Chapter 1565 1393: 10 Days
Dazzling radiance flashed. Shortly after, two dazzling light beams descended from above and struck the pitch-black land heavily. Then, the darkness that enveloped the sky and land dispersed and dazzling light filled up the gaps. Shortly after, a string of flares and explosions erupted on the city walls.
As expected, after a series of explosions, the fortress in the distance had as though been submerged in darkness and death. But, in the blink of an eye, dense flares emerged across the sky and bombarded the land like pouring rain, where the land lit up in flames instantly. But the Undead Army charged forward again as chilly blue spiritual flames erupted.
The marble white color of dawn emerged on the other side of the horizon. Soon, the sun would rise and the Undead Army would be retreating in no time. Then, hours later when the sun set again, they would continue their attack in the darkness. Such a similar scenario had repeated over a span of 10 days.
As soon as darkness fell, Vandal's Undead Army attacked and the humans used the holy spears to defend against them.
Indeed, in less than half an hour, the Undead Army retreated in order. As the first ray of sun struck the ground, the Undead Army left the land that was protected by the Light Dragon Soul and returned into their eternal darkness.
"Tch!"
Alex stared at the battlefield from above the city wall—blood, corpses, and putrid stench polluted the land and air. Not only that, but black, filthy blood belonging to the Undead Creatures and humans also stained the city walls.
It had been over 10 days since Vandal launched his attack with the Undead Army. Every night, Alex led his men and fought with them. But he was clear that the other party was conserving his strength because the latter occasionally changed his tactics with different troops as though to catch the former off guard. However, Alex knew that Vandal did that to see if he had other trump cards up his sleeves. He admitted that Vandal was rather smart. Since the latter failed to obtain intelligence with his scouts earlier on, he was better off forcing the former to reveal all his trump cards.
Therefore, within the 10 days, Alex faced all kinds of attacks from the Undead Army. The Skeletal Trolls and Ghouls launched frontal attacks, Gargoyles, Bone Griffins, and Vampires used airborne tactics, and the Necromancers strengthened the Undead Army's attack and speed with their spells. However, no matter which tactics he deployed, Alex only retaliated with the holy spears before coordinating with Scarlett's fire elemental spells to bombard the enemies.
Meanwhile, the soldiers defended the city walls and sometimes Maggie would counteract the Necromancers' spells. As for the Valkyries Army and Magic Fleet, Alex continued to keep them a secret. Even though Leader Mila and the commander of the Magic Fleet requested to join the battle, Alex stood firm on his decision that they were the final trump cards for the victory and requested for them to stay patient.
Strictly speaking, his side was capable enough to withstand the attack without sending out the Valkyries Army, Magic Fleet, or blasting off his newly-built magic cannons. At most, he would need Scarlett to cast her 'Seven Hells' and 'Magma River' to defend against the Undead Creatures.
Alex was aware that both sides were competing on patience and the side that lost its patience first would lose. Vandal was also meticulous. He spent all his attention on probing in the last 10 days, lost nearly 30,000 troops, and wasn't able to find anything new in Alex's camp. However, it wasn't right to also say that Alex didn't suffer any losses.
Although Alex used the holy spears as the main attack, assigned Scarlett and Maggie in alternate offense and defense, and placed Cecilia and the others to guard the city walls, their losses increased day by day. Up until this moment, almost a thousand soldiers had died. He was sure that he would need to recruit more of them after this battle ended.
But this wasn't the main problem. What was most important was that they were exhausted from the relentless attacks.
Morale was the biggest headache for Alex at the moment. The Undead Army didn't require morale support and could strike continuously even if they failed. But, humans were different. The Undead Army always attacked at unearthly hours which turned his soldiers into night owls. It was imaginable how much mental pressure was placed on them to adjust their biological clocks and simultaneously fight the enemies to their death. The only thing supporting them now was their continuous victories and Alex's prestige. He was glad that even though hierarchy was strict in this world, there were also benefits, such as his subordinates respecting him as the commander and not making a fuss over anything. If not, he couldn't guarantee how the situation would develop.
All he could do now was to appoint the Healers and Valkyries to cure the injured soldiers with their healing spells and also treat the soldiers to delicious feasts in order to boost their morale. However, he knew that the effects were limited.
Alex gazed at Selena at this thought—this rising star from the Mage Association no longer looked as clean as before. Her long, silky hair had wrinkled. Her fair and beautiful face was full of dirt and blood stains. Not only that, but the filth on her expensive magic robe also made her look like a pitiful beggar. She looked forward with her eyes half-shut while yawning non-stop. The mannerism of a rich young lady in her was nowhere to be seen.
War—nothing could spur on growth in humans quicker than cruel wars someone said, it was indeed the truth. After all, even though the Undead Army's relentless attacks pressured Alex's side, the latter gained a vast range of knowledge about the Undead Army's tactics thanks to Vandal, which was a great asset to the Renner Kingdom. After all, almost no one had experienced battles with the Undead Army in the past, not to mention understood their tactics. Never would Vandal expect to be used by Alex in this aspect. The various tactics which he deliberately thought of became the best source of information for Alex to teach and demonstrate the characteristics and tactical skills of the Dali Kingdom. Under Vandal 'selfless' dedication and Alex's theories, almost all the soldiers who participated in the battle understood everything about the enemies.
"Miss Selena… Miss Selena?"
"Hmm… hmm?! Ah! S-Sir Overlord, is anything the matter?"
Selena nodded and responded while dozing off. Then, she lifted her head abruptly and blushed embarrassed at the sight of Alex. She hurriedly tidied her hair.
"You must be exhausted. Go and get some rest."
"Yes, thank you, Sir Overlord. I was just…"
"Oh-no, Selena, stop trying so hard. Everyone can see that you can't hang on any longer."
At this moment, Fred turned around the corner. His armor was also stained with filthy blood. Even though he had been through a rough night, he appeared cheerful. He scrutinized his fiancée while she puckered her brows slightly and rolled her eyes.
"No one will treat you as a mute even if you don't speak, Fred. Come to think of it… those Undead Creatures are so stubborn. We've struck them off several times but…"
"They're not stubborn. They're just brainless, Miss Serena."
Alex shrugged and spread his arms apart.
"Alright, I suggest you take a shower and have a rest. After all, we're gonna have a busy night. This will help you perform better in the incoming fight, we are not robot after all.''
''What is a robot?" Selena asked curiously, Fred was curious as well, it was a word they had never heard before.
Alex facepalmed inwardly, he had forgotten that things like robot did not exist here despite being an highly technology advanced world.
''Nothing, I mean puppet.'' Alex corrected himself, using a more fitting term.
''Ah I see. You're right I'll go.'' Selena accepted his order.
In order to maintain morale, Alex builtthree hot springs (men and women were separated, of course) in the fortress, campsite, and Mage Tower. The hot springs were supplied with the underground spring water from the nearby mountains, which allowed the bloodied soldiers to relax themselves. Apart from the hot springs, he also hired many experienced chefs to cook delicious meals for the soldiers, and the results were great. But this was all because they were fighting from the fortress. If they were in the wild and facing the Undead Army, perhaps they would have crumbled much earlier on.
Selena revealed an obvious, glad expression. Every woman fancied being beautiful, especially a well brought-up, young lady like her. She almost fainted every time the violent battles ended, since her robe was smeared with blood and the rotten stench from corpses assailed her nostrils. If it wasn't for the hot spring in the Mage Tower for her to clean her fatigue away, she didn't know how much longer she could tolerate.
Selena disappeared and Fred followed soon.
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