Growing Concern

Translucent images of shields materialized from Kalasag and the other's shields like souls escaping their physical bodies. Right then, the translucent shields began merging, creating a much bigger translucent shield that wrapped around the entire marching Reilaea soldiers.

Catapults, burning arrows, magic spells, come raining down on Kael and the others.

Bam!

Clang!

Tap!

But the long-range defenders' attacks were rendered useless before Kalasag and his men's combined magic.

"We're gonna break through the gate!"

"Masusunod, Payapa Kalasag!"

On the other hand, the ones on top of the northern wall of Kruule found themselves having a fit of panic and powerlessness as they continued to bombard Kael's convoy, despite it being useless.

"Sh*t, they are about to reach the gate!"

"They're gonna enter the capital!"

"Somebody help stop them!"

A high commander who's in charge of the ones on top of the wall desperately looked for help, but their ground forces are fully occupied fighting Reilaea's foot soldiers. On top of that, most of their long-range defenders situated outside the walls are on the verge of being wiped out by Irelda's incredible combat skills and efficient use of her Tibay. Of course, her unit and Onstad's were there to back her up.

The only one out of sight was the Payapa, Onstad whom the high commander couldn't find no matter what.

"Impossible... Where's the guy that can release a pulse of air...?"

Unbeknownst to the high commander and his men, Onstad was silently sucking in air from his mouth in the dark sky. Indeed, Onstad is in mid-air. Using the air he gathered to fire an air pulse, Onstad aimed at his feet and propelled himself in the sky.

"Huuuuhk... Ha!!"

Bwooohh!!

Onstad struck the oblivious Kruule soldiers with his air pulse. Though air pulse isn't exactly destructive, it was strong enough to send the high commander and his soldiers who didn't know where the air pulse came from flying.

Kael's convoy shouted over Onstad's success.

"That's it for me for now." A proud smug shone on his face. "It's on you now, Kael, Kalasag, everyone!"

Kael, Kalasag, and everyone else bulldozed their way to the gate, tackling away anyone who tried standing before them. Until finally...

"This is it!"

They braced themselves as they all picked up speed. And then...

Bugoohm!!

Gwaah!!

Waa!

The gate shattered. The two knights standing directly behind the gate got pushed aside, letting Kael and the others go inside the capital.

"All right, they're in!" Onstad said as he landed next to Irelda. "We'll follow them shortly... Irelda? Why the long face?"

Irelda remained silent for a while, stealing glances at one of the Kruule soldiers they had captured. She turned to face Onstad and said:

"Is the fabric really enough to keep these people from breaking out?"

"We've seen how durable these fabrics are firsthand during the raid in Takkot," Replied Onstad. "These fabrics are made by a magic-user capable of manipulating fabric. They are made so that even if they try to break free, the fabrics won't break nor harm themselves for desperately trying to escape."

"..."

Even after hearing that, Onstad noticed how the gloomy complexion Irelda had wouldn't disappear.

"What's the matter? Is something bugging you? Or would you like to test the strength of it yourself?" Onstad nonchalantly whipped out a piece of fabric. Though his gaze looked as if he was more into seeing the woman use it for another reason rather than just testing out its strength.

And then, she looked back at the same Kruule soldier that seemingly got her attention. "That man said something to me."

"Huh, that man?"

Irelda had a little flashback just moments before Kael and his convoy went through the northern gate. She was busy trying to tie the enemy soldiers they had captured one after another until she got to the person who'd tell her:

"Fabric... What are you guys thinking?"

"That should be enough to keep you sitting there," Irelda replied.

"You don't understand!" The man retorted hysterically. "This won't be enough! You should have just kept us somewhere we cannot escape or... Just kill us!"

"Huh, are you okay in the head?"

The man started giggling and laughing to himself all of a sudden, leaving Irelda confused. 'Is this the work of the sumpa the Hari put on them, I wonder?'

"Maybe you're right, maybe I really am not right in the head!" He uttered as he started cackling while tears are pouring down his face at the same time. "That's right! I should have just killed myself from the beginning! I shouldn't have hesitated, stupid me!"

Eventually, the poor soldier of Kruule had calmed down, however, what he said was stuck in Irelda's mind. It got her thinking:

'Now that I think about it, it felt rather easy that we neutralized the long-range defenders so quickly. Looking back, it felt as if they purposely let themselves be defeated despite seemingly fighting back. It's strangely confusing, but what if..."

Going back to the present, Irelda gave Onstad a suggestion.

"Maybe we should get the ones we captured to someplace where they cannot go out no matter what?"

"Well..." Onstad panned his eyes in all directions, looking for something. He returned to Irelda with a troubled face. "Even if we could, where exactly can we detain them?"

Outside the northern wall of Kruule is open terrain. Not a single structure that could hold a mass number of prisoners is present. Irela pondered.

"There are probably civilians hiding inside their residence, and even if we get one, it's not like a single house can hold this number at all..."

She pondered some more until she eventually got an idea.

"Let's find a cave!"

"A cave? I guess we could find one..."

"A cave isn't like any prison cell, but at the very least we can make sure they only have one way to get in and out."

"Right, I'll have some of my men help me look for a nice, big cave to house these people for the time being."

"I'll help too."

While Irelda and Onstad both decided to find a cave for the captives, Kael, Kalasag, and the others continued to bulldoze their way straight to the plateau. Although, as they expected, going for the royal castle isn't going to be easy even after crashing through the northern gate.

"Enemies ahead!"

Enemy soldiers fired their magic arrows and spells at them. In response to that, Kalasag and his men united their shields once more, creating Reilaea Vanguard. And even after witnessing their attacks being rendered useless...

"Do not falter, shoot them!"

The Kruule soldiers continued their barrage of long-range attacks. That is because they knew the limits of what humans can do using their magic abilities. Their attacks began creating cracks all around Reilaea Vanguard, a sign of a faltering shield.

"It seems Payapa Kalasag and the others won't last much longer, Payapa Karen, Nina!"

"It appears our time to shine is now, young sister." The Payapa called Karen stated.

"Indeed it seems, big sister." The other named Nina responded. "Come on out, Emby!"