Alexander walked up the stone stairs and reached the top of the wall, looking absolutely miserable.

He grabbed the stone ledge and glared out at the forest where Adrian’s army was hiding.

"I will kill you!" Alexander screamed. "I will kill you and your entire family!!"

Adrian just stood there and nonchalantly dug his pinky into his ear and tried to dig some of the wax out.

The Viscount’s little temper tantrum could barely be heard but Adrian did it not because he couldn’t hear the man. It was because he knew how infuriating his actions would be if he did it well.

He glanced back at the assassin squad hiding behind the trees.

"Shoot a bolt." Adrian ordered softly. "Miss Alexander completely and hit the guy next to him."

A cloaked man gave a sharp nod. He picked up a heavy crossbow, aimed at his target and pulled the trigger.

The crossbow bolt flew upward and punched straight through the throat of a guard standing right beside the Viscount.

The poor guy didn’t even get to scream. The thick wooden shaft plugged his windpipe tight, choking off the blood spray as he dropped his spear and hit the floorboards like a sack of bricks.

Alexander yelped and scrambled backward.

Adrian just stared and sighed.

’I should have told that asshole to not kill the guy...’ he thought as he pressed two fingers against his Adam’s apple.

"What are you going to do about it?" Adrian asked, his voice extremely loud.

Alexander slapped his hands over his ears.

"If you are so pissed, then come out and fight me." Adrian mocked him loudly. "You were the one trying to burn my town down in secret. So why are you crying now that I play the exact same game? Heck, you didn’t even attack me with your own army but used another kingdom to do it. At least i’m here so why are you complaining, bitch?"

Adrian stepped out from the tree line so Alexander could see him perfectly.

"You were the one who started playing dirty." Adrian announced. "So I decided to show you how a master plays the exact same game."

Adrian casually raised his hand. He flipped the Viscount off and kept his middle finger pointed right at the sky.

"If you have a problem with it," Adrian laughed out loud. "Come out here and fight me yourself, bitch."

Alexander absolutely lost his mind. His face twisted as it turned bright red.

"I challenge you to a Knight’s duel!" he screamed hysterically as he glared at Adrian.

"I am not a knight though?" Adrian answered right through the broadcast. "I am just an innocent mage. So I cannot accept your duel."

He was pushing the guy’s buttons to a crazy degree. And that lazy deflection just shattered whatever tiny bit of sanity Alexander had left.

"Fine!" Alexander roared at the forest. "I will kill you!!"

He turned around and angrily walked down the stone stairs, heading straight for the courtyard.

"Move out!" Alexander ordered his tired commanders. "Open the gates and march the army out!"

The soldiers groaned but they followed their orders. They formed up into sloppy ranks and readied their spears.

But there was a massive problem with Alexander’s territory.

Except for the main trade routes which were paved and clean, the entire surrounding area was covered in dense forest. Thick trees and heavy bushes completely ruined any chance of standard military formations.

Adrian’s entire army was currently hiding inside those forests.

So even with a massive capacity of three thousand men, Alexander could not utilize his numbers properly.

The soldiers grabbed the heavy iron chains connected to the pulley system. They pulled hard, slowly lifting the massive wooden gates open.

The heavy doors opened slowly and the vanguard started marching out to meet their enemies head on, but the exact moment the gates opened wide enough, a blinding red light flashed from the tree line.

Aria floated up in the air but to everyone else, it looked like Adrian. She threw a massive, hyper compressed fireball straight at the open gates where the soldiers were concentrated.

The massive sphere of fire crossed the distance in a heartbeat. It crashed straight into the marching vanguard.

Boom.

The explosion was devastating. Thick flames covered the troops at the front and practically cooked them alive.

And because the heavy city gates ran on a slow manual pulley system, the guards could not shut the doors in time to block the blast. The fire just poured right through the opening and swallowed the front lines whole.

The rest of the army stopped moving. They just stood there watching their own comrades burn to ashes while they screamed and struggled.

Alexander stood silently behind the soldiers as he watched them burn in pure shock.

He knew the old stories about mages. He had read all the boring war journals talking about their destructive power. But reading ink on paper was entirely different from watching a giant fireball melt your soldiers right in front of your face.

And now that overpowered monster was sitting on the enemy side waiting for him to die.

Alexander completely lost his grip on the situation. He did not know what to do anymore or how to turn this war around. At this point, he just wanted to survive even if it meant that he had to run away.

He completely regretted sending that letter to the Ironhold Kingdom. He cursed his own stupidity for trying to play such underhanded politics.

’I should have just hired an assassin to kill Adrian directly.’ Alexander thought bitterly.

But what was done, was done. He could not change the past.

"Close the gates!" Alexander screamed at the chain operators. "Close them right now!"

He did not care about the soldiers who were still burning but not dead. He knew that there was a chance of saving them, but he chose not to. The heavy wooden doors slowly closed shut and locked into place. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Retreat!" Alexander ordered the remaining troops. "Fall back to the barracks. We need time to figure out how to tackle this mage."

The army slowly scattered, with their morale completely shattered.