Kingdombuilding: All My Inventions Are Novelty

An eerie atmosphere spread across the battlefield. Lancelot and Zephyrus stared in horror at Pascal on the fortress walls.

The agonised screams and the faint wisps of smoke rising from his body were what truly terrified them.

"Sorcery!"

A soldier in the Brambleford army whispered, his voice deliberately low.

"My Lord, this..."

Lancelot hesitated, wanting to ask but not daring to.

In ancient times, anything that couldn’t be explained was often attributed to sorcery or dark magic. What was happening now was beyond their comprehension.

"Hahaha, are you wondering if I know some kind of sorcery?" Simon laughed. He looked at the chaos on the fortress walls and spoke. "Wait until I take Pascal’s head, and then I’ll explain."

Zephyrus was equally shocked and confused, but he didn’t dare say another word.

After throwing the first glass bottle, Simon ordered his soldiers to launch a second and third into the fortress. Those who came into contact with the liquid inside the bottles screamed in agony.

If even the Brambleford army outside the walls suspected this was sorcery and felt fear, the Goldwynd family’s private soldiers inside the fortress were even more terrified.

On the fortress walls, Pascal clutched his left hand, which burned as if on fire. The area where the liquid had touched his skin was already blackened.

He looked down at Simon, who stood calmly outside the walls, and a deep sense of dread began to spread within him. As more of these strange projectiles flew into the fortress, everyone who was hit by the liquid suffered the same fate.

"What is this thing?" Pascal shouted.

No one answered him. In the eyes of those around him, he saw only fear.

At that moment, one of the Goldwynd family’s private soldiers pointed at the fortress walls and shouted, "Look at the walls!"

Everyone turned to see that the earthen walls, soaked by the liquid, were beginning to crumble layer by layer. This sight only deepened their terror.

Seeing the reactions of those inside the fortress, Simon deliberately shouted to Lancelot. "Captain Lancelot, once the walls are breached, spare no one, men, women, or children!"

"Yes, My Lord!" Lancelot responded.

He then turned to his soldiers and shouted. "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Thousands of Brambleford soldiers roared in unison, their voices like rolling thunder that echoed into the fortress and reached the ears of every Goldwynd family member hiding inside.

Pascal’s face grew paler. He gripped his steel sword, but his body trembled slightly. There was no turning back now.

Just then, a man about Pascal’s age climbed onto the fortress walls and approached him. "Surrender. There’s no hope. Even if the prince besieges us for half a year, we won’t be able to hold out."

"Traitor! Coward! Is this how our eldest brother taught us to behave? Our family has been in Brambleford for hundreds of years, long before the Eldorian Empire existed. Today, Simon wants to destroy us. Even if we die, we must resist to the end!" Pascal roared. "Don’t forget, the Redwyck family will come to our aid. When they do, we’ll attack from both sides, kill this tyrant, and join forces with the leader."

"The Redwyck family? If the Redwyck family were coming, they would have been here by now. Why wait a whole day?" Stephen pleaded. His entire family was inside the fortress, and he had to think of their safety.

Moreover, the private soldiers in the fortress had already been whispering among themselves after learning about Cedric and his son’s assassination attempt on the princess. Combined with Simon’s persuasion, many had lost the will to fight.

From their eyes, Stephen could see that the Goldwynd family’s fortunes had turned. If the walls were breached, these soldiers wouldn’t put up much resistance.

Now, with these strange projectiles being launched into the fortress, many of the private soldiers were already showing signs of fear.

"I believe the Redwyck family will come. The Goldwynd and Redwyck families have been allied for generations. If the Goldwynd family falls, how long will the Redwyck family last?" Pascal glared at Stephen. "Have you been swayed by the tyrant’s words? Are you planning to surrender?"

As he spoke, Pascal pointed his steel sword at Stephen. If Stephen said one wrong word, he would cut him down on the spot.

"Pascal..." Stephen didn’t dare say more and slowly backed away.

Cedric had always favoured Pascal because they shared the same parents. Stephen, on the other hand, was a true illegitimate child, and his feelings for Cedric weren’t as strong.

The Goldwynd family was large, with many brothers of the same generation. Besides Stephen, there were five other half-brothers of Cedric in the fortress.

As Stephen retreated from the walls, the five men surrounded him and asked. "What’s the situation?"

"He’s gone mad. He says we’re waiting for reinforcements from the Redwyck family. In my opinion, he won’t surrender." Stephen said with a frown.

One of the men angrily replied. "If he wants to die, we can’t follow him to our graves. There aren’t just three or five hundred Brambleford soldiers outside; there are over five thousand! And those golden-armoured guards are said to be elite troops brought by the princess. This is suicide!"

"Exactly. Those things the prince is throwing into the fortress are too strange. Many soldiers have already been burned, and if this stuff can burn through the walls, we won’t last long."

"..."

The men spoke one after another. In a life-or-death situation, their own lives were what mattered most. As for Pascal, they had little affection for him.

When the Goldwynd family was at its peak, Cedric and his brothers had often looked down on them.

Stephen remained silent for a moment, then said. "Cedric has been captured. Now, Pascal’s word is law. What can I do?"

The others exchanged uneasy glances, each seemingly thinking of a solution but hesitant to speak first.

Outside the walls, the Brambleford army’s chants of ’Kill!’ echoed once more, and the men’s faces grew even more grim. If the Brambleford army breached the walls, there would be no turning back.

Finally, Stephen said. "Gentlemen, there’s only one way out. We must capture Pascal and surrender to His Highness. He might reward us for our service."

The other five men nodded in agreement, their thoughts aligning with Stephen’s.

Having decided, the six men, each accompanied by their most trusted servants, climbed onto the fortress walls.

Pascal, who was still directing the defence, turned pale when he saw them. "Stephen, what are you doing?"

"Pascal, forgive us. You may want to die, but our wives, children, and elders do not. We have no choice but to hand you over." Stephen declared.

Pascal’s chest heaved with rage. He shouted at the soldiers on the walls. "Attack! Kill these six traitors!"

But as his voice rang out, not a single soldier moved.

They had been terrified by the strange projectiles Simon kept launching into the fortress. Each of them had already considered surrendering, but no one had dared to take the first step.

Now, with Stephen leading the way, they immediately sided with him.