The defense of the Silver Vein River, day three.
Before dawn, dull battering sounds already echoed through the Silver Vein River valley beneath a gray-white sky.
"Slower... slower still."
Marius pulled his badly worn wyvern-hide coat tighter around himself, his eyelids drooping, without the slightest awareness that he was in the middle of a war.
His voice was hoarse with exhaustion. "Have the serpent lizards scrape with the tips of their claws, not ram it with their heads. We're here to put on a show, not get ourselves killed... with this many layers of ice walls, don't let them break their claws."
Beside him, his adjutant's eye twitched.
According to Major General Kaden's strict orders last night, they had to advance along the entire front today and smash through this defensive line at any cost.
Yet his count had somehow turned a siege into a theatrical performance.
"My lord, about Major General Kaden..." The adjutant lowered his voice, his tone anxious.
"...So noisy."
Marius sighed, so long and deeply that he seemed intent on emptying all the frustration from his lungs. He did not even turn his head, merely watching the serpent lizards' scales deflect incoming arrows.
"Go tell that young master this is called 'exhaustion tactics,' or 'psychological pressure'... make up whatever you like." Marius drew a pipe from inside his coat, but could not be bothered to light it. He simply held it between his lips, his voice full of indifference. "Just keep the smell of his perfume away from me. Understand? Off you go."
On a tower a kilometer away.
Veylin lowered his spyglass.
Through its lens, the serpent lizards were "slacking off," while the more than ten thousand "Ascended" behind them were already growing restless.
"He's preserving his strength." Veylin handed the spyglass to Diana beside