Laurence stared at the walls of Vayllen City with a deep frown.
The siege had lasted for two days.
Three groups of mages rotated at the front lines, bombarding the city's defenses while the next group recovered their mana. The magical barriers protecting the city were beginning to crack.
"How much longer?" Laurence asked.
Aleph studied the walls.
"Not much. Once they fall, we'll be able to enter."
Laurence nodded.
The scouts had confirmed the existence of three large-scale enchantments within the city. They strengthened the defenders while weakening anyone who invaded.
Those spells had to be destroyed first.
"Prepare the vanguard," Laurence ordered. "I'll lead the assault."
Aleph frowned.
"My lord, you should remain at the command post."
"Sofia will take command."
"My lord..."
Laurence looked at him.
"I'm not going to stand by while the man who ordered my son's death hides behind those walls."
Aleph fell silent.
The old Duke Damian had been exactly the same.
Just as reckless.
The Douglas troops had been preparing for this moment their entire lives. Their weapons, armor, and enchanted artifacts had been perfected through generations of warfare.
The Denisse family might have had greater numbers.
But the Douglas family possessed experience.
And now they also had the advantage of being prepared to fight something far worse than a human army.
Aleph sighed.
"At least allow me to assign you an escort."
"Do it."
Laurence turned his eyes back to the city walls.
"But don't follow me yourself."
Aleph hesitated.
"My lord..."
Laurence smiled faintly.
"Besides, if I die, you'll have to make sure Lusian becomes the next duke."
Aleph chuckled softly.
"That was only my way of convincing you to name your son as your heir."
"I know."
Laurence's gaze returned to the battlefield.
"Now go."
Aleph returned to the command tent.
Sofia raised an eyebrow the moment she saw him.
"Judging by your face... he didn't listen."
"No, my lady."
Sofia sighed.
"I expected as much."
She looked toward the walls.
"Then make sure his men keep him alive."
Aleph nodded.
"They're already in position."
A faint smile crossed Sofia's lips.
"Good."
She turned toward the battlefield.
"Then let's finish this."
The mages advanced to the front line.
There were thirty of them.
They split into three groups and began gathering mana.
The air itself trembled.
"Now!"
All three groups released their spells simultaneously.
A colossal blast slammed into the city wall.
BOOOOM!
Stone shook violently.
The magical barriers held for a few moments.
Then cracks spread across their surface.
A second barrage struck the exact same point.
This time...
The wall gave way.
An entire section collapsed beneath clouds of dust and tons of shattered stone.
"A breach!" an officer shouted.
Laurence drew his sword.
"Douglas!"
He raised his blade.
"Advance!"
The knights charged.
Laurence was the first to cross the breach.
Hundreds of soldiers followed close behind.
The Denisse defenders barely had time to react.
"They're inside!"
The first enemy soldiers raised their weapons.
Laurence never slowed.
"Don't give them time to regroup!"
The Douglas forces surged into Vayllen City.
As the Douglas troops broke through the first defensive line, someone inside the fortress watched the city's final wall begin to collapse.
Within Vayllen City, Count Thomas Denisse hurried between his officers with an urgency that would have been unimaginable only days earlier.
His usual arrogance had vanished.
All that remained was a man desperately trying to hold together a crumbling defense.
"The status of the magical barrier?"
"It can barely hold, my lord."
The report landed heavily on the table.
The Douglas mages outnumbered his own.
They were stronger.
Every attempt to reinforce the city's defenses was shattered shortly afterward by another barrage of enemy spells.
And with the arrival of the Armett reinforcements, the situation had become even worse.
The city was completely surrounded.
Thomas stared at the map spread before him.
Every marker represented a lost unit.
Every line, a collapsed defense.
Every passing minute brought Laurence closer.
Defeat was no longer a possibility.
It was only a matter of time.
His eyes drifted toward the deserted streets of Vayllen City.
The city he had sworn to protect.
The people he had sacrificed.
For a brief moment...
A single doubt crossed his mind.
When had it come to this?
He had sought power because he was tired of being dismissed as the head of a lesser house.
The Douglas family.
The Armett family.
The great duchies that had endured for generations.
They all possessed history.
Prestige.
Legacy.
The Denisse family, by comparison, was merely a young house struggling to claim a place many believed it did not deserve.
Thomas had wanted to change that.
He had sought allies.
Made bargains.
Crossed lines he had once sworn never to cross.
All to prove that his family deserved to stand alongside those who had always looked down upon him.
And now...
He was about to lose everything.
Thomas clenched his fists.
Regret would change nothing.
It was already too late.
"My lord."
An officer drew his attention.
"The demons sent beyond the city haven't returned."
Thomas remained silent.
That was his final hope.
Those creatures.
The beings he had brought into this world.
The beings who now held the power to decide whether he lived...
Or died.
Deep down...
He already knew something.
Perhaps he wouldn't still be alive when they returned.
It was a thought he desperately tried to ignore.
Because accepting it meant admitting that he had surrendered his fate to something he could never control.
The doors burst open.
A soldier stumbled inside, covered in dust and blood.
"My lord!"
He dropped to one knee.
"The outer wall has fallen! The Douglas army is entering the city!"
Silence engulfed the chamber.
"It would be wiser to retreat and regroup."
Thomas stared at him.
For several long seconds...
He said nothing.
Then he let out a hollow laugh.
"Retreat?"
The soldier lowered his head.
"To where?"
Thomas slowly approached the table.
"The royal palace?"
His voice hardened.
"Beg for mercy?"
His hand slammed against the map.
"The king would execute me and send my head to Laurence as proof of his loyalty."
His breathing grew heavier.
"No."
He turned toward the windows, where the sounds of battle were drawing ever closer.
"There is nowhere left for me to run."
The officers remained frozen.
Thomas closed his eyes for a brief moment.
For the first time...
He truly understood.
He was no longer fighting to win.
He was fighting because he had no other choice.
"We defend the city."
His voice regained its resolve.
"Commit every remaining soldier."
"Stop the Douglas army before they reach the castle."
The officers hurried to obey.
When the room finally emptied, Thomas stood alone for several moments.
Then he crossed into a private chamber adjoining his office.
Someone waited there.
A presence that did not belong to this world.
Gargranelt sat calmly in the shadows, as though the war consuming the city were nothing more than a performance staged for his amusement.
He smiled when Thomas entered.
"You look dreadful, human."
Thomas said nothing.
Gargranelt rested his cheek against one hand.
"You worry far too much."
His smile widened.
"I already told you."
"Those insects won't be able to lay a finger on you."
Thomas closed his eyes.
He tried to hide the trembling in his hands.
"Your confidence is reassuring, my lord."
His words were respectful.
Even so...
He could hear the desperation hidden within his own voice.
"With a Demon Duke standing beside me, I have nothing to fear."
He paused.
"Though I expected this city to hold out longer."
Gargranelt chuckled softly.
"Humans always say the same thing."
He rose slowly to his feet.
"They believe they build fortresses to protect themselves."
His crimson eyes gleamed.
"But in the end..."
"They merely build places to die."
Thomas remained silent.
Gargranelt walked to the window and looked down at the battle raging below.
"My brothers will arrive soon."
He turned back toward Thomas.
"Relax, human."
The smile vanished from his face.
"Everything will end exactly as it is meant to."
Outside the chamber, the clash of steel and the roar of magic echoed through the streets.
The battle had reached the heart of Vayllen City.
And far too late...
Thomas Denisse finally understood the truth.
He had sought a way to survive.
But the moment he accepted the demons' help...
His fate had ceased to belong to him.