"This is all your fault, may demons take you!" Mei hissed through clenched teeth, despondently watching as thousands of soldiers outside the fortress began to move.

The enemy army leisurely repositioned itself, preparing for the inevitable assault. Some warriors moved to the front, carrying long ladders equipped with wooden hooks on either end for easier attachment to the walls. Others, gauging their aim, brandished their wooden-metal grappling hooks.

Furthermore, for once, the command had considered the common ashigaru, equipping many front-line soldiers with massive wooden shields that nearly obscured their silhouettes entirely. Such "luxuries" were usually beyond the ashigaru's reach. After all, how then were the samurai supposed to practice archery if the enemy had shields?

"If you hadn't been such a show-off, things would have turned out differently," the girl continued in an angry voice.

"Father would have already picked a suitor for me, I would have gone on missions that posed no threat to me, then I would have given birth to an heir and taken over the family until he came of age. Everything was predetermined, if not for you!" Although Mei sometimes raised her voice to a yell, some of her words were still indistinct as the storm showed no signs of abating.

The fortress shuddered again as earth and water under the control of the supremes clashed anew. Both sides, realizing that a swift victory was unattainable, switched to a methodical siege.

Now, there were no more awe-inspiring cliffs and waves; the emerging techniques resembled a tactical game where the enemies tried to reach the fortress with minimal effort and undermine its shield while the defenders interfered with their plans as much as possible.

Of course, the Sumada supremes could have tried to strike at the Higatsudo troops, but there was no guarantee that without their resistance, the unified, undiminished response from the Mizuno wouldn't breach the shield.

Stas grimaced and was about to retort, but Kaede beat him to it.

"You know, I heard that the Sumada from the main families are special," Kaede's voice carried a clear note of mockery. The water had soaked her clothes and mask, faintly outlining the predatory silhouette of her face. "Strong, smart, and fearless. Such a pity it was all lies!"

"And who are you anyway?! How dare you interfere in the affairs of the Sumada, you clanless one?" There were indeed no distinguishing marks on Kaede's clothes except for a small Sumada badge, indicating she was merely a mercenary. "The fact that the sensei took you into his retinue does not give you the right to behave so insolently!"

With that, she stepped toward Kaede, prompting Stas and Mari to tense up. Although, the earthling was more concerned about Kaede doing something foolish.

But Leviathan emerging from the stone made the heiress curse and jump back. A snapping jaw near one's nose is a substantial argument in any dispute.

"Shiro! Get your damned beast away before I kill her!" Mei was clearly not joking, as Levi's senses conveyed the gathering prana around her.

"Enough fighting," Eiji intervened seriously between the snake and Mei. "The sensei is right. If we don't pull ourselves together, we might not survive to see the battle."

"You're one to talk," the princess snorted. "Not long ago, you behaved like a coward, and now…"

Ordyntsev turned away from the squabbling duo and tried to ignore the frightened glances of the nearby ashigaru and the scornful expressions of the samurai.

If Stas were in their place, he would have nothing but disdain for such "reliable allies" who stirred up a disgraceful quarrel right before a deadly battle.

Meanwhile, the preparations had come to an end. The blue garbs of the Mizuno took their rightful place among the infantry masses.

Stas took a deep breath of icy air and threw back his head, exposing his burning face to the cold rain. Whatever the Great Serpent had done to him, this situation managed to penetrate even his developed apathy.

A deep, piercing rumble began to spread across the area, like the groan of a wounded giant beast.

Once it had sounded, the front ranks of soldiers took a step forward, splattering mud and water with thousands of sandals.

The battle had officially begun.

"Archers! String your bows!" commands from the samurai echoed along the walls. In an instant, hundreds of ashigaru and samurai reached into their waterproof pouches at their sides, pulled out bowstrings, and, pinning bows between their legs, strung them on the notches.

In weather like this, bowstrings deteriorate very quickly.

This action was repeated on the second line of walls, situated on a hill behind them.

There was still time for preparation as the enemy was making its way through the numerous defensive fortifications of the stronghold, such as spiked pits.

The latter had become a major problem, as the abundance of incoming water concealed them from the soldiers' view. A similar issue existed with caltrops.

However, the Mizuno were quick to point out problem areas to the samurai. Ashigaru, with bundles of branches and fascines, rushed to these spots, quickly covering up the dangerous traps.

Although many advanced warmasters already had techniques that could easily reach the enemy, no one used them.

At such a distance, enemy warmasters could calmly dodge the threat or even block it, figuring out which defensive technique was best suited. Prana, however, would be irretrievably lost.

Therefore, the battlefield was only illuminated by lightning flashes and the fortress barrier, appearing whenever one of the Mizuno supremes' strikes would still reach it.

But it couldn't go on like this forever.

"Archers! Nock your arrows!" Another command was given, and the soldiers prepared to shoot. Stas snorted involuntarily.

He recalled an amusing point from his life on Earth related to archery.

Movies taught us that archers, having drawn their bows, can hold them for almost minutes on end, shooting whenever they wanted.

But the fact is, drawing a bow is not as easy as it may seem, and holding it in such a position requires monstrous endurance.

Therefore, archers, in reality, shoot with a fluid motion, nocking the arrow and immediately releasing it.

"Ready!" bellowed the nearby samurai commanding the archers. He, too, was armed with a bow. But whereas the common ashigaru wielded mere sticks of wood, what he held in his hands was nothing short of a masterpiece.

"Fire!" Yes, the synchronicity left much to be desired, but even so, the rain of arrows that descended was impressive.

Since the enemy was still far away, the archers had to shoot in high arcs. And those on the second wall were releasing their arrows almost vertically.

Ordyntsev's enhanced vision, even through the rain, caught the smallest details, such as Higatsudo fighters gasping as they clutched the shafts embedded in their bodies.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

How they tried to pull them out, and if the wound was fatal, how reluctantly they fell to the ground, trampled by the comrades running behind.

Not everyone had shields, and a spear was of little use against heavy arrows that fell from the heavens like raindrops.

"Fire!" A new command and now the bows of the ashigaru and samurai were aimed lower, as the enemy continued to advance, and a new wave of deaths thrashed this world with a scorching rod.

Old dragons lifted their heads and roared loudly. And the ancient spirits sensed the emotional fabric of the planet beginning to transform, turning much darker.

'What an idiot,' the earthling's eye caught sight of a fallen Mizuno. A short, ordinary warmaster managed to mistime his exit from the prana acceleration and caught an arrow right in the eye. Despite the warmasters' resilience, he was sent off for rebirth. 'What a klutz you have to be to die so pathetically.'

However, the man's amusement did not last long, as he was hit by an unpleasant realization – that Mizuno was about fifteen or sixteen years old.

'Almost a child.'

Stas wanted to spit.

'Damn this world! Damn you, I won't rejoice over the deaths of children, may you crack!'

However, these were just wishes, and very little depended on Ordyntsev himself in the grand scheme of things. Moreover, now it was the turn of the warmasters to join the battle.

Mizuno warmasters and the samurai of Higatsudo had reached a distance where it was difficult to dodge the incoming techniques.

The roar of a horn sounded from within the fortress. And every Sumada or ally of the clan knew what this signal meant.

And the Sumada struck, unleashing all the accumulated fear, rage, and desire to kill on their enemies.

Stone explosions sent hundreds of sharp rocks flying in all directions, tearing the barely protected bodies of ashigaru to shreds.

Sharp spikes could have caused awe and reverence even in Vlad Dracula himself, so many bloodied, still-living bodies hung on them.

As for those who fell into the suddenly appearing pits, it's scarcely worth mentioning. These unfortunate souls broke their arms and legs, and should the walls not converge to crush them, the water would soon arrive, mercilessly drowning them in its dark embrace.

But don't think the Sumada could easily destroy the Higatsudo army.

The Mizuno were not about to stand idly by, watching their allies be exterminated right before their eyes.

Water walls protected the attackers from flying stones, water spears shattered emerging obstacles, and whirlpools filled pits, leveling the surface as much as possible.

The earlier strikes by Mizuno supremes had also leveled the traps and fortifications that were directly adjacent to the fortress walls.

So, with each passing minute, the pace of the attack increased.

Stas didn't stand aside, either.

Unlike other warmasters who had to conserve prana for the real battle, Ordyntsev didn't have this problem as pressing.

One should recall that ether is created from the union of prana and spiritual energy. And his own prana Stas could replenish when ether consumed someone else's.

It seemed like a perpetual motion machine, if one forgot that Stas could never boast of having much spiritual energy.

Yes, ether took relatively little of it to start the process, but it still took.

Nevertheless, Stanislav went all out right now, calling into battle all the ether he could muster.

The natural-etheric sphere pulsated familiarly near his heart, ready to absorb the excess, and the ether itself flowed and burst into the world, bringing only death and terror.

After all, this was what it was created for.

For starters, Ordyntsev decided to employ one of his most frequently used techniques.

"Ether Technique. Cursed Fog," his lips whispered the technique's name, as he normally did not infuse it with such power.

Purple fog erupted from his hands in two powerful streams, dropped to the ground, and, spreading, rushed toward the screaming ashigaru.

The Mizuno responsible for this part of the line predictably attacked the purple fog and... successfully destroyed it where their techniques touched it.

But the problem was that the fog was too voluminous and covered a broad area. It rose upward, hid in furrows, and even dodged to reach its victims.

Mizuno's techniques left gaps in it, but it still relentlessly moved forward. Then both the samurai and the water clan's warmasters had no choice but to surround themselves with layers of water or prana to break through the threat.

But the ashigaru had no such protection.

Ordyntsev squinted as first dozens, then hundreds of ashigaru fell like dried dolls into the liquid mud.

Their bodies became very light, beginning to sway on the "water surface."

Bloodthirsty and exultant cries erupted next to Stas.

The Rashita fighters could clearly see the effectiveness of the earthling's techniques and appreciated them accordingly.

The fog, continuing to pour from his hands, did its job, making it difficult for the enemy to advance on this part of the front.

And while warmasters and samurai could afford to lose some energy but break through, ordinary people paid a terrible price.

Stas himself, like an immovable statue, continued to use the technique. In a normal battle, he would not have had this opportunity. But now he was under the protection of the barrier, so the desperate techniques and slashes of the samurai thrown in his direction harmlessly dissipated in front of the glowing hieroglyphs.

The worst part was that the following waves of ashigaru, seeing what happened to their comrades, tried to stop. And there was some sense in that, as the Mizuno warmasters were almost at the walls, and Ordyntsev would have had to stop the technique, whether he liked it or not.

But the samurai commanding them didn't care. The punitive swings of their swords sent blood spraying and limbs of those unlucky enough to be close flying.

"Forward! Only death awaits cowards! Forward! To battle! Death!"

Pushed from behind by those who had not yet seen the horror ahead, the unwilling victims of this war fell under the effect of the fog and fell like ears of grain under the scythe of a reaper.

Stas did not gain energy from them. The prana in the bodies of ordinary people, even considering their number, was barely present, so the stolen crumbs only intensified the raging cursed fog.

And at the moment when the warmasters thought that the terrible fog spewer was only dangerous for ordinary people, Ordyntsev struck his second blow.

"Ah, my leg-slurp-gurgle-gurgle!" one of the running warmasters screamed as he fell into the mud, only to be pulled under the ground the next second.

Here and there, among the purple and gray, flexible steel-colored bodies began to flicker. Hitting them was incredibly difficult, as the cursed fog obstructed sensory techniques, and the earthen bodies themselves were almost indistinguishable in the mud.

Sturdy scales, dark fire in their eye sockets, sharp fangs, and, of course, the ability to suck prana – serpents-devourers had arrived at the bloody party.

Now, even the warmasters didn't feel safe. The merciless serpents attacked them at any opportunity, and if an attack failed, they immediately hid to make a new approach elsewhere.

Water techniques tore the serpents to pieces effectively, but there were many of them, and secondly, they were quite successful at dodging danger.

Let's not forget about the other Sumada, who, impressed by the effectiveness of the Serpent's tactics, joined the fun with renewed resolve, unleashing everything possible on the advancing enemies.

This was the time Leviathan also chose to join the battle.

And here, it's worth going into more detail.

Stas carefully considered how to increase Levi's usefulness as a fighter without risking her life too much.

The solution was found, namely, to make her a long-range combatant.

Said and done.

Now, anyone who looked at the snake might want to rub their eyes.

Along her flexible body, multiple dark pouches were attached, each filled with dozens of sturdy steel darts.

Each dart had a special notch for poison.

Levi carefully surveyed the battlefield, then, obeying her telekinesis, one of the darts hovered directly in front of her mouth.

Spit!

Caustic snake venom slapped into the dart's notch and sizzled in the air.

For a second, nothing happened, but then the dart disappeared, and the head of one of the running Mizuno exploded, scattering brains a couple of meters behind him. The body managed to take a few more steps, then, stumbling, fell to the ground.

Where the dart passed through the fog, a swirling whirlpool formed.

Ordyntsev nodded with pride. Watching Leviathan's training, he accidentally remembered that in modern long-range weapons, bullets are somehow spun.

Surprisingly, the advice really helped, allowing Levi to increase the speed and accuracy of her "shots" even further.

And the round eyes of the nearest Sumada, who couldn't believe that a steel-dart-shooting, almost a commando-dressed snake wasn't the fruit of their inflamed consciousness, were worth a lot.

The only downside was that the pouches constantly tended to slip off and snag on the ground, but Leviathan could easily adjust them or hold them with telekinesis.

Techniques, explosions, arrows, wind, rain, and lightning – everything mixed in this madness, trying to drag all its participants straight to hell.

Nevertheless, despite the substantial toll inflicted, Stas, standing on the wall, was under no illusions.

Yes, among his victims were often advanced warmasters, but most of the dead were ordinary ones.

And knowing at what age this title was usually granted...

'I can congratulate myself. Now, I can crack unfunny jokes about how I drowned dozens of children. Why unfunny? Because they are just on the surface...'

Ordyntsev shook his hands, interrupting the technique and accelerating prana throughout his body to the maximum. The world instantly slowed down.

The falling raindrops leisurely flew to the ground to create new splashes, and lightning slowly flowed through the black clouds to spawn another series of thunderclaps.

Yet, in this slowed-down world, there were those on whom the acceleration had no effect.

Warmasters and samurai, with faces contorted in angry cries, were literally under the walls of the fortress already.

Covered in mud from explosions and wounds from struck techniques, the only thing they desired more than anything else in this life was to eliminate every Sumada - from the youngest to the oldest.

It goes without saying that Ordyntsev stood decidedly against such a course of action.