587 Honey trap (part 2).
The main reason Sealord Granick was against marching his troops straight to Willowbrook was the Whispering Gorge on the path between the two cities.
Deep within the heart of the Whispering Gorge lay the perfect setting for an ambush. The treacherous terrain, nestled between towering cliffs and dense forests, presented a formidable challenge to any army attempting to march toward either of the cities.
The gorge featured narrow, winding passages flanked by towering cliffs on both sides. At its base was a dense forest, where thick canopies of ancient trees created shadows that obscured vision; thus providing ample opportunities for the ambushing force to remain hidden until the last moment.
Scattered throughout the gorge were elevated plateaus that offered commanding views of the entire area, and to make matters worse; due to the steep cliffs and the river in the gorge, the gorge was often shrouded in early morning mist and fog, reducing visibility for the approaching army and creating an eerie, unsettling atmosphere.
There was no better place to stage an ambush on the Tigeria Empire's forces. The chance was too good to pass on.
On hearing the news that Coastville was sending troops to Willowbrook from the loyalists and spies stationed in and out of the city. The new commanding officer of the city decided to send out 40% of the city's forces to lay ambush on the approaching enemies.
This way, they would have enough power to deal a devastating blow to Tigeria's forces, and in case something was to go wrong, they would still have enough to defend the city while waiting for backup.
On foot, it would take 5 days before the troops of Tigeria got to the gorge, while it would only take 2 and a half days for the forces of Willowbrook to get there. This gave them more than enough time to set up the ambush.
The commanding officer of Willowbrook had a lot of confidence in this plan since the long-distance array required a second terminal at Willowbrook before it could function. Also, even if they were able to pass the Whispering Gorge unscathed, the city cannons would take them down before they got to a dangerous distance.
Unbeknownst to him, that was exactly Sealord Granick's intention.
After two days of waiting in the cave, the 6 members of the League decided it was time to act.
"By now they should already be setting up traps for their ambush." Seraphina said as she rose up from her meditative pose. With a large number of troops and high-level fighters leaving the city, the number of troops that would try to stop them would be greatly reduced.
They made their way out of the cave with the array masters closely behind them.
With the help of wind tunnels from Seraphina, the group quickly transversed through the forest and arrived at the outskirts of the sensory formation.
Once she was sure that they hadn't been spotted by any of the patrols, Seraphina put on the black fang teleportation artefact and activated it.
The moment they stepped into the sensory formation, their location would be instantly revealed and the cannons would let loose on them. So the best thing was to warp directly to the marked point and start their defence.
Having activated the artefact, Seraphina said as she held hands with the rest. "Get ready."
...
Inside the command centre of Willowbrook, the Ordained Angel assigned to the city as well as other war generals were watching live footage of what was going on in the Whispering Gorge.
They were busy instructing the soldiers on the most effective positions for traps when the sensory formation detected enemies not too far outside the wall.
With a deep frown, the commander immediately switched the footage to that of members of the League and the array masters outside the wall.
Without even giving an order, the cannons in that area of the wall let loose on the intruders, but the next series of events that took place caused his frown to deepen even more.
Seraphina had taken out a war barrier device in the form of a tripod stone platform that shot out a beam from the top, producing an energy dome to protect the team. This was a barrier used to protect siege weapons from the fire of the enemy canons; it allowed spells from the inside to cross but kept out those from the outside. However, this was an upgraded version with better functions.
When the first set of 'death rays' had crashed on the barrier, instead of seeing human remains scattered all around the ground, the forces of the Synder empire saw the energy attacks merging with the barrier before being discharged from the top as an energy pillar.
The war commander saw this and was a little bit surprised since he knew magic devices like this would always have a weakness. However, his surprise soon changed to panic as he saw the array masters drawing an array.
Instantly, he knew exactly what they were doing. n(.o/-v.-e/-L-(b/(1--n
"Long-distance array!" The commander quickly turned to his generals and said. "Stop them from completing the array at all costs!"
He immediately flew out of the city palace and dashed toward the members of the League.
"How long will it take?" Dimitri asked as he felt different energy signatures flying toward them.
"30 minutes max." The lead array master answered without taking his eyes off the work.
"May the heavens welcome these lost souls." Specter Dimitri prayed as he put his hand in his big black hooded robe and took out a silver-chained meteor hammer with green soul flames burning at the weights.
"Amen!" Lucius let out a crazed laughter as he equipped his glove and placed his hands on the ground.
In less than a minute, the commander had left the city with six of his generals who were peak demigods. At the same time, the cannons had stopped firing at the members of the League. Since they were not effective, it was best to stop and prevent friendly fire.