What did you do with the dice?

Listen, what does Versailles mean? This is Versailles! After laying so much groundwork for the opponent, Rusalka's blood boiled. She thought the other side had finally revealed a peerless wizard to spar with, only to be met with a final remark: "Not bad, they're even comparable in some areas."

It's like a genius who dominates all subjects praising someone else's excellence: "This guy is really good. He even got all the basic questions right, just like me."

Did you praise me? Yes.

Rusalka was completely disheartened. After all this time, he was only proficient in low- to mid-level magic? That's all? Could he even break my defense?

In order to avoid damaging morale, Sanita opened a private chat channel: (But the possibility that the other party is also a great wizard cannot be ruled out.)

Rusalka displayed a look of obvious distrust, replying in private: (Just go ahead and paint it! Who could paint a better picture than you? If I truly believed it, I'd rush over excitedly, ready to hand over my entire undergarment, not to mention my trump cards, only to be slashed to death. Does this sound familiar? This kind of story is happening everywhere in Rusalka's timeline. Come on, save your breath! Just honestly admit that you accidentally let a newbie sneak up on you and took away your summoned creature.)

Rusalka even made her hands into two crab claws and waved them in the direction of the Sani Tower: (If you’re new, just practice more!)

Sanita was speechless and didn't bother to pay attention to him: (Do you still want to control the magic cannon later? I can't seem to remember the location of the sentry tower just now. Am I really too bad?)

This was related to the excitement of the battle, and Rusalka's attitude immediately changed 180 degrees: (Godfather, there were a lot of people outside just now. I was just trying to save face and brag. I'll go back and kowtow to you alone later. Please let me fire the cannon. I've been coveting that magic cannon for a long time. Just let me touch it.)

The two men returned to the temporary camp laughing and cursing. It must be said that the soldiers were very efficient. There were only some wooden stakes piled up at the door before going out, but now they were neatly stuck into the ground, and then tied up with hemp ropes to form a row of simple wooden fences. After that, they only needed to be stacked up to make them higher or installed with barbs, and the small wooden camp wall was completed.

Rusalka called the members of the Armament Department and said, "Go, bring out the magic cannon."

The soldiers from the Armaments Department immediately saluted Rusalka, then turned to their fellow guards and shouted, "Hurry up and help us load the lord's treasure onto the cart and bring it over!"

Rusalka didn't think there was anything wrong with the soldier's statement and was quite happy: (He must be praising me, taking it as a reward!)

Sanita immediately understood what his good brother meant: (I'm really impressed by this inexplicable shrimp head association, so I'm very curious, how do you plan to treat this magic cannon later?)

Rusalka: (Well, I feel really good when the magic cannon fires, so in a way, I'm probably related to the magic cannon. As the saying goes, a weapon is a man's third arm, so can it be classified in the same category as a third leg...)

Sanita: (Stop! I don't want your description to make me not want to see the magic cannon in the future!)

Rusalka muttered: (What are you doing? The Pearl Tear Territory has five magic cannons. You can also find one to substitute.)

Sanita: (I really did it! Why did I bring in the magic cannon?)

Rusalka raised her head and answered proudly: (Because huge ships and cannons are a man's romance.)

Sanita didn't get what he was so proud of at all.

In short, the magic cannon was carried out and placed in an open area under the guidance of the Sani Iron Tower. The angle was adjusted, and iron plates were placed underneath for elevation. The four sides were fixed, and then it was aimed at the location of the watchtower, which looked like a blue sky and white clouds but was actually invisible.

The scout on the watchtower was observing the Rusalka camp through a telescope. "What do you think the enemy is doing? One moment they sent heavy cavalry to the bottom of our slope, then immediately turned back. The next moment they brought out a magic cannon and waved it around. Could they have discovered us?"

The soldier sitting nearby eating waved his hand and said disapprovingly, "How is that possible? Neighboring Chaudhry City and ours have been fighting for years, and this place hasn't been discovered. This is a spell cast by a powerful wizard. You can't see it even if you stand right in front of it. They're so far away from us, how could they possibly discover it?"

"But they do seem to be adjusting the position of the magic cannon. Is that really okay?"

"It's just your imagination. Can you see where they're aiming from such a distance?"

"It seems not. I can only roughly see that they have turned their guns in this direction."

"That's it. We can't even see them clearly from such a high altitude, so how can they possibly see us?"

----

Sani Tower: "A little further to the left, there are more. A little further to the right, there are more."

Rusalka, who wanted to be in charge of firing the cannon but ended up having to do the hard labor of turning the muzzle, complained: "Brother, your instructions are spot on."

Sani Iron Tower: "0.5 degrees to the left, 0.8 degrees upwards, with pads under the muzzle, not even half a degree can be wrong. This is a straight-line shot over a thousand meters away, and a slight error can make a huge difference."

Rusalka seemed satisfied after hearing this. Well, let's make some fine adjustments and let Sanita find a location.

"Well, stop! Almost there. Let me measure it. Wait a moment."

Sani Iron Tower walked to the front of the muzzle, aligned it with the tangent direction of the muzzle and used the [Obstruction Sensing] magic. After confirming that the sensed obstruction position was the previously invisible sentry tower, he canceled the magic.

Then have the soldiers pad the bottom of the muzzle more tightly. Although the base has been set up and the recoil of the magic cannon itself is very small, the muzzle may still shake up and down when firing. Now we must make sure that it is supported both up and down to prevent the gun body from vibrating and causing the shot to deviate when firing later.

It took a full half hour to aim, another half hour to test the muzzle fixation, and another ten minutes to recharge.

Five minutes of pushing the cannon and an hour of preparation had worn Rusalka out. Finally, she heard her brother say, "Charge complete, you fire!" Rusalka was instantly alert and sprinted behind the cannon. She glanced at the obvious fire button and said, "Press here?"

Sani Tieta pointed to a blank space on the side and said, "Press here, gently, put your hand on it, and don't take pictures."

Rusalka did so, confused.

Sani Tieta quickly placed his hand on the launch button and input magic power. The muzzle of the magic cannon immediately fired a dazzling white torrent of magic power at a speed of about 200 meters per second. It exploded in the air 7 seconds later, directly turning the front of the invisible watchtower into a big crater.

Even the invisibility circle could not be maintained, revealing a miserable appearance like an apple with a big bite taken out of it.

As for the soldiers inside, it was too late the moment the artillery was fired, and they turned into ashes along with the facilities in the watchtower.

Before Rusalka could raise any questions, Sanita said in the private chat channel: (Sorry, firing the cannon also requires mana input to be effective. You don't have any mana, so I can only give you a taste of it. This can be considered as touching it. Are you satisfied now?)

Rusalka knew that she had been tricked by her brother, and she was still happily doing hard labor for him. She started to curse: (Damn it, I have to go to school early!)

Sanitieta patted Rusalka's shoulder. With a gloomy but helpless expression, he returned to the command tent to discuss the next tactics. He asked Qingfeng to stay behind to deal with any emergencies. Then he ordered the soldiers nearby, "Keep firing until the top of that watchtower collapses."

"As ordered!"

----

"Lord Gerald, something bad has happened!"

"Shut up, don't I have eyes?"

Just as Girard was scolding the messenger, another white light streaked through the sky, once again blowing off half of the watchtower's roof. This time, the upper floor of the watchtower had been completely shattered, leaving only a small half of the outer wall covered with cracks and constantly dropping debris, still holding on precariously. It was definitely impossible for anyone to stand on it.

Girard stormed into the lounge and saw Garces, comfortably leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed, hugging two people. Suppressing his anger, he asked in a deep voice, "The enemy mage saw through the invisibility circle and bombarded our watchtower with magic cannons. Why didn't you retaliate? Didn't you notice?"

The two silver-haired girls, Leah and Lipa, sat up from his arms and turned to look at Gerald, while Garces raised his hands, pressed their heads, and let them lean on his chest again.

Garces slowly opened his eyes. "Didn't your king tell you? I really don't like being disturbed when I'm eating or resting."

"Do you think this war is a joke? Without the watchtower, our army will be helpless..."

"roll!"

The dragon's roar instantly shattered the glass vase on the table, and the whole room began to shake. The pupils of the two silver-haired girls suddenly turned golden, and the scales on their bodies faintly emerged. The wings behind them that had originally transformed and disappeared also appeared from the void, looking at Gerald with extremely cold and fierce eyes.

Girard's protective air shield was even blown away by the overbearing air wave. He suppressed the fear in his heart, gritted his teeth, and silently grabbed his ears, where the bleeding messenger who had been knocked unconscious turned and left.

As soon as he returned to the command room, the staff came forward and asked with concern: "Sir, what's next..."

Girard gestured for him to remain silent for the moment, clapped his ears, which were still ringing, and coughed loudly a few times. After confirming that his hearing had fully recovered, he sighed and said, "Next, prepare for a full-scale defense. My intuition tells me that the Lord of Pearl Tears isn't as timid as Gao Hong. He'll want to take us down in one fell swoop, just like he did just now."

Before he finished speaking, another roar was heard. Destruction always happens much faster than construction. Turning his head to look out the window, he saw that the watchtower that had stood for several years had finally disappeared in this third bombing. Only a broken half of the tower was left standing alone in its place.

The surrounding soldiers had already fled, fearing that they would be hit by rocks falling from the sky and broken wall edges. A large amount of construction debris was scattered around the tower, and it would probably take at least a few days to clean it up.

He cursed angrily and immediately threw himself into the tense command.

On the Rushaka Army side...

Rusalka sat in the military tent, but he was already losing his composure. He was eagerly awaiting his comrades' orders to attack. "Now that we've successfully blown up the enemy watchtowers, can we take them down while they're out of sight?"

Sanita stretched out his finger and shook it left and right. "No, no, no. If we attack now, we'll only hit a hedgehog that's curled up completely. Besides, just because they don't have a watchtower doesn't mean they can't see what's happening below. Look at those tall trees. The people in this world can climb trees. It's not impossible to send a scout up to take a look. It just takes a little longer to get up and down. Do we have to blow up every tree one by one?"

Rushaka was puzzled. "What should we do then? Take advantage and then just wait for the other side to recover on their own?"

Sani Iron Tower waved his hand and said, "Don't worry. They definitely won't dare to build another watchtower. I'll have the soldiers start building a high platform on the open ground of the barracks. If we don't worry about stability and the number of people climbing on it, it will probably be about 30 meters high in a few days."

"What's that for? Do you want to fly up and see it?"

"Forcing the slope is always a bad idea. It's best to trick them out. You'll know then."

Rusalka touched Phoenix's ear, which made Hydra next to her hesitate to speak. But judging from her clenched hands, she was probably more envious than contemptuous.

Forget it, as long as there are cats and kittens of all sizes here, these few days won’t make a difference.

The Rusalka army had been quiet for two days, cutting down trees and building a platform nearby. Gerald knew about this, but after much deliberation, he couldn't come up with a reason why the other side wouldn't attack. So he asked his staff, "They're planning to build a watchtower down there. What does that mean?"

Of course, he knew the function of the watchtower. What he meant was to ask if the watchtower could be of any help in siege.

Gerald was a veteran general, but even with his extensive military experience, he couldn't quite grasp the point of building a watchtower in a siege tower. Was it to observe the deployment of the defenders on the walls? Or to see what weapons were on display at the top of the camp? To preview his own demise?

I really can't imagine the necessity of building such a watchtower. The defenders always have the advantage of being on high ground and can see the attackers' key attack areas. If the troops are rotated to defend in a rock-paper-scissors game, the defenders should always be the last to attack. The attackers can only rely on numbers to make feints to "cheat". There is no such thing as a fair game.

The staff was also unsure: "Are they planning to transport the magic cannon up to bomb this area?"

"This thing, along with the base, weighs thousands of pounds (one pound = 0.45 kilograms). Do you think it could fit on top of a building hundreds of meters tall that was built in just a few days? Forget the magic cannons. They're just stacking wood and stone structures. It's so tight that even standing on them feels incredibly difficult."

The staff thought for a while and felt that maybe the enemy was just itching to attack because they couldn't see their camp from below, or maybe the commander of the Pearl Tears Army was actually a top student who graduated from a military academy. He was very methodical in fighting and emphasized occupying the field of vision first and then sending out probing troops, following a steady and cautious offensive policy. This could also explain why the Lord of Pearl Tears had been winning all the time before.

Because these staff officers who graduated from the high-ranking Central Military Academy naturally believed that their tactics were the most advanced and excellent. When they went to fight against a few illiterate border barbarians, how could they lose with such a double advantage in knowledge and IQ?

According to their idea, when the platform can see this side, the height needs to be at least 80 meters. You know, building a building is not directly proportional to the time, and it is more difficult with each floor higher. With their foundation, it seems that at most they can build a 40-meter building, which is not a big deal at all.

By the time they really build a watchtower that can see this side, who knows when it will be, it's ridiculous.

In the end, they decided it was okay to just leave it alone.

Chapter 232: Battle for the Calbes Stronghold (6)

Just like that, three days later, just as Girard had thought, Rusalka had only built a 40-meter-high platform. The upper layer was fixed with ropes tied to the tallest tree nearby. It was shaky when the wind blew. If it was built any higher, there would be a risk of collapse. This was also the limit of this building with a shallow foundation in pursuit of construction efficiency.

However, Sani Tower naturally had his own way. If architecture was not useful, he would use magic. He cooperated with the two elves and other little wizards accompanying the army to cast a spell, allowing the ivy to grow up along the tower, first stabilizing the structure of the small wooden tower, and then continuing to climb, and finally blooming a plant platform at about 90 meters that could accommodate a person.

Many hands make light work. Due to the resonance and aggregation properties of the wood element, there will be no rejection reaction when multiple people cast spells together, and the plant is completed. Sanita generously took out two magic metals he had previously stored, and used them together with this group of mages as "power banks" to maintain the stability of the spell.

Afterwards, he sent Eagle to the platform to share the view and observe for a while. "Hmm, it's very clear. The enemy camp wall is about 12 meters high and is actually cast iron. There are many rolled logs and stones piled on the slope, and there are also some downward-firing halberd launchers. If we force an attack, we will probably be hit by saturation hurling fire halfway up the slope. From this three-quarters of the way up, the camp guards can launch long-range fire attacks on our troops. It will be very difficult to defeat them."

In fact, Rusalka had a similar idea to the opposing commander. He felt that Sanita was just trying to see in advance how he would be hit head-on.

At this time, knowing too much will make you unhappy. It may be better to be ignorant. When you go to the high ground, don’t worry about the damage prediction. The more you think about it, the more scared you will be. Just grit your teeth and go for it.

Now that I've seen it, I know how powerful the other side is, and I'm starting to feel conflicted again. What's the big deal?

Rusalka was a little unhappy. It seemed that his brother didn't want to fight anymore. "So you mobilized so many troops just to build a watchtower?"

Sanitta smiled, used a six-ring position, and in front of a group of shocked mages, instantly opened a portal in front of the muzzle of the magic cannon in front of them.

Then, he let his pet eagle share the spellcasting characteristics, landed above the plant platform, opened the exit of the portal at the platform, and pointed it towards the camp in the distance.

[Arcane Gate, lasts up to 1000 seconds, requires concentration, is a sixth-level spell that creates a two-way, one-sided portal on the "ground" within 500 feet (166 meters). The direction of the portal can be adjusted using a bonus action.]

As a noble space spell, the secret door naturally has its own unique casting requirements, which is that the door must be opened at a floating position a few centimeters above the ground.

If there is no "ground" under the door and it simply floats in the air, it will naturally fall from the air. This design prevents someone from having a sudden idea to open the other side of the door at an altitude of 10,000 meters or in some extreme terrain, and then find a way to push the enemy in.

However, it is reality after all. Just like Rusalka can use darts to trigger the sharpshooter specialty, as long as the conditions are met, it can be triggered, and it can always be operated if you want. Sani Tower used this opportunistic method to forcibly create a "ground" in the air and opened the door on it.

After doing all this, he calmly said to the soldier behind the cannon who was still staring blankly at the bizarre and chaotic scene inside the door in front of him: "Come on, don't waste time, fire."

The soldier who was still in a daze, due to unconditional trust, subconsciously followed Sanita's order through physical instinct and input magic power into the launch button.

As the magic cannon muzzle lit up, a beam of light passed directly through the portal and rushed out from the portal on the plant platform, drawing a beautiful white light in the air and directly hitting the weapons at the entrance of the camp.

Along with a roar that continuously echoed in the valley, the small piece of defensive weapons that shocked the attackers was directly blown into the sky by the light beam. Looking at the debris and residue falling all over the sky, it seemed that even the most skilled blacksmith could not save it.

Because the DM who sent them here before made the village rules change the description of "one round" to 10 seconds, so in reality the spell "lasts one minute" has been extended to "lasts 100 seconds", and this spell that originally only lasted for ten minutes can now last for nearly fifteen minutes, which perfectly accommodates the interval between two rounds of magic cannon shooting.

After Sanita sent the eagle flying to take a look at the "results" over there, he nodded affirmatively, believing the result was within his expectations, but his face still showed a hint of regret for the perfection of the shooting. "Unfortunately, the shooting angle is a little low. You guys charge first, I'll adjust the door a little higher."

After saying that, he waved his hand and said to the wizards who gathered around him and wanted to ask him about magic regardless of the occasion, "Let's talk about it when we get back", letting them go to provide magic power to the magic cannon with full of anticipation and enthusiasm.

However, compared to those newly joined little mages, "old servants of the Pearl Tear Territory" like Alijie can't wait to go back. Her little brain is now working fast, thinking about whether there are any elf-exclusive spells like "Shadowless Forest" that can be exchanged with the Sunny Tower.

Besides, it was such a waste that I used that spell to exchange for him only wearing the bracelet for a month. During that time, we just ate together, went shopping to buy spell materials together, studied spells together in the wizard tower, and sat side by side in the library to read books during the day. By the way, I also secretly used the "knocking spell" to pry open the window of the Sani Tower and took a look at his room. It felt like I didn't do anything.

When she returned home and was mocked by her best friend, Sana, she felt even more regretful. She was clearly the one in charge, so how could she follow human rules? She should have used the elves' way and worn it for ten or twenty years to test the waters.

But after thinking about it, it seems that the magic of the elves is nothing special. It is too inferior to the domineering fire magic. The saying "one regrets not having enough knowledge when it is needed" is exactly the situation now. She regretted in her heart that when she was still in school, why didn't she use all 24 hours a day to learn magic?

Compared to Alizee's complex thoughts, Rusalka simply gave a thumbs-up, acknowledging the wizard's skill level. He was able to make such a difference with this portal, a game he had never even considered: (It's a shame he only brought one magic cannon. If he had brought all five, wouldn't he have been able to blow them to pieces?)

Sanita nodded. "You're right, but I didn't expect to blow them up. Six rings can only fire two shots, which is too stupid. I just want to scare them. Do you think the opponent's mage is dead? I use this method to force the opponent into a choice: either sit and get blown up, or take the initiative to attack and give up a trump card to destroy my tower."

He was absolutely right. Information asymmetry was indeed the key to determining the direction of the war.

Although the first shell of the magic cannon only hit the gate and did not cause any casualties, and property damage was basically a problem that the front-line soldiers ignored during the war, the soldiers in the camp who did not know the truth were already furious.

You know, this place hasn't encountered such a close-range surprise attack in several years. The most important thing is that they didn't even see the shadow of the enemy!

Human fear often stems from the unknown, and magic happens to represent the unknown in this world. Coupled with the reputation of the Grand Wizard of Sanita, almost everyone believed that this was a premeditated magical attack. The guards on the watchtower, who had been lazy, suddenly panicked. They were almost frightened to the point of freezing their souls at the moment of the explosion. In a cold sweat, they sounded the enemy attack alarm nearby, shouting, "It's magic! The enemy wizard is attacking! Go and report to the commander-in-chief!"

After he shouted, he ran down from the watchtower. Just kidding, the previous watchtower had already shown them what happened when they were hit by this beam of light. He didn't want to follow in the footsteps of those unlucky guys.

After hearing the explosion, Gerald quickly brought the mages in the camp and boldly climbed the wall to check. Coincidentally, as soon as he climbed the wall, he witnessed the second magic cannon directly blowing up the arrow tower on the other side.

The magic cannon struck him like a blow to the heart, stunning him to the point of being frozen in place. Luckily, he had some knowledge of magic. While he couldn't quite connect the dots between the beam and the magic cannon, he knew that long-range magic attacks always required vision. Turning around, he peppered the mage with questions, "Where is the enemy mage? How did he see us? Can we counter it? How long will it take?"

The old wizard in a blue robe, who was pulled over by him and had cookie crumbs on the corners of his mouth, pointed to the location of the vines and said, "Sir, I don't detect any magical fluctuations, but if you mean fluctuations of magical power, it should be coming from the plants in that direction."

Gerald picked up the telescope and looked over there, incredulous. "That watchtower is at least a thousand meters away from us! How can their mages reach us from over there?! Are you kidding me?"