Cincinnag seethed with secret fury: Elea, that insignificant Greek city-state always bullied by Pyxus and nearly annihilated, actually dares to intrude into Pyxus territory and wreak havoc! Did becoming a member of the Theonian League give these Greek cowards, who only know how to hide behind their walls, sudden courage?! Do they not know that after provoking Pyxus, no one can save them?!

He swore an oath in his heart: After conquering Grumentum, I will wipe out Elea!

But dreams were dreams; reality had to be addressed. Although the war effort here was at a critical juncture, Pyxus had to be rescued immediately. While a thousand Eleans couldn’t possibly breach the city of Pyxus, letting them wantonly destroy the countryside would shake the tribesmen’s support for Cincinnag.

After all, although Cincinnag had used various means over the years to ensure his tribe held absolute dominance among the tribes of Pyxus, the city was not composed solely of his people. Even within his own tribe, the elders and priests were not entirely of one heart with him. The disastrous defeat at Grumentum last time had already bred dissatisfaction among his people. With this Elean invasion, he had to take immediate action. Otherwise, if the warriors found out, their anger alone would give him a headache.

He had no choice but to terminate the imminent offensive once again. He dispatched Gnaenat with 3,000 men (two thousand from Pyxus and one thousand from other tribes) to return and reinforce Pyxus city, aiming to annihilate all invading enemies as quickly as possible to vent his spleen.

At the same time, postponing the offensive meant increased pressure on military supplies. He sent out a detachment of warriors to “requisition” grain from the surrounding areas. This so-called “requisition” was nothing more than burning, killing, and looting. This forced the neutral tribes to either flee deep into the mountains or join the tribes of southern Grumentum—effectively siding with Theonia…

***

At Clampetia, the ballistae of the Theonian Fourth Legion had been hurling stone shots for the better part of a day. This caused cracks to appear in multiple places on the city wall, and the flying stone fragments injured several defenders, leaving the warriors on the wall terrified and morale plummeting.

Great Chief Pangeru was forced to make a decisive move: send troops out deep in the night to destroy these terrifying siege weapons!

In fact, the ballistae themselves were not heavy. The reason the cautious Hylos hadn’t moved them back to camp when darkness fell, but instead only built an earthen rampart in front of the ballista battery, was precisely to lure the snake from its hole.

As a result, the Clampetian raiding party was ambushed by Fourth Legion soldiers lying in wait around the ballistae. After a fierce skirmish, they were nearly wiped out.

Having lost several hundred warriors, Pangeru dared not make another rash move.

The next day, under the cover of ranged fire from ballistae and light infantry, soldiers and Terina citizens built three causeways approaching the city’s moat. Then, starting a hundred meters from the city, they began paving the causeways with stone slabs.

Next, the Clampetian warriors watched in astonishment as three wooden high towers were slowly pushed onto the paved causeways.

These wooden towers were fully five meters high. Added to the one-meter height of the causeway, they towered a full two meters above the stone walls. The towers were uniform in width at top and bottom—two meters wide and three meters deep. Constructed of timber and covered with wet ox-hide, they rolled on massive wooden wheels at the base. The top was surrounded by wooden battlements capable of holding three or four archers. A drawbridge hung from the front of the top level, while long wooden ladders trailed behind.

When the siege tower neared the wall, the drawbridge would drop onto the ramparts. Soldiers could then climb the ladders, pass through the tower, cross the drawbridge, and storm directly onto the wall, making the siege significantly easier.

The siege towers designed by Theonian engineers and carpenters were relatively simple and single-purpose, incomparable to the colossal siege towers built by Syracuse. Their only highlight was the excellent consideration for laborer safety. Three wooden poles extended from the top of the wheels on both sides of the tower, supporting a roof-like wooden shed above. The men pushing the tower stood outside the causeway, holding the poles while the shed shielded them from enemy arrows, allowing them to focus on propelling the tower forward.

As the towering siege engines slowly advanced, the Clampetian warriors were stunned. Although siege towers had long been used in the Mesopotamian plains, they had never appeared in the Greek world of small states and numerous city-states. Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, had pioneered breakthrough innovations in Greek siege technology, but this had only just happened and hadn’t spread widely—let alone to the isolated Bruttians.

They had never seen such massive siege machines. Arrows, fire arrows, and javelins did not harm them in the slightest, and thrown stones couldn’t reach far enough. Perhaps Theonia’s stone-throwing siege weapons could destroy them, but Clampetia had none. The warriors could only watch helplessly as the towers approached the moat.

Then, heavily armored archers climbed into the siege towers, ascending the ladders to the top, and began shooting at the warriors on the wall.

Arrows flew back and forth. The Theonian archers, occupying the high ground and protected by armor and wooden palisades, clearly held the upper hand despite their smaller numbers.

Theonian soldiers seized the opportunity to fill the moat with sand and earth, preparing to push the siege towers right up to the wall.

The anxious Pangeru ordered his men to desperately stop the enemy’s attempt while dispatching messengers to race to Consentia for help. He knew in his heart: If there are no reinforcements, Clampetia will fall in a matter of days…

***

Although the bloody and cruel battle for the fortress had happened only yesterday, it felt like a lifetime ago.

Early this morning, Legion Commander Drakos of the Second Legion, First Chiliarch Adrianx, and other officers waited outside Besidiae city with smiles on their faces, ready to welcome the arrival of the Theonian Archon and Supreme Commander of the entire army, Davos.

Among the welcoming party were also the former Besidiae leaders Bagilipi and Brim, the newly promoted leader Krellu, and various nobles from the Besidiae tribes. They waited with nervousness, excitement, or agitation for the supreme authority of Theonia.

To prevent any accidents, Drakos ordered the Fifth and Sixth Battalions inside the city to maintain strict deployment and vigilance.

“Krellu, is the Theonian Archon Davos really younger than us?!” Bagilipi’s young nephew, Rhodom, couldn’t help asking Krellu beside him. Their relationship had been merely average before, but after fighting side by side yesterday, the two young men had quickly become friends.

“I asked Drakos, and it should be true! But don’t treat him like a youngster!” Krellu warned, pointing quietly at the officers of the Third Legion. “Look at Drakos and those Theonians. Usually, they look at us with their chins up, but look at them now—completely different. Does that look like how you welcome a youngster?!”

“Of course I understand! I heard Uncle Bagilipi say that Davos is the descendant of some Greek god and has never been defeated on the battlefield. No one among the Theonians dares to disrespect him!” Rhodom retorted.

At that moment, a soldier ran hurriedly from the eastern defensive camp, shouting excitedly as he ran, “Lord Davos is coming! He is coming!”

Drakos immediately shouted, “Prepare!”

The officers began straightening their uniforms, and the military bugles and drums sounded together.

Before long, the rhythmic sound of marching feet, accompanied by a slight trembling of the ground, reached them. A long column soon appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The man at the very front of the column was in full military dress. His leather sandals, bronze greaves, and linen cuirass were no different from an ordinary heavy infantryman. Only his helmet was distinct—it was not a heavy Corinthian helmet, but a new style of iron helmet topped with a long, flowing crest of red and purple plumes. The front of the helmet offered no protection, having only cheek guards on the sides, allowing his face to be seen clearly.

He had a broad forehead, thick eyebrows, a straight nose, a moderate chin, and eyes that weren’t large but were piercingly spirited. His appearance seemed young yet lacked any childishness; his gaze commanded a natural dignity. His strides were large and powerful, yet his pace wasn’t too fast, making his whole presence appear both full of vitality and steady…

Is this the Theonian Archon, Davos?!

The curious Besidiae people found their answer in the straightened chests and reverent gazes of the Theonian officers and soldiers.

Davos arrived before Drakos under hundreds of focused gazes. Drakos executed a crisp military salute. “Lord Commander, all soldiers of the Second Legion welcome your arrival!”

Davos returned the salute immediately and said, half-joking and half-serious, “Not bad, Drakos. You’ve set up quite a grand scene! When did you learn this sort of thing?!”

Drakos looked somewhat sheepishly at Adrianx.

Davos understood and laughed, “It was Adrianx’s idea, wasn’t it? It seems the trip to the Isthmian Games wasn’t in vain. But such ceremonies should be saved for after the war. Everything should be simple during wartime.”

If anyone else had spoken like this, Adrianx would have thought they were reopening his wounds and felt resentful. But coming from Davos, he thought about it carefully and accepted it. “Lord, you are right! The war isn’t over yet; we must treat it seriously!”

Davos laughed heartily and stepped forward to give Adrianx a warm embrace. “I was startled when I got the news on the road. Adrian, you took Besidiae city with only 700 men—truly a bold and decisive action! Amazing! Amazing! You and your First Battalion fully deserve a Star of Merit! And the people of Theonia will be delighted to sing of your victorious deeds!”

These were exactly the words Adrianx wanted to hear. Any lingering resentment vanished, and he was so happy he didn’t know how to respond.

Davos then turned to Drakos, gave him a solemn military salute, and said in a deep voice, “The Second Legion not only took Besidiae smoothly this time but also successfully defended it, establishing the primary merit for our next step in conquering Bruttium! Drakos, on behalf of Theonia, I thank you and the brothers of the Second Legion for the contributions and sacrifices made for the League!”