure? This seems suicidal…"

The commander narrowed his eyes, staring at the distant wall, past the raining glow of swords. A shimmering barrier of magecraft had now enveloped it, similar to the one they were using in their camp. While their projectiles were being stopped, the elve's retaliatory fire had also ceased… More and more of their troops were now crossing the moat.

Folre frowned. This doesn't seem like a strategy Duke Alinar would employ…

He glanced at the soldier and gave his orders, "Tell them to climb in tighter formations. This could be a trap."

Folre's strategy was fairly simple. With the few squadrons climbing the walls, they would rush to where the magitech canons were positioned and destroy them, allowing for the siege towers to have safe passage across the moat while spreading as much chaos across the battlements as possible. Although it was somewhat a waste of troops, the time he had to finish the job was fairly limited. He was certain that the elven forces would regroup sooner than later, which could pose an issue…

If Thirel fell, it would open a path across the Eclipse Moor—allowing his troops to intercept the approaching elven armies. That was the true value of this bastion. Its position along the Sinlar Mountain Range made it nearly impregnable from the north and south. Only the eastern wall which they were currently bombarding, could theoretically be breached. As for the western wall on the other side of the bastion… It was wedged between two sheer cliffs, making it unassailable from the outside—effectively sealing any approaching armies from the Eclipse Moor from ever being able to cross…

If they could capture the bastion before the reinforcements arrive, the elves would have no chance of ever recapturing it. They would have to go around the SInlar Mountain Range then try to besiege it from the eastern wall just like they were doing now. The amount of manpower it would even take to even accomplish something like that was nearly astronomical. In essence, whatever armies remained in the Eclipse Moor would have no chance of ever returning back to the Feylith Southern Plains, trapping them forever in that abyssal desert.

Not to mention the Hollowed Star… May the Night Lord's grace reach us all…

"I will relay the message, Commander!" The soldier saluted and turned to walk away. As he did this, the commander glanced at the distant battle, his thoughts in disarray. The silence echoed with each bombardment.

Soren's ears rang as the cannon fire barrages continued to sound around him. He stood beside a few other soldiers forming tight circles around the remaining magitech cannons. With one simple motion, he slid his dagger in between the armor of an approaching soldier, stabbing them in the throat.

The ninth… He said to himself as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His body quickly turned invisible once more with the help of Violet Mirage.

Although he knew how risky it was to use his magecraft, desperate times call for desperate measures. He figured that with the chaos of the battle raging around him, not many would ever even notice his presence.

And for the most part, he was right.

Soren was using Violet Mirage not only on the enemy Spirit Wolves, but also on his fellow 'comrades' as well. By fooling both of his actual presence, Soren had effectively turned invisible. One by one, he would sneak up to the busy soldiers and slit their throats without them knowing. Ghostfang the Pale's ability to cause excessive bleeding only made his assassinations more effective.

I never thought I would ever fight like this as a magi…

Still, it was very effective. The bombardments had mostly ceased now that the magi were redirecting their focus on maintaining the barrier rather than repelling the advancing troops. Strangely, the enemy was also responding to this change. Fewer soldiers were scaling the walls, but their formations had become horrifically more disciplined. It was as if they'd realized brute force was no longer necessary. Their focus was now on precision, rather than inflicting chaos.

As he slit the throat of another Spirit Wolf, Soren grimaced slightly. He wiped the blood off his face and glanced around him.

The eastern side of the wall was still struggling. A majority of their magitech cannons were now destroyed. Though, the enemy didn't seem to stop sending troops into the meat grinder. More than likely, they want to use that side of the wall to stage an attack on the other.

Shit…. Soren stomped his boot on a pile of bodies. "Seriously, where the hell is Myrin and Cassia?"

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