A New World, an immersive game experience

Chapter 565 - The Siege Begins

Another three days passed, during which Two continued his studies of all the books they had collected. Eldrian instead continued to help with the secret project. Slowly, he had been able to offer his own advice and do basic tasks himself. As Two learned more, so did Eldrian.

Unfortunately, most of the books were not collections of precise knowledge. But rather more discussions filled with random theories. Only some of which had been proven. Many things were also repeated often, causing the growth of knowledge to be slower than expected.

"Are we sure about this?" Thesolis asked. They were about to finish it, but there was no going back if it failed at this point.

Instead of an answer, warhorns sounded throughout the city.

"We don't have a choice," Eldrian answered, they had been rushing for the past half an hour, ever since he observed the undead moving towards the city.

Their numbers were now close to four hundred thousand. Almost equal to the total population of the entire city.

Nodding, Thesolis took the handful of the Magic Crystal dust Eldrian had offered up. Slowly she let it fall into the molten Rikolium gold, which Solvi was controlling to flow into the engraved patterns of three cannonballs.

Once the entire pattern was filled, the cannonballs pulsed. Eldrian quickly stored them in his inventory, the task of which was incredibly difficult. Luckily, they stabilized in his inventory. A worry Eldrian had been secretly hiding this entire time.

"Are we sure about this?" Thesolis questioned again, complete out of breath and beyond tired. Even after everything, the cannonballs were still extremely unstable. She didn't think it would be capable to launch them.

"No, but it is now or never," Eldrian replied as he rushed to the walls. The special cannon was already installed, Elizabeth and Therdul had helped get it there in secret. Almost no one knew of this cannon's location.

"Are you ready?" Elizabeth asked. The undead had just crossed over the outer wall that was little more than ruins currently.

"Have to be, let's hope they don't explode on us." Eldrian replied.

Waiting for the undead to stop just out of range of the magic towers, everyone on the wall held their breath. The shock of seeing their numbers sent many beyond despair.

Luckily, those assigned to the cannons managed to keep their wits about them and quickly confirmed that everything was ready. Each one of them had been tested by a priest and by Eldrian to make sure they weren't a devil in disguise.

The new army of undead appeared to be endless, a good number of demons were also added into their battle lines. And on top of all this the vampires were spread out to ensure damage would be limited. There was also a couple of other higher undead sprinkled about.

"Is everyone ready?" Eldrian asked.

To ensure communication there was a player stationed at each cannon. The simplest way to spread communication throughout the wall and city, and to share updates in plans quickly. Another use of players, one that Elizabeth had brought up two days ago.

The players on these tasks weren't thrilled about it, especially since a few were basically used like mobile telephones, following behind the commanders and generals to relay information to them as things happened.

Their assignment was simple; follow and stay alive. They were even forbidden from joining the fighting since every death would mean connection loss with that section of the wall and soldiers.

Despite how the task was considered lesser, the players didn't complain aloud as they knew how big this battle would be. They also understood that their worth as a communication relay was far more than their worth in combat.

Compared to the long-distance communication available, this was far more effective.

Elizabeth nodded and waited for Pelaros's command to start the fight.

"Just a little bit more, the lesser undead aren't great at following commands. See how they are bunching up." Pelaros commented, and once these gatherings became of sufficient numbers the orders were relayed through the players just as the undead became confused why the barrier had not been activated yet.

Placing his hand on the cannon, Eldrian ignored it and instead summoned one of the cannonballs inside the barrel. It was Sofiera's duty to send it off, few had enough mana to control this cannon, and Thesolis and Solvi were spent after rushing to complete the three cannonballs.

"Now!" Sofiera shouted.

Connecting to the cannonball, Eldrian simply kept sending the command; 'Don't explode' repeatedly.

The cannon lit up, the light from it lit up the early night sky. Appearing like a beacon from afar. Seconds later a massive shockwave followed, sending everyone below Tier 5 to their asses. Eldrian was caught and healed by Pelaros, leaving Eldrian to simply focus on the cannonball.

He kept sending that simple message. Even as the connection weakened as the cannonball reached the one-kilometer (0.6mi) mark.

When Eldrian stopped sending the command, when his connection was cut, the ball started to teleport short distances while lighting filled the air around it. Space itself seemed to become destabilized.

"By Asteria, what did you do?" Pelaros mumbled as he watched this ball of lighting land amidst their enemies, blowing them into the abyss.

Another shockwave returned to the walls, this time sending a number of soldiers flying off to their deaths. The damage to the undead however was unspeakable. A massive crater? at least three hundred meters in length appeared where many demons and higher vampires had been standing.

Outside of the crater, the shockwave had flattened almost all the nearby undead and flames were quickly spreading everywhere.

Following this, plenty of smaller explosions appeared as the other cannons were fired. The undead, left without command struggled to reorganize themselves.

For a while, the barrages continued and did massive damage. In just minutes, their numbers had been decreased shockingly, but there was still plenty left.

Suddenly, a figure jumped up from amidst the army. It was at least twice the size of a normal person and had wings 4 meters long. It shouted and some sort of red mist seemed to spring from this demon.

As this mist landed on the undead, they all entered a rage. As an unorganized, chaotic machine, the undead rushed towards the city.

As they charged, the cannons fired and soon the magic towers joined in.

The undead's numbers fell quickly, however, their sheer overwhelming numbers allowed them to reach the walls while still vastly outnumbering the soldiers.

"I'm going to the front." Eldrian declared, this cannon, their trump card. Unfortunately, it could not be used in repeated firing. Choosing the right time to use it was certainly important, and in this case, it had been an opener.

Taking most of the undead's leaders, devasting their clumped army who thought they were out of range, and massively boosting the morale of their own soldiers.

Elizabeth nodded, following behind. Nikki would take over sharing the commands. After all, a priest was in high demand when fighting the undead, even if she was still Tier 4.

"What is the plan?" Elizabeth asked as they rushed down one of the ramps.

"The gate!" Eldrian replied, his reason not because it was considered the weak point of the wall. But because Vivian and Ceph were there.

They arrived just as the same demon who had taken command blew away the outer wooden gate. It was more just for show and the portcullises were the actual deterrent. A city would naturally not skimp on their protection, and to show for this the portcullises were made out of mithril.

To get through them would not be easy, and while the undead tried, the defenders could rain hell down on them from the murder holes and the other side of the portcullises.

This was just what happened, priests cast offensive spells to kill the undead, archers fired arrows with explosion runes to inflict massive damage. Oil was even dropped from atop and set aflame.

It seemed like no one would be able to get through here until a massive ox-like creature appeared.

AN: Note, I decided to not add XP notifications as I felt that it would hamper the flow. It will be summarized at the end of everything.

AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.