NOVEL NEXT Chapter 140: How About Now?
Ren stood, his father in front of him, and his brothers on either side of him, all of them watching through the barrier as the barbarian army arrived.
The wave of people moved slowly, the giant bears walking on all fours, their riders hollering as they slowly spread along the barrier, keeping a healthy amount of space between them and the translucent dome.
Ren could feel the energy of his newly awakened Druidic Magic buzzing within him. It was like having three switches in his head. One for plants, one for animals, and one for himself.
He could feel the potential of what he, a new Druid could do, just waiting for the energy of berry powder. And the thought was terrifying.
If he, a new Druid could do that, what could the barbarian army, a group of more than a thousand Druids, do? The thought sent dread coiling in his gut.
Druidic magic wasn't like Bloodbinding where there were caps to the growth attainable within each rank. With Druidic Magic, all you needed was time and berry powder.
As long as you keep dumping energy into the switch for the Druid and reinforcing yourself, you'll eventually grow strong enough physically to sit on the same level as a Rank 9 Knight, the pinnacle of Bloodbinding.
Fuck.
"How about now?" Darius asked, staring at their father. "Are you still unwilling to accept the exchange? My barony for the king's soldiers."
"Patience, Darius." Their father said, not even looking back. "The time for your answer hasn't arrived yet. When it does, I'll accept whatever decision you make."
Darius exhaled in anger, saying nothing. There was nothing he could say to convince his father anyways.
"So, what do we do now?" Felix asked.
"We watch." Their father answered. "There is much that can be learned from watching your opponent. The barbarians do not believe in holding back. Just by watching, we can gauge their strength. And if we have an idea of their strength, we'd know what we need to destroy them."
"It doesn't change the fact that the soldiers we have here will not be enough to do anything. Even if Lord Underwood joins us, there's nothing we can do." Darius said. "They have more than a thousand Druids. We have less than six hundred Knights between us and Lord Underwood."
"The one with the superior numbers doesn't always win the battle."
"But most of the time, they do." Darius rebutted, glaring at his father's back.
They stood in silence, watching the barbarians as they settled around them. Then, the wyverns took to the air, flying around the dome.
"What are they doing?" Darius eyes the flying wyverns suspiciously.
"Encircling us?" Ren frowned, his eyes following a wyvern as it passed overhead, outside the dome, on its way to the other side of the dome.
"Why?"
The question was answered minutes later as thick wooden growths began to erupt from the ground behind the barbarians, growing tall into the air, taller than the dome itself.
The barbarians were building their own wall. They were sealing themselves in with House Ross.
"What do they think this will achieve?" Felix chuckled.
Ren almost too, but controlled himself. Felix was right. Against any other country or people, this tactic would've been effective. But against Albion, whose houses took their power from the Blood Trees, it was useless to start a siege.
One would need another imbuement, or a Divine Gift, to be able to stop Knights from teleporting in and out. The reason his father had been stocking up on food wasn't because he couldn't get more, but because prices tend to go higher when people learn you're under siege.
But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be wary of the barbarians. They were not to be taken lightly. They stood there, watching as the wall was erected, encircling them. After a few minutes of the barbarians' preparations, Their father turned to leave.
"Send a few soldiers to keep an eye on them." He said, walking away, his sons following behind. "I want to know everything they do. I want to know how many Druids there actually are in their army. How many wyverns are present in their army. How many bears. Every little thing."
"Why are you so confident, father?" Darius asked. "What if the Druids stay here forever? What if they breach the dome?"
"Let me let you in on a little secret, Darius." Their father said as he walked. "We're in a race against time. The barbarians have a limited supply of berry powder. They'll eventually run out and have to go back home."
"All we need to do is keep the barriers running, and as long as they don't get in, we'll win this."
"What if they start attacking the villages around as they wait."
"We're not monsters, Darius." Abram Ross said. "We'll protect our people."
They walked past the village to the staging ground, which was a hive of activity. Fully outfitted soldiers passed by, their armors clanking, bowing as they passed through.
The four hundred thousand gold coins he'd won from Vesper had been put to good use by their father.
"Robert!" Their father called out.
The man jogged to them, snapping a salute. "My lord!"
"Are the soldiers outfitted?"
"Yes, my lord!" Robert answered. "The soldiers have been taken care of and the Knights are ready for battle. All we're waiting for are the soldiers waiting in their respective villages. Once we've portalled them over here, we'll outfit them too."
"Good." Lord Ross nodded. "For now, keep me upd—"
His words were lost as the world erupted in a flash of light. The ground beneath them shuddered and cracked. Ren staggered, his ears ringing.
Blinking spots out of his eyes, his head snapped to where the barbarian army had gathered. Crackling with energy, was a jagged hole in the barrier, big enough for two wyverns to fly through at once.
Cheers filled the air as the barbarians began pouring through, the bear Druids leading the way.
The House Ross forces stood frozen until Darius' voice broke the silence.
"How about now?"