Just as Caesar was about to order his two newly summoned soldiers to attack, he studied the rooftops of the fortress. As he did, he noticed that the leaves originally covering the roof of the central building were multiplying. Nor was this phenomenon limited to that structure alone; leaves had also begun appearing across the rooftops of the four surrounding towers.
Even after noticing this, the Hero had no intention of halting his offensive. However, if the fortress somehow managed to withstand the power of his gigantic soldiers' flames, this was something worth keeping in mind. It was certainly not a mere decorative feature.
"Lancers, fire!" Caesar commanded forcefully.
The two colossal soldiers composed of blazing flames hurled their golden spears, which were likewise made entirely of fire. Though, considering their immense size and thickness, it would have been more accurate to describe them as enormous, razor-sharp tree trunks rather than spears.
The force of the throw generated a powerful gust of wind that caused the flames forming the giants' bodies to ripple and dance wildly. The two massive projectiles shot forward toward Katerina's fortress at incredible speed, never slowing for even a moment.
"Enhancement Anti-Fire Barrier!" Katerina chanted, a rare sense of urgency evident in her voice.
A slight look of dissatisfaction appeared on Caesar's face, though it was nowhere near genuine concern.
A faint white glow spread across the entire Trees Fortress.
Then, relying on her instincts, Katerina immediately realized where at least one of the two spears was headed. Without hesitation, she retreated deeper into the fortress at remarkable speed.
The moment she did, the balcony folded shut like the drawbridge of a castle before seamlessly merging back into the structure and becoming part of the fortress wall.
One of the spears slammed directly into that very wall. It possessed enough power to partially penetrate the structure, driving its fiery tip deep into the fortress itself. However, Katerina had anticipated this possibility and had wisely avoided standing anywhere near the impact point, leaving her completely unharmed.
The second spear struck the fortress's main gate.
Yet the gate was evidently far more durable than the rest of the structure. The enormous weapon of flames failed to leave even the slightest mark upon it.
And thanks to Katerina's hastily cast resistance spell, neither spear succeeded in setting the fortress ablaze.
Nevertheless, the maid's quiet concern continued to deepen.
Within her mind, she calmly and swiftly analyzed the situation.
'I didn't expect Mr. Caesar to know a Fire Magic spell of such a high level. I truly wanted to avoid giving fire resistance on the Trees Fortress, because maintaining it—just like maintaining the fortress itself—requires a constant expenditure of mana.'
Her thoughts continued with cold precision.
'The amount isn't particularly high, but against an opponent who clearly possesses several times more mana than I do, I would have preferred to conserve every possible drop.'
She considered another option.
'Should I abandon the fortress and try to reach Mr. Caesar while using that spell? After all, I'm certain that if I manage to engage him in close combat with that technique active, it would be practically impossible for me to lose a melee confrontation.'
Katerina pondered the idea for barely a fraction of a second before dismissing it.
'No. Caesar's army is still far too large and, more importantly, far too well coordinated. On top of that, he clearly still possesses an enormous reserve of unused mana. Before I could even reach him, his army would—'
Her train of thought was abruptly interrupted.
BOOM!
A violent sound echoed through the arena, followed immediately by a powerful tremor that shook the entire fortress.
The moment Caesar saw Katerina cast Anti-Fire, he understood that his original plan of burning down the Trees Fortress would no longer succeed.
Even so, he ordered the two colossal soldiers to reload their spears.
After all, the fact that Katerina had chosen to cast such a spell proved one thing beyond any doubt: without it, the fortress would certainly have caught fire.
That alone was valuable information.
But the time had come to change strategies.
"Earth Golem Heart," the legendary general chanted.
A brown magic circle appeared in the palm of his outstretched hand, glowing softly with earthen light. From it emerged a perfectly smooth sphere roughly the size of a bowling ball. Its surface was so flawless that it looked as though it had been crafted from polished glass, though in reality it was composed of ruby-red earth.
Drawing a knife, Caesar carefully carved a single Latin word into the sphere.
Then, enhancing the strength of his right arm with mana, he hurled it with surprising force.
Meanwhile, the rooftops of two of the four towers belonging to the Fortress of Trees had become completely covered in leaves.
It landed a couple of meters in front of the gate of Katerina's fortress, crashing into the ground without sustaining the slightest damage before being absorbed into the earth beneath it.
A moment later, that section of the arena began to tremble violently.
Shortly afterward, something massive burst through the surface, shattering the topsoil as it emerged from below.
The first things to appear were a pair of enormous curved tusks made of smooth, razor-sharp stone. They were followed by a long trunk composed of grayish earth and, finally, the rest of the creature's colossal body, supported by four thick, pillar-like legs.
The place where the creature emerged was instantly transformed into a crater of broken soil and scattered debris.
The word Caesar had carved into the sphere was elephantus—the Latin word for elephant.
And what had risen from the ground was indeed a golem in the shape of an elephant, though it was composed entirely of earth and stone.
It was slightly larger than a normal African elephant, standing roughly four and a half meters tall. However, its body possessed a far sharper and more rugged appearance than that of any real animal, making it immediately obvious that this was an artificial construct rather than a living creature.
A powerful yet somewhat nasal trumpet echoed from its artificial trunk, announcing its arrival on the battlefield.
At the same time, its eyes—made from the same ruby-red earth as its "heart"—began to glow with a sinister crimson light.
"Advance and clear the way for your comrades!" the Roman general commanded in a regal voice.
The massive golem answered with another thunderous trumpet before charging directly toward the gate of Katerina's fortress.
After only a few enormous strides, the fortress's automatic defenses activated once again.
The same roots that had destroyed the two Earth Soldiers earlier erupted from the ground. They managed to pierce the golem's body as well, but the artificial beast was far too massive and resilient for such comparatively small roots to destroy it—or even slow it down.
The Elephant Golem continued its advance unabated.
Moments later, it slammed into the fortress gate with tremendous force, sending a violent tremor through the entire structure.
The sudden shaking snapped Katerina out of her thoughts.
Immediately, she opened a small barred window within the fortress wall to see what was happening outside.
The moment she looked through it, she saw the source of the disturbance.
A gigantic elephant-shaped golem was attempting to batter down the gate of her fortress.
Without hesitation, Katerina shouted,
"Imprisoning Roots: Maximum!"
Instantly, countless roots erupted from the earth beneath the artificial elephant.
These roots were far thicker and sturdier than those employed by the fortress's automatic defenses. Furthermore, unlike the defensive roots—which had been designed primarily to impale intruders—these roots specialized in restraint.
The powerful vines coiled around the golem's legs, body, and neck, rendering it almost completely immobile.
Katerina immediately pushed the spell to its limit.
The roots tightened with tremendous force, attempting to crush the construct.
She hoped to shatter at least one of its joints. Unfortunately, the golem was simply too durable. Despite the immense pressure, its body refused to break.
The roots alone were not enough to destroy it, and if the massive construct continued struggling as violently as it was now, it would eventually free itself.
"Fire!" the maid commanded in a loud, confident voice.
Although she had deactivated the two Impaling Cannons positioned on the balcony when she merged it into the fortress walls, the remaining four cannons mounted within the towers were still active and ready to fire.
This time, all four cannons had been loaded with ammunition specifically designed for maximum penetration.
As a result, each projectile successfully pierced the Elephant Golem's body.
However, even that proved insufficient to destroy it completely. The massive construct continued thrashing against its restraints.
Without wasting a second, Katerina immediately began loading another volley.
Schwing!
A dark blade suddenly slashed toward the Lynx Maid from behind.
Although caught slightly off guard, Katerina reacted quickly enough to evade the attack. In the same motion, she countered with a powerful yet elegant kick.
Her strike connected cleanly.
The attacker was hurled across the room and crashed into one of the fortress walls with considerable force.
Just before he disappeared from sight, Katerina managed to catch a glimpse of him.
It was a Dark Soldier created by Caesar.
'He must have been hiding inside my shadow,' Katerina thought, immediately remaining on guard. 'But when did he get there? Before I created the fortress?'
She considered the possibility for only a moment before rejecting it.
'No. That's impossible. During the opening phase of the battle, there were far too few shadows around me for a Dark Soldier to hide within and enter my shadow without me noticing.'
Her eyes "narrowed" thoughtfully.
'Which means it must have happened after I entered the Trees Fortress.'
The maid's expression remained calm, but her mind worked rapidly.
'But if that's true... how did he get inside?'
Katerina looked once more through the window she had created and immediately saw what had happened outside.
Although the Elephant Golem had failed to completely break down the gate, it had inflicted enough damage for the Wind Soldiers to exploit the weakened structure. Using their abilities, they had carved out a hole large enough for a person to pass through.
As a result, several magical soldiers were already beginning to enter the fortress.
Fortunately, the rest of the gate had not been damaged enough for the Wind Soldiers to either enlarge the existing opening or create additional ones. This meant that only one soldier at a time could squeeze through the breach.
Even so, Katerina knew this was still a serious problem.
The only way to repair the gate—the strongest part of the entire fortress—would be to stop supporting this Trees Fortress altogether and construct a new one from scratch.
That was not an option.
Especially not now, when her ace in the hole was so close to completion.
For this reason, as a precaution, Katerina had already fused the stairways connecting the fortress's three floors, making them inaccessible from ground level.
However, she knew perfectly well that this would not be enough to stop Caesar's magical soldiers forever.
The rooftops of the final two towers had become completely covered in leaves.
"Fire!" Katerina exclaimed once again as she turned toward the opposite side of the room.
Four more massive spikes erupted from the Impaling Cannons.
The projectiles struck the Elephant Golem once again.
Already riddled with cracks and weakened by the previous barrage, the construct could no longer withstand the combined pressure. The roots restraining it crushed its damaged body, shattering the massive golem into pieces.
Now that Katerina had turned away from the window, she immediately spotted a new threat.
Nine Water Soldiers were charging toward her from the opposite side of the room, while a tenth was climbing upward, thrusting a sword made of highly pressurized water into the structure.
Even a weapon with such extraordinary cutting power should not have been capable of damaging the wood used to construct the fortress.
However, the interior sections of the Fortress of Trees were less durable than the outer walls. Because of this, a sufficiently sharp weapon could create footholds and handholds, making it possible to climb.
"Welcome to my Trees Fortress," Katerina said, giving the approaching soldiers a brief bow.
"I apologize for the mess, but the battle against your army has become quite intense. For that very reason, I am unable to offer you a welcome worthy of Queen Alberia's personal maid. Therefore, I kindly ask you to leave."
Her voice remained professional and calm, yet it also carried an unmistakable confidence that bordered on arrogance.
Naturally, the Water Soldiers paid no attention to her words.
They possessed neither ears capable of hearing the beastkin's speech nor minds capable of understanding it.
The warning was completely pointless.
Still, every now and then, even Katerina enjoyed showing off a little.
And, perhaps, it also helped strengthen her own confidence.
When the soldiers were only a meter away from her, she added,
"But of course, if you have no intention of leaving peacefully, I will be forced to use a slightly more forceful method."
As she rose smoothly from her bow, she cast a spell.
"Draining Roots."
Beside her, ten relatively thin roots burst from the wooden floor of the fortress.
They shot forward with incredible speed and immediately pierced the Water Soldiers.
Since the soldiers were composed entirely of water, they suffered no actual damage from the impalement.
But that did not matter.
After all, impaling her enemies was not the true purpose of the spell.
From each root sprouted countless even thinner white filaments, resembling strands of silk.
These delicate roots rapidly spread throughout the bodies of the Water Soldiers.
Before the magical constructs could sever them, every drop of water composing their forms was absorbed in an instant.
The soldiers vanished completely.
At the same time, the primary roots swelled and thickened, becoming significantly sturdier than before.
Against a normal living creature, Absorbing Roots would slowly drain the water contained within the target's body after taking root, resulting in a gradual and painful death.
Against an opponent made entirely of water, however, the spell's effectiveness increased exponentially. It became capable of eliminating a Water Soldier almost instantly.
Yet despite destroying this first invading platoon, the assault on her fortress was far from over. Even now, additional magical soldiers of various types were continuing to enter through the breach and make their way inside.
Meanwhile, Caesar kept focusing on the soldiers infiltrating the Lynx beastkin's fortress while carefully observing the leaves that now completely covered every rooftop of the structure.
Those leaves had begun to emit a faint glow.
The light shimmered somewhere between the white brilliance of daylight and the warm orange hues of sunset.
Eight minutes had passed since the beginning of the match between Caesar and Katerina.