A Week Long Siege

 "Fire!"

 "Get close to the walls and out the ladders quickly!"

 "Aaargh!"

 "Do not let the intruders get on top of the walls!"

 "Throw rocks on their faces!"

 "Fire at them!"

-x-

 "Looks like the battle at the southern wall had been finished, the forces there were able to repel the intruders. But they seem to be able to get on top of the wall, and killed some of our troops before being killed themselves," the observer states, watching the battle happening at the moment.

 "Another attack on the southern wall. We should reinforce it with the new recruits once they were at the acceptable level," meaning they should be in Genesis Foundation first before they could join the fighting.

 "The level of the enemy's soldiers is way better than ours, so casualties, even with all of our preparation are to be expected," the High Captain stated.

 "True. In fact, they should be praised for standing up against someone stronger than them. If not, the walls would have likely been lost," the Marshal agreed before looking at the observer, who currently looking at the south part but a bit more relaxed.

 Just then, another observer reported, "Sir, the enemy force at the north gets on top of the walls, and it seems there are 4 Genesis Sea experts with the enemy group!"

 "Let our Genesis Sea experts handle them, they should be enough, especially inside the formation," the Marshal nonchalantly said, looking at the other observers as well.

 "The north was safe once more, two Generals had engaged with the enemies and killed two Genesis Sea experts at the cost of some injuries," the northern observers state before going back to his post.

 The High Command let out a sigh, "Things are just going to get worse from here," the Grand Advisor said, expecting the chaos that would come.

-x-

 True to the man's words, the capital soon fell into chaos, with soldiers and supporters all running around the capital, carrying weapons, items, and other essentials, moving them from the warehouses to the walls.

 At the same time, small skirmishes happen all over the walls, each enemy attack often having a Genesis Sea expert to support them. Thankfully, for the Kilrun Duchy, they were on the defending side, allowing them to put some Genesis Sea experts in one spot, allowing them to assist the sections besieged by a Genesis Sea expert or experts.

 Still, sometimes, the Genesis Sea experts were too many or too strong for the nearby Genesis Sea experts to handle and so, it fell upon the members of the High Command to assist them and push them back.

 Soon, the sun dip down, slowly being replaced by the moon, signaling another end of the day's battle.

-x-

 "It had been a week of battle and yet, they seem to be able to pull out more troops from thin air!" the Marshal complained. 

 None of the High Command stopped him, after all, they all have the same grievance as the Marshal and they wish for their enemies to stop multiplying.

 "They are like rats. You need to kill all of them or they will not stop terrorizing us," Ryker exclaimed, the High Commands all nodded their head in agreement.

 "But still, really, how did they have so many troops in the first place? Even if they were able to recruit all of their population to join in the war efforts, the troops are all at the Genesis Core, something which should be impossible," the Marshal stated, his voice serious.

 The others could not help but agree with the man, their enemy kept coming at them with the same amount of troops as yesterday. The high morale their soldiers had during the three first days had been slowly dropping, the enemy forces did not seem to dwindle in numbers only speeding up the drop in morale.

 If not for the fact that they would not be let off by the enemies, some of them would likely surrender just to stop fighting. Their stocks of pills and potions of the qi supplying variations had been dwindling.

 While they have alchemists to help create the pills in case of shortage, there are only so many alchemists remaining, not to mention that the resources used in pill and potion makings are slowly running out.

 The same is true for weapons and items. Thankfully, the two objects are not consumable, so the consumption for them both is not too much. But the soldiers often required blacksmith assistance to repair their equipment or they would not be able to kill the enemies more effectively.

 "Huh, how long do we have to keep this up?" the Grand Advisor exclaimed, feeling burned out and tired from the nonstop battle he had to endure.

 In fact, the rest of the High Command was also the same, slowly being drained from the fighting. Even the Genesis Sea experts were drained, so it is to be expected that the weaker cultivators to be even worse.

 The only one that seemed to be able to hold on was Ryker. His stamina and strength were one of the best, despite only being at the Genesis Source. In fact, during the battle, he is the one that improves the most.

 In fact, his cultivation had increased by two minor realms, turning him into a 5th Stage Genesis Source expert. His mastery of the Law of Death, Earth, and Space also rises but still does not break the second realm.

 Still, even if it did not reach the second realm, it was more than enough to allow him to fight and kill 5th Stage Genesis Sea experts without having his strength amplified by the formation.

 He was also the one who often raided the enemy camp, stealing their resources as well as assassinating Genesis Sea experts. His presence is the sole reason why the High Command was able to hold on and not water during the trying time.

 Unknowingly, Ryker had established himself as a domineering presence similar to the Duke despite the two not being the same. He did not know but the rest of the High Command had agreed to make him the heir of the Duchy, as they see no one else more suitable for the job.

 If he learned of their intention, he would have beaten them to a pulp, abuse of power be damned. But for now, they remained strong, ensuring the Duchy would not fall during the time it took the Duke to ascend.

-x-

"Took you long enough,"

"I am sorry father, trying to raise their strength is a hard job, especially with the lack of resources. But still, father, I would have thought you destroy the Kilrun Duchy by now?" 

 "They seem to get their hands on a powerful formation, one that even with our combined strength is not enough to break it,"

 "Well, it is a good thing that I brought reinforcement, right?"

 "Yes, now get ready, we will break them by tomorrow preferably,"