Chapter 153: Aftermath

Chapter 153: Aftermath

Ordias walked into the teleportation array hall and he grimaced at what he saw. Rosa was right next to him and she let out an appreciative whistle at the carnage before them. The teleportation array hall was filled with special magical platforms that allowed troops and other heavy equipment to be teleported to and from the Ziggurat. This allowed Ordias to conduct lightning strikes on certain areas of the battlefield within a certain range of the Ziggurat. There were limitations of course, for instance, a magic barrier would prevent teleportation which was why Ordias didn’t teleport his soldiers directly into the fortress.

Yes the fortress didn’t have the barrier up at the start of the battle but with the Hive prowling about he didn’t want to risk his soldiers being cut off. The last thing he wanted was to send his elite soldiers on a one way suicide mission for no reasion. The barrier was never the problem, Ordias could just sit outside the fortress for half a year and by then the barrier would go down due to lack of power.

The main problem has always been the Hive, the Averlon Imperial Army was also an unknown quantity. The intelligence report indicates that the Imperial Army was effectively designed to fight alongside the Hive. This type of military organization has never been seen before so Ordias cannot reliably predict the strength of this army.

However, Ordias knew he couldn’t win and he was just trying to show he was a worthy servant. In his mind Ordias knew that all that came before him had fallen in opposition to the Great Beast. His plan was to be the top scorer on the Great Beast assessments.

The scene before him was unfortunately a rather clear mark deduction. His teleportation array was in ruins, they could be repaired but they won’t be operational for a few months at least. The siege towers that were teleported were carrying bombs. So he had just teleported bombs right into the heart of his command base. The Great Beast has in a single stroke disabled half his teleportation capabilities.

Ordias despite being dealt a rather humiliating blow, was rather impressed. An extremely simple tactic but undeniably effective. The blast had ignited all the munitions stored in this room. There wasn’t that much munitions in this place but there was enough to severely damage the teleportation arrays. Ordias could see a piece of the teleportation platform had blown clean off and beheaded one of his blood knights in the distance.

“The Great Beast is cunning.” Rosa said as she marvelled at the destruction around her.

“He fights with humanoid cunning and he also has a sense of humor.” Ordias replied dryly as he surveyed his men trying their best to put out the fires.

“Yes he is mocking us. I can almost hear the words, stop wasting my time, in the crackling flames.” Rosa said.

“The scouts just reported in, the Imperial Army will be arriving soon. With the Great Beasts attack today’s assault has stalled. I will be ordering the retreat to prepare for the next clash.” Ordias said and Rosa nodded.

“Well the first test could have gone better but I think we still have a chance. Or at least I still do...” Rosa said as she turned to give Ordias a wicked smile.

“Challenging a Hive to a contest of who has the larger monster is not exactly what I would call wise.” Ordias countered with a raised brow.

“Oh it’s not who has the largest monster Ordias, it’s who has the most interesting one. I am sure my creativity in the arts of Necromancy would be sure to attract his attention.” Rosa replied.

“Of that I have no doubt, but you do understand that if that is all you have to offer he can just stuff you in some facility in the wilderness, yes? If you want real power you need to be able to wield it effectively. Afterall he could just ask you to make it and ask me to command it. I see no issue with that arrangement.” Ordias replied and Rosa narrowed her eyes in response.

“I would not be so sure of your tactical acumen. After all this is quite the sight to behold.” Rosa said as she turned to face the chaos in front of them.

Just as Ordias was about to reply he received a transmission and it simply stated that he should move to the observation deck. Ordias paused and he turned to look at Rosa who judging by the look on her face received the same message.

Many soldiers stand guard over the mounts of festering flesh since the residual necromantic energies have a tendency to spontaneously reanimate random corpses. Arias could see the archers were all nervously scanning the pile of corpses. If there weren’t so many bodies then no one would actually pile the bodies like this. However, with tens of thousands of corpses here, there was no real alternative other than piling them together and burning them.

Arias continued to follow his soldiers and he noticed the hollow eyed looks of most of the surrounding Zariman soldiers. Most of them were frantically removing the bodies of their own dead since they didn’t want their comrades bodies to accidentally reanimate.

Eventually they spotted a haggard looking Lizardkin who was dressed like a general. Arias’s commander is a Knight Enchanter Captain named Alexia. She was a rather stern woman but she was known for her flexible mind, which was probably why she was put in command of a unit such as the one he was in.

“You must be Count Uxtual, I see you did good work here today.” Captain Alexia said as she offered the Count her hand. He gratefully took her hand with a nod.

“Thank you for coming so quickly, we expect there could possibly be a night attack. Thanks to the hive we repelled the first wave but I have no doubt that the Vampires will attack us when we are spent and exhausted.” Count Uxtual replied wearily.

“How are your losses?” Captain Alexia asked.

“Worse than I had hoped, better than it could have been. About fifteen thousand casualties, six thousand dead.” Count Uxtual replied with a sigh.

“I see, then I assume your healers are spent?” Captain Alexia asked and Count Uxtual replied with a grim nod.

“Those siege towers caused a lot of damage all along the wall. The Blood Knight Signifiers managed to get a few spells off on the walls, took out entire platoons at a time with those spells. Luckily for us your riders managed to stem the tide. However, when the zombies got over the wall it was absolute chaos, we lost a lot of our conscripts in that mad melee.” Count Uxtual said.

“Very well, my healers will assist yours, show them to the infirmary. I will have my mages set up defensive wards in the event of a night attack. Also my men will take tonight's watch, I think all of you have earned some rest.” Captain Alexia said and Count Uxtual nodded gratefully.

“I will still post some of my men on watch tonight. They know this fortress better, we all must make sacrifices for victory.” Count Uxtual said with another sigh.

“Very well... night has just fallen so I suggest we get the wards and sentries in place...” Captain Alexa began but then Arias heard this great horn being blown on the wall. He turned to see magic lights being shined up into the clear sky and he saw the tell tale shadows of flyers rapidly approaching.

“FLYERS INCOMING!” Arias heard one of the Zariman soldiers shout in panic.

With that Arias saw Captain Alexa’s gaze harden.

So much for the night watch

All troops prepare for combat!