Second World

Four Winds, Emris, Kabaka, and Isabelle watched Lorethion from afar. Rather than a city, the settlement looked more like a well-planned jungle. The houses were huge trees with large inner cavities serving as rooms. At the center of the capital was the gigantic tree which was also the palace.

"This is the first time I lay eyes on that capital," Kabaka said. "I've heard about its grandeur. Why the elves live inside trees is something I will never understand, but I can't deny its beauty. Too bad it will be ruined by our war."

"I've visited this capital in the past during my adventuring days," Isabelle said. "Never cross my mind that one day I will attack this place with the army of my country."

"I've come here several times doing quests for my guild," Four Winds said. "It is indeed a pity that such a beautiful place has to be burned by the flames of war. We need to defeat this capital as quickly as possible to keep the civilian casualties to the minimum."

"I'm afraid a quick win will not be possible," Emris remarked. "Our troops might have outnumbered the enemy after their defeat at the border, but not that much. With them hunkering down behind those walls, we will be the ones in trouble if we rush our attack."

"What do you suggest?" Isabelle asked.

"We should let our siege weapons soften those walls while waiting for our allies to arrive," Emris said.

"What do you think?" Isabelle asked Four Winds and Kabaka.

"Let me check with our allies," Four Winds said.

After spending some time exchanging a few silent messages, Four Winds said to the others, "They are still a few days from arriving. They agreed with us using our siege weapons to weaken the walls first. We will go for an all-out attack once they arrive."

"I can't say I like this. There is no glory in such a method, but I will go along if everyone else agrees," Kabaka said.

 "We can keep our casualties to the minimum this way," Four Winds said. "Don't worry, we will have our glory soon."

The four started organizing their armies for the siege. Four Winds relayed their plan to Kima who then operated the war table. The siege weapons were all Verremor's, so it was easy for Kima to deploy them using the war table. The orc soldiers readied themselves near these siege engines to shield them in case the enemy decided to come out and target the siege weapons.

Emris and Isabelle arranged their troops nearby so they could give support at a moment's notice.

The siege weapons consisted mostly of trebuchets and catapults. Verremor's trebuchets were slightly different than the normal ones. They were the result of research. These trebuchets were called Corrosive Trebuchets. Stones flung from these trebuchets were enhanced with acidic power that dealt extra earth damage. They also caused damage over time to structures upon impact, sort of like applying a poison effect to structures.

As the siege weapons advanced into range, several stones were seen flying out from the capital. The defenders also had siege weapons inside the capital.

The troops were prepared. The ones in front of the siege weapons were all defensive units. Among them was one of Verremor's three special units. These special units were called Black Shields. They were heavy armored units with massive tower shields.

They carried large cleavers for their weapons but mostly it was their shields they were famous for. These shields had HP bars instead of durability. Any damage suffered by the Black Shields was absorbed by their shields. When the shields broke after their HP bar zeroed, the Black Shields received powerful buffs for the remainder of the battle, turning them into powerful offensive units.

The Black Shields themselves had exceptionally high HP and defenses. They possessed many skills from the Knight and the Sentinel class. Using those skills, they buffed their surrounding allies and protected the siege weapons behind them.

The other two special units stayed at the back because they couldn't contribute much on defense. These two other special units were the Demolishers and the Shamans.

The Demolishers were the exact opposite of the Black Shields. They were pure offensive units wielding large two-handed weapons. Mostly preferred axes. They had a special ability that used their defeated foes' souls to empower themselves. The more enemies they killed, the stronger they became.

The Shamans were magic-wielders with spells that summoned spirit animals to help in battle. They also possessed some recovery spells from the druid class. They were similar to the Demolishers in that they could utilize the souls of the dead, but theirs didn't differentiate between friends and foes. The more deaths that happened around them, the more spells they could cast.

These shamans were also another reason that Verremor's army was able to endure the first half of the battle at the border before the Themisphere reinforcements arrived. While their comrades fell from the ambush, they used those fallen souls and shaped them into spells that assaulted the enemies.

As the defensive units protected the siege weapons from the enemy's bombardment, Verremor's siege weapons returned fire. The stones from both the trebuchets and catapults hit the defensive wall. Lorethion's defensive wall looked more like a natural fence which was made of thick vines that jumbled together, but they were as sturdy as any stone wall. The rune diagrams on the wall flared as they resisted the impact and activated their self-healing property.

Verremor's siege weapons repeated their attacks. The wall, which was hit previously, still had its rune diagrams flaring because there were blotches on that wall. These blotches were caused by the stones from the Corrosive Trebuchets. The stone splashed acidic liquid that stuck to the wall and dealt continuous damage after the impact.

As the attacks repeated, the number of blotches increased. The acidic liquid lasted for one minute before disappearing.

Verremor focused their siege weapons on only one side of the wall instead of spreading them out. They didn't have that many siege weapons. By focusing what they have onto a side, they were able to deal more damage than the rune diagrams were able to heal the wall. In this way, the wall's HP slowly decreased.

Aurebor didn't stay idle. They returned fire with their siege weapons.

This back and forth continued for several days.