Chapter 440: Null Zone I

Cardin

“Now, I am relieved,” said Colonel Hiren, as he opened the crate of ammunition smoothly with his one hand.

They had just been delivered from the port.

We had ample ammunition, but Lord Silver had taken a lot of it with him to the Panar. The city still had enough to sustain itself, but we couldn’t take a risk when an army is coming to coming to conquer us.

It is not just the ammunition, that had come, but a few other things that will help, in dealing with enemies.

I checked every crate personally.

Ammunition will play a big part in the battle and being careful about it is a wise choice.

“Send them to the wall,” I ordered and walked out of the warehouse before stepping into the carriage.

“How far are they?” I asked. “About five hours,” replied Mage Zela.

Lord Silver had kept his trusted mage and friend in the city. He is a smart man; not many would make such a decision when they are moving to conquer another city.

“Any news from the Lord Silver?” I asked. To which she shook her head.

It had been nearly an hour since they sealed off communication after getting control of Panar’s wall.

The communication isn’t completely cut off.

We could still contact people, that they kept outside the wall, but could not contact Lord Silver or General Stone directly as before.

Soon, the carriage stopped, and I walked out, checking the preparations.

Everything is good.

Now, we are waiting for the enemy, and I wish, they could come sooner.

After years, I will command the army once again, and I want to prove to the world that I am still capable.

My weakness won’t stop me from attaining the victory.

…

Rynra

‘Everyone in their position?’ I asked.

‘Affirmed,’ ‘Affirmed,’ ‘Affirmed,’ I got the reply one after another.

I had spread the horde all over the city.

People may consider this as the net, but it is not. Every unit is independent and will have no connection with others.

They couldn’t when I used my skills.

Every time, I used my skills. I had attained the victory, and it is a reason why, I have received only a punishment posting, rather than actual punishment.

Though what happened was no fault of my own.

If that bastard, had listened, instead of undermining me, we would have succeeded in that mission.

My heart still burns in anger whenever I think about it.

I pushed those thoughts away and looked at the enemy. They are ready.

They could enter the city at any moment.

It had been an hour since they had got control of the wall. Now, their soldiers are occupying them, with the cannons pointing inside the city.

The elder blood had spread the army across the city, covering all sides.

If he had doubled the numbers, he had brought. It might have helped him survive, but with such numbers, not a single person would survive.

I wouldn’t let them survive and wouldn’t care if I needed to sacrifice half of my undead.

I had planned as such, that a lot of undead would be sacrificed. The higher-ups don’t have any problem with that, the only thing they want is absolute annihilation of the enemy.

‘Is Wayne in his place?’ I asked. ‘Yes,’ replied the person from the other side.

The higher-ups had asked me to keep an eye on him. Stop him, if he tried to escape.

They didn’t provide the reason, but it is definitely not something about losing two battles.

They didn’t order me to detain him, which means he shouldn’t know about their intentions.

It is the only reason why he is not being detained. Which is good for me

He is a bastard, but he is a powerful bastard. As powerful as Yegson or even more than him.

He would play a big part in wiping out the enemy.

‘Commander, the enemy has begun to move,’ came the message finally.

‘Begin,’ I ordered and activated the skill.

My target is elder blood. Once I killed him, dealing with the rest of the army would be a piece of cake.

I didn’t activate that skill, but the other skill.

I will activate that skill when the enemy reaches the place, I want. They will in a few minutes. If they kept moving as they are doing now.

The moment I activate it. Their fate of utter defeat would be sealed.

…

Stone

“Forward!”

I ordered, and immediately the army began to move inside the city from all twelve directions.

I have divided it into twelve parts, which will be further divided as they enter the city.

The battle in the city is far more difficult than the battle on the plain. Here, energy could come from any side, making it hard to deal with them.

If Wayne is right, then if there is that skill involved. It is going to make things even more difficult.

It is why, every unit will be independent. I had told them, to fight expecting no reinforcement in mind.

They will have to deal with the enemy on their own or die.

It is why, I have to deal with enemy leaders quickly. If she had skill, she wouldn’t be using it immediately, till we reached deep enough in the city.

As then, she could cut all our roads of retreat.

‘Elder-blood come. I am waiting for you in a central square,’ a voice rang through my mind, surprising me.

The challenge didn’t come with words alone, but also with the skill.

‘She is confident,’ I thought as I felt the familiar skill.

She used a ‘Challenge’ type of skill. Leaders ‘Challenge, Commander Challenge’, and many other’s skills, that one uses to challenge another.

If I didn’t accept her challenge. I will suffer the suppression; it will reduce my strength.

‘I accept,’

I moved toward her, with an army of two thousand, while the rest began to move away.

She is waiting there with a horde of ten thousand undead.

I didn’t need to ask anyone to know that. Her challenge skill had told me about it.

“Check the central plaza?” I asked Joris. The skill may tell the truth, but it is not always a complete truth. There are many ways to circumvent those restrictions.

“Anti-scrying stopping everything,” he said but followed orders immediately.

A moment later, a surprise appeared in his eyes.

“The plaza is filled with undead, around ten thousand of them, with the Rynra Throne and two other people leading them,” he informed.

Joris is the mage we hired four months ago. He is from Mayhurst.

I didn’t know him on the island, but Shaun does. From what I had seen till now and his performance in yesterday. He is one capable mage.

He needs to be capable because those two sides of the enemy leader are powerful.

I moved deeper into the city, sensing undead at every turn, that had started to attack my people. Though they are attacking with a fraction of their forces.

The enemy had nearly ten times our numbers. They could easily swallow us all.

“These bastards! They are not even sparing the poor souls,” cursed Paladin Carr.

The undead are using the people of the city. Keeping the undead in the same place as the people. It would make it hard for us to attack the undead directly, without harming people.

Especially with the long rang spells and cannons.

The leader had planned it well. She is using every advantage, she has.

“The undead efficiency,” I replied.

Rynra Throne is a true member of Vris’alud. Using the cold-blooded strategies, that they are so famous for on the island.

Minutes passed, and I saw the undead moving not far away from me, but not a single one had attacked them. They didn’t even turn so much turn.

Soon, the square came into view, and I could see the enemy leader standing in front of the horde of ten thousand.

I walked into the plaza with my men, before stopping a hundred meters away.

I had come to Panar once with Lord Silver. It was a bustling city, not prosperous, but bustling, thanks to the employment and income provided by the mines.

This plaza, which is cracked and blackened, used to be pristine. Filled with people.

There used to be a big statue of Emperor Hamzas; the father of the last emperor, which seemed to have to have disappeared too.

“Last chance, elder-blood, surrender,” she said as she unsheathed her sword.

I felt all the hair on my body rise. She is dangerous, more dangerous than Bartram, Wayne, and Methum.

“No,” I replied, and she grinned.

“Now, I can kill you and sell your body to the highest bidder,” she said and came at me.

She was fast, much faster than the Wayne, who had been the faster enemy, I had faced here.

I didn’t stay on my spot and moved forward with elder energy bursting out of my body.

It took a near an instant for us to appear next to each other, and she swung her sword, burning with the dark flames while my halberd was covered in bronze energy.

Clang!

Our weapons clashed, deafeningly with shockwave black and bronze spreading in every direction.

A surprise flashed in my eyes, not because of the sound or shockwave, but how her body didn’t even shake, with a direct clash with mine.

Even Wayne didn’t dare to clash directly with me due to the massive physical advantage. My elder-blood gave me, but it didn’t seem to affect her at all.

I didn’t use my full strength, but I am sure, she is not using her peak strength either.

I had expected the battle would be hard against her, but now I know it will be. It would be hard to defeat her, much less kill her.

She pulled her sword back but didn’t attack, instead looked at me with a smile.

“You know, you have already lost the battle. The moment, you decided to enter the city,” she stated.

My heart skipped a beat, but I didn’t show it to my face.

“I am alive, and so is my army. We are far from losing the battle,” I replied. To that, the smile on her face widened.

“Oh, you have, dear elder blood,” she said, with voice bleeding with confidence.

“Null Zone,” she declared.

I felt the power of the skill spreading from her, covering the entire city.

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