The streets of Yani City were abandoned for the city was under siege. The usual hustle and bustle of the markets, the shouting and cursing from the arena and the footsteps of civilians were now like ghosts of memories past. No one would have accepted that this was a previously active peak C-class city. Repeated attacks from previous years had taught them many a painful lesson, especially when it came to evacuation procedures. The entire city had been safely evacuated to a large underground bunker by the Dwight family members.
As the de facto leaders of the city, they had the ability to mobilise all city resources under them. The troops provided by the Yorks made sure the civilians followed the orders and kept the peace while the Cole provided provisions. The large bunker was under the stewardship of the Oxlade family.
At an intersection, in one of the richest districts in the city, an area considered just outside the Dwight family compound, stood a relaxed Guy, looking at the sky. He seemed as if was alone on these empty streets, but things were not quite what they seemed.
Swoosh!
A silhouette flashed beneath his feet.
"Sir, the Dwight compound is 70 per cent secure! Tino and her sisters have managed to prevent those on the frontlines from discovering anything! Within an hour, we should be through clearing out the remnants!"
Guy rubbed his short blonde hair and smiled. Everything was going according to Bastian's plan. Each of the war council members had been given specific orders to follow by Bastian, and Guy had his. He set his eyes toward the direction of the Dwight compound.
'As expected of Tino. We are conducting a slaughter, there should be smoke plumes and sounds of battle all around us but her sisters have set up an airtight bewilderment formation...'
The civilians had been evacuated, but there were things within the compound that could not be moved, not to mention that the shifty Cole family was pointing at the backs of the three aristocratic families.
Hence All three had to leave behind guards while they send a combined punitive force to attack the Cole family compound. Guy was Bastian's spear, his duty was to wipe out the Clan headquarters and regroup with General Moto.
'That old codger looks quite experienced. This should be an amusing battle.'
Guy had quite the intuition. He looked down and saw a rather pensive expression on his subordinate. His smile broadened as he said, "You think we attacked the wrong compound first didn't you?"
The subordinate was embarrassed, but Guy did allow for light conversation and inquisitiveness. Hence the subordinate spoke his thoughts.
"Milord, The York forces are more than twice that of the other families, since they are the greatest threat, why not take them out first? Why are we making the Dwights and Oxlades our initial targets?"
The Dwight family were leaders mainly due to Bhasera's martial might, but in terms of numbers of Teachers and Scholars, being the military force of the city, the Yorks were nothing to scoff at.
Guy ruffled his hair and crossed his arms, " Under normal circumstances what you have said makes sense, but this situation is different. You are thinking two steps ahead, but it seems Bastian is thinking ten, and he has quite the confidence in his gambit. How long until the front lines notice something is up and they send reinforcements?"
"Reporting to Milord! We estimate that reinforcements will only arrive half an hour at best. What are your orders, Milord?"
Guy looked toward the northwest direction and said, "Good. Tino and most of her sisters should be focused on isolating the York Compound from the world. Until we are done we won't get interrupted by them. You are young elites from The Great Thunder Tiger Empire. This is a small city in the middle of nowhere! I expect no casualties! I'm going to visit the second target. Once I'm done, we'll proceed to the third target together."
"Yes, Milord!"
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
The warrior disappeared, but in his place was someone else. She was covered in a pure white cloth that wrapped around her body. Only her eyes were visible but that did not prevent her curvaceous body from bombarding Guy's vision.
"Mirage, reporting to Lord Guy." She spoke telepathically straight into Guy's mind, but he was already used to it. She was one of Tino's most trusted lieutenants and was a telepathy specialist. Each group leader was assigned one such person near them to allow for smooth communication.
Tino and her sisters were masters of many skills required for espionage and the like. Mirage was especially good at wiping out her presence. She was visible in all white, but Guy was sure that he would lose track of her existence if he did not concentrate.
'The Falsified Daughters are truly frightening.'
"As planned, the Blind Disaster has provided support to the east wall. Onismo initially used the wall to test Kit and his men but they held on till required. Thunderbirds and Rhinoceros behemoths caused them issues but Kenshin came in time."
"Bastian was right, if we offered to take on an extra wall they would completely abandon us, do these idiots not care about their own city?"
"Lord, I believe that Onismo would have sent his personal guard after the mercenaries were wiped out. We caught him off guard with our request to take the east wall along with our south wall burden. In his mind, we should have kept the mercenaries, or at least a large part, on the south wall. The appearance of Vermalaen and the troops she is leading made him pensive. I have shadowed him longer than any of my sisters, so I am confident in my judgement."
Guy looked at the young lady and nodded in approval. She was smart and she was indeed quite reliable.
"It seems this Onismo thinks quite highly of his guard. No matter. This is good. I wasn't happy about adding an extra wall to babysit, but this can be used to our advantage, for example, now. Try to keep up!"
Guy crouched and gathered power in his body. A swirl of world energy gathered around the young warrior. Killing intent started to ooze out of his eyes and he gazed toward the northwestern horizon. Kinetic momentum stacked itself around him, causing the housing around him to start cracking.
Boom!
Guy laughed and leapt into the skies. His jump left a crater and a baffled Mirage in its wake. Mirage chuckled to herself and followed suit, but in a more silent and refined way, one more suited to her. If there was a cultivator with the ability to even notice her existence, one would notice her body disappear in parts, like a mirage in the desert.
...
The South Wall was calm, but not because it lacked participants. On the contrary, it was the most populated of the walls. The wall faced the docks and the ocean, which was full of aquatic daemons as far as the eye could see. Thousands upon thousands of seal-like creatures with razor-sharp teeth, showed their aggression with low-intoned growls every time they came up for air.
"Razor seals. This is going to be a problem."
Vermaelen, fully garbled in fiery red armour and a crimson cap, looked on at the sea of grey that thirsted for her blood and the blood of others.
Thousands of soldiers stood right in front of the wall and the gate, ready to meet the beasts should they make the mistake of wandering on land. Others filled the gap between the port and the wall. The port was half a kilometre from the entrance to the city on the wall. Most of that space was filled with buildings that belonged to the usually hustling and bustling markets of trade. Alas, it was time.
Due to the horde's frequency, they were built knowing that they would be destroyed, hence they were mostly simple wooden structures.
The market streets were now filled with soldiers, each nervous but excited, ready for battle.
Another one of Tino's sisters, similarly dressed in all-white tight-fitting clothing was by her side kneeling. Vermaelen continued to speak without even turning back.
"What of Guy?"
"According to Sister Mirage, his men have already taken down the Dwight compound in the centre of the city. He is en route to the Oxlade compound in the northwest where he is personally wiping them out. Once he is done there he will regroup with his troops and attack the Yorks." said the white-robed scout.
Vermaelen scowled, "He shouldn't underestimate the Oxlade, they are the most scheming bunch. Tell him to be careful, they might have the weakest martial might, but they are like roaches, hard to kill."
"Understood, I have relayed your message."
"Now tell me of the others."
"Our mercenaries held off the first wave of attacks and were assisted by Kenshin on the East Wall.
Bastian is getting his spell ready at the Cole family compound while the Fusion Realm experts have all gathered to deal with the two-star daemon, except for Onismo, who is monitoring the situation.
The Cole family compound is surrounded and is about to be attacked by the punitive force sent by the other families. Due to our formation non of them are aware that we are besieging their homes.
The North and West walls dealt with the first wave easily and look quite well bolstered by the city guard.
Vermaelen sighed and focused inward, on her own task. It was not going to be an easy one.
Grrrrrr!!!
The growling of the seals started to intensify from nowhere, causing the soldiers who had relaxed to tense up once more.
"Attention, prepare for battle!"
The vanguard commander shouted. The soldiers behind took their swords and banged them against their shields in response.
Vermaelen sighed. She reached to her side, then a soldier handed her a crimson helmet that matched her armour. With it on, only her orange pupils were visible.