Chapter 854 Arrival
Achim's expression remained indifferent after reading the coded message. They had been busy making preparations against the first wave of the King's probing. Thus far, Achim estimated a 40 to 50 percent probability that they would succeed in holding the fort. And with five more days left before the expected point of contact, they could increase it by 20 to 30 percent more.
Achim arrived at this number after confirming that the knight leading the first wave was Filren. With the latter at the helm, Achim's side could employ their initial tactic of purposely directing the enemy's route to a location advantageous for them. Nevertheless, Achim could not allow them to be complacent. After all, the 200 members under Filren's company were all Knights. And they were not just any knights, but the King's Knights.
It should be noted that the Kngihts under the King's command were far more powerful than those serving in forts or other Royal Family members. If Achim and Nahir dealt with them without devising any strategy, they would be crushed in an overwhelming manner.
The group dispatched to scout around the fort continued to follow Filren's company's movements. They sent Achim and Nahir updates on the latter's progress as well as still images of every knight. Their reason for doing this was to allow their side to gather information on what the latter few could do.
Achim was not like Kyran, who possessed a strong memory, thus, he did not recognize most of the knights. Having a bad or good memory did not matter since they had created a database they could easily use to check on information about those knights.
Based on the first 50 or so still images of the knights sent by the scouting group, most of them possessed melee-type Divine Armaments.
It was not really surprising because, based on statistics, approximately 71 percent of Somulians that developed a melee weapon as their Divine Armament. As for range weapons, there were only around 11 percent. While magic-type Divine Armament, like staffs or rods, made up 14%— 3% higher than that of range weapons. Finally, the remaining 4% comprised unconventional types like armor, books, chains, mirrors, etc.
Nachum and Kesiah's Divine Armaments fell under the unconventional type. Cyneah could be considered one, too, if the Macabre Glacier was indeed a Divine Armament.
In any case, Achim and Nahir wanted to look out for range-type Divine Armaments because they could become troublesome. Depending on their control over their Divine Armaments, they could pose a threat to the armed towers scattered outside the fort.
Achim and the other leaders' worry came to pass after the third day. Because the knights in the still images the scouting group sent either possessed unconventional type Divine Armament or range type. Moreover, they made up almost half of Filren's company.
Achim stood in front of the table, where all the new still images of knights were being projected. He and the other leaders gathered inside the meeting room and discussed how to deal with this unexpected problem.
It was not that they did not expect Filren to bring knights with range-type Divine Armaments. It was all due to their sheer number.
"I had thought sir Filren is known for sneak attacks because the knights under him focus on melee stealth and speed. But it may very well be due to him having quite a number of range-type knights," one of the leaders said.
A few of the leaders nodded their heads in agreement.
Achim remained silent as the rest shared their thoughts on the matter.
Someone suggested preemptively attacking Filren and his company to reduce their numbers.
This suggestion was met with mixed opinions. A few felt it made sense, while most felt it would be a futile attempt. After all, the number of knights on their side that had enough strength to go toe to toe against Filren's knights was few.
Another suggested relocating all armed towers close to the periphery and using them to attack the rear line of Filren's company, where knights possessing range-type Divine Armaments were located. However, another pointed out that moving the armed towers would take at least a week, and they only had less than two days left before Filren's arrival.
A few tried to suggest sending out a group of elites to ambush the rear line of Filren's company, but once more, the suggestion was dashed by the fact that their elites could not compare to the sheer number of elites among their enemy.
In the end, none of them could develop a good move. However, if they failed to find one, their preparation these past few days would have been for naught. After all, even if they could still lure around half of Filren's knights into their trap, the rear line would be at a safe distance and could provide assistance at any time.
Achim dismissed the rest after failing to arrive at a consensus. He then met with Nahir and checked on Kesiah.
Kesiah and her group were still on the way and could not make it on time. They estimated they would still need four or five days to arrive at the fort. Achim and Nahir had to defend against Filren's attack for at least three to four days before Kesiah could provide reinforcements.
"I understand Nar did not want to participate in any of our planning, but this conquest was originally his suggestion. Don't you think it is high time we check on him and ask his opinion?" Nahir asked the two.
Honestly, he did not want to bring Kyran into the discussion. As much as possible, he wanted to deal with this with their strength alone. Kyran might have suggested the conquest, but he agreed to it. Moreover, at the end of the day, if Kyran left, the ones who would manage the aftermath of their conquest were them.
Achim fell silent after hearing Nahir's point. Kesiah, who was being projected on a communication device, also showed a troubled expression.
Nahir caught on to this and frowned at once.
"What? Did something happen in the border?"
Kesiah shook her head but did not answer.
This annoyed Nahir. He immediately took out his own communication device and contacted his father. Achim and Kesiah might not want to tell him anything, but if he asked his father, the latter would definitely tell him the truth.
Unfortunately, Nahir failed to connect with Nachum. His blood went cold at once as several worst-case scenarios flashed through his mind.
Seeing Nahir's suddenly pale complexion, Achim sighed in resignation as he nodded at Kesiah.
Seeing his action, the latter sighed and said, "It can't be helped."
"What can't be helped? Tell me what happened!"
Achim and Kesiah finally decided to tell Nahir about what happened to Kyran and why the Abbot was out of reach.
Although the situation differed from the worst-case scenarios Nahir imagined, it did not alleviate his uneasiness. His father might not be in imminent danger, but the fact that he was preparing to ascend once more was quite dangerous. After all, Nachum had a chance to ascend without problem but chose not to. Now that he wanted to do it on his own accord, without a proper trigger, there was a chance he would fail. If he failed, his Divine Armament would suffer, and he would end up crippled for life.
Then there was Kyran's condition. Achim and Kesiah did not know what made Kyran end up like that, but Nahir, knowing the truth of what was happening in Somuli, guessed that it involved the outsiders. Add that to his father's sudden decision to ascend; it made much more sense.
"To think this will happen just as we start this conquest..." Nahir said to no one in particular.
"Currently, someone is already treating sir Nar," Kesiah told them. "It will only be a matter of time before he recovers."
Nahir frowned. He knew Cyneah was also in a coma, so who else had the ability to treat Kyran?
"In any case, we just have to do what we can," Kesiah added, giving both of them a meaningful look. "I will see to it that we arrive there as soon as possible."
"Actually," Achim suddenly said while looking at them thoughtfully. "I want to try something. But... I don't know if I can pull it off."
"Tell us," Kesiah encouraged him. "Maybe we can offer some insight to make it easier to pull off."
Achim shook his head, "It is not about it being unaccomplishable. But more of my capability."
Nahir raised his brows in disbelief, "This is quite new. At least, from what I heard, Prince Achim is not someone who would falter at such thoughts."
Achim shook his head again, "I said that because it is truly out of my capability."
"Ah... you mean that...?" Kesiah looked at him with widened eyes, seemingly guessing what he wanted to do.
Without waiting for them to ask further questions, Achim relayed his idea, and the two listened in earnest.
That night, while Achim and Nahir were preparing the things the former needed for his idea, a loud crackling sound reverberated around the fort.
Right above the fort, a space distortion started to form. From within the distortion, a soft, muffled laugh filled the air.
In an instant, the somewhat tense yet silent fort was woken up by the sudden arrival of someone.
Most of the officers and knights on patrol immediately gathered toward the distortion, while a few went to the control room where every armed tower was connected.
"So this is the fort where the King's nephew and niece reside? What a small and defenseless fort."
FOOOOM!
An overly ominous and overwhelming pressure pressed down onto the whole fort.
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