Still, Alexandros was no longer the naïve, free-spirited youth of yore. Over the course of the last month, the boy emperor had learnt and come to learn a variety of different topics and concepts.

Amongst these various learnings were lessons that were not merely aimed at leadership and kingship but lessons that taught the boy emperor how to think and to stand on his own two feet.

Wuzhi's abandonment of the youth in his first campaign had a dual purpose; primarily, he wanted Alexandros to use this opportunity to build renown and begin the forging of his own legend; and secondarily, Wuzhi wanted to use this campaign, akin to a whetstone, to sharpen the character of the young emperor.

As such, Alexandros Centinni the Twelfth remained calm. The treasonous words of slander uttered by the treacherous enemy general, standing above the rampart, entered through the boy's left ear and exited from his right.

However, the boy emperor did not stay still. He exited his carriage, and under the protection of his Royal Guard Captain, Matthias, he convened with the commander of the current campaign.

"General Arlo," he evenly greeted.

Hearing the emperor's voice, Arlo immediately kneeled and greeted back. "Your Royal Eminence, how might this old general be of service to you?"

Gesturing to the distant ramparts with his eyes, Alexandros spoke. "The enemy seems to have been expecting our arrival, general."

"Ah, that, I—" General Arlo was at a loss for words. He then quickly shook his head and sighed in defeat. "It seems that word of our activity has been leaked beforehand, prompting the enemy to prepare in haste."

"It appears so," Alexandros nodded his head in agreement.

General Arlo then turned his eye at the distant ramparts, packed with its curse-hurling soldiers, and scanned carefully. His experience built over a career of more than forty years was not a shallow one.

"The enemy's show of resistance is fierce. Too fierce. It is as if," a bolt of realisation flashed across the general's eyes, "they want to 'startle the snake to scare the tiger!'"

Having grown familiar with such long-winded speech, Alexandros quickly understood. "You mean to say; they are putting up a false show of strength?"

General Arlo nodded his head severely. "Your Royal Eminence, this general had already sent spies to closely monitor the activities of the city. While they were unable to make it into the city itself, they managed to keep an eye on its comings and goings."

Taking a deep breath, he continued. "And according to their reports, there has been no large transfer of forces into the city. That is to say, while the enemy managed to learn of our intentions, they have been unable to appropriately react in time."

"Your Royal Eminence, if this general's experience and wisdom have yet to fail him, the defenders that we are currently facing must consist of the 5000 soldiers garrisoned within the city!"

"With thirty-thousand soldiers armed with the latest arms on our side, this general believes that it is possible to lay siege and claim this city before enemy reinforcements arrive!"

"Please, trust in this general's ability and leave this matter to me!" General Arlo bowed in permission.

The boy emperor turned this matter inside his head for a few moments before nodding his head. "Alright. You possess more experience in this matter than We do. We shall leave it to you then."

General Arlo immediately thanked his monarch. He then rose to his feet and gave out his orders.

"Heed my commands! Our opponent dares not to honour our attempt at negotiation and even dares to openly insult our one, true monarch! By what gall!?"

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"As of this instant, I, General Arlo, Commander of the First Army, servant of the true monarch of the South Aislan Continent and loyal follower of my liege, Lord Regent Rodriguez, declare New Hope Port City as the 'Enemy'!"

"Captains! Gather your men! Carriage drivers! Station your coaches to form a defensive wall! We shall lay siege and reclaim our city from the hands of traitors!"

"For the Empire!~"

"For the Empire!"

"For the Empire!"

"For the Empire!"

A wave of resounding chants blanketed the battlefield. With the vigour of men sufficiently aroused, the soldiers and agents quickly followed the wizened general's orders and started preparing the siege.

It did not take long for the 'carriage-wall-defensive-line' to form and it took even less time for the thirty-thousand soldiers lying within the shadows to gather. The preliminary preparation for the siege was completed, and the siege truly began.

Standing at a distance of 450 metres from the walls and ramparts of the port city, the marksmen of the Empire's army took aim at the enemy. After loading their shots and marking their targets, the marksmen squeezed the triggers of their newly-gotten weapons.

Thunders flashed and bolts of lightning struck! Blood spilled and lives were claimed!

Heralded by the symphony of fire and iron, five thousand men armed with pikes and wall busters rushed towards the fortified walls of the port city. Screaming at the top of their lungs, they closed the distance of roughly 500 metres in under a minute and crashed against fortified walls.

BANG! Another volley of thunder resounded. Only this time, it was of the enemy.

Small lead bullets, shorter than a finger's length in size, rained upon the heads of the men battering against the thick walls and tore through their skulls with the same ease as one is able to tear through paper!

Chests were torn asunder and brains were turned into mush. In just seconds, two hundred men fell into oblivion, the candles of their life having been snuffed out.

Yet, the roars did not stop and the maddened march continued. Able men stepped upon the corpses of their fallen fellows and continued to batter the walls.

BANG! BANG! Volley after volley of gunshots echoed across the battlefield. It sometimes came from the enemy and other times came from the Empire's army. One thing was clear, however, for that every time a volley resounded, lives were unfailingly claimed.

More fell and even more came forward. The battlefield quickly turned into a meatgrinder as the flesh and blood of a thousand men littered the field. The blackish-brown earth turned crimson as the earth continued to feed upon the scarlet life of many, many men.

It was a horrible sight, which turned even more horrible with the passage of time. Yet, the reddened, crazed eyes of men did not look to see the horrible wastage borne out of war. No, it only saw the enemy; that hateful life that had to be snuffed.

Though, hidden under the gazes of men was the gaze of a boy. A boy whose gaze had reddened, not out of anger like his elders, but out of horror.

The young emperor, Alexandros Centinni the Twelfth, gazed at the horrors of war for the first time in his life. He could not stomach it. Hiding within his royal carriage, he profusely vomited. Snot and tears flowed down his immaculate, twisted face as he continued to vomit.

More and more, yellowish waters stained his hands and clothes. And yet, the feeling of disgust filling his body refused to leave. Alexandros cried and heaved and retched, he did so until he rid his heart of all the painful emotions hurting his chest.

And when both his stomach and heart were empty, rid of everything that filled and hurt him, Alexandros was overcome by an eerie stillness. His citrine eyes stared emptily into the space before him.

'Ah,' he thought. 'So, this is war. That noble, honourable activity waged by my father, and his father, and his father, and all my forefathers that came before him.'

'War. A conquest in which evil is struck down and justice flourishes.'

'War. An epic journey in which young men become gallant heroes.'

Alexandros' thoughts stilled. Words and meanings refused to flow out of his mind. An unusual sense of peace and emptiness overcame him.

After an inordinate amount of time, during which the young boy was akin to the living dead, Alexandros finally muttered. "I don't like this activity. I don't like this war."

The young emperor stood up. He stripped his stained clothes and wore new ones. He grabbed a bottle of perfume and doused himself to remove the smell of filth. Opening the doors to the carriage, Alexandros strode out. His face was a mask of unprecedented calmness and clarity.

Outside, night had settled upon the earth. Having fought for half a day, both sides had retreated for a short rest, leaving the battle to a lull.

With sure, clear strides, Alexandros approached the war tent, alit with discussions and chatter. He heard the captains arguing, advisors debating, and scribes noting everything down.

Pushing the flap aside, Alexandros entered. The enlivened chatter immediately dulled as the people within caught sight of the young emperor. All immediately kneeled and bowed in respect.

The boy emperor paid no attention to any of that. He gazed directly into the eyes of General Arlo and stated. "Give Us one thousand of your best soldiers and all of your practitioners."

"We, shall make that city surrender by dawn."

An outrageous statement.