The city of Humans was busy repairing, rearming, and otherwise preparing for the next days' engagement. While the attack had not managed to breach the walls or gate, it had not meant to.

Though the Magic spheres that turned nearly a hundred of their number into naught but bone in a single moment had been a surprise that cut the attack short.

When the Coalition had first managed to push the Human Gods back far enough to invade the world proper, they had not expected much diplomacy. They knew the Humans would refuse any offer the Coalition was willing to propose.

Many had been hoping they would.

So, when a Human, without any significant backing or authorization, engaged with their envoy in diplomacy, in accordance with their own ancient customs, it had been a great shock. Even more so when the Human actually considered their demands and offered a counteroffer that was not outrageous.

This Human had earned the respect of many Envoys and Generals.

When General Feldon had been ordered to advance on the Human's city and give him their answer, he had obeyed, expecting that the Human would fight back. And fight back more effectively than the other Humans Cities had at this point.

General Feldon was already prepared to have a challenging Siege on his hands before his assigned Envoy sat down with the City's Representatives.

As such, he had not intended for the first attack to breach the walls or the gate. Instead he issued the attack with the sole purpose of poking at the Defenses, seeing where it was strongest, where it was weakest, and to what extents.

A probing attack.

Unfortunately, he had not expected the city to have such a powerful Mage aiding the defense. A masked giant capable of wiping out an entire company without effort. A giant that still stood atop that tower, watching.

That man, a mere single Human, had changed the dynamic of this siege.

Feldon sat in front of a map, a map of the city and its surroundings, as seen by his aerial scouts, including any military presence they could see. Unfortunately, they had not managed to see much before they were forced to retreat. The Humans had apparently been expecting flying enemies and prepared Magic against it.

He had lost a dozen Scouts. He had many more, but Feldon was not happy that he had lost even one for a simple reconnaissance flight.

To make matters worse, the information they had paid with their lives to bring to their General was minor at best. It helped him understand the basic layout of the city, but that knowledge would not be very useful until they managed to breach the city.

Despite this, General Feldon found himself meticulously studying every part of the map, hoping that something would reveal itself to be useful in the morning's attack.

His thinking was interrupted by one of his Captains opening the flap of his tent. An Argalon named Juliax.

"General! Eight of our perimeter guards have gone missing."

General Feldon looked up, "Have the camp on high alert. Find the intruders."

The Captain saluted and rushed away.

In a few minutes, the camp would be organized into search parties until the intruders were found. The Mages would chant their Fields into existence, disabling the Humans' System.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

But something told Feldon that they would not find anything. By now, the Humans knew about the Fields and would not send someone who would not be effective without their System. But it was more than that.

The General did not know why, but he suspected the Humans were not interested in infiltrating their camp. Not just yet. This was something different.

Feldon sighed, rubbing his temples.

He knew the battle would be rough, but it was only the first day and he still knew very little of the Human's capabilities. He needed to know. He needed to know where to push. Where to pull to unravel the ball of yarn that was this Human City of Onigas.

Feldon had wanted to take this city quickly. As he sat here thinking, his peers were steadily marching across the continent, purging it of the Human plague. But they were meeting minimal resistance, and they knew it. If he could be the first Coalition General to defeat a prepared enemy, his name would go down in the History Songs.

But it was proving to be more difficult than he had expected.

Instead of a siege that would last perhaps a week, Feldon was now expecting the siege to last at least a week. Most likely two or even three.

Who knows where his peers would be then? How far would they have pushed the Humans? How many cities would they have taken? Would another one of the Kingdoms fall by then?

Feldon considered ordering his Mages would construct a tunnel to go under the city walls, allowing his soldiers to attack from within, surprising the Humans. But the tunnel would take too long to construct.

A faster method would be ordering his Winged Argalon to assault the defenses or even the city itself, but his flying Argalon were highly valuable. Each one took months of dedicated Spell craft to graft the wings on and months more for them to properly learn how to use them. Each one was approximately eight months of work.

They were best at flanking, pursuit, and scouting. Even as Argalon, they were vulnerable in the air.

He had no doubt they would prove to be effective should he order the assault. Just as he had no doubt most of them would perish as a result of their success. He could not afford to lose so many.

Just as he could not afford to wait and starve the Humans out. The Humans knew the Coalition was here to wipe out Humans, so even if they were starving, they would fight. And Feldon knew firsthand how viciously those who are backed into a corner could fight.

He needed a way to quickly defeat this city of Humans without costing his a large portion of his own Army. And as much as he racked his brain, he knew too little. It was still too early. Tomorrow would be another probing attack, this time, slightly more focused.

Captain Juliax, his breath short, his face pale, returned, "Sir, sorry to interrupt once more, but you need to see this."

General Feldon understood that this was not something he could delegate or postpone, whatever it was.

He stood up, grabbed his sheathed sword from the cloak rack and joined his Captain. Exiting his tent, the scene of his army struck his senses. Sights, sounds, smells, all of it.

Rows upon rows of tents. Dirt and mud squelched underfoot. Soldiers marched past, searching for any intruders. Cooks operated the kitchen tents, serving the lines of off duty soldiers. The engineers continued to construct the palisade walls, dig trenches and build latrines.

The camp was abuzz with activity. There was a lot to do, both to ensure the continued operation of the entire Army, and to ensure its protection, both from the Humans, and from the creatures that inhabited the continent.

The Captain led his General through the camp, the crowd parting to allow them through with a salute.

The Captain led General Feldon to the rear of the camp, the furthest away from the Human City. It was there that Feldon saw it. A hundred meters outside of the fenced perimeter of the Siege Camp, The General saw a scene he never thought he would have to see.

The eight missing guards, each one speared through the chest with sharpened stakes highlighted by the moonlight. Even worse, it was clear something had chewed on the corpses. Chunks were missing, fingers and toes gone, throats ripped out, skulls stomped on their insides gone. Chests ripped open. Organs missing. Intestines hanging out.

One of the Guards that had found the bodies bent over, emptying the contents of his stomach. Even the Feldon fault nauseous.

Captain Juliax growled, "Those damned Humans!"

General Feldon shook his head, "No. This was not the Humans. This was something else."

"What else could it be? What animal would approach such a large group of people, let alone display their kills like this to be found?"

"I have my suspicions, but no proof. Corporal, send for the Envoy to meet me in my tent immediately. Captain, take our men off those stakes and handle their cremation. We can't reach our dead near the City, but we can reach these. Double the patrols, no one goes anywhere in groups less than four."

The nearby Corporal saluted and ran off.

Captain Juliax nodded, "I will ensure they are handled with respect and honor."

Feldon turned around and left for his tent, 'This is going to be a costly Siege.'

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