the people of the Lying Water Kingdom were certain and assured that the two Dukes did not have any Fire Explosion Talismans left with them after they fought several battles against them during the past month
Every time the Black Sun Kingom's forces would try to minimize its losses if they win and retreat if the get hammered, they didn't fire a single Fire Explosion Talisman at them no matter what
Even when a Marquess attacked one of Duke Raymond's fortress, killed a few thousands and forced them to abandon on their mighty fortresses, there was no reply what so ever...
But now, out of now where, the nightmare returned!
they were surprised when the rain of Fire Explosion Talismans fell again upon their heads like thunderbolts, destroying their formations as they destroyed their body parts.
The advance was so sudden and so fast that no one was able to react in time, in just three days the two dukes and their armies had arrived at the capitals of the two duchies!
But they were both much stingier in using the Fire Explosion Talismans in their advance than the Burtons, which caused too many deaths among their ranks doing so
and when they finally arrived near the capital, they had the same choice to make as Robin...
to wait and plan a more efficient, bloodless way, or finish the war in one a stroke... and they both chose just the opposite from Robin
It was time to end this, taking more time means more variables, no one knows when the Royal Family of the Lying Water finally have enough and declare a Royal War!
At least they must severe one of their arms before that happens!
...The cruelest battle since the beginning of the war has finally broken out outside the gates of the two duchy's' capital cities.
Hundreds of thousands of human bodies clashed to create an epic of fire and blood
All that is left of the talismans were used in both battles, but they were not enough to come close to victory...
The situation was just as Robin predicted, battles like this, battles when such a huge family is on the brink of life or death, strength, and strategies on the battlefield won't matter much.
It is just like when the Tawi family attacked the Burtons and broke their army, but the Burtons still managed to fight back desperately and hold enough lands to stay as an Earldom...
the Marquess family didn't see that coming, not the Burtons themselves actually knew they can do it...
Being emotionally charged is far more dangerous than being armored with all the weapons in the world.
The two battles at the capitals lasted for three consecutive days, and hundreds of thousands of victims fell on all sides.
Finally, at the dawn of the fourth day, the results of the first battle appeared.
The Duke of Bradley managed to win a difficult victory after losing half of his army that reached the capital, of the half a million troops he gathered and entered the Lying Water Kingdom's lands with, only 150,000 of them left alive.
But they inflicted much more damage to their already wounded foes... they were able to kill most of their saints and knights before the rest managed to flee for their lives
and within another two hours, the capital was overrun.
and small troops were immediatly sent to subdue what was left of the Duchy...
The Bradleys finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief.
but it wasn't the case for their allies...
Duke Alton's battle went on for an extra day with no clear victor!
On the fifth day, the Saints of the Alton family managed to deal a decisive blow to the cavalry of their enemy, restraining one of their most important arms, and forcing the enemy army to retreat slowly and fortify behind the formidable walls of the capital.
This wasn't the best possible idea for the retreating Duke, but it was the only one...
As soon as they entered and closed the gates, Duke Raymond Alton gave the green light to besiege the capital, using flaming arrows and catapults, and all possible means to destroy the capital and make life in it impossible.
And he had what he wanted... one week later, the capital also fell, and no one survived except for some saints and knights from the enemies who managed to escape.
And they both fled directly to the Middle Duchy, the Duchy of Harris, to serve as their last hope to try to recover what they lost.
But they just didn't know, the situation there was no better...
Robin had already requested an urgent batch from the talisman masters and told them to send whatever they managed to make until now..
and the first batch had arrived, 60,000 Fire Explosion Talismans has refreshed his stockpile.
While Duke Harris was delighted with the strong saints and knights reinforcements that came to him, he received terrible news...
The three armies of the Burton family had united again, and the united army is now advancing toward his capital
Quickly, the public alarm was launched throughout the rest of his lands, with a forced recruitment order for every male who reached the age of more than ten years, and every female above 14 years of age.
Warning of the fate of their brothers in the north and south, it is time to fight to the end for their lands and their freedom.
The movements of the Burton family's army were extremely slow which helped Duke Harris a lot in gathering more soldiers than he already have!
All nobles and non-nobles... even old women choose to go to the army and defend the capital
Within one week of the buildup, the army that was stationed ahead of the Harris Capital had already reached a stunning number of more than 920,000 soldiers.
And finally... the moment of separation has come
The date of the arrival of the Burton family's army according to the last report, is today.
Enthusiasm and boiling blood in the soldiers' veins overcame the fear of what was to come.
The sense of defending the homeland and the family, and struggling for freedom, has overshadowed the horror of the fire explosion talismans.
Every one of the million-strong army stood their ground with racing heartbeats, holding in their hand some kitchen knives or wood axes devoured by rust...
Today there will be a battle that will tear the heavens apart from screams, and the earth will be wet with blood... Everything depends on this one battle!
Finally, the hour when the Burton family's army was supposed to arrive...!!
But no one showed up.
Another hour passed, two, six...
Darkness has descended, but the army of invaders still has not come!
"What is happening here?" Duke Harris shouted, "No news from the new scouting team?"
This was the seventh scouting team they sent out after they lost contact with the first six, it's been over an hour since they left and he still hasn't heard of where the Burton family's army is now or when they will arrive.
Another half-day passed in complete silence, the Giant Army was still on standby, but the enthusiasm had visibly disappeared... Soldiers below the third level of energy foundation and Mortals were already starting to feel sleepy.
"My lord duke, my lord duke!" Someone came rushing on a war horse towards the walls of the capital, then the knight jumped off him to the top of the wall and knelt before someone sitting on a high throne, "I have news from Vukata!!"
"Huh? Is this a good time to listen to internal problems?" The Duke's features reddened, "Leave that aside for now!"
"The city is under attack!!" The knight shouted before the soldiers took him to the side, "A Burton family's army of about 50,000 ware about to attack the walls when I ran over here. The city is almost empty of soldiers because they're all here...they must have burned the city down by now!!"
"what do you say?!" The Duke stood up and shouted.
The city of Vukata was a hundred miles north of the capital... and an army of only 50,000? Wasn't the Burton family's army about 300,000? This was not logical at all.
During the next two hours, similar reports followed, successively, 4 other cities were attacked, and an army of 50,000 soldiers was spotted heading towards a sixth city.
One of those cities is located just 50 miles behind the capital!!