I followed him out of the tent and around the corner, where he walked up the small hill overlooking the area. He stopped at the top and faced the deep ravine that was before us.
"Looking at all this, what do you see?" He asked all of a sudden, gesturing toward the enemy fortress on the other side of the abyss, connected by that singular massive bridge.
I look, and it still blows my mind to see the massive structure that the bridge is, going across such a gargantuan ravine. "I see an impossible task," I state plainly with a light shake of my head.
"That is true. This is one of the most impenetrable fortresses in the known world. You know what I see? I see conquest. Territory to take, land that will one day fly our flag," General Corvo states with unflinching certainty.
"So, are we going to assault the castle?" I ask, immediately thinking I am about to die, just as I became a Knight. ’Well, that was sure short-lived.’
"No, I am not that foolhardy to think I’ll be able to take this myself," he chuckles, saying something that sounds like he knows more than what he lets on.
I look up at the tall and imposing grizzled general before me. "Then why are we still here?"
"It’s simple. They declared war on us, so how would it look if we left as soon as we came knocking on their door? No, the Emperor demands that the Imperium always has the last thing to say," the general states, his eyes turning predatory as he points to the right side of the camp.
I look over and see what looks to be various siege weapons and artillery that are being set up. I easily recognize the trebuchets and ballista, but there is one final weapon I don’t recognize.
"Oh, I see it caught your eye; those two right there are the most powerful weapons the Imperium possesses. In fact, there are no more than twenty in the entire Imperium. The Aether Mana Cannon, or A.M.C. for short. It has massive range and incredible destructive power. It just takes an enormous amount of mana to power. A single shot will drain all the mana from a hundred Core Stage cultivators," the general explains as we watch the finishing touches of the siege equipment being set up.
"So, you plan to destroy the central bridge?" I ask, thinking that would be a strong message, since it doesn’t look like something that would be easy to rebuild.
"Kahaha, wrong again. Why destroy something that we want ourselves? No, the web of bridges will be the target of the trebuchets and the ballista. The A.M.C.s will target the city on the far side. Only a few shots. Won’t destroy the place but will cause massive destruction and death. A plentiful lesson," the man beside me said with absolute calm, which actually gave me a bit of chills.
The next thing I noticed was the two batches of nearly one hundred black-robed Sentinels that walked up to the cannons that stood ready. Each group stood behind one of the cannons, grabbing a long, tube-like extension that came out the back. I couldn’t make out many more details than that due to the distance, but after what seemed like half an hour, the Sentinels began to collapse one after the other.
"Mana exhaustion. Not something you have to worry about until the Core Stage," General Corvo chimes in. "Look, it’s about to fire."
I nod, a bit absentmindedly, as I continue to watch until the barrels of the cannons light up with a white light. Then, sound seemed to vanish! I almost felt like I had to clear out my ears or something, until the entire valley shook and two large white balls spiraled out of the barrels. I couldn’t even track them; they shot out so fast. The very next moment, they had already impacted the city in the distance.
I looked to see that the fortress city’s eastern walls had collapsed, along with half the castle at the far end where the nobles most likely lived. "Fuckin’ hell," I couldn’t help but mutter under my breath, seeing it get destroyed so easily and quickly.
"Exactly. Still, can’t afford to charge it too many times, or we won’t have any battle-capable Sentinels if the enemy decides to charge us. That’s enough from the cannons, so now, to just let the trebuchets destroy their spider web, and we’ll leave," he added on while smirking at my reaction.
"What about if you charged a shot? And wouldn’t it be perfect to attack now that a wall has collapsed?" I asked, curious why we’d still retreat after doing that much damage already.
"Heh, you are still too green. That central bridge is the only way across for the Knights, and it is the perfect place to slaughter our men with their spells. Hell, their General, if desperate enough, could even collapse it while our Knights are on there. This place can only be taken by either a massive number of Sentinels or by attacking from the other side. As for me, yeah, I could charge an entire shot myself of that cannon, though I’d be out of mana afterward," the general explains, pointing toward the trebuchets as they begin to fire.
"What about the ballista?" I ask, watching a large boulder strike one of the bridges, collapse it, and send a tower and its personnel into the abyss.
"Those are mainly in case the enemy is foolish enough to send their Arbiters to attack us, which is what they call their silver Akai-wearing cultivators," General Corvo states, with a curious look, as if he himself is interested in seeing if the enemy is foolish enough to do so.
The two of us stand there for a while, admiring the absolute obliteration of the spiderweb of small bridges and towers. During this brief period, the General further explained a few things to me. For example, that the Avargustians can quickly rebuild the small bridges and their wall. The main point is to inflict losses on their troops, so they’ll sue for peace in the coming days.
Once the last bridge and two fell, the siege equipment got packed up, and General Corvo dismissed me, telling me to head to the quartermaster to get a tent and my new armor. That’s my next destination.