Dangerous Plan

On the third day of the siege, Miles sent word that a force of roughly fifty thousand soldiers had split off from the enemy camp and departed in another direction.

Benjamin immediately shared the news with everyone defending the city.

After hearing it, worried expressions appeared throughout City Hall.

After their initial full-scale assault had failed, the enemy had continued with harassing, provocative attacks. They no longer launched massive charges at Locke City; at most, they would fire the Holy Light Cannon a few times or have a group of priests blast away with divine arts. They had never managed to breach the Rune Defense Array again. For now, Locke City was still quite safe.

But... if the enemy did not launch a major offensive and simply dragged things out, they had no way of whittling down the enemy's forces. Moreover, as time passed, everyone in the city understood that the enemy was beginning to entertain other schemes.

Ikor's current military strength was nowhere near enough to rival the Hori Kingdom. Relying on the Rune Defense Array to hold a city like this was already their limit; it was difficult for them to spare any attention for other places. Once the enemy began taking detours to attack other cities, their situation would gradually become perilous.

And now, their fears seemed to have come true.

"They really are planning to bypass Locke City and seize other territories." The acting prime minister's expression was exceptionally grave. "We definitely can't keep defending like this. We have to take the initiative."

However, objections were raised at once.

"Take the initiative? How is that any different from courting death?"

"There's no need to be so pessimistic. After splitting their forces, their numbers will definitely be reduced. At that point, even if we leave the Rune