Under the Oak Tree

Maxi snatched up the sledgehammer lying nearby and swung it at the magical device on the watchtower wall. Instantly, powerful magic erupted from the stone embedded in its core, spawning a translucent sphere around the tower. The neighboring watchtowers followed suit casting a barrier nearly two thradions (approx 370 meters) long around the ramparts. All combined, roughly half the city was now shielded.

Peering out the window, Maxi checked if the barrier had reached the other end. Just then, a deafening roar split the air, and a powerful gust nearly knocked her off her feet.

She held back a scream as she desperately latched onto the windowsill. Before her, giants had the city surrounded, pounding the shield with their colossal iron maces. The terrifying scene held her captive until a gruff voice called for an assault.

Looking out again, she saw soldiers prepping the ballistae on the battlement. At a soldier's signal, dozens of arrows launched into the air like a flock of birds.

"Keep firing!"

Following the command, the soldiers let loose another volley. Their arrows sliced through the wind and mercilessly pierced the monster's skulls and ribs. Slowly but surely, the undead army began to retreat. However, just as Maxi breathed a sigh of relief, a horn's blare resounded from the east.

She stifled a groan. That meant more monsters had appeared at the other end of the city. Maxi dashed down the tower. The eastern and northern sections had sparser magical defenses, and if breached, the eastern gate would stand vulnerable.

Maxi wove through soldiers carrying arrows and cannonballs, heading toward the stables. She quickly mounted Rem and raced bareback toward the eastern watchtower. When she arrived, she saw archers scaling the walls, preparing their defense.

She tied Rem to a fence and stood in line behind the archers. As she readied to throw herself into Vesmore's defense efforts, a hand gripped her shoulder.

"Allow me to lead, my lady. Please wait for my signal before you come up."

Maxi turned to find Garrow, his face set in determination. The young Knight tugged her back and nimbly climbed the ladder. He took a moment atop the battlement to assess the situation before signaling Maxi to follow. She carefully ascended after him.

Upon reaching the top, Garrow cautioned, "Stay back from the edge, my lady. An arrow might come our way anytime."

"H-Has the enemy already breached the shield?"

"It seems so. The magical devices weren't activated on time. While we were focused on the west, ghouls reached the eastern wall," Garrow replied, pointing his torch beyond the battlement.

Maxi followed his gaze and covered her mouth in horror at the sea of crimson eyes glowing across the field. Living corpses, their flesh decayed and peeling, swarmed the wall. Beyond them, a legion of skeletons amassed just outside the hastily cast shield.

"W-Where are all these undead coming from?" Maxi asked in horror.

"They are likely the monsters that perished in the Lexos Mountains," said a voice nearby. "The necromancers must have resurrected all those slain during the first Dragon Campaign."

Maxi looked over to see Agnes, cloaked in red velvet over a silver breastplate. She was gazing at the field with a grim expression.

The princess's sharp blue eyes glinted as she continued, "They might have even brought back all the monsters that died long before the campaign. Including the undead from the east, we're looking at numbers surpassing six thousand."

While Maxi felt there were even more, she soon realized that it was the colossal monsters that gave her this impression. This brought no comfort, however. The giants outside the wind barrier were far more formidable than multiple armies of regular undead. Sparks erupted with every strike of their enormous iron maces, and the booming echoes reverberated around them, appearing to sap the soldiers' spirits.

"Archers, take your positions! Defense unit, ready the catapults!" Princess Agnes bellowed at the cowering troops.

Revitalized by her order, the soldiers sprang into action. Archers let fly fiery arrows from the battlement, and sentries loosed cannonballs from the catapults toward the undead horde. Behind them, Maxi summoned a wind to deflect the ghoul's arrows. Princess Agnes, evidently deeming it unnecessary for two mages to be there, redirected herself north.

Maxi maintained the shield over the battlement while she looked left and right. Mages lined the wall at roughly one or two-thradion intervals. Though the descending night and their hooded figures made identification impossible, she could tell from the occasional fireballs that the northeastern side was mostly manned by the more offensive magic-adept senior mages.

It made sense, given the east wall's scant protection by magical devices and catapults compared to the western and southern sides.

Even so, we won't be able to last like this.The mages will soon exhaust themselves, and there is only enough mana in the magical devices to last two more days.

Maxi gazed out in despair. The occasional flicker of flame arrows revealed grotesquely shriveled ghoul faces and skeletal forms. Beyond them, the expanse of pitch darkness was punctuated only by countless glowing red eyes. Despite the biting cold, a cold sweat prickled her back.

How long could they hold out if these monsters besieged the city? Vesmore only had about six hundred soldiers to defend it. And while over twenty mages, including Maxi, were present, half were healers. The city could easily fall in less than half a day.

During a brief lull, Maxi turned to Garrow, "Sh-Should we not request reinforcements?"

Peering through a crenel with a longbow in hand, Garrow answered without hesitation, "We've sent a carrier pigeon, but I'm afraid significant aid is unlikely. Minimal forces were left behind at the nearest city as well."

Then what will happen to us?

Maxi managed to stop herself from asking the question aloud. Now is not the time for childish whining. They had sturdy walls, ample provisions, and a store of magic stones. If they held their defenses, perhaps they could withstand until the campaign party returned.

With renewed resolve, Maxi tirelessly deflected the onslaught of arrows. Soldiers used windlasses to raise fifteen large cauldrons to the wall's summit.

"Be careful with those!" Alec Godric shouted as he was winched up with one of the windlasses.

The soldiers carefully positioned the cauldrons at the crenels at his warning. Gingerly lifting the lid of one, Maxi recoiled from the pungent stench of oil, a smell akin to animal blood. It was alchemical fire.

"Release the oil!"

At Alec's command, the soldiers hoisted the cauldron above the battlement. They tipped the contents over the wall onto the enemy. Soon, horrific screams filled the air.

Maxi dared a peek down. Doused by the oil, ghouls that had been scaling the wall flailed in pain before plummeting to the ground. The soldiers continued to pour the black liquid down the walls, and some even catapulted the empty cauldrons.

Hopping down from the windlass, Alec raised a torch and bellowed, "Step back unless you want to get burned!"

As soon as the soldiers retreated, He hurled the torch over the battlement. a second later, a sweltering heat engulfed them. Maxi shielded her face with her robe and crouched down. Golden flames cascaded down the rampart, swallowing the ghouls beneath it.

Amid the raging snowstorm, the putrid aroma of burning flesh mixed with the scorching heat. The flames tore through the field, engulfing the skeletons outside the shield.

"It's like hell on earth," Garrow murmured, transfixed.

The sight was truly horrific to behold. Still, Maxi could not help but feel a surge of relief. Except for the hundreds of flailing corpses, the encircling horde was now retreating to escape the flames.

"Stand down!" Princess Agnes commanded when the monsters were out of range.

Maxi surmised that the princess had decided to observe the situation to conserve their arrows and cannonballs. Grateful for the respite, Maxi lowered her shield.

Garrow's concerned gaze met hers. "Are you all right, my lady?"

She gave a feeble nod. Though she felt she would pass out from exhaustion, her mind was strangely lucid, the adrenaline of battle sharpening her senses.

"It is...over now?" she asked in a quivering voice.

"I doubt they will attempt another attack right away, but..." Garrow trailed off as his gaze returned to the field.

The inferno was now mere embers, and the sun slowly rose in the east. Maxi stared past the dark columns of smoke toward the horizon. It was a selfish wish, but she hoped the monsters would give up on Vesmore and move on to another city. Yet the undead army remained, stationed just four thradions (approx 740 meters) away.

Garrow murmured somberly, "It doesn't seem like they intend to retreat."

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