On one side of the wall stood the forces of Malencia. A total of roughly 10,000 liquidators, a mass production of guns, providing enough weapons for one every man woman and kobold in the force. Not all the guns were produced locally, a significant amount was purchased from Rila thanks to Cathy''s spatial magic. It''s not something that can be relied upon, especially not for transporting beings not familiar with traversing space, but the niche and Cathy''s expertise proved to be plenty in this category. In addition to the liquidators are 1,000 from surveillance, 200 destroyers, and 3,000 auxiliaries. The walls are too thin to station many liquidators or even some of the destroyers, as such Malencian military command decided on a plan that factors in losing the walls. Not that the walls will just be handed to the enemy on a silver platter, they will have to pay for it in blood.


    Opposing Malencia is The Grand Army of Faerune, a shadow of its former self after the dimensional merge and the disappearance of the gods. 50,000 regulars equipped with high-quality plate armor, and the experience of retaking Faerune to back it up. In addition to the regulars are also the combined churches holy mission, an alliance of religions with the goal to find their gods again, 1,000 paladins with enough magical support troops to get a healer to everyone on the front in time. The source of their magic may have disappeared, but magic itself doesn''t disappear so easily. Given a few generations, paladins will be no more, so they would have to act fast to find their gods again. Along with all these forces is the Adventurer''s Guild of Faerune, a force of 3,000 locals bolstered with an additional 4,000 from different worlds seeking fortune and glory. They vary wildly in individual strength, ranging from a cut above a regular to a cut above a paladin. Recently this army was joined by a flock of greater drakes headed by a red dragon called Asher, they number less than 100.


    The cold wind blows, while coughing men and rattling gear are the only noise that comes from the walls. A messenger returns to the city on horseback, carrying a black flag on his horse. A signal that negotiations have broken down, and now the only course of action is violence. Before the messenger even gets inside the city, balls of fire are launched from the lines of the attackers in an arc. Trebuchets that were rapidly set up, intent on delivering their payload. The balls of fire break on a massive dome-like barrier covering the city, the men on the walls near the falling debris sweat in their suits, but that is the only issue as the debris is dumped outside the walls by the smooth barriers. The captain on the walls raises his arm signaling the men to get ready, they adjust the range on their muskets to compensate for the massive distance between the armies. On full capacity, there are few things with a longer range than a musket, but the long recharge time could have proved to be a problem had the army decided on a rapid advance instead.


    "Ready!... Aim!... Fire!"


    *B L I I N G*


    A line of smoke erupts from the walls, and the smoothbore barrels do find purchase despite operating far out of effective range. Just because a gun shouldn''t reach a certain range, doesn''t mean it can''t. Some people on the attacker side fall over dead or wounded, the attackers themselves already have their resolve shaken. They saw in very simple terms just now how their own attack at this range was ineffective, while the attack of the defenders did plenty.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Officers of The Grand Army sneer at the cowardice of their troops, they might not have had it easy with the monsters invading their precious world, but now that they face something completely familiar they are shaken. Fortunately for the troops, field officers don''t dictate battle strategy. A command comes from the rear, and new weapons are brought to the front. Ornate cannons mounted on wheels, escorted by groups of mages. A larger design than the Rilan musket, a harrowing symbol of wars to come.


    The cannons are loaded with orichalium ammo, powered by mages. Such a force could take out the walls given some time, time high-command isn''t willing to afford. Along with the usual stuff given to these new weapons, each of them is also being powered by holy artifacts given by the church. To say they would be using their beliefs as ammo today wouldn''t be inaccurate, but all worth it to get rid of the Malencian scourge before it grows too powerful to remove.


    *BOOM*


    A premature fire blasts an entire manned section of the wall away, the troops on it buried beneath the rubble. Horrors stationed nearby quickly move into the shadows of the rubble to extract survivors. Before the other cannons can get properly ready, the bulk of troops are evacuated from the walls to prevent more catastrophic failures. A token force is left behind to take shots at the attackers to keep them on their toes, and said shots are now primarily aimed at the well protected cannon crews. Over the next hour, the two sides play whack-a-mole with each other, trying to inflict as many casualties on the opposing side as possible while not overreaching themselves.


    A horn resounds over the battlefield during a lull in the firing, and the attackers begin to move. Camps that were set up are quickly torn down, and people that sought fame and glory quickly clamp down on their rations as they fall in lockstep with the rest of the army. On the defending side a green flare is launched, it detonates a total of three times before going silent, signaling the troops to assume the position of ''green three'' as it is so uninspiringly named. Soldiers rush to their posts to receive the enemy in their formations, most are to head deeper into the city where the urban environment will naturally disperse the enemy. Significant holdouts barricade themselves in some of the sturdier towers, with tunnels leading to the inner city to guarantee an escape plan.


    In the skies, fliers on both sides hiss at their opponents, not daring to leave friendly territory to fight for dominance over the skies. The demons of the sky look dull and savage, but are led by high-ranking demons that have greater cunning than all humanoids. The dragons are more cunning than the lower ranking demons, but the true terror of the skies is Asher himself. His gravitas keeps the greater drakes to the plan, and within the safe range of their own ground support. As ground troops finally begin reaching the wall breaches, the first skirmishes start. In between the attacking force is a group of heroes, one of the few that know the true identity of the [Nightmare], but for reasons only known to themselves did not disclose it with others.


    Asahi gestures his comrades to follow, the drakes joining their punitive force was a fortunate event, and his chances of forcing Esstrey to reveal the location of the gods has increased drastically. Once the location of the gods is revealed, they can start restoring the world.