Second Phase

A week later.

Arthur was in front of a hundred soldiers, working extremely hard to remain composed.

"FIRE!", he shouted.

He no longer was the weak patrolling acolyte in the Ivory Tower, still shook up by his transmigration and the different standards of this world.

He was the Elderwood Alliance Commander, the [Ice Demon] whose fame would spread throughout the continent as one of the most promising rising star in the Porfield Kingdom.

In the Porfield Kingdom, the powerhouses who reached the Grand Knight Realm and Magus Realm would receive the title of [Star of the Porfield Kingdom] after accumulating enough achievements. Receiving this title was an enormous honour, grant them a nobility title if they didn't have one in addition to a fief, but the best part lied in the resources given. It wasn't just magic crystal and gold coins. Receiving this title meant access to the [Royal Library], which was filled with Magus-level knowledge, high-grade meditation technique, high-grade rank 0 and rank 1 spells, Grand Knight Secret Arts, Knight Breathing Techniques. Furthermore, the king would personally bestow a mighty Rank 1 Artefact suited to the star in question.

Unlike rank 0 artefacts that could be purchased for a couple hundred magic crystals in auctions, rank 1 artefacts were almost always handed down. After all, there was no Magi who knew how to refine them anymore in the whole Northern Continent.

Although it was said that there was a couple magical organizations that still retained the knowledge to refine them, none existed in the Northern Continent of Albion, which was where the Porfield Kingdom lied. Hence, each and every rank 1 artefact was extremely precious.

In the Kingdom, the acolytes and knights who showed enough potential would be nicknamed [Little Stars], since they might become a [Porfield Kingdom Star] in the future. The King, for instance, was called the [Iron Star], in reference to his armour, shield and sword wielding proficiency, and was called a [Little Star] as a prince, before reaching the Grand Knight Realm.

Although Arthur's performance was still insufficient to be called a [Little Star], his achievements would definitely help him spread his existence to the officials and commoners in the Porfield Kingdom, and contribute to the acquisition of this title in the future.

If he managed to defeat Viscount Nalestone as well, who was called the 'most fearsome Viscount' in the Porfield Kingdom due to his elite army and monstrous strategist mind, things would be different.

As he shouted 'Fire', dozens of boulders were launched against Everlasting City Wall.

The walls which stood strong even against the Dalian Southern Kingdom invaders twenty years ago...were now crumbling. Dwellings were crushed. Watchtoweres fell. It was a disaster, and there was nothing the Baron could do to prevent the boulder from crushing the city he was supposed to defend.

Normal Boulders would not create such an effect. After all, Baron Lark had invested enough gold coins to reinforce the walls with magical materials, and drew some basic protection runes over the past two decades, in preparation for the war against Count Elderwood, who had eyed his territory ever since.

Rune drawing was an extremely exhausting process. Arthur could only imagine that Baron Lark spent thousands of hours in the process, considering the size of the walls.

Siege weapons would hardly produce enough damage to break the walls. It might damage them, breach them, but destroying them would take hundreds of volleys.

However, Arthur had the patience and did not rush the process. Having the City Blueprints in his hands, he accurately pinpointed the locations where the walls were particularly weak, and focused all of the siege weapons' attention in these areas.

Occasionally, he would cast [Ice Poison Aura] on the balista shots meant to reach the city, causing its lethality to increase.

At some point, the northern wall crumbled.

*CRASH*

A large cheer could be heard from the army, with soldiers expecting to be rushed into battle. Most felt appreciation, or even excitement. After all, Everlasting City never had a big opening like that.

However, Arthur calmly said: "Keep firing...I don't want Everlasting City to still have a single standing rock protecting it"

[Stragey Skill Proficiency has risen by 2 points]

There was no reason for him to risk his soldiers' lives in a direct confrontation, since he could simply shoot them from afar.

The soldiers understood that. And they realized...

Was warfare always so simple?

The number of casualties since Arthur took command was close to zero, whereas Everlasting City was being destroyed in front of their eyes.

Baron Lark's greatest mistake was not to invest in siege defense weapons. As an acolyte, he had always prided himself that his magic was sufficient as a defense firepower. And truthfully, had it been a regular army, it would have been. No matter if the size of the Elderwood Army was several times bigger than the Lark Army, it would have never succeeded in the siege without using wicked means.

Any attempt to charge would result in hundreds dying from the acolytes spell casting fire balls.

If the Elderwood Army had enough ingeniosity to build a wooden moving tower to protect themselves, then it would be crushed as well from the acolyte's fire spells.

Why would Baron Lark invest time and money into siege weapons when he possessed skill acolyte subordinates?

Well, he should have, because acolytes possessed one flaw: their range. At beginner and intermediate rank, their range was limited to that of an [Advanced] Archer, which was roughly two hundred meters.

Trebuchets and catapultes, could fire from 300 or even 400 meters away, especially the ones Arthur had drawn the blueprints of, taking inspiration from the books he had read in the Ivory Tower, during his four years in the [Ivory Tower]. He never would have expected to increase his strength so much in one year, so he had prepared for the Elderwood battle in advance, looking at strategy books and siege weapons blueprints.

Looking back, it truly was useful and perhaps an overkill.

[You have assisted in the destruction of [Everlasting City Habitat]. You have received 30 EXP]

[You have assisted in the destruction of [Everlasting City Habitat]. You have received 30 EXP]

[You have assisted in the destruction of [Everlasting City Habitat]. You have received 30 EXP]

[You have assisted in the destruction of [Everlasting City Habitat]. You have received 30 EXP]

[You have assisted in the destruction of [Everlasting City Habitat]. You have received 30 EXP]

[Cruelty Skill Activated...]

[Your act of destroying Everlasting City Residencies will spread throughout the continent, your cold-bloodedness being consistent with your title [Ice Demon]...]

[As a result, you have received 500 EXP]