Ryker then breaks a medallion, ready to watch the surprise hitting the Mizalas by, well, surprise.
-x-
The Mizalas reached the 10-meter mark away from the wall, yet the defenders did not rain down their attacks on them, causing the Mizalas lower ranking officer that led the charge to feel confused.
Before they could order their men to be cautious, an explosion occurred underneath them, from a distance of 20 meters from the wall to about 200 meters from the wall.
Thankfully, it was only the vanguard of their forces and their experts were in the air. Unfortunately, it is still a sizable number, so the number of soldiers killed from the traps reached a staggering 100,000.
For the experts who saw the traps sprung, all became angry, watching their subordinates slaughtered before they could even fight the Kilrun. But they did not have time to be angry as the second trap was sprung.
-x-
Aside from the explosive traps, which are simple except for the materials that were used were of higher quality to ensure the explosions that happened would be a lot bigger than usual.
For the second trap, it is a formation, one that was designed to target a specific target, namely the experts. If more powerful experts escape the explosions unharmed, which is to be expected, then the formation will bind them with a chain, trapping and dragging them down into the earth, where several Kilrun experts, including a Genesis Sea expert, would kill the bound experts.
-x-
"W-whaaaah!"
"Aaaahh! Heeeelp meee!"
"What is this thing?!"
"S-stooop it!"
Screams soon filled the battlefield, and experts from the Mizalas Duchy were dragged into the earth before their screams were heard, and then... silence.
It did not take long for the experts who managed to avoid the chain to recognize it was another trap set up by the Kilrun forces. Some of the experts who managed to avoid being bound dove into the ground to save their trapped comrade, only for them to be bound by another formation.
"How do you like that, Mizalas scum!" the sole Genesis Sea expert underground laughed at the trapped experts, including a pair of Genesis Sea experts. Not wasting his time, the Genesis Sea expert began to slaughter every trapped enemy, starting with the Genesis Sea experts.
After massacring the trapped enemy soldiers, the Genesis Sea expert ordered a retreat, realizing it would not take long before they managed to break the formation and attack them.
-x-
"How is it going with the formation breaking?" the Duke of Mizalas asked.
"It progressing steadily but it is too slow for most of our liking," one of his generals said.
The Duke of Mizalas nods. Despite the current disabilities he suffered, his face looked like it was torn by something and that something rots everything it touched, he could still see and command his forces.
However, he had another thing to worry about, "When did he master the Law of Death?" the Duke asked, surprised that he long time to practice such Paths when he originally mastered the Law of Earth.
"Maybe he found a hidden realm or a secret realm and learned the Law of Death there," one of his advisors suggested, making the Duke of Mizalas stroke his chin, before hissing from the pain of doing so.
"However he learned a new Path, it did not matter. Our advance will not be stopped and we will destroy the Kilrun Duchy and claim the prize," the Duke said, watching as his forces were decimated by the trap.
"Order our forces to retreat about 300 meters away from the walls and make sure there are some elites guarding the formation master. I don't plan on losing them in this campaign," the Duke ordered, his advisors and generals scrambling to do as he said.
-x-
"Looks like they are retreating," the Grand Advisor said, watching as the Mizalas maintained some distance from the wall though to them it was not far enough.
"Looks like we can stop dreaming about putting more traps there," the Marshal said, "What a pity," the man sighed as one of their plans went up the smoke.
It is something they planned if they were able to make them return to their camp, allowing them to prepare another trap field for the invaders. Regretfully, it did not seem to be the case as they seemed intent on not allowing another death field to appear, or at least it seemed that way.
It might be that the enemy forces were placed there for some other reason but they did not have a spy in the enemy force and so they would not be able to gain valuable intel for the future.
"If that is the case, let's count our casualties before we call it a day," Ryker ordered, the other members of the High Command nodded in agreement.
"From the walls, there are no casualties, unless you count screaming themselves until they fainted a form of casualties," the High Captain told them, who all looked pleased by the fact that losing any forces during the start of the battle would be bad for them.
"As for the ambush squad, there are no fatalities though there are some injuries involving a Genesis Sea expert," the Marshal reported.
"Considering they were able to escape with their life, then it is a good thing," Ryker told them, who seemed to agree with his assessment.
"Right now, we should rest for tomorrow's battle. However, I still want people to keep guard and ready if the enemy decides to attack during the night, understood?" he asked them, earning "yes," from all of the members of the High Command.
"Excellent, dismissed," the members of the High Command dispersed while he remained standing. When all of them had exited the office, Ryker slumped on the chair, finding the ordeal exhausting, to say the least.
"Well, we survive day one, unknown days to go, yippie," he said, his voice lacking enthusiasm. Still, he is ready to fight for the Duchy, but he finds commanding to be tiring.
He hoped to never be in that spot, again, as he did not think leading was for him. He sighed, observing the enemy's movement and ready for what was to come.
-x-
Activities were rife in the capital and the enemy's camp despite the sun already hiding itself from the horizon. Every non-combatant and guard keeps their guard up as they are ready for any night assault that often happens.
As for the auxiliary specialists, they prepare a lot of things for the soldiers, preparing for the battle. Despite the rather calm atmosphere during the night, everyone knew it was only a pretense as the conflict would continue when dawn arrived.