The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

Hagon Je'wrha observed the distant fields in nervous anticipation. His ships should have already returned, yet they were nowhere to be seen. While he couldn't imagine his forces failing, with growing anxiety, he started to admit that if someone could have stopped his newest ships, it would be the Arcadians. The ultimatum he received would expire today at noon. He looked at the lush and green fields of Tulva and took a ragged, nervous breath. The uncertainty was killing him. However, he wasn't going to surrender or hide. His son was dead, killed by the people who should have defended him. His only family left was his five-year-old daughter. He closed his eyes for a moment, interrupted by the sounds of panicked screams.

"The alert pyres! The enemy has attacked the border!"

He gritted his teeth and furiously smashed a nearby stone wall. It was way too fast! She had not hesitated even for a moment! He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Call all ships to attack the enemy flank!" he ordered, knowing it would take hours, if not days, to reach his spread fleet.

"At once, sir!"

He couldn't understand how the enemy coordinated their attacks so precisely. They always knew where to strike and when. So far, it was impossible to surprise them; his forces could only defend themselves. All attacks had failed, so he prepared a dense and rigid defence line.

•••

Fort Glory was one of the mightiest castles of Berna and now, after its fall, of Tulva. It was a sight to behold; a large complex of barracks, temples, stables, workshops, and warehouses was overlooked by a tall and menacing main keep. The castle's main gate, which guarded the only road from the south that connected Tulva with the rest of the continent, was fifteen metres tall and ten wide. On both sides were two wide, round towers that were even taller, reaching an impressive twenty metres. The constantly vigilant garrison was proud of the fact that no foe ever invaded Tulva from the south. Even during the unification one hundred years ago, the Patriarch's army was pushed back. It was impossible to flank the fortress as well. Its defensive wall cut into the primal forest almost a hundred metres on both sides, and the monsters residing in those wild woods never suffered the presence of anyone foolish enough to trail off the road. No army could hope to get past the forest, and no army could hope to breach the gate that guarded the road. Even if someone tried, they would face thousands of defenders armed with all the siege engines imaginable, as well as two airships. The two frigates were always on standby, waiting for the order in the artificial lake behind the fortress.

However... The luck of Tulva and its nobles ran out.

"How can we fight this?!" The commander of Fort Glory looked at the horizon in despair.

Alarm bells and gongs sounded throughout the fort. Behind the fort's commander, the signal pyre was set ablaze, but it could not carry the entire message. Every cannon at his disposal was shooting furiously at the behemoth looming over the forest. The monstrous ship flew so low that it was using the foliage as if it were water, hiding the lower part of its hull. Its enormous cannons obliterated the main gate, giving no chance for anyone to flee. He looked down at the castle lake and the bustling crowd around the two ships. The frigates must run. They must warn King Hagon about everything.

"Signal the frigates to flee!" He violently shook the shoulder of the trumpeter. "They must warn the King!"

The man looked at him with an empty gaze, too shocked to understand him immediately, but the shaking seemed to help. He put his trumpet to his lips and started sounding the unthinkable signal. Glory Fortress was about to fall. The frigates' crews looked up; their shocked voices were almost audible from below. However, their captains carried the orders, and two sleek ships gained speed and altitude. It looked like they would make it when the closest frigate flew too high. The punishment was instantaneous; the roaring thunder and flash of a monstrous gun caused the frigate’s port board explosion. The ship's shield, maintained by the onboard mages, wasn't enough to withstand the beating. Once the shield broke, the frigate lost two of her three masts and started losing altitude. It was apparent that she wouldn't be going anywhere, and her crew was doomed, left to the mercy of forest beasts. The second ship dived immediately, flying dangerously close to the surface, hoping the forest would provide them with cover.

"Sir? What should we do?" The Captain of the Paladins asked in an overly calm voice. However, his short breath and dripping sweat betrayed how stressed he was.

"We must regroup to prepare for their infantry and continue the fire at that monstrous ship."

"Sir... We should retreat, Lord Gafla." One of the lower-rank officers lowered his head.

"Where do you want to flee? Where?!" Gafla yelled at the younger soldier. He sighed heavily. "This fortress is the only thing that can provide us any semblance of cover. This road runs through this forest for miles, with the sporadic watchtowers now being abandoned after lighting the signal fire and only a fortlet in the middle. There is nothing and nowhere to retreat to. Besides... Do you really think they will let us go?"

Gafla pointed high into the sky, and the people around him paled. Six more ships were lazily observing them, far from the range of Tulva's weapons. However, they were slowly approaching Fort Glory, and it seemed they had started descending.

"We can't outrun the ships of the navy." The fort commander sighed heavily. "Don't panic, people! It will only help our enemies. We are the Holy Paladins. We are the warriors of the greatest acumen in the world! Let them come, and we will crush them!"

His speech was met with cheers from hundreds of nearby soldiers. Gafla smiled, knowing that his short encouragement would reach every soldier quickly. He took a deep breath and pointed towards the enemy ships.

"Mages! Maintain the shield!" he cried, his order instantly repeated by the low-ranking officers. "Focus on the guns of the large ship! Redirect fire to the smallest once they are within our reach!"

Their lord's calmness and precise orders started calming down the soldiers. Gafla was a veteran, and he knew that panic would defeat them faster than the enemy. He stayed calm, issuing orders loudly and making sure they reached everyone. They lost just a few hundred soldiers and the main gate, but he still had a favourable position and over three thousand soldiers. The battle had only just begun.

•••

Janet watched calmly as the second frigate fled the battlefield. It was still in range, and she contemplated if she should send a few rounds towards it for a good measure, but she decided otherwise. Elisabeth wanted one of the enemy ships to flee and inform their superiors about the fall of the fortress. That would instil fear in the Bernans, who believed that the road from the south couldn't be traversed without their permission. The Princess's plan was simple, but it would work flawlessly. The enemy focused everything they had on Dauntless, but the dreadnought's shields were barely impressed. All shields were concentrated on the front of the ship, but the relatively small area they protected allowed them to regenerate almost as quickly as they received damage.

After studying the plans, she ordered, "Clear the west wall section and take down the inner fortress wall. Victory’s strike group can drop her shock troops once our marines get the enemy's attention."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The officers in charge of different stations started issuing the orders.

"Main battery on target, Ma'am!"

"Fire!" Janet ordered, and everyone felt the recoil of a massive cannon. "Gods, I love this..."

"Aye, aye!" the tactical officer confirmed her sentiment with a wide grin. "Bullseye, Ma'am. The enemy lost the western fort's wall. The enemy shield withstands two of three shots."

"Enemy shield?" she asked.

"Down. However, we picked up a build-up of mana, so they will most likely try to recast it."

"All right. Let's come closer," Janet ordered while looking closely at the Marines boarding the assault crafts.

The enemy stopped panicking, and they began forming battleline formations hidden behind anything that, in their opinion, provided cover. Janet snickered at their folly and shook her head in disbelief at how Elisabeth's predictions were correct. Their plan included that the first shock of the enemy wouldn't last long enough for the Legions to reach the fortress. In turn, the attack that would quell any resistance would come from above. Victory's strike group hung motionlessly over the fortress, ready to deploy the elite Triarii of the Fifth Legion. At the same time, the assault crafts used the shade of Dauntless and sped towards the empty walls. Soon enough, the point defence systems of the flagship engaged the enemy positions, killing the lightly armoured defenders. Fresh panic broke through the ranks of Bernans once their cannons' emplacements were silenced one by one. Janet observed how the enemy lines crumbled, and they ignored the assault crafts that safely reached the far side of the fortress wall. The two hundred marines swiftly dashed forward without meeting any resistance while their boats returned for reinforcements. Only after the first tower was successfully captured did the Bernans realise that the Arcadians were there.

But it was already too late.

Screams and distress calls could be heard throughout the fort once the Bernans noticed the small dark dots quickly dropping onto their positions. The fall was short, providing excellent protection for the troops, rendering their still-functioning guns useless. The shock absorption gel cushioned the otherwise lethal drop, and before the enemies realised what was going on, the Death Heralds were already among them. The incredibly skilled soldiers of the Fifth Legion wasted no time and started killing the defenders who couldn't adapt to the unexpected tactics of the Arcadians. Amongst the commotion, the elite Marines of the mobile infantry dropped onto the precisely selected key points across the fortress and, using their monstrous firepower, they additionally softened the already crumbling defences. The spells started flying around, adding to the chaos of the absolutely one-sided battle. The officers on her bridge observed battle on the main screen, rarely giving an order or correcting the targets. However, they had not expected such results. She could tell they were slightly terrified by what they had unleashed.

"Ma'am... We are currently controlling half of the fort," the tactical officer informed loudly with a slightly wooden voice. "Ma'am..."

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"How is this possible? All our lives, we have been told that Berna's Paladins are some of the fiercest warriors. But..."

"What were you taught at the Academy?" she asked with an amused grin. "During your very first lessons?"

"That we should forget about everything we know?" the Lieutenant responsible for the communication suggested after her friend clearly had no idea.

"Exactly." Janet nodded. "What you are witnessing is a true use of combined arms. So far, we have been able to incorporate the infantry, archers, and mages while we have waged our wars. However..."

She looked at the tactical officer, who started nodding nervously. She pointed at him with a smile.

"However, that was just a very shallow approach. In the Academy, we were told that it was foolish to consider combining arms by merely using different types of infantry. True combined arms include aerial, armoured units, and various types of infantry," he explained, barely taking a second breath through his speech.

"The Bernans, despite their superior air force up until now, never considered incorporating their airships into their doctrine." Janet nodded. "Facing us now makes them panic because they don't know what to do. There is no established response they could employ, nor can their commander designate the first priority targets."

"I think we should really return to the Academy once this war is over, Ma'am..." The first officer lowered her head and avoided eye contact.

"Spend more time with manuals and student books that you all have. It's not like the professors are any wiser than you. In fact, the only person with real experience is the King himself." Janet shrugged and smiled. "Which makes you all veterans..."

•••

Lord Gafla looked in despair at the single Arcadian soldier who had killed dozens of his most skilled Paladins. The towering knight's effortless walk towards him was briefly interrupted by the flash of his sleek staff-sword and a short burst of magic bullets that made short work of his best archers and mages. But while the knight was his direct and imminent problem, the rest of his Paladins were faring far worse. The soldiers who had never faced defeat were decimated without causing significant damage to the enemy. His forces were unable to respond, his orders were not delivered on time, and his officers could not control their soldiers. It was an absolute disaster, and he could do nothing to turn this battle in his favour. He would be delusional even to think they could hold until their reinforcements came. What was far worse was that the Tulvan soldiers would be coming straight into the deadly trap. He looked up towards the closed visor of the Arcadian knight as a cold, metallic, and slightly amused voice filled the air.

"This is the moment, Lord Gafla, where you surrender and save the lives of the remaining soldiers."