Momentarily, no one in the camp spoke.

  They all simply stood stunned, watching the fortress burn.

  Another streak of crimson tore through the night sky and slammed into the damaged wall. The explosion followed a heartbeat later, echoing across the plains.

  Chunks of stone tumbled from the battlements like falling gravel.

  A few adventurers cursed under their breath.

  “Gods…”

  “That wall’s not going to last if they keep that up.”

  The wind shifted slightly, carrying the faint scent of smoke across the campsite.

  Another fire bolt streaked upward from the darkness beyond the fortress. And another. They curved through the sky like blazing arrows before crashing into the same weakened section of wall.

  BOOM.

  BOOM.

  Dust and flame billowed outward again.

  Rylan kept watching in silence as Akane shifted slightly on his shoulder.

  They’re testing the defenses.

  Testing?

  Yes.

  Her voice was contemplative now: They’re striking the same section repeatedly. They want to break the outer wall before committing anything else.

  Another explosion shook the distant fortress. The damaged portion of wall sagged slightly now, barely visible through the smoke.

  Rylan exhaled quietly. “I truly hope the fortress engineers knew what they were doing.”

  Akane’s ears twitched again. More cultivators.

  You keep saying that.

  And I will keep being correct.

  Rylan glanced sideways at her.

  You sound very confident for someone who’s technically Level 1.

  Akane didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she kept staring toward the battlefield, eyes narrowed.

  When you stare at a bonfire long enough, she finally said lazily, you begin to notice when someone throws oil into it.

  Rylan frowned slightly but didn’t press further. Around them, the argument among the adventurers had grown louder.

  “We should leave before the army reaches us!”

  “And run where?”

  “Anywhere that isn’t between two armies!”

  “If the fortress falls, they’ll sweep this whole road!”

  Someone else pointed east, “We could reach the river by morning if we move now.”

  Another explosion cut through the discussion; something had changed. For several seconds, no new fireballs appeared.

  The battlefield fell into a strange, tense quiet.

  Even the quarreling adventurers seemed to notice.

  “Why did they stop?” someone asked.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Rylan frowned. Akane’s tail went still.

  They didn’t stop.

  Another streak of fire suddenly rose into the sky. However, this one was different. It burned brighter than the others, and it was aimed lower.

  Rylan watched it descend toward the fortress wall.

  The fireball struck the already-damaged section of stone. The wall gave way upon impact, and the explosion that followed was enormous.

  Stone collapsed inward with a thunderous roar, and a massive section of the outer wall disappeared into a rolling cloud of dust and flame.

  Someone in the camp whispered hoarsely: “…They breached it.”

  The fortress wall was open.

  The battlefield seemed to hold its breath for a fleeting second.

  Dust billowed upward where the structure had collapsed, rising like a dark cloud against the burning sky. The torches along the remaining battlements flickered wildly as soldiers rushed along the wall, their shouts faint but frantic even from this distance.

  Deep war horns rolled again across the plains from beyond the fortress, long and commanding. The sound was answered by dozens of smaller horns along the imperial lines.

  Someone in the camp whispered, “They’re advancing…”

  Rylan didn’t reply as his eyes remained fixed on the shattered wall.

  The smoke parted briefly, and for the first time, shapes began moving within the darkness beyond the breach—long lines of torchlight shifting like a slow river of fire as the imperial army prepared to pour through the opening.

  Akane’s ears twitched. Master, bad news.

  But far beyond the adventurers’ campsite, past the burning wall and the scrambling defenders, a man stood calmly atop a low ridge overlooking the fortress.

  The wind pulled at the long black cloak hanging from his shoulders. Beneath it, silver thread traced subtle patterns along the dark fabric of his uniform, revealing intricate lightning affinity formations.

  Below the ridge stretched the imperial army, tight formations of infantry waiting with disciplined stillness. Siege crews stood ready beside their engines. Banners bearing the sigil of the Varkessian Empire snapped sharply in the night wind.

  The man paid them little attention, moving his gaze upon the ruined section of wall.

  “Finally,” he murmured.

  The breach smoldered like a wound in the stone. It had taken longer than he preferred.

  The fortress engineers of Lythara had clearly done competent work reinforcing the outer defenses. The first bombardments had barely scratched the surface.

  Still, stone remained just that—stone. Given enough power applied to the same point, even the strongest walls would eventually fail.

  Faint arcs of electricity crawled across the commander’s fingers before fading into the night air.

  Behind him, an officer stepped forward and bowed slightly.

  “The breach is confirmed, Commander. The vanguard is prepared to advance on your signal.”

  The man nodded, “Send them.”

  The order had barely left his mouth when another horn echoed across the plains.

  Rows of torches began moving toward the shattered wall whilst the commander watched the advance with calm satisfaction.

  A fortress like this was meant to delay an army for weeks. Tonight, it would last mere minutes.

  Though…

  His gaze lingered on the ruined battlements.

  Had his father been present, the wall would never have stood at all.

  A Dao Integration cultivator would not bother with siege bombardments. One properly executed technique could have erased half the fortress in a single strike.

  Compared to that level of power, these provincial defenses would have been little more than an inconvenience

  The thought lasted only a split second before he dismissed it. Comparing himself to that man was pointless. After all, very few cultivators in the empire could stand beside the Sect Master of the Ninefold Heaven Sect, and fewer still could endure his father’s expectations.

  Instead, the young commander focused on his own progress.

  Three months ago, his cultivation had finally broken through into the Nascent Soul realm. Shortly afterward, his training beneath the Lightning Tower Master had pushed his lightning magic to Level 6.

  Progress mattered more than comparison; comparison was nothing but the killer of joys.

  Movement far across the plains—imperceptible to the normal human eye—caught his attention. He turned slightly, extending his spiritual sense outward.

  His perception swept across the dark grasslands like an invisible tide, and as expected, most of the area was empty.

  Residual mana from the earlier bombardments lingered near the battlefield, distorting weaker presences, but one small cluster of life signatures remained.

  Less than half a league away, probably twenty minutes on horseback, stood a watchtower.

  The commander’s eyes narrowed slightly; he remembered the location.

  Earlier, scouts had reported a small fire near that structure during the evening. At the time, it had seemed insignificant—perhaps merchants resting for the night or a handful of local travelers.

  Now the fire was gone, but he could sense that the people remained.

  Observers—or survivors waiting to flee.

  Neither was acceptable.

  If word of the siege reached the eastern garrisons too quickly, the next stage of the campaign could become… inconvenient.

  The commander turned his head slightly. “Captain.”

  The officer behind him straightened immediately. “Yes, Commander?”

  “There is a watchtower northeast of the fortress.”

  The captain followed the direction of his gaze but saw only darkness stretching across the plains.

  “I want no witnesses leaving this battlefield tonight.”

  “It will be handled.” The officer bowed deeply.

  The commander gave a single nod and returned his attention to the fortress as the imperial vanguard advanced toward the burning breach.

  Behind the ridge, several figures detached themselves from the rear lines, moving without torches nor heavy armor, and far more quickly than ordinary soldiers.

  Near the lonely watchtower, the adventurers watching the siege had no idea that they had already been noticed.