Although the protective barrier encircling the Floor 21 Palace initially held strong against the coward army's assault, providing a glimmer of hope to the Olympian soldiers manning the walls, this hope was short-lived.
Although the Olympian defenders believed that they could perhaps withstand this relentless barrage of long ranged attacks by the coward armies' siege weapons thanks to the strength of their powerful protective barrier that was set up by the underlings of Lord Escanor himself, this notion was quickly debunked as the Cowards rolled out their truly powerful siege weapons.
Unfortunately for the Olympians, the Arch-Ballistae and the Inferno tower which were Earth-Shattering weapons by themselves were not all that the cowards had, as they also had the Catapult of Shadows, the Thunder Cannons and the Earth-Shaking Trebuchet to deploy.
The Catapult of Shadows especially was a fearsome machine that launched shadowy projectiles, which looked like dark orbs crashing into enemy lines, with these orbs exploding into a deadly spell upon impact.
As Zane gave his army the command to unleash these orbs, the entire golden barrier protecting the floor21 palace began faltering visibly, its glow darkening as the barrier seemed to grow weaker and weaker with each subsequent impact.
Then came the Thunder Cannon, a massive artillery piece that fired bolts of lightning towards the desired target.
Under Zane's command, the coward's army directed these electrified blasts towards a particular weak point within the defensive barrier, which overlapped with the same spot where the inferno tower was attacking, as under the dual assault of lightning and flames, the golden barrier, which was already showing signs of cracking and breaking, degraded even further as the cracks widened and the barriers integrity seemed to be compromised.
*Crack*
*Crack*
*Crash*
The Cowards Army cheered as the barrier began to show signs of serious weakening.
The cracks forming in the outer structure became larger and larger with every passing second as it looked like the barrier could collapse any second now.
"Prepare to fire our strongest weapon. It's time to decimate the enemy barrier–" Zane commanded, as the coward's army prepared the final weapon, the Earthshaker Trebuchet, which hurled enormous boulders coated with a highly corrosive substance towards enemy targets.
*Swoosh*
*Swoosh*
Upon Zane's command, these massive boulders were unleashed towards the weakest spot on the enemy barrier, as when these boulders struck the barrier, they clung to its surface with the corrosive substance eating away at the magical protection.
Bit by bit, the barrier's resilience was whittled down as with a final, concerted effort from all the siege weapons, the barrier shattered.
*CRASHH*
*CRACKLE*
From the second that Perseus saw the massive siege weapons prepared by the coward's army, he knew that the palace's defenses stood no chance, which was why he ordered for the consolidation and evacuation of all critical assets before the war ever began.
If he wanted to, he could have asked his troops to abandon their post. To save their lives and abandon their positions in what was a useless fight, however, he did not do so.
He let the troops believe that the barrier formation created outside the palace would hold-on against the enemy siege weapons and that they must not abandon their positions.
This led to hundreds of thousands of soldiers dying under his watch, however, his heart did not bleed for the men dying under his watch, even slightly.
"Information head.... What is the report from the underground prison? Has Rocky been captured already or not?
I don't wish to dally around here at the palace a second longer than what I absolutely must.
If Rocky has been captured then I wish to retreat immediately" Perseus said, as he pressured his information head to give him news on Rocky, however, the information head had nothing but bad news to present.
"My Lord, unfortunately, it seems like the ambush we had prepared for Rocky has failed miserably.
Not only has he managed to kill all our top experts that we sent to capture him, but also seems to have managed to capture Sophia and hold her hostage–" the information head reported, as listening to his report, Perseus immediately lost his cool.
"Captured? What do you mean captured?
That bitch had one job! ONE JOB TO SAVE MY LIFE AND SHE FAILED THAT TOO!
WHAT GOOD IS MY ARMY?
WHAT GOOD IS ALL MY PLANNING, IF ALL MY UNDERLINGS ARE INCOMPETENT AND MY SISTER IS A USELESS HOE" Perseus said, losing his calm entirely as he blamed Sophia for the failure of his plan.
The information head shuddered in Perseus's presence, as he had never seen Perseus as angry as he appeared today, however, he gulped and continued with the report, since he was unsure what would happen to him if he did not.
"According to reports, Rocky is trying to re-enter the prison grounds through level one alongside a bunch of Elite soldiers as their goal to save Riva seems to be unchanged.
If we play our cards right, we can perhaps still capture Rocky.... However, with the enemy holding Sophia hostage, there will be some tough negotiations taking place on both sides" the information head reported as Perseus unsheathed his sword in absolute fury.
"Father always said that if you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself.... And he was right.
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I was a fool to trust my underlings and Sophia when I should have been doing the job myself.
Very well.... Better late than never" Perseus mumbled as he jumped out of his office window and seemed to head towards the underground prison entrance in a hurry, while the rest of the palace was being bombarded by enemy siege weapons.