Eastern Border, Three Days Later
The ground shook beneath the weight of approaching siege engines.
From the ridge, Achilles Verentis stood beside Captain Kael, both watching the distant horizon:
Towers of iron on wheels.
Ballistae dragged by armored oxen.
Columns of Ascendria's seasoned infantry—shields gleaming, banners high.
Kael's voice was tight:
> "They escalate fast."
"Siege machines this size weren't meant for skirmishes."
"They want to flatten the fortress before morale stabilizes."
Achilles, calm, eyes gleaming faintly with System overlays, observed the battlefield:
>>> Ascendria Siege Deployment: Confirmed
>>> Enemy Infantry: Disciplined, Tier 2+
>>> Fortress Integrity: 44% (Marginal)
>>> Conventional Defense Probability: Catastrophic Failure
>>> Override Opportunity: High
---
🛠 Rewriting the Walls
The officers gathered, tense and pale. Some still doubted him—the exiled noble boy turned commander.
Achilles spoke, crisp and surgical:
> "Conventional defense crumbles under siege."
"But conventional rules no longer apply."
"We rewrite the battlefield."
He pointed to weak foundation points—walls engineered centuries ago but neglected.
To the untrained eye? Decay.
To Achilles? Opportunity.
> "We collapse controlled sections here, here, and here."
"The rubble funnels their infantry into choke points."
"We guide their siege towers off-course, into engineered sinkholes."
"They'll break themselves against the terrain."
Kael grinned—sharp, dangerous:
> "Unorthodox."
"But effective."
---
⚔ The Siege Begins
The Ascendrian war horns bellowed.
Siege towers creaked forward.
Ballistae fired—stone and flame raining down.
Infantry advanced behind shields in perfect, lethal formation.
The old walls cracked—but they cracked precisely where Achilles allowed.
The first tower veered left—its wheels sinking into disguised trenches, snapping axles.
Rubble from the collapsed battlements funneled Ascendria's soldiers into tight, exposed alleys.
From hidden positions, Verentis-trained archers and infantry struck with brutal precision.
The System pulsed:
>>> Enemy Siege Engine Disabled: 1/4
>>> Infantry Casualties: 37% (Enemy)
>>> Legion Morale: 64% (Rising)
---
⚡ Breaking the Momentum
As Ascendria's advance faltered, Achilles enacted the final phase:
Mana runes—disguised as structural repairs—detonated under the remaining siege engines, ripping metal apart, turning terrain into a chaotic battlefield of fire and smoke.
Ascendria's commanders screamed for order—but the field was no longer theirs to command.
Kael's knights charged—the enemy, disoriented, collapsed beneath silver blades and unrelenting strikes.
---
Aftermath: The Price of Miscalculating Achilles
The battlefield fell silent.
Ascendria's siege was broken.
Their soldiers retreated, bloodied and leaderless.
The 3rd Legion stood battered—but victorious.
Achilles observed the data stream:
.
>>> Enemy Siege: Neutralized
>>> Border Stability: Secured (Temporary)
>>> External Threat Assessment: Escalation Inevitable
Kael approached, breathing hard but grinning:
> "We should've collapsed days ago."
"Anf yet here we are, still standing."
"You rewrote the front, Young Lord."
Achilles, calm as ever, eyes distant, replied:
> "The rules were flawed."
"We're just correcting them.
Continue boosting the morale of our soldiers Captain."
"Yes, Young Lord!"
---
🌑 Across the Plains
In Ascendria's command tent, Marshal Kaedros received the latest reports:
> "They broke our siege."
"The Verentis boy manipulates terrain, formations… even probability itself."
Kaedros' smile returned, colder than before:
> "Interesting."
"Prepare the next phase."
"If conventional force fails—"
His fingers traced ancient symbols across the war table:
> "—we introduce irregular warfare."
"Assassins, saboteurs, subversion."
"Let's see if the boy can rewrite death itself."