It was a cold day in the north and wind was whipping the snow from side to side. The Emperor was flanked by two protesting retainers.
"Your majesty, we must insist that we return at once. These conditions are far too severe for you at your age. Not to mention, this area isn't even under imperial control." One of them said.
"Oh give it a rest will you? I should be allowed to take a walk while I still can." The Emperor said as he marched ahead. He soon came across the corpse of a giant white wolf.
"A Great White Wolf?" One retainer said as he bent over and examined the body and discovered a wound that had dropped a few droplets of blood before it froze. "It's dead? These are extremely powerful creatures, what could have possibly killed it? We really should leave your majesty, before we encounter whatever killed this wolf."
"Ahahaha! How interesting, I thought two would be enough, but this one may be entertaining after all." The Emperor chuckled as he discovered an unconscious child that was half buried in the snow and covered in blood. "You two, grab that boy! We can head back now."
Gaileo was shook awake by his younger brother, Kazuma. "Wake up big brother! We have to get ready to head out soon and rejoin Old Man Tenjin." He said with a childlike enthusiasm as he jumped up and down in an effort to wake Gaileo up.
"Fine, fine, I'm awake! Calm down already!" Gaileo said as he rubbed his eyes. "For crying out loud, you're already 19 years old Kazu, can't you start acting like it?"
"Big Brother! It's so boring being by myself in the rearguard! I wanna be on the front lines with you!" Kazuma complained as he ignored his brother's scolding.
"I've told you before, leading the rearguard is an important job. I have to leave it to someone I can trust." Gaileo replied. "Plus, you're too childish and reckless to have on the frontlines consistently. It's too dangerous for you to unleash your special ability carelessly." He thought.
This was seemingly enough to convince Kazuma to leave Gaileo alone. When he was left alone with his thoughts he reflected on the dream he had.
"Why am I remembering something like that now? They say it's not good to dream about your past, that it means that you don't have much of a future left. Whatever, it's probably nothing." He thought dismissively.
The Gaileo Army moved out to rejoin the rest of the Tenjin Army and began the siege. The Tenjin Army had 125,000 men against the Galean defending army of 180,000. The Tenjin Army had 20,000 less men than they had started the campaign with, though this was mostly due to them leaving small garrisons in the castles they'd captured.
"The siege towers and equipment we used in the previous battles are currently being transported here by the engineering division. They should arrive by the end of the day." General Shimazu reported.
"Very well, we will hold our assault until tomorrow then. For now, order the archers to lay down suppressing fire on the troops on the walls." Great General Tenjin ordered. "Hohoho! I'm sure they don't know it yet but this battle is all but decided already." He said as he twirled his mustache.
The Galeans were a powerful warrior society, their soldiers were trained for battle from their youth. However, the warriors of Galena favored face to face confrontation to engaging in long range skirmishes. Therefore, their archer force was substantially smaller compared to the Imperial army. They only had a few hundred compared to the tens of thousands that the Imperials had. In fact, the Tenjin Army was known for having the strongest archers in the entire Empire.
"The Caldoni Palace Guards are in position! Men, knock arrows! Ready! Fire!" An officer shouted out.
The elite Caldoni Palace Guards unleashed a barrage of arrows that completely obliterated the enemy soldiers on the walls. The missile advantage was overwhelmingly in the Imperial's favor. By the second day of the siege, the Galeans were forced to completely retreat their men from the walls to avoid the unrelenting barrage of arrows.
Once the siege equipment arrived they were able to easily take the abandoned walls. The archers then had the high ground, and fired on the Galeans while they were retreating. This advantage allowed them to quickly storm through the city. Eventually they captured the town center and it seemed that the battle was over.
"Sir! Report! The enemy is still resisting on the western wall! They have a giant throwing boulders from the wall and inflicting heavy casualties!" A soldier reported to Tenjin.
"Hohoho! It looks like the battle isn't quite over yet."
"Sir! Please allow me to take care of this foe." Shimazu requested.
"Hohoho! It's seems that the young lord has already beat you to it." Tenjin replied.
As he spoke, Gaileo rode on towards the western wall. He easily cut his way through the enemy lines and made it onto the wall. He was then face to face with a massive Galean warrior who was over 8 feet tall.
"So you come to face me little pup! Very well let us have an epic clash! My name is-!" The giant man started to say before he was cut off by Gaileo.
He drew his sword and slashed the giant man's torso, killing him instantly.
"I'm not interested in learning the name of a small fry like you. Though I do have to admit that I'm impressed by one thing. I meant to cut you completely in half with that strike, it's impressive that you managed to stay in one piece." Gaileo said as flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed his blade.
With the last bit a resistance in the city crushed, the battle was finally finished, and the Tenjin Army managed to take the city in just two days. Tenjin and his staff began take actions to stabilize the region as well as prepare to defend against any counteroffensives.
"Hey Old Man, do you have any news on Great General Mutembo?" Gaileo asked with his enthusiasm clearly showing.
"Hohoho, yes, we have received a report that he was starting his final assault on Shuangfeng." Tenjin replied. "In fact, if you left now I'd bet you could still make it in time for the end of the battle."
"Really? Then I'll leave at once!" He said as he hurriedly mounted his horse and rode off as quickly as possible.
"Tch, the brat. He didn't even wait for permission." Shimazu said. "Are you sure it's a good idea to send him out there sir?"
"Yes, I've been too soft on the young lord. This is a hard lesson he's about to learn." Tenjin said more sternly than his usual carefree tone.