The assault on the city began.

As he watched the hundred thousand soldiers of the Imperial Alliance slowly raise their heads again, Mo Fei gave them no time to reconsider. He declared, "From now on, I am your supreme commander—the Emperor of the Death Empire. Henceforth, you will fight under the banner of the Death Empire, for your own empire and your families. Now, take up your weapons, climb the city walls, and show those fellows from Demon Isle that the weapons in your hands can take their lives, too. Let them know this continent is not a place they can come and go as they please."

At Mo Fei’s command, the dwarven warriors quickly stepped forward, each leading a squad as they ascended the city walls. From that moment, the forces of the Imperial Alliance truly became Mo Fei’s to command. With their addition, the defenders’ strength swelled considerably.

The Demon Isle army was clearly rattled by the massacre of their vanguard. They no longer dared to launch a reckless assault. Instead, they pitched their camp not far from the city and sent men to drag the bodies of their fallen vanguard to the foothills for burial.

“They’ve brought siege engines this time,” came the voice of the Dragonfly Empire’s king behind Mo Fei, as they both watched from the city tower, seeing the busy assembly of strange mechanisms in the Demon Isle camp.

“Those are siege engines?” Mo Fei had never seen such machines before.

“Yes. Do you have a way to deal with them? Otherwise…”

“They’re made of wood, right?” Mo Fei didn’t say he had a solution.

“Of course,” the king replied with a knowing smile, as if he believed Mo Fei had an answer. “They haven’t figured out how to make them of anything else.”

“That’s good, then. We’ll simply set them on fire.” Mo Fei had brought nearly ten thousand enchanted arrows, many of them fire arrows. At worst, he could quickly craft more flaming arrows. What was there to fear?

So the two monarchs stood atop the wall, observing the Demon Isle encampment across the field. Gradually, a dozen or more tall, tower-like structures rose from the enemy camp. Mo Fei knew there must be wheels beneath them—once they were pushed up to the walls, the soldiers would storm in.

“It seems my royal uncle is in their camp as well!”

“Naturally. How else would their siege towers match your walls’ height so precisely? Judging by their progress, it’ll take some time to finish those machines.”

“They seem to be coating the towers with something?”

“They probably guessed we’d try to burn them, so they’re likely applying some fire-resistant substance.”

The warriors of Demon Isle had no idea that their landing forces sent to the Doma Empire had been annihilated, nor could they suspect anything about Mo Fei’s enchanted arrows.

It had been over ten days—perhaps only a few more before Kain’s army would arrive. The last intelligence Kain had sent never reached Mo Fei, for he had already set out by then and later changed his plans, leaving the scouts unsure what to do. When they tried to return, Kain’s assembly order arrived, so they set the message aside, thinking it was only a report of success.

Mo Fei was uncertain whether his fire arrows could set the siege towers ablaze. If not, there would be serious trouble.

“It seems they won’t attack today. We can sleep soundly tonight,” the old king said with a smile, as if the enemy amassed outside were not about to storm his own capital.

“They’ve been running wild across the hills for some time. Without proper rest, how can they fight well? There’s nothing to worry about tonight. By tomorrow morning, they’ll make their move.”

Mo Fei’s only concern was that Demon Isle might divide its forces to attack elsewhere. He wasn’t worried about them striking at the City of Death or venturing into the Forest of Death—those were not places one entered lightly, and Demon Isle was no exception.

After a day’s preparation, Demon Isle finally began their assault. They concentrated their main force at the front, leaving only token garrisons in other directions. Mo Fei understood that Demon Isle’s sights were set on the capital of the Dragonfly Empire; they, too, had no confidence in wiping out all resistance within the city.

Seeing the enemy’s deployment, Mo Fei breathed a sigh of relief. Had Demon Isle attacked from multiple directions, it would have been far more exhausting to defend. Observing the enemy formations, he wondered whether they had recently reinforced their numbers, or if perhaps their ships could carry more soldiers than he’d thought. Now, it seemed Demon Isle’s forces numbered no less than four hundred thousand! Counting the troops left to hold the occupied towns, Mo Fei couldn’t fathom how such a figure was possible.

Could it be that before landing, Demon Isle had secretly transported men to some hidden location within the Dragonfly Empire?

It was too late to ponder these things now. Whether they faced four hundred thousand or more, there was no escaping this battle. At first, he had estimated the ratio at ten to one; now, it looked to be closer to twenty to one.

Fortunately, they held most of the fortified cities. Relying on these strongholds, they could wear down the enemy’s strength. Every city occupied by Demon Isle and garrisoned with part of their force only served to scatter their troops further, making it easier to gather superior numbers for a future counterattack.

“Lord Governor, they’re about to start the assault!” While Mo Fei was deep in thought, a dwarven soldier called out to him—the enemy was moving.

The dozen siege towers crept slowly toward the city. The Demon Isle soldiers pushing them were all hidden behind the structures, making it impossible to target them accurately.

“Wait until the towers are within ballista range, then use the fire arrows!” Mo Fei ordered.

At last, the towers, slow as they were, drew near. With a command, the massive arrows aimed at the towers whistled through the air. When they struck, flames sprang up instantly. From the battlements, the defenders saw Demon Isle soldiers, ignited by the fire, rolling out from inside the towers only to lie still, burning. Cheers erupted along the walls.

But the jubilation was short-lived. When the flames died away, not a single siege tower had been destroyed; their exteriors were merely blackened.

Seeing that the flaming arrows had failed to burn the towers, Mo Fei quickly commanded, “All ballistae, target the enemy soldiers behind the towers. Fire at will!”

Immediately, the ballistae shifted targets, unleashing a furious storm upon the Demon Isle soldiers following behind the towers. The improved enchanted arrows, designed for area attacks, felled swathes of enemies with a single volley—but they could only wound, not annihilate, the enemy outright.

Nevertheless, wounded Demon Isle soldiers fell one after another beneath the berserkers’ giant crossbows, which brought Mo Fei some relief. Suddenly, a dwarven warrior shouted, “Everyone be careful! Their mages are advancing!”

It was then that Mo Fei realized the odd-looking figures in the enemy ranks were actually Demon Isle’s mages. A squad of Demon Isle warriors ahead of them quickly raised enormous wooden shields, sheltering the mages.

Seeing the mages lift their staffs and begin chanting, Mo Fei called out, “Ballistae, target their mages!”

Instantly, over a hundred ballistae on the front line unleashed a storm of huge arrows upon the enemy mages—but the projectiles were all blocked by the massive shields, causing no harm to the mages themselves.

“Switch to area-attack arrows, quickly!” cried the dwarven general Hilai. But before they could act, the first wave of enemy magic struck the city walls with a thunderous boom. In the wake of the magical assault, defenders fell in droves, and several ballistae were reduced to splinters. Mo Fei felt a surge of anxiety.

“Use the area-attack enchanted arrows—target their mages! Fire!”

At once, black clouds gathered over the Demon Isle mages, and under the storm of thunder and lightning, many mages and their protectors fell. Yet their defensive wards held firm. After a brief chaos, the enemy mages quickly withdrew. Though the area-attack enchanted arrows failed to destroy them outright, they did succeed in forcing the Demon Isle’s ranged attackers out of assault range, leaving them only able to support from a distance rather than take part in the assault.

By now, the dozen siege towers had reached the walls, and a thunderous cry rose from the enemy ranks. Seeing the towers in position, the Demon Isle soldiers charged with wild abandon, heedless of the rain of arrows from above. In an instant, at more than a dozen points along the wall, Demon Isle soldiers clashed with the defenders in brutal close combat.

The berserkers stationed atop the walls dropped their crossbows and swung massive battle-axes with frenzied force. The enemy assault troops from Demon Isle proved capable of matching even the berserkers in combat. Though they were at a slight disadvantage, their ferocity was unmatched—if they were to die, they would at least inflict some wound on the berserker who struck them down.