Welcome To The Battlefield

"We heard that Celina was bringing her court to claim Silverna, so Esmeralda rallied up knights and marched through Illius to aid prince Julius." The slave whimpered, his leg throbbing as he continued, "For some reason, they refused her passage through Lyioun." 

 The slave rambled back and forth after that, but Augustus had little of them. He could tell truth from lie, and he'd heard one thing that was enough for him, 'Esmeralda refused passage through Lyioun, their own territory? If I remember correctly, this means that—'

 "They were sightings of a massive red dragon flying all over Lyioun! The people there thought hell had sent its emissary to slaughter them, so they locked up their borders." The slave rapped both the one he knew and the one he did not know, "The knights got scared."

 The atmosphere shifted at that point, and Augustus thought back to Valentine and her words during their first encounter in this world, and he blurted out unconsciously, "Fuck."

 The moon slave blinked hearing that, raising his head to stare at Augustus who rose to his feet and started pacing around the room, "It's true! The red dragon of hell! We saw it!"

 Augustus paused, lowering his hand from his chin and turning to the moon slave with a cold gleam in his eyes, and seeing the man grow silent his gaze sharpened, "Who's we?"

 "Uh— Uhm…" The slave started to stammer, backing up to the wall as Augustus turned around to stare at him with a curious gaze. He gulped down a mouthful, "Just some slave."

 "Some slave? In Lyioun?" Augustus chuckled, pacing back with a smirk as he waved an index finger. An eerier 'pop' followed by a high-pitched shriek rippled through the silence.

 The slave writhed, his arm twisted out of place, the whites of his twisted joints poking out through his torn flesh, "My hand! We were sent there to investigate the closed border."

 "You should use this word, spy, more." Augustus advised, turning around and releasing a loud sigh, "So, how does all that relate to the flying dragon and our aged autumn leaf?"

 "Esmeralda went to Lady Delusion for help, and the grand spirit told us a way we can handle the dragon— a leaf of ancient times to poison its strength." The slave groaned, his eyes filled with tears, "We heard rumours this could harm children of the sun."

 "The leaf in its current state wouldn't even hurt a fly. How are you lot going to make it into something enough to kill a literal dragon?" Augustus narrowed his gleaming eyes.

 "Delusion said that the older an autumn leaf, the stronger it'd react with a sacrifice of silver flames." The moon slave heaved, heaving erratically, "I was meant to be a sacrifice." 

 "Oh, so you were going to die to release the leaf! I get it now!" Augustus facepalmed, a cruel chuckle escaping his mouth, "The raks were going to break the leaf out of the chest."

 He turned around to hide the gleam in his eyes, 'Raks aren't intelligent by design. They must have had someone wait in there to take the leaf after the destruction of the treasury.'

 Enryon may not be in cahoots with Esmeralda, but they knew of his plans and used its leverage to gain an advantage over him— it was nice while the confusion lasted, wasn't it?

 "Now, I know for sure that Lucas has left the palace and Celina is going on a rampage. I understand that Rachael sent me that message to throw me of guard." Augustus smirked.

 They knew him too well. Sadly, Rachael and her spies weren't affiliated with the slave or they'd have silenced him before he got here. After all, the best lies were told with truth.

 Augustus turned around, then began walking towards the door. He heard the leggings of the slave as he slammed the door shut behind him, but Augustus could care less for him.

——

 Dozens of catapults were lines up in front of the city gates, facing the forests. Lily sat atop the walls, staring into the forests with a cruel smile on her face, "They're closing in."

 After an entire camp went missing in their ranks, the enemy forces grew restless. They grouped up and marched down in the night, aiming to take the weaker village by surprise.

 Behind the walls, were the militia of the village, armed with blades and armour stolen from raided enemies. Only Margret and Henry, guarded by a few men, stood out the gates.

 "I know." Ralph's groaned from besides her, his fingers trembling as he peered into the distant trees, his pupils contracted, "Some are going round the forests, adjust the assault."

 Hearing his voice, the men below joined Henry and Margret in rolling a few catapults to aim at the sides. Seeing this Lily sighed, "Where is Aaron? Didn't he say he'd be here?"

 "He's talking with his family. He'll be here soon." Ralph muttered, but a sudden blast from the corner of his eyes caused him to jump, nearly falling off the wall, "They set off!"

 After the explosion, the soldiers halted. Lily saw this and frowned, pinching her nose, "I knew no one would be dumb enough to let their men charge into a potential landmine."

 Lily jumped off the wall, landing on the ground with a loud thud and sending dust into the air. She patted Margaret's back, then snapped her fingers, "Please, send them the gift."

 Boulders were loaded into the catapults and aimed into the forests, then as Lily's cold breath fell, they were all fired into the air as Margret and Lily doubled their flying speeds.

 The boulders were an instant sentence for the soldiers who'd already marched deep in the fake forest. Lily's eyes lit up with flames, a bloody mist settled with the bright flames.

 The soldiers were thrown into a disarray, rushing back into crash into more forests. It was like a chain reaction, the explosions, as the soldiers got torn apart in their confusion.

 Lily lowered her hands, and the volleys settled as the area fell into silence, "Now, they have a reason to charge blindly into our counterattack. Prepare for the battle, soldiers!"