By the time the Laquor people realized something was wrong, it was already too late.
The Shurima unification army's tactic of increasing its troops while reducing its cooking fires wasn't complicated at all. At its core, it was simply a ruse to make it look like they were retreating. The ships leaving the camp had indeed taken many people away, but most of them were wounded.
And to make the ships ride lower in the water, the army had secretly dug a sizable underground vault during the night. They used it to hide soldiers, and also packed the excavated earth into sacks and loaded it onto the ships.
In this way, the Shurima unification army successfully gave the defenders of Nareumajel the impression that they were about to retreat.
What truly convinced the people of Nareumajel and the Laquor people was the powerful gravitational field they had built. The previous battles had already proved that the Shurima unification army had no way to counter it. If so, then the enemy's retreat was only to be expected.
On top of that, Azir had put on a convincing performance as he personally covered the retreat, and Nareumajel finally let down its guard.
Although they still maintained a sizable force of defenders, "sizable" meant enough soldiers to hold the city while the powerful gravitational field was active. Once it failed and the enemy launched a surprise attack, those defenders could do little more than witness the assault.
Of the five walls, the first three fell one after another, each breached in about fifteen minutes. The fourth wall was not tall enough and was soon easily crossed as well. In less than an hour, the vast city of Nareumajel had only one barrier left: the fifth wall.
The defenders and Rah-Hok warriors finally had