LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 30: War in the West
Nearly every noble in the Empire believes the old emperor enacted the massacre at the Beirlitz academy. They march rampantly on everyone siding with the Coalition of Nations, and are now trying to dethrone Emperor Eden Civillis. As such he has tasked me with the grand purpose of securing the west. The Dalkans and god botherers are also attacking en masse, and these new allies make me question if maybe those nobles were right, but by the goddess they are an ally we know are hard to fight. I for one, am glad to be on their side for once.
-General Sneiperr of the western imperial loyalist army
POV Kyla'th Mazurio, Queen of Mazurio
The world burns. We must make haste.
When Esstrey returned with a small book, and a plan. We had all accomplished our objectives. She based everything off whatever was on the journal, having Cathy point towards relevant sections. The logbook spoke of allies somewhere hidden on the world, and something about the moon alignment needing to be correct. Esstrey also casually revealed that The Grand Scientist, and The First Demon Lord, are the same person. After the man had lost all hope for completing his experiments due to the interference of The Solar Alliance, he used the most powerful version of it on himself. Heading towards an isolated peninsula, The First started his conquests there, and the rest is history.
A month and two weeks is how long we had to hold on. A month beset upon by every power on the world that wasn't in that classroom at the time. That time is almost over now, and Esstrey only needs to decipher the where. Eden had proposed a coalition between us all. The Coalition of Nations is formed up by Mazurio, the royal imperial faction, The Lichdom, The Northern Tribal Alliance (Cathy was apparently the official head of state up there. I'm just surprised they are organized enough to form such a thing), The dwarven clan of Crystalspear and The Governate of Quintillius.
Together we are up against The kingdom of Dalka, The Theocracy, the imperial noble faction, The united greenskin nomads, the Southern city-states, Tribal Coalition of Tazkar'han, the invading creatures of beyond and The Eternal Forest. The last of which has embarked upon an expansionist genocidal crusade against the world when the spatial invaders arrived. Only the Dalkan's Theocracy and imperial nobles actually work together a bit, and much less than our coalition does. The South is mostly a grief-stricken sultan pulling every asset he has in a slaver crusade. The jungle had a power vacuum, and now pretends they are united, but are practically embroiled in civil war. The greenskin nomads lost two important figures of their moderate faction, and sees this as an opportunity to pillage the whole eastern Empire.
Our position in the West is the strongest, with Quintillius completely dominating the seas after the major co-operation that took place between Esstrey and the mermaid enclaves. Furthermore, Mazurio only borders Dalka, thus we can only advance in one direction, which we have. Initially there was a major push of Theocracy forces and Dalkan forces, but it turned into a trap. Eden's information network exposed the whole thing from start to finish, and their combined armies walked right into their ends. The theocracy stopped supporting Dalka after that, and focused on The Eternal Forest.
A large trebuchet launches its payload on its target. The target being the walls of Dalka. A group of mounted knights rush out from one of the breaches, heading right for the trebuchets. Mazurian magics are launched on the cavalry charge to no effect, the Dalkan mages still as strong as they have always been. The Lizardmen manning the trebuchets quickly man the barricades, expecting a heavy fight for the vital siege equipment.
Instead, I interrupt the cavalry charge with a burst of high-powered dark lances. Followed by long ranged transmogrifications. Multiple of the knights go down, and a few of the ones who went down and didn't die get hit by the transmogrification balls. The charge quickly turns into a brawl as multiple Mazurians sprout out from between the ranks.
"Load special payload! CHARGE!" I heft my sword up high, and point towards Dalka. The capital of our longtime rival. Wolf-kin rush to the battlefield, eager to prove their worth in combat. The Lizardmen reload the trebuchets from well crafted crates. Specifically the crates with a dwarven symbol on it. A linguist told me it means 'Caution, explosive.'
A sergeant attempts to rally the knights, and retreat back to Dalka when he sees the Wolf-kin rush towards to support their new brethren. The sergeants attempt to rally is halted by an arrow embedding itself in the man's collarbone. Signaling Jalaha having joined the charge.
Right as the Wolf-kin make contact, a loud explosion comes from the Dalkan palace. The mighty trebuchet having delivered its payload of Crystalspear's finest. The barrier protecting the city and palace had long since run out of power, and me launching some attacks of my own on it certainly did not aid them. Flashes of white light erupt from the skirmish of the knights, and more Mazurians rise from the ashes of my enemies. Time for phase two of the invasion.
I fly high up, followed by multiple squadrons of harpies. All of them carrying more of Urist's gifts. Esstrey told me of a strategy employed by an army that was thought to be invincible at the height of its power. She also told me that it isn't perfect, but it would suffice. Coming from Esstrey that is high praise, even if she looked disgusted while talking of the army that used it itself.
Higher rank demons move in at the edges of the city as they see us rise into, and above Dalka. The many tribes that have waited a long time for a chance at invading Dalka following behind us. As the harpies drop their payloads indiscriminately, the streets quickly become clogged by humans attempting to flee. Mazurio has arrived, and we are here to stay.
The high ranking demons, effectively Mazurio nobles, pummel the wall guards from the sides. Loudly making it known to everyone that they aren't safe here. The Dalkan reserves are paralyzed by the large number of refugees block their access to reinforce the wall. Before long, the nobles have claimed pieces of the wall, and are now firing inward. The remaining gates are opened as well, and the tribes charge in. Adding more to our numbers. I barely had to do anything, as the battle smoothly played out like Esstrey told me it would.
A harpy flies to intercept me, carrying a letter with the image of a skull on it. The skull that has been dubbed 'Esstrey's skull' due to its signature red beret she always wears.
"Kyla! I bring news from the fishies!" The harpy quickly gets distracted by the flashes of combat down below, and after delivering her message, she flies in for a closer look.
A letter from Esstrey? Let me see...
My eyes widen in what I hope is easily recognized as joy, and hope. She found it! The place where the solution to the spatial invasion lies! Although I don't know why she seems to be referring to the unknown allies as 'non-magical MacGuffin.' She says in the letter only a when and where, and says that I should focus on finishing Dalka off, because the war doesn't end with the removal of the invading space forces.
I look at the crumbling Dalkan palace, and the streets filled with Mazurians. I see them flying the colors of the Coalition of Nations. A light-blue flag with a map of the world on it.
Yeah, I can spare some time.
