Chapter 401 Incoming Storm

Chapter 401 Incoming Storm　　"In my opinion, we should go out and fight them frontally as we did in the past war." added Duke Crestflare.

The Nergal kingdom launched many attempts to break through the Windshire Fort in the past. Some of their attempts were successful, but later they got pushed back with the help of King Leon and other Duke/Duchess.

In all their successful attempts, the Heart Kingdom always decided to stay defensive on their wall. Since then, the Heart kingdom has always faced the Nergal kingdom's army frontally rather than hide behind their wall.

The Fortress wall may be tall, have a height advantage, and be equipped with hundreds the defensive runes. But, they are only helpful during the beginning of the siege. As the battle progresses, they will lose their wall advantage more.

Moreover, it will only take one successful large-scale spell to damage their force as their force is more concentrated inside the Fortress. Combining the attack from the high-grade combatant who could ignore their wall and height advantage forced the Heart kingdom to fight frontally.

However, fighting frontally will also produce more casualties than fighting on the wall. In the past, thousands of Heart kingdom soldiers died in the Humnia Grassland as they decided to fight frontally against the Nergal's army.

"We didn't have seventh-grade combatants on our side back then. But, now we have Sir Jade, who could easily help any weak point during the siege battle. Moreover, everyone knows fighting frontally will only create more casualties." argued Duchess Sunarm.

"We will only become sitting ducks from the enemy's spells if we fight within our wall." argued Duke Crestfallen.

Then, the Duchess and Duke begin to argue while a few fifth-grade nobles from both factions also occasionally give their input. After a while, they reach a stalemate without reaching any conclusion.

At some point, the Duchess's idea is better since Windshire Fort's defense and the wall are better by many times compared to the past. With the help of Jade, they will not worry about the Nergal kingdom's attack.

However, the enemy has fifteen fifth-grade combatants, which means fifteen people can bypass all their defensive mechanisms and wall advantage to damage their army directly.

If one of these fifteen people launched a single large-scale attack, their casualties would reach sky-high. On the other hand, fighting frontally could also cause enormous losses as the battlefield is full of uncertainty.

As they reach a stalemate, they look at Jade, waiting for his verdict. Jade didn't say anything and only smiled.

"Rather than choose which one, why not go for both of them." said Jade.

"Going for both frontal and defensive fight?!!" said Duke Crestflare.

"Could you elaborate more on us, Sir?" asked Duchess Sunarm while trying not to offend Jade.

Jade may not have an official nobility title, but their king emphasizes that he has the same rank as King Leon. Whatever Jade decides is the same as King Leon's verdict. Rather than explain, Jade looked at one person in the room.

"Jane, could you explain our Sur village's usual defensive tactic to them." said Jade.

"Alright, Father." said Jane.

Of all Jade's children, some of them were able to make a name for themself inside the Heart kingdom during this past year. Two of them are Jane and Isvel. In the upcoming battle, Jane is appointed as the leader of Sur knights while Isvel is their vice-leader.

Despite their lack of noble titles, no one dares to underestimate them since they often fight on par against people above their grade. Soon, Jane decides to explain Sur Village's defensive tactic, which surprises everyone.

After another hour of suggestion and argument, they finally decide to adopt the Sur Village's defensive strategy with some improvisation.

"Alright, then I will leave this to Duke Quinn." said Jade as he concluded the meeting.

The hidden Duke didn't reply, only nodding his head. Same as Duchess Amberblaze, Duke Pawlin Quinn is one of the hidden Duke/Duchess of the Heart Kingdom. Although Duke Quinn does not often appear in public, he is still an actual sixth-grade combatant.

After that, everyone begins to move into their position and do their task. In the meantime, Jade stood at the Windshire's wall while looking at the sky, which was getting darker despite it being daytime.

"Hmm… I have a bad feeling about this." said Jade.

Everyone also noticed the dark cloudy sky but didn't pay too much attention to it since it is normal to have storms occur in this part of the area. However, this weather will also affect their battle. 

For a high-grade combatant, the storm is only slightly hindered and annoys them. However, it will affect the lower grade combat capability, especially those who use fire elemental. During rainy and stormy weather, it is normal for fire elemental attacks to be weakened.

Only the fifth-grade and fourth-grade combatants with excellent proficiency in fire elemental were able to ignore this suppression. A few hours passed and everyone finally could see the Nergal's large army from the Windshire's wall.

Nergal's army is divided into many groups and scattered across the Humnia Grassland. This is to prevent their army from getting annihilated by a large-scale attack. As the wind blew harder and the sky became darker, Nergal's army began preparing for the siege attack.

"Hoo.. It seems they decide to hide behind their wall." said Allan Oceanpunch, Duke of the Nergal kingdom.

"Hmph… They have become too arrogant since they have another seventh-grade combatant." said Beleite Rainscar, Duchess of the Nergal kingdom.

"Still, we need to be careful. We don't know what kind of person this Jade is." said Guile Coldgust, Duke of the Nergal kingdom.

"You worry too much, old man. With this kind of weather, we practically win this war. Isn't that right, Will?" said Jeff Wargrip, Duke of the Nergal kingdom.

"Seventh-grade combatant is different from us. I am not sure my skills will work on him." replied William Thunderstride, Hidden duke of the Nergal kingdom.

These five people are sixth-grade combatants that lead the Nergal's main force. The Nergal kingdom has more or less the same strength in terms of military personnel. 

If Jade and Sur villagers do not join the Heart kingdom, their strength will remain the same for another dozen years. Still, despite their desperate and cornered situation, Nergal couldn't launch an all-out attack since they also had large territory to protect.

Their King and some other high-grade combatants are busy guarding their territory. Hence, their current army is the maximum force they could afford without affecting kingdom stability too much. At first, King Andvari decided to fight and hold Jade by himself. 

However, the seventh-grade combatants' battle was too destructive and could destroy both armies. There is nothing more dangerous than being near two seventh-grade combatants fighting each other.

The current Humnia Grassland turned into a windy area is one of the areas where King Leon and King Andvari fought a dozen years ago. Before turning into Grassland, Humnia is actually a huge lush forest.

At that time, the two kings are fighting all-out to kill each other, which causes massive damage to the surrounding.

Nergal kingdom didn't know anything about Jade's prowess, but they thought he should have the power to change the surrounding terrain like the other seventh-grade combatant. Moreover, they also don't want hordes of monsters inside the Dark Forest attracted to this battle.

During the fight between King Leon and King Andvari, which only happens for a few hours, they attract hordes of monsters from the deep of Black Forest. Seventh-grade combatant mana is very pure and dense.

The clashing of these two combatants for a certain period will create a strange phenomenon called Mana Turbulence. Normally, this phenomenon only creates some sort of storm in the surrounding area.

But, since King Leon and King Andvari are going all-out for hours, they create extraordinary Mana Turbulence. The mana in the surrounding area is so thick that it starts to liquefy and generates a lot of pure mana liquid.

This liquified mana is also harmless to other combatants and people. However, it is different for monsters. A single drop of liquid mana could attract monsters thousands of kilometers away.

This liquid mana is even more effective than the best monster gathering artifact. Fortunately, mana liquid easily evaporates into nature before monsters keep attracting towards it.

Still, the two kings accidentally produce some liquid mana, making it harder to dissipate into nature. The two kings decide to stop fighting after they attract a few fifth-grade monsters and hordes of monsters.

Since then, King Leon and King Andvari didn't dare to go all-out for a long time in this area. Whenever two of them appear, they will make a temporary truce and negotiate.

Since they couldn't stop this war and didn't want to deal with the monster horde, they couldn't let King Andvari fight Jade. On the contrary, with the teamwork of a few sixth-grade combatants, they may be able to contain and hold Jade while their army attacks Windshire Fort.

There may be a massive difference in strength between sixth and seventh-grade combatants. But, this difference could be closed by teamwork. Moreover, group work is better than individual work when it comes to containment.