System's POV

Chapter 1294: The Siege Of Lyra [Part 1]

“We’re finally here,” Castor muttered as he looked at Lyra City.

“If I don’t tear apart Astrion’s body with my own hands, I’ll never be able to sit still,” Regulus said through gritted teeth, his expression screaming murder.

Half of his army perished on their journey. The only saving grace was that his Archons and High Archons remained untouched, still very much alive.

After the previous surprise attacks they had encountered, all the High-Ranking combatants had stayed in Regulus’ flagship, keeping them safe throughout the journey.

They thought that once they had declared war against the Royal Family, it would all be a walk in the park.

But no, it wasn’t as easy as they envisioned.

Instead of teleporting directly to the main continent, they were forced to travel over the sea using their Airships.

Not only did the journey take longer, but the morale of his soldiers also dipped.

While Castor fared better, it wasn’t by much. He also lost nearly forty percent of his forces, and he was further angered by how far the situation strayed from their original plan.

And now, there was one last obstacle that stood in their way.

“Rana, that b*tch,” Regulus scoffed. “So she decided to side with Astrion. We should have kidnapped her family members when we had the chance.”

Castor nodded, but things had escalated so quickly that they didn’t have the chance to do that.

Rana might be unable to match their strength, but Lyra City, which she lorded, was built like a Fortress.

To get to Velgrande, it was inevitable that they’d pass her city, which was now heavily fortified against their army.

“Give the men an hour to prepare themselves for battle,” Castor ordered. “For the time being, send a messenger to Rana and ask her to surrender. I don’t care what kind of benefits you offer to her, but make sure that she lowers that barrier within an hour.”

“Very well.” Regulus nodded and ordered his diplomat to fly to the city in order to negotiate.

Half an hour later, the messenger returned and shook his head helplessly.

“My Lord, she refuses to accept your mercy,” the messenger reported.

“She rejected the terms?” Regulus frowned. “Did you tell her that we are willing to add more conditions if she cooperates with us?”

“Yes, My Lord,” the messenger replied. “But, she refused everything.”

“Stupid girl.” Regulus clicked his tongue. “For her to reject our offer means that she believes that she has a chance of winning. Just where is her confidence coming from?”

Left with no choice, Regulus once again met with Castor and relayed the report of his messenger.

“It seems that she has lost her edge after decades of peace.” Castor scoffed. “Since she refuses to accept our offer, we just have to eliminate her. It’s a pity. But she is not suitable with our new world order, so we can’t let her live.”

Castor and Regulus then called their officers to start their strategy meeting.

They didn’t want to sacrifice their men needlessly, so they needed to destroy the shields that protected the city as fast as possible.

To do that, Castor may have to use one of the secret weapons he’d been saving against the defenses of the capital city, Velgrande.

“I guess I have no choice.” Castor sighed. “Very well. It’s time to start the operation.”

His flagship moved forward ahead of the formation.

The ship was pretty big, spanning a thousand meters in length. The upper deck of the airship parted to the side, and a giant cannon rose with its tip facing the city.

The researchers working under him had created this cannon, which was ten times more powerful than the main cannon used by the Flagship of the Royal Family.

“Fire!” Castor ordered.

A booming sound spread in the surroundings as a laser blast erupted from the tip of the cannon.

It then headed straight to the city with the intention of not only breaking the shields that protected it, but also destroying everything in its path.

A powerful explosion rocked the city of Lyra, making the defenders standing on top of the city walls scream in fear as the powerful attack collided with their shield.

The blinding light made it hard for anyone to see what was happening. However, Castor and Regulus heard a crack, followed by the sounds of countless glasses breaking at the same time.

Despite not seeing the outcome due to the light, a smile tugged at Castor’s lips. He had already expected this outcome.

When the light finally receded, the two Celestials looked at the broken shields that slowly fell apart, then collapsed entirely like a house of cards.

“Hahaha!” Castor laughed out loud. “This is what happens to those who defy me!”

But his laughter didn’t last long/ Right after the shields collapsed, another three-layered shield materialized, making him almost choke on his laughter.

“What the…” Regulus looked at the city in disbelief—he’d initially been certain that the cannon was strong enough to obliterate not only the shields but the city walls as well.

However, the walls weren’t damaged, and the shields were now back. His lips distorted into a frown, thinking about how many more times Castor’s cannon could fire.

Such weapons could usually only be used a few times before turning useless.

It was similar to the Main Cannons of Thirteen’s Nautilus, which could only be used three times at max power before overheating.

“Fire one more time!” Castor ordered, clenching his fists. “Increase the output and wipe out that city from the face of the world!”

As per his order, the cannon once again unleashed its devastating attack, which once again destroyed the shields of the city.

But as if to mock his second attempt, three more shields rose up, instantaneously replacing the ones that had been destroyed by his consecutive attacks.

Inside the city, Rana couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of the enemy cannon’s power, which could have destroyed her city if the shields that Zion erected hadn’t been there.

The teenage boy had modified the shield that originally protected her city, making it three times more powerful.

’Good thing I allowed him to tweak the shield before the war started,’ Rana thought as beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

The war had just started, and yet, she was starting to understand how Zion had managed to defeat King Astrion in his homeworld, successfully preventing it from being conquered by the Artemian King.