As the march of the metal semi-spheres commenced, the army of Lanthanor on the border wall were busily bustling around while fussing on contraptions placed at equal intervals which were all pointing forward.
This contraption was triangular, with a 5-foot long gleaming arrow in the middle which was being slowly pulled back on the string that was getting increasingly taut with each revolution of the handle on the side.
Indeed, this was a construct much like the ballista from earth.
Each arrow had a hole in the end, through which a wooden block was inserted that served to pull it back.
After reaching the desired position, the block would disappear into the groove on the ballista, shooting the arrow forward with explosive force.
Traditionally in Angaria, ballistae were used because of their specialty in assaulting barriers.
Just like in the case years ago where the first members of the Dominating Corps had won their fight by using a penetrative attack, the arrows shot from the ballistae were very effecting in breaking through barriers.
In fact, in Angaria, top-level archers who could shoot arrows strong enough to break mages' barriers were sought after by all, but very rare in number.
This was mainly because of the skill inherent in being able to shoot an arrow that powerful without losing accuracy. After all, capable of teleporting, mages wouldn't sit around to be impaled.
Although there were many countermeasures available on the border wall, this was the method most suitable to handle the defensive formations of Axelor which looked nigh impregnable.
Standing on the ramparts with the three commanders fanned out behind him, Daneel, who was disguised as Kellor, looked to the side to make sure that his special 'modification' was ready to deploy.
After doing so, he turned forward again and asked, "So how do skirmishes like these usually end?"
It was Aran who chose to answer, with a tone that was still slightly apologetic due to the words he had said before.
"My King, they reach a spot where their attacks can reach the soldiers on the border walls before beginning to bombard us with numerous spells. Their goal is always to cause as many casualties as possible on the top before congregating together to use their battering ram trinkets to break through the wall. Their hope is that if they can break one part of the wall, it will always be a breach because we no longer have a way to rebuild it effectively.
"Our army's job is to stop them from using those trinkets long enough to incur damage, and because physical contact is necessary for the trinkets to work, they are more or less vulnerable when trying to breach. It was once estimated that if they wanted to break through decisively using this method, they would have to deploy their entire army while also emptying their treasury to buy enough defensive trinkets to stop our assault, as the walls are powerful enough to hold for quite a bit of time before taking damage.
"Thus, their only hope is to catch our army off guard so that they can break through, which is why there are repeated skirmishes. Although there are other ways they try to attack such as directly teleporting elites inside, this is the safest method they have as the others contain too much risk for their soldiers' lives."
Speaking for so long without taking a breath, Aran made all 3 of the people in front of him turn around with incredulity on their faces to see him red as a tomato.
Taking deep breaths and bringing his face back to a normal color, he said sheepishly, "Apologies. I tend to get verbose when flustered."
As Cassandra chuckled at Aran openly, 'Kellor' smiled before turning back again.
Indeed, as his verbose commander had said, the goal was to sustain attacks from the top of the wall while trying to get enough time with the wall in close proximity in order to cause a breach.
Usually, this involved repeated attacks of increasing intensity from the top with shock troops teleporting over to launch guerilla strikes to damage the endurance of their defensive means, before devolving into an all-out armed hand-to-hand skirmish during the retreat.
Yet, today, on the behest of the King of Lanthanor, the scenario would run differently.
...
"Keep backup defensive means ready. We must hold their attention for as long as possible. Stick to the drill!"
Shooting out commands repeatedly from inside his globe of metal, the Axelorian Commander looked up through the viewhole at the walls of the Lanthanor Kingdom.
Having already gone through this tens of times before, he was no stranger to the ballistae that would soon rain down devastating arrows on them.
Sure enough, each of the tiny boxes in the opaque barriers on the top of the walls glinted in the sun, signaling that they would soon commence the attack.
"HOLD!"
Seeing this, the commander shouted this word which echoed in the ears of the Eminent Human Mages who were in control of each globe. The sharp voice served to heighten their senses, allowing them to be ready to respond as soon as the next command came.
The glints seemed to be moving around and adjusting their positions, trying to ensure that they would hit their targets.
"HOLD!"
The second shout meant that the attacks hadn't started yet, but they would soon do. Each globe was still moving forward, with the rungs on the inside held firmly in the hands of the Amateur Human Fighters whose pale faces belied their tension.
SNAP
With a collective sound, massive arrows flew down towards them, ready to go through them where they stood.
"BRACE!!"
Finally hearing the command they were waiting for, each globe immediately stopped their movement.
As they had practiced numerous times before, the Eminent Human Mage in the center immediately cast the gravity spell he had been preparing beforehand.
As the gravity around them sharply increased, each soldier jumped up to hang from the rungs which were also present above them.
With their combined weight and the added push from the increased gravity, the globe of metal sunk an inch into the ground in an instant.
DING
The arrow which had been shot in their direction hit its target, but it only caused a dent and a minor shake in the globe before harmlessly falling to the side.
"MOVE!"
With this command, the gravity went back to normal while the soldiers jumped down and caught the rungs in front of them before lifting the globe up and moving forward like before.
Indeed, this was the strategy used by the Axelorians to defend themselves from the devastating ballistae attacks.
If they were moving, the sheer force inherent in the arrow would jolt them back, possibly making them lose control of the globe and exposing them to further attacks.
Besides, it wasn't like they were moving fast enough to bounce off the arrows. In fact, their movement was actually a bane which contributed to their low stability.
Hence, by eliminating this instability, the globes had a chance to withstand and move forward.
Of course, there were always some cases where the Eminent Human Mages might not have been fast enough.
This was usually accompanied by a strike force teleporting over to initiate an attack.
Luckily, at least in the first volley, such a thing hadn't occurred.
Smiling at the result, the Axelorian globes steadily moved forward while repeatedly implementing their strategy.
The first time could have been luck, but seeing that there were no destabilized globes even with the third volley, the commander started to feel suspicious.
Looking out of the viewhole, he saw that many arrows had directly stuck into the ground.
"Why are they… missing so much?"
As one of his advisors voiced this question, he couldn't help but wonder the same.
Usually, by this point, at least 20-30 of their 100 globes would have been destabilized and made to retreat due to the strike teams teleporting to attack them.
Yet, they were all intact.
"Maybe…they are flustered because their King is injured?"
Turning around to glare at the advisor who had given this stupid statement, the Axelorian Commander humphed before remembering the man in black clothes who had resulted in him going back with defeat after defeat under his belt.
That man would never allow his soldiers to lose discipline.
Then, what was going on?
In 2 more volleys, they would reach the border to begin their assault.
Although the gnawing suspicion in his spine that something was definitely wrong kept growing in the Axelorian commander, he had no choice but to continue their march forward to reach the walls which had kept them away for centuries.
…..
Meanwhile, in a secluded forest outside the west border wall of the Lanthanor Kingdom.
"They have begun their assault. One by one, touch the oathstone to relieve yourselves of your ties to the Withering Leaf Sect. Don't worry, this is only because of the oath we made to not enter Lanthanor for 10 years. You will be resworn after our victory."
A small group wearing hooded cloaks were all gathered together, while a man holding a gleaming golden rock in his hand walked to each to have them lay their hand on it.
Their time would come soon, and each of them couldn't help but grasp the trinkets in their hands tighter in anticipation of the coming fight.
Only one among them smiled eagerly, as the urge he had been feeling for months would finally be fulfilled.
The urge to go home.