It wasn’t the grand march of an army or the thunderous clash of siege engines.
It came quietly.
A few days after our retaliation against his supply lines, a group of Vexholm scouts appeared — ten men, heavily armed, carrying a white flag.
At first, I thought it was a trick.
But when we pulled them into the courtyard and began questioning them, I saw it in their eyes:
Fear.
The scouts told us that Darius had launched his full assault. His army was already marching, his war beasts close behind.
His offer had changed.
Now, it wasn’t an alliance.
It was surrender or die.
New Dawn had no choice.
We went to work immediately.
Jake, Adam, and I, standing in the war room, stared down at the new battle map.
Darius Vex’s forces were split into two groups — one marching from the north, the other from the east.
Each group had siege beasts, war machines, and undead legions at its command.
I clenched my fists.
This wasn’t just a raid.
It was a full-scale war.
"Defenses!" Jake barked, pointing at the map. "We’ll need the turrets on the north wall. We’ll put up the barrier pylons here and here. Set up traps along the eastern path."
Adam nodded, sharpening his arrows, his Earthsplitter Arrows glowing faintly. "I’ll take out their siege weapons, but we’ll need to hold the line long enough for the turrets to activate."
"Good," I said. "Emily, set up Healing Wards along the walls. Marcus, get the militia ready for a stand at the gates."
And then, I turned to face the rest of the people. The survivors who had come to New Dawn, the ones who’d chosen to fight.
This was it.
We were no longer a group of desperate survivors.
We were defenders.
It started at dawn.
The first cannonball from the enemy’s siege weapons hit the western wall.
The shockwave rattled the stones beneath our feet, knocking several of the lower turrets offline.
Jake cursed under his breath but didn’t stop working.
BOOM.
The Ravager’s war-beasts charged the southern gates, claws scraping against the stone, ready to batter down everything in their way.
I grabbed my staff, ran to the front, and slammed it into the Heartstone.
? [Barrier Rune: Activated]
Mana Shield deployed at 50% power.
The mana shield flared, creating a temporary
but solid defense at the southern gates, but I knew it wouldn’t hold long.
"We need those traps to work!" I shouted to Adam.
He nodded, nocking a Mana Draining Arrow. The arrow burst into the enemy’s mage contingent, sucking away their mana and halting their advance.
But it wasn’t enough. The first wave of Vexholm soldiers was pushing through.
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Jake’s voice rang out, calm but urgent.
"Get to the Mana Core, NOW!"
I raced toward the center of New Dawn, where Jake had been working nonstop for the past two days.
We had made the Mana Reactor — a new addition to the city’s power grid.
"Is it ready?" I asked, breathless.
Jake didn’t answer immediately — he was deep into his work, tweaking magical circuits and rerouting mana flows.
A second blast from the enemy's siege engine hit the outer gate. This time, the barrier pylons flickered.
Then Jake’s eyes lit up.
"Let’s see if this works."
With a final surge of energy, he slammed his hand into the console.
A series of turrets on the eastern wall fired simultaneously. Lightning struck, fire burned, and arcane bolts ripped through the advancing enemy ranks.
But the Vexholm army didn’t stop.
Their war beasts kept coming.
By mid-afternoon, we were losing ground.
The southern gates were about to be breached. The Ravagers had broken through our front traps and were scaling the walls.
The Elemental Turrets had run out of power. The Mana Shield flickered weakly.
We’d held them off for hours — but the Vexholm army was too vast.
Jake, sweat pouring down his face, pulled out his last Mana Crystal and slammed it into the Mana Core.
"Recharging… but not for long," he gasped.
I turned to Adam, who was staring at the advancing Vexholm forces.
"We hold until we can’t," Adam said quietly.
"Yeah," I said, gripping my staff tighter. "We hold until we die."
And then, just when it seemed like the wall would fall, the Vexholm army faltered.
A massive explosion rang out from the northern forest.
Reinforcements.
Another group of survivors — far stronger than we had expected — came pouring into the fray, led by a mysterious figure cloaked in shadow.
The Vexholm forces paused, confused, hesitant.
The battle shifted.
From that moment, New Dawn was no longer fighting alone.
The reinforcements were not just survivors.
They were trained soldiers.
Their leader was a tall, weathered warrior, his eyes hard with experience. He wielded a massive enchanted sword that crackled with arcane energy.
"Who are you?" I shouted across the battlefield.
The warrior smiled grimly.
"Name’s Thorn, Lord of Ironclad Keep," he said, voice booming. "I’ve heard of New Dawn. Thought it was time to pay my respects."
"Your respect comes with a fight," I said, glancing at the Vexholm forces regrouping on the horizon. "Help us, and we might just survive."
Thorn nodded. "Let’s finish them."
With his help, the Vexholm siege collapsed.
The turrets turned the tide. The traps took their toll. The enemy was scattered.
By nightfall, Darius Vex had retreated.
We had won.
Name: Hunter Vale
Level: 12
Class: Magic Trapper
Profession: City Lord
Stats:
- Health: 190/190
- Mana: 260/260
- Strength: 12
- Agility: 14
- Intelligence: 24
- Endurance: 18
- Wisdom: 17
Skills:
- Magic Bolt (Lv 5)
- Trap Sense (Passive)
- Barrier Rune (Lv 1)
- Arcane Chain Trap (Lv 2)
- Mana Traps (Lv 3)
Achievements:
- Defender of New Dawn! (+10% Health Regen, +5% Mana Efficiency)
- Siege Victorious! (+10 Stat Points)
Lord of the Walls (+15% Defensive Tower Strength)