The American In Another World
Chapter 31: Siege of Le Brias (2)

Le Brias

Captain Rial steadied his shot, aiming his rifle at the large hole where the main gate used to stand. The constant firing of the Parpaldian cannon shook the walls, sending rock debris flying into the buildings below. On top of the head, ten wyvern lords flew over, heading straight for the royal palace.

His eyes widened, and he immediately grabbed his manacomm. He contacted the castle hastily, asking if he should return to help protect the king.

“No, Captain. Maintain your position and hold the wall against attackers for as long as possible. Your command has not changed.”

Captain Rial wanted to protest — and almost did it — but he realized that the voice that issued this order was none other than the voice of King Taara. Reluctantly, he obeyed the king's orders. Respecting his wishes and reason that King Taara was sufficiently defended, he said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Moments after their conversation ended, Captain Rial saw several explosions lighting up the sky above the royal palace. Lightning bolts from the witches soon followed, knocking out the wyvern rulers who had survived the initial shots of the modified balista bolts. He turned away from the chaotic scene, satisfied with the defense his men had put up. Now, it was his turn to show an exemplary defense.

Amidst the predictable cannon fire, the sound of a horn echoed throughout the battlefield. They were immediately followed by the roars of the land dragon, which rushed through the shattered gate. With precision accuracy, Rial shot the dragon's eye, sending it spinning into another with puzzling pain. Rial adjusted his shot and targeted the eyes of another dragon, hoping to delay their advance by sowing chaos within the Parpaldian ranks. The blind beasts stumbled upon each other, colliding with the building and preventing the Parpaldians from pushing. Fearing to be trampled, they remained behind the wall openings, giving the Altar time to weaken the land dragon without worrying about gunfire.

“Tread mesh and oil!” Rial directed. His Elite Guards comrades continued to shoot into the dragon's vulnerability, which further paralyzed their senses and movements.

Dozens of ballast nets were thrown from the defensive walls and roofs, ensnaring the blind and deaf land dragon. After the dragon was incapacitated, a group of Altaran soldiers threw a pot of oil towards the dragon.

Rial felt a smile grow on his face, dizzy with the fact that he and his men were not only opposed, but also defeated the power of the Parpaldian Empire. "Throw your bag!"

Eight brown bags containing volatile magic gems flew towards the trapped land dragon — two for each dragon.

Rial turned to the young witch beside him. “Alina, have your witches prepare their fireballs. I want them to be thrown over the trapped dragons on my orders. ”

Alina nodded, trembling with nervousness.

Using the debris from the gates and the shattered walls as cover, the Parpaldian shooters finally barged in. They had realized that the land dragon was unable to move, but did not recognize the traps waiting for them. After experiencing Altaran's hard shot and arrow shot from the left, they were forced to move to the right, where the land dragon was located. Seeing no other cover other than the dragon's body itself, the Parpaldians made a fatal decision.

"Alina, now!"

In a split second, Alina and the other Altaran mages finished their chants and sent ten fireballs towards the land dragon. The oil around the area was burnt, swallowing the dragons in a flame that burned hotter than their fiery breath. The scorching heat soon reached many bags scattered like mines, lighting them with a flash of radiant light.

The blast destroyed the poor Parpaldian soldiers who were sheltering behind the dragons. In an instant, nearly a hundred Parpaldian infantry were annihilated, with no losses on Altaran's side. Land dragons were charred; pieces were carved from their bodies and were broken beyond recognition.

However, this still left thousands of people waiting outside the walls, ready to overwhelm and overwhelm the defenders of Altaran. For now, the explosion and heavy gunfire were enough to force a retreat. Rial thought expectantly, praying that Parpaldian would see this conflict as too costly and thus retreat.

His dream is shattered when a new priority alert comes through manacomm. “Any unit available, we need help in Zone Four! We are overwhelmed; the net is not working! Please help us!"

“This is General Laav, we have received your request and sent one spare battalion, twelve wyverns, and all Elite Guard units to your location. In addition, zones one through three should provide at least half of their troops to help.”

Rial was surprised by the number of troops Laav sent to strengthen the defense in only one location. He was worried about the defense of another location. This risky move could certainly prevent Parpaldian from breaking through, but it also called for a counterattack along the lightly defended zone. Unless, he thought, the Parpaldians concentrated all of their forces in Zone Four. He then realized why the Parpaldians were doing such a thing: Zone Four was closest to the Port and was also the only front where the land dragons were still active.

"Damn it," he said. He looked around while thinking of a plan to deal with the land dragon that had already wreaked havoc on his fellow Altar. Unfortunately, the only way he thought of killing her was with an explosive magic jewel bag, which could result in additional unwanted damage. Without any other alternative, he ordered his Elite Guards to proceed towards Zone Four. Instead of following them, he took a detour to collect more volatile magic gems.

——

By the time Rial arrived in Zone Four, Parpaldian had pushed two blocks into the residential district. All civilians in the area have been evacuated to take advantage of the dense urban sprawl for close combat. However, the fact that a radius of two blocks has been lost from Parpaldian is unsettling.

A group of buildings destroyed and burned signifies the cruelty of the Parpaldian Empire. Trapped by Altaran's guerrilla tactics, the Parpaldians only decide to destroy the buildings around them. The flames from the column of the land dragon easily cleared out all the Altaran infantry hiding in the buildings, causing many to flee to avoid the flames. After establishing the defensive line, the Parpaldians cleared the buildings within the territory they had seized. Now, an unspoken truce dominated the battlefield; the Parpaldians were too busy consolidating their power while the Altarans were too weak to face the land dragons head-on.

The gunfire and sounds of fighting died down as Rial approached a group of officers crowding around the table. "Who's the commander?" rial asked, panting from running.

“That's me, Captain Rial,” an upright man raised his hand. His deep voice matched his burly physique and his manly beard, exuding confidence and authority as he spoke. "I'm General Laav."

"Master," Captain Rial saluted.

"What are you carrying, Captain?"

“Bomb bag, Sir. I think we need a way to deal with the land dragon. ”

Laav agreed. “Amazing forward thinking, Captain. This should be enough to hold them while the balista heads here.”

"Thank you sir."

“You can thank me later, Captain. Unfortunately, I have a new job for you. The force of about fifty Parpaldians has been seen pushing through the coastline. My men have managed to cut off their reinforcements, but are unable to catch up to them. I'd like you to take your Elite Guards and prevent them from reaching their destination, whatever it is.”

"Understand, General." Captain Rial saluted before proceeding to gather his men.

——

Le Brias Port

Rial tracked one of the Parpaldian men through his gaze, his finger itching to pull the trigger. “Wait..wait until our people from the port arrive. We can make them off guard as they go against our allies.”

"Sir, shouldn't we attack them now?"

"If we manage this time perfectly, none of our people will get hurt and we can still make full use of the element of surprise." Rial shouldered his weapon. “Come keep moving. Looks like they'll make contact near the service gate. Perfect; there will hardly be any civil buildings there.”

The Elite Guards, after training with the CIA for weeks, remain silent as they trail the unsuspecting Parpaldians. As they approached the service gate, Parpaldian saw a group of Altaran sailors coming from the dock and taking shelter behind a pile of merchandise and crates. Quietly, Rial gave the order to aim. Everyone chooses a target based on their position from left to right.

As the Parpaldians raised their rifles to shoot the Altaran sailors, they were immediately dispatched by the numerically superior Elite Guards. Each Parpaldian shooter receives a clean shot to the head, sending blood splattered all over the gates and walls. But in the distance, the Altaran sailors received fire from separate positions.

"What the fuck?" Rial did not expect other Parpaldian groups to be active in the area. “They must have parted early.” murmured to herself.

"Master, what's your order?"

Rial gave the order. “Again the Parpaldians and avenge our fallen brothers! They're headed to the American warehouse now. We must hurry, when they are beyond the reach of naval support.” After giving directions to his men, he ran towards the port while simultaneously providing updates to General Laav. “Master, the Parpaldians split into two groups. We eliminated one group and tried to involve the other. They're after the American warehouse!”

“Hold your position.”

Rial raised his hand, stopping his men. "Sir?"

"Defend your position" repeated General Laav.

“If I may ask, Sir, why?”

“Americans are protective. They value their own lives so much that I dare say they may be willing to fight because of this failure. Return to Zone Four; we will allow the Parpaldians to complete their objectives in an American warehouse. If they ask, we will just say that we are busy defending ourselves.”

Rial lowered his head, disagreeing with General Laav's decision, but finding an excuse with his goal. Does the purpose justify the means? With greater reluctance than ever, Rial, according to him, learned that this decision could lead the United States into war. If they intervened, the Altara Kingdom would not need to waste so many lives and magic gems in stubborn defense against the greatest superpower in the Third Civilization Region. “Understanding, Sir. Back to Zone Four.”

——

The burning ships were scattered in Le Brias Port, once a hub of bustling economic activity. Black smoke drifted upwards, spreading further inland by the sea breeze. Loading like a sore thumb, one part of the vast harbor was untouched: part of the warehouse and dock owned by an American company. Sheltered between the rows of warehouses, two Altaran merchant ships flying the Stars and Stripes waited for their next order.

From inside the U. S. Embassy in Le Brias, a small group observed a camera feed from the warehouse.

"Who are those people?" Davidson pointed her finger at the people with the shotgun.

“Clothes scream Parpalldian..” replied a woman.

Davidson scratched her head, “Fuck? What are they doing here?”

"Take some pictures, I guess."

“They must be here to snatch some of our stuff. I didn't expect that they would actually attack our warehouse, but this man made things easier. Rachel, activate the ship after Parps starts chasing them. Make sure you get the bait too.

"You understand, James," he said, chewing on some chips. "Well, we don't even have to plan fake flags with how shabby these people's actions are."

"Really?" Davidson said while chuckling. “Well, at least that operation will look more trusted by the public. Oh, there it is!”

The five Parpaldians watched the ships and chased them, hoping to board and see their cargo. Unfortunately, the ships darted into the distance, puzzling the Parpaldians who wondered how the ships moved without the expanding sails or rowing oars.

Rachel pressed a button. "Send the ship."

"Kill the warehouse and point the ship towards the Parpaldian fleet."

"Done."

A series of explosions tore through the only untouched part of Le Brias Harbor, destroying a row of warehouses filled with goods. Meanwhile, the remote control motor and guidance system attached to the merchant ship lit up on Rachel's orders. They slowly moved towards the Parpaldian fleet, prompting several warships to intercept.

"Try to run the blockade."

The ship automatically increased its speed, hoping to escape from the Parpaldian ship. Then, the pursuing Parpaldian ship opened fire on the fleeing ship. Since the ship was equipped with small explosives, a single cannonball could cause an explosion, sinking both ships in an unpleasant, but trustworthy manner.

Davidson was stunned by what she had just witnessed, yet at the same time was also grateful. "What the fuck? I mean, I'll take it, but why are they shooting?

“Umm...” Rachel shares the same surprised expression. "Maybe they think those ships had something to do with the people in the warehouse that were blown up?"

"Hmm maybe. Oh well, our job here is done. I kind of feel sorry for Parps, you know. For what will happen to them, ” Davidson said.

“Well, James. Have you seen the way they treat their 'subjects? They really got it. Here, check this video.”

After watching a brief compilation of the Parpaldians' arrogance at Esthirant, including the random murders of 'barbarians' in the city, Davidson instantly changes his mind. “Yeah, I'll. Let's give these bastards freedom.”