The edge of the forest was made a home to the monstrous army. The wall of the city had been properly reinforced, and since both armies were so present to each other, none had made a move in three days. Since it had taken them time to settle, Valta thought this was a perfect development.

A main tent was put up so that Erina and Suu could stay together with Valta and Thom. It wasn't any more luxurious than the rest, but it was the centerpiece of the entire camp. A table had been placed in the middle, place enough for the four of them to speak their strategy over. There was no paper and no maps, no logs and not even anyone to keep track of their conversation. However, Valta's intellect and the horde's capacity to follow Thom's instructions would be their safe. Five hundred orcs with the ability level of a [Swordsman] and [Axeman], and three thousand hobgoblins of the same caliber were their main force. Each orc could easily take on several humans, and each hobgoblin could battle on par with one.

Their main issue was getting through the sturdy wall of Pontya and it's southern gates. Thom had suggested taking people over the wall with his power, but it was quickly shot down by Valta. By the time they had gotten twenty people across, Thom would have already been killed by a mage, granted that the people he was carrying weren't killed by archers first. If Thom died, Skill Master would go with him. And if that happened, there was no hope to win the battle.

"We'll get through the main gate using Erina as the battering ram." Valta stated, looking at the Clawgold. "She'll get a heavy sword through the field and take the door down."

"I'll be riddled with arrows before I get there..."

"Suu will be your shield." Thom interrupted. "You trust her, don't you?"

"No need to get like that." Erina clicked her tongue. Her eyes rested on the cheerful Suu by her side. "Will that be okay?"

"I don't see why not."

"We still don't have the sword. But you will have it tomorrow. I'm sure you'll thank me when you see it." Thom snickered with a jeerinv intention.

Erina frowned. "So after the gate is open we just barge in? There'll be thousands of soldiers waiting inside. Pontya is the only city with a wall that high that keeps its soldiers inside. Are we gonna take them head-on?"

"I'm sure we can handle it." Thom sighed.

"That's not a strategy!"

"But it's true." Thom stood up. "After we take the wall down we just have to enter and kill everyone that stands up. We'll be inside and without a wall they can't do shit. Most of the foot soldiers are used as guards in the duchy, no? So the city will be practically empty. Are you afraid that our four thousand monsters can't take down a measly army?" He raised his arms at the woman.

"You're underestimating them, Thom." Erina stood up.

"Well they've shown me enough." The man leaned forward. "I know what they're worth. The only thing keeping us from taking that city is Miel and the gate, so you'll take it down and we'll do the rest."

"What if I don't want to take down the fucking gate?!" Erina's veins popped on her forehead.

"Then I—"

"Stop." Valta sighed. "Hypothetical situations and fights will not help. What Erina says is valid. Even if we take the gate down we still have a wall to go through."

Thom looked away and sat back. Erina seemed to notice the blood had gotten to her head and readily sat back down.

"Hmm... You talking about the castle thingy?" Suu tilted her head sideways.

"The citadel is their last stance. If they safeguard themselves behind it while we're occupying the city, support armies might come."

"If reinforcements come from the neighboring counties or the internal lordships of the duchy we'd be surrounded from every end. Even if it amassed to just two thousand soldiers it would give Miel enough time to act and force us out, or terminate us." Erina crossed her arms and waited for Valta's input.

The blonde woman nodded. "We also have golems to worry about this time. If that man commands his golems to protect the citadel or to flank us, we'd lose hundreds in the struggle."

"Who is that man?"

"... A prick."

"It wouldn't do us a favor, that's clear." Suu nodded. "This whole situation is way too complicated! I'd say we take a small group through the air and murder Miel in his sleep."

"It's not so easy this once." Valta shook her head. "To successfully deter the Pontyan army we'd have to kill Chamgue, Loposia and Miel at the same time. They would also need to have enough casualties to be demoralized to the point of being useful, even without their general."

"Man..." Suu sighed. "There's also the citizens in the way. With so many people in a single city it will be hard to control them all even if we have time to occupy the city. They would either revolt or escape. I'm starting to understand why coup d'etats are always done as an inside job."

"... We could always kill the citizens." Thom muttered.

"We won't." Erina reproached.

Suu shook her head. "War. Not massacre. I'll stop you if you try to do anything beyond the necessary."

"... At some moment it will be necessary." Thom narrowed his eyes.

"Come on!" Erina stood up and was about to leave the tent, when Suu pulled her by the arm.

"Stay~."

Valta stood up as well and placed her hands on the table. She looked at Erina, whose face contorted into one of reluctance before finally turning back. The girl sat back down, and Valta nodded.

"There is not much we can do. After the gate is down, we'll storm in. We need to protect our other entrances. Thom, head to the west gate together with Clung. Erina and suu to the South. We'll send Djkavan and Djolk to the eastern gate. Each of these will be a point in which to control the population and fend off the reinforcements."

"But... After we're done with the army?"

"If we enter they'll probably be forced to push back and enter the citadel. This is not a fort, they can't fight from the rooftops and shoot without looking. They'll probably retire after we take control of the plaza. After we've done that, head to your gates. Since we burned their provisions they can't stay inside the citadel for long. Once they lose all their strength we can siege the citadel."

"So we'll just attack our way inside until then?"

"Preferably, we'll use our hobgoblins to tire the army first and then attack with the orc line. We'll do a sweep from south to north until we've corraled them into the plaza. We will need to take seven guard towers inside the city. After the enemy is in the plaza we shoot them with magic from above and slaughter them."

"A cruel strategy... But it could work." Suu nodded.

"If they manage to push us back it's a different story." Valta sighed. "In that case, we will need to group up and leave."

"Such an uncertain fight..." Erina covered her face with her hands. She couldn't believe she was being a part of such a thing.

"But we'll do it." Thom scoffed. "They're not at our level. If it was a competition of strength alone, we would have this done."

"But it isn't."

Erina threw a last glance at Thom. She stood up without saying too much, and went out of the tent. Suu smiled as she stood up from the chair, following the other girl outside.

"...Stop antagonizing her."

"Yeah. Maybe I should." Thom snickered.

The next morning came swiftly. It was to their surprise that even though they had awoken before dawn, the walls of Pontya had already been guarded up. In front of the gates a sort of palisade had been built overnight, something perhaps too simple to be called that. It was an array of sticks, put together to act as a deterrence, but that could be easily be broken by an axe.

It was wide from side to side. From the riverbed to the intersection between the wall and the tower on the western side, placed on the middle of the 50-degree slope that existed between the forest and the northern wall of pontya.

On top of the walls stood rows of archers ready to fire, and soldiers ready to pour boiling liquids down the windows across the wall. Perhaps the palisades would frighten the monsters, Valta thought, but their lack of knowledge about sieges posed the advantage of bravery. It would be better if the weakest monsters were used to burn through the defender's resources, however, a whole city wouldn't run out of measures to defend themselves by wiping out a single horde of hobgoblins.

The main concern was getting Erina to the door. Sacrificing fodder was not a matter of regret to Valta, and securing an entrance on the first day of conflict would grant them an advantage that would be hard to fight against, even for Miel and his army. Once inside they could use their special individuals to take vantage points inside the city and avoid reinforcements or an actual siege happening.

Of course, she had taken into account the possibility of Miel using his most fatal counter-measure: the Aremeria family.

Only a handful of her troops could ever think of fighting an iron golem. She was aware that no less than ten people should face those bestial constructs if the situation so required it to happen, and it would be necessary for at least five mages to be present during the encounter. With their untiring, unbreakable, terrifyingly-fast 5000 pound bodies, golems were a terrifying force not to be reckoned with. It was clear why the Aremeira family had escalated so quickly after their coincidental acquisition of those moving lumps of iron.

"Are we really ready?" Thom sighed as he stood beside the pensive woman. Valta turned his way with a nod, crossing her arms.

"If you ask it's because you haven't seen regular soldiers fight."

"'ve been part of conflict before. Did you forget I was a lieutenant, cap? It might have been for a short time, but I saw some fights."

Valta closed her eyes for a second. To Thom, it was similar to an eye roll. As the woman opened her eyes she put her hand up, showing her index finger. Her cold eyes narrowed slightly.

"How many mages are there in Pontya?"

Thom was caught off guard by the sudden knowledge question. He scratched his head to indicate he didn't know, but Valta pressed on the question.

"I guess... About a dozen?"

She nodded to that, tilting her head slightly. He had been close to the actual number. "And their power?"

"Hm... I dunno about that one. I can't feel magic energy, but any mage could blast a hole through a wall. I mean, Suu could cast second-tier spells while just being a [Sorcereress Apprentice] a long while ago."

"..." Valta stared at him. Thom could feel a stab on his heart. "You have not yet grasped the efficiency of your own skill."

"Alright then." The man returned a smile. "Explain it to me."

"In case you haven't noticed, a [Novice] in skill master's terms is similar to someone who has practiced for at least a year or two. An [Apprentice] is closer to four or five."

"Is... That really so?" Thom blinked once, his eyes agape.

"I'm talking about constant, meaningful practice." She tucked her finger back into her fist. "Someone at the base level would be one who practiced their entire childhood, or a prodigy."

"Skill Master does have some weird standards for its classes." Thom pressed on his lower lip. "And you're saying... We have an entire army of that kind of people."

Valta nodded. "I am not afraid of rooky mistakes."

"Tchhh, you might as well just be bragging right now." Thom turned around. "Weren't you an [Expert] based on what Skill Master said?"

As they were talking, a massive hand parted away the covers of the tent. An orc peeked inside and announced himself with a low voice. "Ubolg is here, my Lord." He directed his speech to Thom. "He says the ram's head is ready."

"Finally!" The black haired man stood up with noticeable excitement. "Bring Erina, then. I'm sure she'd be more excited than I am."

The orc ran off to fetch the girl. Thom and Valta walked out of the tent to find Ubolg standing in front of their place while pulling from a pair of iron chains attached to a large object wrapped in cloth. He raised his eyebrows to them and tapped his forearm as a greeting, which the man repeated in response. It wasn't long until Erina came along and was welcomed by an unusual atracttion towards the unknown object.

"Hey..." She slowly approached them with a face full of suspicion. "If that has anything to do with the reason I was called, write me off as concerned."

"Well, our ram was useless without an iron head, so I ordered one from our master smith." Thom pointed at the massive, table-sized item behind the orc.

"You didn't... Actually make a ram for me, did you know? Ahaha..." She nervously walked towards it, imagining herself carrying a massive log towards the gate, all alone and surrounded by raining arrows. It was certainly not a comfortable situation to be put in.

"I thought the lord had gone crazy when he asked for this." Ubolg cleaned his face with a handkerchief as he chuckled in his grave voice. "My apprentices heaved when they saw me hit th' iron. I wouldn't have ever done this kinda thing if the lord hadn't asked, truly."

"It's not meant to be an actual weapon." Thom shrugged. "Not for normal people, at the very least."

"Kuku, certainly. Even the orcs would refuse to use such a barbarous thing. Hunters' sake, it can't even be used as a weapon, kuku." Ubolg laughed it off as he dropped the chains, letting the object fall with a thunderous crash, rousing up the fallen leaves.

"Guuuh, you're making me anxious!" Erina stomped the ground and stormed towards the unknown object with a red face. White clouds came out of her mouth as her breath hastened, reminding her of the cold that made her bones hurt. She kneeled beside the covered mystery and began to hastily unwrap it.

"Careful with yer hands." Ubolg said in a low voice.

"I know." Erina pouted. "Seriously, what even is—"

Her words stopped as she finally removed the cover, showing the cold surface of rough metal. "No way..." She whispered as she hurried to reveal the rest, quickly unveiling more and more pieces of what seemed like a giant slate of iron.

Having removed the cloth, a giant, crude, and absurd weapon made its appearance. It was not fair to just call it a sword, although such was the weapon it resembled. It was a sharp slab made out of pure iron, something that could not be carried by human hands or even an orc's hands. It was wider than her waist, and taller than herself. The handle itself was the length of a shortsword, and the hilt was as wide as her own calf. A flat end replaced what would normally be the point of a usual sword, announcing that it's purpose was no other but to slash and tear. The edges were sharpened to cut through the thickest armor, and her face could be seen in the broad and flat surface of the fuller.

It could really not be called a weapon. Not for a human, nor for an orc. It was a slab of iron with a handle, a table with an edge that could slice through a horse. It was absurd, and yet, Erina felt her entire body tingle at the sight of it.

"It's heavier than the average human." Thom stated calmly with a condescending tone. "It isn't titite, but I think it's close enough. Do you think you can do it?" He stepped forward. "As if it was titite, can you cut through an iron gate with this?"

Erina clicked her tongue loudly and stood back on her feet. Her hand wrapped around the leather grip tainted black, and every muscle on her body tensed up. A single pull was all it took to get the sword at the height of her shoulder. In a second, her other hand gripped the pommel. She took a step forward as she swung the sword back, and a second step as she swung it forward.

Crack!

An explosion of leaves covered the air as a gale of wind swept the ground and even the roots of the trees themselves. The blade pierced through the side of a tree as if going through butter and headed straight out with still just enough force to lodge itself into another, then slashed right through the log in the blink of an eye. Splinters erupted towards the left side as the trunks spun in place, shifting towards the ground canopy-first.

The flat end hit the ground and dug out the dirt, creating the last thunderous sound before peace came back to the scene.

"Huff!" Erina let out a big smile and a small giggle came out of her mouth "It feels great to finally have a real weapon...!"

"Alright then." Thom crossed his arms. "We've got the gate down already. Let's set up the formation."