Inside the tent, Regis recognized several faces belonging to noblemen and noblewomen he had seen at the lords’ gathering months ago. The most surprising faces belonged to Princess Helena, her knight commander, and Archbishop Philip.

“Your Highness.” The dark elf greeted her first with a nod.

“Lord Regis,” An ageing nobleman he remembered to be called Merv greeted him. “I’m glad to see you decided to join us.”

“Although I wish that were entirely true,” the dark elf sighed. “I’ve only come here to lend my territory’s defender golems to the church’s army. Sadly, my standing army is not large enough to be useful in the battle.”

“Golems? “Another noble with mop-like hair he believed to be called Humphrey or something like that asked from the side. “As hard-pressed we might be for additional forces, I doubt that some makeshift wooden puppets would be of much help against an army of demons.”

“What about six knight-shaped golems made out of granite stone that is about eight meters tall and heavily enchanted with ‘well-made’ grade runes?” Master Felix inquired in a mischievous tone.

“Six granite war golems?” Both the nobles and the high-ranked priests looked at each other in surprise after hearing the question that was clearly meant to describe the golems Regis brought over.

“That would be... helpful.” The mop-haired noble grumbled awkwardly, the others staring daggers at him.

“Even a single golem like that would be worth a hundred tier-two knights, let alone six,” a bishop remarked from the side. “I believe that six of them would greatly bolster our forces.”

“It is indeed a welcome addition to our army,” another, much better-dressed cleric said with a heavy tone. “It would go a long way toward even our odds against the royal army’s golems.”

“Young Regis also brought along a peculiar golem which he claims to have created especially against demons.” Bishop Emil said from the side, earning everyone's full attention.

“Oh,” Archbishop Philip hummed with an obvious curiosity. “Do tell us, what makes this golem of yours so effective against our enemies?”

“Well,” the loremaster sighed as he was already getting a headache from the mixture of disbelief and interrogation he had received since his arrival. “The body of the golem is nothing special besides being shaped like a large spider.”

His words made most people present frown at the thought of such a strange golem.

“However, it is equipped with a barrier that reaches about five metres beyond its body in a dome-like shape. It also possesses a set of large wands I had interconnected with a runic diagram and has a hollow arcana stone power storing device to fuel its attacks.”

“So it is a golem that can function both as a protector and as a ranged attacker.” The archbishop deduced.

“Yes. Each of the wands was infused with the runes for the ‘lance of light’ spell which I don’t think needs to be introduced to anyone here.”

“Lance of light,” bishop Emil muttered beside the dark elf. “That is quite a powerful spell against any demon or undead. How many ‘lance of light’ could your golem cast before it is out of power?”

“A hundred and twenty with a full arcana store and we brought two such storages.”

“More than two hundred spells to be cast,” the bishop murmured deep in thought as the nobles and clergymen all kept whispering amongst each other. “With such power and reserves, we could use this weapon directly against the archdemon itself...”

“Even an archdemon is not invincible against such a powerful wave of attacks.” Archbishop Philip finished the train of thought, everyone visibly becoming more elevated as the man stated the obvious.

“If it is indeed as powerful as you claim it to be, then it could be used on the front line against the greater demons,” Sir Godfrey, the princess’ knight commander remarked. “Those bastards would pose the greatest threat besides the royal golems.”

“Would it be possible to break through the main gate’s defences with the additional golems?” Princess Helena asked her advisors, prompting a new wave of arguments.

“Even with the additional forces,” one of the clergymen cleared his throat. “Breaking through the main gates is nearly impossible due to the ballistas and canons mounted on the battlements. Our best option would be to either attack the southern or the western gates as those are relatively smaller and less defended.”

“You mean they were less defended the last time you were there,” Godfrey corrected the man. “King Mikkel’s advisors and strategists are no fools. They know exactly where the defences are the weakest and will anticipate us attacking those points.”

“I still believe our best option would be to send in a squad through one of the smuggler tunnels.” Another advisor said from the side.

“We have already talked about this,” the knight commander argued. “The Exiled Court’s forces have already mapped the entire capital to find any such tunnels. They have likely posted sentries there.”

“It wouldn’t work either way,” another high-ranked knight added. “Those tunnels are far too narrow for our soldiers. They wouldn’t be able to fight if attacked and a single magus could eradicate them without much of an issue.”

“What about the eastern sewers?” one of the priests asked, earning a few raised eyebrows. “I remember that the grates got damaged last winter when a group of bears tried to seek shelter from the snowstorm that hit the capital and the forests to the east. The repairs got delayed due to the war, so they should still be in a bad state.”

“That could be a viable option,” Graham nodded. “The Walkways on the sides are wide enough for our people to travel and the sewers run through beneath the wall before splitting up into several smaller paths. I doubt they would have guards at every path.”

“Even if that’s the case, there could...”

Before the nobleman could finish his argument regarding the sewers, a loud boom cut through the air outside the tent, causing the people in the tent to panic. Regis turned around and left with quick steps, finding Quentin and Valerie standing nearby with the large golems and the guards that came along from Thornfell.

“What happened?” He asked them but before the paladin could answer, a basketball-sized orb of fire flashed through the air above them, hitting a tent not far behind them.

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“We are under attack!” Someone yelled as several glowing balls of fire burst through the air, bombarding the encampment and the soldiers that gathered there.

Quentin immediately ordered the golems to raise their shields, providing cover for the people leaving the command tent. The giant granite shields shook with a booming sound under the heavy impact of the explosions, fragments of destroyed metal falling off of them to the side.

“Artillery fire?” Valerie recognised the destroyed cannon balls.

“I thought you said that this encampment was outside of the capital’s reach.” The dark elf looked at the aged spellcaster with a frown.

“We are at least three kilometres from the city walls. Their cannons only have a reach of two hundred and fifty metres.”

“The demons are coming!” Someone else from the distance as the canon fire stopped while a wave of red appeared between the burning tents.

Several hundred imps and lesser demons rushed through the field between the tents, crashing into the soldiers who stood in a shield-wall formation. Regis hurriedly waved the princess toward the spider golem before activating the ‘domain heart’ which covered the spider and some extra space with a milky white dome of energy.

“So much about not taking part in the war.” Grego said from the side as he and the rest of the guards also took up a standard fighting formation with Quentin and Valerie joining them.

The wave of demons crashed into the defenders, spears and swords piercing their flesh as the soldiers cut them down without hesitation. The several-hundred-strong demon army was crushed in less than a minute, eliciting a slight cheer from the warriors.

“That was it?” Valerie asked the others. “I don’t understand it. Why would they send out such a small group to harass the church and the nobles?”

“And why did they stop firing the cannons?” Quentin added another question to the list.

“Something’s not right,” Regis hummed. “It’s like they’re messing with us.”

“Who says they are not?” Felix asked back.

“Reporting to the knight commander,” a soldier approached Sir Godfrey. “The enemy forces have fled, leaving behind seven cannons in the process.”

“They just left behind their canons?” The man looked at the soldier surprised.

“They also left a letter on one of them.” The soldier added as he handed over the parchments.

Godfrey unfurled the scroll and began to read it, his eyes bulging as the seconds passed. He then suddenly closed his hands, crumbling the paper.

“Those bastards are making fun of us!”

As he said that, one of his knights took the crumpled scroll and folded it back out, reading its contents out loud.

“It seems like you’re lacking the proper firepower to fight the royal army and the demons we summoned, so let us even the odds a bit. With love, Amara Argent.”

“The fuck?” Regis blurted out after hearing the short message.

“Amara,” he heard Valerie mutter to herself. “Isn’t that Natalie’s mother? Why would she do this?”

“The better question is…”

“Your Highness,” a guard cut into the conversation, running toward the spider golem. “The gateway had been hit by the artillery attack.”

“Fuck,” Quentin cussed. “So much about evening out the odds. The bastards were actually aiming at our escape point.

“I call bullshit. There’s no way an important strategic point like the gateway would be unguarded or have its barriers down right when someone decides to sneak attack us with a bunch of canons.” Regis argued.

“Young Regis is right,” Felix agreed as he and the rest left the safety of the barrier surrounding the golem. “We set up several layers of defences around the gateway. There’s no way it could have been damaged...”

“Unless you have saboteurs or spies here.” Valerie remarked.

“Whether it was intentional or not,” the dark elf sighed. “We won’t be able to go back home that way.”

“So what now?” The paladin looked at him questioningly.

“We can try to repair the gateway or hitch a ride toward the nearest town with a portal.” Valerie counted their options while the army around them reformed into orderly battalions.

“Report to the knight commander,” a soldier showed up from the crowd, stepping closer to Sir Godfrey. “Our scouts have spotted movement along the capital’s wall. The enemy seems to be gathering their troops to march on us.”

“Gather the troops,” Godfrey commanded. “Prepare to move out!”

The man turned toward Princess Helena, his eyes locking firmly on hers.

“We must move out immediately, lest we lose the chance to take up an advantageous position before the battle.”

“So much about besieging the capital.” Valerie whispered from the side.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Quentin remarked. “Why would they leave for an open field instead of sticking to fighting from behind the walls? That’s like shooting themselves in the leg before the fight even starts.”

“Something is definitely not right here.” Regis turned toward his companions.

“We should get out of here while we still can,” Valerie stated. “Can you open us a way?”

“I should be able to open a portal using the gateway spell, but other than picking the general direction, the result will be unpredictable.”

“Can’t you make it open a doorway to Atraune or White-spire Keep?” Quentin inquired, earning a slight head shake.

“They are too far from here for me to connect there. And since I haven’t been here before, I have no other place I could call upon.”

“It doesn’t matter if we land in a forest or in a wheat field as long as it gets us out of here.” Grego stated as the dark elf began to cast the spell.

They watched as the swirling portal began to take shape only to collapse halfway into the process. Regis looked confused for a moment before trying to cast the spell once again, but the result was the same.

“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked. “Are you out of arcana? I have a potion here you could...”

“It’s not that,” the loremaster said as some of the other high-ranked mages tried and failed to cast the spell as well. “Something is preventing us from opening the portal.”

“Someone must have used a powerful artefact or ritual to lock down the space around us,” a grand magus noted from the side. “No one will be able to leave through means of magic.”

“Shit.” A guardsman cussed after hearing the explanation.

“So what do we do now?”

“It’s not like we have much of a choice,” the paladin sighed. “We can’t leave this place using magic and I’m pretty sure that if we try to ride out of here, we will find something similarly blocking our escape.”

“That is the most likely thing to happen,” one of the high-ranked knights agreed from the side. “It seems our enemy is hell-bent on making us fight them.”

“Then let us make sure they regret it!” Sir Godfrey said with a heavy voice, the soldiers around them roaring as one.

The army began to march forward, thousands of mages, priests and warriors making their way toward the battlefield.

“If we survive this,” the infernal woman sighed. “Remind me not to stop Letty from killing you.”

“She’s going to be pissed, won’t she?” Regis stopped for a moment as his thoughts steered toward the wood elf woman.