Just as Lord Grim had expected, the Citadels were under attack by the mercenary clones created by the Yrrejites. All eight Citadels were under siege, and from the looks of it, the Granians were slowly inching toward defeat. The mercenary numbers were overwhelmingly large, too large for the Granians to go on the offensive. For the sake of the work their laborers had put in, all eight Citadels with Granians had initiated defensive measures by taking refuge behind the sturdy walls of the fortresses on all Citadels. Thankfully, Lord Grim and his army, consisting of slightly less than twenty thousand units, had arrived just in time to help. Despite this, however, it was going to be challenging to move forces from one Citadel to another with the risk of being blown into deep space. Their forces, though large, were too precious to risk moving from one Citadel to the other. Lord Grim called on the Humans with a great task for each of them. Five of them, he, Gravax, and Grand Master, totaling eight people with enough strength to cause a dent in the enemy forces. If each one could cause enough damage to the clones at any given Citadel, then maybe, just maybe, the Granians could switch from defense to offense and turn the tides in their favor. This truly was a large task. Each Citadel housed about twenty thousand people, both Granians and laborers, and the enemy’s numbers were estimated to be between eighty to ninety thousand, with twenty thousand on each planet. With these even odds, it would have been easier to deal with them on a battlefield, but the separation of each Citadel made the situation more difficult. For this reason, it was going to take the immense strength of the Humans, Grim, Gravax, and Grand Master to cause any significant damage and save their Citadels from the enemy from Grim’s mistake. Once one thought about it, things were not looking too good for Grim’s fleet. Leading the frontline of the Granian attacking force meant that he and his fleet were crucial to the War, for they were responsible for leading the attacks on their enemies. Due to his position and Granian tradition, Grim was responsible for leading and winning every attack before anyone else joined. If his forces failed to win then every future attack would be cancelled. However, with his forces being attacked three consecutive times, the possibility of them losing every future attack was high and thus it didn’t sit well for him or his troops. If these attacks continued, Grim would lose too many forces to lead any frontline which could end in severe punishment. "Sure, there is the possibility of calling for reinforcements, but it would be unwise," he mumbled to himself, analyzing the situation further. "Falling into the bait was foolish of me, and unless I turn the tides of this attack, I’ll surely answer for my incompetence." If Grim didn’t eradicate the mercenaries, he understood very well what would befall him. Abandoning one’s post and attacking enemies that weren’t part of the initial plan was punishable by either banishment or immediate death. If either of those happened, Grim’s titles, positions, and ranks would be stripped from him, and his right to breed with Huntress would be revoked and given to another, meaning that his offspring would be killed as well. He needed to turn the tide, not just for the sake of the Granians with him but for the sake of his unborn child and his mate. "I have spoken with Grand Master," Grim debriefed the Humans and Gravax as their fleet approached the Citadels, "At the moment, each Citadel has a ratio of 2:2, meaning the enemy’s forces and ours are equal. Relying on defense won’t last forever, so we must act quickly. Each one of us will be given a thousand forces ONLY to reduce a fraction of the enemy’s numbers. Once you do, those on the Citadels will join you in battle and eradicate the enemy. "It is that simple. Cause a significant reduction in the enemy’s numbers to let the others aid you later on." As soon as the Humans and Gravax understood what was required of them, they were each dispersed to one Citadel in fleets of ten ships, each carrying one thousand Granian soldiers. In total, six thousand soldiers were disbanded from the initial nineteen thousand, leaving Grim with thirteen thousand units. Latest content publıshed on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹⟡𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⟡𝙣𝙚𝙩 Those units were halved once again, with one large chunk sent to aid Grand Master while the rest followed Grim to another Citadel. All of this happened quickly, leaving the mercenaries with no chance to strike the reinforcements out of the air. Now, instead of focusing their energy on trying to break the Citadel defenses, they turned their focus on the newly arrived forces who, to them, seemed too small to cause a dent. As for the Humans, this was a perfect opportunity to slaughter as many as possible in hopes of increasing their overall strength. The three Blood Knights, mainly Anya and Jim, saw these as opportunities for them to advance to the next rank. They too wanted to gain the ability to manipulate the dead and bring them back to life as their soldiers. Cherry only wished to grow strong enough to rival her brother, for she feared that he could become a threat. It wasn’t out of spite that she felt this way but out of genuine concern for him. Therefore, she needed to be someone who could go toe-to-toe with him in the future. Meanwhile, Skyler had a completely different goal from the others. While they sought strength to kill more creatures in more brutal ways, she wanted to see just how far her body could go in terms of collecting DNA samples from different specimens and incorporating that DNA with her Eneraflux abilities. Under One Horn’s supervision, the woman achieved feats of Eneraflux so great that they surpassed those of Ace and Cherry combined, but she still had a long way to go before she could stand on the same level as the Granians.