Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 445 - 444: The Northern Gate

The battle is over.

The southern wall of the rocky ridges Fortress, after losing the protection of the barrier, was utterly defenseless against the bombardment of heavy Magic Crystal Shells. It turned out that when faced with a rigid target like a city wall, Magic Crystal Shells demonstrated a higher destructive efficiency than the Calibrator Beam—Sir Maryland once thought that the rocky ridges Fortress would still have dozens of minutes to resist after the barrier fell, but ultimately, it proved he miscalculated the different effects of shells and energy beams: the wall held for only sixteen minutes.

The fortress’s heavy gate had completely collapsed under the bombardment, along with the hundreds of meters of walls extending out from the gate. All archer towers, prisms, and external Mage towers in this vicinity were reduced to ash, and the Outer City District and southern Inner City District behind the walls suffered varying degrees of damage. The facilities concentrated between the first and second walls, such as barracks and armories, were turned into flat ground.

This level of destruction would absolutely not occur in traditional aristocratic warfare: Cecil’s Army ended the battle by virtually smashing the fortress’s defensive facilities completely, offering no room for stalemate or maneuver for those inside the rocky ridges Fortress.

After the bombardment ceased, Sir Philip and Knight Wald Peric led Cecil’s First and Second Combat Corps towards the fortress, reaching the already defenseless stronghold by dusk. What most impressed Knight Wald was that the time his army spent traveling to receive the fruits of victory was surprisingly longer than the time spent destroying the fortress’s defenses.

The First and Second Legions encountered almost no resistance upon entering rocky ridges Fortress—there was, in fact, no resistance at all. If anything, a crazed dwarf horse suddenly rushing out from the ruins was likely the only enemy the soldiers faced.

On the evening of Fire Moon 58, Anzu 736, the flag representing Anzu’s royal family gracefully fell from the flagpole in front of rocky ridges Fortress’s castle, and the emblem of sword and plow belonging to Cecil Clan fluttered atop this symbolically significant stronghold.

Gawain’s boots stepped over the fortress’s stone pavement, which seemed to still retain warmth and tremors, with ruins and still-smoking buildings on either side. The soldiers of the fortress, with faces marked by terror, stood disheveled and grimy beside the road. As Cecil’s flag passed before their eyes, they all prostrated themselves to show submission.

"Confine them temporarily in the dungeon beneath the castle, and if rooms are not enough, secure them in sturdy buildings within the Inner City District," Gawain softly instructed Sir Philip beside him, "Strictly prohibit mistreatment of prisoners and harm to the wounded, dispatch a medical team to treat their injuries—these individuals will become part of Cecil."

Sir Philip stood up and saluted: "Understood."

Disarmed and with a look of defeat, Sir Maryland walked beside Gawain under the escort of several Cecil soldiers. Having heard Gawain’s instructions to Philip, he involuntarily raised his head, showing a hint of surprise in his eyes: "I didn’t expect you would still adhere to the principles of nobility..."

"Prohibiting the mistreatment of prisoners has nothing to do with so-called noble principles," Gawain glanced at the former commander, although he was a respectable knight, it was evident that he was more of a traditional aristocrat, "The ’prisoners’ I prohibit mistreating include not only knights and nobles."

Sir Maryland opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, simply lowered his head again.

Gawain then turned to Knight Wald Peric, nodding to the veteran knight, "You lead your men to inspect the entire Inner City District and the underground pathways beneath the castle, search the entire city to prevent anyone from hiding, and also collaborate with Sir Philip to inventory the city’s resources and shelters, reporting promptly. During this process, emphasize military discipline: prohibiting the hoarding of spoils, pillaging, theft, or concealment."

Knight Wald Peric solemnly performed a knightly salute: "Yes."

The old knight understood very well that leading the Second Legion to search this fortress city was not merely an honor, but also a test—in this battle, the Second Legion finally made a strong presence with a formal army status, but whether these soldiers from the Kant Region could become a troop long trusted by the leader depended on the test of military discipline after entering the city. In this respect, the test faced by the Second Legion, formerly noble private soldiers, was no less significant than their first time on the battlefield.

Subsequently, Gawain arrived at the castle area of rocky ridges Fortress—this castle spanned between the first and second walls; actually, its main structure was part of the second wall. It was once the most magnificent and tallest building in this fortress, but now... it’s left with less than two-thirds of its structure.

The entire upper layer of the castle and all affiliated tower structures had been destroyed by the Calibrator Beam.

Cecil’s flag had already been hung on the flagpole in front of the castle by the first group of troops to enter the city, and beside the flagpole, Gawain saw a lady clad in a lightweight aristocratic gown, slightly thin in stature.

Ropeni Ge’lan stood silently there, accompanied by her loyal middle-aged butler, and behind them, a hundred loyal and steadfast guards who followed Lady Ropenny Gran from Gran Territory to rocky ridges Ridge, and from rocky ridges Ridge to rocky ridges Fortress, always loyal and unwavering.

On the other side stood the High-Ranked Ranger Soldrin and the dozens of Steel Cavalry soldiers he led.

A shadow swiftly flashed through the air, quickly appearing beside Gawain and solidifying into Amber’s figure, the half-elf lady, wearing a proud expression with her head high: "Hey, let me tell you, I helped hang up the flag!"

Gawain casually patted Amber’s shoulder (it seemed inappropriate to ruffle her hair in such a formal occasion), then walked towards Lady Ropeni Gran, and upon seeing her calm expression, he knew that her revenge was complete.

"Your contribution is irreplaceable, my lady," Gawain said seriously, "Patty will be pleased for your safe return home."

He knew what this lady was most concerned about.

Upon hearing Patty’s name, Ropeni’s expression softened for a moment, and she gave a faint smile, bowing deeply to Gawain: "Please allow me to pay homage to you, this fortress is yours now—and please allow me to pledge loyalty to you once again. The Gran Family will always be loyal to the Cecil Clan."

"I accept your allegiance," Gawain nodded slightly, "but don’t just be loyal to me or my family, be loyal to a great cause."

Watching this scene from the side, Sir Maryland’s expression changed several times, his feelings were complex, but eventually everything he wanted to say turned into a long and meaningful sigh: "Ah..."

He found he couldn’t even bring himself to call this lady a traitor—Ropeni’s loyalty was unwavering, but she was loyal to the Cecils...

"Sir, don’t be so quick to sigh. Though the Rocky Ridges Fortress has fallen, at least it has fallen into my hands and not one day in the future to the Eastern Territory Rebels," Gawain glanced at Sir Maryland, saying mildly, "Perhaps you are filled with remorse at this moment, but someday you will feel grateful."

The main halls and military halls of the upper sections of the castle had been destroyed by the collapsed ceiling, and other parts of the castle were precarious due to collapses from the upper sections, so Gawain directly led his people into the lower-level dining hall and used it as a temporary post-battle command center, preparing to make further arrangements for wartime control, reconstruction, repair, and subsequent management of the fortress.

Taking down the Rocky Ridges Fortress was only the first step; how to rearm and reinforce it, turning it into Cecil’s strong northern gate, was the more important matter.

Of course, before undertaking these tasks, Sir Maryland and all officer-level prisoners of war captured after the city fell were sent to a temporary POW camp, where they were held separately and heavily guarded—Gawain provided them with relatively good living conditions, but did not relax at all in terms of security defense. Although he didn’t believe Sir Maryland would attempt an escape, he couldn’t guarantee that the latter’s old subordinates wouldn’t have other motives.

In his view, people like Maryland O’Neal, rich with knightly spirit, though perhaps not favored in certain aristocratic power circles, very easily cultivate extreme loyal subordinates. In this situation, separately confining and strictly guarding all command-level prisoners from Rocky Ridges Fortress was necessary.

In the hall of the temporary command center, Gawain glanced around at everyone present—Sir Philip and Byron Kirk, two Cecil Knights; Sir Wald Peric and Margarita, two Kant Knights; Soldrin, the commander of the Steel Cavalry; Lady Ropenny Gran; and Amber, his personal guard—this was everyone participating in the meeting.

"Gentlemen, we have won; Rocky Ridges Fortress has become Cecil’s northern gate, but before we indulge in the joy of victory, we must recognize that there is much work yet to be done. Soldrin, report on the situation you have grasped first."

"Yes," Soldrin stood up, the High-Ranked Ranger showing a serious expression, "The royal capital will soon know of Rocky Ridges Fortress’s fall—as soon as the fortress’s magic barrier went out, the stationed commanders immediately released all gryphon messengers and carrier pigeons, and dispatched a squad of daredevil team from the northern side-door to charge out of the city. We could only intercept part of them, the remaining messengers have vanished on the Plains of the Holy Spirits. Failing to destroy the gryphon nests immediately was my mistake."

"No, your manpower was limited, prioritizing the destruction of the Mage towers was your task, not destroying the gryphon nests," Gawain interrupted Soldrin. "The situation was within my expectations, the royal capital will certainly learn of Rocky Ridges Fortress’s fall—whether or not the defending troops managed to send out intelligence, Count Pompeii will soon perceive the situation and send notice immediately. There are gryphon messengers in the count territories, and perhaps even magic communication."

With that, Gawain paused: "So, our first task is to reinforce the northern walls of the fortress and thoroughly renovate them—In fact, whether or not the royal capital can receive the message, and no matter how long it takes to get the word, our first task is that.

"The original design of Rocky Ridges Fortress was to defend against the southern Cecil Clan, so its north walls are far more thin and low compared to the south walls—even though the fall of Rocky Ridges Fortress demonstrates that relying solely on walls and magic shields for defense of the old-style fortress is already outdated for this era, they still have essential functions, we must first thicken and heighten the north walls. To achieve this, we might even consider slightly delaying repairs to the south walls; secondly, we should transform the north walls, covering them with a Magic Web and installing a Magic Crystal Railgun on top of the walls, and eventually installing the Calibrator; finally, the overall fortress should be reformed, here will be turned into a heavy industrial and military hybrid fortress, with the entire plain extending south from the fortress included within the range of this fortress city..."