Their brief conversation was immediately cut short as Ilmund was already arriving, and compared to the first battle, they had fully abandoned all strategy and resorted to pure brute force.

And he couldn't blame them; the flames from their swords were literally melting the snow while they sprinted, and it no longer slowed them down.

"Fire!"

Justinian lowered his arm, signalling to everyone stationed in the walls to prepare for battle.

And battle they did.

FWOOSH!

FWOOSH!

Trebuchets, cannons, ballistae, all three firing in unison as it aimed to shred through their ranks.

And while it was successful, it made no difference in their morale, not with Ilmund singlehandedly cleaving through both stone and bolts on his own.

The ceasefire had allowed him to get attuned completely to his arcanist abilities.

"The spearmen from the first line won't hold."

Justinian yelled out, already ordering the second line to help support the first. They grew stronger than he had expected.

"Lucan, continue coordinating here. Cassia and I will fight on the frontlines!"

His order boomed like thunder, and instantly Justinian and Cassia immediately moved; the first wall was already battling, the tough walls managing to survive the relentless flames from the crusaders.

But the spearmen were already feeling the heat, their spears slowly melting the more men they took out.

They were slowly losing ground.

"Fimbulwinter!"

But Cassia was enough to completely turn the tide.

BOOM!

A huge gust of cold wind suddenly assaulted from behind the spearmen, causing all to look back for a brief moment, and there they saw Cassia and Justinian fully armed with a hundred reinforcements.

The crusaders stumbled back also, shocked at their divine flames subtly dimming for a quick second.

Cassia had now made their flames completely null; it was now a battle of strategy, and that meant Ilmund's forces were now screwed.

"Charge!"

Justinian led the charge, jumping over the battlements as he engaged in the battle first; he no longer had to worry about catching on fire with Cassia beside her.

[Duke's Domain]

"That bastard...!? They had another arcanist on their side!?"

Ilmund grew worried; his crusaders were now being killed left and right, but he wasn't out of options yet; he still hadn't used the rest of his abilities.

Justinian stopped, seeing Ilmund's palms suddenly glowing unnaturally. It was clear what he was going to do.

But Justinian wasn't going to let him do what he wanted; if he wanted to burn down his wall, then he had to go through him first.

"You pest!"

Ilmund grumbled, blocking Justinian's sword, shocked at how his seemingly normal blade was managing to stay together despite the intense heat coming off him.

"A pest doesn't get to call others a pest."

Cassia remarked, already on Ilmund's side, her sword ready and deadly, behind her already filled with frozen corpses of crusaders.

"Isn't that...!? It's the sword of Thirell!?"

Ilmund immediately noticed the threat, and with Justinian already keeping him occupied, he couldn't fight at his best.

"Fire!"

Justinian yelled out, his eyes glowing subtly; he was using his system while he fought, coordinating with Lucan from the battlements to fire at his position.

He was using every tool in his arsenal now.

Ilmund moved his head inches to the right, and...

THUD!

A huge ballista bolt barely grazed him, his cheeks drawing blood as he was just inches away from death.

CLANG!

Justinian didn't stop, continuing to overwhelm him, Cassia around them, taking out any distractions as they continued on their duel.

"What kind of deal did you make with the devil?"

"Devil? You're mistaken, I'm not the one wielding fire like the devil does."

Justinian arrogantly smiled, kicking Ilmund's chest and skidding him backwards.

"Fire!"

He yelled out again, and this time it was cannon fire, a huge ball of death heading straight to Ilmund's chest, threatening to plant a huge gaping hole in where his heart should be.

"My lord!"

A crusader suddenly joined in, taking the hit from Ilmund as his entire upper body was destroyed, the cannonball losing all momentum and dropping inches away from Ilmund.

'The hell!? How suicidal are these idiots!?'

Justinian gritted his teeth; he had no choice but to continue clashing with Ilmund.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

"Where'd you learn how to fight like that!?"

"Take a guess."

Ilmund gave a begrudging smirk of respect, even if he still thought Justinian wasn't worthy of ruling; he was still an impressive fighter.

CLANG!

Ilmund's heart rate suddenly spiked, not expecting for Cassia to just suddenly swing her blade at his neck, he still thought he was fighting his army.

"You!?"

SLASH!

In seconds, Ilmund's face contorted in pain as he felt a strange sensation in his arms, or to be more accurate, excruciating pain.

"Fuck!"

He cursed, he just had his arm cleaved clean, and when he looked at Justinian, his face contorted even more as he saw his smug face under his helmet, his visor purposefully opened to taunt him.

***

Meanwhile, from the general view of the battle itself, it was an overwhelming victory.

Caesus was leading the archers, his aim inspiring others as it completely penetrated through the enemy's armour.

What once was a useless endeavour due to the flames from their sword, now completely viable due to Cassia's ice fighting against the flames, turning arrows that once burned into ashes when they got close, into deadly tools of war once more.

"Lord Lucan, cavalry is coming from the side!"

A captain pointed out, it was a risky endeavour; Cassia's snowstorm wasn't affecting that area, and if they were to be left alone, their entire formation would likely break.

"Charles, Vermont, on me once more!"

Lucan yelled out to one of his personal guards, the same two he had with him when they decided to attack the original shadow society.

"Ignis!"

Lucan barked, his swords bursting into flames as he began to change location.

As for Fenrix, he was also quite busy. He may be a spymaster, but his job isn't just spying or assassination; it is also keeping the populace at bay.

Instilling fear and using sweet talk to ensure that priests who were supporters of Raven and the crusade don't get any ideas.

And with the help of Matthias and Darius, it was child's play.

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