Chapter 194.

PART 1.

Sundar is reading the reports, and issuing orders. For hours, he felt like he had spoken without taking a breath, as he had to command his limited forces against the enemy and ensure the safety of the common people of the city.

Now, he has taken a pause. He has directed the forces to the weakest area, and until he gets some new info, he cannot take any new action. “Be ready to withdraw, Bajrang.” He spoke.

“Sir?” asked Bajrang, not expecting to hear those words from the general.

“The siege is shifting in the enemy’s favor.” Said Sundar. “We’re outnumbered, and the forces outside cannot come to help us. about the only thing we can do is ensure the safety of the people. Therefore, be ready to withdraw, and be ready to live in the castle.”

“I understand sir.” Said Bajrang.

Though he can see the distaste on the face of the general clearly, Bajrang understands why he made this decision. He commends his superior for making such a decision, and not letting his own distaste lose him the important side of keeping the people safe.

PART 2.

Durvesh looks at the map. The colors of the territories have changed as their position has improved. The green ones belong to them, the red ones are occupied by the enemy, and the yellow ones are contested.

Durvesh looks at the patterns, and with a smile, gives his next orders. “Prepare to push in the market section.” He said, pointing to the yellow territory on the map. “Then, we will take over the square near the castle.”

From that position, they will have an easier time in taking over the castle. Sundar won’t expect that, he will expect some long drawn-out battle. But Durvesh does not plan to give him that.

PART 3.

“Fuuuuuuuck!” cursed Sundar, observing the attack on the market section. This is right in front of the castle. if they occupy this area, they will be able to surround them from all sides, and since Porus is missing, sooner or later, they will breach the wards.

If only he had some wards which didn’t require the presence of a king. fighting a prepared and competent force sucks, and fighting a prepared and competent force is a nightmare when you do not have enough defenses installed.

“I swear, nothing will save them from the pain I am going to unleash should I survive. There will be no talks of budget cuts for years to come!” snarled the general.

“Sir, Zeko is doing well.” reminds Bajrang. “Maybe we should tell him to defend this area?”

“What about his current area?” asked Sundar.

“It is safe. We can divert him,” said Bajrang.

“Then do it.” sighed Sundar. ‘Let’s see whether I can salvage one good thing out of this or not.’

PART 4.

“Sir, Zeko has come in the way. we can’t take the square.”

Durvesh receives this news with the seriousness it deserves. True, Zeko alone could not do much to change the fact that they are winning. But he can be a thorn in their side for a long time should they ignore him.

“Ignore the square.” Said Durvesh. “Circle around, don’t let him move.”

“Yessir!”

If Zeko is trapped in his position, he won’t be able to stop their march to the castle. once they capture that position of power, their victory will be complete.

PART 5.

Once the invading forces reach the residential area near the castle, Raven and his squad have to face them. since they were green recruits, the invaders did not spend much manpower dealing with them. once they killed their trainers and leaders, they moved on, leaving some stragglers behind to deal with them.

Vivek tries to take advantage of this chaos and tries to escape, but Raven kills him. his spell overheated the water in Vivek’s body, and he died being boiled alive inside out. “I am taking over the command.” Said Raven. “Any questions?”

No one said anything. Their entire command structure is wiped out, without establishing the chain of command. In such a case, they conclude that there is no point in arguing against it.

As the stragglers come to attack them, Raven mounts a counterattack with the Singh twins, not certain whether they will be alive to tell anyone of their experience to someone.

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PART 6.

Durvesh watches the proceedings, as the camp is dismantled. They are preparing to shift to the castle. there is no resistance left. Some fighting is still going on in the city, but it all will be quelled.

Once the castle is taken, it will mark the complete victory for their side, physical as well as symbolic. Naturally, this is the moment when everything started to go wrong.

“Sir, we’re sensing a massive buildup of power!” said the aid.

Durvesh’s head snaps to the direction where his aid has pointed, and he watches in awe as an entire battalion disappears in a tower of flames. The king has returned, and he is furious.

Still, Durvesh feels they have a good chance of winning here. they have come so far, so he is not willing to abandon the operation in the middle.

PART 7.

The journey did not take long for Porus. During the entire flight, he slept or meditated, trying to control his anger, as Corvus used to tell him in his younger days. Leaving those children like that left a bad taste in his mouth, particularly after they raised the name of the country so much after years of humiliation.

But he could not disregard the threat of war. Albus is unstable enough to follow up on that threat, and Porus does not wish to be on his soil when he starts a war against his country. But now that he is back, he will teach him a lesson. If he thinks that the Subcontinent is going to bow to his small island nation, then he is wrong.

However, his plans of vengeance halt, when he senses the chaos outside. the entire country seems to be consumed in battle. The high-level magic thrown around is potent enough to be sensed in the sky. Anyone else would have thought about what is going on here, or why is this happening.

But not Porus. He knows why is this happening. He got overconfident. He left, and the damn traitors seized the chance of taking over the country. Seeing his beautiful city be tarnished with corpses, blood, and fire doesn’t help his already frayed temper, so he jumps from the ship, and lands in the middle of the army. When his feet touched the ground, the entire battalion was turned into ashes in a towering pillar of flames.

This is followed by a swath of destruction he leaves behind, as he moves to the castle, killing anyone who tries to stop him. Once he was inside, he thought of speaking with the general, but he then decided there was not enough time. barging into the throne room, he sits on the throne and activates the wards. The city has its wards risen, and the castle has turned into a fortress.

A towering image of Porus appears in the sky, and the voice of the king comes out of this image. “All invaders will die; none will be spared.” He said simply, not wanting to waste any more of his words on these worms.

The castle starts to disassemble, and the disassembled pieces take the shape of chess pieces. There is a king, two rooks, two queens, which have seen some combat judging by their damaged state, one knight, which is also damaged much like the queens, and a bishop which does not have any damage on it. along with these pieces, there are eight pawns.

These pieces attack the army, and the pawns get promoted to more powerful pieces as they kill and rampage among the enemies. More queens, knights, and rooks appear as a result of this rampage, and the blood of the murdered enemies is used to perform the ritual which results in the creation of more pawns.

By the time the entire army is routed, there are a total of ten queens and eight pawns on the field, and the entire city is brimming with their magic. the fortresses and other outposts located far away also receive the message, and the reinforcements are being sent.

The general barges into the throne room, and lifts the barely lucid king. “Stop this already.” He commands him.

“I must leave.” Slurred Porus. “I cannot defend myself here.”

Sundar wanted to argue against it, but looking at the state of Porus, he agreed. “Fine. Take a team with you. and leave everything with me.” he said.

Porus smiled. He could not hear the names the general was barking, but he was certain that his general would take care of things, and would take advantage of the chance he had provided him with.

PART 8.

The nobles receive the letter of Durvesh. “He said to deliver this to you.” said the aid, “Right before he died.”

The content of the letter is simple. The general has told them to press on the attack, as Porus will not be in any shape to fight them after his display of power. plus, the city is weakened, and if they keep a blockade, no reinforcements will reach them.

“In honor of General Durvesh Banerjee, we will press on!”

“We will press on!” agreed others.