Chapter 20: And So It begins....

**The following day**

In the grand halls of Prince Cedric's temporary residence in the city of Iztil, the atmosphere was tense as a messenger from the Capat Divine Kingdom was ushered in for a meeting. Prince Cedric, flanked by Seraphina, stood at the head of a long table, ready to address the envoy.

The messenger, dressed in the yellow and white of the Divine Kingdom, approached with an air of authority. He bowed respectfully before addressing Prince Cedric. "Your Highness, I bring a message from the Divine Kingdom. We demand that you immediately vacate the city and return it to our control. In exchange, we are willing to offer a payment of 100 million Aurum* as a gesture of goodwill."

Prince Cedric's eyes narrowed, suspicion evident in his voice. "You expect us to simply hand over the city? I know the true intentions of your kingdom. This negotiation is merely a charade."

The messenger's expression faltered for a moment before regaining composure. "Your Highness, I assure you, our intentions are genuine. We seek a peaceful resolution."

Cedric's voice grew firm and resolute. "I am not so easily swayed. The price for our withdrawal and relinquishment of the city is 1.2 billion Aurum. This is our final offer."

The messenger's face paled, clearly taken aback. "Your Highness, such an exorbitant demand, that amount is the same as the yearly budget for a city with a population of 300,000, I'm afraid that amount is beyond what we can consider. I will convey your message, but I must inform you that our kingdom will not entertain such terms."

As the messenger left the room, Cedric turned to Seraphina with a knowing look. "They had no real intention to negotiate. Their demands were nothing but empty words. Ensure all our forces are prepared for battle immediately. I will make my way to the wall. The Divine Kingdom will soon see that we will not yield."

Seraphina nodded, her determination matching Cedric's. "I will issue the orders at once. We must fortify our defenses and ready our troops. Let them come; we will show them the strength of Brizia."

With urgency, Seraphina set the wheels in motion, sending messengers to gather the Brizian forces and fortify the city's defenses.

As the hour passed, a cloud of dust appeared on the horizon, signaling the march of the Divine Kingdom's army. Banners fluttered in the wind, and the sound of marching boots grew louder.

Prince Cedric stood atop the walls, his eyes fixed on the approaching army. "They thought they could simply take this city, but they will learn that Brizia does not surrender easily. Ready our defenses. We will hold this city against any force that dares challenge us!"

Seraphina's voice echoed instilling determination in the hearts of all who heard. "Prepare yourselves. Let them see the resolve of Brizia!"

The Divine Kingdom approached the front gate, along with the eastern and western gates of the city. They marched forward in tightly shielded formations, consisting of infantrymen, mages, and archers. Their coordinated movements allowed them to systematically take turns firing at the soldiers on the walls, creating a constant rain of arrows and magical spells that tested the resilience of the Brizian forces.

"Your Highness, their formations are too tight for us to hit anything properly" shouted a passing soldier.

Woosh!

An arrow flew past Prince Cedric's ears and pierced the skull of the soldier.

"Interesting tactics" muttered Cedric as he briefly glanced at the dead soldier's corpse.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

The sounds of explosions rang across the wall and soldiers from the Kingdom of Brizia fell at a faster rate than their enemies. It was becoming more apparent that the Brizians were on the backfoot even with the advantage of the wall.

Cedric then looked at the soldiers behind him on the 10-meter wide wall and ordered "Summon reinforcements, Now!"

Then as he turned around he felt the ground rattle causing his normally indifferent facial expression to harden and as he realized the source of the commotion he couldn't help but let out a small curse.

"Shit, where'd they find a Fomorian"

A massive and brutish beast appeared with a giant club in hand, towering over the soldiers at around 20 feet tall. Its red, demonic appearance struck fear into the hearts of those who laid eyes upon it. The Fomorian, with its twisted and monstrous features, possessed a round head with two giant horns that truly accentuated its shocking ugliness.

The Fomorian made its way to the massive Aetherium gate and swung its club, aiming to destroy the gate and breach the city's defenses. The ground suffered trauma with each strike and all who felt the tremors realized how dreadful the situation had become for the Brizians.

Prince Cedric however didn't falter, seeing the imminent threat he rushed to the section of the wall immediately above the front gate and summoned his aura. As it coalesced around his entire body, he leaped from the wall with his sword in hand, and with unparalleled agility and determination he raised his greatsword above his head and imbued it with aura.

Landing near the shoulder of the Fomorian he unleashed a powerful strike against the beast.

"Mooooaaaahhhh!"

The creature howled in pain and fell back a few paces after being displaced by the force.

Cedric landed on the ground quite stylishly with one knee on the floor while his sword lay planted in the earth being held by his left hand.

He looked up and heaved a sigh, knowing that he had to clash with this creature.

Prince Cedric steeled his resolve and stood up holding his sword with both hands, ready to take on the beast.

His powerful aura rushed out from his body, indenting the surrounding earth then neatly wrapped itself around him and his weapon.

The Fomorian looked at him while clutching at its wounded shoulder with anger in its eyes.

"Rrroooaaaahhhh!!"

The creature produced a deafening roar causing the soldiers on the ground and the walls to hold their ears while screaming in pain, but Prince Cedric didn't budge which angered the creature even more and so it rushed towards Cedric and with just a lunge it closed the distance and swung its club at him but it hit nothing.

Cedric rushed forward at the speed of light and went under the legs of the Fomorian and as it landed he slashed from ankle to ankle causing the green blood of the creature to splash out and catch his armor.

"Disgusting"

The creature howled in pain and landed on its knees but Cedric had no sympathy for such a vile thing.

He composed himself and continued relentlessly moving as if he were the wind itself, he slash the calves of the creature and ran along its leg and jumped towards its back, and planted his sword in the creature's spine crippling it and any chance it had of making it out of the battle alive.

After being paralyzed the Fomorian crashed to the ground producing a shockwave that knocked away some of the surrounding soldiers of the divine kingdom.

Cedric walked beside the body of the creature with casual steps as he was being watched by both armies but the soldiers of the divine kingdom dared not make a move, so they watched as he made his way up to the creature's obscenely thick neck and with his aura wrapped blade, he slashed, cutting it cleanly.

He then stepped away from the corpse and turned his body to the wall while raising his sword in the air and started speaking

"Soldiers of Brizia, the scum from the divine kingdom think they have what it takes to beat us, show them who we are, show them what we are made of!"

"Yeahhhh" These cries could be heard by soldiers all across the perimeter of the front gate as the Brizian soldiers on the walls rallied behind their prince.

The gates then opened and Prince Cedric was greeted by the sight of some 2000 calvary men who rushed out and dealt with the surrounding soldiers from the divine kingdom.

The air crackled on with the clash of spells, the whistling of arrows, and the desperate shouts of soldiers.

Despite the odds stacked against them, the Brizian army fought on with unyielding determination. They unleashed a renewed onslaught, coordinating their attacks to exploit any weaknesses they could find in the Divine Kingdom's formations.

But alas, their newfound hope couldn't turn the tide on the situation, the forces of the divine kingdom were too organized and even the cavalrymen who were battling below were feeling the effects. The battlefield was littered with the corpses of Brizian horses, and the walls were lined with bleeding and dying men some of which had to be thrown off the walls to free up space. The scene was truly horrifying.

*Aurum- The common currency used by all nations on the continent.