"Lord Magistrate! It has been observed on the city walls that an army is approaching from a distance... The Eagle Eye spell of the Mage detected the flag of the Glerius Federation!"

One bad news after another.

Enemy troops were discovered almost simultaneously approaching the coastline and the direction of Bergen Harbor. According to the accounts of the Central Army retreating from Bergen Harbor, the Glerius army had committed almost half of its forces, comprising a complete corps and four flag regiments totaling nearly thirty thousand soldiers.

During the initial attack on Bergen Harbor, they only suffered minimal losses in terms of landing crafts and soldiers, because what followed was someone unstoppable by the defending army. After consecutively defeating a high-ranking knight and two Level 7 knight officers, this individual unleashed three consecutive strikes that directly destroyed half of the coastal defense system, causing the proud coastal defenses of Bergen to collapse completely and leading to its fall.

I wonder if that monster is with the enemy forces now.

Alex thought silently.

The enemy forces were still at a distance, and as long as that Holy Rank individual was not among them, there was a considerable chance of leading the city's army to retreat immediately and escaping successfully.

But...

"I simply cannot allow myself to escape in such a sorry state."

With a deep sigh, Alex chuckled self-deprecatingly and suddenly pushed himself up from the table in his study where he usually worked.

When he reappeared, he was already in full armor at the camp of the city garrison.

The current camp was crowded and chaotic, giving the impression of turbulent, billowing clouds in the sky. While soldiers were busy preparing for evacuation due to the skyrocketing number of defeated soldiers, they all instinctively paused for a moment in confusion when they saw Alex appear at the center of the camp, atop a pile of empty wooden crates.

Alex had the typical physique of a civilian official; although he exercised regularly, he still looked somewhat slender in his armor, even appearing somewhat comical. But under the dim light shaded by the clouds blocking the sun, the shadows on his face and his resolute expression made one inevitably think of the word 'determination', with not a single person in the camp able to muster a smile.

"Gentlemen!" Alex raised his voice forcefully.

Initially, the soldiers from the city garrison who recognized him stopped their activities and stood still, and gradually, even the soldiers from the Central Army fell into silence.

"I believe some of you have already guessed it, the enemy that invaded Bergen Harbor before has now neared the Beacon City."

As soon as this statement was made, soldiers who were less informed and some members of the Central Army who had retreated from the front line could not conceal their visible unease. Even those who had anticipated this possibility in advance might not be able to remain calm when faced with the reality. Only a few veterans who had served through the War of the Vanguard eighteen years ago remained composed and steady.

"There is a huge disparity in strength between us and the enemy, with nearly thirty thousand troops approaching by sea and land. The enemy's equipment, morale, and magitech artillery units and magic gun teams far exceed ours in terms of long-range firepower. It will take at least two days for the Fourth Corps, which has sufficient troops to support us, to arrive..."

Alex delivered the enemy's intelligence as emotionlessly as possible, with each statement causing the soldiers present to turn paler.

"To be honest, it will be very difficult to defend this city... or rather, with our current forces, it is impossible to hold it."

Alex suddenly lowered his voice. At this point, he should have delivered an inspiring speech to boost morale and rekindle the fighting spirit. As a civilian official, as the magistrate managing a large city, Alex certainly had the ability to do so.

Standing at the top of the stack of wooden crates, he could clearly see the faces of every soldier below: the confusion of the garrison guards, the tension of the soldiers from Bergen, the calmness of the old veterans. At this moment, his heart wavered once more.

He did not fear death. Alex had already made up his mind to live or die with the city. However, he didn't feel he had the courage to bear the guilt of leading thousands of people to fight to the death in a hopeless situation.

"So, His Majesty has personally issued the order."

Alex took out the magitech communication copy that he had folded himself from his pocket and unfolded it. "His Majesty allows us to abandon Beacon City, preserve our fighting strength, retreat to the Fourth Army Corps' stationed area, regroup, and prepare for the next battle."

Most of the soldiers below showed expressions of surprise, and the brows of the older veterans relaxed a bit. Although they had already seen Glaucius' army, if they were to withdraw from Beacon City immediately, they still had a good chance of leaving safely. Glaucius' strategic goal was clear: occupying the Bergen Naval Port would provide a stable landing point for his follow-up forces. However, as a naval port, Bergen's defenses were mainly oriented towards maritime defense. Relying solely on this foothold would make it difficult to withstand the counterattack from the Kingdom of Milanía's forces.

The nearest Beacon City was a prime target. Perhaps, from a purely military perspective, the city's fortifications were not that great. However, there were people inside, citizens of the kingdom. This led to the Milanían army being unable to use weapons like trebuchets or magitech cannons to directly attack the city indiscriminately. A city and a naval port complemented each other strategically. In the situation of fighting on two fronts, Milanía would not have enough troops to retake both.

"This is His Majesty's intention. You can now proceed to execute the order. But—"

Alex suddenly tore the copy in his hand into two. "His Majesty's wording is 'allowed', but I, Alex Easton, as the governor of this city, have a responsibility to defend our homeland. Therefore, I will not leave this city, nor will I allow invaders to set foot on our home."

"Even if it means dying here."

After saying this, Alex felt a sudden sense of relief in his heart. The heavy pressure that had been weighing on his chest disappeared, and his mind felt a bit clouded.

"Damn, am I trying to act cool with my life?"

In this scenario often fantasized about by adolescents during their "edgy" phase, saying such lines was indeed cool beyond words.

The usually polite and refined governor, who was accustomed to manners, couldn't help but curse after jumping down from the stack of wooden crates.

"Awesome!"

...

"Has the reconnaissance team returned?"

"The last three-rider squad is within three miles and rapidly approaching."

"Good. Close the gate as soon as they come in, prepare the wood and stones as I instructed, stack them up. If you can't remember, ask any guard, make it quick."

"Yes!"

"How are the archers doing?"

"The sixty longbows from the armory have all been distributed, arrows are ready. The remaining guards have also been equipped with short bows and are ready to shoot. As for the mercenary team, thirty good archers have been chosen, including a half-Elf who can cast Magic arrows with decent power, capable of targeting heavy machinery."

"I haven't heard of that before..."

A man dressed in a black steward outfit paused his steps, murmured quietly, and was already standing in front of the gates of Gilliast Castle. At this moment, the gate had become a construction site, with most people busy reinforcing it, while the remaining few were setting up crossbows, arrows, and other equipment on the city walls that they had taken from the armory.

The news of the fall of the Bergen Naval Port also reached here. Justice, as the only steward entrusted by Tiran in the castle, naturally took on the task of command without hesitation. It was fortunate that Justice himself was a knight, with some knowledge of military tactics and warfare from his knight training. Additionally, the castle had a guard of its own, so the defense was in decent shape.

Retreating was also an option, considering that this was Tiran's residence and Granzon's military orders did not extend here. However, for Justice, who had sworn loyalty to Tiran and had the responsibility to protect the princess and her home, retreat was never a consideration.

"Please forgive him, this steward is just so stubborn."

Based on the intelligence gathered by the guards sent out for reconnaissance, when the Graleus Federation launched a major attack on Beacon City, they also sent a detachment to directly target Gilliast Castle. This detachment seemed to consist of around two thousand soldiers, seemingly underestimating the defenders of Gilliast.

And indeed, Gilliast was not a strategic fortress but merely Tiran's home. It housed a company of three hundred elite soldiers, later reinforced by around two hundred mercenaries from the Snow Wolf Mercenary Corps. At best, they could muster five hundred soldiers, including both the regular troops and the mercenaries. Neither Justice nor the commander of the regular army expected these mercenaries, who were used to hunting monsters for bounty without any real battlefield training, to be of much help in an actual battle.

Individually, these mercenaries were skilled, but in a confrontation with regular troops, it was likely that just a hundred soldiers could easily defeat them.

But at that moment, any force that could be utilized had to be put to use.

In the Fortress of the Immovable King, Theriman furrowed his brows as he closely observed the movements of a detachment on the strategic map based on real-time reports from the frontlines.

His gaze fixed on a lone detachment heading away from Beacon City, represented by a triangular flag denoting a battalion, with their destination being...

"Gilliast Castle? What do you want my men to do there?"

"Yes," Raymond clapped his hands, and the cloaked figure who had been silently standing behind him stepped forward, "Please, your Excellency, my second request is to slay Princess Tiran Elysian, the second daughter of the Milanía family, and this castle is her residence. However, she seems to have gone missing recently, so we are unsure if she is still inside."

"Understood, I will go take a look."

The cloaked figure turned and left, soon disappearing from sight outside the door.

"General Raymond, I'm sure you won't mind explaining what this is all about, right?"

Theriman had reached his limit with Raymond's independent actions and interference with his army's operations. He lightly tapped the table with his right hand, his tone stern as he asked.