Chapter 91: At the Dawn 6
Yolani gazed out from the roof of the Neftasu District Tower, the small caliber defense cannon placed at its center humming as its ammo waited to be discharged.
Two dozen men of the Neftasu Guard manned positions along the crenulations, their forms slightly exposed yet shielded from above by an arcane barrier designed to deflect any aerial threats short of a direct landing.
Two dozen more men waited on the floor below, weapons at the ready as they peered through windows, prepared to rain fire upon any enemy foolish enough to traverse the district’s streets.
The layered defense continued down to the tower’s base, where an entire company stood poised in the main chambers, a flying reserve ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.
Throughout the district, the remaining Neftasu Guard and Ironfist forces lay scattered, concealed within random buildings and defensive emplacements. They waited, ready to spring ambushes and surprise attacks that would turn the lives of any invaders into a living nightmare amid the urban sprawl.
Yolani looked out at the empty streets.
All the civilians had been evacuated to three major bunkers, each fortified with defenders—one in the Ironfist company’s headquarters, another in the Neftasu Guard’s barracks, and the last beneath the council building.
The Neftasu District Tower itself lacked a bunker due to the sheer difficulty of safely excavating a staircase through its reinforced flooring.
She was confident the island itself would shatter before the tower ever fell. By then, far greater concerns would surely arise.
She exhaled tensely, scanning the distant battle as airships landed upon Contia’s surface amid the thunderous exchange of artillery fire between city and fleet.
Dozens of Monevoian vessels caught flame, floundering in the sky, most failing to reach their intended crash sites within the city limits.
The invasion barges posed the greatest threat, and from her vantage point, Yolani witnessed two making controlled crash landings, their hulls digging through streets and buildings like immense metal ploughs through soil.
Ramps unfurled by the dozens, disgorging men who slid down ropes or leapt off with flight packs to form up on the ravaged streets or pick their way across rooftops.
Yolani hurried over to the stairwell, her heart pounding as she shouted down, “Mortars!” The shout reverberated off the stone walls.
She returned to the battlements, scanning the chaos unfolding below.
A minute later, several squads of men rushed up the stairs, their boots clanging against the metal steps.
They carried long, cylindrical tubes; Yolani had explained how the weapon worked, and she and a dozen others had spent a few days getting it functional. They were simple yet effective, though their accuracy left much to be desired still.
They hadn’t had time to fine-tune the ballistics.
Yolani pointed to the troop barges, her finger trembling slightly.
The barges presented the smallest viable target; landing the mortars in the streets without striking buildings was nigh impossible. The men nodded, their faces grim as they set up their weapons and took aim.
As the mortars fired, Yolani watched the enemy troops still disembarking from the barges.
Thousands upon thousands of soldiers poured out, their numbers seemingly endless.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
A cold, sinking feeling settled in her stomach as she witnessed the sheer magnitude of the Monevoian forces. It reminded her too much of Neftasu’s invasion.
Contia’s military was formidable, but the question remained: just how many soldiers had the Monevoians brought to bear?
The foot soldiers would eventually be wiped out, provided the demi-divines could defeat the enemy leaders. But they could wreak havoc in the meantime.
Perhaps that was their plan all along: to butcher the people, leaving the Four Towers with no followers and no means to regenerate their [Divine Power].
A slow, agonizing death by divine strangulation.
On the lower islands, Yolani spotted Golds flying in to attack, their forms a blur of motion.
Silvers rose to meet them, their armor glinting in the light.
Yolani’s own flight pack weighed heavy on her back, primed and ready for use if needed.
Her eyes narrowed as she noticed a Gold flying toward the Neftasu District.
With a fluid motion, she flipped out the bipod on her rifle, steadying it against the battlement.
It was time to test her new weapon.
She breathed deep, peering through the scope; the crosshairs highlighted her target just as she had practiced on the shooting range. The only difference now was that this was a real enemy soldier, and he was moving.
Through the magnified view, she could make out the gold-bronze hue of his gear and armor, as well as the intricate details of his flying contraption.
With a slight adjustment, she centered the green dot on his helmet and smoothly pulled the trigger.
The rifle bucked in her arms, the recoil a familiar sensation. The projectile shot out as a slow-moving streak of blue light.
The enemy Gold noticed the incoming round and attempted to evade, but the projectile curved gracefully, adjusting its trajectory to intercept his head perfectly.
His head disintegrated, and his lifeless body plummeted from the flying device.
One down, Yolani thought grimly, knowing there were countless more to go.
The constant rumble of artillery fire filled the air, but Yolani’s attention was drawn to her men as they called out, indicating they were ready to fire.
She turned to them and shouted, “Fire at will!”
In unison, they dropped projectiles into the mortar tubes, sending out a series of loud wumphs as the shells were propelled skyward.
She raised her telescope, adjusting the zoom to get a better view of the target area.
The shells arced through the air before exploding above the enemy barge, raining down sprays of red-hot metal flakes onto the disembarking soldiers and the ship itself.
Men fell from ladders and ramps, many of them rolling on the ground or seeking shelter from the deadly barrage.
Despite the mortars’ effectiveness, the enemy troops continued to pour out of the barge in alarming numbers, moving past their wounded comrades and charging into the city streets.
Yolani bit her lip. They should have tried for a bigger projectile.
Or made more.
She missed the impact of the next volley as her head snapped up at the sound of a thunderous crack overhead.
Her eyes widened as she saw two demi-divines engaged in a fierce aerial battle above the district. The anti-air turret began to yaw and elevate, the guards frantically pushing it to track the combatants.
“Don’t fire!” Yolani shouted. “One of them is Elania!”
The guards acknowledged her command, their movements becoming more precise as they tried to track the enemy demi-divine without firing.
The enemy wielded a whip of black flame, the dark tendrils lashing out at Elania.
Elania’s wings moved with incredible speed, blocking each strike, but the relentless assault left her little room to counterattack.
Yolani raised her rifle, peering through the scope as she tried to line up a shot on the enemy demi-divine. Their erratic movements made it impossible to get a clear lock.
Cursing under her breath, she lowered her weapon and scanned the area, desperately searching for anything that could help turn the tide of the battle.
An explosion erupted on the tower’s arcane barrier, the force of the blast sending everyone ducking for cover. Soon after, a barrage of fire bolts struck the protective field. The impact unleashed a wave of heat and ashes rushing through the air.
Despite the intensity of the attack, the barrier held firm, absorbing the damage.
Yolani spun around, her eyes locking onto the airship responsible.
“Return fire on that airship!” she commanded, pointing at the offending vessel.
The Neftasu Guards swiftly rotated the defense turret, aligning it with the target. A moment later, they fired, sending a white kinetic bolt of energy streaking through the air.
The bolt slammed into the enemy airship’s fields, causing them to flare a brilliant red as they absorbed the impact.
“Fire at will!” Yolani shouted.
The turret began unleashing a relentless barrage, firing a bolt every few seconds.
The men along the crenulations suddenly shouted, alerting everyone to the enemy on the ground.
Rifle fire erupted from the wall as the guards on the roof and in the rooms below opened fire through the windows.
Enemy mages retaliated with magic bolts, but the arcane barrier surrounding the tower effectively blocked their attacks.
Yolani rushed to assess the situation.
The concentrated fire from the tower forced the enemy soldiers to seek cover up the street, but their sheer numbers allowed them to push forward despite the growing number of casualties.
They needed the machine gun.