The Vastness of Magical Destiny
Chapter 998: Volume 32: Dark Clouds Roll In, - 16: Stalemate

Chapter 998: Volume 32: Dark Clouds Roll In, Chapter 16: Stalemate

"So Boss, how do you plan to deal with the Basarabians? Their attitude seems quite urgent," Puber returned to the main topic.

"Let’s hold off and tease their appetite a bit. Is the marriage of one woman enough to win the support of us Nicosians? Aren’t we selling ourselves a little cheap then? The Basarabians must offer us support in Livonia, I mean direct military action. We need to drag them into this muddy water," Komer pondered, "You may take a firmer stance on your end, make our position clear. After all, Dragumo is doing quite well right now. Let’s keep dragging on the Cretans; I want to see how long they can hold out. The three thousand reinforcements have already gone up, and the following five thousand should immediately follow. Even if it means total annihilation, they must hold Livonia."

"Boss, Dragumo is fighting well, but the expense is huge. Continuing like this might completely devastate Livonia," Puber frowned, disapproving. In his view, it would be much better to recover Cartin at the least cost, without necessarily having to fight jubilantly on Nicosian territory.

"I don’t want it either, but the situation is beyond my control. If you can get the Basarabians to send troops as quickly as possible, we can give in on other conditions. You may decide how to proceed based on the specific situation," Komer understood where Puber’s concerns lay, after all, recovering Cartin was still a necessity for a thriving and prosperous Cartin was what they needed most.

"I’ll give it a try, hoping the Basarabian heads aren’t as stubborn as granite."

As Puber had predicted, the combat in Livonia was extraordinarily fierce and brutal. The Cretans suffered a big loss, being driven out of Livonia by the army led by Dragumo, who also gained a few days for regrouping. This significantly improved the defensive situation in Livonia.

When the Cretans came to their senses and readjusted their military power, Dragumo had nearly rallied the entire spirit of the people of Livonia. The three castles, once famed for their splendor, were quickly re-armed and transformed into fortresses with robust defense systems. Especially, once the posture of mutual defense was established, the Cretans had to guard against attacks coming from several other directions with every offensive attempt.

What vexed the Cretans most was not the folks emerging from the Greenland Forest, but the undercurrents in Livonia itself. Once exceptionally calm, the situation in Livonia changed drastically overnight when those folks occupied the surrounding three castles, and the undercurrents surged visibly.

Almost overnight, countless rebel armies appeared, most of which were the private armies of local nobles. When the Cretans had the absolute upper hand, these people were very submissive, but with the entrance of Dragumo’s army into Livonia, especially as the second batch of reinforcements kept pouring in, the situation ignited like dry grass on fire, and quickly swept across the land of Livonia.

Capitalizing on the advantage of the right time, place, and people, these rebels infiltrated everywhere, continuously attacking small Cretan patrol squads, burning the Cretans’ provisions and supplies. Although the Cretans stepped up their suppression, with Nicosian insiders and Livonian rebels causing disturbances from within and without, the Cretans seemed to run out of options. They could only hope to annihilate the half-beastmen entrenched inside the castles as soon as possible, but this task proved to be a bit too heavy.

Bad news from the North constantly jabbed at the hearts of the Cretans. The cavalry force, which the Atticans took pride in, suffered a devastating blow in the eastern region of Cartin, and they might even be completely driven out of Cartin. Inside the Attica Duchy, there was incessant quarrelling over the tremendous losses suffered in the Cartin battle. Especially, the smaller vassal states and city-states were strongly demanding to consider alternatives to war in order to resolve the Cartin issue. Various signs pointed to a faltering in the previously resolute attitude of the Atticans, which also shook the confidence of the Cretans severely.

The Cretans knew they didn’t have much time left. If they couldn’t completely take Livonia before the Atticans decided to cease the hostilities, it was certain that the Atticans would not go along with their opinion and continue the war. The unfavorable situation in Cartin and the massive capture of their knights caused great divisions within the Attican state, disrupting their determination to wage war. Once the Atticans lost the desire for war, the Cretans themselves would not be able to continue the war on their own by any means.

Fumel was deeply troubled, having utilized all available forces. He had thought that with the strong magic power, the defensive system supported by the castles and city walls could be broken, but what Fumel did not expect was that the opponents were far more tenacious and resilient than he had imagined. Most puzzling to Fumel was that the half-beastmen in the initial three castles did not show any noteworthy resistance to magic, but suddenly displayed formidable magic power after three days.

The striking power of the magic attack array caught his attacking forces off-guard, suffering heavy losses instantly. Even his own mages were unable to turn the tide for a moment. By the time they readjusted their stance, the opponents had already switched to full defensive mode. The sudden display of magic power from the enemy changed the entire situation, forcing his attacking forces to act cautiously and not to launch full-scale assaults anymore. A part of the mage force also had to be divided to stay on call, preventing another use of magic power from causing significant losses.

Even now, Fumel had not figured out where the opponent’s magic power came from, but now was not the time to ponder that issue. His pressing concern was how to break through the defense and capture the castle, and there was not much time left, with neither the Atticans nor Nicosians willing to give him much longer.

Fumel looked around with some regret. His soldiers had already put in a great deal of effort, which was apparent from the exhaustion and weariness on their faces. The magic power of both sides continued to clash above and below the city wall, with fierce thunder-based magic and shadow shields constantly rising up, causing violent shockwaves that made the edges of the wall project a blurry image of spatial distortion. (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters available, support the author, support authorized reading!)