He thought Taven had taken all the mages to the Blackwater Valley, not expecting a hidden card still left in the castle.
Inside the city, Ignis was blocked by a wall of fire, instantly flying into a rage.
"Damn mages! Get the hell out here!"
She roared, hacking at the fire wall with her axe, but it only kicked up a shower of violent sparks.
Just then, Akomann's calm voice came from behind:
"Ignis! Fall back!"
Although unwilling, Ignis still obeyed the order and led her troops back a few steps.
Immediately after, she saw a squad of soldiers rushing forward carrying several strange cylindrical weapons.
Those were... flamethrowers!
Another devastating weapon created by the Military Workshop using existing metallurgical and chemical technology.
Although still quite primitive, using compressed air to spray fuel mixed with oil, the fire dragons they spat out were hot enough to melt steel.
"Ready!!" the officer in charge roared.
"Fire!!"
With the command, over a dozen thick fire dragons whistled over the magical fire wall and sprayed directly onto the streets behind.
"Aaah—!!!"
Bursts of shrill screams, hardly sounding human, rang out.
The Imperial Mages hiding behind to cast spells were instantly engulfed by the high-temperature fire dragons.
The mage robes they wore had no fire resistance at all, and they turned into human torches in an instant.
They screamed, rolling frantically on the ground trying to extinguish the flames, but the oil-mixed fuel was like maggots on a bone, only burning more fiercely.
Soon, the screams stopped.
A nauseating stench of scorched flesh permeated the air.
The magic fire wall also went out.
Ignis watched this scene dumbfounded, unable to help but swallow hard.
She looked back at Akomann, her eyes filled with shock.
"This... Suina came up with this too?"
Akomann nodded, her expression still blank:
"The Chief said that to deal with mages, you have to use even more unreasonable methods."
After saying that, she raised her long blade and pointed forward.
"Continue the advance! Target: the Inner Castle Main Keep!"
The street fighting in Tiee Fortress ended faster than anyone could have imagined.
Under the combined assault of flamethrowers, grenades, and rifles, any Imperial Soldiers who tried to hold the streets or houses for resistance met only one end—being wiped out in waves.
The Black Rock Tribe soldiers operated in small squads with seamless coordination.
Shield-bearers in front, riflemen behind; if they encountered a fortified position, they directly called for the demolition team or flamethrowers.
This multi-dimensional, unreasonable tactic was completely beyond the comprehension of everyone in this era.
The resistance of the Imperial Soldiers went from fierce at the start, to sporadic, and finally to complete abandonment. More and more soldiers chose to throw down their weapons and kneel in surrender.
The two main forces led by Akomann and Ignis were like two red-hot branding irons, advancing irresistibly from different directions toward the highest point of the inner city, the Merlin Family's Main Keep.
The Main Keep was the final core defensive fortification of Tiee Fortress.
It was built on the highest point of the hill, with walls thicker than the outer city and a more complex structure. A moat surrounded the Main Keep, with only a single drawbridge for access.
When Akomann's troops reached the edge of the moat, the drawbridge had already been raised high.
Hundreds of knights in silver heavy armor appeared on the walls of the Main Keep.
They were the core Guards of the Merlin Family, true death-sworn warriors. Each was highly skilled and fiercely loyal to the Merlin Family.
Leading them was a white-haired old knight, the Captain of the Guard for the Merlin Family, a powerful warrior with strength approaching that of a Great Knight Commander.
"Halt!"
The old knight's voice was as loud as a bell, echoing across the battlefield.
"This is the forbidden ground of the Merlin Family! Retreat, or face no mercy!"
Ignis looked at the raised drawbridge and the deep moat, letting out a disdainful "Tch."
"Old man, what time do you think it is, still putting on airs here? You think a broken bridge can stop us?"
She looked back, and several engineers were already carrying explosive packs, preparing to blow up the drawbridge's winch mechanism.
But Akomann stopped them.
"No need for such trouble."
Akomann looked up at the old knight on the wall and said coldly:
"I will give you one last chance. Lay down your weapons and open the drawbridge, and your lives may be spared."
"In your dreams!"
The old knight roared:
"The knights of the Merlin Family are no cowards! If you want to enter the Main Keep, step over our corpses!"
"As you wish."
Akomann's reply was simple and cold.
She didn't order an attack but instead waved her hand toward those behind her.
Soon, two large objects covered in canvas were pushed forward by soldiers and set up by the moat.
When the canvas was pulled back, revealing the dark barrels and long ammo belts, Ignis's eyes widened instantly.
"maxim heavy machine gun?! Suina gave you these treasures too?"
She shouted in surprise.
Akomann ignored her and simply ordered the two gunners:
"See those people in silver armor on the wall?"
"We see them!"
"Turn them, along with the wall behind them, into a sieve for me."
"Yes!"
The two gunners skillfully turned the cranks, and the cold killing machines began to warm up.
The old knight on the wall also sensed the lethal threat from those two strange weapons.
Alarm bells rang in his heart, and he immediately roared:
"Archers! Fire! Quickly!!"