Friends, Defeat and Rewards [Adamant Fortress]

Just before dawn, Chayle woke up, and as soon as she left her room, her servant was waiting for her with a message. Her husband, Vangark, had written it. She unrolled the manuscript and began to read it carefully. In it, he detailed the intricacies of the Siege of the Fortress that had taken place hours earlier, how to prepare her troops in case of defense, and the same for the moment of attack when going to the rallies. These rallies filled up quickly, and many times, warriors were left out when sending complete armies, which could diminish the chances of entering the fortress, fighting enemies, and obtaining diamonds.

 It was the first siege she wouldn't participate in alongside her husband and king, but she had experience, and according to the latest instructions he had given her, there was nothing to worry about. Only a few details remained - who would go with her and which alliance they would join. Shinichi, The Wich, and their squires confirmed their attendance. They would decide under which banner they would fight once they arrived at Adamant Fortress. This fortress, once surrounded by a river that had dried up, had its main entrance immediately connected to what used to be the dock. After that, it had three levels, with the last one housing the main building. It was a familiar stronghold to her, as she had besieged it several moons ago.

In the distance, she could make out the banners of NWL, who were to the west of the fortress. This alliance was led by 8JONSNOW8, a friend of Vangark, but she didn't see him among those who would lead the attack. However, she recognized Esy and Norr, with whom she had shared experiences in N30 and had been with them in the previous siege. So, she headed towards them, a woman who was now a member of DEP, who, upon seeing her, greeted her with pleasure.

"Once again, we meet," she said."

After a brief conversation, she managed to join Shinichi, WICH, and their squires. The main instruction was that YTU IN would try to capture the fortress, so as soon as they took it, they needed to reinforce it immediately.

Chayle positioned herself near Esy and Norr, as she knew they would lead the rallies if necessary. However, her friends from K276 were much farther away, which could pose problems for joining the rallies.

While there were other alliances like J4Z and EdF, who would be the opponents of hF9, undoubtedly an alliance created solely to participate in the siege, Abdyrakhman was the strongest among them, with dark hair and slanted eyes, a renowned archer in all the realms. He managed to capture the fortress right at the beginning of the siege, but it wasn't reinforced. Slumber infiltrated the fortress and quickly handed it over to Esy, who was assisted by all NWL members, and it was time to prepare for the defense.

 - Spears, send Spears - Esy instructed everyone. Chayle smiled, as lances were the troops she had the most of and could send them as sacrifices. However, she remembered the message she had received earlier and only sent T3 lances, allowing her to immediately engage in combat against the enemy rallies. But this also resulted in losses and injuries, which were healed before the hospital was overwhelmed.

It seemed that Esy was able to hold the fortress. Reinforcements arrived constantly as soon as armies with wounded soldiers withdrew. One had to be prepared to reinforce again and again. Chayle sometimes sent T3 troops and then T1 in the next reinforcement, reducing losses and resource consumption. Although she had stocked up on resources before heading to the siege, they needed to be conserved, especially when the attacks occurred repeatedly. The reinforcements were now arriving with a slight delay and didn't fully replenish the fortress until the inevitable happened. Abdyrakhman launched a solo attack when he saw few reinforcements and the capture. This time, his flag bearers responded to the call and went to support him.

Not one to sit idle, NWL went on the offensive, with rallies led by Esy, Norr, YTU IN, and James Delaney didn't send his full armies to avoid being left out and participated in most of them. She had only two dragons with her, so her intention was always to be in two rallies simultaneously, making her soldiers more effective in the attack, with a mix of T4 and T3 troops.

The defense of hF9 was relentless, not only resisting the four rallies sent by NWL but also those of other enemies. While they were out of contention for capturing the fortress, the prospect of looting combat diamonds was tempting for anyone.

 Since Shini and Wich were far from those sending rallies, they couldn't access most of them and left NWL, joining a small group of LP! Led by Lord Pratap, they had no obligations to anyone, and here the focus was on rewards.

From then on, there wasn't much to do, despite the rallies following one after another. They couldn't weaken Abdyrakhman's defense enough to defeat him, even coordinating rallies between Esy, Norr, and James Delaney proved fruitless. YTU IN pursued his own strategy independently.

Many times the fortress was just one hit away from being captured solo, but no one made the final decision, waiting for YTU IN to do so, but he was immersed in continuing to lead rallies.

The reinforcements to Abdyrakhman began to dwindle; his goal was achieved. No one would take his crown and all the rewards that came with being the master and lord of this siege. This was the moment that YTU seized to capture the fortress. The call was to reinforce it only with archers. Chayle, out of obligation, sent what she had, but it wasn't enough, so she started sending T1 lances. She had already obtained all the combat diamonds that this battle could offer. The battle for the alliance that had sheltered her was lost, and there wasn't much she could do. Gradually, she began to withdraw with her men and headed to meet her friends, not before bidding farewell and expressing her gratitude to Esy for giving her the opportunity to fight alongside her once again.

Perhaps things could have been different, that's what Chayle, WICH, and Shin discussed when they returned home. If YTU IN had communicated more with the other three rally leaders, he might have been victorious, but individuality worked against him. WICH and Shin, despite not participating in NWL's rallies with LP!, managed to obtain all the combat diamonds. While to onlookers, they might appear as simple mercenaries, they didn't care. Experience taught them that, even as part of the winning faction, the one who is crowned never shared one of the many prizes available. Meanwhile, upon reaching her quarters, Chayle sent a response letter to her husband. All the advice he had given her had helped to achieve the objective.