Enemy Arrive at the Gate

 "So, he remained there to watch them, so we could guess where they are coming from?" the Duke asked the second-in-command of the reconnaissance force, who answered with a "yes,".

 "Understood, all of you, dismiss for now. You will remain as the reconnaissance force but you will likely assigned to skirmish duty for the time being," the Duke told them, the second-in-command saluting the leader before leaving his office.

 As for the Duke, he slumped on his chair. "To think they had finally made their move," he said loudly, the only people remaining were his Grand Advisor, Marshal, and High Captain, who all had a grave expression on their faces.

 "My lord, I think you should go to the chamber, and try to ascend as quickly as possible. If you only do it when they arrive, I do not think we can hold on for too long," his Grand Advisor told him, speaking out the thought the other two also heard.

 Alas, the Duke remained stubborn "At least I should see my niece's future husband first," he told them, making them sigh. 

 They thought they were already used to the stubbornness of the man but this took the cake. Even when he has the chance to ascend, he will hold his ascension, at least until he does what he wants to do.

 Thankfully, the person the Duke waited for arrived soon, a tear in the space the only indication of his arrival. The other three members of the High Command step backward, watching as the silver-haired young man comes out of the tear.

 "My lord, High command," he greeted all of them before his face turned serious, "I have grave news,"

-x-

 "So they would arrive in two days or so?" the Marshal asked, Ryker nodding at the man. 

 "Thankfully, all of our preparations are finished, the last thing would be for a certain someone to go to his chamber and cultivate, preferably coming out as a Noble expert," the High Captain said, eying the 'certain someone', who seem did not feel guilty of it.

 "Yes, my lord, you should begin cultivating. If you can become a Noble expert before they come close to the capital would be great," Ryker told the man, who sighed.

 "You knew it was not that easy, if not, there would be more Spirit realm experts. After all, there are some people who have a better foundation than mine. All I can say is, currently, my chances of becoming a Noble expert are at most 25 percent.

 I will only be assured if I could get my foundation and realm strong enough so the chance would be 50 percent," he told them.

"In that case my lord, you should start cultivating then. We need you to become a Noble expert if we want to survive the upcoming battle," the Grand Advisor told him, the Duke nodding before he quickly walked towards the cultivation chamber, but not before giving Ryker a hug.

 "If I die, I want you to run and protect my niece," he whispered to him.

 "If that is the case, I want you to at least try to become a Noble expert," he replied to the man, who merely chuckled. Then he released Ryker from the hug and walked towards the chamber, determination written all over his face.

 Ryker turned and looked at them, a serious expression on his face.

 "Prepare the man, we need to be ready for the invasion,"

-x-

 No one except for the top experts of the Kilrun Duchy knew of the Duke's attempt. However, they had created a cover story that the Duke was trying to gather all of his strength so he would be ready for the invasion.

 The soldiers seemed to be motivated by the news, and the possibility of the Duke becoming stronger for the upcoming invasion made them even more determined, some of the soldiers who stuck at his or their cultivation were able to achieve a breakthrough. 

 However, even with how their forces became stronger Ryker remained anxious. After all, the enemy force has 40 Genesis Sea while they only have 13, him included. The only way to be able to make the battle more balanced is if they have more Genesis Sea but there are very few peak Genesis Sea experts in the Duchy.

 If any of them failed to break through and lose their lives, it would cost the Duchy. The prices were too high so only the ones that were confident to break through were allowed to do so.

 During the assigning of the soldiers, he met some of his old acquaintances, the City Lord of Karbin City. They greeted each other, with the city lord being surprised by his sudden rise in rank and the fact he was stronger than him.

 However, the man did smile, saying something about how his investment had been paying off. Ryker shook his head, even if the man is right, at least wait until they survive first before thinking of such a thing.

-x-

 The day has come, too soon for the defenders of the capital. Ryker had gone scouting for the last time, to determine the exact direction they come from. When he returned, he said only one word when asked, "Everywhere,"

 While they were not really sure of what he meant, it did not take long for them to understand, as the enemy force came, from literally everywhere. They poured from every direction, cutting off the capital of Kilrun Duchy from any reinforcement, if any could even come.

 The enemy also brought several siege engines, items that were more than capable of breaking walls built using high-grade materials and enhanced with engraving, and the formation that often accompanied such walls.

 And that is not the worst thing that could have happened to the defender. The Genesis Sea experts of the Mizalas Duchy emerged from the ranks of the common soldiers, but instead of the 40 that the two Generals said, there were almost double that!

 Some of the soldiers even fainted at the sight of the 80 Genesis Sea experts, making some of the higher-ups begin to doubt their chances of survival.

 Ryker cursed, that either the Mizalas Duchy had hidden the other 40, or just not used it during the attack at the baronies, or, even worse, they were able to make Genesis Sea experts with ease. 

 With the Mizalas likely finding a secret or hidden realm, it does not matter but they find something that helps them, a lot.

 However, when the strongest expert came to the front of the force, it was when the entirety of the High Command almost lost their heart.

 "T-that i-is the Duke of Mizalas Duchy!" the Marshal said, losing his composure in that instance.