Participating in a war is actually kind of dull. Well, I’m not one of the super soldiers out there performing superhuman acts, I guess it would be more exciting if I was in the thick of it, but that sounds so dangerous and tiring. I’m much better suited to sitting back and overseeing my troops.

  After that initial push to destroy my artillery, the enemy made a few more pokes at my defense, getting sternly rebuked each time. It seems like high-level soldiers are in short supply, as they haven’t sent another one in.

  And so, it has been a horribly boring three days. The rain has finally let up, leaving behind a nasty muddy bog of a battlefield. Seriously, all the soldiers are covered in mud, it looks miserable. There is no proper rest to be had in their camp either, with constant hit and run attacks from my hunters and flyers. Not to mention, they haven't been resupplied in quite a while, thanks to my efforts to disrupt their supply lines. Enna expects the siege to break any day. In fact, we need it to end. We are almost completely out of bolts for the ballistae, even with the squires working around the clock to resupply them.

  It is almost a relief when a giant explosion booms in the distance.

  Looking through my scout’s eyes, I observe a giant spear of mana collide with the front gate, severely denting them inward. A figure surrounded by a radiant barrier hovers in the air in front of the mangled gate. It really is a miracle that the gate hasn’t been blown off its hinges, it really doesn’t look like it can take another hit.

  Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. Another mage flies out from the city to hover above the gate, protecting it in a great barrier of ice, blocking what would have been the deathblow from the enemy spellcaster.

  They must be around level sixty or higher with the amount of mana they are throwing around. The two powerhouses of the opposing kingdoms are finally throwing down, launching pillars of flame, clouds of ice shards, and deafening lightning bolts.

  I consider my class to have strong growth in wisdom, which determines the amount of mana you possess. My most powerful skills drain almost half my mana, I have no idea how those two are keeping up the fight, they must be using some of the most powerful spells at their disposal. Must be some bonuses to having a proper mage class that allows them to do that, I suppose. It’s almost enough to make me jealous, but those mages can’t summon tireless, absolutely loyal, eternal armies, so fair is fair.

  A crackling whip of lighting from the Karnakan mage wraps itself around the other mage, the amount of electricity getting pumped into the defender makes my hairs stand on end, even from this distance. The Lotheris mage absorbs all the lighting into one end of their staff, redirecting it out the other side to crash into the ground below, decimating a large group of Karnakan soldiers.

  The collateral damage doesn’t seem to bother the offender, who continues to pound the defender with spells. Each spell is absorbed, deflected, or redirected into the attacking army. Tired of being on the defense, the Lotheris spellcaster retaliates with a sweeping blade of mana, cutting through the air and cracking the enemy’s barrier.

  The two pause their fight for a moment, hovering in the air, staring each other down; presumably gathering their mana for the next round.

  A warrior in gleaming golden armor leaps from the wall, streaking through the air, slamming into the Karnakan mage. The invaders barrier is shattered, his sword piercing deep into the mage’s gut. The warrior is encased in a barrier, protecting him from the retaliatory explosion of flame, the shockwave reaching all the way to my palanquin.

  My scouts are blinded for a moment, the wounded mage is gone by the time sight returns, probably teleported away or some other mage bullshit.

  That’s our sign, I order all my soldiers and archers to push into the left flank. Sprinkling in a few knights to lead the charge, my army mobilizes, rushing across the muddy field. They crash into the Karnakan soldiers, a wave of obsidian carapaces and whirling blade arms. Enemy soldiers are bowled over by my much larger charging summons, trampled over and impaled by their spear-like legs. The resistance is fierce, skills are used, swords and spears glow in fierce defiance, giving the humans a chance to fight back

  There is no fighting back when my knights come into play. Their multiple blade arms, thick armor, and unnatural speed, completely overwhelms the average soldier. My knights carve through them like a scythe through wheat.

  Barriers hold for a bit but are eventually overwhelmed and shattered as the mages run low on mana. Most spells seem to wash over my soldiers, it seems they are somewhat resistant to spells, low level ones at least.

  My soldiers are cut down by coordinated attacks and powerful skills and spells, and for every soldier I lose, the enemy loses ten. It makes me grit my teeth to lose so many soldiers, but they are easily replaced. This is my best chance to gain some allies, it is worth it.

  Fear is an unexpected advantage, many of the humans look downright terrified to face these monsters they have never seen before. A decent number of men break and run, fleeing back towards the relative safety of their camp. I decide to play into that, the few flyers I have swoop over the enemies, screeching and plucking up unexpecting victims to drop from a great height for an unsavory demise. My burrowers surface to gobbled up a handful of soldiers, only to dive back underground, leaving dangerous gaping holes in their wake. The knights are already the most nightmarish creatures I have, soldiers who try to flee from them don’t survive for much longer than the ones who try to fight.

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  The high-level mage seems to have retreated, probably low on mana. However, the golden armored warrior has pushed out from the wall with a small squad of elites. They seem focused on keeping enemies away from the damaged gate, something they easily succeed in, the golden warrior cutting down any who stand before him.

  I redirect a knight and a few soldiers to help push enemies away from the gate. The soldiers of Lotheris eye my creatures warily, but do not attack, even as my knight and soldiers push in front of the defenders, taking most of the heat off them. I let out a small cheer, Enna chuckles at my excitement and pats my head.

  The golden warrior orders his men to hold the gate and tears off into the sea of enemies. His gleaming sword releases several smaller spectral swords with each swing. I want to do everything I can to show that I am here to help, so I order two knights to flank him and help him push as deep as he wants.

  He almost swings at my knights but holds back at the last second when they start tearing into the Karnakans. The three of them make a fairly horrifying kill squad, only running into trouble when another high-level warrior clashes with them. It may have been a difficult fight for him alone, but with my knights the golden warrior quickly overwhelms his opponent, his radiant blade decapitating the offender in a blinding cleave.

  +60,000 XP

  Huh, guess I get XP for assists. Maybe that wasn’t the full amount? It does seem a little low, for a high-level kill.

  The Karnakan army is losing cohesion, giving up on the wall and falling back. They aren’t retreating the whole way, a tall woman wearing shining blue armor (mithril armor, Enna supplies) is rallying her soldiers into a tight-nit formation.

  The golden warrior is heading directly towards the mithril woman, intending to break the formation before it can properly form. I add my remaining knights to the effort. The heroic human suddenly finds himself leading ten towering behemoths, covered in the blood and entrails of their enemies.

  The enemy rally almost breaks from the sight alone, but the woman in mithril manages to hold them together. Standing defiantly, the woman lifts a gauntleted hand and launches a continuous beam of crackling energy, punching directly through the carapace of one of my Knights, felling it in one spell. The Karnakans let out a cheer and brandish their weapons, standing shoulder to shoulder with their commander, bracing for the impact of nine pissed off knights.

  The golden warrior and mithril lady clash, sparks flying as their blades collide, blocks, parries, and ripostes.

  Enna has to describe what is happening, I am still unable to keep up with a fight between two high level warriors. My knights, I can keep track of however, and they meet unexpected resistance. This group seems to be a well trained squad, a group of mages cast a binding spell on one of my knights, holding him in place for a few seconds. Unfortunately, a few seconds is all they need, their soldiers advance, blades flashing with the power of skills. A warhammer shatters the carapace while a dozen blades eviscerate my knight. A group of huge soldiers in armor carry tower shields and manage to keep my other knights from washing over their allies. They repeat the magic binding tactic twice more, felling two more of my knights before the skills on the shield bearers run out.

  A shield bearer is knocked onto their back; tower shield and human body crushed beneath the weight of my knight's stomp. My other Vess advances, pushing the shield wall back. The mages aren’t done yet and finish a long chant, combining their mana to shoot a laser that pierces through the skull of a knight, a second laser is dodged by another knight, opening a deep graze on its shoulder. My knights manage to get their blades around the shields of the enemy; their defensive line begins to crumble. A few weak spells splash uselessly off of carapaces; the mages are dry. I direct a nearby group of archers to fly over, unleashing a volley of stingers into the group of mages, dropping half of them, skulls pierced.

  The Karnakan formation cracks and breaks under the pressure, the final straw comes with the victory of the golden warrior, standing over the corpse of the mithril lady.

  +40,000 XP

  Guess my knights didn’t help enough with that one.

  A full retreat is called, and the invaders begin pulling back towards their base camp. I recall my forces, ordering them to form up around the palanquin. My losses are… heavy. One thousand soldiers survive, along with three hundred archers. Only eight knights remain, I really burned a lot of them going on the offensive. I didn’t realize they would be so vulnerable to high power spells. My ballistae and squires are fine; they never got close to the fight after all.

  Most importantly I am alive. Letting out a breath of relief, I slump down into Enna’s arms.

  She meets my gaze with a proud smile, “Well done, little queen.”

  “Next is the hard part.” I murmur into her, reaching out for a hug.

  Enna readily wraps me in a warm embrace, “It may be easier than you think. I believe we have won over the golden warrior, a powerful ally to have, I guarantee he has a position of authority.”

  “I guess…” I snuggle in closer, “Sleep now?”

  “Perhaps not, little queen. Our golden friend approaches.”

  A groan escapes my lips, I press my face into my caretaker’s warmth, pushing off the responsibility for a while longer. “Can’t you just deal with it?” I whine.

  “I could.” Enna answers carefully.

  “Mmmphhhm, fiiiiine.” I extract myself from the warmth and force myself to look downhill. The golden warrior is indeed walking towards me, he must have hurried over here immediately, then slowed down so as not to alarm me. I guess I am a problem that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. I feel kinda bad though, he must be exhausted.

  Enna stands quietly just a step behind me, claws folded in front of her, a few knights step up into protective positions.

  The warrior stops twenty feet away from me, hand resting lightly on the pommel of his sheathed sword. He looks older, maybe in his early forties. The man has a handsome face, and he is clearly exhausted. A strong jawline is covered in stubble; clear blue eyes are marred by heavy bags hanging underneath. His once glorious armor is covered in the scars of battle, although he seems unhurt himself.

  He came alone, that is a good sign, probably. Either that or he absolutely doesn’t feel threatened by me at all, which would be ridiculous after he saw my knights in action. I’m pretty sure Enna could take him apart if the knights help.