Chapter 6: Chit-Chat

Chapter 6: Chit-Chat

The newly arrived Dark Elf archers decided to launch a concentrated attack, targeting one human unit with multiple teams.

In this limited distance, knocking out even one was a win.

Meanwhile, some Dark Elves and Orc Priests also began preparing their magic.

Sensing the magic energy waves coming from them, the human mages started to make their moves too.

Surrounding Airael, the mages led by Andrew began to provide escort for the siege engines ahead.

However, Airael chose not to join in.

There was no understanding between them, making it unsuitable for her to participate.

If she accidentally interfered, it could reduce the power of their magic significantly.

But apparently, Arthur didn’t know that.

Seeing all the human mages getting busy while Airael remained still, he couldn’t help but quietly ask, “Ailia, even Andrew is taking action, isn’t it a bit inappropriate for you to stay so still?”

Upon hearing this, Airael felt a headache coming on and summarized the situation for Arthur.

Arthur, feeling quite embarrassed after her explanation, just received a glare from her before she turned her gaze back to the battlefield.

With the escort of human mages, the siege engines made good progress and were nearing the city wall.

Yet, at this moment, the siege engines could advance no further.

In front, there were obstacles deliberately set by the Orcs to halt their progress.

Humans needed to clear these obstacles.

During this process, some losses were unavoidable for the humans.

Even with the protection of human mages, some siege engines inevitably fell apart under the relentless assaults from Orcs and Dark Elves.

Seeing this, Airael shook her head.

Was it really that human technology was declining?

The siege engines they produced were shockingly inferior!

A few centuries ago, when humans attacked their Elven race, those siege engines were nearly impossible to destroy.

However, things weren’t quite as Airael thought.

The technology of humans hadn’t really made much progress, but it hadn’t regressed either; the problem lay in the materials.

To attack the Elven race, Alexander had gathered quality resources from all over to craft various siege machines.

Thus, each siege piece was a masterpiece.

Now, while Machia was indeed a powerful nation, it was certainly far inferior in national strength compared to Alexander’s era.

Observing the situation, many human leaders and mages sighed.

But thankfully, only a portion of them were discarded; there were still some that could advance, firmly positioning themselves against the city wall.

In an instant, the human soldiers on the siege engines swarmed out, launching a mass charge, using their shields and weapons to literally “squeeze” up onto the city wall filled with Orcs.

Following closely behind, the human soldiers hurriedly ran over the siege engines to reinforce their positions on the wall.

However, it’s easier to take a kingdom than to defend it.

Although their initial charge allowed them to carve out a foothold on the wall, the subsequent counterattacks by the Orcs made things quite difficult for them.

Both sides found themselves in a stalemate on the city wall.

Humans struggled to advance.

But for the Orcs, forcing the humans off the wall wasn’t too easy either.

The leaders on both sides were watching the battle unfold.

The Beast King let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, although there were many second-tier troops on the wall, not all the human forces were elite; there were plenty of second-tier troops mixed in, with only a handful of elite members.

This was to be expected. It was only the second battle; if humans sent all their elites right from the start, it would be foolhardy.

This also indicated that today, humans were merely launching a probing attack.

Feeling relieved, the Beast King began to organize the Orc troops on the wall.

Although he grasped that humans were merely testing the waters, he did not dare to let his guard down.

If he relaxed even a little and showed any weakness, he was confident that humans would seize the opportunity to unleash their elite forces and break through his fortress on the first day.

Beside him, Mork was far from idle.

He issued one command after another, instructing the Dark Elves to assist the Orcs in defending the city, pushing those humans back down.

Soon, the human soldiers were successfully driven off the city wall.

However, humans were not so easily discouraged.

Shortly after being pushed back down, they quickly regrouped on their siege engines and charged at the Orcs on the wall once more.

The battle fell back into a tug-of-war.

…

A day’s battle concluded.

That night, inside Airael and Arthur’s tent.

Even after a whole day of fighting, both were surprisingly full of energy.

Because they hadn’t exerted much effort at all.

The whole day was spent observing.

“By the way, Arthur, have you ever participated in a large-scale siege battle like this before?”

With some spare time, Airael, sitting on the bed, asked Arthur.

Arthur was busy handling some trivial matters in the camp. Upon hearing Airael’s question, he looked at her and replied, “Nope! This is my first time.”

“Then what’s your impression after watching all day?”

“Siegas are tough!” Arthur sighed.

After a full day, humans hadn’t even managed to secure a solid foothold on the wall.

While this was partly due to the lack of elite forces, the Orcs and Dark Elves surely had some tricks up their sleeves as well.

“Indeed, but as long as you’re well-prepared, actually, sieges can be quite easy.”

Airael chimed in.

“And what counts as well-prepared?”

Arthur completely set aside his previous distractions, looking at Airael in inquiry.

“That depends on the situation. For instance, currently, we’re attacking the Orc Fortress Marlon, which houses many Dark Elves. Dark Elves, like the Elven race, excel at using arrows as long-range weapons and magic as supernatural means of combat. So we need to prepare large shields and some high-magic-resistant equipment.”

Arthur nodded at her words. “Ailia, your reasoning is right, but while large shields are easy to find, high-magic-resistant gear isn’t, especially of a high standard.”

“About that, I’m just saying, but you really intend to search for it?”

In response, Airael playfully stuck out her tongue and continued, “If high-magic-resistant equipment were easy to come by, mages would not hold such an exalted position, and the best way to deal with magic is always magic itself. It’s just that sorcerers, especially human mages, aren’t very good at close combat.”

Arthur initially showed a facepalm at Airael’s unreliable comments, but he had to admit she was right after hearing her next line.

But what use was it?