Chapter 31：Finem temporibus

Theodore Uldos Guiltfort glanced around the open hills that surrounded the Citadel of Briegkhoven. The last thing standing between the Paniards and the core cities of Drussia; the cities that constituted the main industrial and economical powerhouses of the Drussian Union when excluding the Dunnwal provinces to the south.

Should the citadel fall, the Paniards will be free to march into the heartland of Drussia.

The Citadel of Briegkhoven is a massive stone fort built literally on top of the Briegkhoven dam which regulated the waters of the Crystalwater River.

Not only did the citadel restrict access into the core cities of Drussia by acting as the gateway to the only bridge that allowed passage over the river but it also regulated the many cargo ships passing by too.

None may enter into the heartland of Drussia from the west without first going through the citadel.

As such, if the Paniards wanted to complete their conquest of Drussia, they would naturally first need to conquer the citadel.

However, one would have to be insane to believe that the Drussians wouldn't fight to the last man before they let the Paniards into the heart of their beloved homeland.

Although Theodore knew that it was fruitless to fight against such an overwhelming enemy, he was at least resolved to give them as much difficulty as possible before they can lay claim to Drussia.

"How many men do we have?"

Theodore questioned his chief knight again as he overlooked the hills. Although he already knew the sad answer, he still felt the impulse to ask out of the sheer hope that a miracle occurred while he wasn't aware.

As he expected, his hope would be crushed.

"Roughly 5000 my lord."

Theodore couldn't help bitterly clicking his tongue after he heard the same pathetic number again.

That 5000 men that made up his army composed of roughly 3000 Guiltforts, 1500 reinforcements from the Liltcomb family and the remaining 500 were composed of the remnants of Guzzlow family.

The battle at the Cunnal Plains cost the Guiltforts the entirety of their light cavalry force as well as a large majority of their infantry. It would take years until the Guiltforts trained a new batch of men-at-arms and cavalrymen to supplement their losses.

Although Theodore knew that he could have instead levied peasants to temporarily reinforce his army, in truth this course of actions was ultimately worthless.

Although the Guiltfort provinces where rich in gem and iron mines they lacked fertile lands when compared to the other major families. Instead they usually relied on the Dunnwals and Liltcombs to supplement their shortcomings in food in exchange for luxuries and weaponry.

As such, the Guiltforts couldn't afford to levy their peasants if they want to sustain any form of prolonged war. Instead it was better to cultivate a more professional but more expensive army.

If Theodore were to levy peasants now, he would risk his food stocks which were already running on fumes.

The Orburns on the other hand were nowhere near the citadel.

The cowards retreated to their capital city of Kliensburg to live out their lives to the fullest before the Paniards arrive.

However, the Guzzlows had it the worst.

After all, what could be worse than being completely annihilated?

Ever since the battle at the plains, the Guzzlows have lost a majority of their nobility, leaving all of their provinces to be absorbed into the Guiltforts or the Orburns territories. The Guzzlow family itself was deemed legally deceased due to the lack of a male heir to inherit the family.

"So this is how it ends is it?"

Theodore's thoughts were soon broken by his own son, Theon Urros Guiltfort. Dressed in the same armour as his father, Theon gazed around the hills as he spoke.

"How long do you think we'll last?"

"If my predictions are correct, we should last around a day... maybe a whole week if we're lucky."

A look of confusion formed on Theon's face as he questioned his father.

"Why do I get the feeling that you are heavily downplaying our forces? We may be outnumbered two to one but this this is still the Citadel of Briegkhoven."

Theodore gazed at his son when he responded.

"Because if the scout reports are correct, then the Paniards should be bringing along 15 cannons. Five of these cannons are not like the light field artillery we encountered at the plains but are instead heavy cannons... cannons purpose built to bring down forts like these."

Theodore sighed as he continued to explain his predictions.

"The odds are that they are planning to use those cannons to bring down the citadel's walls before rushing in themselves."

Theon sighed when he heard his father's explanation.

"So you're guessing that they will whittle away at our walls with the heavy cannons until a breach is formed?"

"Yes I am."

Theodore gazed around the walls as he said this.

"That's why apart from the patrols, we're going to leave the walls lightly manned. The only places we truly have to worry about are the seven towers. Can you take a guess why?"

Theon nodded his head when responding.

"Each tower is armed with a light cannon. Although they aren't as advanced as Panish cannons, their position on the high ground should be more than enough to even out the playing field."

"Or at least that's the plan."

The chief knight spoke up the moment he was given the opportunity.

"My Lords... Are you sure that you don't want to take refuge in the Citadel's keep? There should be enough supplies in there to last-"

"A few days? A few months? Die now, die later what does it matter? The moment the Paniards take control of the Citadel's bailey is the same moment that Drussia is lost. I will at least have the dignity to die fighting!"

Before Theon or the chief knight could say anything, Theodore already stormed off, leaving the them two of them in silence.

...

It turned out that his father's prediction was correct.

A month later, the first thing Theon saw when he walked up the Citadel's walls were the orange banners of the Panish Empire.

How long was it?

That Theon had to endure hell?

Every waking minute, another cannonball would quake the citadel's walls.

All the while, the Drussians were completely helpless to do anything about it.

The Paniard's heavy cannons outranged the Drussian cannons, leaving the Drussians without any options for a counterattack.

Although the long range naturally decreased the accuracy of the heavy cannons, it also brought with it another terrifying threat.

And that was how unpredictable the cannons became.

Rather than focusing their fire on a single section of the citadel's walls, the cannonballs instead crashed at random targets.

The only thing that they had in common was that they landed vaguely around the wall.

Despite this, the Drussians could only try their best to endure the storm.

Hours passed within a blink of an eye.

As Theon rushed around the walls to maintain order, he had to continually suffer through the hellish rainfall.

Eventually the moment that everyone was waiting for arrived.

The citadel's walls were breached.

It was at the south-western section of the citadel, between the 4th and 5th towers did the walls finally collapse.

Although Theon wanted to give the Paniards a taste of his sharp steel, he was surprised by his father's orders.

Instead he was to remain at the wall while his father and his chief knight along with roughly 4000 men went to reinforce the breached walls.

All Theon could do was stand atop the walls as he watched the Paniards take formations to storm the citadel. With a voice full of fury, Theon gave orders to the men on the wall.

"Prepare the cannons! Pay them back for the hell that they gave us!"

As the Paniards moved to enter the citadel they soon entered into the range of the Drussian cannons, albeit only four of the seven cannons.

Nevertheless, this was still enough to give Theon satisfaction.

"Give the order! Tell the cannons to fire at their own will!"

Barely able to contain his excitement, Theon quickly gave the order for the cannons to fire.

However, this moment of catharsis only lasted for a short moment.

For Theon saw another army in the horizon.

An army donning purple uniforms and carrying violet banners.

"Reinforcements?.. But on whose side?"

Theon quickly shook his head to clear his doubts as he quickly decided on his next course of actions.

"Father probably can't see this army from his position... he most be informed."

Within a few short moments, Theon quickly bursted into a sprint as he rushed to inform his father, ignoring his confused men as he shoved them out of the way.

However, as he made his way down the stairs, Theon's ears were subjected to an ear-piercing whistle.

An ear-piercing whistle that was soon followed by a loud crash before Theon's sight was covered with overwhelming darkness.

"..."

After what felt like hours, the darkness soon started to fade away.

"..."

As the darkness faded away, Theon groaned as he forced his eyes open.

Although his vision was still hazy he was still able to get a grasp of his surroundings.

He quickly understood that his body was buried beneath a pile of rubble, probably the remains of the wall section that collapsed on top of him.

However, to his surprise he also saw this oddly shaped figure in the distance coming closer to him.

As Theon's sight gradually returned to him, he was better able to decipher the figure. He soon discovered that the figure was a girl, who seemed to be roughly 19 years old.

She had long silky silver hair and a pair of beautiful violet eyes that matched her purple-violet clothing. Soon enough, she was just a couple feet away from Theon's body.

"Oh my... "

With a look of concern on her face, the girl rushed over to Theon's side, immediately questioning his wellbeing.

"What happened to you? Why hasn't anyone helped you yet?"

Somehow Theon felt his heart warm up after hearing her voice. After a short moment, he forced his mouth to answer her question.

"I was alone when I was hit by a cannon... Now please... can you please help?.."

However, it seemed that the silver-haired girl ignored Theon's pleas for help as she instead stood up, casting her shadow over Theon. The look of concern on her face was quickly replaced by a cold smile.

"Good... I'll have to thank you for that..."

Of course, Theon was confused by the girl's response.

"Thank me? Thank me for what?"

The girl moved to pick up a large piece of rubble that was lying around as she answered his question. As she spoke, the cold smile on her face was still ever-present.

"Thank you for making my job a lot easier."