Roland Turner vi Ishodir was nervous being inside a foreign nation, even if it was one his forces were invading. He was only at the Magus level, after all, and any Bresian elite could take him easily if he were not constantly protected. For that matter, many opponents back home wouldn’t miss any vulnerabilities should he show any.

Although grandfather was the pillar of the nation, Roland’s position wasn’t as steady. He was the emperor, but if he died or was captured, he could be easily replaced. He already knew where the backup clone was hidden, and since he wasn’t an Archmagus, that clone would be a different person with the same memories. A different Anima too, of course, but it would have the same bloodline, the same affinities, and practically the same skill.

He didn’t really want to know how many had come before him, though hopefully, the answer would be zero.

Well, he wouldn’t normally think of such things, but recent events and Gramps’s mental instability had pushed some things to light. He hadn’t even known about the clone until Gramps told him when he complained about the danger of going to the frontlines. Well, one of the frontlines. He was the emperor, after all, not a general.

Also, he wasn’t a fool. Clones only served as a second life if he had a Domain, or was half a step into getting one. He was far from that. He barely even formed his personal Truth! It might take a century or more to progress that far, and by then… gramps would either be dead or Ascended.

Either way, trouble would come. The Archmagus was the foundation of the Empire, and without him, just the Guardian alone would not be able to serve as a deterrent. Bresia had four Grand Magi, Xotha had Seven, though supposedly they were weak for their level. The hives up north were a mystery, and his intelligence service had not been able to infiltrate and give them the correct numbers. They really shouldn’t be focusing on Bresia since the republic was pretty pacifistic.

Goddess’ saggy melons! Those hives came out at the most inappropriate time!

Shaking his head at the foul, blasphemous curse, and thanking the stars that he only did that in his head, he focused on the scrying mirror which showed the Bresian Army camp bogged down by snow. The initial attack had gone well, with the decoy boulders and the sneaky hailstones that were designed to bypass barriers in inclement weather.

After all, it took far more energy to maintain an active defence against precipitation, and stopping water from entering camp could have dangerous repercussions. Now that the Bresians had their full dome, the best strategy was to wait them out while continuing the bombardment.

Unfortunately, that was not the option that the Commander General picked.

Reinforcements to the western front had been hotly debated and contested by the General Staff, and only Roland’s presence, and the Archmagus’ insistence, forced their hand. And the Guardian, of course. The sole Grand Magus level combatant in the country.

Roland glanced at the mysterious figure that stood two and a half paces tall, wore a sedge hat that concealed most of his facial features, and a black leather trench coat that hung down to his knees. His trousers were a bit more voluminous but despite the freezing air, he wore nothing over his torso other than the open trench coat. His abdomen was covered by a dozen leather belts, and each one was engraved with an enhancement spell. Roland didn’t know the specifics of the spells, mainly because it had been disclosed to the crown that they varied on the occasion. The man was barefoot too, but his… feet were certainly not humanoid. They looked more reptilian than anything else, covered in dark grey scales and tipped with razor-sharp claws.

Every now and then, Roland could sense a static charge build along the Guardian’s body, coming from the tip of the sedge hat, then down into his neck and shoulders. It flowed into his body from there and was soon grounded through the claw tips. It was only because both of them had the same Elemental Affinity that Roland could even sense it, otherwise, the charge was nearly undetectable. His closest bodyguard, Amaya Stanton would have noticed and reacted too, considering the ominous feel of the static.

The commander’s base of operations was set nearly three longstrides from the actual battlezone, set on top of another hill. Roland wasn’t there but was tucked away in a narrow ravine with his personal guards and the empire’s Guardian. The scryer Magi beside him controlled the image to show a wider view of the battlefield, but Roland gestured for them to focus and magnify instead. The spell sputtered and stopped at the barrier, but that was only to be expected.

Roland gestured for the view to shift, and he added, “Look for openings.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The ravine containing his camp was barely wide enough for five men to walk abreast, but his portable tent covered the entire width. With the constant snow, the roof would be camouflaged from any passing aerial scout, so he should be safe. But their quarry, the elusive and dangerous Yuriko Davar, had a natural defence against scrying, so it was difficult to pinpoint her location. Visual reconnaissance reports placed her with this army, which was why he had them force march out of the fortresses to pursue. The wise move would have been to hunker down, but since the republic exposed themselves like this, it was worth the risk to capitalise on.

The Ishodirian vanguard consisted of Earth Golems. They stopped several hundred paces from the camp’s barrier and began to bombard it with boulders. They struck in volleys, never letting the barrier rest, and every now and then, the Ice Golems farther back shot hailstones in a high arc.

The army he brought over was merely a single battalion in strength, ten thousand men and women. The main difference between this one and the others in the empire was that the First Battalion consisted entirely of Golem Riders. And attached support companies, but those weren’t combatants.

This was Roland’s final effort to secure Yuriko Davar because if the battalion was lost, or even held up for too long, the empire’s enemies in the north and east would take advantage of the gap. Gramps was just too insistent.

His mind shuddered when he recalled what he saw in the laboratory and what Gramps did with the blood essence. It was more than disturbing, and he had thought to reject the old man’s demands. But he was a mere puppet on the throne, and he had little power to fight back. Not that he would anyway, he thought with a sigh. He may have felt bad, but since he couldn’t do anything about it.

Besides, he already had an heir, anyway. The Empress-consort was finally with child, and he was supposed to turn his attention to the princess-concubines now. Grandfather always said that Roland’s bloodline had been perfected, and it was why he had to spread it as far as it would go. It was a pleasant task, but he preferred governing the country more than anything else.

The bombardment continued for several minutes, and the opacity of the barrier prevented the imperial forces from seeing through it. But Roland expected a counterattack to happen soon, and he wasn’t disappointed.

The barrier at the southern side split open a triangular door and Steeld mounted cavalry rushed out. The Earth Golems were positioned directly east, but the Commander General’s flankers were circling around the hilltop already. The abrupt opening startled the company of Ice Golems, but they recovered quickly enough to attack with shards. The Steeld cavalry opened up with a volley of bullets from their firearms, which were also accompanied by spells that wrested control of the earth underneath the snow. The Bresians must have their own snow and ice manipulators since the cavalry’s path tamped down to make a firm road towards their target.

The icicle shards bounced off Steeld-powered barriers, but those things only lasted for a couple of hits before they flickered out. The Bresians were disciplined enough to cycle those with depleted defences to those with fresher ones, but the Golems shifted their aim to indirect attacks. Icicle spears changed to frozen chunks, which arched over the vanguard and fell upon the trailers. Not coincidentally, those hit were those who had depleted barriers, and the casualties began rising.

Another part of the camp barrier opened up, and another set of cavalry rushed out. These circled the Earth Golems and looked like they were aiming for the command centre. Another door opened and a different troop, these ones with sturdier Steelds that fully enclosed their riders, clomped down towards the Earth Golems.

The imperials were outnumbered, but Golem Riders were classed as just below elite fighters. A Golem had powerful offence and defence options, and most had impressive speed. That all of it could be used by a single pilot as opposed to a squad meant that Golems could focus their efforts more effectively. In a one-on-one battle, a Golem Rider would be able to defeat a Steeld Cavalry unit most of the time. Well, an average Steeld specimen anyway. The ones that charged directly at the Earth Golems were three or four times bigger than the usual Steeld, completely enclosed the soldier, and had mounted firearms and spell activation tools.

They were quadrupedal, had a large dome head, and twin tusks that were three paces long. There were cannons on their faces…a, no, not cannons. Rifle barrels?

Roland frowned as he observed the giant Steelds laying down volleys of suppressive fire. The bullets struck the Earth Golems, and though most of them bounced off the hardened stone, the volume of fire was large enough that some of them penetrated a little bit. Deep enough blows could hit the runescript circuitry that encompassed the internal workings of the Golem and damage it.

There were six barrels clumped together on the Steeld faces, and they fired consecutively rather than all at once. The Steelds were fifty abreast, and behind them were the regular cavalry. The Earth golems shot fist-sized stones at them, but most either bounced off the barriers or the metal armour of the vanguard. Well, the mammoth Steelds weren’t in a straight line, now that he had a better look. They were in a slight wedge. The Earth Golems focused on that one, but its armour and barrier lasted long enough to make contact.

Kaboom!

The mammoth Steeld slammed into the centre Golem and pushed it back. The Steeld was of the same size, but it probably outweighed the Golem eightfold. It managed to push the Golem back by several paces, then, the face guns retracted and an actual cannon popped out. It was a short and stubby one…

Boom!

The shell slammed into the Golem’s front, probably where the core was, and knocked it back. Roland looked at the damage and sighed. The cannon shell fired point-blank and cratered the Golem’s torso, but he saw that the Rider used their emergency barriers to ameliorate the blow. Plus, Roland was sure cannons delivered a stronger hit if they allowed the shell to travel a bit of distance. As it was, the stubby cannon had shattered from the backlash, and the Steeld’s head was also damaged a bit.

The other Steeld riders weren’t as foolish as the first and swapped out their bunched-up rifles for the cannon to fire them from a safer distance.

Or perhaps the point-blank attack was more effective since the Golems were forewarned? Either way, the barriers and Earthen shields defended against the assault handily, and the battle devolved into a furious melee.

Roland shook his head and looked at the other aspects of the battlefield. The Bresians had not stopped deploying, but he was sure it was due to desperation. The dome barrier was starting to waver.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep