Heavy smoke descended through the destroyed streets of Silver.
There was no organized line anymore.
Only sectors trying not to die too fast.
Broken shields blocked narrow passages while soldiers were shoved against walls, barricades, and bodies scattered across stones soaked in blood.
And the Central Kingdom kept pouring in.
Without stopping.
Without slowing down.
The heavy infantry advanced, crushing through the streets one block at a time while archers fired from behind closed shields.
Barricades were abandoned one after another.
Soldiers fell back through the narrow corridors between the districts while new ruptures appeared farther ahead.
Karna crossed a street swallowed by smoke the instant a Marquisate knight was brought down.
The body slammed violently against the ground.
Before the infantry even reached the opening—
the string vibrated.
THK.
The arrow pierced the eye of the first man trying to break through the passage.
Another one was already released right after.
A second soldier fell.
Karna didn't even look at the bodies.
He kept moving forward.
Quick steps.
Steady breathing.
The fifteen men behind him shoved the wounded into the alleys while trying to stop the flanks from collapsing.
"GET THE WOUNDED OFF THE STREET!" a Marquisate knight shouted while trying to drag another man by the arm.
"KEEP MOVING!"
"DON'T STAY ON THE AVENUES!"
It wasn't an organized retreat.
It was survival.
A barricade exploded farther ahead.
Wood shattered apart.
Marquisate shields were violently slammed against the stone wall.
"DON'T LET THEM THROUGH!"
One man screamed.
Another disappeared beneath the pressure of Central Kingdom soldiers pouring through the breach.
Karna turned his body at the exact same instant.
The arrow fired mid-motion.
THK.
The shot entered through the gap in the neck of a spearman advancing through the rupture.
The second shot came before the first body even fell.
Another man lost his balance.
"CLOSE THE ALLEY!" one of the officers roared through the smoke while trying to reorganize the shields.
"HOLD THE CORNER!"
The defenders immediately surged forward trying to close the gap—
but the cavalry emerged right behind.
Hooves tore through smoke, blood, and debris like an avalanche.
One horse slammed against the Marquisate shields.
Men were thrown against the walls.
The formation simply collapsed.
Karna slid sideways when a spear violently crossed the space where his chest had been half a second earlier.
The bow spun in his hands.
The metal edge struck the knight's jaw.
crack.
The man lost balance in the saddle.
The arrow entered just beneath the armor's arm joint.
The knight fell from the horse still trying to breathe.
But another one was already coming right behind him.
More shields emerged from the smoke behind the cavalry.
Without hesitation.
Without gaps between the lines.
The emptiness opened by the bodies was already beginning to disappear again.
As if the Central Kingdom had no end at all.
"USE THE ALLEYS!"
Karna's voice cut through the smoke above the steel.
Men retreating without direction finally started reorganizing the shields.
"DON'T FIGHT IN THE OPEN STREETS!"
Another soldier fell before even reaching the corner.
The Marquisate soldiers began retreating through the narrow corridors between the districts while the Central Kingdom heavy infantry kept forcing their way through the main roads.
"INSIDE THE DISTRICTS!" another knight shouted while shoving men toward the narrow corridors.
"DON'T LET THEM CUT OFF ACCESS!"
Every retreat opened even more space for the Central Kingdom to push deeper into the inner districts.
Farther ahead—
the brutal sound of steel crushing steel tore across the main street.
Heron.
The massive sword carved open space in the center of the enemy formation.
One man was hurled against his own allies.
Another fell with his chest split open before even raising his shield.
But the Central Kingdom soldiers kept closing around him.
Spears coming in from the sides.
Shields trying to lock movement.
Trying to reduce space.
Karna saw a Marquisate knight nearly get struck from behind.
Before the knight even noticed the opening—
THK.
The arrow pierced the face of the man emerging from the flank.
Heron noticed the opening before the line had even finished closing.
He advanced.
The sword collided against enemy shields like a collapsing wall.
Two men were crushed against the stone wall.
And for a few seconds—
the Marquisate line finally breathed again.
"WITH THE MARQUIS!"
"PUSH THEM BACK!"
"DON'T LEAVE LORD HERON ALONE!"
Wounded knights raised their shields again.
Some could barely remain standing.
Even so, they advanced behind Heron once more.
Shields slammed against shields while they tried to reclaim space in the narrow street.
The enemy line gave a few meters before another formation crossed through the smoke right behind it.
Karna finally reached the center of the defense.
A sword came out of the smoke from the side.
Low.
Straight for the abdomen.
Karna made a short sidestep.
His left hand pulled an arrow from the quiver in the same motion.
The tip pierced beneath the man's jaw.
Another advanced right behind him.
Karna fired point-blank.
The arrow pierced through the man's mouth before he could raise his sword.
The body fell almost at Heron's feet.
Heron stepped back half a pace the instant another spear crossed through the smoke from the side.
The sword deflected the strike before it reached one of the knights behind him.
Heron looked at Karna for a brief instant.
There was no relief on his face.
Only pressure.
Only calculation.
"CLOSE AROUND THE MARQUIS!" Karna shouted immediately.
The fifteen men closed formation around Heron while the Marquisate soldiers reorganized the narrow line between the destroyed streets.
The pressure didn't lessen.
Arms trembled behind shields.
Men breathed through their mouths while trying to keep the line sealed.
The sound of metal was already beginning to lose strength.
Exhaustion.
Weight.
Shields slammed against shields a few meters ahead.
Screams cut through the smoke.
But for the first time since the advance—
the line stopped giving ground.
Heron shouted.
"PUSH!"
The sword tore through another man.
"PUSH THEM BACK!"
The knights advanced together immediately.
Central Kingdom soldiers began losing ground between the narrow streets.
One meter.
Then another.
For the first time since dawn—
the line advanced.
Then the sound came.
Heavy.
Metallic.
More shields crossing through the smoke in the distance.
Another formation.
Then another.
As if the Central Kingdom simply never ended.
The Marquisate's push collapsed right there.
The men started losing strength almost immediately.
Shields slid once more across blood-covered stones.
Heron tightened his grip on the sword while watching new lines crossing through the smoke.
The Central Kingdom infantry kept filling the destroyed accesses of Silver.
Without stopping.
Karna slowly pulled another arrow.
"We won't be able to hold Silver."
THK.
A soldier fell among the enemy shields.
Heron didn't take his eyes off the main street.
"As long as we're here, they don't pass."
"For now."
Another collision tore through the line.
Marquisate men were shoved half a step backward.
One knight fell to his knees trying to keep holding the formation.
Karna saw the knight trying to stand back up behind the shield.
"If we keep trapping them inside the inner districts..."
The arrow slowly rested against the string.
"...we can still break half their advance before Gold."
Heron's eyes shifted slightly.
"So you really intend to use that."
"I do."
Another formation began crossing through the smoke in the distance.
Heavier.
More compact.
Heron tightened his grip on the sword.
"How much is this going to rip out of you this time?"
"Enough."
THK.
Another man fell.
Then the bells started ringing in the distance.
Deep.
Heavy.
Echoing from Gold through the smoke.
Karna tilted his head slightly listening to the sound.
"I think even the wall already understood it's time to fall back."
Heron closed his eyes for a brief instant.
Then raised the sword again.
"RETREAT BY SECTORS!"
"TAKE THE WOUNDED FIRST!"
"WE'LL CLOSE THE NEXT LINE AT GOLD!"
The bells echoed once more through the smoke.
Deep.
Heavy.
Heron retreated.
Organized.
Sector by sector.
Shields sealing corridors while archers covered the inner accesses.
The wind crossed through the smoke between the destroyed walls.
Bharvan watched the knights slowly disappearing toward Gold.
"..."
The silence lasted only an instant.
"Strange."
The knight beside him raised his eyes.
"My lord?"
Bharvan kept watching the retreat in the distance.
Sector by sector.
The knight beside him frowned slightly.
"They're abandoning..."
The bells echoed again in the distance.
Deep.
Heavy.
Bharvan remained silent for a few seconds.
"Until now Heron looked willing to die before allowing an advance to the last wall."
Far below—
another Marquisate line disappeared between smoke and stone without disorganizing formation.
The knight hesitated.
"Maybe they finally realized they can't hold the outer line anymore."
"Maybe."
The answer came low.
Far too calm.
Bharvan's eyes remained fixed on the retreat.
"But trapped men usually break formation when they panic."
Another sequence of shields disappeared through the inner accesses of Gold.
Controlled.
Precise.
The silence weighed briefly between them.
Bharvan spoke without taking his eyes off the field.
"Send the signals."
"I want the central lines reducing the advance until they reorganize formation."
The knight immediately raised his head.
"You believe it's a trap?"
Bharvan watched the smoke covering the accesses to the final wall.
"Heron doesn't give up ground."
The man hesitated for an instant.
His eyes briefly lowered toward the lines retreating toward Gold.
"If we reduce the advance now..."
"...we give them time to reorganize the inner defenses."
The silence lasted only a second.
Bharvan answered calmly:
"And advancing without understanding why the enemy suddenly started retreating..."
"...usually ends up costing even more men."
The knight remained motionless.
Then immediately lowered his head.
"Yes, Lord Bharvan."
He raised the horn attached to his waist.
The sound echoed shortly after through the smoke.
Short.
Twice.
Without pause.
Far below—
Heron noticed first.
The pressure against the shields lessened.
Slightly.
But enough.
The Central Kingdom soldiers were no longer advancing with the same violence through the narrow accesses of Silver.
Another collision crossed the line.
Weaker.
A Marquisate knight raised his eyes in confusion while trying to catch his breath behind the shield.
"The advance...?"
Karna watched the smoke in the distance.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
The enemy lines were still advancing.
But now they reorganized formation before pressing the inner corridors again.
Slower.
More cautious.
Heron tightened his grip on the sword while watching the destroyed accesses of Silver.
"They realized."
The voice came low.
Without surprise.
Karna watched the rhythm changing through the smoke.
His eyes rapidly scanned the destroyed accesses of Silver.
The central lines.
The narrow corridors.
The spaces opening between enemy shields.
Small.
But finally existing.
One Marquisate knight managed to pull a wounded man back without immediately being trampled by the infantry.
Another group reorganized shields near a destroyed alley.
The line finally breathed again.Barely.But it breathed.
Heron noticed Karna slowly pulling a single arrow from the quiver.
Karna slowly drew the string.
His eyes remained fixed on the Central Kingdom's central lines.
Far beyond the infantry.
Far beyond the smoke.
Toward the motionless figure watching the battlefield from above.
The voice came low.
"Nagastra."
The runes slowly emerged across the wood of the arrow.
Golden.
Sliding slowly across the dark surface.
The air merely seemed to grow heavier.
Heron watched in silence beside him.
"So you really are going to use that now."
Karna slowly raised the bow.
The string tightened.
His eyes remained fixed in the distance.
"Agneya Astra."
Then he released.
The arrow crossed through the smoke with brutal speed.
Too fast.
The first soldiers didn't even notice.
The projectile pierced through the chest of a man in the front line—
and only then did the flames emerge.
Black.
Violent.
The body ignited instantly.
The arrow kept advancing.
Changing direction midair.
Like a living creature.
Another soldier tried to raise his shield—
the arrow pierced through metal, throat, and fire in the same instant.
Then it veered again.
Zigzagging.
Like a serpent hunting through the lines.
The screams began.
"WHAT IS THAT?!"
"FALL BACK!"
The arrow pierced another man.
The flames started spreading through the narrow streets of Silver.
Soldiers retreated shoving their own allies aside.
Others tried to raise shields—
but the arrow changed direction before impact.
Always hunting another target.
Always advancing.
The cavalry began breaking formation.
Some knights violently pulled the reins.
Others simply jumped off their horses when they realized the front-line shields were being pierced through.
A burning horse collided against soldiers trying to flee the main street.
Chaos started spreading through the central lines.
And the arrow kept advancing.
Faster and faster.
Hotter and hotter.
The golden runes began spreading through the very air behind it.
Like living trails burning inside the smoke.
Another man fell.
Then another.
Then another.
Until the soldiers farther back finally realized.
That thing was coming toward them.
The formation started breaking apart.
Men threw themselves against the walls.
Others tried abandoning the narrow accesses.
Shields fell across the blood-covered stones while soldiers tried getting out of the path of the incendiary arrow weaving through the lines.
And far away—
Bharvan remained motionless.
The single visible eye watched the arrow crossing the battlefield toward him.
No reaction.
No movement.
Then the trajectory changed.
The arrow shot violently upward through the smoke.
The flames exploded around it.
The runes ignited all at once.
And the form finally appeared.
A gigantic serpent of black fire opened its jaws above the battlefield.
The soldiers below froze.
The creature dove.
Straight toward Bharvan.
The knight beside him turned pale.
"LORD BHARVAN—!"
The jaws opened before him.
And the serpent devoured him.