Benjamin listened, cleared his throat, then spoke slowly, "Here I thought... even if the enemy deployed hundreds of Cannons of Holy Light, if we can hold our defenses, it's not to say that we can't withstand it."
"Hundreds of Cannons of Holy Light firing simultaneously, what do we use to shield against it?" Someone immediately asked in return.
"Through the use of Defense Runes." Benjamin explained, "There are the fruits of labor from the Academy of Magic, it bears unbelievable defense capabilities. When the queen first assaulted the academy, this was what we relied on, in order to repel their attacks in a situation where we were overwhelmed by military numbers."
— Since it had come to this, there was no reason to hide anything further. Besides, this was something the small rune research team discovered early on, it made no difference whether it was revealed now.
However, as everyone listened, doubts gradually spread through their faces.
"Director, forgive our rudeness, but... we had never heard of such Defense Runes, is it really as powerful as you suggest?"
"Of course it is." Benjamin nodded, "I'll begin setup in Rock City, once it's done, all of you may witness how formidable its defensive capabilities are."
Though it might as well been a bluff, in truth, he was fairly confident in runic techniques.
After the queen led her army to assault the academy, although the small rune research team pursued any research on new runic techniques for the longest time, they did however made some modifications on the Defense Rune. It will not weaken as it expands anymore, rather, the more rune sentences there are in the inner structure of the rune, the wider the enveloping surface area, the more powerful its defensive capabilities become.
A Defense Rune which envelopes an entire city... thought it had never been attempted before, Benjamin however believed it will even surpass the Holy Barrier of Havenwright!
Upon seeing him with such confidence, though doubt filled the eyes of the officials, in the end they didn't protest any further. The executive prime minister gave the word, putting aside thoughts of surrender for now, to first have the Defense Rune conjured.
"If it truly can help us withstand against the Church's assault, with it being the product of the academy's research, we will definitely spend a great deal of money for it," he said as such.
Benjamin nodded.
Though he never thought of profiting from war, however... without realizing, first they sold the Holy Cannons, now it was the conjuring of the Defense Rune, the academy's wealth had certainly piled up immensely.
And so, the situation at hand went through a rapid development. Benjamin sent out the mages of the small research team, shielding Rock City in great haste. As of now, the Kingdom of Helius army temporarily stationed themselves in the Morante wilderness, with no intents of continuing their assault, yet the entirety of Icor had already gone into a state of high alert. The president deployed men to set various traps in the paths from the wilderness to Rock City, to prevent losses in key generals and troops to the enemy, however... it wouldn't hold them off for long.
Myers volunteered to scout ahead, to find out exactly why the Kingdom of Helius hadn't moved in.
As for Benjamin, he remained in Regina, and travelled with members of his academy to contact mages of other academies around Icor.
"Already there's a few who returned." In the palace guest room, Varys reported, "The responses are far from ideal, freelance mages from various lands are indifferent towards the Kingdom of Helius's assault. Moreover, even if Icor fell, they could easily retreat to the depths of the woods of Ferelden and Carretas, they wouldn't be least bit affected."
Benjamin heaved a sigh.
How could these people's standpoints be so weak?
"So... try to estimate, how many freelance mages would be willing to lend their help in the end?"
"Around three hundred."
"That could work, three hundred it is then, instruct them to gather at Rock City." Benjamin nodded, then muttered under his breath, "The remaining Icor military mages, plus the volunteer mages, along with gradual reinforcements from Ferelden and Carretas... our numbers in Rock City should amount to around six thousand mages."
"Though our numbers alone pale in comparison, but in terms of group formations and synergy, it seems it'll rise exponentialy," said Varys unenthusiastically.
"This, I understand of course."
Benjamin shrugged, and couldn't help but shake his head. As mages has always been disorganized, recruiting six thousand of them was no easy feat already, where else could you find this many?
— They may very well get only one chance.
Rock City... no matter what happens next, they need to concentrate all of their power onto Rock City, to fight to the death against the members of the Church. If it falls, the entirety of Icor will lose their will to fight back, even the capital city of Regina would become a mere toy castle for anyone to step on.
After sending Varys off, Benjamin was nervous, and couldn't resist entering the palace. As he walked the streets of Regina, all there was the gloom that settled in, it was difficult for him to picture its former glory. News of the war had already spread across the nation, citizens entered a state of panic, many had even begun to leave far from here.
"Where are you guys going?"
He couldn't help but reach out to the old man carrying his belongings, and asked.
"Go where? To Carretas of course! The Kingdom of Helius's army are about to move in, if this goes on, I'm afraid our fragile lives will reach their end..."
"That doesn't necessarily mean you need to run away, right? What if our army won the battle, forcing our enemy into retreat?"
"Oh, young man, haven't you heard of the news in the frontlines?" The old man patted Benjamin's shoulder, frowned as he said, "The men from the Kingdom of Helius had only breached through for a few days, the troops which held the city borders, one by one they tossed away their armor, and deserted faster than anyone could run. In just this short of time many places had lost their hold, how will they even hold Regina, I urge you, to get out while you can!"
"But... even if one escapes to Ferelden, or to Carretas, what difference would it make? If the Kingdom of Helius conquers Icor for real, then how far away would the other two nations be anyway?"
"We're old, can't really think ahead for ourselves anymore, perhaps... perhaps the armies in the other nations are mightier than ours?" The old man rustled the heavy luggage on his back, his body shuddered a little, "Now we only desire to find a place, to live another peaceful day, more than just a day if possible."
Benjamin was speechless.
As such, the old man gave a small wave, at last disappearing from his line of sight. Gazing at the citizens gradually gather into a crowd, into a sea of people which flowed out the city gates, he felt uneasy, to say the least.
To the citizens, war had never been complicated, homes taken away and destruction were all there was to it. Had their nation's army been formidable, they wouldn't need to bear any suffering, or the need to leave their homes, to make haste in leaving here before their houses fell on them.
They themselves however, seemed to have disappointed the people…..
Taking in a deep breath, Benjamin turned around, suddenly determined, that the people of the Church needed to be brought down no matter what.